MacRumors

Longtime Apple rival and supplier Samsung will be responsible for manufacturing the A9 chips for Apple's next-generation iPhone and iPad, Re/code confirmed today. Over the past several months, there's been a lot of confusion over whether Samsung or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) would produce Apple's A9 chips, but recent rumors suggest that Samsung's technological advances have put it ahead of TSMC.

Apple signed a chip production deal with TSMC back in 2013 with the hopes of diversifying its supply chain sources and reducing its reliance on Samsung because of ongoing legal battles, but it has been unable to break away from Samsung for its A-series processors. Both TSMC and Samsung produced 20-nanometer A8 and A8X processors for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in 2014, though TSMC handled the bulk of the orders.

At a time when Samsung's mobile division is seeing profit loss due to flagging sales, the company's semiconductor business has helped to balance out some of the losses with continued growth. During the last quarter, Samsung's chip division earned 2.7 trillion won, making supplier relationships like the one that it has with Apple highly important to the company.

Samsung is reportedly already manufacturing A9 chips for Apple, built on its 14-nanometer chip process that has outpaced TSMC's production capabilities. As detailed by Re/code, the 14-nanometer process will result in smaller chips that use less power.

That's because Samsung holds a technological edge over TSMC when it comes to the latest manufacturing process. Samsung has managed to shrink the size of the transistors on its chips to 14 nanometers -- effectively packing more processing power into a smaller space and consuming less power. TSMC is still at 20 nanometers.

Samsung has not confirmed that it is producing chips for Apple, but Samsung semiconductor president Dr. Kinam Kim said in October that Samsung is expecting chip profits to grow over the coming year thanks to demand for its 14-nanometer chips.

Little is known about Apple's next-generation iPhone, but based on past releases and upgrade cycles, the new smartphones will use A9 chips and may feature updates to the camera. Rumors have also suggested that Apple may be planning to incorporate an A9 chip into its "iPad Pro," which may debut in the second or third quarter of 2015, and the A9 in some form will undoubtedly also make an appearance in 2015 iPad Air/mini upgrades.

Apple may be planning to hold a special event during the month of February, according to French Apple-focused website iGen [Google Translate] (via iDownloadBlog). The site's sources, which are often reliable, suggest that the event might take place during the last week of February, potentially on Tuesday, February 24.

The event may see Apple once again showcasing the Apple Watch, which is set to debut in April, and it may also see the launch of the 12-inch MacBook Air. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently predicted that the upcoming notebook will debut in March, which is in line with a late-February unveiling.

Apple's 12-inch MacBook Air is rumored to feature a new ultrathin design that does away with fans and introduces a revamped trackpad. It may include a low-power Core-M processor and it may be the first device to take advantage of the new reversible USB Type-C connector, which is much smaller and allows a USB cable to be inserted into a notebook in any orientation.

Apple may also use the event to unveil additional details on the Apple Watch, such as pricing and battery life. An event showing off the Apple Watch could explain why Apple has been asking some developers to have their apps ready to launch in the App Store in mid-February, as we reported last week. It's possible that Apple will use apps from these developers to demonstrate additional capabilities of the watch.

Though rumored, a February event is by no means confirmed at this point, and it is unclear what else Apple might cover in addition to the Apple Watch and the 12-inch MacBook Air.

Update 12:23 PM: Sources speaking to 9to5Mac have indicated Apple will not be holding a late February media event.

Apple is working on a new Beats-based paid music streaming service that will be deeply integrated into iTunes on Mac and the stock Music app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, according to 9to5Mac. The report claims that the Apple-designed streaming service will also be available for Android and through a new Apple TV app in the works.

