MacRumors

Apple's personal assistant Siri has been updated with support for sports ahead of the World Cup in Brazil, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Malaysia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, Apple announced today.

Sports support for Siri in the nine new countries expands Siri sports information to a total of 35 countries, including the United States.

Specific to the World Cup, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac owners can ask Siri questions like:

• When does France play Australia?
• What teams are in group A?
• Who is on the England squad?
• Who won the Argentina-Iceland match?

In addition to expanding Siri sports support, Apple also plans to highlight football (soccer in the United States) apps and games throughout the month. Features will include tips on taking the perfect football photo and how to "get your football fix" on social media. Highlighted apps will include FOX NOW and BBC Sport, while featured games will include FIFA Mobile and PES 2018.

The TV app on Apple TV and iOS devices will feature World Cup coverage via FOX NOW in the United States and TSN and RDS in Canada, with fans able to follow their favorite teams through the TV app's Up Next feature.

Apple also plans to feature World Cup content in the News app through Eight by Eight magazine, and in Apple Music with featured playlists for each of the 32 participating nations.

Podcasts will include a "The Beautiful Game" World Cup editorial collection, as will iBooks, with Apple highlighting World Cup-related podcasts and book selections.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off later this week on June 14 and lasts through July 15.

In related news, Apple's TV app recently gained sports and news coverage in Canada.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 11.4.1 update to its public beta testing group, one week after releasing the first public beta and one day after seeding the beta to developers.

Beta testers who are members of Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 11.4.1 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.

Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. iOS betas are not always stable and should not be installed on a primary device.

There were no notable features discovered in iOS 11.4.1 in the first two developer betas, suggesting it focuses on bug fixes and other minor improvements.

iOS 11.4.1 will be one of the final updates to the iOS 11 operating system now that Apple is shifting its focus to iOS 12.

Hackers have had an "easy way" to get certain malware past signature checks in third-party security tools since Apple's OS X Leopard operating system in 2007, according to a detailed new report today by Ars Technica. Researchers discovered that hackers could essentially trick the security tools -- designed to sniff out suspiciously signed software -- into thinking the malware was officially signed by Apple while they in fact hid malicious software.

The researchers said that the signature bypassing method is so "easy" and "trivial" that pretty much any hacker who discovered it could pass off malicious code as an app that appeared to be signed by Apple. These digital signatures are core security functions that let users know the app in question was signed with the private key of a trusted party, like Apple does with its first-party apps.

Joshua Pitts, senior penetration testing engineer for security firm Okta, said he discovered the technique in February and informed Apple and the third-party developers about it soon after. Okta today also published information about the bypass, including a detailed disclosure timeline that began on February 22 with a report submitted to Apple and continues to today's public disclosure.

Ars Technica broke down how the method was used and which third-party tools are affected:

The technique worked using a binary format, alternatively known as a Fat or Universal file, that contained several files that were written for different CPUs used in Macs over the years, such as i386, x86_64, or PPC. Only the first so-called Mach-O file in the bundle had to be signed by Apple. At least eight third-party tools would show other non-signed executable code included in the same bundle as being signed by Apple, too.

Affected third-party tools included VirusTotal, Google Santa, Facebook OSQuery, the Little Snitch Firewall, Yelp, OSXCollector, Carbon Black’s db Response, and several tools from Objective-See. Many companies and individuals rely on some of the tools to help implement whitelisting processes that permit only approved applications to be installed on a computer, while forbidding all others.

Developer Patrick Wardle spoke on the topic, explaining that the bypass was due to ambiguous documentation and comments provided by Apple regarding the use of publicly available programming interfaces that make digital signature checks function: "To be clear, this is not a vulnerability or bug in Apple's code... basically just unclear/confusing documentation that led to people using their API incorrectly." It's also not an issue exclusive to Apple and macOS third-party security tools, as Wardle pointed out: "If a hacker wants to bypass your tool and targets it directly, they will win."

