MacRumors

Apple goes into great detail about the security of the Face ID facial recognition system built into the iPhone X in a security white paper and a support document, but relatively little has been said about the access that developers have to facial data captured by the TrueDepth camera, which has led privacy advocates and developers to express concerns about what apps can glean about you from your face.

A new piece from The Washington Post that includes commentary from both privacy experts and Apple itself explores the data third-party apps can access, echoing concerns previously brought up earlier this month.

Apps have no access to the facial map that Face ID uses to unlock your device, but developers are able to use the TrueDepth camera to scan a user's face for the purpose of creating more realistic augmented reality apps. As described by Apple:

Using the TrueDepth camera, your app can detect the position, topology, and expression of the user's face, all with high accuracy and in real time, making it easy to apply live selfie effects or use facial expressions to drive a 3D character.

Apps are able to see a full 3D face map along with a "live read-out" of 52 micro-movements in the eyelids, mouth, and other features. MeasureKit, a free app developed by Rinat Khanov, has a face mesh tool built in that displays the facial data the TrueDepth camera can capture along with a list of the facial expressions it tracks.

Apple has a privacy policy that's been in place since before the iPhone X launched requiring apps that use the TrueDepth camera to have a privacy policy, secure user consent option, and a clear outline of what data is being collected and how it's used, but The Washington Post's Geoffrey Fowler worries about the future implications of the TrueDepth camera, where such facial data could perhaps be used to determine gender, race, sexuality, or track facial expressions to determine medical conditions like depression.

"We take privacy and security very seriously," Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said. "This commitment is reflected in the strong protections we have built around Face ID data--protecting it with the Secure Enclave in iPhone X--as well as many other technical safeguards we have built into iOS."

Khanov, the developer behind the aforementioned MeasureKit app, says Apple's policies may not be enough. Khanov didn't initially have a privacy policy in place in his app, and it was approved anyway. Apple said it was an oversight and asked Khanov to implement a privacy policy right away.

"There were no additional terms or contracts. The app review process is quite regular as well--or at least it appears to be, on our end," Khanov said. When I noticed his app didn't have a privacy policy, Khanov said Apple didn't require it because he wasn't taking face data off the phone.

As Fowler points out, apps that are using the TrueDepth camera are not currently providing enough information to customers. The popup to access the TrueDepth camera is the same generic popup that is required for the standard front and rear-facing cameras, and it does not mention that additional data is being collected.

Whether Apple will put stricter policies in place remains to be seen, as does how this kind of facial recognition data will be used in the future, but customers should be made aware of what's being provided to app developers. For those concerned, it's worth downloading the MeasureKit app or a similar app to see what's potentially being collected when an app accesses the camera on your iPhone X.

Apple Watch was the world's most popular smartwatch by a significant margin last quarter, but its market share declined over the summer, according to data shared with MacRumors by research firm IDC.

Whereas the Apple Watch represented just under half of all smartwatches shipped in the second quarter with 49.6 percent market share, the device had an estimated 41 percent market share in the third quarter. In other words, four out of every 10 smartwatches shipped last quarter were Apple Watches.

Apple Watch shipments totaled an estimated 2.7 million units in the July-September period, down from 3.4 million units in the prior quarter.

Samsung finished runner-up to the Apple Watch with an estimated 700,000 shipments, also down slightly from the prior quarter.

Garmin took third place with 600,000 shipments, unchanged from the prior quarter. Fossil and Continental Wireless, which makes kids smartwatches in China, tied for fourth place with shipments of 500,000 smartwatches respectively. All other smartwatch makers shipped 1.7 million units combined in the quarter.

IDC's data shared with MacRumors is based exclusively on smartwatches, which it defines as watches that can run third-party apps on the device itself.

In the broader wearables market, which includes many low-priced fitness trackers, IDC estimates the Apple Watch captured 10.3 percent market share last quarter. Fitbit and Chinese vendor Xiaomi tied for the lead in that category last quarter with an estimated 13.7 percent market share each.

Apple doesn't break out Apple Watch sales like it does with iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Instead, it groups the wearable under its "Other Products" category, alongside Apple TV, AirPods, Beats, iPods, and other accessories.