"Based heavily upon cloud streaming, Apple’s new service is centered around the user’s music library. A new search feature will be able to locate any song in the iTunes/Beats catalog, and users will be able to stream music from the catalog as well as add songs to their personal libraries. Users will be able to select specific tracks to store on their iOS devices and/or computers, or keep all songs solely in the cloud. Apple will also deeply integrate Beats Music’s Playlists, Activities, and Mixes features into the new service, letting users access a vast array of pre-made, human-curated playlists to fit various activities."

The report adds that Beats Music users will be able to merge their existing account with an iTunes/Apple ID account for seamless transition to the new service. The app's design will shift away from the traditional red and black branding of Beats and feature a user interface that resembles the look and feel of iTunes and the stock Music app on iOS. New social features will also be included for sharing music and playlists with friends.

Apple's new subscription-based service is expected to cost $7.99 per month, cheaper than the $9.99 per month charged by Beats Music and competing services such as Spotify, Rdio and Google Play Music. While the new Beats service will inevitably have some overlap with iTunes Radio, iTunes Match and the iTunes Store, the report claims that Apple will retain all three offerings.

While Beats Music is available for Android, this new service will mark the first time that Apple develops an Android app in house. Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously expressed that he does not have an issue developing an app for Android if the circumstances make sense, but this will be the first time the company actually delivers on that idea. Unlike Beats Music, however, no Windows Phone app will be offered.

Due to some personnel changes and other difficulties in the collaboration between Apple and Beats, which the iPhone maker acquired last year for $3 billion, the timeline for this new streaming service project remains in jeopardy. The report claims that while Apple originally planned to launch the service in March, sources claim that the company is now more likely to launch the service at WWDC in June.

Apple on Monday posted a listing to its Jobs at Apple page describing an Engineering Project Manager position for "Apple Search," sparking speculation the company could be working on a full-fledged search engine for use on OS X and iOS platforms.

As first highlighted by Cult of Mac, the most recent position would be based in San Francisco and asks for applicants who are "technical, driven and creative," with the ability to "manage back end operations projects for a search platform supporting hundreds of millions of users." Though Apple's website lists the job as posted February 2, 2015, entries on other job sites indicate it was originally posted on November 19, 2014.

Though the wording appears to hint at a new service, in all likelihood the job's parameters are covering Apple's already-existing search platform, largely embodied in Spotlight. Another job, posted in mid-January, supports the Spotlight probability thanks to frequent mentions of the updated Spotlight Suggestions service.

While gaining attention thanks to the use of the term "Apple Search," the new listings are less likely to be aimed at an entirely new Apple-based search engine and more likely cover ongoing efforts to improve Spotlight. Job listings have in the past hinted at the company's work on upcoming projects, but most of the time - as with patents - they are more of an intriguing tease into what may or may not be going on behind the scenes.

Apple is facing some search engine decisions this year, however, with Google's search engine contract with Apple reportedly set to expire in 2015. That is most likely to be resolved, however, by an extension of the contract for an additional term or perhaps a shift to another provider such as Yahoo or Microsoft, both of which are reportedly lobbying for the lucrative deal.

For the first time since 2012, sales of Apple's iPhone overtook sales of Android devices by a slight margin during the October to December 2014 period in the United States, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel (via TechCrunch). Apple's iPhone took a 47.7% sales share of the U.S. smartphone market while Android accounted for 47.6%, with Windows Phone accounting for 3.8% of sales.

In the US, Apple iOS overtook Android for the first time since this time in 2012, albeit by the slimmest 0.1% margin," reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “While the success of the iPhone 6 and 6Plus is unprecedented, this quarter’s performance also points to Apple having its strongest portfolio ever. With a range of devices available at different price points in both contract and pre-pay Apple was able to take advantage of a weaker Android offering at the premium end of the market.

Kantar also notes that the iPhone 6 was the best selling smartphone in the United States, and that the iPhone's market share rose 6.2% in Europe during the holiday quarter. By comparison, Android's share declined 3.8% overall in Europe, as Italy was the only country to experience market share growth. In China, Apple grew 2.2% to claim a 21.5% market share, with the growth attributed to the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

During the company's earnings call last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus brought more Android switchers and new customers than prior models. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sold a record 74.5 million units during the holiday quarter, with a 46% growth when compared to last year and Apple's launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.

