MacRumors

Several MacRumors readers have discovered that System Information readouts on some 15-inch MacBook Pro units appear to suggest they are running Iris Pro 580 integrated graphics, rather than Intel HD Graphics 530 as advertised in Apple's tech specs.

The strange inconsistency was first found on some demo units running in Apple Store showrooms, leading some readers to suggest Apple was running higher-specced machines in-store. However, since then, some owners of newly shipped 15-inch MacBook Pros have also noted the same inconsistency in stock laptops sold to them.

MacRumors forum member torquer discovered that on their machine, System Information reports an Intel HD Graphics 530 when the laptop is running on battery, but reports Iris Pro 580 once it's plugged in.

This would suggest a bug in macOS Sierra is causing System Information to misreport the integrated graphics chip in some 15-inch MacBook Pro models. Another indication of misreporting is that units which identify the GPU as an Iris Pro 580 appear to show the device ID string "191b", which correlates with the Intel HD Graphics 530 chip.

In addition, owners of machines reporting the more powerful Iris Pro 580 are not seeing the kind of graphics performance improvement one would expect. For the record, Intel only matches the more powerful Iris Pro 580 to Core i5-6350HQ and Core i7-6770/6870/6970HQ mobile processors, none of which Apple chose to use in its latest lineup of notebooks, likely due to power consumption concerns.

Apple today launched a new repair program for the iPhone 6 Plus, addressing complaints about a manufacturing issue that can cause the iPhone 6 Plus to become unresponsive to touch.

According to Apple, some iPhone 6 Plus devices may exhibit Multi-Touch issues after "being dropped multiple times on a hard surface," causing damage to the device. Under its repair program, Apple will fix affected iPhone 6 Plus devices for a service price of $149.

Customers who paid more than $149 to have their devices fixed before the repair program was implemented will be able to get their money reimbursed by Apple.

Complaints about the iPhone 6 Plus touchscreen issue started in August, after iFixit published a video highlighting the bug and dubbed it "Touch Disease." Touch Disease presents as a gray flickering bar at the top of the screen and a display that becomes unresponsive or less responsive to touch.

The problem is believed to be caused by the touchscreen controller chips soldered to the logic board of the phone, making repairs difficult. Third-party repair outlets speculated that the issue could be linked to the same structural design flaw that caused the major "Bendgate" controversy, and Apple's suggestion that it is caused by repeated physical damage seems to confirm that.

Customers who have an iPhone 6 Plus with Multi-Touch issues can visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider or an Apple retail store to see if they qualify for the $149 repair fee.

Starting today, Apple has made in-store pickup available for the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar in the United States, allowing customers to check stock at their local store and reserve a machine online.

The MacBook Pro first started popping up in retail stores on Tuesday, but because there was no in-store pickup option, there was no way to tell which stores had stock and which didn't. It's now much easier to see which locations have MacBook Pro models available for immediate purchase.

Many stores around the country are listing December 30 pickup dates for the higher-end 13-inch MacBook Pro model and the two 15-inch models, but there are some locations where the new MacBook Pros are currently in stock. The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar appears to be much more widely available than other machines.

A MacBook Pro with Touch Bar ordered from the Apple online store today won't ship for approximately four to five weeks, so checking local stock on a daily basis is a good way to get a model with a standard configuration much more quickly.

Prices on the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar start at $1,799 for the 13-inch model and go up to $2,799 for the 15-inch model, with additional processor, storage, and GPU boosts available for additional fees.

Apple this week unveiled its latest product, a hardbound photo book that showcases 20 years of Apple products, highlighting every Mac, iPhone, iPod, and iPad released between 1998 and 2015.

Because it's positioned as an art piece, Apple's "Designed by Apple in California" book costs a jaw dropping $200 to $300 depending on size, so we thought we'd take a look inside to see just what you're getting for that price tag.

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Aside from a dedication page dedicating the book to former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, a foreword by Apple design chief Jony Ive, and an insert with product descriptions, the book is text-free, filled with large, high-quality images of Apple products. There are 450 images in total, with multiple photographs of each item to highlight its design process. It starts with the 1998 iMac, one of the first products Ive designed at Apple, and ends with the 2015 Apple Pencil.

According to Apple, it took eight years to design the linen-bound hardcover book, which features specially milled, custom-dyed paper with "gilded matte silver edges," and low-ghost ink. As can be seen in the video, the book is of the highest quality with gorgeous photographs, but its price limits its appeal to the general public.

"Designed by Apple in California" can only be purchased from the online Apple Store and at select Apple retail locations around the world. It's priced at $199 for a 10.2x12.8 inch version, and $299 for a 13x16.3 inch version.

Apple today uploaded a new MacBook Pro ad to its YouTube channel, showcasing the machine's Touch Bar and comparing it to major inventions throughout time.

Called "Bulbs," the ad features hundreds of exploding lightbulbs alongside brief glimpses of world-changing innovations, starting with fire and running through tilling, blacksmithing, trains, flight, the telephone, the typewriter, toilet paper, the microwave, the television, the freezer, cameras, computers, robotics, and space flight before finishing with a glimpse of the new MacBook Pro.

