MacRumors

For the foreseeable future, Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers will offer some customers who own a 16GB iPhone 5c that's in need of replacement a 32GB model instead.

Apple shared the new directive with Apple Authorized Service Providers this morning.

"Orders for whole unit service inventory of iPhone 5c (16GB) models may be substituted to iPhone 5c (32GB) models until further notice," reads the note that was sent out today.

Not all 16GB iPhone 5c replacements will be upgraded to 32GB devices instead, but some customers who take their iPhone 5c models in for repair for a manufacturing issue or other problem may see an upgrade to the larger capacity 32GB model.

Apple did not offer a reason why some 16GB iPhone 5c models are being replaced with 32GB models, but it's often due to available supply at any given time.

The iPhone 5c was first introduced alongside the iPhone 5s in September of 2013, and it's the only 4-inch iPhone that Apple has introduced with a colorful plastic exterior.

Apple stopped offering 16 and 32GB iPhone 5c models for sale in most countries in September of 2014, but continued selling an 8GB model until September of 2015. In India, the iPhone 5c was still available through February of 2016, but since that time, the iPhone 5c has been fully discontinued in all countries.

iPad remains the world's most popular tablet by a significant margin, having outsold competing devices from rivals Samsung and Amazon combined last year, according to data shared by research firm IDC today.

Apple sold a total of 43.8 million iPad units in 2017, as confirmed by its quarterly earnings results, while IDC estimates that Samsung and Amazon shipped 24.9 million and 16.7 million tablets respectively on the year. The combined Samsung-Amazon total of 41.6 million tablets is 2.2 million lower than iPad sales.

Apple captured a 26.8 percent share of the tablet market in 2017, meaning that roughly one in every four tablets sold last year was an iPad. Apple's tablet market share rose 2.5 percentage points year-on-year.

Last week, Apple reported revenue of $5.8 billion from iPad sales in the fourth quarter of 2017, representing growth of six percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple's average selling price of an iPad was $445, up slightly from $423 in year-ago quarter, suggesting more higher-priced iPad Pro sales.

Apple's growth in iPad sales, albeit relatively flat, contrasted with the overall tablet market's 6.5 percent decline in shipments in 2017 compared to 2016. iPad has been the world's most popular tablet since shortly after it launched.

Shifting focus to this year, Apple is rumored to launch at least one new iPad Pro model with slimmer bezels, no home button, and Face ID. We haven't heard much about the lower-cost 9.7-inch iPad and iPad mini, but each could certainly receive a routine speed bump this year among other upgrades as well.

Apple refreshes much of its product lineup on an annual basis, and a new report reveals when that process may begin this year.

Taiwanese website DigiTimes first claims some suppliers are poised to benefit from new or increased orders from Apple to help produce next-generation iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch models at some point in 2018:

Although some Taiwan makers in the iPhone X supply chain have been affected by Apple's move to scale back shipments of the device, some others including Career Technology, E&R Engineering, ShunSin Technology and Superior Plating Technology (SPT) are poised to benefit from new or increased orders from the client to support production of its next-generation iPad, MacBook and Apple Watch models in 2018, according to industry sources.

The report then replaces Apple Watch with iPhone in the sentence, and says the new products are slated for debut starting in March:

These makers have cutting-edge technologies or have newly tapped into the supply chains of Apple's consumer devices. Among them, SPT, which boasts pearl bright nickel processing technology, is ready to enjoy sizeable orders from Apple, which will incorporate the technology to process adapters for its new-generation iPhone, iPad and MacBook devices, slated for debut starting in March 2018.

The timeframe could simply be a guess based on Apple's new product releases last year. In 2017, the company announced a lower-cost 9.7-inch iPad in March by way of press release, alongside (PRODUCT)RED edition iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models, and larger 32GB and 128GB storage capacities for iPhone SE.

As a boilerplate disclaimer, DigiTimes does not have a perfect track record. The publication has shared inaccurate information about both what is coming and when on Apple's roadmap, including last year's prediction that Apple would unveil its 10.5-inch iPad Pro at an April event that never transpired.

If the report is accurate, the iPad lineup is likely the most ideal candidate for product refreshes as early as March. The launch of new iPhone and Apple Watch models now seems tied together in September, while Apple hasn't unveiled new notebooks in March since the Early 2015 model 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple could also unveil a second-generation iPhone SE in March, which marks the two-year anniversary of the budget device, but KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently cast some doubt on this possibility.

Apple's HomePod pre-launch stock showed the first signs of dwindling supply on Monday. Customers in the U.K. placing new pre-orders on the company's regional online store can now expect deliveries of Apple's smart speaker to arrive no earlier than Tuesday, February 13, three days after the official launch day this Friday.

In the United States and Australia, where HomePod is also launching this week, shipping estimates for the smart speaker in both White and Space Gray colors are still listed as Friday, February 9.

