MacRumors

As it always does with Apple's major new iOS devices, research firm IHS iSuppli has torn down the new iPad Air 2 in an attempt to estimate Apple's component costs for the device (via Re/code). According to IHS iSuppli's estimates, the 16 GB iPad Air 2 costs Apple roughly $275 to build, just one dollar more than last year's iPad Air.

The report unsurprisingly points out that Apple benefits from stronger profit margins as users move to higher capacity models, with Apple paying only about $50 more for 128 GB of storage compared to the base 16 GB configuration while charging users $200 for the upgrade. Still, Apple's move to eliminate the 32 GB option and slide the 64 GB and 128 GB models down $100 has slightly eroded Apple's profit margins at the top end.

The latest report from the research firm IHS, due later today and shared exclusively with Re/code, shows that the base model of the iPad Air 2, the 16-GB Wi-Fi version, which sells for a price of $499, costs $275 to build, exactly one dollar higher than the previous base model. The top-end model, the 128-GB LTE version costs which sells for $829 costs $358.

Apple’s implied profit margin on the iPad Air 2 has dropped slightly to a range for 45 percent to 57 percent depending on the device, compared with the original at 45 percent to 61 percent.

Many of the components have remained the same between the iPad Air and the iPad Air 2, with Apple's use of essentially the same display unit allowing the company to reduce costs of that component from $90 to $77. But with Apple's move to bond the display to the device's cover glass and the addition of a new antireflective coating, the same display offers a significantly better user experience.

Other changes include the move to a powerful new A8X chip currently unique to the iPad Air 2, and improved cameras that have resulted in slightly higher component costs.

As always, it is important to note the estimates from IHS iSuppli cover only the cost of the individual components that make up the device and do not include other costs involved in product development, manufacturing, and sales, such as research and development, software, patent licenses, marketing, and distribution expenditures. All of these costs contribute to significantly reduce Apple's true profit margin from the levels cited by IHS, but the basic component cost remains an interesting glimpse at how Apple brings everything together to consistently hit its retail pricing goals.

Following yesterday's leak of several screenshots from the next version of Microsoft's Outlook for Mac, Chinese site cnBeta now shares much more information [Google Translate] about the upcoming version of Microsoft's productivity suite for Mac.

The report shares several presentation slides outlining some of the features of the next Office for Mac, as well as a timeline showing a planned release sometime in the first half of 2015. Microsoft team members had previously suggested the suite would launch this year.

The slides point to four key focus areas for Microsoft during the development cycle of the next Office for Mac, including a modernized look with full Retina support to match the OS X aesthetic while still aligning the experience with Office for Windows, improved connectivity with cloud services including Office 365 and SkyDrive (OneDrive), significant improvements to Outlook, and the addition of OneNote, which appeared as a standalone release earlier this year.

Taking a quick look at some of the changes to the core Office apps, the slides address the addition of the Quick Access Toolbar from the Windows version throughout the upcoming Mac suite, improved organization of tools and formatting, new support for Excel 2013 functions, Threaded Comments and improved Presenter View for PowerPoint, and enhanced Reply Comments and "Expand and Collapse" paragraph view toggles in Word.

Microsoft Office for Mac has not seen a major update since late 2010, when Office for Mac 2011 was released as a comparable version of Office 2010 for Windows. But while Windows saw the release of Office 2013 early last year, no corresponding version of Office for Mac has yet been released. The next version of Office for Windows is similarly expected in the spring of next year.

Apple today filed its 2014 10-K annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, offering a look at how the company has grown over the past year. Among the interesting details included in the report:

- The iTunes Store generated a total of $10.2 billion in net sales during 2014, up from $9.3 billion in 2013. Apple credits the growth to an increase in revenue from app sales, but acknowledged that digital music sales were in decline and partially offset the growth.

- Apple noted that it now has 92,600 full-time equivalent employees, up from 80,300 at the end of fiscal 2013. The majority of that growth was outside of the company's retail division, which grew by 3,400 to 46,200 full-time equivalent employees.