For its part, Apple was said to have stated on March 20 that it did not see the bypass as a security issue that needed to be directly addressed. On March 29, the company updated its documentation to be more clear on the matter, stating that "third-party developers will need to do additional work to verify that all of the identities in a universal binary are the same if they want to present a meaningful result."

Apple today shared an in-depth preview of the all-new Books app for iPhone and iPad coming in iOS 12 later this year.

As shown on stage at WWDC 2018 last week, the Books app has been completely redesigned with the following tabs:

• Reading Now displays all of the books you are currently reading or listening to. A new "Want to Read" section allows you to keep a wishlist of books you are interested in. "Complete the Series" or "You Might Like" present books based on those you have recently finished.
  

• Library displays your full collection of books with large cover art, including the books downloaded to your device. There is also a "Finished" timeline of books you have read in the past with the dates you finished them.
  

• Book Store allows you to browse all titles available on Apple Books, with categories such as Top Charts, Staff Picks, Editorial Collections, and Special Offers & Free. You will receive personalized recommendations based on your purchases in "For You."
  

• Audiobooks allows you to browse all audiobook titles available on Apple Books.
  

• Search

Apple's services chief Eddy Cue:

Apple Books will inspire a love of reading — it puts a world of books and audiobooks right at your fingertips, whether you want to dive into your favorite story for a couple of minutes or a few hours. This is our biggest books redesign ever, and we hope this beautiful app inspires both customers and authors alike.

The new Books app launches this fall, with the Book Store available in 51 countries, and free books available in 155 countries.

Apple has identified a limited hardware issue affecting the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro models with function keys, according to an internal memo distributed to Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers late last week.

Namely, when either the MacBook Pro's solid state drive or main logic board experiences failure, both need to be replaced simultaneously. Apple's memo doesn't specify an underlying reason as to why both components may fail in tandem, or what percentage of units may be at risk of being affected.

An excerpt from the document, obtained by MacRumors from a reliable source:

Apple has identified a specific population of MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports) units requiring both solid state drives and the main logic board to be replaced when either has a functional failure.

A message will appear when either the solid state drive or the main logic board part number is added to the repair of an identified MacBook Pro system. The message will indicate both the SSD and MLB must be replaced when either component has a functional failure.

For clarity, this refers to the 2017 model year 13-inch MacBook Pro with a standard row of physical function keys rather than a Touch Bar. Apple says the issue does not affect any other MacBook Pro models with or without the Touch Bar, including those released in 2016, according to the memo.

Apple says the dual SSD-logic board replacement is not required for unrelated issues, such as a cracked display or an unresponsive trackpad.

Apple appears to have authorized free repairs for this issue, in or out of warranty. If there is liquid damage or accidental damage, however, out-of-warranty fees may apply. Apple quotes a turnaround time of roughly five to seven days.

To initiate a repair, visit the Get Support page on Apple's website and select "Mac" → "Mac notebooks" → "Hardware Issues" → "The topic is not listed," explain the issue, and select continue. Then, select "Bring in for Repair" to schedule an appointment with an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Genius Bar.

There are also options to contact Apple's support advisors by phone or online chat to initiate a mail-in repair in select countries.

This issue could explain why the 13-inch MacBook Pro with function keys temporarily faced extended shipping estimates on Apple's online store last month, as Apple may have implemented a fix, although the brief shortage could have been purely coincidental. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the matter.

12:30 p.m. Pacific Time: Updated with corrected information about out-of-warranty fees.

Apple's persistent quest for better performance, longer battery life, and slimmer form factors appears to be driving its research into advanced chip packaging technologies. So-called "2.5D" and "3D" packaging methods stand to offer significant gains in all of these areas by increasing memory bandwidth, reducing power consumption, and freeing up space for higher-capacity batteries.

Apple has been an aggressive adopter of new device packaging methods, mostly thanks to integrated fan-out (InFO) innovations provided by foundry partner TSMC. TSMC's success has spurred it into further developing and diversifying its packaging offerings, and TSMC has emerged as an industry leader in packaging techniques.

