Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this morning penned a new missive outlining the company's plan to create a "privacy-focused messaging and social networking platform."
Facebook's new privacy-focused platform, which will see its core apps overhauled, will, according to Facebook, be built around principles that include private interactions, end-to-end encryption, ephemeral messages, safety, interoperability, and secure data storage.
Zuckerberg says that its services will be rebuilt "around these ideas" over the course of the next few years, and that as Facebook implements these changes (to both Facebook and Instagram), the company will be "taking positions on important issues concerning the future of the internet."
These changes will be implemented "openly and collaboratively, and Zuckerberg points out that many people likely won't believe Facebook is able to build such a privacy-focused platform.
I understand that many people don't think Facebook can or would even want to build this kind of privacy-focused platform - because frankly we don't currently have a strong reputation for building privacy protective services, and we've historically focused on tools for more open sharing. But we've repeatedly shown that we can evolve to build the services that people really want, including in private messaging and stories.
The rest of Zuckerberg's article goes into more detail about each of the core principles that Facebook will be building its social networks around. For Messenger and WhatsApp, Facebook will focus on making them "faster simpler, more private and more secure" with end-to-end encryption. Additional ways to "interact privately" with friends, groups, and businesses will be added to make interacting with friends and family "a fundamentally more private experience."
When implementing end-to-end encryption on its platforms, Facebook plans to improve its ability to identify and stop bad actors using patterns of activity to appease law enforcement agencies that will be upset with Facebook's planned encryption efforts.
We've started working on these safety systems building on the work we've done in WhatsApp, and we'll discuss them with experts through 2019 and beyond before fully implementing end-to-end encryption. As we learn more from those experts, we'll finalize how to roll out these systems.
Zuckerberg says that the company is working on ways to make messages more ephemeral, perhaps by deleting them after a month or a year by default, and as for interoperability, Facebook is going to make it possible for users to "send messages to your contacts using any of our services," something that will later be expanded to SMS interoperability.
Facebook says that much of its work is "in the early stages" and that it is committed to consulting with experts, advocates, industry partners, and governments to "get these decisions right."
If you've ever wondered how security researchers and hackers manage to bypass Apple's protections and security features to uncover iPhone vulnerabilities and other sensitive info, Motherboard is out today with a new report that has an answer.
Hackers and security researchers use rare "dev-fused" iPhones created for internal use at Apple. These dev-fused iPhones have not finished the production process and have many security features disabled. Motherboard describes them as "pre-jailbroken devices."
A dev-fused iPhone image shared with Motherboard by collector Giulio Zompetti
Dev-fused iPhones are smuggled out of Apple where they can sell for thousands of dollars on the gray market. These iPhones are incredibly valuable due to the fact that they can be used to locate vulnerabilities able to impact release versions of the iPhone.
On the back of dev-fused iPhones seen by Motherboard, there's a QR-code sticker, a separate barcode, and a decal that says "FOXCONN," referring to the factory that makes iPhones and other Apple products. Otherwise, the phones look like normal iPhones. That standard iPhone experience ends when the phone is turned on. When booted up, you briefly see a command line terminal. And then when it loads, gone are the sleek icons and colorful backgrounds of iOS.
Motherboard spent months researching dev-fused iPhones, talking to more than two dozen sources ranging from security researchers and Apple employees to rare phone collectors and jailbreakers, and found that researchers, hackers, and high-profile companies like Cellebrite or GrayKey use these dev-fused iPhones to uncover bugs that can later be exploited by law enforcement agencies.
A dev-fused iPhone was, for example, used in 2016 to study the Secure Enclave Processor, and security researchers were able to uncover valuable details on how it works. These dev-fused iPhones are stolen property and illegal to possess, but are apparently "widely used" in the iPhone hacking scene.
"If you are an attacker, either you go blind or with a few thousand dollars you have all you need," Luca Todesco, one of the most well-known iOS security researchers in the world, told Motherboard, referring to people who buy dev-fused iPhones. "Some people made the second choice."
Motherboard was able to find someone on Twitter who sells dev-fused iPhones, with a dev-fused iPhone X priced at around $1,800. The seller said that he's provided dev-fused iPhones to several security researchers and that he believes major security firms that hack iPhones also use them. Other sellers offer dev-fused iPhones at higher prices, and Motherboard found an iPhone XR priced at $20,000.
Dev-fused iPhones are paired with a proprietary Apple cable called Kanzi that can cost upwards of $2,000, that, when plugged into a Mac, provides access to internal Apple software that offers root access to the phone.
Most of these devices seem to be stolen from and smuggled out of factories like Foxconn in China. Apple is apparently "well aware" of the fact that dev-fused devices are available. Apple has "ramped up efforts" to keep these devices from leaving Foxconn and does go after dev-fused iPhone sellers.
Motherboard's full report can be read over on the Motherboard website, and it is a fascinating look at the world of iPhone hacking for anyone who is interested in how iPhone vulnerabilities are uncovered.
Apple Watch bands have been refreshed on a seasonal basis for the past few years, and it looks like that trend will continue in spring 2019, as many of the current fall 2018 bands are now out of stock on Apple's online store.
40mm and 44mm Sport Bands in Hibiscus, Mellow Yellow, and Pacific Green, plus 40mm in Blue Horizon
40mm and 44mm Nike Sport Bands in Olive Flak/Black and Smokey Mauve/Particle Beige
40mm Sport Loops in Cape Cod Blue and Nectarine
40mm Nike Sport Loop in Smokey Mauve
44mm Leather Loops in Forest Green
40mm Modern Buckles in Cape Cod Blue, Forest Green, and Peony Pink
40mm Hermès Double Tours in Indigo/Craie/Orange and Bordeaux/Rose Extrême/Rose Azalée
Apple could unveil its spring 2019 bands in a press release on March 21, the first day of spring, as it did last year. Apple is also expected to host a March 25 event, but little to no hardware is expected. Either way, we're likely a few weeks away from new bands if another refresh is planned.
