MacRumors

Apple last summer announced a new Independent Repair Provider Program that provides independent repair businesses with the genuine Apple parts, tools, repair manuals, and training provided to Apple Authorized Service Providers.

The change came amid Right to Repair laws being proposed in multiple states, which Apple has lobbied hard against. Right to Repair laws would require Apple to provide parts, manuals, and more to allow repairs to be done by any repair shop, so Apple decided to get ahead of those laws with its own program.

Motherboard shared details on the contract, which stipulates that repair shops have to agree to unannounced audits and inspections by Apple to determine if they're using "prohibited" repair components, which can result in fines.

Even if a shop leaves the program, Apple can continue to inspect it for up to five years. Repair shops are required to share information about their customers with Apple, including names, phone numbers, and home addresses.

Customers who receive service from an independent repair shop have to sign an acknowledgement that they understand they're not receiving repairs from an Apple Authorized shop and that Apple won't warranty the repair, which as right to repair advocate Nathan Proctor told Motherboard, is essentially requiring them to advertise against themselves.

Shops that partner with Apple for supplies must avoid all "prohibited products," which includes both counterfeit parts and "products or service parts that infringe on Apple's intellectual property," which legal experts believe is ambiguous wording. Apple is also able to seize any prohibited products, which is a potential problem because many repair shops also repair non-Apple devices.

"That is an ambiguous, subjective, and potentially very broad definition," said Aaron Perzanowski, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University. "As a result, it gives Apple a lot of leverage over the companies that sign this agreement."

Repair businesses that violate Apple's rules can be forced to pay Apple $1,000 for every transaction during an audit period if more than two percent of business transactions involve "prohibited products."

Kit Walsh, an attorney with the EFF, told Motherboard that Apple has the power to "impose potentially business-destroying costs and penalties on the repair shop," and that shops who sign Apple's repair notice and then do repairs on non-Apple devices do so at their own peril.

Some repair shops contacted by Motherboard said they would not agree to join Apple's program due to the "onerous" terms of the contract, but others "valued the opportunity" to get parts from Apple.

Apple declined to answer specific questions from Motherboard about the contract that it provides to repair shops, but did not dispute the accuracy of the contract terms the site shared. Apple in a statement said that it is working with interested parties and plans to update the language in its materials based on feedback.

"We are committed to giving our customers more options and locations for safe and reliable repairs," Apple told Motherboard in a statement. "Our new independent repair provider program is designed to give repair businesses of all sizes access to genuine parts, training and tools needed to perform the most common iPhone repairs. We are excited by the initial response and high level of interest. We are working closely with interested parties and we will update language in our materials to address their feedback."

Though Apple has launched the Independent Repair Program, it continues to fight against Right to Repair legislation through trade groups that represent it, and the IRP is used as evidence that consumers have a wide range of choice when it comes to repair options.

For more on the terms of the contract, thoughts from Right to Repair advocates, and Apple's efforts to lobby against Right to Repair laws, check out Motherboard's full article.

Apple has been working to ramp up production of the ever-popular AirPods and AirPods Pro, and its efforts to meet supply/demand balance could be in jeopardy due to the coronavirus outbreak in China.

According to Nikkei, Apple's major AirPods suppliers Luxshare-ICT, Goertek, and Inventec have been shut down since the beginning of the Lunar New Year and even when work on AirPods resumes next Monday, components could be in short supply because factories all across China have been shuttered due to virus fears.

The AirPods manufacturers have "at most" two weeks worth of materials and components needed for AirPods assembly, and for fresh supplies, they will need to wait for component makers in China to restart operations. Given current conditions, product utilization rates could reach just 50 percent when work on the AirPods resumes.

A person who spoke to Nikkei says that it's unclear if parts suppliers in China will be able to "smoothly resume work" to create enough parts for assembly. "We really have to wait and see how things play out next week. If the assemblers could not get enough supply of parts in two weeks, it will be a big problem," said the source.

Travel restrictions from certain regions in China are likely to create labor shortages at factories, and companies are balancing restarting production while also dealing with fears an employee could bring the virus back to the factory. Foxconn, for example, has already said that workers returning from the Henan province will be sequestered for two weeks, while other staff will be isolated for a week.

Apple was aiming to produce up to 45 million AirPods units in the first half of 2020, but the current AirPods stock is running low and is reserved for Apple's stores. Right now, the regular AirPods remain in stock, but the AirPods Pro are still backordered, as they have been since launch.

Dolby Atmos support for the newly released Apple TV app and AirPlay 2 on select LG smart TVs is coming in a software update "later this year," an LG spokesperson has confirmed to FlatpanelsHD.com.

