MacRumors

Apple today updated its Events app for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV in preparation for the October 30th event that's expected to see the debut of new iPad Pro models and several new Macs.

The updated Events app can be downloaded from the tvOS App Store, and it features artwork from the media invites that were sent out last week.

Apple's Events app, along with the Events section of Apple's website, will be used to live stream the unveiling of the new products. This event is being held in New York City, which means it will start at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time rather than 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

The Events app on the Apple TV will list the start time relevant to your own location, listing 10:00 a.m. for people on the East Coast and 7:00 a.m. for people on the West Coast.

As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple has also listed several Today at Apple sessions to allow customers to sign up to watch the unveiling at a local Apple Store. These events are available in several stores in the UK, Dubai, and Toronto.

For those who are unable to watch Apple's live stream, MacRumors will have live coverage of the event on MacRumors.com and on our MacRumorsLive Twitter account.

Apple has effectively disabled the GrayKey iPhone unlocking device used by law enforcement agencies to crack the passcodes on iPhones, reports Forbes.

Multiple anonymous sources have told Forbes that the GrayKey box is unable to obtain the passcodes of any iPhone or iPad running iOS 12 or later.

On these devices, law enforcement agencies are limited to a partial extraction that provides unencrypted files and metadata like file size and folder structure.

It is not clear what method Apple used to block GrayKey access to iPhones running iOS 12 and later. Vladimir Katalov, CEO of ElcomSoft, said Apple's method is unknown.

"No idea. It could be everything from better kernel protection to stronger configuration-profile installation restrictions," he suggested. The kernel is the core part of the operating system, from which the rest of iOS launches. Configuration profiles typically allow individuals and companies to customize the ways in which iOS apps work.

Details about the GrayKey box, made by a company called Grayshift, first leaked in March of this year. Provided to law enforcement agencies, the GrayKey box connects to an iPhone and then installs proprietary software that's designed to crack the passcode of the device.

It can take as little as 6.5 minutes for the box to crack a 4-digit passcode, while a 6-digit passcode can be calculated in approximately 11 hours.

Apple in an iOS 11 update introduced a new USB Restricted Mode feature that prevents USB accessories like the GrayKey box from connecting to an iPhone or iPad if it's been more than an hour since the device was last unlocked.

It was believed that this would prevent the GrayKey device from working, but after details on USB Restricted Mode were released, forensic experts said that it had already been defeated.

It's not known if USB Restricted Mode had an impact or if Apple implemented another method for blocking the GrayKey box, but companies like Grayshift are likely to find a workaround or a new method for cracking the iPhone.

As Rochester Police Department Captain John Sherwin told Forbes, there's always a new method in the works. "Give it time and I am sure a 'workaround' will be developed ... and then the cycle will repeat," he said. Someone is always building a better mousetrap, whether it's Apple or someone trying to defeat device security."

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.

For its upcoming October 30th event, Apple sent out unique media invites this year, with a different Apple logo on each and every one. The artwork for the Apple logos varies from the abstract to the classic, with Apple tapping multiple artists for the design.

As it turns out, there were more than 350 one-of-a-kind Apple logos created for the event invites, which we're sharing in high resolution today.

A MacRumors reader was able to download the full collection of logos from Apple's site, and we've added them all to an Imgur album where they can be viewed and downloaded.

Apple's event is likely to explain where these logos came from, and there is speculation that they were designed using the upcoming iPad Pro and the rumored second-generation Apple Pencil, both of which are expected to be introduced at the October 30 event alongside new Mac models.

The October 30th event is being held in New York City, which means it will start at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time instead of the standard 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time used for West Coast events.

Apple is planning to live stream the event on its website and through the Events app on the Apple TV, but for those unable to watch, MacRumors will have live coverage here on the site and on our MacRumorsLive Twitter account.

Apple today highlighted a series of photographs that were captured using the Portrait Mode and Depth Control features of the iPhone XS, sharing the images in an Apple Newsroom article.

Apple focused on images that were shared from users around the world on social networks that include Twitter and Instagram. To find the images, Apple used the #ShotoniPhone hashtag.

All of the photos used Portrait Mode and the new Depth Control feature, which is exclusive to the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR.

