MacRumors

Boston law firm Block & Leviton today announced it has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple on behalf of iPhone Upgrade customers who are dissatisfied with how Apple handled iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus pre-orders last Friday.

When customers who participate in the iPhone Upgrade Program went to pre-order an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, they were forced to reserve a device from a local Apple retail store rather than being able to make a traditional online purchase. Many retail stores did not have sufficient stock to meet demand, leaving some customers unable to select the model, color, or storage capacity they desired.

Many iPhone Upgrade Program members were unhappy with the ordering process and an inability to reserve a desired iPhone for launch day. Apple has responded to customer frustration and has been collecting customer information to attempt to get customers their iPhones as soon as possible. Apple's efforts have not, however, prevented today's lawsuit, which claims iPhone Upgrade Program users will face future upgrade delays due to the situation.

But, the lawsuit alleges, iPhone Upgrade Program customers, unlike every other customer, were shut out from reserving the most in-demand phone models and colors.

These customers are unable to "get in line" to reserve their favored devices. Instead, they are told to simply "check back." In the meantime, they will continue to be required to make monthly payments on their older iPhones, and their eligibility for future iPhones will be delayed, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit asks Apple to reimburse iPhone Upgrade members who are forced to make extra payments while waiting for a new iPhone, make upgrade members eligible for a 2017 iPhone in September regardless of upgrade delays, and seeks to require Apple to make all of its iPhone inventory available to upgrade members.

Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program, arguably designed for the company's staunchest fans, allows customers to upgrade to a new iPhone each year. Customers can upgrade after as little as six months, so long as they have made 12 iPhone payments and trade in the iPhone in question when upgrading.

At last Wednesday's media event, Apple introduced two new processors - the A10 Fusion for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and the S2 for Apple Watch Series 2. Although Apple only briefly covered the S2 during the presentation, it did spend a good deal of time talking about A10 Fusion. The 'Fusion' suffix refers to the heterogeneous architecture that the A10 features, which has two high-power, high-throughput cores and two much smaller cores that are more power efficient.

Apple also introduced another very important piece of standalone silicon in its new AirPods, dubbed the W1 chip. In total, this represents a great deal of engineering work done by Apple over the last year, and the A10 is the most significant to Apple's system-on-a-chip (SoC) line since the company's transition to 64-bit.

Apple unveiled the biggest technical changes featured in the A10 at the very beginning, boasting a four-core CPU with 3.3 billion transistors. While Apple never disclosed a transistor count for the A9, it very likely fell somewhere in the middle between the 2 billion count on the A8 and the 3.3 billion of the new A10. A transistor count well under 3 billion seems probable for the A9; otherwise it would have been worth boasting about on its own.

The 3.3 billion number for the A10 is well over 50 percent larger than the A8, and the large jump is likely mostly thanks to the addition of two new, albeit small, CPU cores along with a greatly enhanced image signal processor (ISP). Apple also disclosed that the GPU remains a six-cluster design, while benchmarks suggest that the L1 and L2 cache sizes remain unchanged.

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Ahead of the official launch of iOS 10 tomorrow, apps designed for the new operating system update have started hitting the iOS App Store, including those that will be available in the Messages App Store.

Rock-Paper-Scissors [Direct Link], for example, a Messages app that allows two people to play a classic game of Rock, Paper, Scissors right in Messages, is now in the App Store. It is not, however, showing up in the dedicated Messages App Store, which will presumably launch tomorrow. Other apps for Messages, like Snappy Browser, are also starting to become available.

The Messages App Store is an app storefront located within the Messages app, accessible on a device running iOS 10 by tapping the app icon, opening the app drawer (tap the icon that looks like four circles) and then choosing the "+" store icon.

Using the Messages App Store, iOS 10 users will be able to install a huge variety of sticker packs and apps to enhance the chat experience in Messages. Stickers are used a lot like emoji but can be animated and stuck on top of chat bubbles, photos, and more, while apps can do things like offer weather updates, a Safari browser for looking things up without using Messages, provide collaborative food ordering tools, and more.

iOS 10 offers a huge number of new features for developers, and in addition to Messages apps, we'll also be seeing apps that can take advantage of the new features in Maps and apps that offer third-party Siri support. Expect to see significant app updates coming out throughout the week, leading with tons of app releases tomorrow.

Last week, we reported that the iPhone Upgrade Program caused frustration for some customers attempting to pre-order an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.

Specifically, some customers enrolled in the program were unable to select the model, carrier, color, or storage capacity they desired, or any iPhone in some cases, due to limited stock seemingly as soon as pre-orders began.

