MacRumors

Apple customers who have purchased the AirPods are largely satisfied with the wire-free earbuds, according to a new survey conducted by Experian and Creative Strategies.

Of 942 AirPods owners polled, 82 percent said they were "very satisfied," while another 16 percent said they were "satisfied," for an overall customer satisfaction score of 98 percent.

At 98 percent satisfaction, Creative Strategies says the AirPods set the record for the highest level of satisfaction for a new product from Apple. For comparison's sake, the iPhone had a 92 percent customer satisfaction rate in 2007, the iPad had a 92 percent customer satisfaction rate in 2010, and the Apple Watch had a 97 percent customer satisfaction rate in 2015.

Customers were also asked whether or not they would recommend the AirPods to others, and AirPods owners largely said yes, earning the AirPods a Net Promoter Score (explained below) of 75.

We used a standard benchmark question called a Net Promoter Score, which ranks a consumer's willingness to recommend the product to others. This ranking is on a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being extremely likely to recommend and 0 being not likely at all to recommend. It was this number that surprised me. Apple's Net Promoter Score for AirPods came back as 75. To put that into context, the iPhone's NPS number is 72. Product and NPS specialists will tell you anything above 50 is excellent and anything above 70 is world class.

When asked to explain the ranking they gave, customers used words like magic, fit, sound quality, convenient, love, good sound, and battery life, and cited benefits like the simple pairing process, and the convenience of a wireless experience. Negatives included issues with fit and connectivity.

In a series of general sentiment questions, 82 percent of survey respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that AirPods are their favorite recent Apple product, while 62 percent said they consume more audio with the AirPods. 82.5 percent wanted more control over content, like turning the volume up or changing a song, and 84 percent said that using one AirPod makes sense in certain situations.

Apple's AirPods, priced at $159, first went on sale in October, but are still hard to track down even today. Current shipping estimates suggest orders placed today will not arrive for six weeks, while in-store pickup estimates offer June 20 as the earliest possible pickup date.

Over the course of the last few months, several major companies have quietly removed support for the Apple Watch from their apps. As first noted by AppleInsider, Google Maps, Amazon, and eBay have pulled their Apple Watch apps from the App Store.

Google Maps, Amazon, and eBay were all early supporters of the Apple Watch, releasing apps within a few months of the device's April 2015 debut.

Checking today, none of the three companies offer Apple Watch apps, having quietly removed Apple Watch functionality through App Store updates. It's not entirely clear when each app was updated to remove Apple Watch support, with the feature elimination appearing to have largely gone under the radar.

That three major apps were able to remove Apple Watch support without much fanfare seems to explain the reasoning behind the decision to cease offering an Apple Watch app, as it suggests there weren't many people using the apps in question. Whether the removal of the apps is permanent is unknown.

Google Maps was perhaps the only app that was useful on the wrist, with quick directions to places like home and work. Amazon's Apple Watch app simply allowed for voice-based searches and one-tap purchases, something that's easier to do on a phone or computer, while eBay's offered notifications for auctions being tracked on the site, which also required the concurrent use of an iPhone or Mac to track content in the first place.

Target has also recently removed Apple Watch support from its Target app, but Apple Watch functionality remains available via the separate Cartwheel by Target app.

With the Apple Watch having celebrated its second birthday on April 24, the kinds of apps that work on the wrist-worn device are becoming more clear, allowing companies to stop using resources on content that's not suitable for a wearable device.

Update: In a statement, a Google spokesperson said the Apple Watch app has been temporarily removed but will be re-launched later. "We removed Apple Watch support from our latest iOS release but expect to support it again in the future."

Update 2: Amazon has issued a statement to CNET's Shara Tibken on its removal of Apple Watch support: "We are constantly innovating on behalf of our customers. There are a number of reasons we don’t think this is the right solution for our customers at this time. We are always trying new things and look forward to experimenting with wearable solutions in the future."

Update 3: In a Twitter response to a customer question, eBay says it is "revamping" its Apple Watch app: "We are in the works of revamping it. We don't currently have a release timeframe from our mobile team."

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra 10.12.5 update to developers, one week after seeding the fourth beta and more than one month after releasing macOS Sierra 10.12.4, which introduced Night Shift for the Mac.

The fifth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.5 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

According to the release notes accompanying the beta, the update "improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac."

Apple's release notes don't often provide much insight into what's included in new beta software, so we don't know what features or bug fixes might be built into the 10.12.5 update.

No notable changes or major bug fixes were discovered in the first four betas, but should anything pop up in the fifth macOS Sierra 10.12.5 beta, we'll update this post.

Update: The fifth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.5 is also available for public beta testers.

Apple today released a new ad on its YouTube channel, highlighting the photographic capabilities of iPhone 7 Plus, including Portrait Mode.