The ad ends with the lines "Ideas push the world forward" and "Introducing a tool for all the ideas to come" as a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar is displayed. In line with the rest of the ad, an image of a lightbulb is briefly shown on the MacBook Pro's screen before being exploded and unexploded via a quick gesture on the Touch Bar.

Introduced in October, the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar began arriving in the hands of customers earlier this week and is now available for purchase in some Apple retail stores.

The new MacBook Pro features the first major redesign to the MacBook Pro in four years. It includes a new Touch Bar, Skylake processors, a thinner, smaller body, a larger trackpad, a new keyboard, and more.

Earlier today, reports surfaced on The Intercept and Forbes claiming Apple "secretly" syncs Phone and FaceTime call history logs on iCloud, complete with phone numbers, dates and times, and duration. The info comes from Russian software firm Elcomsoft, which said the call history logs are stored for up to four months.

Likewise, on iOS 10, Elcomsoft said incoming missed calls that are made through third-party VoIP apps using Apple's CallKit framework, such as Skype, WhatsApp, and Viber, also get synced to iCloud. The call logs have been collected since at least iOS 8.2, released in March 2015, so long as a user has iCloud enabled.

Elcomsoft said the call logs are automatically synced, even if backups are turned off, with no way to opt out beyond disabling iCloud entirely.

“You can only disable uploading/syncing notes, contacts, calendars and web history, but the calls are always there,” said Vladimir Katalov, CEO of Elcomsoft. "One way call logs will disappear from the cloud, is if a user deletes a particular call record from the log on their device; then it will also get deleted from their iCloud account during the next automatic synchronization.

Given that Apple possesses the encryption keys to unlock an iCloud account for now, U.S. law enforcement agencies can obtain direct access to the logs with a court order. Worse, The Intercept claims the information could be exposed to hackers and anyone else who might be able to obtain a user's iCloud credentials.

In some cases, hackers could access an iCloud account even without account credentials, such as by using Elcomsoft's Phone Breaker software. The tool is being updated today with the ability to extract call histories from iCloud with only an authentication token for an account from the accountholder's computer.

However, the entire narrative is largely overblown. In a 63-page white paper about iOS security, Apple clearly defines which information it collects for iCloud backups, emphasis our own. Likewise, in its Legal Process Guidelines, Apple notes FaceTime call invitation logs can be stored for up to 30 days.

Here’s what iCloud backs up:

• Information about purchased music, movies, TV shows, apps, and books, but not
the purchased content itself
• Photos and videos in Camera Roll
• Contacts, calendar events, reminders, and notes
• Device settings
• App data
• PDFs and books added to iBooks but not purchased
• Call history
• Home screen and app organization
• iMessage, text (SMS), and MMS messages
• Ringtones
• HomeKit data
• HealthKit data
• Visual Voicemail

Further, in a statement today, Apple said the call history syncing is intentional.

“We offer call history syncing as a convenience to our customers so that they can return calls from any of their devices,” an Apple spokesperson said in an email. "Device data is encrypted with a user’s passcode, and access to iCloud data including backups requires the user’s Apple ID and password. Apple recommends all customers select strong passwords and use two-factor authentication.”

Security researcher Jonathan Zdziarski told The Intercept he "doesn't think Apple is doing anything nefarious in syncing the call logs," which are very clearly stored for the purposes of Continuity and being able to access your call history across Apple devices, even after restoring from a backup.

Nevertheless, Zdziarski emphasized the need for Apple to be clear to users about the data being collected and stored on iCloud. As noted by The Intercept, Apple does not indicate call logs are synced even with iCloud Backup disabled, while FaceTime call logs appear to be stored longer than Apple's claim of up to 30 days.

iCloud users concerned about their accounts being compromised should set a strong password and enable two-step verification.

A few weeks after Microsoft unveiled the Surface Studio to the public at a media event in New York City, a few websites have begun publishing the first reviews for Microsoft's new desktop PC/tablet hybrid. During its announcement in October, the Surface Studio was revealed to have a 12.5mm thin touch screen, with a 28-inch PixelSense Display that packs in 13.5 million pixels. Microsoft said that there's "no monitor like this on the planet."

The first reviews of the Surface Studio are largely positive, with many reviewers enamored with the computer's large screen and slick design, as well as its purpose to fulfill and enhance productivity for creatives. However, in line with the unrest over the price of the new MacBook Pros, most of the people who have been reviewing the Surface Studio for the past week admit the $3,000 price tag is one that prohibits casual users and sets an entry bar for serious power users only.

The Verge began by looking at the 28-inch display, which was described as "truly one of the best desktop monitors I’ve ever used." Everything from plain text to videos were said to look great on the screen, and even the 3:2 aspect ratio for the desktop monitor produced better environments for reading and writing, according to the site.

The Verge also had a freelance illustrator test out the Surface Studio, and they came away largely impressed, but hoped future iterations introduced a rotating display, more ergonomic stylus, and new input options for the Surface Dial accessory. Although a slight mention, one of the site's minor annoyances was the way the Surface Dial slipped down the screen slowly when not being cradled by the user's hand, even at the computer's lowest 20-degree angle.

