In a new flash sale that began today, B&H Photo is offering the 2017 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (3.1 GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $1,599.00, down from $1,999.00. This is a custom configuration of the older MacBook Pro, and a solid discount for anyone willing purchase a previous generation model and not the latest 2018 MacBook Pro.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Also at B&H Photo, the retailer has numerous versions of older 2017 models of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, with discounts reaching to as much as $330 off original prices for both Wi-Fi Only and Wi-Fi + Cellular models.
These represent the lowest-ever prices for every iPad Pro listed below, so be sure to visit B&H Photo and check out the sale before it ends later this week. We've listed the models currently available for order as of writing, but the full list (including those on backorder) can be found in our Deals Roundup.
There are a few other flash sales happening today at Best Buy and Woot. To start, at Best Buy you can get the Beats Pill+ portable speaker in Black for $108.99. The Pill+ is currently priced around $129.99 at places like B&H Photo and Walmart, and was originally $229.99 when it launched in 2015.
At Woot, you can buy refurbished models of the iPhone X at discounted prices, with the 64GB marked down to $659.99, from $999.99. The 256GB model is available for $749.99, down from $1,149.99. Woot explains that these iPhone X models "are expected to have a moderate level of wear & tear including (but not limited to) scratches, dents, and dings. Outside of their physical appearance, they have been tested to be in full working condition."
Be sure to keep an eye on our full Deals Roundup as you shop around this holiday season.
70 percent of eligible iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices are running iOS 12, as measured by the App Store on December 3, 2018, according to the latest adoption figures shared by Apple on its App Store support page today.
Apple also says 72 percent of devices sold in the last four years are running iOS 12. By comparison, 63 percent of devices introduced since September 2014 were running iOS 12 as of October 29, 2018, but those figures cannot be directly compared due to Apple's tweaked wording for this particular chart.
iOS 12 adoption is outpacing iOS 11, which was installed on 59 percent of eligible devices as of December 4, 2017, according to Apple. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as iOS 11 suffered from quite a few bugs over its lifespan, while Apple has focused on performance and stability in iOS 12.
Meanwhile, Apple says 21 percent of all devices remain on iOS 11 and nine percent are running an older iOS version.
Apple has placed a straight-to-series order for "Swagger," a drama series based on the early life of NBA All-Star Kevin Durant, according to Variety. The series was put into development back in February.
The series, produced by Durant's Thirty Five Ventures, Imagine Television, and CBS Television Studios, is said to be inspired by Durant's youth basketball experiences. It reportedly explores the world of amateur basketball in the Washington, D.C. area, including players, their families, and coaches.
"Swagger" is said to "walk the fine line between dreams and ambition, and opportunism and corruption." Reggie Rock Bythewood will reportedly serve as writer, director, executive producer, and showrunner.
Durant is a two-time NBA champion with his current Golden State Warriors team, a nine-time NBA All-Star, and was the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2014 and Rookie of the Year in 2008. He is also a two-time gold medal winner in men's basketball at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
"Swagger" will be one of well over a dozen original TV series and movies that will be distributed through Apple's widely expected streaming video service, which will reportedly launch in more than 100 countries in 2019. A full list of Apple's planned TV shows and movies is available in our Apple TV roundup.
The upgrade kit includes 16GB or 32GB of 2,666MHz DDR4 RAM, the same type of memory Apple uses in the 2018 Mac mini, along with all of the tools and bits needed to complete the upgrade: an iFixit opening tool, a spudger, angled tweezers, a precision bit driver, and three types of 4mm Torx precision bits.
2018 Mac mini models are equipped with 8GB of RAM by default, but they can be configured with 16GB or 32GB of RAM on Apple's online store for an extra $200 or $600 respectively. By comparison, iFixit charges $164.99 for its 16GB kit and $324.99 for its 32GB kit, reflecting savings of $35 and $275 respectively.
Three things to keep in mind:
This is iFixit-branded RAM that matches Apple's specifications.
If you ever need in-warranty service on your 2018 Mac mini, and Apple detects that you opened up the computer, the Genius Bar may deny service. However, iFixit says this is illegal in the United States under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
There is a risk of damaging the Mac mini if the upgrade is not completed carefully.
Streaming TV services offered by companies like Hulu and AT&T are testing the waters for a new type of advertising called "pause ads" (via Variety). The idea behind pause ads is that instead of facing forced commercial breaks at specified interludes, users would be more accepting of ads that play when they choose to pause a show for a bit while they do something else.
Hulu says it plans to launch pause ads in 2019, but not much else was given in the way of details regarding which of its numerous streaming plans will include the new type of commercial. The plan likely to see pause ads is Hulu With Limited Commercials, which interjects a few ads throughout a show's runtime, similar to live TV, but again this hasn't been confirmed.
AT&T cited similar interest in pause ads, stating that it also plans to launch technology in 2019 that plays a video when a user pauses a TV show. For both companies, it's unclear exactly how long these ads will run for, and if you'll be able to immediately cancel them out by simply hitting the play button and resuming your TV show.
