MacRumors

Apple's two-factor authentication system is now enabled for iCloud.com, with the site asking for a verification code before allowing users with two-factor authentication enabled to access various iCloud.com apps.

Access to iCloud.com apps like Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote is restricted until the verification code is entered on the website, but Find My iPhone remains accessible.

Users also receive an email when their Apple ID is used to sign into iCloud via the web browser, a feature that was implemented following the recent hacking of celebrity iCloud accounts that led to hundreds of photos being shared on the Internet.

Following the hacking incident, Apple CEO Tim Cook pledged to improve iCloud security by expanding two-factor authentication to iCloud and sending out security emails when a device is restored, iCloud is accessed, or a password change is attempted. Cook also said that Apple will aim to increase awareness about two-factor verification.

Originally implemented back in March of 2013, two-factor verification is an opt-in system designed to increase Apple ID account security by requiring identity verification before allowing users to make account changes or purchase content on new devices. It replaces standard security questions with a security code delivered to a trusted device.

Apple first tested two-factor authentication for iCloud.com back in June, well ahead of the iCloud breach, but the feature was not implemented until today.

Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus won't be available to consumers until Friday, September 19, but some devices have been trickling out early ahead of the phone's launch. Korean site UNDERkg has managed to get both an iPhone 6 and an iPhone 6 Plus, sharing hands-on videos and photos.

The first video focuses on the 4.7-inch gold iPhone 6, walking through all of the features including the display, the Touch ID home button, the protruding lens, and the power button, which has been relocated to the right side of the device for easier one-handed access.

In the video, the iPhone 6 is also compared to earlier models of the iPhone, like the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 3G, as well as Samsung devices like the Galaxy S5 and Alpha. The device is shown running iOS 8, with several of the apps demonstrated in the video. Authenticity is of the iPhone 6 in the video is confirmed via a FaceTime call.

UNDERkg's second video shows off the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, again running through all of the newly introduced design features, including the wraparound screen, relocated power button, and redesigned pill-shaped volume buttons.

As with the iPhone 6, the 6 Plus is shown powered on, with the reviewer showing off a few apps on the phone as well as the larger available home screen space. The iPad-style landscape mode is also demonstrated, showing how the device uses its additional real estate.

Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will be available to consumers beginning on Friday, September 19. The devices will be available in stores on that date, and that is also the date that early pre-orders will begin arriving. Official iPhone 6 and 6 Plus reviews should be available tonight.

Part leaks have previously suggested that the iPhone 6 has just 1 GB of RAM, much like its predecessor the iPhone 5s, but the memory status of the iPhone 6 Plus has thus far remained a mystery, leading many to hope that the larger device has been upgraded to 2 GB of RAM.

New information suggests that the iPhone 6 Plus may not be getting a memory upgrade, and will continue to offer 1GB of RAM like the iPhone 6. A screenshot allegedly from an iPhone 6 Plus depicting what appears to be iPhone monitoring app System Status has surfaced on a Korean message board (via Phone Arena), showing the device's memory maxing out at close to 1 GB.

Despite the size difference, the appearance of 1 GB of RAM in the iPhone 6 Plus seems to suggest that the two phones have nearly identical internal specifications, both offering the same A8 chip and memory. The larger iPhone 6 Plus does, however, have a larger battery due to its larger size and it also offers optical image stabilization, while the iPhone 6 is limited to electronic image stabilization features.

While the apparent lack of 2 GB of RAM in the iPhone 6 Plus will undoubtedly come as a disappointment to those who were hoping for a memory increase, Apple has to work carefully to balance performance with battery life. Competing devices from companies like Samsung do offer more RAM, but at the cost of performance. Samsung's Galaxy S5, for example, offers impressive battery life at up to 10 hours of Internet browsing and 12 hours of HD movie watching, but it appears the iPhone 6 Plus may exceed that, based on battery information unveiled during the keynote.

Apple's iPhone 6 Plus is rumored to include a 2,915 mAh battery that offers up to 12 hours of Internet browsing and 14 hours of HD movie watching. Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will be arriving in stores and in the hands of customers on Friday, September 19, which will unveil more concrete information about the device's internals.