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Since OS X El Capitan, the operating system that runs on Macs has been protected by a feature called System Integrity Protection (SIP), which is designed to keep your Mac safe from malware by restricting the permissions of the root user account and preventing unauthorized access to protected files and folders.

System Integrity Protection runs behind the scenes and is generally enabled by default in Macs running OS X El Capitan or later, but it seems the feature is inexplicably turned off on some new MacBook Pro models, leaving them vulnerable.

Developer Jonathan Wight noticed System Integrity Protection was disabled on some machines and tweeted about it this morning, prompting developer Steven Troughton-Smith to do an informal Twitter survey asking users about the status of their new machines.

System Integrity Protection is indeed disabled out of the box on a number of 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models, including one machine owned by MacRumors. Not all MacBook Pro models are affected, however, as there are users who are reporting that System Integrity Protection is turned on as expected.

As outlined in Apple's developer documentation, users can check whether SIP is turned on by entering the "csrutil status" command in Terminal. Enabling SIP requires booting into Recovery mode, turning it on using Terminal, and rebooting.

Apple is aware of the issue and will undoubtedly deliver a fix for the issue in an update, but timing for a release is unknown.

Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn has been studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the United States, according to Japanese website Nikkei Asian Review, leading to hopeful speculation some iPhones could one day be "Made in America" rather than be assembled and imported from China.

The report claims Apple asked both Foxconn and rival supplier Pegatron, which denied the request, to look into making iPhones stateside, although Foxconn chairman Terry Gou is said to be less enthusiastic about the idea due to inevitably higher production costs in the United States compared to China.

"Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the U.S.," a source said. "Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns."

In a speech at Liberty University in Virginia earlier this year, President-elect Donald Trump said "we're going to get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries," while he has also threatened to introduce a 45% tax on products imported from China.

Apple CEO Tim Cook previously told 60 Minutes it manufactures iPhones in China because of "skill," not lower wages. Cook said China has put an "enormous force on manufacturing," adding that the U.S. workforce has a smaller number of individuals with the "vocational kind of skills" needed.

China put an enormous focus on manufacturing. In what we would call, you and I would call vocational kind of skills. The U.S., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills. I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we're currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.

Meanwhile, an industry executive told Nikkei the U.S. does not have the "cluster of suppliers" needed to manufacture iPhones. In Asia, Taiwan's TSMC makes A-series chips for iPhones, Japan's Sharp and Japan Display supply iPhone displays, and South Korea's SK Hynix and Japan's Toshiba produce memory chips for the device.

"To make iPhones, there will need to be a cluster of suppliers in the same place, which the U.S. does not have at the moment," the executive said. "Even if Trump imposes a 45% tariff, it is still possible that manufacturers will decide to continue production overseas as long as the costs together with the tariffs are lower than the amount they need to spend on building and running production lines in the U.S."

U.S. manufacturing would inevitably raise concerns about Apple's profit margins and, in turn, how much the iPhone costs for customers. iPhone 7 component costs are estimated to start at $220, compared to a base price of $649, although Cook has previously dismissed third-party cost estimates as being highly inaccurate.

TSMC and Sharp have acknowledged that while U.S. manufacturing would prove more expensive, the companies would certainly consider the move over losing a major customer such as Apple. But, for now, the idea likely remains a stretch even in light of new political pressures.

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.

Adding to the pile of recent guesswork rumors centering around the launch of Apple's AirPods, this week a collection of foreign retail websites have listed the Bluetooth headphones with new dates suggesting availability before the end of the year.

First off, today Mac4Ever discovered that French retail website Fnac has posted the AirPods for pre-order, with a suggested shipping date of November 30. If true, that would mark a launch following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but still leave customers plenty of time to add AirPods to their holiday shopping list.

Last week, a launch supposedly set for around tomorrow, November 18, was floated by an Apple reseller, which reportedly told a customer it would be getting AirPods stock today, November 17. Although an impending launch as soon as tomorrow is unlikely, many Apple retail stores have been receiving demo units of the AirPods to demonstrate to customers and teach employees how to use them, suggesting Apple still intends to launch the device sooner rather than later next year.

Earlier in the week Letem svetem Applem discovered that Czech website Alza had listed the AirPods as launching December 2016. That date has since been removed from the site, which now simply states that it "accepts pre-orders" for the AirPods.

If production does begin in December, as predicted by Barclays, that still leaves the option that AirPods might not launch until January 2017, which was one of the first delayed date estimates for the headphones after Apple postponed the launch beyond October. Despite that rumor, and a few other extraneous websites that mark AirPods availability as late as March 2017, many still believe it's most likely that Apple will get the AirPods out in time for the holiday shopping season.

With the highly divergent launch dates sprouting up online, it's clear that no one officially knows exactly when the AirPods will come out. On Apple.com, the AirPods are listed as both "coming soon" and "currently unavailable." Following the delay, Apple explained that it needed "a little more time" with the AirPods before they would be ready to launch, but didn't divulge specific reasons why it chose to do so.