MacRumors

Japan's Fair Trade Commission is investigating Apple to determine whether it pressured Japanese suppliers and abused its position of power, thereby violating antimonopoly rules, reports Reuters.

The FTC in Japan surveyed Japanese companies and found that Apple had signed contracts forcing its partners to provide free technology and know-how for parts manufacturing.

When one of the companies called Apple's contract an infringement of intellectual property rights and demanded a revision, Apple allegedly threatened to end the business relationship between the two companies.

Apple has not commented on the report, but this is just one of several antitrust investigations that have been launched in recent months.

In South Korea, Apple has been accused of offering local carriers unfair iPhone contracts that require them to pay advertising and repair costs, and in Europe, the European Union is investigating Apple's App Store policies following an accusation from Spotify that said Apple uses its ‌App Store‌ to deliberately disadvantage other app developers.

In the United States, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating the impact of Apple's sales agreement with Amazon on independent resellers, and the U.S. has also launched a broad antitrust review into major tech companies.

Spam phone calls have become increasingly problematic in the United States over the course of the last few years, and most people receive multiple spam calls per week, and some, per day.

Apple is aiming to help combat spam phone calls in iOS 13 with a new "Silence Unknown Callers" feature, which does what the name suggests - it silences incoming phone calls from numbers that are not in your contacts list. In our latest YouTube video, we checked out this feature to demonstrate just how it works.

Silenced means sent straight to voicemail without the phone ringing at all, but the person does have the chance to leave a voice message. The person being blocked still hears the standard number of rings before voicemail picks up, so there's no real indication that Silence Unknown Callers is on.

For a call to come through with Silence Unknown Callers turned on, it needs to be added to the Contacts list. A number previously sent in an email (iOS can sometimes recognize phone numbers from emails) does not green light a call to go through. If you call a number that was sent straight to voicemail, however, it is no longer recognized as an unknown number even if that number isn't added to your contacts.

Silence Unknown Callers is a simple solution, but it's not identifying spam calls or risky numbers specifically. It's blocking out all unknown numbers, which may not always be a desirable solution. Still, those silenced callers can leave voicemails and the numbers are listed in the Recents list in the Phone app, so this is a solid way to cut down on calls that you don't want if you're contacted by a lot of spammers.

You can turn on the Silence Unknown Callers feature in iOS 13 by opening up the Settings app, selecting the Phone section, scrolling down to "Call Silencing and Blocked Contacts" and toggling the Silence Unknown Callers option to the on position.

Silence Unknown Callers is activated right now in both the iOS 13 developer and public betas, and it will be available for everyone with an iOS 13-compatible iPhone when iOS 13 launches this fall.

Ahead of the upcoming launch of the Apple Card, Apple's wallet.apple.com website is active, providing details on the application process. The site also suggests Apple has sent out email invitations for an "‌Apple Card‌ Preview" to some customers.

Customers who have received an email invitation to the ‌Apple Card‌ Preview can sign up for ‌Apple Card‌ in the Wallet app on the iPhone or by going to Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay on the iPad. Apple's wallet site has a tutorial video on the activation steps.

Within the Wallet app, ‌Apple Pay‌ can be accessed by tapping on the "+" button to add a new card and selecting the "‌Apple Card‌" entry. Applicants will be asked to fill in personal information before receiving details on their ‌Apple Card‌ with credit limit and APR if approved.

Customers who choose to activate ‌Apple Pay‌ will be able to use it immediately after it is added to the Wallet app, and a physical card will come within a few days.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or lawful residents of the United States and must be 18 years of age or older. The most recent version of iOS is required, as is an iPhone that can use ‌Apple Pay‌.

It's not clear how many customers are receiving emails to test out the ‌Apple Card‌ ahead of its launch, but it should be made available for everyone within the next couple of weeks.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said last Tuesday that the ‌Apple Card‌ will launch in August, so it could be coming any day now. Goldman Sachs last week made its Customer Agreement available providing more detail on the ‌Apple Card‌, and for questions about how everything will work, make sure to check out our Apple Card guide.

Apple will launch an iPhone equipped with both Face ID and an on-display fingerprint sensor in 2021, according to a new investor note by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and obtained by MacRumors.

Kuo's prediction is based on Apple's patents related to fingerprint on display (FOD) and the continued use of the technology in Android smartphones, which together suggest to him that Apple will opt to bring fingerprint scanning back to its smartphone screens.

In terms of technology, we predict that four critical technical issues of FOD will significantly improve in 12–18 months, including module thickness, sensing area, power consumption, and lamination yield rate. Therefore, we believe that Apple will launch the new iPhone equipped with both Face ID and FOD to enhance security and convenience thanks to the multi-biometrics.

Apple has effaced fingerprint recognition entirely in its flagship smartphone lineup, which includes the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and LCD-based iPhone XR. Chinese mobile vendors meanwhile have gone in the opposite direction and extended the adoption of in-display fingerprint sensing technology from their premium smartphones to mid-range models, where they've proved just as popular.