Apple likes to brighten up its Apple Watch bands in the spring, although not quite as much as its vibrant summer bands. Spring 2018 colors included Lemonade, Red Raspberry, Denim Blue, Soft Pink, Spring Yellow, and others. Most bands range between $49 and $149 in price, with Hermès bands costing up to $539.
All bands released to date have been compatible with every Apple Watch generation.
Apple Music and Tidal are well known for their exclusive releases and both streaming services have been around since 2015. In that time, Apple Music has become the most popular streaming service in the US, but Tidal has a dedicated subscriber base for a variety of reasons.
Dubbed as the artists' music platform, Tidal is owned by Jay-Z and a variety of other successful music artists, and the company makes a point of paying artists more per stream than Apple Music. But is it a better service for the average listener? Read on to learn what both have to offer.
Subscriptions and Plans
An individual Apple Music subscription costs $9.99 per month in the United States, with slight price variations in other countries and territories. Membership means you can stream Apple's music catalog, download music and videos for offline listening, and get exclusive access to new releases and exclusives, as well as a back catalog of shows broadcast on Apple's Beats 1 radio station.
Tidal also offers a $9.99 per month individual subscription, although again prices may vary in other regions. For the audiophiles out there, Tidal also offers a $19.99 per month individual subscription with lossless "High Fidelity" sound quality and high definition videos.
Apple Music price plans
An Apple Music student subscription costs $4.99 and requires you to sign up using your educational institution credentials. Tidal offers two student plans: $4.99 for the Premium service and $9.99 for the HiFi service. Note that students need to re-verify their eligibility every 12 months for both services.
Apple Music's family plan costs $14.99 a month and allows up to six people to access the services using a personal account for each family member. Members can also share iTunes purchases amongst each other in addition to catalog content, but using the same credit card is required to verify the family status. Tidal's Family plans are $14.99 for the Premium service and $29.99 for the HiFi service. In a unique offering, Tidal also offers special individual subscription rates for active military personnel, with the Premium and HiFi plans priced at $5.99 and $11.99, respectively.
Both Apple Music and Tidal memberships automatically renew each month, but you can cancel renewal at any time and your subscription will last until the end of your current billing cycle.
Free Trials
Apple Music offers a free three-month trial of its paid service, which converts to a paid membership unless the user cancels before the trial period is over.
Tidal currently offers a shorter 30-day free trial, which also becomes a paid membership if not canceled before the trial period.
Libraries and Offline Listening
All paid Apple Music and Tidal plans give you access to a huge catalog of songs when you sign up. Apple Music boasts 50 million songs in its catalog, while Tidal subscribers get the pick of over 57 million songs, so regardless of which one has the most content, both allow you to build up a large collection of music.
In addition, Tidal also boasts over 200,000 high quality music videos, which is a more extensive catalogue than any other rival streaming service, perhaps with the exception of YouTube Music Premium, so this may appeal to you if you like to consume your music with a visual element.
Apple Music and Tidal have battled for exclusive artist rights in recent times, so if it's important to you, Apple Music is currently first to get albums from Drake, Taylor Swift, and Pharrell Williams, while Tidal gets first dibs when it comes to Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye West, and Rihanna.
Apple Music users can download a maximum of 100,000 songs to their library, and thanks to Apple's iCloud Music Library feature these can be synced across devices signed in to the same Apple ID. With Tidal, you can download as many songs, albums, and playlists as you want for offline listening, and these will be synced to any device using the same account, but you can only use five devices in offline mode simultaneously.
Streaming quality
Starting in June 2021, Apple Music will support Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio, two features that are being provided to Apple Music subscribers at no additional cost. Both of these features will significantly improve the Apple Music listening experience.
Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos will provide an immersive, multi-dimensional audio experience that allows artists to mix music in a way that makes it sound like the notes are coming from all around you. Apple has had a Spatial Audio feature available for television content, and now it is expanding to Apple Music audio content.
Apple is upgrading its entire music catalog to Lossless Audio with the ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) that preserves the details in the original audio file. Apple Music subscribers will be able to hear songs exactly as the artists recorded them in the studio.
When Lossless Audio launches, 20 million songs will support the codec, with all 75 million songs available in Lossless Audio by the end of 2021.
The standard Lossless tier will start at CD quality, which is 16-bit at 44.1 kHz, and it goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz. There's also a Hi-Res Lossless tier available at 24 bit 192 kHz, but Hi-Res Lossless requires an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
If you're not interested in taking advantage of lossless audio, Apple Music streams 256kbps AAC files across the board.
Historically, Tidal has catered to the audiophile more than any other music service. Tidal subscribers on both Premium and HiFi plans can choose between Normal and High quality streams.
In addition, Tidal has partnered with MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) to deliver guaranteed master-quality recordings directly from the master source, which is billed as "an audio experience that the artist intended." The rationale behind this is that while HiFi audio is a superior sound, it's still limited to 44.1 kHz / 16 bit resolution, whereas MQA audio is the highest possible resolution (typically 96 kHz / 24 bit). These MQA recordings come included with the highest tier $19.99 HiFi plan mentioned above.
Apart from audiophiles, most listeners probably won't notice much difference between the highest-quality streams of the same song, but Tidal's option to select the bitrate can come in handy if you're worried about using up your cellular data.
Mobile, Desktop, and Web Apps
The Apple Music catalog is accessed from within the Music app, which has a clean white interface and comes pre-installed on every iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and also is available as a separate downloadable app on Android devices. The mobile app is organized into tabs to access your music library, browse the Apple Music catalog, and listen to radio stations, while a "For You" tab lets you check out suggestions based on your listening preferences.
The Tidal app, available on both iOS and Android, has a slick black interface, but a more minimalist feel, with tabs for checking out new releases and recommendations, browsing Tidal music, searching the catalog, and accessing your music collection.
The Tidal app also includes an offline mode so that only downloaded content appears in the app, as well as helpful overlay tips for using the app the first time you launch it. By contrast, Apple's Music app isn't as easy to get familiar with, with some options hidden away in 3D Touch menus and off-screen panels that you have to swipe up or long press to access.
Tidal (left), Apple Music (right)
Both apps include fullscreen media players that showcase album art as you listen. These screens also put add-to-playlist, sharing, song queuing, create station, and audio device options at your fingertips.