There have been multiple sightings of a mysterious van with a strange apparatus on its roof in Concord, CA and, according to CBS affiliate KPIX 5, the car is leased to Apple. Bay Area blog Claycord posted photos of the Dodge Caravan earlier today.

One possible use for the car could be for a mapping project, as the cameras on top of the vehicle are similar to other mapping cars. The Cupertino company has been planning on significantly improving its Maps application though, with plans for transit directions, improved points-of-interest data, indoor mapping and more. It would be likely that Apple would be prepping a feature similar to Google Street View or Bing StreetSide.

Claycord, however, noted that the Apple car looked similar to a self-driving Dodge Caravan spotted in New York in September 2014. Technology analyst Rob Enderle, who spoke to KPIX, also agreed that it's a self-driving car rather than a mapping car.

“Too many cameras,” said Enderle. “It has cameras that are angled down at all four corners of the vehicle.”

As noted by AppleInsider, Google's Street View cars do use a total of 15 5-megapixel cameras to stitch together its images. Apple's leased minivan appears to have similar technology, with 12 cameras that could potentially be used to stitch together images for a Street View-like picture.

Apple is not one of the six companies who have a permit for testing driverless cars, but Enderle says it wouldn't matter, noting that Apple could have a partnership with a manufacturer that allows them to lease and test a driverless car without a partner.

An Apple spokesperson told KPIX that the company had no comment.

After widespread complaints over the past five months, the so-called "GMT bug" affecting iOS 8 calendar users appears to have been at least partially fixed. Without installing a software update, several users on the Apple Support Communities, Google Calendar Help Forum, Twitter and MacRumors forums are reporting that calendar events are now syncing in the proper time zone on iOS 8.1.3 and earlier versions. Given that users were not required to take action, it is speculated that Google may have quietly fixed the issue on their backend.

A significant number of users have been voicing their complaints about the GMT bug since iOS 8 was released in September. In short, the bug causes calendar items to be synced in the GMT time zone regardless of location. One particular topic posted within the Apple Support Communities about the issue has received over 300,000 views and close to 800 replies, although Apple has yet to officially address the bug in iOS 8.1.3 or previous software updates. For that reason, some calendar users syncing with Microsoft Exchange or other services may still experience syncing issues until a wider fix becomes available.

Apple appears to be aware of the GMT calendar bug after listing it in iOS 8.2 beta 5's release notes and, as corroborated by multiple reports, should include a proper fix for the issue in the public release of iOS 8.2. Many users are upset that a fix has taken this long, considering that multiple software updates have been released since the bug was uncovered, but the good news is that the bug finally appears to be nearly resolved.

Follow along in our GMT bug thread on the forums for the latest information.

For several months leading up to the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, it was heavily speculated that the smartphones would be equipped with sapphire crystal displays. Those rumors failed to materialize, however, as Apple opted to continue using ion-strengthened Gorilla Glass for its displays. Just weeks later, Apple sapphire partner GT Advanced filed for bankruptcy in what turned out to be a dramatic fallout between the two companies over strict contract terms and sapphire production issues.

While GT Advanced experienced difficulties with both the quality and quantity of sapphire, it is possible that Gorilla Glass was the better choice for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus after all. TIME reported in September that sapphire, in its current form, has several properties that are less ideal than glass, including being thicker and heavier, more expensive, unable to transmit as much light and less durable after exposure to normal wear and tear. Sapphire also has up to double the screen reflectance of glass, especially under bright light, which could make it difficult to read the screen.