While versions of TSMC's InFO packaging have brought performance improvements to Apple devices, such as better thermal management and improved package height, it has largely not been a direct enabler of improved electrical performance. This is set to change with future packaging techniques and is already seen in some products that utilize interposers for higher density interconnects to on-package memory, such as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

The primary memory candidate for inclusion in such a package would be conforming to the Wide I/O set of standards described by JEDEC, and mentioned by name in several of the patents. This memory improves on LPDDR4 by increasing the number of channels and reducing the transfer speed per channel, thus increasing the overall bandwidth but lowering the energy required per bit.

Interposers do, however, pose several issues for mobile devices. Significantly, they introduce another vertical element to the package, increasing total height. Interposers must also be fabricated on silicon wafers just like active ICs, with their dimensions driven by the footprint of all devices that need to be included in the package. These solutions are typically termed as "2.5D" due to some components being placed laterally with respect to one another rather a true stacking of chips.

Rather than adopt interposers for its products as a next step in advanced packaging, the direction of Apple's focus, according to several patent applications [1][2][3][4], appears to be on true "3D" techniques, with logic die such as memory being placed directly on top of an active SoC. Additionally, a patent application from TSMC seems to suggest a level of coordination between Apple and TSMC in these efforts.

The process has similarities to the existing InFO techniques in that they both involve a redistribution layer (RDL) where contacts on a logic die are routed inside a molding compound with the help of vias directly in the molding compound. Where the 3D process diverts from this is that there is now RDL content on both sides of the die, necessitating the use of through-silicon vias (TSV) directly in the logic die so that interconnections can be made with the top of the die. A key feature of these RDL layers is that interconnect pitches finer than available substrate or interposer types is possible.

Subsequent dies could then be attached to the molding compound, mating with the vias and RDL placed in the previous step. This step could be done multiple times, provided each stacked component has TSVs for the next level of integration, and this is already seen in HBM, which allows for the stacking of up to eight DRAM dies.

Still, this approach has many technical challenges that have prevented its commercialization. TSVs are expensive to implement and are a serious yield detractor to ICs. Electrical isolation from nearby components' radiated energy can also be a concern, particularly when integrating RF and analog components in a package with other components that would have been separated by space and EMI shielding before. Apple describes techniques to incorporate shielding directly in the package to mitigate this.

This approach also presents thermal challenges since active dies become so closely coupled in mediums that have poor thermal conductivity and shared thermal paths. These concerns extend not only to normal device usage, but also the package integration and any solder reflow steps. Thermal stresses can induce warpage of the packaging components due to differing coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) amongst the materials utilized in the package. This warpage can lead to broken or separated contacts, resulting in device failure.

The use of a carrier substrate in the process flow mitigates some of the thermal concerns. The direct integration of heatsinks into device packaging is also addressed at various levels of the package assembly, such that higher dissipating die, such as a SoC featuring CPU and GPU cores, could be placed on the bottom of the stack or at a higher level of integration, providing stackup flexibility not seen in previous PoP arrangements.

Embodiments may be applied in applications such as, and not limited to, low power and/or high I/O width memory architecture. Embodiments can enable a short double data rate (DDR) channel to neighboring function units (e.g. SOC, chipsets, etc.) by using RDL and direct chip attach. Embodiments may be particularly applicable for mobile applications that require low power DDR at target performance including high speed and I/O width.

The benefits of the methods described are many. The use of higher bandwidth memory will yield performance improvements. The flexibility of component placement shortens the distance between connected active and passive devices, either lowering the energy required to communicate between them, or reducing parasitic effects that can cause unwanted power loss or dynamic performance degradation. The most notable tasks that stand to benefit are gaming and image processing tasks, which often require large amounts of bandwidth over short time intervals.