According to Hulu vice president and head of advertising platforms Jeremy Helfand, pause ads will not be home to longform advertisements, but will instead focus on commercials where advertisers "have seconds" to deliver a message effectively. Over the next three years, Hulu expects "more than half" of its advertising revenue to come from these so-called non-disruptive experiences.
AT&T advertising vice president Matt Van Houten claims that the company is even working on a version of pause ads that will be interactive, so that viewers can "telescope" to more information from the advertiser by clicking on a remote. AT&T knows that viewers will raise concerns over the new type of advertising, but Van Houten claimed that they are just the next iteration of the "flying toaster" screensaver found on Macintosh computers in the late 80's.
Hulu on pause ads:
“As binge-viewing happens more and more, it’s natural they are going to want to pause,” says Jeremy Helfand, vice president and head of advertising platforms for Hulu, speaking of modern-day couch potatoes. Hulu intends to unveil what it calls “pause ads” in 2019. When a user chooses to stretch, or get a snack, he says, “it’s a natural break in the storytelling experience.”
AT&T:
“We know you’re going to capture 100% viewability when they pause and unpause,” says Matt Van Houten, vice president of product at Xandr Media, AT&T’s advertising division. “There’s a lot of value in that experience.”
In time, he suggests, consumers might prefer the pause pitches to other forms of TV commercials.
Some advertising executives are already unsure if pause ads will catch on. Tim Halon, CEO of media and advertising consultancy company Vetere Group, questions whether pause ads will be too disruptive: "Just because you can doesn't mean you should...if it's simply inserting, let's say a reverse-mortgage ad with a direct-response phone number? I don't know if that aids the consumer experience."
When it comes to advertising, many companies have had to walk a fine line in the past, particularly for streaming services like Hulu and Netflix. Earlier this year, Netflix tested a new feature that added video promotions for shows in between episodes, but users quickly pointed out their frustrations with the test and it never rolled out wide. Netflix executives still claim that there is not currently a plan to run traditional commercial advertisements on its service.
Although details about its service are still sparse, Apple is rumored to offer its upcoming TV shows free to Apple device owners through its TV app, and commercials are not expected to be a part of the experience.
Apple-certified Lightning to USB-C cables should be available from select third-party accessory makers starting early next year.
Last week, Apple informed members of its Made for iPhone or "MFi" licensing program that Lightning to USB-C cables for charging and syncing are now permitted to be manufactured. These cables require a new Lightning connector with part number C94, which Made for iPhone program members can now order.
Apple is selling the new Lightning connector to eligible hardware manufacturers for $2.88 per, and it is estimated to ship in six weeks, according to documentation shared with MacRumors by Hong Kong website ChargerLab.
This means that third-party accessory makers enrolled in the Made for iPhone program, such as Anker, Aukey, Belkin, and Incipio, should have the part necessary to create MFi-certified Lightning to USB-C cables by mid-January and, allowing time for production, could be available to purchase by February or March.
A Lightning to USB-C cable is required to fast charge the iPhone 8 and newer with an 18W-plus power adapter. Otherwise, the new C94 connector is expected to provide a maximum of 15W of power with a standard power adapter.
Apple is currently the only retailer of certified Lightning to USB-C cables at a cost of $19 for the one-meter option and $35 for two-meters in the United States. The one-meter cable was originally $25, but it received a price cut in November 2016 alongside some of Apple's other USB-C adapters and cables.
The biggest advantage to third-party Lightning to USB-C cables is that many will likely be significantly less expensive than Apple's own, while still meeting Apple performance standards under the Made for iPhone program. Many third-party options will likely have more durable designs too, such as a braided cable.
Apple moved some of its marketing staff off other projects to focus on bolstering sales of the latest iPhone lineup in late October, around the time the iPhone XR launched, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
The report cites an unnamed person familiar with the situation who described the move as a "fire drill" and "a possible admission that the devices may have been selling below some expectations," a concern shared by some analysts and investors. Apple's stock price has plunged nearly 17 percent since November 1.
Apple is certainly marketing the latest iPhones more aggressively than in previous years. A banner at the top of its website advertises the iPhone XR "from $449," but with an asterisk, as that price requires trading in an iPhone 7 Plus for a $300 credit as part of a limited time promotion rarely seen from Apple.
Apple is really pushing the iPhone XR it seems. "From $449" banner on its homepage (after trade-in of course!) pic.twitter.com/zU5qiuoA7g
— Joe Rossignol (@rsgnl) December 3, 2018
These concerns are nothing new following iPhone launch season, with the doom and gloom often fueled by weakening forecasts from iPhone suppliers.
Cirrus Logic, a supplier of audio-related components for iPhones, expects its revenue for the current holiday season quarter to be around 16 percent lower than it originally forecasted due to "recent weaknesses in the smartphone market." While not named, Apple accounts for around 80 percent of Cirrus Logic's business.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has dismissed those supply chain reports in the past. During an earnings call in January 2013, he noted that the company's supply chain is very complex and that conclusions shouldn't be drawn from singular data points:
Even if a particular data point were factual, it would be impossible to interpret that data point as to what it meant to our business. The supply chain is very complex and we have multiple sources for things. Yields can vary, supplier performance can vary. There is an inordinate long list of things that can make any single data point not a great proxy for what is going on.