The reflective issue in particular could soon be a thing of the past, however, as DisplayMate confirmed to MacRumors that it has lab tested new sapphire technology that it believes will be a major breakthrough for smartphone displays. The display calibration and evaluation company found the production-ready enhanced sapphire to be at an advantage over both regular sapphire and glass based on the results of its testing, and predicted that "rapidly falling production costs" could make the material go mainstream in the near future.

"We have just lab tested an important new sapphire technology that significantly lowers the screen reflectance of sapphire to much lower than glass, turning its former major disadvantage into a major new advantage," said Dr. Raymond Soneira, DisplayMate President. "A technical note, this isn't an Anti-Reflection AR coating, which would scratch off easily and defeat sapphire's tremendous scratch resistance - so the enhanced sapphire is now number one in scratch resistance, low reflectance and performance in high ambient light. In addition, displays using it could run with lower screen brightness and result in increased running time on battery."

While Apple's recent partnership with GT Advanced made it clear that the iPhone maker is certainly interested in sapphire, it remains unknown if and when the company will ever use the material for the iPhone or other products. A number of smaller smartphone makers such as Huawei, Kyocera and Vertu have already turned to sapphire crystal displays, and these new technologies lay the foundation for Apple and other handset makers to follow suit.

Apple’s newest operating system, iOS 8, is installed on 72 percent of iOS devices almost five months after it first launched in September of 2014, according to new numbers Apple shared on its App Store support page for developers.

Installation numbers are up 9 percent since mid-December and have jumped 3 percent since January 20, following the launch of iOS 8.1.3 at the end of the month. As iOS 8 adoption grows, the number of users running iOS 7 has dropped to 25 percent. 3 percent of users continue to use an earlier operating system.

iOS 8 adoption has been somewhat slower than iOS 7 adoption, as iOS 7 was running on 80 percent of devices in January of 2014, compared to iOS 8’s 69 percent adoption rate at that same time. Possible explanations for the slower adoption rate include the large amount of storage space required to update to iOS 8 and the major bugs the operating system has experienced. Excitement over iOS 7’s complete visual redesign may have also driven a larger number of upgrades.

Apple has resolved many of the initial bugs that were found in iOS 8 with several operating system updates, including iOS 8.1, iOS 8.1.1, iOS 8.1.2, and iOS 8.1.3, which has led to an uptick in adoption, and the company has also made an effort to inform customers that it’s possible to install iOS 8 via iTunes to alleviate storage space issues.

Though adoption of iOS 8 has been slower than iOS 7 adoption rates, Apple is still way ahead of Android. The latest version of Android (5.0, aka Lollipop), released in November, is currently only installed on 1.6 percent of Android devices. The vast majority of Android users are still running KitKat, which was released in October 2013, or even Jelly Bean, which first debuted in June 2012.

Android updates often take a long time to propagate to customers because of the large number of different Android-based devices on the market. Android updates must go through carriers and cell phone manufacturers, who like to build their own apps and interfaces into the operating system.

Apple's next major iOS update, iOS 8.2, includes the WatchKit API and support for the Apple Watch, so it's been widely assumed that the software will launch alongside the device. According to sources that spoke to BGR, iOS 8.2 may not be released at the same time as the Apple Watch after all, coming instead in March.

An unspecified March release date means the software could come just a week or so ahead of the Apple Watch, or over a month, depending on the specific launch date of the Apple Watch. Tim Cook recently confirmed the Apple Watch will be released in April, but he did not narrow down the month-long timeframe. It is not clear why Apple might choose to launch the update ahead of the Apple Watch, as it is heavily focused on the device aside from some bug fixes and other minor improvements to the iOS 8 software.

As we reported last week, Apple has been asking some high-profile developers to have their Apple Watch apps ready by mid-February, a request that could be related to a potential March software launch and accompanying event.

BGR has been fairly accurate with its iOS release date predictions. The site correctly determined several iOS 7 beta release dates, most notably targeting March of 2014 for the launch of iOS 7.1, which turned out to be accurate. The site has, however, been wrong on some occassions, like when it inaccurately predicted the launch of iOS 7 beta 6 and beta 7.

