MacRumors

Phishing scams attempting to get info out of Apple users are nothing new, but scammers are growing more clever and scams are getting harder to distinguish from actual Apple communication.

On his Krebs on Security site, security researcher Brian Krebs today outlined one of the latest phishing scams he's seen, where an incoming phone call appears to be from a legitimate Apple support line.

As described by Krebs, Jody Westby, CEO of security consulting firm Global Cyber Risk, received an automated call on her iPhone warning her that services containing Apple user IDs had been compromised.

The message asked her to call a 1-866 number, and in the Phone app, the call looked like a call from Apple, with the number listed as 1(800)MYAPPLE, the name listed as Apple Inc., and with Apple's Infinite Loop website.

Westby contacted Apple support via the official Apple Support page and asked for an employee to contact her. She was assured that the call was not legitimate, but when looking in her recent calls list, she saw that real support call had been lumped in with the fake call.

The scammers spoofed Apple's phone number and the iPhone was unable to distinguish between the real and fake calls, making it look like Westby had, in fact, been contacted by Apple multiple times, when that was not the case. Westby told Krebs that this is a convincing scam that people may fall for.

"I told the Apple representative that they ought to be telling people about this, and he said that was a good point," Westby said. "This was so convincing I'd think a lot of other people will be falling for it."

Krebs went ahead and called the number that the scammers had asked Westby to call, where an automated system claimed he had reached Apple Support. A minute later, a person came on the line and asked about the reason for the call. Krebs responded that he was told to call about a breach at Apple, was placed on hold, and the call disconnected with no resolution.

A similar report hit Twitter this morning from Fantastical developer Michael Simmons, who says he received a scam phone call that also spoofed Apple's number.

Krebs believes scammers are aiming to obtain personal and financial details from Apple users to get payment, perhaps for tech support services. As he rightly points out, it is both shocking and concerning that Apple devices are unable to tell the difference between a legitimate call from Apple and someone attempting to spoof Apple.

With these kind of phone-based scams, it's a good idea to disconnect the call and get in touch with Apple via the actual support site to avoid being fooled. Apple support does not cold call users in this manner, so these calls are almost always fake, but scammers are skilled social engineers and people do fall for these scams.

Apple has a dedicated support page with information on how to avoid fake support calls, phishing emails, and other scam techniques that malicious individuals employ to extract information from Apple users.

In a press conference at the White House this afternoon, U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on Apple's recent revenue woes, suggesting the company will "be fine" despite its downgraded Q1 2019 guidance.

When asked about Apple's announcement and its potential impact on the U.S. economy, Trump erroneously said that Apple has "gone up hundreds of percent" since he's been president. "Apple was at a number that was incredible and they're going to be fine. Apple is a great company," Trump said.

Apple has not, of course, seen a "hundreds of percent" increase in its stock price, with the number instead at around 20 percent since Trump's January 2017 inauguration.

Trump went on to say that he's unconcerned about Apple because its devices are made "mostly in China," seemingly blaming that fact for Apple's financial issues. He also once again reiterated that should Apple move its manufacturing to the United States, and suggested he's friends with Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"Don't forget this Apple makes their product in China. I told Tim Cook, who is a friend of mine, who I like a lot: 'Make your product in the United States, build those big, beautiful plants that go on for miles it seems, build those plants in the United States.'"

Apple outlined many reasons for the change in its guidance, which is now at $84 billion and down from the $89 to $93 billion November estimate, but manufacturing problems in China were not among those reasons.

Instead, Apple said that the issue was caused by Chinese consumers not purchasing iPhones, which is unrelated to where iOS devices are assembled.

Apple also pointed towards iPhone launch timing, a strong U.S. dollar, supply constraints, trade tensions, and weak iPhone upgrade numbers due to fewer carrier subsidies and the low-priced battery replacements that were available throughout 2018.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China caused by Trump's trade war have had an impact on Apple's bottom line. Back in November, Trump suggested that a 10 percent tariff could be implemented on iPhones and laptops imported from China, but thus far, additional tariffs have not been imposed.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues 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.

With the intense ongoing legal battle between Qualcomm and Apple, it's easy to forget that Qualcomm is also facing an FTC antitrust lawsuit for using anticompetitive tactics to remain the main supplier for baseband processors for smartphones.

The FTC hasn't forgotten, though, and FTC lawyers are in a Northern California courtroom before well-known judge Lucy Koh, who also presided over the Apple-Samsung legal fight.

Lawyers for Qualcomm, the FTC, Apple, and other manufacturers have gathered as the trial commences, with the FTC set to argue that Qualcomm refused to provide chips to OEMs without a patent license, refused to license its technology to rivals, and set exclusive deals with Apple.