Apple Music in iTunes (available for PC and Mac) is largely based on the same format as the mobile app, but it's not quite as pretty. It's also a little less navigable, but it does have one trick up its sleeve: Smart playlists. These can be automatically generated by iTunes based on genre, date added, loved/disliked, and so on, meaning you don't have to manually build playlists yourself if you don't want to.
Tidal desktop app
Tidal also offers apps for Mac and PC. They recreate the mobile interface for desktop well, and are slimmer and easier to navigate than iTunes, which feels bloated in comparison. In addition, Tidal offers a handy web player for accessing the service from any web browser, which is convenient if you want to access the service on a computer that doesn't have the Tidal app installed (your office PC, for example). Apple Music still lacks an equivalent, but subscribers can use a free third-party web player called Musish, although it's currently in development and still missing a few features.
Discovery Features
When you sign up for Apple Music, Apple asks you to select some of your favorite artists so that the service can get a sense of your tastes. Using this information, Apple Music populates its regularly updated For You section with new releases, daily mixes and playlists to appeal to your preferences. Playlists can take on a style (pop or jazz, for example), a particular artist, or even a particular activity like studying.
Tidal doesn't have an equivalent system to learn your music tastes immediately, although most users choose the service because it tilts towards hip hop and its sub-genres, so this isn't usually a big issue. Besides, it doesn't take long for the service to learn your preferences once you've started to add to your collection. You can also block tracks and artists from mixes and radio stations and Tidal does a good job of learning from these interactions.
In terms of Tidal music discovery, the app's Home tab is where it's at. The Home screen showcases new arrivals in a top carousel, with suggested new tracks and albums for you below, along with popular and featured playlists/albums, top charts, video playlists, podcasts, music shows, and concerts. Home also features TIDAL Rising, dedicated to lesser-known artists from around the globe who have passionate fan bases and want to reach a wider audience with their music.
Apple Music's non-personalized content lives in a separate Browse tab showcasing trending artists and playlists, top charts, and music videos. Browse is also home to a TV and films section that features Apple-made programming like Carpool Karaoke and artist documentaries.
Apple Music's Radio tab features curated music stations tuned to your listening habits as well as Apple's Beats 1 radio station. Beats 1 offers live radio 24 hours a day, and also plays a big part in the platform's music discovery. The Radio tab also has an archive of the most popular Beats 1 radio shows and playlists from years past. Tidal doesn't have any radio programming, but it makes up for this lack with its music-focused podcast library and original music documentaries.
Music Sharing
Apple Music allows you to follow friends who are also subscribers and share playlists with them that you've personally created. Apple Music's For You tab will also show you what your friends are listening to if you've connected to them.
Tidal doesn't have native equivalent social features, but the service does allow you to connect to Facebook and so you can see tracks from friends who subscribe to Tidal. You can also share song links via text or over social media and link to last.fm to log your listening habits.
Speakers and Voice Assistants
As an Apple Music subscriber, you can use Siri as a personal DJ to control song playback, queue up songs, find song facts, add songs to your library, play your favorite playlists, or even play something new. This is a big advantage Apple Music has over Tidal, which requires a more complicated solution through Siri Shortcuts and lacks many equivalent features.
Apple's HomePod speaker is designed to be used in conjunction with Apple Music. In fact, one of the main uses for Siri on HomePod is to control your Apple Music collection. There are Siri voice commands for accessing content like playlists, genres, moods, liking or disliking songs, playing more music based on something you've heard, starting a new radio station, and much more.
None of these functions will work with a Tidal subscription. You can stream audio to HomePod from a device running the Tidal app, but that's it. On the other hand, Tidal supports Chromecast, Android TV, Sonos speakers, and Squeezebox, while Apple Music only works natively on HomePod and Amazon Echo devices.
Listening in the Car
Apple's CarPlay system supports Tidal and, of course, Apple Music. If a car doesn't have CarPlay, most newer models have their own entertainment systems, which often make it easy to connect your chosen streaming service. Usually you can do so either direct from a built-in app, over Bluetooth, or via a cable connection. You can also listen to Apple Music and Tidal through your vehicle with Android Auto.
Apple Music highlights
Seamless integration with Apple's eco-system
Beats live radio and archive
Human curated recommendations
Social features
Support for uploading/matching your own music files
Works natively with HomePod
Tidal highlights
Emerging artist category
Optional lossless plan
Extensive video content
Official web player
Larger music catalog
Summing Up
Tidal holds a unique place in the streaming market, thanks to its HiFi streaming plans and its efforts to showcase emerging artists. Tidal's alignment with the hip hop scene is also a big draw, with curated playlists from the likes of Jay Z and Beyoncé. In addition, the service offers one of the largest collections of music videos, concert videos, and a good selection of original music-related programming.
On the other hand, Apple's service tends to be quicker off the mark with its music suggestions, while its content is more balanced in terms of appealing to various music tastes. Apple Music is also probably a better choice if you're invested in the Apple ecosystem. At the end of the day, both Apple Music and Tidal are solid streaming services, and which one you decide on will likely come down to your musical tastes.
Apple today released its 2019 Supplier Responsibility Report, offering a look into Code of Conduct violations in Apple's supply chain and details on progress made with programs promoting health, education awareness, and more.
Apple shares an updated Supplier Responsibility Report on an annual basis in an effort to be transparent about the worker conditions in supplier factories and the steps that Apple takes to improve the lives of the employees that create the range of Apple products available to consumers. Data for these reports are gathered from audits of Apple supplier facilities, with 770 locations audited across 30 countries in 2018.
As of 2018, Apple says that 17.3 million supplier employees have received training in workplace rights, while 3.6 million have been provided with advanced education skills and training, including App Development with Swift courses. Apple chief operating officer Jeff Williams said that in everything Apple does, "people come first."
"We are constantly raising the bar for ourselves and our suppliers because we are committed to the people who make our products possible as well as the planet we all share. This year, we're proud to give more people an opportunity to advance their education. Working alongside our suppliers, we're challenging ourselves to find new ways to keep our planet healthy for future generations. Our goal has always been not just to drive progress in our supply chain, but to drive meaningful change across the industry."
