MacRumors

Apple yesterday announced that it has agreed to acquire the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business. The $1 billion transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals.

Understandably, the acquisition may enable Apple to accelerate development of its own 5G modem, with Reuters citing a source who claims the iPhone maker wants to have an in-house chip ready for use in some of its products by 2021, compared to previously reported timeframes of between 2022 and 2025.

Apple's transition to custom 5G modems will likely happen in phases, starting with lower-end and older models of devices, according to the report. Apple has a multiyear chipset supply agreement with Qualcomm, and a six-year patent license agreement, so it certainly does not have to rush the process.

The report does not explicitly mention the iPhone, so the first product with an Apple-designed modem could very well end up being an iPad. In any case, the transition away from Qualcomm will likely take years, as its modems lead the industry in performance and worldwide compatibility.

In the interim, Intel is expected to supply LTE modems for 2019 iPhones, with Apple returning to Qualcomm for the first 5G-enabled iPhones in 2020.

Apple's highly anticipated launch of Apple Card is on schedule and will launch in the U.S. in just a few weeks, reports Bloomberg this morning.

The Apple Card is targeted to launch as early as the first half of August. That timing means the project is on schedule for the summer release date that Apple first announced in March.

According to the report, iPhone users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app, which will have built-in ‌Apple Card‌ support as part of the latest iOS 12.4 update.

Apple is partnering with Goldman Sachs for the card, which is going to be optimized for Apple Pay but will still work like a traditional credit card for all of your transactions. Apple's virtual credit card will also be available as a physical titanium card for use at merchants that don't accept ‌Apple Pay‌.

According to today's report, Apple expressed misgivings in May about the underlying technology Goldman Sachs had developed to power the credit card, and Apple asked the bank for changes to be made.

However, ‌Apple Card‌'s summer launch still appears to be on track, so Goldman Sachs presumably allayed Apple's concerns in time. The bank is responsible for the underlying infrastructure, managing payment disputes, handling transaction data and collating information for monthly statements.

Thousands of Apple employees have been testing the ‌Apple Card‌, which offers 3% cash back on Apple purchases, 2% cash back on all ‌Apple Pay‌ transactions, and 1% cash back on all other purchases.

According to Apple, signing up for ‌Apple Card‌ will be as simple as opening up the Wallet app, tapping on the ‌Apple Card‌ interface, and walking through the activation steps. Purchases are tracked in the Wallet app, providing a breakdown of spending across different categories like health, food, shopping, and more.

Bloomberg says Apple has also been discussing an expansion into Europe with financial regulators.

For a look at the ‌Apple Card‌ and what to expect when it launches, make sure to check out our dedicated Apple Card guide.

As rumored, Apple today announced that it has signed an agreement with Intel that will see Apple purchasing the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business.

Approximately 2,200 Intel employees will be joining Apple, and Apple will also take over Intel's related intellectual property, equipment, and leases, in a transaction that's valued at $1 billion. At $1 billion, this is Apple's second largest known acquisition after Beats.

Combined with Apple's existing wireless technology patents, the Intel acquisition will give Apple more than 17,000 wireless technology patents in total, ranging from "protocols for cellular standards to modem architecture and operation." Apple says that Intel will continue to develop modems for non-smartphone applications, such as PCs, internet-of-things devices, and autonomous vehicles.

Apple's VP of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji said that Apple is excited to gain new engineers with expertise in modem development, with the Intel team set to join Apple's cellular technologies group.

"We've worked with Intel for many years and know this team shares Apple's passion for designing technologies that deliver the world's best experiences for our users," said Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. "Apple is excited to have so many excellent engineers join our growing cellular technologies group, and know they'll thrive in Apple's creative and dynamic environment. They, together with our significant acquisition of innovative IP, will help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward."

The acquisition, says Srouji, will allow Apple to expedite its development on future products, which likely includes the Apple-designed modem chip that's in the works. To reduce its reliance on Qualcomm and other modem chip suppliers, Apple has been working on developing its own modem chip. That technology won't be ready for another few years, but the acquisition of Intel's modem chip business could allow Apple to significantly speed up its modem chip development.

Intel CEO Bob Swan said that selling Intel's smartphone modem chip business to Apple will allow Intel to putting its 5G efforts into other areas.

"This agreement enables us to focus on developing technology for the 5G network while retaining critical intellectual property and modem technology that our team has created," said Intel CEO Bob Swan. "We have long respected Apple and we're confident they provide the right environment for this talented team and these important assets moving forward. We're looking forward to putting our full effort into 5G where it most closely aligns with the needs of our global customer base, including network operators, telecommunications equipment manufacturers and cloud service providers."

Rumors earlier this week suggested Apple was in advanced talks with Intel and that a deal could be announced in the near future. Apple and Intel have been having discussions about an Apple acquisition of its smartphone modem business since last year.

The talks paused temporarily when Qualcomm and Apple settled their legal differences and reached a new supply agreement, but resumed not too long afterwards. Intel announced back in April that it was planning to exit the 5G smartphone business, sharing the new shortly after the new Qualcomm/Apple deal was announced.