On a conference call early this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook did reveal that Apple Watch sales were up 50 percent in the quarter year over year. Apple reported revenue of $3.2 billion from its "Other Products" category, up 36 percent year over year.

Moving on now to Apple Watch, with unit growth of over 50 percent for the third consecutive quarter, it continues to be the best selling and most loved smartwatch in the world. We began shipping Apple Watch Series 3 just six weeks ago, and customers love the new freedom of cellular. The ability to go for a run with just your Apple Watch, or go for a quick errand without your phone, while staying connected, is a game changer. Now more than ever, Apple Watch is the ultimate device for healthy life, and is already making a big difference in our customers' lives.

Apple today announced that Apple Watch users in the United States can participate in a heart study aimed at identifying irregular heart rhythms.

Apple today announced it has launched a ResearchKit-based Apple Heart Study app, which uses the Apple Watch's heart rate sensor to collect data on irregular heart rhythms and notify users who may be experiencing atrial fibrillation.

As part of the study, if an irregular heart rhythm is identified, participants will receive a notification on their Apple Watch and iPhone, a free consultation with a study doctor and an electrocardiogram (ECG) patch for additional monitoring.

"Every week we receive incredible customer letters about how Apple Watch has affected their lives, including learning that they have AFib. These stories inspire us and we're determined to do more to help people understand their health," said Jeff Williams, Apple's COO. "Working alongside the medical community, not only can we inform people of certain health conditions, we also hope to advance discoveries in heart science."

To calculate heart rate and rhythm, the Apple Watch's sensor uses green LED lights flashing hundreds of times per second and light-sensitive photodiodes to detect the amount of blood flowing through the wrist.

Apple is partnering with Stanford University's School of Medicine to perform the research.

"Through the Apple Heart Study, Stanford Medicine faculty will explore how technology like Apple Watch's heart rate sensor can help usher in a new era of proactive health care central to our Precision Health approach," said Lloyd Minor, Dean of Stanford University School of Medicine. "We're excited to work with Apple on this breakthrough heart study."

While heart arrhythmias aren't always symptoms of a serious disease, atrial fibrillation is a leading cause of stroke, which can lead to death. Many people don't experience symptoms, so it often goes undiagnosed.

The Apple Heart Study is rolling out on the App Store in the United States today to customers who are 22 years or older and have an Apple Watch Series 1 or later. The app itself requires an iPhone running iOS 11 or later.

Apple says the study is not intended for people who already have atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter during the enrolment process.

This announcement follows news that AliveCor has received FDA approval to sell its medical-grade Kardia Band for Apple Watch, which can detect abnormal heart rhythm and atrial fibrillation, in the United States.

Apple is designing its own power management chips for use in iPhones within the next two years, according to Nikkei Asian Review.

Apple's new in-house power management chip would be the most advanced in the industry, according to the sources, and could have processing capabilities that allow it to better monitor and control power consumption among various components. That means iPhone users could expect devices capable of delivering better performance on lower power consumption.

Apple plans to replace around half of the main power management chips that go into iPhones with its own as early as 2018, but the transition could be delayed until 2019, according to anonymous sources cited in the report.

If the report is accurate, it could be a serious blow for Dialog Semiconductor, the British company that exclusively designs the current main power management chip for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models. Apple reportedly accounted for nearly three quarters of Dialog Semiconductor's revenue in 2016.

The main power management chip controls an iPhone's battery, including charging capabilities and energy consumption. Apple's in-house version will supposedly be "the most advanced in the industry," which could pave the way for future iPhone models to have a better performance-vs-battery life balance.

Taiwanese supplier TSMC will be the exclusive manufacturer of Apple's in-house power management chip, according to the report.

Today's report corroborates a prediction by Bankhaus Lampe analyst Karsten Iltgen, who earlier this year said that Apple will at least partially cut back on Dialog Semiconductor's supply of power management chips for future iPhones. Iltgen said Apple already has engineers working on the chips in California and Germany.

Dialog responded to the report with a statement claiming that "business relationships are in line with the normal course of business." The company's stock fell nearly 20 percent after the news broke.

