MacRumors

Apple's mobile apps are often first in App Store search results ahead of competitors, according to a new analysis done by The Wall Street Journal.

For basic searches like "maps," Apple's apps ranked first more than 60 percent of the time in the WSJ's testing. Apps that generate revenue like Music or Books showed up first in 95 percent of related searches.

Apple, in response to questioning from the Wall Street Journal, did its own testing and said that it had different results where its apps didn't rank first.

Apple says that it uses an algorithm that uses machine learning and past consumer preferences, leading to app rankings that often fluctuate. Apple suggested that its apps ranked first in the WSJ's testing because those apps are popular with consumers. Apple says that all apps are subjected to the same search algorithm, including its own.

"Apple customers have a very strong connection to our products and many of them use search as a way to find and open their apps," Apple said in a statement. "This customer usage is the reason Apple has strong rankings in search, and it's the same reason Uber, Microsoft and so many others often have high rankings as well."

Many of the Apple apps in the ‌App Store‌ are installed by default on iPhones and iPads, though they can now be deleted if desired. Having them available in the ‌App Store‌ lets customers who have deleted them restore them when needed.

In one example, the WSJ highlights the audiobooks search category. The top spot was held by AudioBooks.com for two years before it was unseated by the Apple Books app last September, which led to a 25 percent decline in AudioBooks.com's daily app downloads. Apple Books ranks first for audiobooks, books, and reader searches, leading the audiobooks category because of "user behavior data" and the "audiobooks" keyword, says Apple.

Similarly, Apple Maps ranks first in a search for "maps," while the TV app and the iTunes Store come up first in searches for keywords like "tv," "movies," and "videos."

The ‌Wall Street Journal‌ suggests that Apple's ‌App Store‌ dominance gives Apple an upper hand, especially as many default apps are not held to the same standards that third party apps are required to adhere to. Many Apple apps, for example, do not feature reviews or ratings, which is one of the factors that influence search results along with downloads.

There are a total of 42 factors used to determine where apps rank in search, but the factors with the most influence are downloads, ratings, relevance, and user behavior. User behavior includes the number of times that users select an app after a search and then go on to download it, according to Apple.

Apple is facing legal battles over its ‌App Store‌ policies. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that a lawsuit accusing Apple of anticompetitive behavior for requiring apps to be sold through the ‌App Store‌ could continue, and the European Commission has asked Apple for answers after Spotify accused it of anticompetitive ‌App Store‌ business practices related to the fee that Apple collects from app developers.

The ‌Wall Street Journal‌'s full report on Apple's ‌App Store‌ search rankings can be read over on the WSJ website.

Apple plans to release an all-new 16-inch MacBook Pro in October, according to supply chain sources cited by Taiwan's Economic Daily News.

The report claims the 16-inch display will be a LCD with a 3,072×1,920 resolution, supplied by LG, matching information shared by IHS Markit analyst Jeff Lin last month. The notebook is expected to be mass produced by Foxconn and Quanta, two of Apple's largest manufacturing partners.

The supply chain sources cited also expect Apple to refresh the 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ and MacBook Air in October, but no further details were provided about those models. This also mirrors the previous report from IHS Markit.

Absent from the report is any mention of a new 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌. Since 2016, Apple has refreshed the 13-inch and 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ simultaneously, so the big question is whether the 16-inch model will immediately replace the 15-inch model or start off as an additional top-of-the-line configuration.

Of course, the 15-inch model could come later. Apple's last staggered ‌MacBook Pro‌ release was in 2015, when 13-inch models launched in March and 15-inch models followed in May. The timing is typically dictated by Intel's processor roadmap, at least until Apple switches to ARM as rumored.

Apple just updated the higher-end 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro in May, and it refreshed the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro earlier this month, so new models in the fall would certainly be soon. Apple has refreshed its entire ‌MacBook Pro‌ lineup twice in a year only once before in the Retina era, in 2013.

As for the ‌MacBook Air‌, it was also refreshed earlier this month, but the only hardware changes were the addition of a True Tone display and an updated keyboard material for improved reliability, so a processor bump is certainly a possibility in October, one year after the notebook was significantly redesigned.

Early this month, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said a new MacBook Air with a scissor keyboard would launch in the second half of 2019, but it is unclear if it is still coming. He also called for a new ‌MacBook Pro‌ with a scissor keyboard in 2020, completing its transition away from its troubled butterfly keyboard.