Apple Watch Implications

These enhancements would be applicable to all of Apple's mobile devices, but multiple patent applications specifically mention methods of multiple components married together in a System in Package (SiP), as seen in the current Apple Watch. The methods described below are an enhancement on the existing SiP solutions found in Apple Watch in that they introduce true 3D stacking elements enabled by both TSV and Through Oxide Vias (TOV).

In one aspect, embodiments describe system on chip (SoC) die portioning and/or die splitting within an SiP structure (e.g. 3D memory package) in which IP cores such as CPU, GPU, IO, DRAM, SRAM, cache, ESD, power management, and integrated passives may be freely segregated throughout the package, while also mitigating total z-height of the package.

Additionally, the patent describes TSV and TOV pitch in explicit detail, suggesting that keeping package heights down allows them to create very small width vias, with the TOV forming interconnect rows at sizes smaller than even the TSVs. The effect of TSVs stressing active parts of the die, including hurting transistor performance, is also discussed, and the reduced pitches help to mitigate this.

Inclusion of RF transceivers and active devices on substrate types not currently used in Apple mobile devices are covered, indicating all types of active and passive components found in Apple Watch products could be housed in the SiP proposed.

Timeline

Packages featuring 2.5D and 3D connected components have been in consumer devices for several years, but most of the methods described above have yet to debut in mobile devices. The steps described are set to increase manufacturing complexity, and cost and throughput will likely suffer as a result.

Due to cost and yield concerns, a primary candidate for first inclusion of these methods would be a high-margin, low-quantity device. While the iPhone is the highest margin of Apple's mobile products, it is also the largest volume category, with a huge initial demand for each generation. The iPad Pro is a good candidate because of its low volume nature and its classification as a high-performance device. The inclusion of 120Hz refresh rate is something that will benefit from increased memory bandwidth, specifically.

The focus of many of these patents seems to be specifically on SiP methods seen in Apple Watch internals. The Apple Watch is a lower-volume device, and it stands to benefit because its internals are extremely sensitive to package size given the importance of its form factor and battery size. It seems reasonable to expect some of the methods described to be incorporated as soon as the next revision of the Apple Watch, and more progressively in future revisions.

Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes has published a report today claiming that 2019 iPhones will come with USB-C support, but the vague wording makes it hard to decipher what they are referring to exactly.

Cage Chao and Jessie Shen, citing sources within Apple's supply chain:

Apple is redesigning chargers and related interface for its next-generation iPhone and iPad devices, and will likely have its 2019 series of iPhones come with USB Type-C support, according to sources at analog IC vendors.

The flashiest take would be that Apple is planning to remove its Lightning connector from iPhones, in favor of a more universally adopted USB-C port, but that perennial rumor has been proven incorrect time and time again.

A similarly vague report from The Wall Street Journal last year ignited speculation that the iPhone X would have a USB-C port, for example, but oft-reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo accurately said 2017 iPhones would retain Lightning connectors, with added support for fast charging via USB-C Power Delivery.

Given the unlikely possibility of a wholesale switch from Lightning to USB-C, and that the latest iPhones already support USB-C fast charging, the report could be referring to the type of power adapter included in the box.

The report adds:

Speculation circulated previously in the smartphone market that Apple would adopt Type-C interface in its next-generation iPhone series slated for launch later in 2018. Apple is still in its redesign phase and will not be able to equip the technology in its upcoming iPhones, the sources claimed.

The speculation mentioned in the report likely refers to a pair of rumors that have suggested 2018 iPhones will include an 18W USB-C charger and a Lightning to USB-C cable in the box, enabling much faster charging speeds than the tiny square-shaped 5W power adapter included with current iPhones.

In the end, this report could merely be suggesting that Apple will not bundle an 18W power adapter and Lightning to USB-C cable with iPhones until 2019, rather than this year. But, without further details, it is open to interpretation.

A transition to USB-C could make sense if Apple wants to use one standard across its MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads, but with Apple pushing towards a wireless future, it's unclear if the controversy of switching to USB-C would be worthwhile considering the Lightning connector might be removed entirely down the road.