A Foxconn worker is being detained after being accused of stealing six iPhone 6 rear shells from the factory line and reselling them to an unidentified party in Shenzhen, China, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing details in Chinese newspaper Taihang Daily. The thefts started in late July and netted the 40-year-old male factory worker a total of 6,000 yuan ($960).

The suspect, identified only with the surname Qiao, allegedly responded to an advertisement that offered to purchase "parts from Apple Inc. at high prices." Qiao snuck out his first shell on July 24 and shipped the product to an address in Shenzhen.

"On July 24, according to the article, Qiao hid one shell in his pocket and successfully avoided the security check by leaving at the peak of quitting time, when lots of workers swarm out of the factory at the same time. He sent the shell to an address in Shenzhen via a local courier service and received his money couple days later.

Apparently encouraged, he stole another five shells that month and sent them to the same buyer, the article said."

Foxconn reported the thefts to local police in mid-August, who identified Qiao within 20 days through the use of video surveillance, employee records, and courier service logs. Foxconn told CNET in a statement that Foxconn expects its employees to follow the company's strict Code of Conduct.

"As a matter of company policy, Foxconn does not comment on any aspect of our work for any customer," a Foxconn Technology Group spokesperson told CNET in an e-mailed statement. "However, we can say that we have a strict Company Code of Conduct that our company and our employees are expected to follow and we do not hesitate to take the appropriate action, including bringing matters to the attention of the relevant law enforcement authorities, should we determine that this Code has been violated."

Numerous components from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were leaked in the months leading up to Apple's September announcement event. Detailed photos and videos of the shells provided a glimpse into the design of the two handsets, while internal components hinted at NFC and other features that ultimately appeared in the final device.

Following last week's iPhone and Apple Watch media event, Apple officially invited developers to begin submitting their iOS 8 apps for App Store review ahead of tomorrow's public release of the new operating system. While a number of developers have been tweaking their apps to work better with iOS 8 over the past few months, the major step forward comes as apps begin to support the new functionalities supported in iOS 8.

Apple has already begun approving some of these iOS 8-optimized apps, but a few high-profile developers are finding that some of their highly anticipated extensions are not working properly in the updated apps being distributed through the App Store. While only a small subset of iOS users are affected due to limited distribution of the iOS 8 golden master released to developers last week, the issue has been a concerning one for developers trying to diagnose it.

One example is OmniFocus 2 for iPhone [Direct Link], which will include an extension to add an OmniFocus list of tasks to the "Today" view in Notification Center. In the iOS 8-optimized version of OmniFocus 2 released over the weekend and a bug fix released yesterday, the Today view is currently not being properly populated with data from OmniFocus itself.

A similar issue is occurring with popular calculator app PCalc [Direct Link], and both issues appear to be related to code signing on Apple's end. PCalc developer James Thomson has been in touch with Apple and received word that the company is indeed working on the problem.

All indications are that this is a problem Apple will thankfully be able to fix without requiring developers to submit new versions of their apps, and presumably the company will have it fixed in time for the public release of iOS 8 tomorrow.

Update: Apple has fixed the issue, and is prompting users to re-download properly signed versions of the affected apps.

The NFC antenna found on Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will only be used with the company's "Apple Pay" mobile payment solution and will not be available to developers for use in third-party apps, reports Cult of Mac. The confirmation comes by way of an Apple spokeswoman, who also declined to comment on future plans for the technology's use in other instances.

The move is similar to the Touch ID sensor's debut on the iPhone 5s last year, as Apple restricted its use to iTunes purchases and device unlocking. However, Apple announced at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference that developers would be able to integrate Touch ID into their iOS 8 apps. It is possible that Apple will allow NFC to be used with third-party apps at some point in the future, however it appears that the company is focused on polishing the technology for use with its own services.

Apple Pay will first launch in the United States next month as an update to iOS 8, and will be featured in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as the Apple Watch when it launches next year. The service will be compatible with American Express, Mastercard and Visa credit/debit cards, with 220,000 U.S. retail stores listed as partners. Apple will also be launching an Apple Pay API for developers to integrate the service into their apps.

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke with Charlie Rose in a two part-interview, and the second segment of the show is airing tonight. In the second half of the interview, Cook focuses on the driving force behind Apple, his own personal values, and the company's thoughts on privacy.