It certainly doesn't help that Apple recently announced that it will no longer disclose iPhone unit sales in its quarterly earnings results, leading some to believe that iPhone sales have peaked and Apple has something to hide.
Apple's financial chief Luca Maestri said unit sales are "not particularly relevant for our company at this point," as they are "not necessarily representative of the underlying strength of our business." He did note that Apple may provide qualitative commentary if the info is valuable to investors.
While there were similar concerns about the iPhone X, that device ultimately sold well, so time will tell whether these headlines are baseless again. However, analysts will now have to rely exclusively on iPhone revenue to gauge sales, so the situation will no longer be as transparent going forward.
Apple has yet to announce a date for its next quarterly earnings report, but it will likely be released at the end of January. Apple expects revenue of between $89 billion and $93 billion, which would be an all-time company record.
This week, Apple shared a new press release that highlighted the best music, movies, television shows, podcasts, and books of 2018. With the announcement, Apple has now rolled out new sections in each service that highlight these pieces of media under an all-new "Best of 2018" category.
Throughout 2018 we’ve been celebrating the creativity of app developers, musicians, writers and storytellers across the Apple community. As the year draws to a close, we’re thrilled to highlight some of our favorites — and yours. https://t.co/7PWIMiEOdg
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 4, 2018
You can check out all of the new Best of 2018 collections in the Browse tabs of Apple Music and Apple Podcasts, and the Book Store tab of Apple Books. On iTunes, the section can be found by scrolling down a bit, underneath the New and Noteworthy category.
Starting with Apple Music, the central Browse tab has a few new cards today that celebrate the Artist of the Year (Drake), Album of the Year (Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour"), Song of the Year (Cardi B's "I Like It"), and Breakthrough Artist of the Year (Juice WRLD). Apple also accumulates all of this into a centralized Best of 2018 hub that breaks down each artist and album with text by Apple Music's editors.
This area also includes the new Best of 2018 Playlist, which Apple explains was created by dozens of Apple Music editors from all over the world and includes 100 of the best tracks of the year, across genres. There are also Top 100 playlists for the United States and Global, a full list of the top 100 most-streamed albums of the year, a look back at 2018's Up Next artists, and a Beats 1 Radio year-in-review special.
On iTunes, Apple has a Best of 2018 list with all of the movies and TV shows that dominated the year. Films include Black Panther (Movie of the Year), Annihilation, Crazy Rich Asians, Eighth Grade, Green Book, Hereditary, Incredibles 2, A Star is Born, and Won't You Be My Neighbor?
TV shows include Killing Eve, The Americans, Atlanta, Barry, The Expanse, The Good Fight, The Good Place, The Handmaid's Tale, Pose, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Over in Apple Books, Apple highlights An American Marriage, The Library Book, Educated, The Witch Elm, Light It Up, Too Wilde to Wed, When Life Gives You Lululemons, Spinning Silver, There There, and Harbor Me as the best reads of 2018.
The Audiobooks tab also has a Best of 2018 section, including An American Marriage, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Something in the Water, Long Road to Mercy, Becoming, Dare to Lead, Girl, Wash Your Face, Rebound, Calypso, and The Great Alone.
On the Browse tab of Apple Podcasts, a similar Best of 2018 collection can be found. For the best Podcasts of the year, Apple's Podcasts editors chose In the Dark, Caliphate, The Dream, Slow Burn, Dr. Death, Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Bubble, Wolverine: The Long Night, 99% Invisible, Serial, Bundyville, This American Life, Revisionist History, and A Very Fatal Murder.
Apple also highlighted the Most Downloaded Shows of 2018 and Most Downloaded New Shows of 2018 in this section, including Podcasts like The Daily, Pod Save America, and Conspiracy Theories.
You can also check out the best iOS and macOS apps of the year, which we shared in a post last night. Some of the notable apps picked by Apple include Procreate Pocket, Gorogoa, Pixelmator Pro, and Alto's Odyssey.
Over the next few weeks, YouTube is rolling out a new feature for its mobile app called "Autoplay on Home," which automatically plays videos that appear on your Home tab. As you scroll through your Home feed, videos will begin to play on mute with captions auto-enabled.
Google claims the previously Premium-only feature is a better way to experience new content on the go, and will help you "make more informed decisions about whether you want to watch a video," but not everyone is likely to agree, especially users who have a cellular data cap.
Fortunately, YouTube has provided some options to customize the app's new default behavior, which we'll mention shortly. But first, here's how you can turn off Autoplay on Home completely.
How to Disable Autoplay on Home in the YouTube App
Launch the YouTube app on your iPhone.
Tap your profile icon in the upper right of the screen.
Tap Settings.
Tap Autoplay.
Tap the Autoplay on Home toggle to turn it off.