Employees who participated in the Swift training course have created more than 40 apps, while more than 1,500 Apple supplier employees were able to earn a college degree through Apple's educational offerings. Health training programs covering nutrition, maternal health, and more have reached upwards of 250,000 people.
Over the years, Apple has had problems with debt-bonded labor in its supply chain, where recruiters charge factory workers for a job. Apple has long disallowed this practice, and in 2018, Apple introduced new programs to prevent debt-bonded labor in high-risk locations and it limited subcontracting for custodial staff in retail stores. Stricter standards for suppliers who hire foreign contract workers were also implemented.
Apple in 2018 saw a 30 percent increase in "high-performing" suppliers that adhere to the guidelines in its supplier Code of Conduct. On a 100 point assessment scale implemented by Apple, its suppliers earned an overall score of 89 in the Labor and Human Rights category, up from 86 in 2017. The deductions in score came primarily from violations related to working hours and wages.
Apple discovered 24 working hours falsification violations, two debt-bonded labor violations, and a single underage labor violation.
For Health and Safety and Environment, Apple's suppliers earned an overall score of 93 in each category, up from 90 and 91, respectively, in 2017.
As for environmental efforts, Apple says that all of its final assembly sites for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and HomePod are now certified "Zero Waste to Landfill" thanks to a focus on reuse and recycling. Apple suppliers have diverted 1 million tons of garbage from landfills over the course of three years.
Apple has also expanded its clean water program to 116 suppliers, saving 7.6 billion gallons of water in 2018. Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by more than 466,000 annualized metric tons, equivalent to removing 100,000 cars from the road.
Apple's full report [PDF] goes into much more detail on the specific programs available to supplier employees and the results from those programs, plus it provides a deeper look into conditions at supplier locations and offers more insight into Apple's environmental efforts.
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 recently added a new features page to its website, which offers an in-depth look at the capabilities of Apple's modern iPhones.
The site is organized into tiles, each featuring an explanation of a feature along with a short video, a photo, and a link to one of Apple's support documents.
Topics covered include water resistance, privacy, AirDrop, Group FaceTime, photos search, Memoji, Do Not Disturb, Find My iPhone, Apple Pay, iMessage photo effects, and more.
Apple includes both major features like Face ID, along with smaller hints and tips like holding the space bar to move the cursor to quickly fix a typo or double tapping the space bar while typing for a period.
It's a useful site for anyone who isn't super familiar with the feature set on the iPhone, and it's also useful for more advanced users because it also has lesser known options that some people might not know about.
Apple has a whole range of support documents on every topic you might think of, but doesn't often link to them on its main site, which makes the features page unique. Apple is highlighting the new features page on its main Apple.com homepage.
Update: Apple has shared several of the videos featured on its "iPhone Can Do What?" on YouTube. Each video is about 15 seconds in length and highlights a specific iPhone feature.
Fitbit today announced its latest smartwatch, the Versa Lite Edition. Priced at $160, the Versa Lite is $40 cheaper than the standard Versa model released last year and less than half as much as the Apple Watch Series 4, which starts at $399.
The new Versa Lite Edition looks similar to the standard Versa, beyond having one button versus three. Of course, the Lite Edition loses some features compared to the standard Versa, including Wi-Fi, on-device music storage and playback, on-screen workouts, and the ability to track swim laps and floors climbed.
Nevertheless, the Lite Edition has most features you would expect from a fitness tracker, including step counting, calories burned, sleep tracking, heart rate tracking, guided breathing sessions, and more than 15 exercise modes.
Compared to the Apple Watch, the Versa Lite Edition is unsurprisingly basic. It has fewer apps, lacks built-in Wi-Fi, GPS, or optional LTE, can't be used for contactless payments, doesn't have a microphone for voice control, and so forth. The simplicity of the Versa Lite does allow for up to four-day battery life though.
Fitbit is the world's second largest smartwatch vendor according to estimates, but it trails Apple by a significant margin, so it's clearly attempting to win market share with an aggressive pricing strategy. This includes the also-announced Inspire, Inspire HR, and Ace 2 fitness trackers priced between $70 and $100.
Last month, the editor-in-chief of MacRumors sister site TouchArcade, Eli Hodapp, announced that he planned to step down from overseeing the iOS gaming site to focus on a new venture. This week, Hodapp has provided more detail about his move to GameClub, a startup that plans to preserve premium mobile games in the wake of Apple's ongoing updates to the iPhone and iPad, which leave many classic games unplayable on modern devices.
As Hodapp explained on TouchArcade, Apple's frequent updates to the iPhone have caused ongoing problems for iOS developers on older App Store games. The first of these major issues hit during the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010 and its introduction of an increased resolution, which meant all developers needed to update their games with higher resolution textures.
While some developers decided to do this, others couldn't justify spending time and money to modernize their games. Of course, this issue grew exponentially worse with the introduction of iOS 11 in 2017, bringing with it the removal of all 32-bit apps from the iOS App Store. TouchArcadekept an ongoing list of every 32-bit app that was no longer supported with iOS 11, including the TouchArcade app itself.
Throughout this process, I started to realize that, entirely by accident, TouchArcade had become this weird museum of the glory days of iOS gaming. Loads of games that passionate developers were excited to release to a hungry customer base now only exist in TouchArcade reviews, or TA Plays videos.
We’ve grumped about this a bunch, in multiple editorials, too many episodes of the podcast to count, a near infinite number of Tweets, and basically every other place you can air a grievance online. These complaints were often framed around, “I wish someone would do something," or “Why isn’t anyone doing anything," as our digital history vanished like a photo of the McFlys.
Now, Hodapp is leaving TouchArcade to address this issue with GameClub, a developer with the intent to bring the best of these forgotten and unplayable iOS games back to life. To achieve this, GameClub will handle all of the updates, ongoing maintenance, and support for each game, in essence becoming the new developer of the game.