Portrait Mode is designed to blur the background when capturing a subject in the foreground, while Depth Control allows you to adjust the amount of blur in the photograph for a customized look.

On the iPhone XS, Portrait Mode images with Depth Control can feature any subject, including pets, flowers, food, and more because there are two cameras to pull depth information from.

On the iPhone XR, however, it's worth noting that Portrait Mode images must include a human subject because the feature does not work unless a face can be detected.

The full range of photos Apple thought were worthy of sharing can be found in the Apple Newsroom article.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sat down for an interview with CNN, where he discussed privacy, the controversial Bloomberg story claiming Apple was hacked via tiny chips embedded in server motherboards, and why he opted to come out as gay.

On privacy law, Cook said that while he's "not a pro regulation kind of person," there are instances when the free market doesn't work and it's necessary to "take an action." Privacy, says Cook, is one of the top issues of this century, and if we don't address it now, "the problem gets so large it may be impossible to fix.

In this case, it's clear that the amount of things that can be collected about you, without your knowledge, maybe with your consent -- although it's a 70 page legal piece of paper -- isn't reasonable. And these things can be used for such nefarious things. We've seen examples of this over the last several years. We think it's time now to take this thing and put it under control.

Cook went on to say that this is an issue that's much broader than the tech industry because there are many firms out there collecting data. Privacy law is "critical to every country in the world."

According to Cook, his position is that the user should be completely in control of their data in a very transparent manner. "Your data is yours," said Cook.

On the topic of Bloomberg, Cook once again called on the news site to retract its story suggesting the Chinese government planted microchips in the Supermicro servers that it used in its data centers.

I want to be unequivocal on this. That article, the part about Apple, is 100 percent a lie. It is completely inaccurate, there is no truth behind it. We never found a malicious chip in any servers, we never reported something like that to the FBI, the FBI never contacted us about anything like that.

Cook said that the fact that the Apple portion of the article is untrue "casts doubt on the broader story," and he pointed out that Amazon has also made comments denying the truth of what Bloomberg reported.

My view is they need to retract that article because this is not doing anybody any good to have fake information out there. It doesn't do them any good, it doesn't do the cause any good. Cybersecurity is an important topic. A really important topic. We should put all of our energies into protecting the companies, the country, but not chasing a ghost.

On the topic of being gay and the Trump Administration's plan to introduce narrow definitions for gender at birth that would impact transgender rights, Cook said that he strongly believes everyone should be treated with dignity and respect, a statement he's repeated time and time again.

Cook said that he himself came out as being gay several years ago to inspire young people who were bullied and mistreated for their sexual orientation.

I was public because I began to receive stories from kids who read something online that I was gay and they were going through being bullied, feeling like their family didn't love them, being pushed out of their home, very close to suicide, things that really pulled my heart.

And started saying you know, I am a private person and so I've kept me to my small circle. And I started thinking that is a selfish thing to do at this point. I need to be bigger than that. I need to do something for them and show them that you can be gay and still go on to do some big jobs in life. That there's a path there. And that is the reason I did it.

Cook's interview with CNN followed his appearance at the 40th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, where he spoke passionately on the need for strong data protection laws in the United States.

Cook's full comments to CNN can be watched across several videos published by the site: on privacy, on Bloomberg, and on being gay.

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.

Nearly one year after reports began circling about Apple's throttling of older iPhones with degraded batteries, Italy's antitrust authority is now fining Apple 10 million euros (about $11.5 million USD) for "planned obsolescence" of its smartphones (via The Korea Herald). The fine on Apple follows Italy's investigation into iPhone battery slowdowns that began back in January, and the Italian authority is also fining Samsung $5.7 million for similar reasons.

In a statement, the Italian authority said that "Apple and Samsung implemented dishonest commercial practices" with their respective smartphones, thanks to operating system updates that "caused serious malfunctions and significantly reduced performance, thus accelerating phones' substitution."

This is the definition of planned obsolescence, which Apple has refuted numerous times in the past. Most recently, Apple's VP of marketing Greg Joswiak called the idea of planned obsolescence "the craziest thinking in the world."

According to Reuters, Apple was fined more than Samsung because it failed to give customers clear information about how to maintain or eventually replace smartphone batteries.

The anti-trust body said in a statement that some Apple and Samsung firmware updates “had caused serious dysfunctions and reduced performance significantly, thereby accelerating the process of replacing them”.