Likewise, 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ rumors began with Kuo. Back in February, he said the notebook would launch at some point in 2019 with an "all-new design." He has not shared any further details since, but a recent supply chain report said mass production would begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

When reading into supply chain rumors, it is often better to look at the "what" rather than the "when." While suppliers may know about new products based on components and schematics, timing is harder to predict. In this case, October is likely just a prediction given Apple often hosts a Mac event that month.

The key takeaway is that 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ rumors are now surfacing frequently, so there is a good chance the notebook is real. Whether it launches in the fall, next year, or later remains to be seen.

Apple is widely expected to unveil a trio of new iPhones in September, and 9to5Mac has revealed a few new features we can expect.

First, the report claims all three models will feature a revamped Taptic Engine codenamed "leap haptics," but it is unknown what will be different. 2019 iPhones are expected to ship without 3D Touch, with Apple moving to long-press-based context menus in iOS 13, so there could be related hardware changes.

In addition, the report says the front-facing camera on 2019 iPhones will gain support for slo-mo video recording at 120 frames per second.

Beyond that, the report corroborates some previous rumors. For example, the rumored wide-angle lens on higher-end 2019 iPhones is expected to enable users to automatically repair a photo or a video to fit in a subject that may have accidentally been cut off from the initial shot, as Bloomberg previously reported.

Earlier this year, reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said 2019 iPhones will also feature larger batteries to accommodate a two-way charging feature that would allow accessories like AirPods or an Apple Watch to charge on the back of the iPhone.

Apple's annual iPhone event is likely just over six weeks away.

Apple earlier this month introduced a surprise update to its MacBook Pro line, overhauling the entry-level 13-inch machine to bring it in line with more expensive models that were updated back in May.

We went hands-on with the new ‌MacBook Pro‌ to take a look at the new features, including a Touch Bar, an updated processor, a new keyboard, and more.

The new model replaces that row of function keys with a Touch Bar, bringing it in line with the rest of the ‌MacBook Pro‌ models. Other than that, physically, the new ‌MacBook Pro‌ looks much like the older model.

There is, however, an updated third-generation butterfly keyboard identical to the updated third-generation keyboard used in the May ‌MacBook Pro‌ refresh and the new 2019 MacBook Air.

This keyboard is made from updated materials with a new membrane that Apple says will cut down on failure rates that impact other earlier butterfly keyboards. ‌MacBook Pro‌ users should see fewer repeating and stuck keys, but the problem isn't entirely solved so these machines are already covered under Apple's keyboard repair program.

Internally, the new ‌MacBook Pro‌ is equipped with a 1.4GHz quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD, and it continues to offer two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the left side of the machine rather than the four found in the more expensive ‌MacBook Pro‌ models.

At first glance, the 1.4GHz processor looks like it might be slower than the earlier models that were available, but in practice, it's speedier because of the newer technology and the fact that it's using a four-core chip rather than a two-core chip.

Our tests found that it's faster than the earlier equivalent ‌MacBook Pro‌ models and quicker than some of the older 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models with Touch Bar. It's not even too far off some of the current 15-inch MacBook Pros. The video in this article, which is 4K and about five minutes in length, took approximately 4 minutes to export.

The entry-level 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ promises 10 hour battery life, which seemed accurate in our testing. That number is, of course, going to drop for processor intensive tasks like video editing.

Price wise, the new ‌MacBook Pro‌ is the most affordable notebook in the ‌MacBook Pro‌ line, with pricing starting at $1,299. What do you think of the new entry-level ‌MacBook Pro‌ models? Let us know in the comments.

Apple is now in advanced talks to purchase Intel's smartphone modem chip business, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with Apple's plans.

A deal that covers a portfolio of patents and staff valued at $1 billion or more could be established as soon as next week if the talks continue.

Apple and Intel have reportedly been in on and off talks for approximately a year. As reported earlier, the talks ended right around the time that Apple and Qualcomm settled their legal disputes and reached a new supply agreement.

Intel sought other buyers and found other interested parties, but discussions with Apple resumed shortly after they ended.

The Apple-Intel discussions began last summer, around the time former Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich resigned, people familiar with the matter have said. Mr. Krzanich championed the modem business and touted 5G technology as a big future revenue stream. When Bob Swan was named to that job in January, analysts said the odds of a deal rose because his focus on cleaning up Intel would require addressing the losses in the modem business.