Earlier this week, LG announced that the Apple TV app and accompanying ‌Apple TV‌+ streaming service are now available on select 2019 LG smart TVs in the United States and more than 80 other countries. This follows the CES debut of LG's new 2020 models that come with the ‌Apple TV‌ app preinstalled out of the box.

Dolby Atmos was developed to give sound from movies and TV shows a more three-dimensional effect. Rather than being constrained to channels, sounds can be precisely placed and moved in three-dimensional space.

Dolby Atmos is also supported on the Apple TV 4K running tvOS 12 or later.

A refreshed Apple TV with an A12 Bionic chip or newer appears to be in development, according to 9to5Mac, which uncovered an unreleased model with the codename "T1125" in the tvOS 13.4 beta seeded yesterday.

Details about the new ‌Apple TV‌ are slim beyond the faster chip and its maximum supported resolution remaining 4K with HDR.

Rumors of a new ‌Apple TV‌ with an A12 chip began swirling last fall, but with a different codename of "J305." The device has typically been updated once every two years, with the first tvOS-based ‌model launching in September 2015 and the ‌‌Apple TV‌‌ 4K arriving in September 2017.

A faster ‌Apple TV‌ would certainly benefit Apple Arcade gaming and overall performance.

Apple yesterday seeded the first beta of iOS 13.4 with several new features, such as iCloud folder sharing, new Memoji stickers, and a redesigned Mail toolbar. While not mentioned in the release notes, the update also includes early signs of an interesting feature that would turn an iPhone or Apple Watch into a car key.

As first reported by 9to5Mac, and confirmed by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser, the iOS 13.4 beta contains strings of code that reference an unreleased "CarKey" framework that would enable an iPhone or Apple Watch to lock or unlock compatible vehicles and start the engine to drive.

The code indicates that "CarKey" would essentially be a digital car key stored in the Wallet app. This would allow you to approach your vehicle, hold your iPhone or Apple Watch near an NFC reader in the vehicle, authenticate with Face ID, and have the vehicle unlock automatically. Similar to Apple Pay for transit, Express Mode would be an option, eliminating the need to authenticate.

To use CarKey, hold iPhone or Apple Watch to reader. It will work automatically, without requiring Face ID. You can change express mode settings in Wallet.

For initial setup of CarKey, you will need to place your iPhone on top of the NFC reader in your vehicle, according to the strings. Apple says the process may take several minutes to complete. Then, you will need to enter a pairing code provided by your local dealership, or connect using your vehicle brand's app.

Place this iPhone on top of the NFC reader in your car. Pairing process may take several minutes, do not remove it from the reader until pairing is done.

Enter the CarKey code provided by your car dealer or connect using the [Vehicle Brand's] app.

Conveniently, it will be possible to share a CarKey with others, giving them full or restricted unlocking and driving capabilities.

[Vehicle Owner] invited you to use their [Vehicle Model] with unlock & drive access. This allows you to use your iPhone and Apple Watch to unlock/lock the car, start the engine and drive.

Apple would be partnering with automakers on this initiative, suggesting that CarKey could become a factory-installed option like CarPlay. The feature would require an NFC-enabled vehicle, so it would likely be limited to newer models. It is unclear when CarKey may begin rolling out, but perhaps it is planned for the public release of iOS 13.4 within the next few months.

Notably, Apple is a member of the Car Connectivity Consortium, or CCC, which recently announced a new NFC-based Digital Key 2.0 specification that it said would be made available by the end of 2019. The CCC said this specification establishes a secure connection between mobile devices and vehicles using NFC, which continues to operate even when a compatible device's battery is low.

Next, the consortium is developing a Digital Key 3.0 specification based on both Bluetooth LE and Ultra Wideband to enable passive, location-aware keyless access. This would allow you to leave your iPhone in your pocket or backpack when accessing or starting your vehicle. Apple added Ultra Wideband support to its iPhone 11 lineup and promised it would lead to "amazing new capabilities."

The above evidence coupled with related patents is quite compelling evidence that Apple has big plans for digital car keys.

Health records firm Epic Systems and some 60 client hospitals are objecting to a proposed U.S. government policy that would make it easier for patients to share medical records data with apps, an initiative supported by Apple and other tech companies (via CNBC).

Proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2019, the modified data sharing rules would allow patients to share private clinical data from their healthcare providers and make it more accessible to health apps via APIs.

Currently, patients often have difficulty trying to obtain their information, with clinical data stored on physical media and processed through medical record software marketed to hospitals by the likes of Epic. According to one report, an Epic installation can cost upwards of $1 billion for a major health system to implement.

Yet in a letter to the HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Epic and signatories argue that the pending initiative on interoperability will be "overly burdensome on our health system and will endanger patient privacy."