It added the two firms had not provided clients adequate information about the impact of the new software “or any means of restoring the original functionality of the products”.

When the reports began circulating in December 2017, claims were made that Apple was deliberately slowing down older iPhones that weren't operating at peak battery performance. In a response, Apple said it was aiming to smooth out the high power draw peaks that can result in shutdowns and other problems in older devices so that its customers had "the best experience."

Eventually, it was discovered that Apple quietly implemented a power management feature into iOS 10.2.1 that prevents older iPhones from shutting down during times of peak power draw, which rolled out in January 2017. Because the feature was not widely publicized until the accusations against Apple took place, many customers felt deceived by the company. In response, Apple apologized for not better explaining its actions and now offers $29 battery replacements for the iPhone 6 and later until the end of the year. On January 1, 2019, battery replacements will cost $49.

Furthermore, iOS 11.3 launched in the spring with detailed information about battery health so that customers can know if the state of their battery is impacting processor performance. With the update, the power management feature can also be turned off.

Over the course of the year, an increasing amount of countries and customers have investigated or sued Apple over "secretly throttling" older iPhones. In the spring, Apple faced more than 60 class action lawsuits over the incident, and these eventually became consolidated in one courtroom in the U.S. District Court for Northern California.

In an earnings call over the summer, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained that Apple has never done an internal analysis on how many people have bought a battery replacement instead of purchasing a new iPhone, because that statistic wasn't a factor in their decision to offer the discounted batteries. "It was never about that for us," said Cook. "It was about doing something great for the user. Treat users and customers well and you have a good business over time. That's how we look at that."

Apple CEO Tim Cook has called for a tough new U.S. data protection law to protect user privacy rights in the face of a growing "data industrial complex," in a passionately delivered speech in Europe.

Cook argued for the law during a keynote speech given today at the 40th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners (ICDPPC), which is being held in Brussels. The following quotes were published by TechCrunch.

"Our own information — from the everyday to the deeply personal — is being weaponized against us with military efficiency," warned Cook. "These scraps of data, each one harmless enough on its own, are carefully assembled, synthesized, traded and sold.

"Taken to the extreme this process creates an enduring digital profile and lets companies know you better than you may know yourself. Your profile is a bunch of algorithms that serve up increasingly extreme content, pounding our harmless preferences into harm."

"We shouldn't sugarcoat the consequences. This is surveillance," he added.

Cook went on to commend the recently enacted European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which places stricter rules on how personal data is handled by businesses and organizations, and argued for a similar law in the U.S. – a call received with applause from the conference audience.

"This year you've shown the world that good policy and political will can come together to protect the rights of everyone," he said. "It is time for the rest of the world, including my home country, to follow your lead. We in Apple are in full support of a comprehensive federal privacy law in the United States."

Cook said a U.S. privacy law should prioritize data minimization, or "the right to have personal data minimized", as well as transparency with regard to what is being collected, the right to access that data, and the right to security, which is "foundational to trust."

In his speech, Cook also drew on Apple's privacy-first approach to artificial intelligence in contrast to other tech giants, and said he felt the technology held great promise to benefit humanity, but warned that "advancing AI by collecting huge personal profiles is laziness, not efficiency."

"For artificial intelligence to be truly smart it must respect human values — including privacy. If we get this wrong, the dangers are profound. We can achieve both great artificial intelligence and great privacy standards. It is not only a possibility — it is a responsibility.”

In closing, the Apple CEO criticized tech companies who "endorse reform in public and then resist and undermine it behind closed doors." He added: "It's time to face facts. We will never achieve technology's true potential without the full faith and confidence of the people who use it."

Apple's commitment to privacy protection has become one of the company's guiding principles in recent years, as over against the increasingly publicized data mining practices of tech firms like Facebook and Google, whose CEOs are scheduled to appear at the conference later this week.

Earlier this year, for example, Cook argued for stronger data privacy regulations following what he called the "dire" Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which data on 50 million Facebook users was amassed without their consent.

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 has registered new Macs with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) this week, indicating that new models and refreshes could be just around the corner. The filings, discovered by MySmartPrice and French website Consomac, are legally required for any devices with encryption sold in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.

