MacRumors

After naming the iPhone X as one of the 25 Best Inventions of the Year, TIME sat down for an interview about the smartphone with Apple's design chief Jony Ive and hardware engineering chief Dan Riccio.

Riccio believes the iPhone X paves the way for the next 10 years of smartphones, given its radical redesign with a nearly edge to edge display, no home button, and advanced cameras for facial recognition and augmented reality.

"There were these extraordinarily complex problems that needed to be solved," said Ive. "Paying attention to what's happened historically actually helps give you some faith that you are going to find a solution."

That history includes, in part, Apple removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 last year, parting ways with the built-in disc drive on the MacBook Pro after 2012, and ditching the floppy drive on the iMac G3 in 1998.

"I actually think the path of holding onto features that have been effective, the path of holding onto those whatever the cost, is a path that leads to failure," said Ive. "And in the short term, it's the path that feels less risky and it's the path that feels more secure."

Ive acknowledged that it's not always easy for Apple to move past a feature or technology when it believes there's a "better way," and it's easy to see his point given the controversy that each change has generated.

Apple was criticized by a fair number of customers for removing the headphone jack on the iPhone last year, for example, and even competitors like Google and Samsung used it as an opportunity to poke fun at Apple.

After time, however, many customers usually learn to adapt. Google even removed the headphone jack on the Pixel 2 this year.

iPhone X is the most expensive iPhone ever, with a starting price of $999 in the United States, which Ive said is the "financial consequence" of "integrating the sheer amount of processing power into such a small device."

"Our goal is always to provide what we think is the best product possible, not always the lowest cost," added Riccio.

Despite being expensive, the iPhone X appears to be off to a successful start given sales estimates, and Apple's forecast for an all-time revenue record this quarter. Orders placed today are still backlogged by 2-3 weeks.

Apple's new flagship iPhone X is one of the best inventions of 2017, according to a new list of the top 25 inventions of the year published this morning by TIME magazine.

The smartphone, which launched on November 3, features some of the most radical design changes Apple has introduced in an iPhone since the first iteration of the device launched in 2007. It does away with the Home button, includes an entirely new user interface that embraces new gestures, brings impressive new camera technology, and introduces next-generation biometric authentication in the form of Face ID.

Apple Design Chief Jony Ive says Apple was "looking to the future" with the decision to remove the Home button, and that holding onto features, even those that have been effective, "is a path that leads to failure." As for cost, Ive says packing those features and impressive processing power into the iPhone X has "financial consequence."

Dan Riccio, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, says the iPhone X is "something we really wanted to do since day one."

Based on estimates for demand, the iPhone X is a hit with consumers. It's received largely positive reviews, and despite some bugs and hiccups with a small number of issues, its launch has been a success.

The iPhone X is just one of 25 products that were named the best inventions of the year. Other items that were highlighted by TIME include the Jibo robot, Halo Top low calorie ice cream, the heated Ember mug that keeps coffee warm, a multi-directional elevator, 3D printed Adidas shoes, the Tesla Model 3, the DJI Spark, the Nintendo Switch, and fidget spinners.

Apple has been designated the "clear leader" in its methods of supporting a conflict-free minerals trade throughout its supply chain. The title was awarded to the company in a report published by the Enough Project, called the 2017 Conflict Minerals Company Rankings, in which Apple sits at the #1 spot. Rounding out the top 5 spots are Alphabet/Google at #2, HP at #3, Microsoft at #4, and Intel at #5.

The new Conflict Minerals Company Rankings look at 20 of the world's largest companies in two of the industries that the Enough Project says "consume the most" tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold: consumer electronics and jewelry retail. These minerals are referred to as conflict minerals because they're most often related to being sourced within war-torn countries that mine the minerals with little to no respect for workers' rights.

