MacRumors

Apple's new iPhone X costs $357.50 to make, according to estimates sourced from TechInsights and shared today by Reuters. At an estimated $357.50 to produce with a price tag of $999, the iPhone X has a gross margin of 64 percent, higher than the iPhone 8's gross margin of 59 percent.

Several of the components in the iPhone X are more expensive than their iPhone 8 counterparts, according to TechInsights. The 5.8-inch edge-to-edge display, for example, costs an estimated $65.50, compared to $36 for the 4.7-inch display of the iPhone 8.

The stainless steel chassis of the iPhone X costs an estimated $36, a significant premium over the $21.50 Apple shells out for the iPhone 8.

Following the launch of the iPhone 8, estimates suggested its raw component cost came in at $247.51, with the cost for the iPhone 8 Plus estimated at $288.08. Those estimates were sourced from IHS iMarkit, a research firm, while today's come from TechInsights, a company that does device teardowns and analysis.

Component cost estimates from companies like TechInsights and IHS look only at the price of raw components and do not take into account other iPhone manufacturing expenses like research and development, software creation, advertising, and distribution. While interesting, these estimates are not an accurate measurement of Apple's profit margin for the iPhone X, nor are they an accurate picture of the overall cost of creating the device.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, cost breakdowns are generally "much different than the reality." "I've never seen one that is anywhere close to being accurate," he said in 2015.

Travel photographer Austin Mann often goes hands-on with new iPhone models to test their camera performance in real world situations, and with the iPhone X, he went to Guatemala to evaluate its new features and its capabilities compared to previous iPhone cameras.

Mann loved the size of the iPhone X as a photography device. Previous Plus models, he says, have been "a bit unwieldy" and tough to operate with one hand, a problem solved with the iPhone X.

As for image quality, Mann was impressed by the improved telephoto lens, which features optical image stabilization for the first time and an improved aperture for better performance in low light situations. Mann says he noticed less noise, faster auto focusing, and better shutter speeds for reduced motion blur.

The lens specs for the iPhone X are 28mm @ f/1.8 and 52mm @ f/2.4 (previously, the Plus was 56mm at f/2.8.) This little tweak means the lens is half a stop faster and can let light in more quickly in low light scenarios, reducing motion blur and minimizing noise.

In a test of slow shutter effects, the iPhone X was able to significantly outperform the iPhone 7 Plus, which was two seconds slower when focusing and and capturing a moving object in low light.

Display improvements made it much easier to shoot on the iPhone in direct sunlight compared to the iPhone 8 Plus, and Mann said "colors pop, blacks are truly black, and the contrast feels just right." Mann also saw microphone improvements, and Apple told him that while it's the same microphone hardware, it's been tuned to better capture dynamics.

All in all, Mann said the upgrade to the iPhone X was the "most exciting" since he switched from the Blackberry 7230 to the original iPhone back in 2007. Mann's full review can be read over at his website.

Separately, DxO also published its iPhone X test results this morning, giving the iPhone X's camera a score of 97. That beats out the iPhone 8 Plus at 94, but comes in just under the Pixel 2's score of 98.

The iPhone X received what DxO says are the best results so far for still images, with better exposure, color, texture, noise, and artifacts than competing cameras. Broken down, the iPhone X received a photo score of 101, but a video score of 89 because it struggles with under exposure, visible luminance noise, and irregularities in autofocus in poor lighting conditions.

DxO has been criticized for the subjectivity of its overall scores, but some of its category comparisons can offer up useful information when it comes to determining the best smartphone camera.

Longtime rivals Intel and AMD are joining forces to produce new 8th-Generation H-Series Intel mobile processors paired with stacked second-generation High Bandwidth Memory and custom-built discrete graphics from AMD, Intel announced today.

For the new H-Series chips, which feature all of the above listed components in a single processor package, Intel says is using its Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB), a power-sharing framework that reduces the standard silicon footprint to less than half that of standard discrete components on a motherboard.

At the heart of this new design is EMIB, a small intelligent bridge that allows heterogeneous silicon to quickly pass information in extremely close proximity. EMIB eliminates height impact as well as manufacturing and design complexities, enabling faster, more powerful and more efficient products in smaller sizes. This is the first consumer product that takes advantage of EMIB.

Intel has also developed unique software drivers and interfaces for the discrete GPU to coordinate information among all package elements, managing temperature and power delivery along with allowing system designers to optimize the power sharing between processor and graphics for specific tasks like performance gaming.