In some circumstances, Autoplay on Home may be enabled only when you're using either Wi-Fi or cellular data. If you want to adjust this behavior, follow the steps above to bring you to YouTube's Autoplay settings, and you'll find options to Use on Wi-Fi and cellular data and Use only when connected to Wi-Fi.
Microsoft this week shared a new ad on its Microsoft Surface YouTube channel, this one aimed at promoting the Surface Go. As the ad begins, a little girl stares into the window of a Microsoft Store and begins singing about her preference for the Surface Go over Apple's iPad, to the tune of the song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."
She sings, "Grandma don't run out and buy an iPad, it was fine when I was six but now I'm 10. My dreams are big so I need a real computer, to do all the amazing things I know I can." Microsoft's ad is aimed at Apple's own "What's a Computer?" ad campaign, which began in 2016 and showed off a few of the things that the iPad Pro can do as a replacement to a traditional laptop computer.
Microsoft's description of the video includes a reference to needing a "real computer": "Big dreams need a real computer, like the Surface Go, to help make them come true. This holiday season, discover all the possibilities with the Surface Go. Portable, powerful and starts at $399."
The Surface Go launched over the summer at a price point of $399, making it a direct competitor to Apple's cheaper iPads. The Go is basically a smaller version of the $799 Surface Pro, including the integrated kickstand and a front-facing camera above the 1800 x 1200 resolution IPS touchscreen display.
Apple today presented its best of 2018 lists, highlighting the apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, and audiobooks that "shaped entertainment and culture around the world this year."
Apple shares its top lists for the App Store, iTunes Store, and more each and every year, and this year's lists are available via the Apple Newsroom.
According to Apple, the App Trend of the Year is "Self-Care," featuring wellness apps like Fabulous, Shine, and Calm. The Game Trend of the Year was, unsurprisingly, "Battle Royale-style gaming" so named because of the popularity of apps like Fortnite and PUBG.
Apple's other top app and game lists are below, with Apple offering up separate winners for the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac.
iPhone App of the Year - Procreate Pocket
iPhone Game of the Year - Donut County
iPad App of the Year - Froggipedia
iPad Game of the Year - Gorogoa
Mac App of the Year - Pixelmator Pro
Mac Game of the Year - The Gardens Between
Apple TV App of the Year - Sweat
Apple TV Game of the Year - Alto's Odyssey
Apple named Drake as the top artist of the year, while "I Like It" from Cardi B was named the song of the year. Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour" album was named album of then year, while Juice WRLD took the breakout artist of the year title.
As for movies, Apple named "Annihilation," "Black Panther," "Crazy Rich Asians," and "Eighth Grade" as some of the best movies of the year, while "The Americans," "Atlanta," "The Good Place," and "The Handmaid's Tale" were named some of the best TV shows.
Apple's full Newsroom article has a complete list of the winners for each of its services, along with top charts and other data that's worth checking out if you're looking for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, and apps you might have missed in 2018.
Apple shipped an estimated 4.2 million Apple Watches during the third quarter of 2018, according to new wearable device shipment data shared today by IDC.
Apple Watch shipments were up 54 percent year over year, with Apple having shipped an estimated 2.7 million devices in the third quarter of 2017. Apple's jump in shipments wasn't enough to make it the top wearable vendor, however, with that title going to Xiaomi.
Xiaomi shipped an estimated 6.9 million wearable devices during the quarter, giving the company 21.5 percent market share, while Apple came in at 13.1 percent market share. Fitbit trailed Apple in the number 3 slot with an estimated 3.5 million wearable devices shipped.
Wearable devices as measured by IDC include basic wearable devices such as simple fitness trackers along with smart watches like the Apple Watch. Overall, the wearables market reached 32 million units in 3Q18, up 21.7 percent from 3Q17. Growth was up in Asia/Pacific, but declined 0.4 percent in the U.S.
When it comes to Apple Watch shipments, IDC's numbers are estimates because Apple does not provide details on the number of Apple Watch models that it sells. Apple Watch revenue is included in Apple's "Other" category that also encompasses products like AirPods, Apple TV, HomePod, and more.
According to IDC, the Series 4 Apple Watch, which Apple released in September near the end of the quarter, accounted for less than 20 percent of all Apple Watch shipments, with customers instead going for the more affordable Apple Watch Series 3.
Apple managed to launch its Series 4 Watch, its first watch approved for medical use, towards the end of the quarter. The new design and sizes along with the latest version of Watch OS were welcome changes though the latest series only accounted for less than 20% of all Apple Watch shipments. The reduced price on the still affable [sic] Series 3 accounted for the majority of Apple's shipments during the quarter.
While Apple does not share information on Apple Watch sales, during the most recent earnings call for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2018 (which corresponds to the third calendar quarter), Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company's wearables category set a September quarter revenue record with growth over 50 percent.
Apple CEO Tim Cook this afternoon accepted the Anti-Defamation League's inaugural Courage Against Hate Award at the Never is Now Summit on Anti-Semitism and Hate, where he gave a keynote speech that had a strong message for those seeking to spread hate on Apple's platform.
"We only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division, and violence, Cook said. "You have no place on our platform. You have no home here."