As noted by The Wall Street Journal, purchasing Intel's modem chip business would provide Apple with a leg up on its efforts to develop its own modem chips in house, which would ultimately make the company less reliant on Qualcomm.

Apple has been working on developing its own modem chips since at least 2018, but the technology isn't expected to be ready for use in iPhones and iPads for a few years.

Intel in April announced that it was exiting the 5G smartphone modem business, sharing the news just after Apple and Qualcomm announced their new deal. Since then, Intel has been seeking a buyer for its smartphone modem business.

Apple had been planning to use Intel's 5G chips for its 2020 iPhones, but rumors suggested Intel wasn't able to meet design deadlines, souring the relationship between the two companies. Apple now plans to use Qualcomm's 5G modem chips in its 2020 iPhones and has established a deal for chips for future devices as well.

Apple's iPhone XR was the best selling iPhone in the third fiscal quarter of 2019, according to new data shared today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

The iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR models accounted for 67 percent of all U.S. iPhone sales during the third quarter of 2019, with the iPhone XR alone accounting for 48 percent of sales.

The iPhone's 48 percent share of smartphone sales during the quarter is the highest that's been seen for an individual model since the iPhone 6 in 2015, according to CIRP.

"iPhone XR has become the dominant iPhone model," said Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. "Its 48% share of sales in the quarter is the highest we've seen for an individual model since the iPhone 6 in 2015, which shared top billing with the 6 Plus, but only had two outdated legacy models offered as alternatives. Apple set out to create a competitive model, with current features like a large screen on a midsize handset, at a price that falls near the leading Android phones. It is an easy to choose the mid-point between the expensive XS and XS Max models, and the older 7 and 8 models."

The iPhone XR is Apple's most affordable iPhone, priced starting at $749 in the United States. It is similar to the iPhone XS and XS Max, but offers an LCD display instead of an OLED display along with a single-lens camera instead of a dual-lens camera.

It also comes in a range of bright colors, and due to its popularity, Apple is keeping its three iPhone lineup intact for its 2019 iPhone lineup. The 2019 iPhones will include an iPhone XS successor, an iPhone XS Max successor, and an iPhone XR successor that will continue to offer an LCD display to keep costs lower.

The next-generation iPhone XR is rumored to feature new colors, more RAM (4GB, up from 3GB), faster LTE thanks to support for 4x4 MIMO, and it could also have camera improvements in the form of a new dual-lens camera setup that would likely be similar to the current dual-lens camera in the iPhone XS and XS Max.

CIRP's research data also looked at some numbers for Apple's various services. Among iPhone buyers during the quarter, 47 percent use paid iCloud storage, while three to six percent purchased AppleCare.

35 percent of iPhone buyers use Apple Music, while 15 to 29 percent use Apple TV, Apple Podcasts, and Apple News. Apple has several other services on the horizon which could draw in more users, including ‌Apple TV‌+, its upcoming streaming service, and Apple Arcade, a gaming service that will provide access to games for a monthly fee.

Apple recently hired Steve MacManus, a former Tesla executive in charge of engineering for car exteriors and interiors, reports Bloomberg.

MacManus joined Tesla at 2015 and has also worked at Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley Motors, and Aston Martin. According to his LinkedIn profile, MacManus is now a "Senior Director" at Apple, with no additional information provided.

While his interior design skills are applicable to Apple's car team, Bloomberg believes he could also be working on other projects at Apple, beyond the development of a car. Apple is widely believed to be working on a self-driving electric vehicle project, though given the myriad rumors about it over the years, it continues to be unclear what Apple's ultimate goal is.

For some time, rumors suggested Apple had shelved plans for a physical car and was instead focusing on software, but last year, there were again hints that Apple is planning on designing its own vehicle, which Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said could launch in 2023 to 2025.

Apple and Tesla regularly hire each other's employees, and have been embroiled in hiring wars for years now. Apple in the last year has hired former Tesla drive systems vice president Michael Schwekutsch and former Tesla chief vehicle engineer Doug Field.

Nearly two weeks ago, Apple disabled the Walkie-Talkie app on the Apple Watch after discovering a bug that could allow the feature to be used to eavesdrop on others.

At the time, Apple said that it had just learned of the vulnerability and was taking the app offline while working on a fix. That fix is ready today in both iOS 12.4 and watchOS 5.3, which means the Walkie-Talkie app is once again available for use.

When disabling the Walkie-Talkie app, Apple didn't pull it off of Apple Watches, leaving the app intact but rendering it non-functional. Today's software updates fix the vulnerability and bring the app back online.

