MacRumors

One of the Apple Pay features touted with iOS 9 was support for new types of cards including store-branded credit cards and loyalty rewards cards from retailers. Just yesterday, department store chain Kohl's became the first retailer to launch Apple Pay support for its store-branded credit card, and it now appears Walgreens is preparing to launch support for its Balance Rewards loyalty rewards program.

Balance Rewards members have for some time been able to sign into their rewards accounts using the Walgreens iOS app and add their Balance Rewards numbers to the centralized Passbook/Wallet app. From there, it's been easy for users to bring up the Walgreens pass to display barcodes that can be scanned at checkout to make sure they receive rewards credit for their purchases.

As noted by several MacRumors readers, however, the Balance Rewards card in the Wallet app is now showing up as supporting NFC via Apple Pay. Double-clicking the iPhone home button to bring up Apple Pay cards offers access to the Balance Rewards pass, where the user is then prompted to authenticate with Touch ID and hold the phone near the NFC terminal at the register. Users can also opt to show a barcode for scanning if needed.

While the interface on the iPhone shows all signs of being ready to use Walgreens Balance Rewards via NFC, we and several readers have been unable to successfully use it in-store, as it appears Walgreens' payment terminals have yet to be upgraded to accept Balance Rewards using that method. In our testing yesterday, attempting to transmit a Balance Rewards card to the terminal via Apple Pay simply generated an error on the terminal noting the system was requesting a method of payment.

Walgreens Balance Rewards is also showing up as an Apple Pay option on the Apple Watch. Double clicking the side button of the Apple Watch to bring up available payment cards shows a Walgreens card that appears ready to use via NFC but similarly is not accepted by the terminal.

A barcode option as seen when the Walgreens pass is accessed directly from the Apple Watch's Wallet app is also available through the Apple Pay mechanism, although the overall presentation of the Walgreens card feels unfinished as it requires scrolling to access the barcode button via Apple Pay.

Late yesterday, Walgreens announced it plans to acquire rival Rite Aid in a deal that is expected to close in about a year to combine the largest and third-largest pharmacy chains in the United States. Rite Aid will initially operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Walgreens with its own branding, although the two brands are likely to fully integrate over time.

Walgreens was a launch partner for Apple Pay payments back in 2014, but Rite Aid famously held out due to its contractual obligations with competing payments platform MCX/CurrentC, even going as far as to disable existing NFC payment support to prevent customers from using Apple Pay in its stores. Rite Aid reversed course in August as its exclusivity with CurrentC ended, adding support for Apple Pay in its stores.

Apple began accepting pre-orders for the Apple TV on Monday morning, but has not yet announced when the device will be available for purchase in its retail stores. Apple Retail employees that have spoken to 9to5Mac have shed some light on when we might see the new set-top box, however, suggesting it will be in stores on Friday, October 30.

Apple retail locations are set to receive shipments at the end of the week, with Apple Stores being reconfigured overnight on Thursday to focus on promoting the new Apple TV.

Friday is also the first day when pre-order customers who selected one day shipping will begin receiving their Apple TV orders. Some Apple TVs have already begun preparing for shipment and will be shipping out very soon. Best Buy is also accepting pre-orders for the new Apple TV, but isn't allowing for in-store pickup until November 4.

The new Apple TV is available in 32 and 64GB configurations, with prices at $149 and $199, respectively. The device includes an A8 processor, a touch-based remote control that doubles as a game controller, a full App Store, universal search capabilities, and Siri integration.

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller recently met with Mashable editor-at-large Lance Ulanoff for a rare interview, discussing topics ranging from the new 12-inch MacBook to Apple's "intense collaboration" that makes such products possible.

Schiller emphasized how Apple's process from product conception to production has greatly changed over the past few decades, as a result of "intense collaboration" between industrial design and engineering teams within the company.

"From the beginning, the Mac has been about Apple taking responsibility for the whole thing: hardware, software, how applications can work and, increasingly, Internet services. But that means something different today than it did 20 years ago," Schiller said.