Through this collaboration, Intel and AMD are aiming to create a chip that will enable thinner, lighter, more powerful mobile devices through a better combination of performance-level processors and discrete graphics in a smaller form factor. The end goal is to create laptops that are thin and portable, but still powerful enough to handle serious gaming and other GPU intensive tasks.

The partnership will allow AMD and Intel to better compete with Nvidia in the high-end laptop/compact desktop market.

There are, however, still a lot of unknowns about the chip, and Intel says more information will be available in the future. The first machines that use the new technology will be released in the first quarter of 2018.

Apple sidestepped a 2013 crackdown on its controversial Irish tax structure by moving the majority of its offshore cash holdings to the small island of Jersey, a self-governed territory with loose ties to the United Kingdom, according to leaked financial documents obtained by The New York Times and BBC.

The so-called Paradise Papers, primarily sourced from offshore tax law firm Appleby, reveal that Apple's two key Irish subsidiaries were managed from Appleby's office in Jersey from 2015 until early 2016. Apple chose Jersey after exploring several potential tax havens, such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

Apple said it made regulators in the United States and Ireland, and the European Commission, aware about the reorganization of its Irish subsidiaries, and added that the changes haven't reduced its tax bill.

"The changes we made did not reduce our tax payments in any country," an Apple spokesperson told The New York Times. "At Apple we follow the laws, and if the system changes we will comply. We strongly support efforts from the global community toward comprehensive international tax reform and a far simpler system."

Apple turned to Jersey after European officials began to crack down on the so-called "Double Irish" tax structure Apple had exploited.

The "Double Irish" tax loophole allows for multinational corporations to funnel revenue through an Irish subsidiary, which in turn sends that money to another Irish subsidiary that has residency in a tax haven. In a nutshell, the practice has enabled Apple to save billions of dollars in taxes around the world.

The European Commission found Apple paid between 0.005 percent and 1 percent in taxes in Ireland from 2003 through 2014, compared to the country's headline 12.5 percent corporate tax rate. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the Commission's ruling against Apple was "total political crap" and that the tax rates were a "false number."

When questioned by the United States Senate investigative subcommittee in 2013, Cook said "we pay all the taxes we owe." He added that Apple doesn't "stash money on some Caribbean island."

While that was true at the time, it's clear Apple was exploring similar options as part of its tax minimization efforts.

"This is how it usually works: You close one tax shelter, and something else opens up," said Reuven Avi-Yonah, director of the international tax program at the University of Michigan Law School. "It just goes on endlessly."

Cook has made it clear that Apple is willing to repatriate some of its offshore cash holdings into the United States, but he recently said tax reform is "sorely needed" first. U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed lowering the headline corporate tax rate to 20 percent, down from 35 percent currently.

Update: Apple this afternoon shared a press release entitled "The facts about Apple's tax payments," which has been written in response to today's reports. Apple says there are several inaccuracies being circulated and it is aiming to correct them.

"The debate over Apple's taxes is not about how much we owe but where we owe it. As the largest taxpayer in the world we've paid over $35 billion in corporate income taxes over the past three years, plus billions of dollars more in property tax, payroll tax, sales tax and VAT. We believe every company has a responsibility to pay the taxes they owe and we're proud of the economic contributions we make to the countries and communities where we do business.

Under the current international tax system, profits are taxed based on where the value is created. The taxes Apple pays to countries around the world are based on that principle. The vast majority of the value in our products is indisputably created in the United States -- where we do our design, development, engineering work and much more -- so the majority of our taxes are owed to the US.

When Ireland changed its tax laws in 2015, we complied by changing the residency of our Irish subsidiaries and we informed Ireland, the European Commission and the United States. The changes we made did not reduce our tax payments in any country. In fact, our payments to Ireland increased significantly and over the last three years we've paid $1.5 billion in tax there -- 7 percent of all corporate income taxes paid in that country. Our changes also ensured that our tax obligation to the United States was not reduced.

We understand that some would like to change the tax system so multinationals' taxes are spread differently across the countries where they operate, and we know that reasonable people can have different views about how this should work in the future. At Apple we follow the laws, and if the system changes we will comply. We strongly support efforts from the global community toward comprehensive international tax reform and a far simpler system, and we will continue to advocate for that."

The release also provides details Apple has reiterated multiple times in the past, such as its position as the largest taxpayer in the world and the fact that it holds overseas cash because that's where the majority of its products are sold. Apple also again says that comprehensive international tax reform "is essential" and that it continues to advocate for a simplification of the tax code.

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.