Despite the slip in Apple's delivery date, U.K. residents can still get hold of a HomePod on launch day by pre-ordering online from authorized Apple resellers. At the time of writing, stock is listed as available at Argos, EE, and Currys PC World. John Lewis will also be accepting HomePod pre-orders from 8pm GMT on Wednesday, February 7.

Last week, Apple's first batch of pre-order customers began receiving notifications from their banks about being charged for their orders, with many located in the U.K. Apple began taking orders for the HomePod on January 26 in the United States ($349), U.K. (£319), and Australia ($499). Later this spring, the HomePod will also launch in France and Germany.

The Financial Times today highlighted a limited number of reports from users experiencing delays with incoming phone calls on the iPhone X. Apple later confirmed to MacRumors that it is "looking into these reports."

The report, which links to a few discussions on the Apple Support Communities, notes that hundreds of customers have complained that the iPhone X's display experiences delays in turning on for up to 10 seconds during incoming phone calls, preventing these users from tapping the Accept or Decline buttons.

Indian blog PiunikaWeb rounded up similar complaints on the Apple Support Communities in January, but it appears affected iPhone X owners have been experiencing this issue since shortly after the device launched in November.

Based on what we've read, it appears that affected iPhone X units begin ringing when they receive a phone call, but the display does not turn on to show the caller ID or Accept and Decline buttons for a brief period—sometimes even longer than 10 seconds—which typically results in the call being missed.

The issue doesn't appear to be fixed in the latest iOS 11.2.5 software update, and based on the complaints, it would appear that all versions back to at least iOS 11.2 are affected. Earlier versions of iOS 11 could be affected too.

MacRumors hasn't been able to reproduce this issue, and we've seen only a handful of comments on our discussion forums related to the matter, but we did find a dozen more complaints from users across Twitter and Reddit.

Apple is likely collecting data from affected customers so that its engineers can investigate the matter, as it routinely does with any potential hardware or software issues, so contact Apple Support if you are affected. The issue likely can and will be addressed in a future software update.

Apple has dealt with a number of iPhone X hardware and software issues in recent months, some more widespread than others, including a defect causing green lines to appear on some displays, temporary unresponsiveness in cold temperatures, and the rear-facing camera failing to autofocus.

Last week, reports broke that Apple has decided to delay some new features planned for iOS 12 until next year so that it can double down on the performance and quality of the iPhone and iPad operating system in the near term.

Apple Music now has 36 million paying subscribers around the world, an increase from well over 30 million reported last September.

Apple confirmed the updated total to The Wall Street Journal, which today reported that Apple Music is growing at a faster pace than Spotify in the United States, and could soon eclipse the service in popularity in the country.

Apple's subscriber-account base in the U.S. has been growing about 5% monthly, versus Spotify's 2% clip, according to the people familiar with the numbers. Assuming those growth rates continue, Apple will overtake Spotify in accounts this summer.

On a worldwide scale, Spotify maintains a sizeable lead over Apple Music. The streaming music service revealed that it has 70 million paying subscribers a month ago, making it nearly twice as large as Apple Music. Spotify also has a free, ad-supported tier, giving it over 140 million listeners overall around the world.

Spotify expanded to the United States in 2011, while Apple Music simultaneously launched in over 100 countries in 2015. In terms of paid subscriptions, both services offer individual plans for $9.99 per month, student plans for $4.99 per month, and family plans sharable with up to six people for $14.99 per month.

Apple Music has the benefit of being preinstalled on hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads. It's also available on Mac, PC, Android, Apple Watch, Apple TV, vehicles equipped with CarPlay, Sonos, and HomePod.

Intel could be the exclusive supplier of LTE modems for all new iPhones launched in 2018, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The key takeaway of the research note, obtained by MacRumors:

We expect Intel to be the exclusive supplier of baseband chip for 2H18 new iPhone models, while Qualcomm may not have a share of the orders at all.

Kuo previously expected Intel to supply 70 percent of the modems, with Qualcomm providing the remaining 30 percent of orders, but he now believes Intel will be the sole supplier given several competitive advantages.

First and foremost, Intel's latest XMM 7560 modem [PDF] supports both GSM and CDMA, meaning that Apple could release a single iPhone model that works across AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Intel modems previously lacked CDMA, meaning Apple could never fully ditch Qualcomm for all iPhone models.

Apple is also embroiled in a major lawsuit with Qualcomm over anticompetitive licensing practices, and Kuo believes the iPhone maker switching to Intel as its exclusive modem supplier will place added pressure on Qualcomm.

Kuo added that it's too early to tell if Intel will be able to maintain its position of exclusivity in the future, as Apple typically prefers to diversify its supply chain. He adds that Apple may give orders to Qualcomm again in exchange for concessions in the ongoing lawsuit between the two companies.

Qualcomm was Apple's exclusive supplier of baseband chips until the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, when Intel began to share some of the orders.