Manufacturers like Huawei and Lenovo will testify that Qualcomm threatened to disrupt their chip supply during licensing negotiations, forcing them into signing deals.

The FTC first filed a complaint against Qualcomm in January 2017, which was actually the catalyst for Apple's own lawsuit against the company just a few weeks later.

In that complaint, the FTC said that Qualcomm uses its position and its portfolio of patents to impose anticompetitive supply and licensing terms on cell phone manufacturers, impacting its competitors.

Part of the complaint addressed a deal with Apple in which Qualcomm required Apple to exclusively use its modems from 2011 to 2016 in exchange for lower patent royalties. Qualcomm is also accused of refusing to license its standard-essential (FRAND) patents to competing suppliers and implementing a no license, no chips policy to drive up royalty payments beyond what's fair.

Qualcomm attempted to get the FTC's lawsuit against it dismissed, but in June, Judge Koh ruled that the lawsuit would proceed on the basis that the FTC adequately demonstrated that anticompetitive tactics were being used by Qualcomm.

In its defense, Qualcomm has claimed the FTC is using a "flawed legal theory" and has misconceptions about the mobile technology industry. "We look forward to defending our business in federal court, where we are confident we will prevail on the merits," Qualcomm said in a statement in January 2017.

As the FTC trial begins, Apple and Qualcomm's legal battle has also been escalating. As of today, Apple has pulled the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 8 in Germany after Qualcomm won a preliminary injunction in the country.

Qualcomm also won an import ban on older iPhone models in China, which Apple sidestepped through a software update that addressed functionality said to infringe on Qualcomm patents.

At least one new iPhone released in 2019 will sport a USB-C port, smaller notch, and the return of Touch ID under the display, according to Jean Baptiste Su, Vice-President and Principal Analyst at consulting firm Atherton Research.

Su shared his prediction in a Forbes column about Apple lowering its revenue guidance for the first quarter of its 2019 fiscal year:

Although we believe that Apple will release a re-designed iPhone X in 2019—with a smaller notch, a fingerprint reader (Touch ID) under the display, and a USB-C port—it will still lack the extensibility (memory card), the battery life, the lightning-fast charging capability, and the camera quality of Android flagship smartphones while being more expensive.

This is the first Apple rumor we've ever heard from Su, and the Forbes contributor network has published its fair share of questionable content about Apple in recent years, so treat this rumor with a healthy dose of skepticism. Many analysts not named Ming-Chi Kuo simply make guesses — and not always educated ones.

Let's imagine these features prove to be true, though, and examine what that would mean for the next iPhone:

• USB-C: For many years, critics believed Apple would never switch to USB-C on its iOS devices, and then it did exactly that with the 2018 iPad Pro. Will the iPhone follow suit this year? Notorious supply chain publication DigiTimes seems to think so, so Su is not alone in his prediction.

  With many of the latest Macs equipped with USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 ports, which share the USB-C connector design, moving from Lightning to USB-C on the iPhone would create one primary I/O standard across not only Apple devices but hundreds of other electronics.

  The switch from Lightning to USB-C would almost certainly cause an uproar among at least some Apple customers, who already had to replace their docks, cables, and other accessories when Apple switched from its 30-pin dock connector to Lightning back in 2012.

  It's also worth considering that Apple has emphasized a wireless future, so one possibility is that the Lightning connector sticks around until there is no connector whatsoever.

• Touch ID under the display: This one is hard to believe. Face ID is more secure than Touch ID and seems like Apple's authentication method of choice going forward, starting with the iPhone X and expanding to the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR last year.

  Kuo agrees, noting that Apple doesn't plan to return to Touch ID in any capacity with its 2019 iPhone lineup back in September.

• Smaller notch: This one is certainly plausible. As the iPhone design continues to evolve, Apple will surely find ways to reduce the size of the notch, even if only by a fraction of a millimeter.

It's only January, so we're still early in the rumor cycle about 2019 iPhones. Over time, we should get a clearer picture about what to expect from more reputable sources like Kuo. To date, we've heard the next versions could feature a triple-lens rear camera, Face ID improvements, slightly thinner displays, and more.

New York-based law firm Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman has announced it is investigating whether Apple and certain executives violated U.S. federal securities laws after the company lowered its revenue guidance by up to $9 billion for the first quarter of its 2019 fiscal year earlier this week.

The law firm is conducting the investigation on behalf of AAPL shareholders, with potential for a class action lawsuit, and encourages affected investors to obtain additional information and assist the investigation by visiting its website.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP, another New York-based investor rights law firm, launched a nearly identical investigation of Apple earlier this week.