- Apple's store count increased by 21 during fiscal 2014, with average revenue per store increasing slightly to $50.6 million from $50.2 million in 2013. As noted during its earnings conference call last week, Apple expects to open 25 new retail stores in fiscal 2015 with most of those stores being outside of the United States. Apple is also planning to remodel five of its existing stores.

- Apple spent a total of $6.0 billion on research and development in fiscal 2014, up significantly from the $4.5 billion spent last year. That amount contributed towards the company's efforts to "develop new technologies to enhance existing products and to expand the range of its product offerings." As noted by the Financial Times, Apple's $6.0 billion investment is the highest level relative to revenues since 2007, which is the year that the iPhone was released.

- Real estate holdings increased slightly, with Apple now owning or leasing 19.7 million square feet of building space, up from 19.1 million square feet at the end of 2013. Apple says that most of the building space is in the United States, and is expanding its existing office space and customer support call center in Austin, Texas. Work also continues on the company's new campus in Cupertino, which is once again said to contain an estimated 3.6 million square feet of space.

- Apple is expecting its capital expenditures to rise to $13.0 billion in 2015, up from the $11.0 billion spent in 2014. $600 million of that amount will be allocated towards retail store facilities, while $12.4 billion will be used for other expenditures including manufacturing process equipment, data centers, and product tooling.

Apple's annual report, which is mostly targeted at investors and regulators, contains a number of other details about the company's operations. The report also provides an analysis of current product lines and addresses topics like executive compensation, investments, taxes, and more.

During the first 72 hours that Apple Pay was available, Apple saw more than one million credit and debit card activations, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook who took the stage today at the WSJ.D conference in Laguna Beach, California.

Cook himself told the audience that he used Apple Pay himself at Whole Foods after the service launched, commenting on how easy it was. "You're no longer fishing for your credit card," he said. "It's the first mobile payments system that's easy, secure, and private."

According to Cook, the early ramp of Apple Pay "looks fantastic," and though it's only been available for a short time, Apple Pay accounts for more mobile wallets in the U.S, than all other mobile payment options combined.

During the interview, Cook commented on CVS, Rite Aid, and other retailers' decisions to opt out of Apple Pay, saying that "over the long arc of time" retailers will need to do what shoppers want. Ahead of launching Apple Pay, Cook says Apple looked at multiple other payment solutions available on the market and didn't find any of them to be easier than using a wallet.

Retailers, he believes, will ultimately adopt Apple Pay because it's the more secure option, able to prevent fraud incidents like the breaches experienced by Target, Home Depot, Staples, and more, in recent months. Cook reiterated that Apple Pay is secure and that Apple is not collecting data on its customers. "We're not big brother. We'll leave that to others."

Cook also commented on Apple's wider privacy policy, saying "Your data is yours" and reiterating that Apple is not in the business of monitoring its users. Apple does not keep iMessage data or retain search history.

"If law enforcement wants something, they should go to the user to get it," he said. According to Cook, it is up to users, not Apple, to choose whether or not it's okay for the government to access their data. "We're designing a Fort Knox kind of thing."

During the interview, Cook also spoke on the Apple Watch, stating that he expects users to will need to charge it on a daily basis, and he commented on the iPod classic, revealing that the company could no longer source parts for the device. An official rough transcript of Cook's comments during the interview can be found over at The Wall Street Journal.

Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage today at the WSJ.D conference in Laguna Beach, California, where he commented on an array of topics including the Apple Watch, Apple Pay, Apple TV, and more.

Unsurprisingly, Cook said that Apple is "excited" about the upcoming launch of the Apple Watch, and he's impressed that Jony Ive and his team had the foresight to understand that "something you wear has to be personal" and that it can't be "geeky."