The underlying reason appears to be that iPhone Upgrade Program members were placed into a separate stream than regular pre-order customers, and forced to reserve a new iPhone from a local Apple retail store -- many of which were sold out. Some customers were not even able to access the reservation system at all.

Since then, it appears that Apple has acknowledged those concerns and is attempting to help make the situation right for those affected.

Over the weekend, Apple updated its upgrade reservation page with fine print that recommends customers call its support team at 1-800-MY-APPLE and mention the iPhone Upgrade Program. By doing so, the company said a Specialist will help customers find the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus model they want.

Due to high demand, the model you’d like may not be available. Please call 1-800-MY-APPLE and mention the iPhone Upgrade Program. A Specialist will help you find the model you want.

A number of MacRumors readers that followed through with calls said Apple was very apologetic and is manually collecting information while it works on a solution. Each customer was told they would receive a phone call back within 24-48 hours, but it isn't entirely clear what action Apple plans to take.

MacRumors reader Fikester shared his experience in our discussion forums:

The guy I talked to apologized profusely for Apple dropping the ball on this, took all my info regarding what model I wanted, and while he didn't promise anything, said they are working on a solution for it. He said they will call me within two business days with more information and sent me his direct contact info should I have questions. The whole call took about 30 minutes.

Some customers were given the impression that Apple will be prioritizing orders for iPhone Upgrade Program customers, possibly with some in-store stock reserved specifically for upgraders on launch day and possibly afterwards.

MacRumors readers Modernboy and Aaroncbell:

They've said that they are looking to prioritize iPhone Upgrade Program upgrades over the next couple of weeks so that we can get our phones. I highly suggest anyone who had the same issues I had to call and ask to speak to someone in the iPhone Upgrade Program department.

They transfer you to a special group who will take down all your info and what iPhone you want. They say they will then be in touch in 48 hours letting you know when your iPhone can be picked up. They told me they were very sorry that iPhone Upgrade Program users had issues and that they weren't prepared and are trying to make it right. They said their goal is to have iPhones ready for pickup on launch day for Upgrade Program users who call in.

Whether those enrolled in the iPhone Upgrade Program receive their new iPhones on launch day remains to be seen, but it is clear that Apple is doing what it can to improve the situation. In the meantime, customers can try their luck at Apple retail stores on September 16 on a first come, first served basis.

After sharing a collection of photographs taken with the iPhone 7 Plus at the Titans-Vikings game yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook this morning tweeted out another group of photos captured with Apple's new 5.5-inch iPhone, now providing a few examples of low-light photography.

The new set of photos were taken by ESPN photographer Landon Nordeman during the U.S. Open. According to the publication, "the autofocus and exposure performed exceedingly well in various lighting conditions -- so that even with one hand, he could get the shot."

Better low-light photography was emphasized by Apple in the new ad for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The improved conditions in low-light situations, as well as crisper and brighter photos, come at the hands of the iPhone 7's 28mm 12-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization, a wider f/1.8 aperture 6-element lens, wide color capture, and a new Apple image signaling processor.

The iPhone 7 Plus has all of these features, with the addition of a second 12-megapixel 56mm telephoto lens with an f/2.8 aperture, enabling a new and highly-detailed 2x optical zoom ability. Nordeman's style -- described as "surprising moments from unique perspectives, using color and composition without distracting his subjects" -- was enhanced thanks to the portability of the iPhone 7 Plus, which provides various DSLR-quality features without needing a cumbersome camera system.

Yesterday, an enterprising Redditor used EXIF data from the photos shared by Sports Illustrated to derive the sizes of the main and secondary camera sensors on the iPhone 7 Plus, also using information known about the sensor on the iPhone 6s. According to the user, the main lenses on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are nearly identical in size to the one on the iPhone 6s.

The actual focal length of the main camera is 3.99mm, derived from one of the photos EXIF data. A 1/3in sensor has a crop factor of 7.21, and the iPhone 6S' sensor is 1/3in. The math is below:

iPhone 6S (1/3in sensor) = 4.15mm x 7.21 = 29.92mm for a 35mm equivalent lens.
iPhone 7 Plus main sensor = 3.99mm x (7.21?) = 28.7679mm, very close to Apple's claimed 28mm.
iPhone 7 Plus telephoto sensor = 6.6mm x (8.6?) = 56.8mm, very close to the claimed 56mm as well. For a 1/3.6in sensor, the crop factor is 8.6.