These refurbished games will then be added into the GameClub library of games accessible by players. At this time, GameClub isn't disclosing the payment model that will be available to customers, but the company has stated that more news about the pricing structure will come later. The first announced title is Rocketcat Games' Hook Champ, which released in 2009.
Hook Champ by @rocketcatgames first hit the App Store in late 2009, and has been unplayable on modern devices for years. It's one of the many classic mobile games that GameClub is bringing back to life. Play it now by joining our early access program at https://t.co/xa26bCYO0bpic.twitter.com/CtkPHPVnjH
— GameClub (@GameClub) March 5, 2019
Those interested can head to GameClub's website to sign up for early access to the beta program. Invites will start to go out on Monday, March 11. Hodapp also provided more details about vanishing App Store games in a piece shared on gamesindustry.biz.
In a new flash sale at B&H Photo, you can get the 12-inch MacBook for just $799.00, $500 off from the original price of $1,299.00. This is the configuration from mid 2017 with 8GB onboard RAM and 256GB of PCIe-based flash storage, available in Gold and Rose Gold during today's sale.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with B&H Photo. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
The 12-inch MacBook is Apple's low-cost notebook, featuring a 12-inch Retina display, 10-12 hour battery life, Force Touch trackpad, and a butterfly keyboard, all encased in a 0.5-inch thin enclosure.
In terms of sales, we've been tracking an ongoing discount for the 512GB version of the same MacBook at multiple retailers, but B&H Photo's flash sale today is the best price currently available online for the 256GB model. It's also the best we've ever seen among the major retailers.
The PowerView Motorization Hub lets users control, time, and set their window shades to raise, lower, and tilt on an automatic schedule. Originally released in 2017, the system only supported Amazon and Google services out of the box, but the company said at the time that support for HomeKit would come later the same year. However it appears to have only just surfaced.
After applying the update, users with the Powerview Hub Gen 2 should be able to enjoy HomeKit integration and control their window shades and blinds via Siri voice commands. If the support works as it was originally promised, users should also be able to incorporate shade settings into HomeKit scenes for full-home automation.
Apple supplier Dialog Semiconductor on Wednesday reported a slight rise in fourth-quarter operating profit, but warned investors that its revenue in 2019 would decline as it finalizes a deal with Apple to license its iPhone power management technology.
According to Reuters, shares in Dialog rose by nearly 4 percent after its forecast of a single-digit percentage revenue drop this year came in above analysts' predictions of a 9 percent fall.
Last October, Apple agreed to a business arrangement with the German chipmaker to license its iPhone power management technology and transfer technical assets, in a deal worth $600 million.
As part of the agreement, Apple acquired some of the Anglo-German chipmaker's assets and 300 of its R&D staff, or around 16 percent of Dialog's workforce. The deal represents a huge investment for Apple, which will take over Dialog facilities in Italy, Germany, and the U.K., expanding its chip research and development significantly across Europe.
Dialog's shares rose as much as 34 percent on news of the deal, their highest since 2002. The firm's partnership with Apple makes up around 75 percent of its revenue.
The agreement followed a report earlier the same month claiming Apple would design its own power management chips as early as 2018, which came as a serious blow for Dialog, the exclusive designer of the current main power management chip for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models.
Online retailers in China have begun discounting iPhones for the second time this year. Reuters reports that several mobile vendors this week announced discounts on iPhone models, including Apple's latest flagship iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.
Gadget retailer Suning.Com Co Ltd said it would slash the price of the iPhone XS by as much as 1,000 yuan ($148.95) from its official price. Suning had lowered the prices of other iPhone models in January along with other retailers, but those cuts excluded the iPhone XS.
Pinduoduo Inc, an e-commerce site best known for selling inexpensive goods, has also said it would sell the 64GB edition of the iPhone XS for 6,999 yuan, a drop of over 1,000 yuan from the official price.
JD.com is also reportedly poised to offer discounts on its Apple products, including the iPhone XS and XS Max, which escaped the online retail giant's first major round of discounts in January.
Apple first dropped iPhone prices for third-party distributors in China on January 10, allowing vendors to purchase iPhones more cheaply and pass those savings on to customers. Apple cut prices on most iPhone models, but the XR saw the biggest discounts.
Apple launched the price cuts after seeing iPhone sales fall significantly in China during the holiday quarter of 2018, leading to lower iPhone revenue than expected. One report said Apple was seeing improved iPhone sales in China following the price cuts.
Apple has also partnered with Ant Financial, the finance arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and several state-owned banks to let consumers purchase iPhones via interest-free loans.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in January that the company was reevaluating its pricing strategies in some international markets, returning to pricing that's "more commensurate" with what local prices were last year to boost its iPhone sales.
Cook also said he believes Apple's higher prices were a factor in the declining number of iPhone upgrades that led to a weaker holiday quarter. In some international markets, the strength of the U.S. dollar amplified pricing increases.
Samsung is working on two additional folding smartphone models to succeed the Galaxy Fold that's coming out this April, reports Bloomberg.
The new folding smartphones include a clamshell-like device that folds from top to bottom and another that folds outwards like Huawei's Mate X, another high-end folding smartphone coming this year.
Samsung's current Galaxy Fold, which will be priced at $1,980 when it launches, folds inwards rather than outwards, much like a book.
Samsung is experimenting with multiple folding designs to figure out what kind of fold works best with a smartphone/tablet hybrid.
"No one knows what the ideal design is yet," said Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research at IDC. "The time is ripe for experimentation. Many of these designs won't be successful, but industry players will learn valuable lessons along the way."
Samsung's vertically folding smartphone is set to be released in late 2019 or early 2020, with the company currently working on mockups to finalize the device's design. Right now, the smartphone has an extra screen on the outside, but it may be removed.
Samsung already has a prototype of a smartphone that folds outward like the Huawei Mate X and this device will come out last. It will be thinner than the other two because there is no extra screen.
According to Bloomberg, future foldable devices may incorporate the in-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that Samsung has built into the Galaxy S10. Reviews have been mixed on the sensor, with some reviewers suggesting it is sluggish and not always accurate.