Apple was widely rumored to be attempting to integrate Touch ID under the display on 2017's iPhone X, but the company ditched any form of fingerprint scanning after hitting "early line of sight" with ‌Face ID‌. However, Kuo argues that ‌Face ID‌ and FOD technologies are "complementary, not competitive," because multi-biometrics would offer authentication processes in circumstances where one or the other was inconvenient to use or simply unavailable.

Kuo believes that GIS and Qualcomm will benefit from iPhone's adoption of FOD, with the former providing the "large-area sensing ultrasonic" technology and the latter supplying the ultrasonic FOD module and lamination. Kuo also argues that the likelihood of FOD in iPhones will increase if Apple Watch supports a biometric function in the future.

Last month, Chinese media sources claimed Apple intends to launch a new iPhone for the budget-conscious Chinese market that features an under-display fingerprint sensor. However, those reports said the fingerprint scanning would replace rather than augment ‌Face ID‌ technology, which was deemed too expensive.

Barclays analysts also recently claimed that 2020 model iPhones will have acoustic fingerprint technology that could allow for full-screen ‌Touch ID‌, following meetings with suppliers in Apple's Asian supply chain.

Before these reports, the consensus was that Apple is done with ‌Touch ID‌ in smartphones, despite having explored various in-display fingerprint scanner solutions in the past, including fingerprint sensing MicroLED displays. However, ‌Touch ID‌ has found a new lease of life on laptop keyboards, specifically in Apple's MacBook Pro range and the MacBook Air.

Apple's domestic pricing and shipment forecasts aren't likely to be impacted by U.S. tariffs thanks to "proper preparations" made by the tech giant, according to a new investor note by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and obtained by MacRumors.

Financial markets were rattled last week by President Donald Trump's surprise announcement of 10 percent tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese imports, effective September 1, in retaliation for moves by the Chinese government.

It's still unclear if Apple's products will come under the tariffs on toys, games, and consumer electronics, but if they do, Kuo believes Apple will absorb most of the additional costs in the mid-short term while increasing its non-Chinese production locations to avoid rising costs in the long run.

In the mid-short term, if Apple absorbs most of the additional costs due to tariffs, there will be a negative impact on its profits from its hardware business, but the company will reap benefits in its brand image and relationships with suppliers. We also believe that the negative impact on Apple are limited and temporary because the profit from service business is growing, and non-Chinese production locations will gradually increase.

Apple has been expanding production in India and Vietnam as part of a strategy to diversify product manufacturing beyond China. Kuo thinks Apple's non-Chinese production locations could meet most of the demand from the U.S. market after two years. Specifically, he believes iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch manufacturing could meet demand as early as next year, but adequate Mac production outside of China won't be achieved before 2021.

The predictions stand in contrast to recent comments made by Apple CEO Tim Cook during his July earnings call, in which he was asked about Apple potentially moving out of China. Cook responded: "There's been a lot of speculation about this, [but] I wouldn't put much stock in it. Parts come from everywhere, including the U.S. We currently make the Mac Pro in the US and would like to continue that."

Earlier last month, Apple asked for a U.S. import tariff exemption on parts for the new Mac Pro, which President Trump said would be denied.

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.

Apps designed for the Mac don't typically receive as much attention as apps made for iPhones and iPads, so we have a series here at MacRumors designed to highlight useful and interesting Mac apps worth checking out and potentially investing in.

This month's picks include apps for overhauling your Touch Bar, updating forgotten Mac apps, controlling music, managing windows, and more, with many of these apps recommended by MacRumors readers.

• MacUpdater ($9.99) - MacUpdater is a simple little app that keeps track of the updates for all of the apps installed on your Mac so you can see at a glance which apps are out of date and need updating. It's super useful for apps that have been installed outside of the Mac App Store. You can scan your apps for free using MacUpdater, but updating more than 10 costs $9.99.
• Moom ($9.99) - Moom is an app that's designed to let you quickly and easily move and resize windows on your Mac. It has preset sizes and locations, and also lets you draw grids to create custom window display sizes. There are also custom controls for moving, zooming, moving windows to a secondary display, centering, resizing and more, and window layouts can be saved.
• Background Music (Free) - Background Music is an audio utility that's designed to automatically pause your music player when other audio starts playing on your Mac, unpausing it afterwards. It also offers per-application volume controls so you can make certain apps quieter than others, and it has an option for recording system audio.
• GoldenChaos BTT (Free) - GoldenChaos BTT is a Touch Bar replacement interface that lets you overhaul the way that your Touch Bar works. It lets you change up the Home Strip, access modifier menus with the app switcher, control strip, window snapping controls, and more, and customize the size of dynamic menu options. It supports dock badges, widgets, and more. GoldenChaos is free, but requires BetterTouchTool, a Touch Bar customization app that costs $7.50.
• EasyFinder (Free) - EasyFinder is a menu bar app that offers up quick access to important and frequently used files and folders, so you can get to what you need with just a click or two. You can add files and folders in different categories like Personal, Work, and Others, and you can get to that content right from the menu bar.

If you have a favorite must-have Mac app that we haven't highlighted yet, let us know in the comments, and we might feature it in a future video. For more of our Mac app picks, make sure to check out our Mac app archives.