Dialog Semiconductor could be the second large British company to lose significant business from Apple within the next year or two. In April, Imagination Technologies shares plunged after Apple informed the firm it plans to stop using its PowerVR graphics technology in its devices within two years.

In addition to power management chips and graphics cores, Apple appears to be moving towards in-house design of several other components, potentially including ARM-based Mac processors and iPhone modems.

Apple today announced that more than 400 of its retail stores around the world will turn their logos red over the next week in support of World AIDS Day.

For every purchase made with Apple Pay at an Apple retail store, on Apple.com, or through the Apple Store app between World AIDS Day on December 1 and December 7, Apple said it will make a $1 donation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Last year, donations were capped at $1 million.

"Connecting through our products and services helps make it easy for our customers to join us in the effort to create the first AIDS-free generation," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. "By working with (RED) to stop the transmission of HIV from moms to their unborn babies, we're already seeing a significant impact in areas where help is needed most. We're committed to continuing the fight and empowering future generations through these vital efforts."

Additionally, on Worlds AID Day, the App Store's Today tab will feature stories dedicated to the cause, including a behind-the-scenes look at how developers are supporting the (RED) initiative, which seeks to raise awareness and funds to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in eight African countries.

Apple has supported (RED) for over a decade by selling various products and accessories in a special (PRODUCT)RED color. Apple donates a portion of the sales proceeds from these products to the Global Fund.

"Apple's commitment to the AIDS fight is unparalleled. It's not just the staggering $160 million raised for the Global Fund that has impacted many millions of lives, it's their ability to bring heat, awareness, energy and eyeballs to keep this issue front and center," said Deb Dugan, CEO, (RED). "Their unwavering support cannot be underestimated, and we thank every Apple employee for helping (RED) reach the milestone of half a billion dollars delivered to help end this disease."

Apple said it raised a record $30 million this year for the Global Fund, equating to 144 million days of medication that prevents the transmission of HIV from mothers to their unborn babies. (RED) has now raised over $500 million overall towards the fight against HIV/AIDS since its creation in 2006.

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 this afternoon published a new support document that walks users through repairing their file sharing options on their Macs after installing the 2017-001 Security Update for macOS High Sierra 10.13.1, which was released this morning.

Immediately after installing this patch, file sharing fails to authenticate. I see this on multiple Macs. Hoping for some collaboration. [...]

With the Finder open a file share to any Mac with the security update installed. Status shows "not connected", when you try to "connect as" your username and password fail.

According to the document, macOS High Sierra users who cannot access file sharing after installing the security update will need to complete the following steps:

1. Open the Terminal app, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
2. Type sudo /usr/libexec/configureLocalKDC and press Return.
3. Enter your administrator password and press Return.
4. Quit the Terminal app.

MacRumors readers who were having file sharing problems have tested Apple's fix and have confirmed that it does indeed work to solve the problem.

Apple issued this morning's security update to address a major vulnerability that enabled the root superuser on a Mac with a blank password and no security check.

The problem has been successfully fixed on machines running macOS High Sierra 10.13.1, the current release version of macOS High Sierra, but Apple has not yet addressed the vulnerability in macOS High Sierra 10.13.2, available to both developers and public beta testers.

Update: Apple appears to have released a revised version of the security update, which is valid for systems running both macOS 10.13.0 and 10.13.1. The revised version may also address the issue in the original version that resulted in file sharing problems.

Apple design chief Jony Ive recently sat down for an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, where he once again discussed his work on Apple's newest campus, Apple Park, and the latest flagship iPhone, the iPhone X.

As he mentioned in a prior interview, Ive is excited about the design space at Apple Park because it will allow the entire design team to work together. Industrial designers, font experts, motion graphics experts, and computer interface designers will be able to come together to interact in new ways and share ideas.

The design space will also feature several milling machines to create prototypes, which Ive believes are an integral part of the design process.

"I think you only really understand a material--its properties and attributes and, importantly, the opportunity the material allows--if you actually work it yourself," Ive says. "And the most remarkable point in the whole process is when you make the first model. We might like it, we might not, but the first model you make, everything changes."