Cook's first comments are on Apple's privacy views, and he says that the company tries to collect as little data about its users as possible. He believes that people "have a right to privacy."

Our view is that when we design a new service we try not to collect data. So we're not reading your email. We're not reading your iMessage. If the government laid a subpoena on us to get your iMessages, we can't provide it. It's encrypted and we don't have a key.

Our business is based on selling [products]. Our business is not based on having information about you. You are not our product.

As he has stated previously, Cook says that no one has backdoor access to Apple's servers. "We would never allow that to happen," he says, repeating his prior statement on the issue. "They would have to cart us out in a box before we would do that."

On his values, Tim Cook says that he believes in treating all people with dignity, regardless of color, religion sexual orientation, and gender. "Everyone deserves respect." Cook goes on to comment on the driving force behind Apple, which he says is a goal to enrich people's lives and change the world, not to be the largest company.

You know, I was at -- I was at Compaq at a time where the objective was to become a $40 billion company. Well, employees don't get excited about that. This isn't something you wake up and you go, "I'm going to take the hill today to do 40" -- I mean, you know? It's just not that. But changing the world? These are the things that people work for. And this pushes people. And so, this is who we are as people. And it's the values of our company. It's been the values of our company forever. And it's to Steve's credit. He put these values in the company... I know I probably said it too many times, but it's a privilege of a lifetime to be there, because I think there's no place like it on Earth."

The first part of the Charlie Rose interview aired on Friday, with Tim Cook speaking about Steve Jobs' continued influence on Apple Products, the company's thoughts on the Apple TV, and the decision to buy Beats Electronics.

During the first half of the interview, Tim Cook also said that Apple is working on products that "no one knows about" and that "haven't been rumored about yet," noting that some of the products may go on to be released while others will be shelved.

Tim Cook's full commentary on Apple and privacy issues will be available when the complete second part of the interview airs later tonight on PBS.

Though it won't be released until early 2015, Apple's new wearable device is already facing public scrutiny over privacy issues. Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen has sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking several questions about how the Apple Watch will operate and requesting a meeting with Apple representatives.

In the letter, Jepsen addresses several issues he has with the Apple Watch, and requests that Apple explains what data the device will collect and how the information will be stored, along with its policies on apps that access health information.

In his letter, the Attorney General noted several areas of concern, including:

-Whether Apple will allow consumers to store personal and health information on Apple Watch itself and/or on its servers, and if so, how information will be safeguarded;

-If and how Apple will review application privacy policies to ensure that users' health information is safeguarded;

-If and how Apple intends to enforce policies that require the rejection of applications that provide diagnoses, treatment advice, or control hardware designed to diagnose or treat medical conditions that do not provide written regulatory approval;

-What information Apple Watch and its applications will collect from users, and how Apple and application developers will obtain consent to collect and share such information from these individuals; and

-How Apple intends to monitor and enforce applications' compliance with its guidelines concerning users' health information.

Many of these questions actually seem to pertain more to Apple's HealthKit APIs, and several of the answers to Jepson's questions are detailed in Apple's Review Guidelines for developers that was updated in June.

In the document, Apple says that HealthKit information will not be stored in iCloud and that apps attempting to store health data in iCloud will be rejected. It also states that apps will not be able to share data with third parties without express user consent and that all apps that provide diagnoses or treatment advice will be rejected.

Introduced on September 9, the Apple Watch is designed to be both fashionable and functional, aiming to encourage its users to be more active. It includes an accelerometer and four lenses designed to monitor heart rate, with the information collected displayed in several accompanying fitness apps. The heart rate and fitness data will also likely integrate with the Health app in iOS 8, which is designed to aggregate health and fitness data from a wide range of devices that have taken advantage of the HealthKit API.

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.

Though the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are not expected to be delivered to customers and released to stores until Friday, September 19, some devices have already begun showing up in Vietnam and China.

According to Dan Tri [Google Translate] an iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were spotted in a Red River restaurant in Vietnam by an AP reporter, who confirmed the legitimacy of the devices.