Apple said that it did not believe that the vulnerability in Walkie-Talkie was exploited to spy on anyone, but disabled the feature out of an abundance of caution.

We were just made aware of a vulnerability related to the Walkie-Talkie app on the Apple Watch and have disabled the function as we quickly fix the issue. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and will restore the functionality as soon as possible.

Although we are not aware of any use of the vulnerability against a customer and specific conditions and sequences of events are required to exploit it, we take the security and privacy of our customers extremely seriously. We concluded that disabling the app was the right course of action as this bug could allow someone to listen through another customer's iPhone without consent. We apologize again for this issue and the inconvenience.

Apple was quick to take down the Walkie-Talkie app as it suffered from another eavesdropping bug recently that received major media attention. A serious Group FaceTime bug was discovered back in January, and when exploited, it allowed callers to hear a user's audio even when the call had not been accepted.

In that situation, Apple did not remove the Group FaceTime feature until it had been publicized, despite the person who discovered the bug having submitted a report days before. Apple fixed the Group ‌FaceTime‌ bug after a week and a half, addressing it in iOS 12.1.4.

Apple will today release iOS 12.4, the fourth major update to the iOS 12 operating system that first launched in September 2018. iOS 12.4 comes more two months after the release of iOS 12.3, another major update that brought the new TV app.

The iOS 12.4 update is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the update, go to Settings --> General --> Software Update. As with all iOS updates, iOS 12.4 is free to download, but it may take some time for iOS 12.4 to propagate to all iOS users.

During the beta testing process, there were no outward-facing features or major changes discovered in iOS 12.4. According to Apple's release notes, the update introduces a new iPhone migration option to directly transfer data from an old iPhone to a new iPhone, and it introduces enhancements to Apple News+. From Apple's release notes:

iOS 12.4 introduces iPhone migration to directly transfer data from an old iPhone to a new iPhone, includes enhancements to Apple News+ and improves the security of your iPhone or iPad. This update:

iPhone migration
- Introduces the ability to wirelessly transfer data and migrate directly from an old iPhone to a new iPhone during setup

Apple News
- Makes downloaded issues accessible in the My Magazines section, both offline and online
- Adds all publications in Apple News+, including newspapers, to the catalog at the top of the News+ feed
- Adds the ability to clear downloaded magazine issues by selecting History > Clear > Clear All

Other improvements and fixes
- Includes a security fix for the Walkie-Talkie app on Apple Watch and re-enables Walkie-Talkie functionality

This release also includes support for HomePod in Japan and Taiwan.

The update was believed to include support for Apple Card, laying the foundation for Apple's new credit card, though the release notes make no mention of this. It could still add the underlying framework for ‌Apple Card‌, which is set to be launching this summer and could come at any time.

Apple today released watchOS 5.3, the seventh update to the watchOS 5 operating system that runs on modern Apple Watch models. watchOS 5.3 comes more than a month after the launch of watchOS 5.2.1, a minor update that expanded ECG availability.

watchOS 5.3 can be downloaded for free through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General -> Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the iPhone.

No new features were discovered in watchOS 5.3 during the beta testing process, but according to Apple's iOS 12.4 release notes, the new update, along with iOS 12.4, fixes a major bug in the Walkie-Talkie app that could allow it to be used to spy on people and it once again makes the Walkie-Talkie app accessible.

The watchOS 5.3 update also brings ECG support and irregular heart rhythm notifications to Apple Watch Series 4 owners in both Canada and Singapore. The ECG feature's launch in Canada comes a few months after Apple confirmed that it was working to bring ECG functionality to the Apple Watch in Canada "as quickly as possible."

Health Canada initially approved the ECG app and irregular heart rhythm notifications on Apple Watch Series 4 in May. ECG capabilities are now available in more than 25 countries, following the feature's rollout to many European countries earlier this year. A list of countries where ECG functionality is available can be found on Apple's Apple Watch feature availability website.

Apple's full watchOS 5.3 release notes:

This update includes new features, improvements and bug fixes and is recommended for all users:
- Provides important security updates including a fix for the Walkie-Talkie app
- ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 now available in Canada and Singapore
- Irregular heart rhythm notifications now available in Canada and Singapore

watchOS 5.3 may be one of the final updates to the watchOS 5 operating system as Apple shifts its focus to watchOS 6, which is currently being beta tested ahead of a planned fall release.