The Mac model numbers are A1347, A1418, A1419, A1481, A1862, A1993, A2115, A2116, A1466, A1534, A1708, A1932, A1989, A1990. Some of the numbers refer to existing models that are being updated in the registry to merely indicate they come with the latest macOS Mojave operating system, but four of the numbers currently don't have counterparts in Apple's Mac lineup. Some have also appeared in Eurasia filings earlier this year.

Apple is expected to to introduce a new entry-level 13-inch MacBook at its October 30 event in New York City. The more affordable Mac would serve as a replacement for the MacBook Air, and while details have been scant about the rumored machine, it could turn out to belong to the 12-inch MacBook family.

It's not known what the rumored 13-inch MacBook would be priced at, but the MacBook Air sells for $999, a price point Apple has thus far been unable to match with the 12-inch MacBook and the MacBook Pro.

The Mac mini, which has not been updated for more than 1,400 days, is also expected to be refreshed this month, for the first time since 2014. We don't know a lot about what to expect for the Mac mini update, but upgraded internals and faster processors are a dead cert.

Apple's iMac range is also due at least a refresh, with current models on sale having not been updated in the last 505 days. It's not inconceivable that Apple also plans to give its MacBook Pro lineup a processor bump.

Meanwhile, new iPad Pro models announced at the event are expected to adopt an iPhone X-style design with no Home button, slimmer bezels, and a TrueDepth camera system that will enable Face ID for biometric authentication, while a new updated iPad mini could also feature.

Apple's New York City event on Tuesday, October 30 will take place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Howard Gilman Opera House, kicking off at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Apple typically streams the event live on its website and on Apple TV, but for those who are unable to watch, MacRumors will be providing full event coverage both on MacRumors.com and through our MacRumorsLive Twitter account.

Popular farming simulation and RPG Stardew Valley expanded to mobile devices today, and can now be downloaded from the iOS App Store on an iPhone or iPad.

If you're unfamiliar with Stardew Valley, it's an incredibly in-depth simulation game where players are tasked with taking over a small, failing farm, working to bring it back to prosperity by planting and tending crops, raising animals, and crafting goods to sell.

Similar to games like Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley also lets players fight monsters to earn money, mine ores, fish, get to know townspeople, and engage in social activities in the town. The game cycles through different seasons with various crops and activities to partake in as the game progresses through the years, so there's always something new and exciting to do.

Stardew Valley offers hundreds of hours of gameplay, and there are no in-app purchases to deal with. A farming simulation might not sound appealing, but Stardew Valley sucks players in with crop and farm strategies, min/maxing profit each season, engaging combat, a never-ending list of achievements to earn, and so much more.

The mobile version of Stardew Valley is the full version of the game that "plays almost identically to all the other versions, but with the addition of touch-based controls suitable for the iPhone and iPad.

All single-player content from the 1.3 patch is available, but Stardew Valley for iOS does not support multiple players. If you've previously played Stardew Valley on PC or Mac (it first came out in 2016), you will be able to transfer your save data to iOS using iTunes.

Ahead of the launch of Stardew Valley, our sister site TouchArcade was able to go hands-on with the game, and TouchArcade editor-in-chief Eli Hodapp posted an in-depth review earlier today.

According to Hodapp, compared to the desktop version, the mobile port of Stardew Valley is "about as good as it possibly could be." It's a full-fledged game and while the control system isn't "super ideal," it still "more than gets the job done."

Tapping on the screen moves your character, while a toolbar lets you change the item you have equipped. Auto-combat is enabled by default, and whenever you're in range of an enemy, your character will swing automatically. It can get "wonky" though, says Hodapp, if you run into threatening enemies. Luckily, there's an option for manual contact.

It's best to play on an iPad because navigation can be difficult on an iPhone, but it's doable. All in all, Stardew Valley received TouchArcade's highest recommendation.

This game is so good it's stupid, and is my most played game on my Switch. As I mentioned in the preview, the best version of Stardew Valley is the one you have with you, so even with some minor control issues at launch, I wouldn't be surprised if I also clock in hundreds of hours of play in this version of the game. Again, if you're the kind of person who often complains about free to play games and the lack of depth in mobile games, do not hesitate to put your money where your mouth is and buy Stardew Valley.