Ahead of the launch of the Apple Card, the customer agreement for the card has been found on the Goldman Sachs website [PDF], offering up a look at the ins and outs of how it will work.

Most of the details included in customer agreement have already been shared or leaked in previous reports, but this puts all of the information in one easy to access spot.

The agreement goes over eligibility (an Apple ID and two-factor authentication are required), how accounts may be used (no illegal activity), credit limit details, eligible devices, returns, payment info, fees (there are none) and more. Goldman Sachs expressly forbids jailbreaking a device associated with an ‌Apple Card‌, and says that doing so could result in the closure of the ‌Apple Card‌ account.

If you make unauthorized modifications to your Eligible Device, such as by disabling hardware or software controls (for example, through a process sometimes referred to as "jailbreaking"), your Eligible Device may no longer be eligible to access or manage your Account. You acknowledge that use of a modified Eligible Device in connection with your Account is expressly prohibited, constitutes a violation of this Agreement, and could result in our denying or limiting your access to or closing your Account as well as any other remedies available to us under this Agreement.

It also covers Daily Cash back, the feature that will let customers get a daily payout when making purchases. Goods purchased directly from Apple earn 3%, Apple Pay purchases earn 2%, and all other transactions earn 1%. If a transaction fulfills two categories, such as an ‌Apple Pay‌ purchase in an Apple Store, customers get the highest payout.

Daily Cash is paid out based on the amount of each transaction, multiplied by the appropriate percentage for the transaction type. Daily Cash is rounded up to the nearest cent and provided via the Apple Cash card in the Wallet app. Customers without an Apple Cash card will have Daily Cash accrue that can be applied as a payment credit using the Wallet app.

The document has details on how interest rates are determined, how daily balances are collected, when interest begins to accrue (it works like any standard credit card), how minimum payments are calculated, and when payments should be made to avoid interest (11:59 p.m. ET on the last calendar day of the month).

Your Account automatically has a "Grace Period on New Transactions" in a month where your New Balance for the prior month is $0 or a credit balance. Your Account will also obtain a Grace Period on New Transactions in a month if your Account has a New Balance for the prior month that is greater than $0 and you pay the New Balance for the prior month on or before its payment due date. In a month in which your Account qualifies for a Grace Period on New Transactions, we will not charge interest during that month on any new Transactions that post to your Account.

Payments can be made via an Apple Cash account or a bank account located in the United States, and Goldman Sachs will not issue cards tied to an account in another person's name. So, in other words, one card per ‌Apple ID‌.

For those interested in more specifics on how the ‌Apple Card‌ will work, the customer agreement is worth a look and can be found on the Goldman Sachs website. Our Apple Card guide also has a detailed look at everything you need to know about ‌Apple Card‌.

Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the ‌Apple Card‌ would launch in August, so it could become available as soon as next week.

Last year, Apple began selling many of its products on Amazon, including the latest iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. As part of Apple's agreement with Amazon, unauthorized resellers who offered new or refurbished Apple products on Amazon had their listings removed after January 4, 2019.

Since then, independent sellers have been required to apply for Apple Authorized Reseller status and the Amazon Renewed program to continue to offer used or refurbished Apple products on Amazon, but this is not always feasible due to hefty requirements outlined by The Verge earlier this year:

The first is to purchase at least $2.5 million worth of refurbished inventory every 90 days from Apple itself or through a retailer with more than $5 billion in annual sales, like a wireless carrier or big-box retailers like Target or Walmart. The second is to reach out directly to Apple to become an authorized reseller. Apple has yet to make its reseller requirements known to the public, but to become an Apple-authorized provider of repairs requires a physical retail space for customers to enter.

Now, The Verge reports that the FTC has looked into the Apple-Amazon deal, although it has yet to formally raise any antitrust concerns.

Specifically, the report claims that FTC lawyers recently reached out to John Bumstead, a Minnesota man who sold refurbished MacBooks on Amazon until his listings were removed from the platform due to the new policy:

"They wanted to know how Amazon works, how eBay works. I went into describing how a listing works on Amazon. Amazon is interesting in that you don't necessarily create a listing. You just sort of tag on to an existing listing," Bumstead tells The Verge. "If that listing gets deleted, chances are you're not allowed to sell that product. That's how Amazon did this. They created a bunch of renewed listings from the people who were certified, and they let those people sell on those listings, and they abandoned everyone else."

Bumstead has been vocal since being squeezed out of Amazon, arguing that a significant number of lower-cost refurbished or used Apple products are no longer available through Amazon, reducing choice for consumers. Apple would likely argue that it is cutting down on the availability of counterfeit products to protect consumers, although it has not officially commented on the deal since it went into effect.

The Verge claims that "experts say the Apple-Amazon deal could easily be grounds for an antitrust complaint," citing Sally Hubbard, the director of enforcement strategy at the OpenMarkets Institute:

"You put a gate around the brand and say all the third-party sellers of whatever that brand is get a notice saying you can no longer sell this product on our platform unless you get authorization from the brand," Hubbard tells The Verge. "But of course the brand is not going to let you sell if you're under the [minimum advertised price]. Problem is that it's illegal under antitrust law."

Whether the FTC shares that view and/or takes action remains to be seen.