In the sweet new ad, entitled "The City," two people spot each other from across a crowded city street and then go on a series of adventures while using the iPhone 7 Plus's camera to capture their journey.

The song "Sing to Me" by Walter Martin is featured in the background, and the ad uses the tagline "With Portrait mode on iPhone 7 Plus, you can focus on what you love and leave everything else behind."

Apple has done several ads focusing on the iPhone 7 Plus and its dual-lens camera, and this particular ad appears to be a sort of sequel to "Take Mine," the ad about a girl in a Greek village who captures the town using the Portrait Mode depth effect.

Apple's widely rumored Siri-based smart speaker and home hub has an "over 50 percent chance" of being announced at WWDC, scheduled for June 5-9, according to often-reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities.

Kuo said Apple's smart home product will likely launch in the second half of 2017 and cost more than the Amazon Echo, $179. The device will supposedly support AirPlay with "excellent acoustics performance" from one woofer and seven tweeters. Kuo said its performance will be similar to the iPhone 6/6s.

An excerpt from Kuo's research note obtained by MacRumors:

We believe there is an over 50% chance that Apple will announce its first home AI product at WWDC in June and start selling in the [second half of 2017] in order to compete with the new Amazon Echo models to be launched […]

We expect Apple’s first home AI product will have excellent acoustics performance (one woofer + seven tweeters) and computing power (similar to iPhone 6/6S AP). Therefore the product is likely to be positioned for: (i) the high-end market; (ii) better entertainment experience; and (iii) higher price than Amazon Echo.

Last week, leaker Sonny Dickson likewise said Apple's smart speaker could be announced as early as WWDC. He said the device will run a variation of iOS with unspecified Beats technology, in addition to a Mac Pro-like concave top with built-in controls and speaker meshing covering the majority of its surface.

Apple's plans for a smart home device and Amazon Echo competitor were first revealed by The Information in May 2016, and Bloomberg reported that the device had entered prototype testing in September.

The latter report said Apple's smart home device would be able to control appliances, locks, lights, and curtains through Siri voice commands. It added that some of the prototypes in testing have facial recognition sensors, in line with a CNET report claiming the device could have a built-in camera.

Kuo said Taiwan-based Inventec will be the exclusive speaker supplier, including both the woofer and tweeters.

MacRumors is pleased to announce the Eighth Annual MacRumors Blood Drive, throughout the month of May 2017. Our goal is to save lives by increasing the number of life-saving blood and platelet donations. While most blood drives are specific to a geographic location, our blood drive is online and worldwide. MacRumors routinely reports on Apple's support for charity, as summarized in our Help Center, and the MacRumors Blood Drive is our own community effort.

Over the past 7 years, the MacRumors Blood Drives have recorded donations of 381 units of blood, platelets, and plasma, and noted new signups for the organ donor and bone marrow registries. We've heard from many forum members whose lives were affected by blood, platelet, or bone marrow donations.

How to participate

1. If you are eligible, schedule a blood or platelet donation (see FAQ), in May if possible, at any donation center near you. Register for the bone marrow registry in your country and/or register as an organ donor in your state, province, or country (see FAQ). Then post in the MacRumors 2017 Blood Drive! thread to tell us about it and to accept our thanks.

2. If you aren't eligible to donate blood for reasons of health, age, height/weight, a recent donation, or because you are deferred as a donor, please encourage someone else to make a donation, and let us know. If they donate, you belong on our Honor Roll! If you are a sexually active gay man deferred from donating, join our Blood donor eligibility discussion, with its debate over deferrals based on sexual orientation but not on monogamy.

3. Share our message and help this cause by convincing friends and relatives to participate as well. The Honor Roll lists this year's donors. Please congratulate them for their altruistic acts to help strangers.

Drone videographer Matthew Roberts has posted a new video on his YouTube channel this morning, covering the ongoing progress of construction at Apple's soon-to-open campus, Apple Park. A few weeks ago, Roberts posted what was expected to be the final update before Apple Park's grand opening, but the campus still hasn't opened its doors to employees with just a few days left in April.

Ever since Apple officially announced the name for Apple Park back in February, construction on the site has ramped up rapidly over the ensuing weeks. Today, solar panel installation on the roof of the central "Spaceship" building appears nearly complete, while the courtyard of the building is still seeing major construction related to the large pond and surrounding greenery.

Landscaping everywhere on the campus has been expanding over the past few weeks, so much so that Apple has caused tree shortages for other companies in the area. In Roberts' newest video, it's evident that there is still much time left for Apple's landscaping to be finished, which will eventually end with 9,000 native and drought-resistant trees spread across the site.