A new study suggests the iPhone X recorded a higher adoption rate than the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus over each device's first three days of availability.

After the first weekend of sales, the device is estimated to have captured nearly one percent market share among all iPhone models, the highest over that time since the iPhone 5s, according to mobile engagement platform Localytics.

By comparison, Localytics measured iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus adoption of 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent respectively among all iPhone models after the first weekend of sales for those devices back in September.

The data suggests that many customers may have been waiting for the iPhone X instead of purchasing an iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus.

It's important to note that the data does not represent actual sales of the iPhone X, but rather measures users who have received the devices and started using one of the 37,000 apps integrated with the Localytics SDK.

It's also important to consider that there are significantly more iPhones in the market today than in previous years, so each new iPhone has a tougher challenge of gaining market share among all of the models before it.

Even if the adoption data from Localytics doesn't precisely line up with Apple's internal sales figures, the company's revenue guidance of between $84 billion and $87 billion in the current quarter does imply significant iPhone X sales, so there's a good chance the device is outpacing the iPhone 8 series.

Apple stopped releasing first weekend iPhone sales figures starting with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, as demand typically outweighs supply, so the company feels it is no longer a representative metric for investors or customers.

In years past, we've announced how many new iPhones had been sold as of the first weekend following launch. But as we have expanded our distribution through carriers and resellers to hundreds of thousands of locations around the world, we are now at a point where we know before taking the first customer pre-order that we will sell out of iPhone 7.

These initial sales will be governed by supply, not demand, and we have decided that it is no longer a representative metric for our investors and customers. Therefore we won’t be releasing a first-weekend number any longer.

Apple has also never released iPhone sales figures on a model-by-model basis, but chief executive Tim Cook did reveal the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were its best-selling models between their September release and iPhone X launch day.

iPhone X orders placed today ship in an estimated 3-4 weeks around the world, and the device also has limited in-store availability.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 update to developers, one week after seeding the first beta and also a week after releasing macOS High Sierra 10.13.1.

The macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.

It's not yet clear what improvements the second update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it's likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.1.

The previous update, 10.13.1, introduced fixes for some serious security flaws and brought new emoji to the macOS operating system. No new features were found in the first beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.2, but we'll update this post should new features be found in the second beta.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming iOS 11.2 update to developers, one week after releasing the first beta of iOS 11.2 and a little under a week after releasing the iOS 11.1 update.

Registered developers can download the iOS 11.2 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center. Apple already released beta 2 for the iPhone X, but this new beta will be available for all devices.

iOS 11.2 addresses an animation bug in the Calculator app that caused some numbers and symbols to be ignored when entered in rapid succession. The update removes the animations from the calculator app so calculations can be done quickly with no need to pause between entering numbers to obtain the correct result.

In addition to the Calculator bug, iOS 11.2 introduces a new Now Playing option for controlling content on the Apple TV in Control Center, redesigned camera emoji, and a new loading animation for Live Photos effects, and it appears to introduce the TV app for Sweden and Norway.

Several other promised iOS 11 features have not yet shown up in the current beta but could be added ahead of the update's release, including AirPlay 2, peer-to-peer Apple Pay, and iCloud support for iMessages.

Update: According to Apple's release notes, iOS 11.2 beta 2 adds a feature that lets developers offer new customers discounted introductory pricing for auto-renewable subscriptions on the App Store.

As it does for each iPhone launch, DisplayMate has released a display shoot-out for the iPhone X, praising Apple's technology in areas like the higher resolution OLED screen, automatic color management, viewing angle performance, and more. According to DisplayMate, the iPhone X has the "most innovative and high performance" smartphone display it has ever tested. DisplayMate also congratulated Samsung Display for "developing and manufacturing the outstanding OLED display hardware in the iPhone X."

iPhone X matched or set new smartphone display records in the following categories: highest absolute color accuracy, highest full screen brightness for OLED smartphones, highest full screen contrast rating in ambient light, and highest contrast ratio. It also had the lowest screen reflectance and smallest brightness variation with a viewing angle.

New Aspect Ratio and Higher Resolution

The iPhone X's 5.8-inch OLED display includes a taller height to width aspect ratio of 19.5:9, 22 percent larger than the 16:9 aspect ratio on previous iPhone models (and most other smartphones). Because of this DisplayMate noted that the iPhone X also has a new 2.5K higher resolution with 2436x1125 pixels and 458 pixels per inch.