Samsung is also hoping to make the Galaxy Fold more durable, eliminating a crease that appears on the current panel once it's been folded approximately 10,000 times. To combat this issue, Samsung is considering offering Galaxy Fold buyers free screen replacements after the smartphone launches. From Bloomberg:
The Galaxy Fold’s screen imperfection develops on a protective film covering the touch sensor bonded with the display underneath, the person said. That’s one reason why Samsung kept the phone inside a glass case at MWC in Barcelona last month, the person said. Samsung’s spokeswoman said the Galaxy Fold was displayed that way because it wanted more attention on the soon-to-be-launched Galaxy S10, not because there was a problem with the quality of the foldable device.
Right now, folding smartphone technology is imperfect and expensive, and it is not clear if foldable tablet/smartphone hybrids are a fad or something that will catch on and dictate the future of the smartphone industry.
There are no rumors suggesting that Apple has plans to release a foldable smartphone in the near future, but Apple is undoubtedly looking into foldable devices given that its major competitors are coming out with folding smartphones. In the past, Apple has patented some foldable display technology, and just recently, a rumor suggested Samsung has provided folding display samples to Apple.
LG today announced that its new smart TVs will receive a software update in mid 2019 with support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit.
LG first revealed plans to add AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to its latest smart TVs at CES in January. At the time, it said the features would arrive in 2019, and today's announcement narrows down the timeframe to the middle of the year.
New LG TVs will receive an upgrade mid-year to support Apple AirPlay 2 and Apple HomeKit for easy streaming of video and audio content and connectivity to Apple's smart home products. 2019 LG TV owners can also expect to receive a firmware update that will add Amazon Alexa support to complement Google Assistant which is included out of the box…
AirPlay 2 support will allow users to stream videos, music, photos, and more directly from an iPhone, iPad, and Mac to eligible LG smart TVs, complete with lock screen controls. HomeKit support will enable users to easily control the TVs using Siri voice commands or the Home app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
AirPlay 2-enabled TVs from LG will include its 2019 OLED, NanoCell SM9X, LG NanoCell SM8X, and UHD UM7X models, according to Apple's list.
Apple and Qualcomm have been squaring off in courts around the world, and this week, the first U.S. jury trial kicked off in San Diego, California, where Qualcomm's headquarters are located.
During today's legal proceedings, which were covered by CNET, Apple claimed that one of its former engineers, Arjuna Siva, had a hand in inventing the technologies covered in one of the patents that Qualcomm is accusing Apple of infringing on.
The patent in question covers a method that allows a smartphone to quickly connect to the internet once the device boots up. According to Apple, Siva came up with the concept for the patent and should be named on it.
Siva was an Apple employee prior to 2011, which was the year Apple released the first iPhone that used a Qualcomm chip. Prior to the release of that device, Apple and Qualcomm worked together for modem chips that would meet Apple's needs. Siva was involved in those discussions and proposed the technology that Qualcomm went on to patent.
Apple claims that while the two companies were in discussions, then-Apple engineer Arjuna Siva came up with the idea that Qualcomm would later patent. Siva, who now works at Google, will testify later in the trial.
"Does Qualcomm believe in giving credit where credit is due?" Apple's counsel, Joseph Mueller of Wilmer Hale, asked Monday.
Qualcomm director of engineering Stephen Haenichen said that Siva did not deserve to have his name on the patent and contributed "nothing at all" to the development of the feature, despite Apple's argument.
According to CNET, Apple's aim with the Siva argument is to prove that Qualcomm is hasty and careless when filing its patents. Qualcomm pays $1,500 to employees for filing a patent and another $1,500 when the patent is issued, which is another point Apple brought up to demonstrate Qualcomm's treatment of patents. Siva will testify later in the week to provide more detail on his role working with Qualcomm back before the first iPhone with a Qualcomm modem was released.
The current trial between Apple and Qualcomm will last through next week and we'll likely see additional interesting tidbits and arguments revealed as the legal battle goes on and the jury tries to decide if Apple is indeed guilty of infringing on Qualcomm technology.
Apple and Qualcomm have been fighting since January 2017, when Apple sued Qualcomm for $1 billion in unpaid royalty fees. Qualcomm countersued, and since then, the two companies have levied multiple lawsuits against one another. Two of Qualcomm's lawsuits have resulted in import bans in Germany and China, both of which Apple was able to skirt with hardware and software updates.
Apple's AirPods are one of its most popular product lines in recent years, and have resulted in crazy demand, memes, and dozens of knockoff products.
In our latest YouTube video, we picked up a pair of $50 i10 TWS earphones that have been designed to look like AirPods to see how they measure up to the real thing.
The i10 TWS AirPods knockoffs are almost carbon copies of the AirPods and at first glance, it's hard to tell them apart. There are some noticeable differences to distinguish the two, though, which will be obvious to AirPods owners.
Instead of a Lightning port, the i10 TWS earbuds have a USB-C port for charging, though they also support Qi-based wireless charging, which the AirPods don't offer. There's also an LED charging indicator light on the front and no Bluetooth pairing button on the back.
When it comes to the case, the i10 TWS is clearly lower quality than the AirPods as it's lighter, feels flimsier, and makes a clicking noise when you open the lid, but the fake AirPods inside look quite similar to real AirPods.
The i10 TWS earbuds are nearly indistinguishable from AirPods, and they sound pretty similar too. Sound quality was about the same with both, and the same goes for voice quality when using the microphone for calls.
Like the AirPods, the i10 TWS earbuds use gestures, with a single tap able to play/pause music and a double tap able to skip tracks. A two-second hold activates a voice assistant like Siri.
There are missing AirPods features, though. There's no autopause/autoplay function when removing one of the i10 TWS earbuds from your ear, and there's no simple pairing due to the lack of a W1 chip.
The i10 TWS earbuds pair to a device like any other Bluetooth headphones, and they also don't enjoy the same long range. As for battery life, they last for about three hours worth of streaming music and charge up in about an hour and a half over USB-C.
So while these look, feel, and sound like AirPods, the i10 TWS earbuds are missing some key features, which explains why the price is so much lower. You can snap these up for about $50, which is more than $100 less than the AirPods.