Apple CEO Tim Cook in a letter to shareholders this week disclosed that Apple's revenue for the quarter just ended will be approximately $84 billion, significantly lower than its original guidance of $89 billion to $93 billion, due to "lower than anticipated iPhone revenue, primarily in Greater China."

Both investigations contrast the positive language that Cook has previously used when speaking about China with the weaker language used in his letter to shareholders this week, in which he said Apple "did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China."

On January 2, 2019, Apple revealed that its revenue for the first fiscal quarter of 2019 would be more than 7% lower than it expected because of "[l]ower than anticipated iPhone revenue, primarily in Greater China, [which] accounts for all of [Apple's] revenue shortfall to [its] guidance and for much more than [its] entire year-over-year revenue decline."

Conversely, on November 1, 2018 CEO Tim Cook stated during Apple's fourth quarter 2018 conference call, that "[o]ur business in China was very strong last quarter. We grew 16%, which we're very happy with. iPhone in particular was very strong, very strong double-digit growth there."

In other words, both law firms are investigating whether Apple failed to warn investors about slowing iPhone demand, particularly in China.

AAPL closed at $142.19 on Thursday, down 36 percent from a closing price of $222.22 on November 1, immediately prior to Apple's last earnings report. As a result, Apple's market valuation has plunged from a peak of around $1.1 trillion to under $700 billion, falling behind rivals Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

Yesterday chipmaker Qualcomm announced that it posted €1.34 billion in security bonds required for the chipmaker to enforce a preliminary injunction on select iPhone models in Germany, after a court in the country found Apple to be infringing Qualcomm patents related to power savings technology in smartphones.

The injunction blocks the import and sale of infringing iPhone models in Germany while Apple appeals the verdict, and accordingly, Apple has now pulled the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus from sale in the country.

Those four iPhone models are no longer available to order via Apple.com in Germany and they have also been pulled from sale at all 15 of Apple's retail stores in the country until further notice. The latest iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR models are not impacted by the verdict and remain available.

Qualcomm's equivalent of $1.5 billion in security bonds will be put towards the cost of the lost sales if Apple successfully appeals the verdict.

Apple was also ordered to recall infringing iPhone models from third-party resellers in Germany, according to Qualcomm, but as noted by TechCrunch and Reuters, some German resellers continue to sell iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models.

In a statement, Apple said this verdict is another "desperate attempt" by Qualcomm to distract from the "real issues" between the two companies:

Qualcomm's campaign is a desperate attempt to distract from the real issues between our companies. Their tactics, in the courts and in their everyday business, are harming innovation and harming consumers. Qualcomm insists on charging exorbitant fees based on work they didn't do and they are being investigated by governments all around the world for their behavior. We are of course disappointed by this verdict and we plan to appeal. All iPhone models remain available to customers through carriers and resellers in 4,300 locations across Germany. During the appeal process, iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models will not be available at Apple's 15 retail stores in Germany. iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR will remain available in all our stores.

Apple and Qualcomm are engaged in a major legal battle spanning multiple countries. The spat began in early 2017 when Apple sued Qualcomm for an alleged $1 billion in unpaid royalty rebates, just days after an FTC complaint alleging Qualcomm engaged in anticompetitive patent licensing practices.

In defense, Qualcomm has said its "innovations are at the heart of every iPhone" and "enable the most important uses and features of those devices," adding that it "simply is untrue that Qualcomm is seeking to collect royalties for Apple innovations that have nothing to do with Qualcomm's technology."

Qualcomm has also accused Apple of making misleading statements, sharing its trade secrets with Intel, and numerous other infractions.

Qualcomm sought a similar injunction on iPhones in the United States, unsuccessfully, and in China, where a court did issue an import ban on select iPhone models over patent infringement last month. Apple made some tweaks in iOS 12.1.2 to address the patents and continues to sell all iPhone models in China.

On New Year's Day, Huawei's Twitter account wished its followers a Happy New Year, but Twitter users quickly noticed that the tweet came from an iPhone rather than a Huawei device, with Twitter denoting it as "via Twitter for iPhone."

The Huawei employees who were responsible for the tweet quickly deleted it, but a screenshot of the tweet went viral, catching the attention of Huawei executives.

Huawei's corporate senior vice president and director of the board Chen Lifang sent out a Huawei memo on January 3, announcing punishments for the employees involved. Reuters saw the memo and shared the contents.

According to Lifang, the tweet "caused damage to the Huawei brand," and occurred when an iPhone was used to send the message after a desktop computer malfunctioned. Huawei felt the accidental tweet "showed procedural incompliance and management oversight."

The mistake occurred when outsourced social media handler Sapient experienced "VPN problems" with a desktop computer so used an iPhone with a roaming SIM card in order to send the message on time at midnight, Huawei said in the memo.