Edit: For context, a larger sensor size allows for shallower depth of field, or the use of bigger and/or more pixels. Generally, the smaller the sensor, the worse it performs; however, we all know Apple pushes out some quality components so this doesn't necessarily mean it's true. Example: The 6S cramming 4million more pixels, and its pixel size being reduced from 1.5microns to 1.22microns to retain the same 1/3in sensor size, yet, they kept image noise performance still similar to the 6, basically having more detail at almost no cost.

The first iPhone 7 pre-order customers have already begun receiving shipment notifications regarding their incoming orders, which are preparing to arrive this Friday, September 16. Also launching this Friday is the Apple Watch Series 2, which the company announced alongside the iPhone 7 last week in San Francisco.

Check out the full collection of photos taken with the iPhone 7 Plus at the US Open here.

Over the weekend, Microsoft launched a new ad for the Surface Pro 4, continuing its marketing strategy of comparing the tablet computer to Apple's products, this time the 13-inch MacBook Air. The ad is the newest in Microsoft's anti-Apple theme of commercials, previously comparing the iPad Pro with the Surface Pro 4, the MacBook Pro with the Surface Book, and OS X with Windows 10. Just a few weeks ago, the MacBook Air was the focus of another Surface Pro 4 ad.

Simple titled "Get the Surface Pro," the new ad has a focus on the tablet's ability to write and doodle on the screen with the included stylus. Using the same musical accompaniment of the previous MacBook Air comparison spot, the singer in the new ad tells potential customers that "if you try to write on a plain old Mac, the difference can be seen. It doesn't work." Other advantages highlighted in the ad include the detachable keyboard, and the ending tagline states, "Surface does more. Just like you."

The 12.3-inch Surface Pro 4 starts at $899 for 128GB of internal storage and 4GB of RAM, and goes up to as much as $1,799 for 256GB of internal storage and 16GB of RAM. Comparatively, the 11-inch MacBook Air starts at $899, with 128GB of storage and 4GB of RAM, increasing to $1099 for 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, while the 13-inch model starts at $999 for 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, and rising to $1199 for 256GB of storage.

Apple has begun offering bundles of 10 films for $10 on iTunes, to celebrate 10 years of movies being available on the store (via The Verge).

During Apple's "It's Showtime!" 2006 keynote – a whole year before the launch of the iPhone – Steve Jobs announced that films with "near-DVD image quality" would be available to download on the iTunes Movies store. On launch, only 75 films listed, all from Disney-owned studios. According to Apple's website, more than 85,000 feature-length movies are now available.

Following the announcement of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus last Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook today tweeted out a link to some of the first official photos that have been taken using the advanced photography capabilities of the larger, 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus.

Taken by Sports Illustrated photographer David E. Klutho, the pictures come from the Titans-Vikings game that took place earlier today. Using the iPhone 7 Plus, Klutho was able to take advantage of Apple's new dual-lens 12-megapixel camera, and the 2x optical zoom feature exclusive to the larger model iPhone.

Klutho's shots provide evidence of the crisp and bright photos that can be taken with the iPhone 7 Plus and its second 12-megapixel telephoto lens, but the collection lacks an example of improved low-light photography that Apple touted in the debut ad for the iPhone 7.

Later in the year, the camera app on the iPhone 7 Plus will also be getting a new feature called "Portrait," letting users create photos where the two cameras intelligently detect faces in the foreground, while adding an artful blur effect to elements in the background.

The smaller 4.7-inch iPhone 7 packs in similar high-quality photo-taking abilities, without the second telephoto lens and 2x optical zoom. Both new iPhones were announced alongside the Apple Watch Series 2 and AirPods last week in San Francsico. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are expected to arrive this Friday, September 16, with the lucky first batch of pre-order customers already receiving shipment notifications.

Check out the rest of the photos taken using the iPhone 7 Plus here.

After quickly moving to the "Preparing for Shipment" stage on Friday, the first wave of iPhone 7 Plus shipments from Apple are now on their way to customers for delivery on Friday, September 16. Apple has not yet officially updated order statuses to "shipping," but a number of customers have found their new devices showing up in their Apple support profiles and in UPS order tracking. We've seen quite a few reports of iPhone 7 Plus orders showing up, but it's not clear if iPhone 7 units are shipping in volume yet.

U.S. customers can try to find their orders by using the "Track by Reference" function on the UPS website and searching with their phone numbers, typically the phone number associated with the Apple ID under which the order was made. The Apple order number minus the last two digits may also work. UPS customers who have My Choice accounts may already see their shipments showing up on their accounts without even needing to search.

The first wave of shipments is scheduled to arrive to customers on Friday, with delivery services holding packages until that date even if they arrive to regional hubs early. It is not unusual, however, for a few packages to slip through and arrive a day ahead of schedule for a handful of lucky customers.