Apple has seeded five iOS 8.2 betas to developers thus far, and the most recent beta was released just yesterday. We've already been seeing hints of what the Apple Watch will be capable of thanks to developer efforts thus far, and Apple Watch sightings have been picking up as employees in Cupertino test the device ahead of its launch.

Update 2:10 PM PT: 9to5Mac is also reporting that iOS 8.2 will be released in March, possibly during the second week of the month.

With filming on the upcoming Steve Jobs film underway in the company's hometown of Cupertino, California, thousands of people responded to a casting call over the weekend, hoping to be included as extras in scenes being filmed at the Flint Center where Jobs unveiled the original Macintosh in 1984.

As reported by CNET's Shara Tibken, well over 2,000 people showed up in 80s-inspired attire to be extras for a scene in the upcoming movie, but hundreds including Tibken herself were turned away due to the overwhelming fan response to the casting call.

I thought I'd have no trouble getting onto the movie set at the Flint Center here since I was "confirmed" as an extra and arrived at the designated time. Silly me. After years of covering the lines at Apple events and product launches, I should have known better.

Potential extras began lining up at 5 AM despite instructions to arrive between 9 and 10 AM, with one member of the casting company calling the response "absolutely overwhelming."

According to the notice to be an extra, I was to take part in a scene from 1984 (which was evidently to be the Mac launch). It recommended that men have "big long sideburns" and that women should wear blouses that are "boxy in cut with larger shoulders." Everyone was supposed to wear layers. [...]

There were plenty of Cosby sweaters and plaid, flannel button-ups. And many women sported side ponytails and leg warmers, which didn't seem quite appropriate for Apple shareholders (Jobs introduced the Mac during a stockholder meeting in 1984).

According to one of the line minders, the film will be shooting in the Bay Area for another six to seven weeks, giving aspiring extras additional opportunities to try for a spot in the film, which is planned for release next year.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler plans to submit a proposal that would allow the agency to regulate Internet service much like a public utility, reports The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The move would let the FCC introduce strong rules that could prevent Internet providers from creating "fast lanes" letting certain sites pay for faster speeds.

It is expected that the proposal will reclassify high-speed Internet service as a telecommunications service, instead of an information service, under Title II of the Communications Act, according to industry analysts, lobbyists and former F.C.C. staff members.

Net neutrality, which is the principle that all data on the Internet should be treated equally, has been a major topic of discussion in recent months as the FCC in 2014 approved commercially reasonable "Open Internet" net neutrality rules that could potentially allow companies to pay for better service.

In November, President Obama urged the FCC to instead implement strong rules to protect net neutrality, following a four tenet path that would prevent ISPs from blocking or throttling Internet sites. Obama's proposal also called for the prevention of paid prioritization, keeping companies from shelling out money for faster speeds, and it suggested greater transparency between ISPs and their customers.

More than any other invention of our time, the Internet has unlocked possibilities we could just barely imagine a generation ago. And here's a big reason we've seen such incredible growth and innovation: Most Internet providers have treated Internet traffic equally. That's a principle known as "net neutrality" -- and it says that an entrepreneur's fledgling company should have the same chance to succeed as established corporations, and that access to a high school student's blog shouldn't be unfairly slowed down to make way for advertisers with more money.

Obama's call for stronger net neutrality rules caused FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to reverse course from his original plan that did allow for paid prioritization, and he is said to be aiming to submit the new proposal to FCC commissioners on Thursday. Wheeler may, however, aim for a "light-touch approach" to the plan, avoiding meddling in pricing decisions. A vote on the proposal is expected on February 26.

Apple has been working on developing its own content delivery network and has been pursuing deals with various ISPs to ensure the efficient delivery of content to customers, but it's possible these types of deals will no longer be allowed if the FCC's newest proposal is implemented.

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