In order to make up for the lost iPhone business, Kuo expects Qualcomm will be more aggressive in securing orders from Chinese smartphone makers. However, he believes these Chinese companies don't want a monopolized market, so Qualcomm's ability to gain market share in the country may be limited.

Kuo also reiterated that LTE transmission speeds will increase significantly in new iPhone models released in the second half of 2018.

In a previous research note from November, Kuo highlighted that Intel's XMM 7560 modem supports 4x4 MIMO technology, compared to only 2x2 MIMO in the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. The faster LTE speeds will also be made possible by an upgraded antenna design in the next iPhones.

Apple today launched a repair program for iPhone 7 devices that are impacted by an ongoing bug that causes them to have no available service even when cellular coverage is available. Apple says the problem is caused by a component that has failed on the main logic board.

The problem affects "a small percentage" of iPhone 7 devices, causing them to display a "No Service" message instead of properly connecting to an available cellular network.

Customers who are experiencing this issue will receive a free device repair from Apple, and those who have already paid for repairs are eligible for reimbursement. Apple will be emailing customers who may have previously paid for a repair related to this problem to offer a refund.

According to Apple, affected units were manufactured between September 2016 and February 2018 and were sold in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, and the United States. Model numbers that are impacted by the hardware failure include A1660, A1780, and A779, and customers can see if they are affected by checking the model number on the back of their device.

We first heard hints of this bug in September of 2016, when Apple launched an investigation into iPhone 7 devices that were displaying a "No Service" message after customers activated and then disabled Airplane Mode.

Apple's repair program is only available for the iPhone 7, and Apple will examine all iPhones prior to service to verify that the iPhone in question is impacted by the bug and eligible for repair. Apple says that devices with other damage, such as a cracked screen, will need to have those problems addressed before the "No Service" bug can be fixed.

Customers who are in need of a repair should contact an Authorized Apple Service Provider, visit an Apple retail store, or get in touch with Apple support. Apple will be sending all iPhone 7 models in need of repair to an Apple Repair Center.

The new iPhone 7 repair program covers affected iPhone 7 devices for two years after the first retail sale of the unit.

Apple yesterday announced that it sold 77.3 million iPhones during the first fiscal quarter of 2018 (fourth calendar quarter of 2017), and according to data shared by Strategy Analytics, Apple's record sales made the iPhone the top selling smartphone in the world during the quarter.

In Q4 2017, Samsung shipped 74.7 million phones, 2.6 million fewer than Apple's 77.3 million. Other vendors like Huawei and OPPO shipped far fewer devices at 41 million and 29.5 million, respectively. Apple also beat out competitors with the average selling price of its iPhones during the quarter, which came in at $796.

Apple beat out all other smartphone vendors including Samsung, Huawei, OPPO, and Xiaomi, but its overall iPhone shipments were down from 78.3 million in the year-ago quarter. It's worth noting, however, that Q4 2017 was a 13 week quarter, while Q4 2016 was a 14 week quarter.

While Apple came out on top in global smartphone shipments during the quarter, Samsung continues to be the top vendor overall. Apple's share of the market was 19.3 percent in Q4 2017, compared to Samsung's 18.6 percent, but its overall marketshare for 2017 was 14.3 percent, compared to Samsung's 21.1 percent.

Overall global smartphone shipments declined year over year, falling from 438.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016 to 400.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. According to Strategy Analytics, it was "the biggest annual fall in smartphone history."

Over the course of 2017, though, smartphone shipments actually grew 1 percent and topped 1.5 billion units for the first time ever.

Apple does not break down its iPhone sales, but yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the iPhone X has been the top selling iPhone every week since it shipped in December. Cook also said that the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus lineup brought in the highest revenue of any lineup in the company's history.

Just after adding refurbished iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models to its online store, Apple is now selling refurbished Apple TV 4K models for the first time in the United States. Apple TV 4K was released in September 2017.

32GB and 64GB models are available for $149 and $169 respectively in the United States, reflecting modest savings of $30 off Apple's regular pricing for the equivalent brand new Apple TV 4K configurations. We've yet to see any refurbished Apple TV 4K models listed in other countries.

Apple says its refurbished products are thoroughly inspected, tested, cleaned, and repackaged with a new white box and accessories.

Refurbished Apple TVs are covered by Apple's standard one-year warranty effective on the date the device is delivered. The limited warranty can be extended to up to two years from the original purchase date with AppleCare for Apple TV for $29, but note this plan doesn't include accidental damage coverage.

Apple's refurbished products are virtually indistinguishable from brand new products, so they represent an opportunity for savings, but better Apple TV 4K deals are occasionally offered by resellers. Keep an eye on our Apple Deals roundup.

In addition to the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and Apple TV 4K, Apple also began selling refurbished second-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro models in January.

Update: Refurbished Apple TV 4K models are now available in the UK for £30 off, and in several other European countries for €30 off, such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Ireland. (Thanks, Sam and Holger!)