Cook went on to say that this is a longtime view of Apple's, and he pointed out the company's removal of Infowars content earlier this year. Apple, he said, is not afraid to say that its values drive its curation decisions.
From the earliest days of iTunes to Apple Music today, we have always prohibited music with a message of white supremacy. Why? Because it's the right thing to do.
And as we showed this year, we won't give a platform to violent conspiracy theorists on the App Store. Why? Because it's the right thing to do.
My friends, if we can't be clear on moral questions like these, then we've got big problems. At Apple, we are not afraid to say that our values drive our curation decisions. And why should we be? Doing what's right, creating experiences free from violence and hate, experiences that empower creativity and new ideas is what our customers want us to do.
Technology should be about human attention. It should be about optimism. And we believe the future should belong to those who use technology to build a better, more inclusive, and more hopeful world.
After all, history is full of examples of what can happen when those with power, and those who ought to have good judgement, instead look the other way. I believe the most sacred thing that each of us is given is our judgement. Our morality. Our own innate desire to separate right from wrong. Choosing to set that responsibility aside at a moment of trial is a sin. We as individuals have the power to know and feel and act and we ought to use it.
According to Cook, while Apple is a technology company, its employees "never forget" that the devices they design are imagined by human minds, built by human hands, and are meant to improve human lives.
I sometimes say that I worry less about computers that think like people and more about people that think like computers. Without values or compassion, without concern for consequences. And so we try to stay rooted and to keep our devices connected to the humanity that makes us us.
Cook's full speech at the Never is Now Summit was made available via the ADL's livestream of the event. The livestream is now offline, but we'll update should the video be uploaded to the ADL's website at a later time.
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 today launched a new online store in the U.S. that's designed to provide a 10 percent discount on select products for both activity military and veterans, along with members of their households.
With the discount, the iPhone XS is available priced starting at $899, while the iPhone XR is available priced starting at $674. These devices are priced at $999 and $749, respectively, in Apple's standard online store.
Discounted prices are available on iPhones, Macs, Apple Watch models, iPads, the Apple TV, HomePod, AirPods, and accessories like cases, Apple Watch bands, and even third-party items that include speakers, drones, and more.
Apple told TechCrunch that it is "proud" to offer the discount to active military and veterans.
We're proud to offer active military and veterans a new dedicated online store with special pricing as an expression of our gratitude for their brave service.
Apple has offered educational discounts to students, teachers, and faculty members for quite some time, along with discounted pricing for military and federal government employees.
The 10 percent discount being provided to active military and veterans exceeds the discounts that Apple offers via its educational store.
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.
As car infotainment systems go, Volvo's Sensus system is certainly an eye-catcher with its gorgeous 9-inch portrait display dominating the center stack, so I was excited to have an opportunity to go hands-on with Sensus to see how it works and how well it integrates with CarPlay, which is broadly supported in Volvo's lineup.
My test vehicle was a new 2019 S60 T6 AWD R-Design sedan, and the 2019 S60 is the first Volvo to be manufactured in the United States, coming out of the company's new plant outside of Charleston, South Carolina. My S60 came packed with technology and safety features including lane-keeping assist and oncoming lane mitigation, parking assist, blind spot monitoring, and cross traffic alerts.
A $2,500 Advanced Package adds even more features including a 360º view camera, adaptive cruise control with pilot assist, heads-up display with speed and navigation, and active bending headlights to enhance illumination in the direction you're steering. My test vehicle was equipped with a high-end $3,200 Bowers & Wilkins 15-speaker audio system that unsurprisingly sounded fantastic. All told, the MSRP on my test vehicle approached $55,000, but the Sensus system with CarPlay support is standard even on the entry-level Momentum trim starting at $35,800.
Sensus
From a hardware perspective, the Sensus system is very good. The portrait display is beautiful, bright, and sharp, although it does tend to show fingerprints on both the screen and the glossy black frame surrounding it. Still, it's quite a statement feature in the way it dominates the center stack.
The Sensus system uses a combination of a resistive screen and infrared sensors to detect touches, which lets the system work even while you're wearing gloves, a feature you might expect from a Swedish car company. In fact, due to the infrared sensing, the system can even register touches without actually quite touching the screen, which is a little unnerving at first.
It might not be quite as responsive as a capacitive screen in some cases, but it's still a very usable system for a vehicle designed to be comfortable in cold climates. A single hardware home button right below the screen quickly gets you out of whatever you're doing and back to the main screen.
On the software side, Volvo's Sensus system is based around a set of tiles appearing on the main home screen, offering quick access to navigation, audio, and phone functions, as well as another most recently used function at the bottom. The tiles make it easy to hop in and out of specific functions while generally keeping a mini view of other functions accessible.
From the main screen, you can swipe to the left to find a host of vehicle control options that you likely won't need to look at terribly frequently, and a swipe down offers access to settings and a digital owner's manual that you'll likely visit even less frequently once you're up and running.
The Sensus navigation app offers a decent-looking and usable map view, and if you've got the digital driver's side display and heads-up display you'll be able to see map and turn-by-turn details on those screens as well.
