MacRumors

Apple's new iPhone 11 Pro Max has taken the top spot in Consumer Reports' smartphone rankings, with the smaller iPhone 11 Pro claiming second place, after years of Apple being consistently edged out by Samsung smartphones.

Consumer Reports said the iPhone 11 Pro models earned the top spots for having significantly improved battery life, excellent cameras, and other improvements, like a greater degree of water resistance, more durable glass casing, brighter displays, and faster performance powered by the new A13 Bionic chip.

On battery life:

For one thing, the battery life is much better. The iPhone 11 Pro Max lasted a more than impressive 40.5 hours in our testing. That’s the longest stretch of any phone currently listed in our ratings. And it marks a big turnaround for Apple. Just a few years ago, iPhones tended to lag behind the competition in this area.

On the cameras:

In the case of the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, our testers say they notched some of the highest scores in our ratings for still-image quality. The iPhone 11 also rated Very Good in this category. And all three phones received Excellent ratings for rear-video quality.

While the iPhone 11 Pro models top the list, Consumer Reports emphasized how tight the scoring is at the top of its smartphone rankings. In some categories, it said just fractions of a point separate the top models.

Consumer Reports believes those with own an iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or even an iPhone XR can probably save their money and wait. Despite marked camera and battery life advancements, the non-profit firm said there just may not be enough in the way of new features to justify spending $999-plus on a new model.

A subscription to Consumer Reports is required to view the full smartphone rankings.

Amazon Prime Video is currently unavailable in the App Store across iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Amazon had updated the iOS version of the app shortly before it was removed from the App Store, but it is unclear why the app was pulled or whether this is a temporary move.

Apple deferred comment to Amazon, which has yet to respond to our email. We'll update as we learn more.

Update: MacRumors has been informed this was a technical issue and the app should be back up shortly.

Update 2: Amazon Prime Video has returned to the App Store.

The U.S. Congress has requested information from Spotify related to its anticompetitive allegations against Apple, according to Reuters.

From the report:

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee reached out to the music streaming service with broad requests for information, according to one source, who added the request to the company was narrowed in follow up telephone calls.

In March, Spotify announced it filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Commission over unfair App Store practices. Spotify took particular issue with Apple charging a 30 percent "tax" on only certain App Store purchases, calling it "discriminatory."

Apple only charges a commission on in-app purchases tied to digital goods, so apps providing real goods and services like Uber are exempt.

Apple also forbids Spotify and other developers from alerting users that they can sign up for a subscription or complete a purchase outside of its iOS app, and disallows Spotify from advertising deals to its customers in the app or by email, as these practices would circumvent Apple's in-app purchase system.

Apple labeled Spotify's complaint as "misleading rhetoric" and claimed that "Spotify wants all the benefits of a free app without being free," later adding that Spotify pays Apple a 15 percent commission for only about 0.5 percent of its paying subscribers, as part of its official response to the complaint.

Apple has faced increasing scrutiny as of late over the way it runs its App Store. In response, Apple said the App Store "welcomes competition," noting that it was created to be "a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps" and "a great business opportunity for all developers."

Apple may be readying a 96W USB-C power adapter for the widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro, according to information received by Chongdiantou, the Chinese-language sibling website of ChargerLAB.

Chongdiantou received a blurry photo of the alleged power adapter's label from an unidentified source via Chinese messaging app WeChat. The source claimed the 96W power adapter has a model identifier of A2166 and will be similarly sized as Apple's existing 87W USB-C power adapter for the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Chongdiantou has an established track record in this area, having shared accurate photos of Apple's existing 18W USB-C power adapter in July 2018, nearly four months before it was included with 2018 iPad Pro models.

Apple plans to release a 16-inch MacBook Pro with an all-new design later this year, according to reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The notebook will feature a scissor keyboard, he said, after years of butterfly keyboard issues on MacBooks that prompted Apple to launch a worldwide repair program.

(Thanks, Duorou W.!)

Apple has asked suppliers to increase production of its new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro lineup by up to 10 percent, according to Nikkei Asian Review. The bump in production would add up to 8 million units to the current production plans as Apple seeks to meet stronger-than-expected demand.

"This autumn is so far much busier than we expected," one source with direct knowledge of the situation said. "Previously, Apple was quite conservative about placing orders," which were less than for last year's new iPhone. "After the increase, prepared production volume for the iPhone 11 series will be higher compared to last year," the source said.

The report claims the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro are seeing the strongest demand, while Apple is actually revising orders for the iPhone 11 Pro Max down slightly as it seeks to balance production with demand.

Nearly every year, stories circulate about Apple cutting production in the months following the launches of new iPhones, but it's frequently unclear whether production cuts are due to weaker-than-expected demand or simply anticipated scaling back following the initial rush of orders. Regardless, an increase in production this year appears to be a good sign for Apple.