Apple was planning to use Intel's 5G chips in its 2020 iPhones because of its legal battle with Qualcomm, but rumors suggested Intel wasn't able to meet design deadlines, souring the relationship between the two companies. Apple mended ties with Qualcomm and will now use Qualcomm's 5G chips in its 2020 iPhones.

Apple has established a deal with Qualcomm for chips for future devices as well, and will likely rely on Qualcomm until its own modem chips are ready to be deployed.

Apple says that it expects the purchase of Intel's smartphone modem chip business to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.

Apple isn't planning to launch a 5G iPhone until 2020, but carriers in the United States and other smartphone manufacturers like Samsung are already testing 5G, which offers download speeds that are much faster than 4G.

Verizon invited MacRumors to Chicago to test its 5G network, giving us an idea of what 5G speeds will be like when we can use 5G networks on our iPhones in 2020.

Because there aren't iPhones compatible with 5G networks, we tested 5G speeds in Chicago with an LG V50 and a Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, two smartphones that are Android-based.

Verizon has 5G in a few cities right now, in a limited number of locations, which is why we needed to visit Chicago to test it out. Verizon and other carriers are working on the 5G rollout, but it's a slow process that's still going to be ongoing even when 5G iPhones launch.

There are several 5G nodes scattered across Chicago right now, in the downtown area and in popular tourist areas near Willis Tower and the famous Bean.

In our testing with a 5G Android phone, we were able to hit download speeds of close to 2Gb/s, which is incredible compared to 4G LTE speeds. Near 2Gb/s was the fastest speed we saw, but since 5G is still new and still rolling out, there were inconsistencies.

Sometimes, a speed test on 5G could be under 100Mb/s, and then a retest right after would reach close to 1Gb/s. That's not unexpected because Verizon is using mmWave 5G that's super speedy, but can be impacted by nearby buildings, trees, windows, and sometimes, even heat from direct sunlight.

Verizon and other carriers have a lot of work to do on their 5G rollouts before 5G transfer speeds are ubiquitous, and even then, the highest speeds will be limited to urban areas due to the limitations of mmWave spectrum.

5G speeds in real world usage are impressive and are going to make the next-generation iPhones amazing. Streaming music and movies worked flawlessly, and we were even able to download an episode of Stranger Things (200 to 300MB) from Netflix in just a few seconds. PUBG, a 2Gb mobile game, downloaded nearly instantaneously on a 5G connection.

So when the 5G iPhones launch in 2020 and you're able to connect to a 5G network, you can expect flawless streaming, super fast download speeds for movies and games, instantly loading web pages, and more.

Verizon is still working on upload speeds, which are basically still relying on 4G and not taking advantage of 5G, but eventually, uploading content will be just as speedy.

Android manufacturers are rolling out 5G smartphones this year to be first, but iPhone users aren't likely missing much having to wait until 2020 just because 5G networks are still so limited and connectivity is still spotty as carriers like Verizon work to build out the connectivity.

Right now, Verizon is rolling out 5G to 30 cities, and it's available in Denver, Minneapolis, Providence, St. Paul, and Chicago, where we tested. It’s not really clear what 5G pricing will be at when it’s more widely available from all of the major carriers, but Verizon is so far saying it will be a $10 add-on to unlimited plans that currently start at $85 for a single line, although Verizon is waiving that fee during the early stages of the rollout.

For more on the ‌5G iPhone‌, the benefits of 5G, and how 5G will work, make sure to check out our 5G iPhone guide.

Apple is planning to use a scissor mechanism rather than a butterfly mechanism for its upcoming 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a note to investors that was obtained by MacRumors.

Kuo continues to believe the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ will come in the fourth quarter of 2019, and now, he says Apple will use the more durable scissor mechanism that he previously said would not be used in the ‌MacBook Pro‌ lineup until 2020.

We have revised our prediction that the keyboard of the 16-inch MacBook Pro that will launch in 4Q19 will feature the scissor mechanism instead of the butterfly mechanism. The refresh versions of other MacBook models in 2020 will change to adopt the scissor mechanism keyboard, too. We estimate that shipments of MacBook models that choose scissor mechanism keyboards will reach 400k, 10mn, and 16mnunits, respectively.

Kuo believes that after the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ launches, future Macs coming in 2020 will also swap over to a scissor mechanism rather than a butterfly mechanism, resulting in more durable keyboards that are not as prone to failure from heat, dust and other small particulates.

In a previous note, Kuo said that the scissor mechanism that Apple will use will improve the typing experience by offering longer key travel and better durability by adopting a glass fiber for a reinforced structure. A keyboard with a scissor mechanism will be thicker than the butterfly keyboard, but Kuo believes that most users won't be able to tell the difference.

Kuo says that Apple's higher requirements for the scissor keyboard will result in an average selling price of $25 to $30 for the keyboard component, higher than the general ASP of $8 to $12 for this kind of keyboard. Apple supplier Sunrex is expected to provide scissor-based keyboards for the company.