The continuation of landscaping, as well as construction on some of Apple Park's auxiliary buildings, will continue into the summer, well after Apple moves the first employees into the main building. While some of the side buildings are complete -- like the parking garage -- a few still have a ways to go, including the new campus auditorium, which has been named the "Steve Jobs Theater" in honor of the late CEO.

Once employees begin moving in, it's estimated to take Apple around six months to move in all the workers coming to Apple Park, which will number about 13,000. Earlier in April, another well-known drone videographer, Duncan Sinfield, shared off a video of what Apple Park looks like when it's lit up at night.

AT&T today sent out emails to customers who continue to have a grandfathered unlimited data plan for the iPad, informing them that its unlimited status is essentially being eliminated on May 24, 2017.

Going forward, customers with an unlimited tablet data plan may see their data usage throttled when using more than 22GB of data during a single bill period. According to AT&T, data may be slowed down during times of network congestion.

While that's in line with AT&T's policy for its newly announced unlimited data plans, it's a big change for iPad owners who are not used to having a data cap in place. Prior to the change, iPad owners with the grandfathered unlimited plan have not been subject to restrictions.

AT&T briefly offered unlimited iPad data plans after the original iPad was released in 2010, but phased them out just months later. Since then, customers who managed to purchase one of the plans have been able to hold onto them, making the unlimited plan highly coveted.

The plans required no contract and cost $29.99 per month, with customers able to transfer them to new iPads and even sell them to other iPad owners. With the change coming on May 24, the original unlimited iPad data plans will be much less attractive.

(Thanks, David!)

Apple today informed retail store employees and Apple Authorized Service Providers that it is extending the service coverage for first-generation Apple Watch models experiencing battery problems to three years.

In an entry in Apple's repair database (via 9to5Mac), the company explains that coverage is extended for original Apple Watch models that are seeing swollen or expanded batteries. A public announcement about the service extension has not been made, and it's not clear if Apple will offer reimbursements for customers who have already paid for battery replacements or have done battery replacements themselves.

Customers who have an original Apple Watch afflicted with a swollen or expanded battery will now be able to have the device repaired for up to three years after its purchase date, even when AppleCare was not purchased for the watch. From the repair database:

Apple has extended Service coverage for eligible Apple Watch (1st gen) models with an expanded/swollen battery to three years after the original date of purchase. Eligible devices will be covrered for two years beyond the original 1-year Limited Warranty.

Complaints about swollen batteries on the original Apple Watch have been circulating for a few months on reddit, the Apple Support Communities, and the MacRumors forum.

Reports are rare, but it does appear to be an issue affecting a small number of original Apple Watch users. The battery problem causes the Apple Watch screen to pop away from the casing, rendering it unusable.

The first-generation Apple Watch, first introduced in April of 2015, recently reached its second birthday on April 24.

Apple has asked the California DMV to alter the rules that require it to publish detailed public reports about the success of Apple's self-driving car tests, according to papers shared by the DMV. If the DMV complies with Apple's request, less information would be included in the reports. [PDF]

In a letter, Apple says it is "investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and goes on to say the company is "excited" about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation.

The company then proposes that the DMV "amend or clarify" its positions in the areas of disengagement reporting, definitions, and testing without safety drivers. Apple is concerned that inconsistency in how permit holders reports disengagements can lead to media coverage that causes public confusion and misunderstanding. Apple wants disengagement reports to cover times when a driver takes control of a vehicle to prevent a crash or traffic violation, and little else.

Apple suggests the following changes to the disengagement reporting requirements to achieve an objective set of data to accurately and clearly inform the public about the safety of the automated vehicles being tested

A disengagement should be defined as an unexpected event or failure that requires the safety driver to take control of the vehicle in order to prevent a crash or traffic violation.

A disengagement should not be reported for the following:
- Operational constraints where either the safety driver has been trained to disengage the system, or when the system detects the constraint and disengages automatically. For example, a system that requires the safety driver to navigate through a construction zone.
- System errors or failures. For example, a software bug or sensor dropout that does not affect the safe operation of the system.
- Discretionary decisions made by the safety driver. For example, when the safety driver perceives a vehicle is approaching too quickly and opts to disengage the system.
- Any tests that are planned to result in a disengagement.
- The end of a test or experiment.

Additionally, the proposed requirement in §227.50(b)(3)(B)(vi) to describe the type of incident that would have happened without the disengagement should be removed. It requires speculation about future events that have not occurred.

Apple two weeks ago was granted a permit for testing autonomous vehicles on public roads, and has already begun to do so. The company has three Lexus SUVs equipped with sensors and cameras, presumably running the autonomous driving software the company has been working on for the last several months. Those SUVs have been spotted on Cupertino roads this week.

By participating in the DMV's Autonomous Vehicle Testing Program, Apple will need to publicly share many details about its testing process, which will make it difficult to keep development on the software under wraps.