"Today, those teams are not only integrated and designing something together, they’re actually thinking of features that could only exist because of that integration and solving problems that could only be solved because of that unique advantage."

The interview provides a closer look at the new 12-inch MacBook, ranging from its ultra-small logic board to "speaktenna" combined speaker and antenna design, as an example of what's possible because of Apple's collaboration.

Some like to call it the "Speaktenna." The black strip along the back edge of the MacBook speakers is a never-before-tried combination of speakers and antennas for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. […]

In the case of the speaktenna, Apple engineers did everything in their power to fit the maximum amount of technology possible into the tiny anodized aluminum chassis. This included creating new battery chemistry and forms to support a terraced battery design that marries perfectly with matching cutouts in the chassis. There's even a deeper level of terracing cutouts in the body that aren't for more battery power, but to cut down on the overall system weight.

Mashable's in-depth profile of Schiller goes into more detail about the 12-inch MacBook's design process, how collaboration will continue at Apple's upcoming Campus 2, the continued growth of Mac in a declining PC market and more.

The latest numbers from research firm IDC show that Samsung and Apple continue to lead the worldwide smartphone market, but Chinese handset maker Huawei is placing increasing pressure on the industry giants after experiencing strong 60.9% growth compared to the year-ago quarter.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker reveals that Samsung continues to be the top smartphone vendor with 23.8% market share, shipping an estimated 84.5 million smartphones in the third quarter of the calendar year, compared to 23.9% market share and 79.6 million smartphones shipped in the year-ago quarter.

Apple trailed in second with 13.5% market share after shipping 48 million smartphones in the calendar third quarter, compared to 11.8% market share and 39.3 million smartphones shipped in the year-ago quarter -- a 22.2% year-over-year increase, which cut away at Samsung's market lead.

Apple's growth can be attributed to strong iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus sales, which Apple says has led to the highest rate of Android switchers it has ever measured. The new smartphones set a record with 13 million sales over their September launch weekend. Apple released its complete FY Q4 financial results yesterday.

Huawei also closed the gap on Samsung and Apple due to strong growth in China and Europe. The Shenzhen-based company was the third-largest smartphone vendor, a position that previously belonged to Chinese rival Xiaomi, with 7.5% market share and 26.5 million smartphones shipped in the third quarter.

Lenovo and Xiaomi rounded off the top five largest smartphone vendors with nearly equal 5.3% and 5.2% market share respectively. Lenovo shipped an estimated 18.8 million smartphones, while Xiaomi shipped an estimated 18.3 million smartphones. All other vendors combined to ship an estimated 159.1 million smartphones.

Overall smartphone shipments totaled 355.2 million worldwide in the third quarter, up 6.8% from the 332.6 million units shipped in the year-ago quarter, marking the second highest level of smartphone shipments for a single quarter ever. The growth was driven by new flagship devices such as the iPhone 6s, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5.

Best Buy is now accepting Apple TV 4 pre-orders on its U.S. website for in-store pickup or delivery beginning Wednesday, November 4. The electronics retailer is carrying the new Apple TV in 32GB and 64GB models for $149.99 and $199.99 respectively alongside an optional two-year AppleCare Protection Plan for $29.

Apple has not confirmed when the new Apple TV will be available at Apple Stores in the U.S. and other launch countries, but next week is a possibility based on Apple's own shipping estimates and Best Buy's in-store release date. Personal Pickup for the new Apple TV is currently unavailable through the Apple Online Store.

Apple began taking online orders for the new Apple TV a few days ago, and the first set-top boxes will begin shipping to customers later this week. The earliest deliveries should arrive on October 30 for those who opted for one-day shipping, while standard shipping delivery estimates range between November 2-6.

Apple TV 4 orders have shifted to "Preparing for Shipment" status for many customers.

Best Buy is a convenient option for prospective Apple TV 4 buyers that prefer in-store pickup and do not have an Apple Store within close proximity. The electronics retailer has around 1,050 stores in the U.S., in addition to nearly 200 locations in Canada. The chain also operates in Mexico.