Full-screen 2D map view
The main map view supports both pinching and double tapping to zoom, while panning is easily accomplished with a finger drag. The map can be viewed as either a large tile with audio and phone tiles still accessible or in a "full-screen" view that takes up the entire display with the exception of the climate control strip at the bottom.
Heads-up display showing speed, speed limit, and turn-by-turn directions
Unfortunately, once I looked beyond interacting with the map itself, I found the built-in navigation to be rather clunky to use in practice. Voice input is by far the most convenient and safest method for interacting with navigation systems, and the voice assistant that controls Sensus falls flat here.
We're in that in-between time where vehicle voice assistants are still transitioning to the natural language experience we've become accustomed to with Siri and other assistants on our mobile devices and around our homes, and like a number of other car manufacturers, Volvo has yet to really make that transition with Sensus.
With Sensus, you'll need to use specific phrases to trigger the various functions, so that means if you want to set a destination you'll have to use a specific "go to" trigger phrase rather than other variations like "take me to." About the only deviation is a "take me home" command that will work if you've set a home location.
Examples of navigation trigger words
The "go to" destination input method is a little bit clunky, and it gets worse if you don't know the address and want to search by name. It's a multi-step process that is quite distracting and feels like it takes forever.
For example, if you want directions to your local Starbucks but don't know the address off-hand, you'll need to say "search Starbucks." After a delay while the system interprets your command and searches, the driver display will offer up a list of possibilities. In this case, it shows "Starbucks" and "Starbucks Coffee" as separate items and you must choose which line number you want without knowing any other details. (As it turns out, both options return the same list of locations in my experience.)
Initial results of a POI search for "Starbucks"
Once you choose an item, it will suggest a number of nearby Starbucks locations and you'll again have to choose by line number using either your voice or the arrow and selection buttons on the steering wheel. But you're not done yet: Once you select a location, the system will ask you whether you want to call the location or set it as a destination. Only after you make that choice can you be on your way to get a cup of coffee.
Follow-up list of Starbucks locations
Beyond the multi-step voice interface, I found the POI database overall to be rather poor, with the system having difficulty finding certain destinations I commonly visit. In fact, the entire "churches" category was empty in my area, making it difficult to obtain directions to my sons' Cub Scouts meeting, while the system was similarly unable to pull up any FedEx locations near me.
Sensus navigation failing to find any FedEx locations
The other end of the voice assistant could also use some improvements, as it doesn't always properly recognize the context of what it's speaking.
For example, when confirming a destination and reading a street address containing "Dr" back to you, it will spell out the "d-r" rather than interpreting it as "Drive." Similarly, if an address contains "Pkwy," the voice assistant attempts to pronounce it as a word rather than recognizing it as "Parkway." Or if your destination is on U.S. 70, for example, the assistant will say "us 70." Some other abbreviations like "Rd" and "St" are handled properly.
Importantly, Volvo seems to recognize the shortcomings of its current Sensus system, and the navigation system in particular, as the company announced earlier this year that its next-generation Sensus system will use Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Google Play apps. That partnership isn't expected to come to fruition until 2020, however, so we'll have to hold tight while we wait for major improvements.
Anyway, back on the main Sensus home screen, a swipe to the right takes you to an apps page that gives you access to various types of applications including the built-in audio sources, apps like Pandora, Spotify, and Yelp that can be accessed if you have an active data connection, driver performance data like fuel economy, SiriusXM Travel Link features like nearby gas prices, and more.
The S60 comes with hotspot connectivity, so you can set up an LTE hotspot to connect other devices while in the car. Alternatively, you can connect the car to your phone's data connection to provide internet access for the Sensus system.
Climate Control
Volvo has gone with an almost entirely digital set of climate controls, due in significant part to the large portrait display that leaves little room for additional hardware controls. A single row of buttons underneath the display gives you access to the front and rear defroster, but otherwise all climate controls are handled through the touchscreen.
At the bottom of the Sensus display, there's a persistent strip dedicated to climate control, which displays the temperature settings for driver and passenger, fan settings, and heated seat/steering wheel status. Tapping on either of the temperature settings brings up a scale to allow you to adjust the set point and optionally sync both zones to the same temperature.
Tapping on the fan control icon brings up an overlay that lets you control defrosters and fan speeds and zones. An AUTO Climate setting helps manage your comfort automatically based on your temperature settings, so at least you can kind of set it and forget it. Swiping to separate pages gives you options for controlling rear climate and setting schedules for climate control while the vehicle is parked for situations where you get in the car at a set time each day. For rear seat passengers, there are also touch controls on the rear of the center console.
Main climate settings with hardware defroster buttons visible below
In general, I much prefer hardware climate controls to software ones, and the Sensus system hasn't changed my opinion. You can't adjust software controls by feel, and Sensus requires multiple steps to adjust settings. Adjusting the temperature by touch requires at least two taps: one to open up the temperature settings and one to set the new desired temperature. If you want to immediately get back to what you're doing, a third tap is needed to close the temperature settings, although they do go away on their own after a few seconds.