Instead, Epic's letter recommends changes to the proposed rules, including extra clarity around health information related to family members and a longer timeline for the "development of new technology required by the rule," up from 1 year to 3 years.

"While we support HHS' goal of empowering patients with their health data and reducing costs through the 21st Century Cures Act, we are concerned that ONC's Proposed Rule on interoperability will be overly burdensome on our health system and will endanger patient privacy. Specifically, the scope of regulated data, the timeline for compliance, and the significant costs and penalties will make it extraordinarily difficult for us to comply."

A spokesperson for HHS told CNBC that it had received the letter. "We appreciate all stakeholder feedback as we continue to finalize the rules," they said. "Our ultimate goal is to ensure that patients are able to easily access their electronic medical records."

Some health IT experts told the news outlet that the letter has not been signed by some of the largest health systems in the Epic ecosystem, and called their absence "significant."

"Their absence represents a thundering silence," said David Brailer, the first National Health Information Technology Coordinator, appointed by George W. Bush. "Many health systems are quietly discussing how the data access and data fluidity actually benefits them in the long-run."

Apple, Microsoft and Google recently joined a call with non-profit Carin Alliance to discuss ways to get the rule finalized. As noted by CNBC, the tech firms favor the rules, partly because greater interoperability between systems that store medical records could help them move into the $3.5 trillion health care sector.

Apple has progressively worked to break into the health industry in recent years. At the beginning of 2018, the company launched a Health Records service to increase the portability of health records and make them available across participating hospitals and clinics. The idea was to allow patients to download their health records to iOS devices and then easily share them with other practitioners.

By August of the same year, Apple's Health Records feature allowed iOS users to access their medical records from more than 75 different hospitals and medical providers in the United States.

The New York City Police Department is retiring the handwritten memo books that it has used for more than a century and adopting a new iPhone app for note taking, according to a new report from The New York Times.

NYPD police officers use their memo books to capture details about arrests, 911 calls, patrol assignments, and more, but on February 17, the police department will transition to a digital app. Rather than writing out notes, officers will type their notes into the app, and the notes will then be sent to a department database.

The shift will mark a major update to the way that case-related memos are handled, making them more accessible and ensuring information is not lost. Entries will not be able to be faked, and data won't be lost to poor handwriting.

Some of the memo books from the past have historical importance, such as the book Officer Shaun McGill kept as the first officer who arrived at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and others have been used as key pieces of evidence in cases.

Officers used to keep their memo books long after retirement in case the information in them became necessary for a trial, but now the department will hold onto all of the information. Entries are also searchable by date or keyword, so there's no longer a need to look through multiple memo books for a specific passage.

Entries into the digital app include location information and time entered by officers, and the data is accessible in real time, which has raised some concerns about more oversight, but the entry process will be streamlined and the process will cut down on paper waste.

NYPD Deputy Chief Anthony Tasso told The New York Times that the digital system will allow for entries to be used as valuable crime fighting data. "It gives us the abilities we did not have before, when memo books were left in officers' lockers and we didn't have access to a vast amount of information," he said.

The NYPD has been providing officers with smartphones since 2015, and there are now 37,000 iPhones in use. More information on the NYPD's new app can be found in the full article from New York Times.

The Apple Watch outsold the entire Swiss watch industry by a wide margin in 2019, according to new data shared today by Strategy Analytics.

Apple shipped an estimated 30.7 million units worldwide in 2019, up 36 percent from the estimated 22.5 million units shipped in 2018.

Comparatively, the Swiss watch industry (which includes all Swiss watch brands) is estimated to have shipped a total of 21.1 million units worldwide in 2019, dropping 13 percent from the 24.2 million watches shipped in 2018.

According to Strategy Analytics, the Apple Watch is "wildly popular" in North America, Western Europe, and Asia due to its user-friendly tech, sticky apps, and attractive design. Analog watches, meanwhile, remain popular with older consumers, but young buyers prefer smartwatches and computerized wristwear.

Traditional Swiss watch makers, like Swatch and Tissot, are losing the smartwatch wars. Apple Watch is delivering a better product through deeper retail channels and appealing to younger consumers who increasingly want digital wristwear. The window for Swiss watch brands to make an impact in smartwatches is closing. Time may be running out for Swatch, Tissot, TAG Heuer, and others.

Apple beat Swiss watch shipments with its own Apple Watch shipments during the holiday quarter of 2017, but 2019 marks the first full year where Apple has shipped a larger number of Apple Watches.

Apple does not break out Apple Watch sales numbers so estimates on shipments are based on guesswork, but the large margin between estimated Apple Watch shipments and estimated Swiss watch shipments suggests that the conclusion the Apple Watch outsold Swiss watches in 2019 is accurate.

Apple today released the first iOS and iPadOS 13.4 betas for developers, bringing quite a few useful new features, design tweaks, and changes that are worth knowing about.