The U.S. Senate today passed the controversial Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, also known as CISA, in a 74 to 21 vote. A similar bill has already passed in the House, and the two cybersecurity bills will likely be combined before heading to the White House for a final decision from President Obama. The vote comes a week after Apple spoke out against the bill.

CISA is designed to allow companies to share information on cybersecurity threats with one another and the government. However, as noted by Wired, privacy advocates have asked Congress to kill the bill, saying that it hides "new government surveillance mechanisms in the guise of security protections."

Apple spoke out against the bill last week after other technology companies, like Twitter, Yelp, Wikipedia, reddit also opposed the bill. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, which represents Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft had urged the Senate to make improvements to the bill, saying that they do not support the bill as it's currently written.

The Cupertino company once again reiterated its commitment to user privacy in its opposition to the legislation, saying that it doesn't support CISA and that the trust of its customers "means everything to us and we don't believe security should come at the expense of privacy." Apple has taken a strong privacy stance in recent years, continually noting that the government doesn't have access to its servers. In iOS 8, Apple ended its storage of encryption keys for iOS devices, making it impossible for the company to unlock iPads an iPhones under police request.

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.

Apple today shared yet another new ad for the iPhone 6s, this time focusing on the Siri personal assistant and the wireless "Hey Siri" feature built into the new device. The humorous ad stars Bill Hader, who also played a part in the funny "Backstage" video that Apple debuted during the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

The iPhone 6s is here, and the only thing that's changed with Siri is everything. Because now you just say "Hey Siri" and Siri's there, hands-free. Which can come in handy.

The "Prince Oseph" ad is the fifth iPhone 6s advertisement that Apple has released this week, with each ad focusing on different aspects of the iPhone 6s, like 3D Touch, Live Photos, and the improved photo taking capabilities of the devices. Other ads have starred well-known personalities like Jamie Foxx and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.

During today's fourth quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company saw its highest rate of Android "switchers" Apple had ever measured in 4Q 2015.

According to Cook, 30 percent of customers who purchased an iPhone were upgrading from an Android-based smartphone, the largest number of switchers it had seen in the three years since it started measuring switching rates. "It's a huge number and we're very proud of it," said Cook.

Based on the growing number of Android users switching to an iPhone along with the number of people who have not yet upgraded, the company believes iPhone sales during the first quarter of fiscal 2016 will be strong.

Only one third of Apple customers have upgraded to an iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, or 6s Plus, leaving two thirds of the company's customer base using older iPhones and ripe for a new iPhone.

For the past several quarters, Tim Cook has commented on the growing rate of Android switchers, noting earlier this year that the debut of the larger-screened iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which better compete with larger-screened Android phones, had spurred high numbers of Android switchers.

Over the course of the past year, Apple has pursued Android users aggressively. The company introduced a dedicated website for Android switchers in the fall of 2014, and with the launch of iOS 9 in September, it also introduced a new "Move to iOS" app to make it easier for Android customers to switch to an iPhone.

Apple has also introduced a trade-in program designed to lure Android users, allowing customers to exchange their Android devices for Apple gift cards that can be put towards the purchase of an iOS device.

Overall, Apple reported quarterly revenue of $51.5 billion and net profit of $11.1 billion, or $1.96 per diluted share. The company sold a total of 48.04 million iPhones, 9.88 million iPads, and 5.71 million Macs.

Update: Cook's comments actually included the qualifier that the 30-percent figure was out of those who were upgrading from another smartphone, whether it be an iPhone, and Android phone, or another platform. Since the base number does not include those customers who were new to smartphones, the share of total iPhone buyers who switched from Android would be somewhat less than 30 percent.

During today's earnings call for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a partnership with American Express that will bring the Apple Pay to customers in "key global markets."

Under the partnership, Apple Pay will be available to eligible American Express customers in Canada and Australia later this year, and access will expand to Spain, Singapore, and Hong Kong beginning in 2016.

Since its launch in the United States in 2014, the international rollout of Apple Pay has been slow. Customers in the United Kingdom gained access to Apple Pay in July, but aside from the U.S. and the UK, Apple Pay has not yet expanded to additional countries.