The iPhone X's display resolution provides "significantly higher image sharpness" than can be analyzed by a person with normal 20/20 vision at a 12-inch viewing distance. DisplayMate said this means that it's now "absolutely pointless" to increase the display resolution and pixels per inch of the iPhone any further, since there would be "no visual benefit" for users.

As a result of its larger display size and larger Aspect Ratio, the iPhone X has a new 2.5K Higher Resolution Full HD+ display with 2436x1125 pixels and 458 pixels per inch, with 2.7 Mega Pixels, 32% more than an HDTV. The display has Diamond Sub-Pixels (see below) and Sub-Pixel Rendering with 458 pixels per inch (ppi), providing significantly higher image sharpness than can be resolved with normal 20/20 Vision at the typical viewing distances of 12 inches or more for Smartphones, so the display appears perfectly sharp. As a result, for Smartphones it is absolutely pointless to further increase the display resolution and pixels per inch (ppi) up to 4K (3940x2160 pixels) for a silly marketing wild goose chase into the stratosphere, with no visual benefit for humans!

Viewing Angle

DisplayMate noted that the iPhone X saw a smaller percent decrease in brightness at a 30-degree viewing angle when compared to LCD smartphones, also earning "Very Good" to "Excellent" ratings for categories related to color shifts with viewing angles.

While Smartphones are primarily single viewer devices, the variation in display performance with viewing angle is still very important because single viewers frequently hold the display at a variety of viewing angles. The angle is often up to 30 degrees, more if it is resting on a table or desk. While LCDs typically experience a 55 percent or greater decrease in Brightness at a 30 degree Viewing Angle, the OLED iPhone X display shows a much smaller 22 percent decrease in Brightness at 30 degrees. This also applies to multiple side-by-side viewers as well, and is a significant advantage of OLED displays. The Color Shifts with Viewing Angle are also relatively small. See the Viewing Angles section for the measurements and details.

Color Accuracy and Automatic Color Management

iPhone X supports two industry standard color gamuts: the sRGB / Rec.709 color gamut used for "most current consumer content," and a new wide DCI-P3 color gamut found in 4K Ultra HD TV sets. The DCI-P3 -- also found in the iPhone 7 last year -- is 26 percent larger than the sRGB / Rec.709 gamut, and the iPhone X can automatically switch to the proper color gamut for displayed image content ranging in the wide DCI-P3 color space with an ICC profile.

DisplayMate said this results in images that automatically appear with "the correct colors, neither over-saturated or under-saturated." In total, the publication said the iPhone X has the "highest absolute color accuracy of any display we have ever tested," with a display that is "visually indistinguishable from perfect."

Most Smartphones and Tablets generally provide only one to up to several fixed Color Gamuts. The iPhone X has Automatic Color Management that automatically switches to the proper Color Gamut for any displayed image content within the Wide DCI-P3 Color Space that has an ICC Profile, so images automatically appear with the correct colors, neither over-saturated or under-saturated. Color Management with multiple and varying Color Gamuts are a very useful and important state-of-the-art capability that all manufacturers will need to provide in the future.

The Absolute Color Accuracy of the iPhone X is Truly Impressive as shown in these Figures. It has an Absolute Color Accuracy of 1.0 JNCD for the sRGB / Red.709 Color Gamut that is used for most current consumer content, and 0.9 JNCD for the Wider DCI-P3 Color Gamut that is used for 4K UHD TVs and Digital Cinema. It is the most color accurate display that we have ever measured. It is Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect, and is very likely considerably better than any mobile display, monitor, TV or UHD TV that you have.

Ultimately, DisplayMate mentioned that what makes the iPhone X's display truly impressive is something called "Precision Display Calibration," which it says transforms the OLED hardware "into a superbly accurate, high performance, and gorgeous display." More in-depth analysis of the iPhone X's OLED screen can be found in DisplayMate's shoot-out right here.

Apple enabled an iPhone X availability tool on its website over the weekend, allowing customers to check stock at nearby stores, but those looking for more of a bird's-eye view may prefer to use iStockNow.com.

iStockNow has a live map of iPhone X availability at Apple's retail stores around the world, with filters that allow you to search for specific storage capacities, colors, and carrier-specific or SIM-free models.

Apple stores with the iPhone X in stock are marked with green pins, while locations that are out of stock have red pins. There is an option to hide stores that don't have any availability at the time of your search.

iStockNow is not much different than Apple's availability tool, but it may be useful to those looking for a visual look at iPhone X stock around the world, rather than only at nearby stores based on a ZIP or postal code.

On a related note, Apple has expanded its iPhone X availability tool to two more countries: Japan and Singapore.