Below, we've rounded up all of the changes that we've found in iOS and iPadOS 13.4 so far.

New Mail Toolbar

The Mail app has an updated toolbar design that moves the reply icon away from the delete icon. Apple in iOS 13 moved these two buttons together, resulting in some people accidentally deleting emails instead of replying to them.

The trash icon also happened to be placed right where the reply icon had been in iOS 12, causing muscle memory issues.

The new design, which is available when viewing an email, places the reply button on the far right, the delete button on the far left, and Folder and Flag icons in between them.

iCloud Folder Sharing

When iOS 13 was first introduced, iCloud Folder Sharing was announced as one of the new features. It was apparently difficult to implement, though, as it was removed during the beta testing period.

In iOS 13.4, iCloud Folder Sharing is finally available, allowing folders within the Files app to be shared with other people.

New Memoji Stickers

Apple in iOS 13 introduced Memoji stickers, which are emoji-style stickers that feature your Memoji and Animoji characters. In iOS 13.4, there are nine new sticker poses to choose from, including shocked face, face with hearts, eyes rolling, and more.

Universal macOS/iOS/tvOS Purchases

Apple has introduced new functionality that will allow developers to bundle iOS apps, tvOS apps, and macOS apps together for a single purchase price.

This will allow developers who make iOS and macOS apps to sell them in a single bundle, which is not a feature that's been available.

The change will be convenient for both developers and customers, as iOS and macOS users will be able to make one purchase for a cross-platform app. Developers will also be able to create discounted Mac and iOS bundles for the first time.

CarPlay

There are new call controls and third-party navigation controls in CarPlay, according to iMore's Rene Ritchie.

CarKey API

There appears to be a new API in iOS 13.4 called CarKey that is designed to allow the iPhone and the Apple Watch to unlock, lock, and start a compatible car, according to 9to5Mac.

Users will be able to use CarKey in vehicles that have NFC capabilities, with the iPhone or Apple Watch unlocking the car when held nearby. Authentication via Face ID will not be required, and the initial pairing process will be done through the Wallet app.

CarKey can be shared with other people, like family members, with drivers able to invite them through the Wallet app to have access to the key on their Apple devices. Based on signs in the code, Apple is working with some car manufacturers to implement the feature in the iOS 13.4 update.

Location Services

According to Apple's release notes for the iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4 updates, when an app requests the Always location services authorization for the first time after being authorized for While Using the App, the user's iPhone or iPad will immediately show the authorization prompt.

It's not yet quite clear what this change means, but some apps that want always on access to a user's location have been upset with the location services changes that Apple introduced in iOS 13 limiting that access.

Some apps, like Tile, want always on access to provide full tracking functionality.

Keyboard Shortcuts on iPad

For the iPad, there are new keyboard shortcuts in the Photos app for navigating between tabs, search, and create albums. In full screen mode, there are also keyboard shortcuts for deleting photos, duplicating photos, and entering Edit mode.

Shazam Shortcuts Action

There's a new Shortcuts option to "Shazam It" when creating a shortcut in the Shortcuts app.

iPadOS Hardware Key Remapping

As noted by developer Steve Troughton-Smith, there appears to be a new option for remapping hardware keys on a keyboard that's connected to an iPad.

Other Features

See a feature we missed? Let us know in the comments and we'll add it to the list.

FBI officials have still not managed to unlock a passcode-protected iPhone that investigators believe was owned by Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, the perpetrator of a mass shooting at a Naval Air Station in Florida in December.

The disclosure was made by FBI director Christopher Wray at a House Judiciary Committee hearing today, according to Bloomberg. Wray told Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) that the FBI is "currently engaged with Apple hoping to see if we can get better help from them so we can get access to that phone," the report claims.

Last month, the FBI asked Apple for its assistance with unlocking the iPhone in a letter sent to the company's chief lawyer Katherine Adams.

U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr have called on Apple to assist the FBI with accessing data on the iPhone, but the company previously said that it has given investigators "all of the data in our possession" and said it "will continue to support them with the data we have available."

In a follow-up statement, Apple said that while it was "devastated to learn of the tragic terrorist attack" at the Naval Air Station, creating a backdoor into iOS would threaten national security in the United States:

We have always maintained there is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys. Backdoors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers. Today, law enforcement has access to more data than ever before in history, so Americans do not have to choose between weakening encryption and solving investigations. We feel strongly encryption is vital to protecting our country and our users' data.

Apple faced a similar situation in 2016, when a U.S. federal judge ordered the company to help the FBI unlock an iPhone owned by Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the December 2015 attacks in San Bernardino, California. Apple opposed the order, noting that it would set a "dangerous precedent."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.