Pop-up for adjusting heated seat and steering wheel
It's a similar story for the heated seats. On vehicles like mine that are equipped with both heated seats and heated steering wheel, you need to tap the seat icon to open the settings, and then tap one or more times on seat and/or steering wheel icons to adjust the heating level.
Examples of climate control trigger phrases
Granted, many of these adjustments can be made using the voice assistant if you know the proper trigger words, but there are plenty of cases where I'd prefer using making changes by hand rather than voice, and the Sensus system just requires more steps than it should.
Connectivity
The S60 comes with a pair of USB ports inside the center console, one of which connects to the Sensus system while the other is charge-only. A connected phone can be stored either inside the console compartment or in a cupholder, and the compartment lid is designed to accommodate routing a cord out of the compartment.
Unfortunately, there are no rear USB ports for passengers. By default, there's a single 12V port in the rear of the center console, but upgraded packages offer a 120V outlet in that location. That's great for charging items requiring higher power, but for charging iPads for the kids I found it inconvenient to have to make sure I had a power adapter in addition to a charging cable.
CarPlay
As with almost every other car manufacturer, Volvo uses a wired CarPlay implementation, requiring you to use a Lightning cable to plug the phone into a designated USB port in the center console compartment. Somewhat annoyingly, if your phone is already paired to the car via Bluetooth, you'll get a pop-up asking you if you're sure you want to disable the Bluetooth connection and switch to CarPlay every time you plug it in, and I couldn't find a way to disable that notification.
When CarPlay becomes active, it takes up roughly half of the Sensus system's display, sitting just above the climate control band and below the rest of the Sensus main screen tiles. This gives the CarPlay interface a roughly 6.5-inch diagonal size, which is a bit small compared to many other systems and so much of the Maps view is covered by the various text boxes, for example. It's also rather low on the center stack, so it's definitely out of the driver's immediate line of sight.
Volvo is striving for some seamless integration between CarPlay and Sensus by only using a portion of the display and still allowing other tiles to be visible, but it could be a lot better than it is. Beyond CarPlay, you're limited to seeing the three default tiles of navigation, audio, and phone, and several of these functions are essentially deactivated since you're using CarPlay. With CarPlay active, your phone is being handled through the CarPlay interface rather than the Sensus system, and the same is true of navigation if you've got a route going in CarPlay. It's nice having quick access to non-CarPlay audio sources like SiriusXM or radio, but even then it's just a single line of information that could be a lot more useful with some tweaks.
CarPlay is managed almost entirely via the Sensus touchscreen. The thin strip of hardware controls below the screen includes a volume knob, mute/pause button, and forward/back navigation of tracks or stations that will work with CarPlay audio sources, but these can't otherwise be used to navigate around the CarPlay interface. That's generally fine, as hardware control of CarPlay is rather cumbersome.
Wrap-up
As gorgeous as the big 9-inch portrait screen is, the overall Sensus experience comes up short for me. A lack of natural language voice recognition and a poor POI database really hamper the usability of the built-in navigation in particular, and it just feels like Volvo is trying to do too much with the touchscreen.
The large tiles on the main home screen are easy to touch, but overall they can't display a whole lot of information at one time, which means lots of tapping in and out to make adjustments. With so many different directions to swipe from the main home screen and then also scrolling sometimes needed to see those entire pages, it just feels like Sensus isn't terribly intuitive. Combining an underperforming voice assistant with a complicated touchscreen system, I find it rather hard to accomplish what should be simple tasks.
Here's hoping that the next-generation Sensus system will make some significant strides forward in the usability department, as the hardware really does have some great things going for it that contribute toward a premium, sophisticated feel for Volvos.
I do appreciate the attempt at integrating CarPlay into the Sensus system, and it's fairly easy to hop back and forth between features like Apple Maps and SiriusXM, but again, I feel the integration could be significantly improved by making changes such as moving the CarPlay display to the top of the screen for better visibility and offering more information-rich and customizable tiles to help make the most of the Sensus interface that surrounds CarPlay.
I love that CarPlay and Sensus are standard across not only the S60 trims, but the entire Volvo lineup in the U.S. as of the launches of the 2019 S60 and V60. Of course, Volvo's entry-level trims aren't exactly low-cost, but when other luxury car manufacturers are requiring higher trim levels or even separate charges for CarPlay support, it's nice to see Volvo all-in on supporting the technology.
The 2019 Volvo S60 starts at $35,800, but various trim, engine, and package options can push the total close to $65,000. Fortunately, Volvo builds in a decent number of safety and technology features, including CarPlay, even at the lowest levels.
This afternoon, Anker kicked off its latest Amazon sale, discounting a wide variety of its best portable chargers, Bluetooth audio accessories, wireless chargers, and more. Included in the sale are Anker's limited-time holiday bundles that offer its Soundcore audio devices at a discount, along with a few extras like a PowerCore 5,000 mAh portable battery or a travel case for the SoundCore Flare.
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Browse the sale below and head to Anker on Amazon to place your order before these deals expire on Monday, December 17. Also note that you don't need any special promotion codes to get any of these discount prices.