Simply visit the iPhone X purchase page for your country from the list below, select a carrier if required, choose a color, and then click on "Pickup: Check Availability" below your desired storage capacity.

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• The Netherlands
• Singapore
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom
• United States

A window will pop open with iPhone X availability—if any—at nearby Apple stores based on your ZIP or postal code.

At stores where the iPhone X is available, customers can complete the checkout process and reserve the device for same day in-store pickup. We recommend bringing at least one valid government-issued photo ID with you.

Update: iPhone X availability can also be tracked on IsInStock.com.

As early adopters began to experience the iPhone X for the first time this past weekend, many users took to the MacRumors forums, Reddit, and Twitter to discuss the gap that exists below the keyboard within iOS 11 on iPhone X. As some users pointed out, this space was likely meant as a way to more easily swipe up to go Home, and potentially for ergonomics reasons since a lower keyboard could be more difficult to type on, but many iPhone X owners are still getting used to the way the keyboard looks across all apps on the device.

On the new keyboard, the Globe or Emoji icon and the Dictation icon both sit below the space bar at the very bottom of the screen. Between these two buttons is a wide, empty gray area that isn't sitting well with some iPhone X owners, and which some early reviews of the device pointed out last week.

BuzzFeed, for example, wondered why Apple didn't do more with this space, potentially including adding "common punctuation, frequently used emojis, or literally anything."

It’s when the keyboard, in any app, is on screen (which, for me, is most of the time): There’s all this dead space on the bottom, where Apple could have put common punctuation, frequently used emojis, or literally anything, but instead left it blank. Other full-screen apps on other phones put navigation or other design elements in that area, and it doesn’t look crowded or crammed. It looks fine. It’s puzzling why Apple didn’t put something more useful down at the bottom, or why it didn’t add a row of numbers or emojis up top and push down the keyboard to make it more thumb-accessible.

Alex Muench, a UI/UX designer for apps like Todoist and Twist, went a step further and created a mockup of how this could look on future versions of iOS on the iPhone X. Muench likened this space on iPhone X to be a potential area for recently used emojis, "like Touch bar on Mac."

Twitter user @Yespur asked third-party keyboard SwiftKey if the company will "fill the bottom part of the screen," to which SwiftKey responded: "We'll have to look into it. Nothing to comment on beyond that." It's unclear whether third parties will have any ability to design for this area of iOS on iPhone X. In the Human Interface Guidelines for the new smartphone, the only direct mention of the keyboard asks developers to not duplicate the Globe and Dictation keys.

Don't duplicate system-provided keyboard features. On iPhone X, the Emoji/Globe key and the Dictation key automatically appear beneath the keyboard—even when using custom keyboards. Your app can't affect these keys, so avoid causing confusion by repeating them in your keyboard

The iPhone X comes with a variety of new interface gestures, features, and interactions that take some time getting used to following years of the traditional iPhone experience. Without a Home Button, unlocking the iPhone X requires you to swipe up from the bottom edge of the device, and also rearranges some physical commands like taking a screenshot by pressing the Side Button and Volume Up Button. For more information on Apple's newest smartphone, check out our iPhone X Roundup.

While the iPhone X launched just three days ago, we're already starting to hear rumors about what to expect from next year's models.

Specifically, oft-reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he believes iPhones released in 2018 will feature a "more complex" metal frame design and casing assembly for the purpose of improving data transmission quality.

An excerpt of Kuo's research note with KGI Securities, obtained by MacRumors:

Orders for 2H18F iPhones are market focus; both Catcher and Casetek have won new orders. We believe the metal frame of 2H18F iPhone models will be composed of more parts (iPhone X has four parts) for improving data transmission quality. We believe Apple will need more metal frame and casing assembly capacity and new suppliers because of more complex metal frame design and casing assembly, while models equipped with AMOLED and stainless steel metal frame will increase to two (vs. only one — iPhone X — in 2H17). We expect Catcher will obtain stainless steel metal frame and casing assembly orders. If Casetek can pass certification in late 4Q17 or early 1Q18, it also may win aluminum metal frame and casing assembly orders.

Kuo said Taiwanese suppliers Catcher Technology and Casetek have won orders from Apple for the new metal frames, including two models with stainless steel frames, which likely includes the iPhone X and so-called iPhone X Plus.

Kuo has previously said that Apple will likely expand Face ID to all iPhone models in 2018, with a complete abandonment of Touch ID. He also said 2018 iPhones are unlikely to gain a rear-facing TrueDepth camera system.