It is not clear when other banks and credit card companies in Australia, Canada, and other above listed countries will begin accepting Apple Pay, making the initial Apple Pay rollout in those countries somewhat limited.

Apple today announced financial results for the third calendar quarter and fourth fiscal quarter of 2015, setting a number of company records. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $51.5 billion and net quarterly profit of $11.1 billion, or $1.96 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $42.1 billion and net quarterly profit of $8.5 billion, or $1.42 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter.

Gross margin for the quarter was 39.9 percent compared to 38 percent in the year-ago quarter, with international sales accounting for 62 percent of revenue. Apple also declared an upcoming dividend payment of $0.52 per share, payable on November 12 to shareholders of record as of November 9. The company currently holds $205.6 billion in cash and marketable securities.

For the quarter, Apple sold 48 million iPhones, up from 39.2 million in the year-ago quarter. iPad sales were down to 9.9 million from 12.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2014, and Mac sales rose to 5.7 million from 5.5 million.

For the full fiscal year, Apple generated $233.7 billion in sales, a new record for the firm, with $53.4 billion in net income.

“Fiscal 2015 was Apple’s most successful year ever, with revenue growing 28% to nearly $234 billion. This continued success is the result of our commitment to making the best, most innovative products on earth, and it’s a testament to the tremendous execution by our teams,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are heading into the holidays with our strongest product lineup yet, including iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, Apple Watch with an expanded lineup of cases and bands, the new iPad Pro and the all-new Apple TV which begins shipping this week.”

Apple's guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 includes expected revenue of $75.5-77.5 billion and gross margin between 39 and 40 percent.

Apple will provide live streaming of its fiscal Q4 2015 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.

Conference Call and Q&A Highlights are available in reverse chronological order after the jump.

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.2 El Capitan update to developers, just under one week after releasing the first OS X El Capitan update, OS X 10.11.1.

The new beta can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center and through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

It is not known what improvements the second update to OS X El Capitan will bring, but it’s likely to focus on bug fixes, security enhancements, and performance improvements to address issues that have been discovered since the release of OS X 10.11.1. According to Apple's release notes, focus areas for the beta include Graphics, Mail, Wi-Fi, Calendar, USB, Notes, Photos, and Spotlight.

Extending its partnership with Apple, IBM is now planning to provide its employees with free or discounted Apple Watch models as part of a "Commit to Health" initiative that will see the Apple Watch distributed to employees under their health insurance plans.

Based on the health plan an IBM employee chooses, they can either get a subsidy that covers the full cost of an Apple Watch or the option to purchase an Apple Watch at a reduced price. IBM is likely hoping its employees will take advantage of the Apple Watch's fitness tracking capabilities, racking up steps and meeting exercise goals to stay healthy.

IBM had a similar program that saw employees provided with Fitbit activity trackers, but it is not clear if the Apple Watch is supplementing this program or replacing it. With the Fitbit program, exercising and taking steps let employees accumulate points that were able to be redeemed for merchandise or charitable donations.

Several health insurance companies and businesses have teamed up to adopt similar programs in an effort to cut down on healthcare costs, incentivizing exercise and activity with lower premiums and other rewards. Fitbit, for example, works with a large number of companies to incorporate activity tracking into corporate wellness programs.

Most of these programs existed before the Apple Watch launched, but the Apple Watch itself has proven to be a highly useful tool that motivates wearers to exercise, and it's possible additional companies could follow in IBM's footsteps in the future.

The Apple Watch encourages users to stand up once per hour, exercise, and burn calories to achieve goals. Many early Apple Watch adopters have said the device has motivated them to make better lifestyle choices, increasing their daily activity. Jim Dalrymple of The Loop, for example, credits HealthKit and the Apple Watch for his weight loss of 40 pounds.

(Thanks, Eric!)

Update: MacRumors has been informed that IBM will continue working with Fitbit for its corporate wellness program. The Apple Watch will not replace the Fitbit in the program and will instead be offered alongside it.