With the launch of three new iPhone models with improved cameras, Apple's iPhone lineup may be appealing to a broad array of customers ready to upgrade from older models, particularly with the iPhone 11 starting at $699, which is $50 less than its iPhone XR predecessor.

Those looking for an even more budget-friendly new iPhone may have some welcome news early next year, with multiple reliable sources indicating that Apple is planning to launch a new "iPhone SE 2" that would actually look very similar to the iPhone 8 but with upgraded internals such as Apple's latest A13 chip and 3 GB of RAM.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is currently in Europe, and over the course of the last few days, he's visited Germany, France, and Italy. Earlier this week we shared an interview he did with a German news site, and today he spoke with a French newspaper and students in Italy as part of an appearance at the Osservatorio Permanente.

Cook commented on topics like journalism, privacy, and immigration, with his comments shared by Italian site Macitynet.it [Google Translate] and French newspaper Les Echoes (via CNBC).

All of us lovers of democracy and freedom must think that separating the false from the true is the basis of freedom. Quality journalism is the foundation of every democracy and an open and free press is essential.

Cook also spoke about a topic that he's covered many times in the past - privacy. He reiterated his belief that Apple customers are not Apple's product, and that Apple will not sell customer data. "At Apple, we will never treat you as products but as customers with dignity and respect," he said.

Along with touching on privacy, Cook highlighted Apple's environmental efforts, such as the fact that Apple is run on 100 percent renewable energy, and he spoke on human rights. "We do not do it because it's required by regulations, but because it is a moral imperative," he said.

Apple supports immigration because wealthy countries must "accept migrants who are fleeing difficult situations," said Cook. Cook added that he would like for young people and children to be able to stay in the United States to study, referencing his support for DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy.

Cook had advice for students regarding smartphone usage. "Smartphones must bring you closer to those who are far away - don't leave those close to you," he said. "If you spend more time looking at your smartphones than people's eyes, you're wrong."

Cook also spoke about cryptocurrency according to CNBC, with statements originally shared by French site Les Echoes. Cook said that currency should stay in the hands of countries, and private companies should not look to gain power with cryptocurrency.

"No. I really think that a currency should stay in the hands of countries. I'm not comfortable with the idea of a private group setting up a competing currency," he said.

"A private company shouldn't be looking to gain power this way."

Apple's vice president of Apple Pay Jennifer Bailey recently said that Apple is "watching" cryptocurrency in regards to potentially supporting it in the future, but said that the company is primarily focused on what consumers are using today.

Cook's comments come three months after Facebook announced plans to launch a new digital currency called Libra next year in partnership with companies like Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, and Stripe.

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.

Apple may have recently acquired UK-based motion capture company IKinema, based on evidence from company filings and information shared by a MacRumors reader.

IKinema offers animation technology that's used for games, virtual reality, and more. Earlier this year, for example, IKinema partnered with Ubisoft for IKinema's RunTime software for character creation. IKinema specialized in technology that allowed for real-time motion animation of virtual characters.

IKINEMA's technology is embraced by development teams the world over to bring their games to life through delivery of high fidelity results in natural character locomotion and greater player immersion within dynamic game worlds, including substantial cost reduction and accelerated production levels by a factor of five times or more to expedite the release of games to market.

Based on details from IKinema's mostly defunct website, the company considers itself a specialist in real-time procedural animation and whole body solving technology. IKinema has several videos on YouTube showing off its technology creating animated characters from real-life people, dogs, and more.

The address of the company was also updated to 100 New Bridge Street in London on September 26, which is the address for Apple Europe Limited.

The IKinema website is no longer functional with the exception of a few technical documents, and the company's Twitter and Facebook accounts stopped being updated on August 19. MacRumors reader Peter, who is in the industry, told MacRumors that IKinema customers have been left in the dark "for weeks" and that the acquisition was confirmed in a private Facebook Motion Capture group this morning.

It's not clear what Apple will do with IKinema's technology, but Apple has delved into games with Apple Arcade, though the company does not develop its own game technology at this time.

Apple is also rumored to be working on various virtual and augmented reality projects, which could potentially benefit from IKinema's software, as could Animoji and Memoji, which animate based on facial expressions using the TrueDepth camera system.

Update October 4 7:55 a.m.: Apple has confirmed its acquisition of IKinema, giving Tim Bradshaw of Financial Times the company's usual boilerplate statement: "Apple buys smaller companies from time to time, and we generally don't discuss our purpose or plans."