Additionally, MacRumors and Nodus have partnered up this week for a new exclusive sitewide sale that will last all the way through January 5, 2019. In this sale, MacRumors readers can visit NodusCollection.com, shop for iPhone cases, iPad cases, or wallets, and enter the promo code MACRUM20 during the checkout process to get 20 percent off their order.
Nodus is a British brand that sells a wide variety of leather accessories, with free worldwide shipping on orders over £30. For iPhone, the company sells the Shell Case II and Micro Dock III, which allows you to magnetically attach your iPhone X, XS, XS Max, XR, and more on any surface. Nodus says this case is also Qi compatible. For card storage along with iPhone protection, Nodus also sells the Access Case III.
Nodus also has an Access Case for the iPad mini and numerous Hifold and Lofold style wallets, all of which can be purchased on the company's website at a 20 percent discount through the end of our exclusive sale.
Lastly, Amazon has Apple's 9.7-inch iPad (32GB, Wi-Fi) for $289.00, down from $329.00 in Silver, Gold, and Space Gray. This is the iPad that launched earlier in 2018 with support for the Apple Pencil; it also includes a Retina display, A10 Fusion chip, and Touch ID.
For more information on the latest sales, head to our full Deals Roundup.
In a new entry in its Machine Learning Journal, Apple has detailed how Siri on the HomePod is designed to work in challenging usage scenarios, such as during loud music playback, when the user is far away from the HomePod, or when there are other active sound sources in a room, such as a TV or household appliances.
An overview of the task:
The typical audio environment for HomePod has many challenges — echo, reverberation, and noise. Unlike Siri on iPhone, which operates close to the user’s mouth, Siri on HomePod must work well in a far-field setting. Users want to invoke Siri from many locations, like the couch or the kitchen, without regard to where HomePod sits. A complete online system, which addresses all of the environmental issues that HomePod can experience, requires a tight integration of various multichannel signal processing technologies.
To accomplish this, Apple says its audio software engineering and Siri speech teams developed a multichannel signal processing system for the HomePod that uses machine learning algorithms to remove echo and background noise and to separate simultaneous sound sources to eliminate interfering speech.
Apple says the system uses the HomePod's six microphones and is powered continuously by its Apple A8 chip, including when the HomePod is run in its lowest power state to save energy. The multichannel filtering constantly adapts to changing noise conditions and moving talkers, according to the journal entry.
Apple goes on to provide a very technical overview of how the HomePod mitigates echo, reverberation, and noise, which we've put into layman's terms:
Echo Cancellation: Since the speakers are close to the microphones on the HomePod, music playback can be significantly louder than a user's "Hey Siri" voice command at the microphone positions, especially when the user is far away from the HomePod. To combat the resulting echo, Siri on HomePod implements a multichannel echo cancellation algorithm.
Reverberation Removal: As the user saying "Hey Siri" moves further away from the HomePod, multiple reflections from the room create reverberation tails that decrease the quality and intelligibility of the voice command. To combat this, Siri on the HomePod continuously monitors the room characteristics and removes the late reverberation while preserving the direct and early reflection components in the microphone signals.
Noise Reduction: Far-field speech is typically contaminated by noise from home appliances, HVAC systems, outdoor sounds entering through windows, and so forth. To combat this, the HomePod uses state-of-the-art speech enhancement methods that create a fixed filter for every utterance.
Apple says it tested the HomePod's multichannel signal processing system in several acoustic conditions, including music and podcast playback at different levels, continuous background noise such as conversation and rain, noises from household appliances such as a vacuum cleaner, hairdryer, and microwave.
During its testing, Apple varied the locations of the HomePod and its test subjects to cover different use cases. For example, in living room or kitchen environments, the HomePod was placed against the wall and in the middle of the room.
Apple's article concludes with a summary of Siri performance metrics on the HomePod, with graphs showing that Apple's multichannel signal processing system led to improved accuracy and fewer errors. Those interested in learning more can read the full entry on Apple's Machine Learning Journal.
Ahead of the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards in February, Apple Music will reveal nominees in select categories on Friday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, according to Variety. Additional nominees will be announced live on CBS This Morning at the same time, followed by a full list on Grammy.com at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time.
Apple has used the GRAMMY Awards as a platform to promote Apple Music for the past few years. Last year, for example, Apple Music offered an exclusive collection of 60-plus memorable GRAMMY performances and playlists specifically curated across six genres: pop, rap, country, rock, R&B, and jazz.
Last year, CBS said its telecast of the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards brought in 19.8 million viewers, so the show provides Apple with a large audience to promote its streaming music service as it competes with Spotify for subscribers. Apple Music reportedly has 56 million subscribers as of last month.
The 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards ceremony will be held on February 10, 2019 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony will recognize the best recording artists and songs from October 2017 through September 2018.
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Apple also highlighted the Most Downloaded Shows of 2018 and Most Downloaded New Shows of 2018 in this section, including Podcasts like The Daily, Pod Save America, and Conspiracy Theories.
Google 
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