The two employees who were responsible for the gaffe were demoted by one rank and their monthly salaries were reduced by 5,000 yuan, equivalent to approximately $728. Huawei has also frozen the pay rank of its digital marketing director for 12 months.

This is not the first time that a social media manager for an Android smartphone has tweeted from an iPhone, and it's something that always catches the attention of users on Twitter and other social networks. Samsung, for example, has had several employees tweet from an iPhone device.

Huawei has also experienced other social media gaffes, such as when Wonder Woman actress and Huawei brand ambassador Gal Gadot posted a paid tweet promoting the Huawei Mate 10 from an iPhone.

In the most recent Huawei situation, the tweet went viral after being shared by popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee, and it was also widely shared on Chinese social network Weibo.

Apple today launched its annual Back to University promotion in Australia,New Zealand, and Brazil, offering students and teachers a free pair of Beats Solo3 Wireless Headphones or Powerbeats3 Wireless Earphones with the purchase of a Mac or an iPad Pro.

With the purchase of an eligible Mac, which includes the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, MacBook, Mac Pro, and iMac Pro, students can get a free set of Beats Solo3 headphones, or Powerbeats3 headphones. Studio3 headphones are also available at a discounted price of NZ$40.00 in New Zealand, A$50.00 in Australia, and R$ 350,00 in Brazil.

With the purchase of a 2018 iPad Pro, Apple is providing a free set of Powerbeats3 earphones. Beats Solo3 headphones are available at a discounted price of A$140.00, NZ$160.00, or R$ 700,00, while Beats Studio3 headphones are available at a discounted price of A$190.00, NZ$200.00, or R$ 1.050,00.

The promotion includes Apple's newest "Pop" PowerBeats3 and "Skyline" Studio3 lines.

Both the Macs and the iPad Pro models are available at a discounted educational price when purchasing through the Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil educational stores, with discounts of up to A$290, NZ$340, or R$1.760,00 on qualifying Macs. The education stores also offer AppleCare+ protection plans at a 20 percent discount.

For further discounts, as pointed out by 9to5Mac Apple is promoting its trade-in program, which allows older devices to be traded in for credit towards new devices. Apple has been heavily promoting trade-in options as of late, especially for the most recent iPhone lineup.

To get the free or discounted Beats, students simply need to add an eligible Mac or iPad Pro to their carts, where the option to add the headphones will come up automatically.

Discounts are available for current and newly accepted university students, parents buying for students, and teachers and staff at all levels. Sign up and enrollment verification through UNiDays is required.

Educational discounts in Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil will be available for a limited amount of time, both online and at Apple retail stores in Australia and Brazil. The promotion is set to end on March 15, 2019, with terms and conditions available in PDF form here: Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.

Apple's back to university promotion in Australia and New Zealand is the same as the Back to School promotion that Apple launched in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and several European countries back in July.

Update: The Back to University promotion is also available in South Korea.

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S10 flagship smartphone was spotted out in the wild today, with leaker Evan Blass sharing an image of the new device.

Rather than adopting a notch like many other smartphone manufacturers, Samsung is using an edge-to-edge display that features a small camera cutout at the upper right side of the device. Aside from this circular cutout, the rest of the smartphone's front side is taken up by display area.

Samsung is able to use a single camera cutout for the S10 because it is housing less equipment than Apple's latest iPhones. There's no TrueDepth camera system with multiple sensors that include an IR camera and dot projector in addition to the standard front-facing camera, so Samsung is able to introduce a smaller cutout.

In the tweet, Blass calls the S10 the "Beyond 1," which is one of three S10 smartphones Samsung has in the works. As explained by CNET, the Beyond 1 is expected to be the same size as the Galaxy S9, with a 6.1-inch screen and a single front-facing camera.

Rumors have suggested other S10 models (at least one model will be larger) will have two front-facing cameras, so the cutout on these devices, which has been seen in renderings, could be a bit bigger. At least some of the Galaxy S10 smartphones are expected to feature a four-camera rear setup.

Samsung's Galaxy A8s smartphone also featured the same hole punch-style design that's seen in the Galaxy S10, with the camera located at the top left of the device.

Rumors suggest Samsung will debut the Galaxy S10 smartphone, which will compete directly with Apple's latest devices, the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, ahead of Mobile World Congress in February 2019.

It's not known if Apple will be able to follow in Samsung's footsteps with such a small camera cutout, but we have heard an early rumor suggesting Apple's 2019 devices could feature a slimmed-down notch, and there's even been a rumor indicating Apple is working on a smartphone with no notch at all.

For more of what to expect from Apple's 2019 iPhones, likely to be unveiled later this year in September, check out our dedicated roundup.