Apple today seeded the golden master version of macOS 10.15 Catalina to developers, three days after seeding the tenth macOS Catalina beta and over three months after the new Mac operating system update was first unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

The golden master version of macOS Catalina represents the final version of the update that will be provided to the public at release. The new macOS Catalina software can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper profile from the Developer Center.

macOS Catalina eliminates the iTunes app, splitting it into Music, Podcasts, and TV apps. The three new apps offer similar functionality to iTunes, but are split up by feature. iOS device management is still available on the Mac, but it's now done through the Finder rather than iTunes.

With a new Sidecar feature, you can turn your iPad into a second display for your Mac with just the click of a button. The Apple Pencil works with ‌Sidecar‌, so you can turn your ‌iPad‌ into a drawing tablet in apps like Photoshop and Illustrator.

Your Apple Watch can be used to approve security prompts for passwords and other info in macOS Catalina, and Macs with a T2 chip now support Activation Lock, making them more secure. There's a new Find My that brings the ‌Find My‌ Mac app to the Mac for the first time and even lets you track your devices when they're offline, or, in the case of notebooks, closed.

Screen Time is available on the Mac as well as iOS devices, and Project Catalyst, a new Apple initiative, will let developers easily port their ‌iPad‌ apps over to the Mac to increase the number of Mac apps available.

There's a new Photos interface that surfaces your best photos organized by day, month, or year, there's a new start page in Safari, Mail has new tools for muting email threads and blocking senders, and the Reminders app has been overhauled.

32-bit apps no longer work in macOS Catalina, which is something to be aware of before installing the beta.

For more details on macOS Catalina, make sure to check out our macOS Catalina roundup. Apple is planning to release macOS Catalina sometime in October.

Apple plans to release a lower-priced "iPhone SE 2" in the first quarter of 2020, according to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In a research note with TF International Securities, obtained by MacRumors, Kuo said the device will feature a similar form factor design and specifications as the iPhone 8, with a faster A13 chip and 3GB of RAM:

We forecast that Apple will launch the more affordable iPhone SE2 in 1Q20. For the most part, the form factor design and hardware spec are similar to iPhone 8's. The most significant hardware spec upgrade will be the adoption of the A13 processor and 3GB LPDDR4X. iPhone SE2 will likely increase iPhone's market share and benefit Apple's promotions for service and content. We expect that the iPhone SE2 shipment will reach 30–40mn units in 2020.

Kuo believes the "iPhone SE 2" will be the "best upgrade choice" for an estimated 100 million remaining iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users, serving as a "key growth driver" for Apple in 2020. He believes these customers have low desire for new features like Face ID and multiple cameras, suggesting the "iPhone SE 2" will stick with Touch ID and a single-lens rear camera.

Kuo's prediction lines up with multiple other sources that have claimed Apple plans to release a new lower-cost iPhone 8-esque device next year, including the Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News, Japanese publication Nikkei Asian Review, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu.

Those earlier reports indicated the device will sport a 4.7-inch display and a ‌Touch ID‌ home button like the iPhone 8. Apple continues to sell the iPhone 8 from $449, while the iPhone SE was $349 prior to being discontinued. When new, the iPhone 8 and iPhone SE started at $699 and $399 respectively.

Epistar president Chin-Yung Fan said his company's clients are developing notebooks, tablets, smartphones, and monitors with Mini-LED backlighting systems, which will naturally boost demand for Mini-LEDs in the second half of 2020, according to Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes.

Epistar is an Apple supplier, leading to the possibility that the iPhone maker is one of the unnamed clients working on Mini-LED products, as previously rumored, but Epistar declined to comment on any specific clients.

Last week, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of investor firm TF International Securities said Apple plans to release an iPad with a Mini-LED display between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, followed by a MacBook with a Mini-LED display in the first or second quarter of 2021.

Kuo said Epistar will be one of Apple's suppliers for those iPad and MacBook models. Epistar is the largest LED manufacturer in Taiwan.

Kuo expects the iPad and MacBook to be positioned at the high end of their respective product lines due to costly Mini-LED display components, suggesting they will be iPad Pro and MacBook Pro models. He previously said the iPad will have a 10-12 inch screen and the MacBook will fall in the 15-17 inch range.

Kuo added that the Mini-LED backlit displays will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays used on the latest iPhones, including good wide color gamut performance, high contrast and dynamic range, and local dimming for truer blacks.

The future iPad and MacBook displays will each use approximately 10,000 LEDs, compared to 576 in Apple's upcoming Pro Display XDR, according to Kuo. Each LED is said to be very small — below 200 microns in size.

Apple continues to use traditional LCDs across its entire iPad and Mac lineups for now, but if this rumor proves to be accurate, we can expect the first Mini-LED models within the next 12 to 18 months or so. Prices will likely start on the higher side, but the technology should shuffle its way down the lineup over the years.