Would you ever buy knockoff AirPods instead of the real thing? Let us know in the comments.
Need help deciding whether Apple or Google has the right music streaming service for you? Then keep reading. Apple Music launched in 2015 and was a relative latecomer to the streaming services market, but Apple's continual development of the platform has made it into one of the most popular choices for enjoying digital music. Google's music strategy on the other hand has been confusing in recent years. The company's original service, Google Play Music, has been rolled into YouTube Music, so that's what we'll look at here.
Google Music
Google launched its original Play Music streaming service in 2011. Like Apple Music, Play Music gave you access to a vast music library, music recommendations, radio stations, and offline listening, all for a monthly fee. In a unique contribution to the streaming services field, Google Play Music also let all Google account holders (i.e. not just subscribers) upload up to 50,000 tracks from their existing music library to the cloud, for storage and online streaming.
In May 2017, Google launched an on-demand ad-supported music streaming service called YouTube Music, shortly followed by YouTube Music Premium – a revamped version of its ad-free YouTube Red subscription service with a renewed focus on original programming. The rebranded service includes personalized playlists, intelligent search, support for background playback on mobile and music downloads for offline listening. It also offers access to remixes, covers and live versions that aren't available on other platforms. YouTube Music has replaced Google Play Music, and existing subscribers have had their playlists, collections, and preferences migrated automatically.
Subscriptions and Plans
An individual Apple Music subscription costs $9.99 per month in the United States, with slight price variations in other countries and territories. Membership means you can stream Apple's music catalog, download music and videos for offline listening, and get exclusive access to new releases and exclusives, as well as a back catalog of shows broadcast on Apple's Beats 1 radio station.
A standard YouTube Music subscription also costs $9.99 per month. That gets you access to Google's music catalog, music recommendations, radio stations, offline listening, and access to YouTube Music Premium, which has the same features as YouTube Premium such as background listening and video downloads, but with those features locked to the YouTube Music service only. An Apple Music student subscription costs $4.99 and requires you to sign up using your educational institution credentials. YouTube Music doesn't appear to offer an equivalent plan, although eligible students can subscribe to YouTube Music Premium for $4.99 a month.
Apple Music membership plans
Apple Music's family plan costs $14.99 a month and allows up to six people to access the services using a personal account for each family member. Members can also share iTunes purchases with each other in addition to catalog content, but all family members must use the same credit card for App Store/iTunes purchases. Google also offers a $14.99 a month YouTube Music Family Plan. When you subscribe to the family plan, you and up to 5 family members can stream music on up to 10 devices each and share eligible purchased items on YouTube using Family Library. (Each family member still has separate Google Accounts, playlists, libraries, and offline content.)
Both Apple Music and YouTube Music memberships automatically renew each month, but you can cancel renewal at any time and your subscription will run out at the end of your current billing cycle.
Free Trials
Apple Music offers a free three-month trial of its paid service, which converts to a paid membership unless the user cancels before the trial period is over.
Google offers all users a free three-month trial of YouTube Music, which is probably the best way to get a taster of what Google's music streaming service offers.
Libraries and Offline Listening
All paid Apple Music and YouTube Music plans give you access to a huge catalog of songs songs when you sign up. Apple Music boasts 50 million songs in its catalog, while YouTube Music subscribers get the pick of 40 million songs, so regardless of which one has the most content, both allow you to build up a large collection of music.
Apple Music users can download a maximum of 100,000 songs to their library, and thanks to Apple's iCloud Music Library feature these can be synced across devices signed in to the same Apple ID. YouTube Music users can download as many songs, albums, and playlists as they want for offline listening (Google doesn't specify a maximum number).
Streaming quality
Starting in June 2021, Apple Music will support Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio, two features that are being provided to Apple Music subscribers at no additional cost. Both of these features will significantly improve the Apple Music listening experience.
Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos will provide an immersive, multi-dimensional audio experience that allows artists to mix music in a way that makes it sound like the notes are coming from all around you. Apple has had a Spatial Audio feature available for television content, and now it is expanding to Apple Music audio content.
Apple is upgrading its entire music catalog to Lossless Audio with the ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) that preserves the details in the original audio file. Apple Music subscribers will be able to hear songs exactly as the artists recorded them in the studio.
When Lossless Audio launches, 20 million songs will support the codec, with all 75 million songs available in Lossless Audio by the end of 2021.
The standard Lossless tier will start at CD quality, which is 16-bit at 44.1 kHz, and it goes up to 24 bit at 48 kHz. There's also a Hi-Res Lossless tier available at 24 bit 192 kHz, but Hi-Res Lossless requires an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
If you don't opt to use Apple's lossless tiers, Apple Music streams 256kbps AAC files across the board, while Google Play Music users can select the streaming bitrate from low (198 kbps), normal (192 kbps), and high (320 kbps AAC) quality. YouTube Music currently appears to have a maximum bitrate of 128 kbps, but that's likely to improve in time.
Apart from audiophiles, most listeners probably won't notice much difference between the highest quality streams of the same song, but YouTube Music's option to select the bitrate can come in handy if you're worried about using up your cellular data.
Mobile, Desktop, and Web Apps
The Apple Music catalog is accessed from within the Music app, which has a clean white interface and comes pre-installed on every iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and also is available as a separate downloadable app on Android devices. The mobile app is organized into tabs to access your music library, browse the Apple Music catalog, and listen to radio stations, while a "For You" tab lets you check out recommendations based on your listening preferences.
Google Play Music mobile app
The YouTube Music app, available on both iOS and Android, has a similar clean interface, but a more minimalist feel to it, with tabs for accessing the YouTube Music catalog, your own music library, recently played content, and recommended listening.
Both apps are easy to navigate and include fullscreen media players that showcase album art as you listen. These screens also put add-to-playlist, sharing, song queuing, and audio device options at your fingertips. Users familiar with Gmail and other apps by Google should feel right at home in the YouTube Music app, although Apple's Music app has the advantage of Force Touch support on compatible devices, which can be used to quickly access additional menus.