On the subject of the iPhone X, Ive says its all-glass design and edge-to-edge display is something Apple "aspired to for years." In comparison, Ive critiqued older iPhone designs. "It now seems to me a rather disconnected component housed in an enclosure," he said of the iPhone 7 Plus.

The rest of the interview, which also includes anecdotes on Ive's childhood and the Apple Watch, can be read over on the Smithsonian website.

Along with his interview in Smithsonian Magazine, Ive today spoke about the future of design at the Hirshorn Museum in Washington, DC. The one-hour speaking engagement took place at 3:00 p.m. local time and appears to have covered many of the same topics that Ive spoke about in the interview.

Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine sat down for an interview recently with Billboard to talk about The Defiant Ones, a four-part documentary series that focuses on the careers of both Iovine and his long-time partner Dr. Dre.

During the interview, Iovine commented on the state of the streaming music industry and the precarious position of companies focused solely on streaming music, like Spotify.

"The streaming services have a bad situation, there's no margins, they're not making any money," he said. "Amazon sells Prime; Apple sells telephones and iPads; Spotify, they're going to have to figure out a way to get that audience to buy something else. If tomorrow morning [Amazon CEO] Jeff Bezos wakes up and says, 'You know what? I heard the word "$7.99" I don't know what it means, and someone says, 'Why don't we try $7.99 for music?' Woah, guess what happens?"

Streaming music, says Iovine, is "fine" with major companies like Amazon, Apple, and Google, but it's "not a great business" for standalone companies like Spotify. "They have to figure out a way to show the road to making this a real business," he said.

Iovine went on to explain that the record industry doesn't yet know "where technology is gonna go," and that things could shift at any moment with the debut of software and hardware breakthroughs. Referencing the 8-track, cassette tape, and CD, Iovine says companies need to adapt and "figure out their role."

According to Iovine, streaming services that offer content for free undermine the music industry and present a major problem that's not something television providers like Netflix have to deal with. Streaming services all offer the same general content, making it difficult to convince customers to pay when content is available elsewhere at no cost.

"So Netflix has all that original stuff and it's $11.99," he said. "Music, everybody has everything, plus the free tiers, every song is on YouTube, so how can they charge $11.99 to a consumer? I'm like, no. I'm gonna buy this and get the music for free.... It's a massive problem."

Iovine's opinion on free music is likely one of the reasons why Apple is focusing heavily on exclusive content. Apple has purchased the rights to air multiple exclusive documentaries, and the company is working on exclusive television shows much like Netflix, with the aim of drawing in customers with original content.

So far, two shows have premiered exclusively on Apple Music: Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke: The Series. Apple has other television shows in the works, including an Amazing Stories reboot with Steven Spielberg and a morning talk show drama that will star Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Apple has not yet confirmed these new shows will be exclusive to Apple Music, but it's a possibility, and it's also possible Apple is planning on some kind of future service that offers both music and television content.

Jimmy Iovine's full interview, which goes into further detail on streaming services and covers The Defiant Ones, can be read over at Billboard.

Apple this morning launched a new Sports section in its TV app, which appears to be available on devices running iOS 11.2 and tvOS 11.2. Sports can be accessed through the new dedicated Sports tab at the bottom of the app, located next to the "Watch Now" button.

First announced in September, the TV app's Sports section is designed to allow users to watch live sports games through integration with ESPN. Right now, ESPN appears to be the only app offering content through the TV app's Sports category, but additional Sports-oriented apps could offer support in the future.

Right now, since it's basketball season and there are several basketball games this afternoon, the TV app focuses heavily on basketball content. There are links to NBA games, men's college basketball, and women's college basketball, along with re-aired content and separate browsing sections for football and rugby.

Apple plans to change the focus of the app regularly to highlight relevant sports games that are upcoming, so when there are football games on, football will be more heavily prominent.

In a "Favorites" section of the app, there's an option to pick all of your favorite MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, and other teams, which will tailor the content displayed in the app to your interests. The TV app will also send out notifications when important games you're interested in are airing, and those notification options can be customized in the Notifications section of the Settings app. You can also choose whether or not to display live sports scores in the TV section of the Settings app.

Beta testers who are running iOS 11.2 or tvOS 11.2 should be able to access the new Sports portion of the TV app starting today.