Stardew Valley can be purchased from the App Store for $7.99. [Direct Link]

Reviews for the iPhone XR went live this morning ahead of Friday's launch, and in a press release in the Apple Newsroom, Apple has highlighted reviews from several members of the media who were able to spend some time with the new iPhones.

Apple shared key passages from sites that include Digital Trends, Daring Fireball, Tom's Guide, Mashable, Engadget, The Verge, TechCrunch, CNN, Best Products, Techradar, and more.

Mashable, for example, called the iPhone XR the "Goldilocks of iPhones" with its large screen size, affordable price tag, "fantastic" cameras, and future-proof power in the form of the A12 Bionic chip.

Daring Fireball said that the iPhone XR is the best Apple's ever made "dollar for dollar," while TechCrunch compared the device to "a piece of nicely crafted jewelry" with a "depth and sparkle" unmatched by other iPhones.

CNN praised the impressive Portrait Mode shots the camera is able to capture, The Verge lauded the work Apple did to make the rounded corners of the LCD match the corners of the device, and Digital Trends called the iPhone XR "the iPhone to buy."

Apple focused on sharing positive elements of the iPhone XR reviews, but for the most part, reviews were positive due to the iPhone XR's affordable price tag and high-end components.

The biggest difference between the XR and the XS is the LCD display over the OLED display, and reviewers thought the iPhone XR's display was one of the best LCD displays and while not as good as the OLED, it's not noticeable as long as you're not holding the two devices next to one another.

Apple's full list of review selections can be seen in the article shared via the Apple Newsroom, while additional reviews can be found in our own review roundup.

The first iPhone XR pre-orders will arrive starting on Friday, October 26, the launch date for Apple's newest flagship device.

17 years ago today, then Apple CEO Steve Jobs stood on stage at the Apple Town Hall in Cupertino, California and showed off the very first iPod, a palm-sized device that held an entire music library and helped bring Apple back to profitability.

As Jobs introduced the first iPod, he called it a quantum leap forward in technology and outlined its three major breakthrough features: ultra-portability, Apple's legendary ease of use, and auto-sync with iTunes.

iPod is an MP3 music player, has CD quality music, and it plays all of the popular formats of open music. The biggest thing about iPod is that it holds a thousand songs. Now this is a quantum leap because for most people, it's their entire music library. This is huge.

How many times have you gone on the road with a CD player and said 'Oh God, I didn't bring the CD I wanted to listen to.' To have your whole music library with you at all times is a quantum leap in listening to music. The coolest thing about iPod is that your whole music library fits right in your pocket. Never before possible.

The first-generation iPod was advertised as the device that put "1,000 songs in your pocket," with the music stored on its 5GB 1.8-inch hard drive. Priced starting at $399, the first iPod lasted for 10 hours before needing to be recharged.

Apple's original iPod featured a black and white LCD and Apple's first scroll wheel, a simple, intuitive mechanical scrolling interface designed to let users quickly scroll through long lists of music.

The scroll wheel led to the click wheel, which became an iconic feature of Apple's iPod lineup, included easy access buttons for playing, pausing, rewinding, and fast forwarding through music content.

Following the launch of the first iPod, new versions followed on a yearly basis.

Other notable updates included the iPod Photo in 2004, which had the first color display; the smaller iPod mini, which also came in 2004; the smaller and more portable iPod nano, introduced in 2005; the tiny iPod shuffle, even smaller than the nano, which came in 2005; the third-generation iPod nano "fatty" with a wider, squatter body, introduced in 2007; and the first iPod touch, also released in 2007.

Today, the iPod has been largely replaced with the iPhone, which was first introduced in 2007. Today's iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR feature music storage and Apple Music, along with messaging and calling capabilities, a full App Store, and so much more.

Apple retired the iPod nano and the iPod shuffle in July of 2017, and has slimmed down the iPod lineup to a single iPod -- the iPod touch. Apple has not updated the iPod touch since 2015, and it's likely that at some point, the entire iPod lineup may be put to rest for good.

It's not clear when that might happen, and for now, the iPod touch remains available for sale. It can be purchased from Apple for $199 for 32GB of storage or $299 for 128GB of storage.

Unfortunately, there have been no rumors of an update, so Apple's future plans for the iPod remain up in the air.