It's worth noting that DigiTimes has a rather mixed track record at reporting on Apple's roadmap. The website claimed that Apple's AirPower charging mat would be available in March, and said a second-generation iPhone SE would launch in May or June, but neither release date proved to be accurate.

At this point, this report should be treated with some skepticism until DigiTimes provides more specific details, or the information is backed up by a more reliable source such as Kuo, who recently returned to the scene.

Verizon Wireless was awarded the title of the fastest nationwide mobile network in PCMag's annual mobile network comparison, the results of which were released this morning.

For its test, PCMag analysts drove within and between 30 cities in the United States to test mobile network speeds using four Samsung Galaxy S9 phones. More than a dozen locations in each city were tested, with the site gathering more than 124,000 data points to reach its conclusion. Scores were calculated taking into account metrics like download speed, upload speed, latency, reliability, and consistency.

Verizon was named the overall fastest network after it won or tied in 19 of the 36 cities that were tested across the United States, marking Verizon's 5th annual victory.

Verizon won out in almost every region (Northeast, North Central, South Central, Northwest, and Southwest), with the exception of the Southeast, where T-Mobile was determined to be the fastest network. T-Mobile was also named the second fastest network overall, followed by AT&T and then Sprint.

PCMag says that compared to its 2017 results, it saw faster, more consistent LTE connections across all four major U.S. carriers in the 2018 test. In the future, we should see some interesting results as mobile networks are upgraded to 5G. AT&T and Verizon are both aiming for higher speeds in smaller areas, while T-Mobile is aiming for nationwide 5G coverage but at slower speeds.

In addition to determining the fastest mobile carrier in 2018, PCMag also took a look at Speedtest Intelligence results pulled from Ookla to determine the fastest download speeds on modern Samsung and Apple devices.

Samsung's flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S9, equipped with Gigabit LTE and 4x4 MIMO, beat out the iPhone X, which does not have 4x4 MIMO. Of Apple's iPhones, though, the iPhone X saw the fastest upload and download speeds thanks to its adoption of 256QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), which boosts signal to allow for more data to be transferred at one time.

The full results of PCMag's 2018 mobile carrier speed testing can be found over on the PCMag website.

Last month, a jury ruled that Samsung must pay Apple $539 million for violating Apple design patents as part of a legal battle that has spanned years, but the jury's ruling apparently won't be the end of the dispute between the two companies.

Samsung last week filed an appeal (via CNET) asking the U.S. District Court in San Jose to either reduce the judgment against it to $28 million or hold a new trial. Samsung filed the motion on the grounds that "no reasonable jury could have found that any of Apple's asserted design patents was applied to Samsung's entire accused smartphones."

The jury's ruling, says Samsung, is "excessive" and the evidence "supports a verdict of no more than $28.085 million," which was the amount Samsung advocated for during the trial.

The latest Samsung v. Apple trial was held to redetermine the amount of damages Apple had to pay after Samsung appealed to the Supreme Court and said that the original damages award, set at $399 million after several appeals, was a disproportionate sum for the design violation.

During the trial, the jury was tasked with deciding whether the damages should be based on the total value of the iPhone or if Samsung's penalty should be based on just the elements of the iPhone that it copied.

Apple argued for $1 billion in damages based on the total design of the iPhone, while Samsung argued that it should pay a far lesser amount, the aforementioned $28 million. The jury split the difference and awarded Apple $539 million, which happened to be a far larger penalty than the original $399 million damages ruling from 2015.

When the jury's ruling was announced in May, Samsung promised to appeal in a statement: "Today's decision flies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favor of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages. We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity."

Samsung also filed a separate motion at the same time asking the court to order Apple to reimburse it for a $145 million payment that Samsung submitted for a now-invalidated multi-touch patent.

Apple has 10 days to respond to Samsung's new filing, with a hearing scheduled for July 26.