Apple Music mobile
Both apps allow you to add any existing music you own to your library, but offer different routes to achieving this. YouTube Music lets you sync up to 50,000 tracks from your computer using an upload client app or the web player, after which they become available for streaming from any device signed into your Google account. Apple Music uses iCloud Music Library to match any songs you have in iTunes to tracks in the Apple Music catalog, which are then made available on your other devices.
Apple Music in iTunes (available for PC and Mac) is largely based on the same format as the mobile app, but it's not quite as pretty. It's also a little less navigable, but it does have one trick up its sleeve: Smart Playlists. These can be automatically generated by iTunes based on genre, date added, loved/disliked, and so on, meaning you don't have to manually build playlists yourself if you don't want to. Apple doesn't offer a native player for web browsers, though third-party workaround service Musish lets you listen to Apple Music on the web.
YouTube Music web player
YouTube Music can be played through browsers on your Mac or PC.
Discovery Features
When you sign up for Apple Music, Apple asks you to select some of your favorite artists so that the service can get a sense of your tastes. Using this information, Apple Music populates its regularly updated "For You" section with new releases, daily mixes and playlists to appeal to your preferences. Playlists can take on a style (pop or jazz, for example), a particular artist, or even a particular activity like studying.
Google Play Music mobile app
Discovering new music isn't as straightforward in YouTube Music, especially when you first sign up. However, the Home tab soon starts to populate with personal album and playlist recommendations after you've spent some time liking/disliking songs in the media player, and if you sync existing music to your library, Google will use this to get a better idea of your tastes.
While YouTube Music's Home tab also features new releases and "Made for everyone" playlists categorized into genres and moods/activities, Apple Music's non-personalized content lives in a separate Browse tab showcasing trending artists and playlists, top charts, and music videos. Browse is also home to a TV and films section that features Apple-made programming like Carpool Karaoke and artist documentaries (Apple is currently investing heavily in programming, so expect more content to appear here in the coming months).
Apple Music's Radio tab features curated music stations tuned to your listening habits as well as Apple's Beats 1 radio station. Beats 1 offers live radio 24 hours a day, and also plays a big part in the platform's music discovery. The Radio tab also has an archive of its most popular radio shows and playlists from years past.
YouTube Music sideloads its Radio offering in the Browse tab under various categories including genres, activities, moods, and decades. The UI presentation is a little dull, but listening to YouTube Music's stations is probably the best way to encounter new content on the platform that you might like, and the more thumbs up/thumbs down you give to songs, the better Google's algorithms are at generating new music recommendations for you.
Music Sharing
Apple Music allows you to follow friends who are also subscribers and share playlists with them that you've personally created. Apple Music's For You tab will also show you what your friends are listening to if you've connected to them.
YouTube Music has no such social features, but it does let you share song links via text or over social media.
Speakers and Voice Assistants
As an Apple Music subscriber, you can use Siri as a personal DJ to control song playback, queue up songs, find song facts, add songs to your library, play your favorite playlists, or even play something new. This is a big advantage Apple Music has over YouTube Music, which requires a more complicated solution through Siri Shortcuts, and even then, it lacks many equivalent features.
Apple's HomePod speaker is essentially made to be used in conjunction with Apple Music. In fact, one of the main uses for Siri on HomePod is to control your Apple Music collection. There are Siri voice commands for accessing content like playlists, genres, moods, liking or disliking songs, playing more music based on something you've heard, starting a new radio station, and much more. None of these functions will work with a YouTube Music subscription. You can stream audio to HomePod from a device running the YouTube Music app, but that's it.
If you own a Google Home speaker though, you're in luck. As you'd expect, Google's smart speakers fully integrate with YouTube Music, so you can invoke Google's voice assistant to carry out many of the same spoken commands mentioned above. Apple Music is not available as an integrated option on Google Home devices.
In addition, you can combine YouTube Music with the Google Assistant mobile app. When you do, YouTube Music combines your preferences with real-time information — like location, weather, and more — so that its voice assistant can recommend the right music for what you're doing, how you're feeling, or what you want to hear. However this does involve allowing Google access to a raft of privacy permissions on your mobile device, so you may want to think twice before you enable them.
Listening in the Car
Apple's CarPlay system supports Google Play Music and, of course, Apple Music. If a car doesn't have CarPlay, most newer models have their own entertainment systems, which often make it easy to connect your chosen streaming service. Usually you can do so either direct from a built-in app, over Bluetooth, or via a cable connection. You can also listen to Apple Music and Play Music music through your phone's or car's speakers with Android Auto.
Apple Music highlights
Seamless integration with Apple's eco-system
Beats live radio and archive
Human curated recommendations
Social features
Support for uploading/matching your own music files
Works natively with HomePod
YouTube Music highlights
Cloud storage for existing music library
Official web player
Excellent music suggestion algorithms
Minimalist mobile UI
Summing Up
When Google Play Music migrated to YouTube Music, all of Play Music's features survived the transition, and YouTube Music is a good choice if you own Android devices and you're already a heavy user of Google and YouTube apps and services.
On the other hand, if you're invested in the Apple ecosystem (perhaps you own an Apple TV or a HomePod as well as an iPhone) then Apple Music is the clear winner. Apple's service is quicker off the mark with its music suggestions, offers a better user experience in the mobile app, and includes some neat social features, where YouTube Music virtually has none.
Apple has objected to an apple logo trademark that Norway's Fremskrittspartiet or Progress Party filed for back in November, according to the Norwegian Patent Office.
The image in question features a red apple with a stem and a green leaf that also has a white "F" on the front, an icon used by the Fremskrittspartiet.
In an objection letter provided to Norway's Patent Office, Apple says that the trademark that the Fremskrittspartiet has registered "resembles" the "very well-known" trademarked Apple logo and is likely to be confused with Apple's prior trademarks.
The Fremskrittspartiet has applied to use the trademark for computer software, digital media, stationary and other paper products, household items, textiles like flags, clothing and headgear, buttons, and games and toys.
It's not yet clear how this will play out, but Apple plans to provide additional documentation to support its case in the future. Apple is asking the Norwegian Patent Office to repeal the Fremskrittspartiet's trademark registration.
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