- Conducting Conflict Minerals Sourcing Due Diligence and Reporting
- Developing a Conflict-Free Minerals Trade and Sourcing Conflict-Free Minerals from Congo, Particularly Gold
- Supporting and Improving Livelihoods for Artisanal Mining Communities in Eastern Congo
- Conflict-Free Minerals Advocacy

In its full report, Apple is placed in the "Outstanding Company Efforts" section, which represents the companies "going above and beyond to get more directly at the heart of maintaining robust due diligence practices and sourcing conflict-free minerals from Congo." Specifically, Apple is the only company to receive full credits for identifying and following up with supply chain incidents reported to it by suppliers and other sources. Apple has "clearly demonstrated its commitment" to scouring for red flags related to these reports and taking action by dropping suppliers and others in its supply chain that turn out to be noncompliant with its standards.

After developing its Risk Readiness Assessment program in order to help identify conflict minerals sourcing in its supply chain, among other risk-related sourcing factors, Apple partnered with the Responsible Business Alliance in order to make this program widely accessible to other companies. According to the Enough Project, this put Apple above and beyond all other companies ranked on the list.

Apple not only has found better ways of addressing incidents within its own supply chain, but it has also helped develop shared centralized platforms for risk assessment that other companies can use. This extra effort contributes to the overall strengthening of conflict minerals supply chain due diligence.

The Enough Project's report follow a separate study published by Amnesty International earlier this week, which described Apple as the industry leader in responsible cobalt sourcing. That report said Apple has taken "adequate" action in terms of sourcing conflict-free minerals, earning a top ranking alongside Samsung in the same category.

Apple annually discusses this part of the supply chain in its Supplier Responsibility Reports, which typically come out around February and March. This year's report highlighted cobalt supplier audits in the Congo, its "highest ever" work hour compliance, and discussed the success of Apple's Supplier Education Program. These reports are intended to show the strides that Apple takes to improve the work lives of its device manufacturing employees, who work to create products including the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and more.

To see more of the Enough Project's 2017 Conflict Minerals Company Rankings, visit the project's website here.

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.

Shipping estimates for the iPhone X have improved to 2 to 3 weeks in the United States and Canada, up from the previous 3 to 4 week shipping estimates that have been available since early November.

The new 2 to 3 week shipping estimates for North America follow improved shipping estimates in countries across Europe and Asia Pacific.

iPhone X models ordered today in the United States and Canada will now arrive well ahead of the holidays, in early December, making them available for holiday gifts.

Along with improving shipping estimates for devices purchased now from the online Apple Store, Apple has also been sending out iPhone X pre-orders more quickly than expected. Many MacRumors readers who had late November or December shipping estimates after ordering have already received their devices or are expecting them soon.

Apple retail stores are also receiving regular shipments and customers who check stock on Apple.com early in the morning and use stock-tracking tools like iStockNow have been able to make purchases with no wait time.

The iPhone X was in short supply at launch and pre-orders for the device sold out within just a few minutes, but Apple has been working hard to ramp up supply to get orders out to all customers over the holidays.

Apple today updated its website to add a holiday gift guide, recommending Apple products for people to purchase for friends and family this holiday season. This year's gift guide is bedecked with tiny people and Apple devices displaying holiday scenes.

The flagship iPhone X, priced at starting $999, is front and center the gift guide, with Apple also highlighting the Apple Watch Series 3 models, the iPad Pro, the MacBook Pro, and the 4K Apple TV.

Accessories for each product are listed below each item, with Apple recommending things like AirPods, iPhone X phone cases, Apple Watch bands, the Apple Pencil, Beats Studio3 headphones, and more.

Several third party accessories are also shared on the page, including Sphero's R2-D2 robotic droid, a new DJI Mavic Pro in an exclusive Alpine White color, the Lifeprint Photo and Video Printer, Belkin's Boost Up Wireless Charging Pad, and the CliqueFie Selfie Stick.

Even more accessories are highlighted in a separate "More Gifts" section, with Apple sharing suggestions on accessories at a range of price points and for several different ages.

Every year, Apple offers an extended return period during the holidays, and as of today, the new return period is in effect. Most products and accessories purchased between November 15 and December 25, 2017, will be eligible for return until January 8, 2018 in countries that include the United States, Australia, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Japan. Apple also offers free two-day shipping on all purchases.

Apple will likely be offering a Black Friday sale on Friday, November 24, so if you're planning to buy an Apple product from Apple, it could be worthwhile to wait. Last year, Apple offered customers free Apple Store gift cards worth up to $150 with the purchase of select products.