The reporter is said to have tested features like Messages and Siri to confirm that the devices seen in Vietnam were real, and Dan Tri snapped several photos of the two phones. The images show off the size difference between the two models and how the devices fit into a pocket.

Dan Tri also shares some details on the two new devices, suggesting that despite the size increase, the iPhone 6 Plus is comfortable to hold and feels like "a miniature mini iPad." The cameras, though protruding, are not much of a hinderance, and two phones are "fast" and quick to open apps.

iPhone 6 models have also appeared in China, with users on the MacX.cn forums sharing several photos of the devices.

Apple was unable to keep a tight rein on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus this year, with several parts leaking out ahead of the iPhone announcement. Enough parts leaked, in fact, that Feld & Volk was able to assemble a functional iPhone well ahead of release, and the weekend before Apple unveiled the two devices, a fully functional version of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 was shared by a Chinese user.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be in retail stores beginning on Friday, September 19. Early pre-orders placed on September 12 will also begin arriving on that date, though a few lucky customers often get their devices delivered early due to shipping errors and the logistics of delivering hundreds of thousands of devices simultaneously.

Apple today released the third Yosemite public beta for beta testers, following the release of the second Yosemite public beta on August 21. Developer Preview 8 has also been released for developers, two weeks after the seventh Developer Preview was released.

The software update can be downloaded through the software update function of the Mac App Store, and developers can also download DP 8 from the Mac Developer Center.

It is possible given the release timing that both versions of Yosemite, DP 8 and the new public beta, are the same. The public beta will also include updates from Developer Preview 7, which included a new look for Dark Mode, several tweaked icons, and the removal of the "Software Update" option from the main Apple menu.

Apple is expected to release OS X Yosemite to the general public later this year, possibly following an October event that may introduce new iPads.

During Apple's keynote announcement, the company announced plans to provide U2's new album, "Songs of Innocence," to all iTunes customers for free. Rather than letting customers choose to download the album on their own, however, Apple pushed it to iTunes accounts, causing some devices to automatically download the album without explicit user permission.

The move upset users who did not want to have U2's album listed on their devices, which has now prompted Apple to create a process for removing the album from user's devices. According to Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr, who gave a statement to Re/code, customers were asking Apple how to delete the album after it was distributed, which has led Apple to create both a tool and a support document that outlines the process for removing the album from iCloud.

Here's Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr's explanation: "Some customers asked for the ability to delete 'Songs of Innocence' from their library, so we set up http://www.itunes.com/soi-remove to let them easily do so. Any customer that needs additional help should contact AppleCare."

To remove the U2 album, users are directed to Apple's new removal tool that will automatically remove the U2 album from an account after signing in with an Apple ID and password.

Apple warns that once the album has been removed from an iTunes account that it will no longer be available as a previously purchased album. Users have until October 13, 2014 to manually reinstall the album for free.

With Dell having announced its upcoming 5120 x 2880 "5K" display that would be the equivalent of a Retina 27-inch iMac or Apple Thunderbolt Display and Apple rumored to be launching its own such display later this year, connectivity options for such displays have now taken a significant step forward with today's official release of the DisplayPort 1.3 specification by the Video Electronics Standards Association (via 9to5Mac).

The new standard offers a 50 percent increase in bandwidth to 32.4 Gbps, or 25.92 Gbps of uncompressed video data once overhead is accounted for.

The increased bandwidth enables higher resolution monitors, including recently announced 5K monitors (with pixel resolutions of 5120 x 2880) using a single DisplayPort cable, without the use of compression. It will also enable higher resolutions when driving multiple monitors through a single connection using DisplayPort’s Multi-Stream feature, such as the use of two 4K UHD monitors, each with a pixel resolution of 3840 x 2160, when using VESA Coordinated Video Timing.

Apple has been rumored for some time to be working on Retina iMacs and displays, but connectivity bottlenecks have been one of the factors slowing progress in that area.

The previous DisplayPort 1.2a standard offered enough bandwidth to support 4K displays without compression, but pushing resolutions to 5K has presented difficulties for connectivity. With the new DisplayPort 1.3 standard, which will presumably be built into future Thunderbolt implementations, computer manufacturers such as Apple will be able to fully support the new high-resolution displays set to hit the market in the coming months.