Apple switched over to a thinner keyboard with a butterfly mechanism in the 2015 MacBook, and has since used the same butterfly keyboard in all of its notebook refreshes.

The butterfly keyboard has been prone to failure, despite several design revisions. Apple's newest Mac notebooks use an updated third-generation butterfly keyboard that is supposed to cut down on failure rates with a membrane and new build materials, but Apple has not been able to solve the butterfly keyboard problem entirely.

Negative public opinion, multiple lawsuits, and ongoing issues with all keyboards in Mac notebooks released since 2015 have led Apple to launch a keyboard repair program that applies to all Macs with a butterfly keyboard, including 2019 models.

Apple will repair all butterfly keyboards that experience issues at no cost for four years from the Mac's original date of purchase, but the problem won't be fixed until Apple swaps over to a new keyboard design that's more durable.

Though Apple already refreshed the ‌MacBook Pro‌ in May and July with updated processors, a Touch Bar for the entry-level machines, and other improvements, rumors about a second refresh in 2019 continue to persist. Apple is said to be working on the aforementioned 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, which could perhaps launch as soon as September or October.

Along with a scissor keyboard mechanism, rumors have suggested the new 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ will have a 3072 x 1920 display with slimmer bezels than the current ‌MacBook Pro‌ models. Kuo's note suggests that the new machine will perhaps be sold alongside existing 13 and 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models going forward.

The winners of the 12th annual iPhone Photography Awards were unveiled today.

This year's recipients were selected from thousands of entries from over 140 countries around the world, including Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Peru, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The grand prize winner is Gabriella Cigliano of Italy for her entry "Big Sister," shot on an iPhone X in Zanzibar, Africa:

Last year I spent a month in Wasa, Tanzania, teaching a class of young, curious and amazing guys. Before heading back to Italy we stopped in Zanzibar, where this photo was taken. I still wonder how could I capture that exact moment in all its beauty. I was just observing, a few meters from them, but they were probably more curious about me than I was about them, and that's probably why the girl was looking at me. We couldn't talk much, except for a few words in Swahili I had learned in the previous weeks, but those kids could definitely talk with their eyes. It was one of the most beautiful things I've seen in my life, and I'll keep it in my memories forever. The best part was showing them and their mums the photos, for some it was the first time they were seeing their faces, and their excitement was unexplainable, unfortunately my iPhone was in their hands and I couldn't capture that!

A few more winning photos:

Head over to the iPhone Photography Awards website for the full lists of winning photos and winning photographers.

Apple CEO Tim Cook congratulated last year's winners on Twitter.

Apple had more installed solar energy capacity in the United States than any other company as of the end of 2018, according to a new report released by the Solar Energy Industries Association (via CNBC).

Apple led the way with 393.3 megawatts of installed solar energy capacity, topping Amazon and Target at 329.8 megawatts and 242.4 megawatts respectively. Google trailed in sixth with 142.9 megawatts. The rankings are based on both on-site and off-site solar installations in the United States.

Last year, Apple announced that all of its global facilities, including retail stores, offices, and data centers, are now powered with 100 percent renewable energy. Apple Park, for example, is powered by a 17-megawatt rooftop solar installation, four megawatts of biogas fuel cells, and other clean sources.

"We're going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish new creative and forward-looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Apple's supply chain is currently aiming to produce components for up to 75 million iPhones in the second half of this year, roughly the same as in the same time period last year, according to Bloomberg. The production targets suggest Apple expects iPhone demand to stabilize this year after recent dips in unit sales largely offset by increases in average prices.

Jeff Pu at GF Securities estimates that shipments of newly released iPhones will rise to 74 million in the second half, up about 7% from his estimate of 69 million last year, while TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecast that Apple would sell 75 million to 80 million new iPhones in the second half of 2018. This year’s volumes may signal stabilization after a year of uncertainty, though that’s a far cry from the double-digit growth numbers of years past.

As Bloomberg notes, the fact that suppliers are planning for production of 75 million units doesn't mean Apple will sell that many, but suppliers are also reportedly capable of pushing output to 80 million units if demand calls for it. As always, Apple will assess demand following the launch of the new iPhones and adjust production accordingly.

Apple has also stopped publicly reporting unit sales of iPhones and other products in its quarterly earnings releases, making it more difficult for analysts and others to track those numbers over time and requiring them to calculate unit sales based on reported revenue numbers and estimated average prices.

We're expecting this year's new iPhones to look very similar to the current lineup, with three new models serving as successors to the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR at the same display sizes. The most obvious external difference will be the rear camera, which will be housed in a square bump and see the iPhone XS and XS Max successors bump up to three lenses from the current two while the iPhone XR successor moves from one lens to two.

For more details on what we expect with the next iPhones in terms of design and capabilities, check out our recent hands-on video with dummy units and our dedicated 2019 iPhone roundup.