Those interested in tracking the progress of their phones may want to check out our dedicated forum threads and external links below:

Apple has closed parts of its self-driving car project and laid off dozens of employees attached to it as it reboots its plan for self-driving vehicles, according to The New York Times. The move comes just over a month after the company reportedly began shifting its car project to autonomous driving systems rather than vehicles under Bob Mansfield.

Mansfield, a longtime Apple executive who was previously Vice President of Technologies, was appointed to oversee the car project in late July, adjusting the project to focus on the "underlying technology" for autonomous vehicles rather than actually building an automobile. The layoffs, according to The New York Times, are part of the strategic shift of the project.

Apple employees were told that the layoffs were part of a “reboot” of the car project, the people briefed on it said. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Apple had made some progress in the development of Project Titan, the codename for its car project, having a number of self-driving vehicles in testing. The cars were tested with simple, limited operating routes in closed environments, but the technology was far from ready for primetime, reports The New York Times.

The Cupertino company had recruited hundreds of engineers from Tesla, Ford, GM, other car companies and employees in other divisions of Apple to work on its car project, growing the Apple Car team to nearly 1,000 members.

Earlier this year, Steve Zadesky, former Ford engineer and VP of Product Design, left the company for personal reasons. He had been in charge of the project and reported to Dan Riccio, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering. Rumors have suggested that the departure of Zadesky resulted in delays of the project and internal strife due to challenges like unattainable timelines and organizational changes. The original launch target for the Apple Car was said to be in 2020, but changes and delays to the project had caused it to slip into 2021.

On the same day the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus became available for pre-order, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has released a new research report outlining his expectations for a dual rear camera in next year's iPhone model.

According to Kuo, cost considerations and a niche appeal for the dual camera, which is found only on the larger iPhone 7 Plus model this year, mean that the feature is likely to remain exclusive to "high-end" models in 2017 as well. Presumably this means the dual camera would again appear only on so-called "iPhone 8 Plus" models should Apple continue to offer similar product lineups.

While an attractive addition for avid picture takers and professional photographers, the iPhone 7 Plus dual-camera is not a mass-market killer application yet. Along with its high cost (estimated at over US$30-40) and the necessity for Apple to enhance the added value of high-end iPhone models, we expect only high-end new iPhone models (30-40% of them) to have a dual-camera next year.

As for what improvements can be anticipated for the dual camera in 2017, Kuo indicates that optical image stabilization (OIS) is likely to be added to the telephoto camera. In the iPhone 7 Plus, only the wide-angle camera has OIS.

Note that for the dual- camera of iPhone 7 Plus, wide-angle CCM is equipped with optical image stabilization (OIS) VCM, while telephoto CCM only comes with general VCM. We believe the focus of the dual-camera upgrade will be equipping telephoto CCM with OIS CCM, so as to significantly enhance optical and digital zoom quality.

While 2017 would normally be considered an "S cycle" for the iPhone that would focus on internal improvements rather than changes to the external appearance of the device, rumors have suggested Apple is embarking on a major "iPhone 8" or "iPhone X" upgrade as the iPhone turns ten years old. Apple is reportedly looking to move to a glass body and a flexible edge-to-edge OLED display that curves around the sides of the device. The 2017 iPhone may also see the removal of the iconic Home button and perhaps include features such as wireless charging and an iris scanner.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has responded to a MacRumors reader's email about the lack of a long-awaited MacBook Pro refresh, stressing that he "loves the Mac" and that Apple is "very committed" to it. He told the customer, who wishes to remain anonymous, to "stay tuned," suggesting that updates to the Mac lineup are on the horizon.

MacRumors cannot fully confirm the authenticity of the email, but it does appear to originate from Apple's corporate servers based on full headers we saw. Apple executives occasionally respond to customer emails, but it is possible the response was handled by Apple's executive relations or public relations teams.

An update to the Mac lineup at some point is inevitable, and the bigger focus is now on when that will happen. The latest word is that Apple will release new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models with USB-C ports as early as October, while updated iMac models with an option for new AMD graphics chips are also in the works.

That report reiterated rumors that the new MacBook Pro will be thinner and include an OLED-based touch bar along the top of the flatter keyboard, which will present functions that dynamically fit the current task or application, as well as integrate Touch ID to enable users to quickly log in using their fingerprint.

Our own Mac Buyer's Guide shows that it has been 479 days since the MacBook Pro was last updated, while the MacBook Air has not been refreshed in 550 days. Similarly, the Mac mini has not been refreshed in 694 days, while the Mac Pro is five days shy of 1000 days since its last update. iMacs stand at 332 days.