Cook divulged some new information on the Apple Watch's battery, which has previously gone unmentioned by Apple. Cook says that people will use it so much that it will need to be charged on a daily basis. "You're going to wind up charging it daily," he said, declining to provide a specific battery life for the device as Apple is still examining how people use it.

Battery life on the Apple Watch has been in question since long before the device launched, with early reports suggesting Apple was having trouble getting the device to last longer than a day. While the company was originally aiming to have the Apple Watch last three to four days, it appears that battery life may be closer to the iPhone's battery life, requiring a charge on a nightly basis. Apple employees have also suggested that the device may only last for a full day of usage, which is why Apple designed an easy charging system.

The Apple Watch connects to a magnetic charger that's much like the MagSafe chargers supplied with the Mac, snapping easily to the back of the device. High-end versions of the Apple Watch even ship in a luxury box that doubles as a charging stand. Apple likely has not commented officially on the Apple Watch battery as it is continuing to finalize the software for the device ahead of its early 2015 launch.

An official rough transcript of Cook's comments during the interview, which also covered the Mac, the iPhone, Apple's taxes in Ireland, plans for a low cost iPhone, and Cook's thoughts on Carl Icahn, can be found over at The Wall Street Journal, and a second comprehensive live blog from Fast Company's Harry McCracken also has details on exactly what Cook shared during the conversation.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere today took the stage at Re/code's Code/Mobile event in Half Moon Bay, California, where he spoke on the new Apple SIM, demand for the iPhone 6 Plus, and the importance of selling the iPhone.

According to Legere, the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was T-Mobile's biggest phone launch the company had ever seen, and Legere called demand for the iPhone 6 Plus "mind blowing." He said that it skewed very differently from what the company anticipated, and while he couldn't comment on the current demand ratio, he said at one point it was around 55/45 rather than the 75/25 or 80/20 projected in favor of the iPhone 6. Legere said that while the backlog is coming down, it will be awhile before the company is able to provide devices to everyone.

While on stage, Legere sorted out much of the confusion surrounding the Apple SIM, which is designed to allow users to easily switch from carrier to carrier with their iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3. According to Legere, when bought from Apple, the SIM card in the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 offers customers complete flexibility, letting them choose Sprint, T-Mobile, or AT&T.

iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 devices that Apple sent to T-Mobile and AT&T for sale include Apple SIMs that are pre-coded to each carrier, which means the SIM cards can't be used interchangeably. Because the iPads purchased directly from Apple are usable with any participating carrier (Verizon has opted out), Legere recommends that users purchase the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 directly from an Apple Store.

Apple SIMs from an iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3 purchased from the Apple Store and then associated with a T-Mobile plan will remain unlocked and usable with other carrier plans, but an Apple SIM activated on an AT&T plan will be permanently locked to the carrier, requiring a new Apple SIM if a user wants to switch plans.

Legere also commented on the importance of the iPhone, stating that "[a] store without the iPhone is sh*t," and attributing much of T-Mobile's recent success to its partnership with Apple. Legere noted one of his tasks upon taking the reins of T-Mobile two years ago was to do whatever it took to land the iPhone, and he accomplished it, noting that he was willing to "get down on his knees" to make a deal happen.

Just ahead of Legere's appearance at Code/Mobile, T-Mobile announced its Q3 2014 earnings, noting that it saw its biggest growth quarter in the company's history. T-Mobile added 2.3 million customers during the quarter (1.4 million postpaid net adds), with revenue up 10.6 percent to $5.7 billion. T-Mobile also announced that it hit its LTE goals for 2014, bringing LTE service to 250 million customers.

Since 2013, T-Mobile has been on a quest to revamp the mobile industry with a series of Un-carrier initiatives that have thus far seen it uncoupling device fees from service charges, encouraging customers to switch to T-Mobile by paying early termination fees, offering a JUMP! upgrade plan, providing unlimited texting and 2G data in 100 countries, letting customers test drive an iPhone at no cost, offering free streaming music, and bringing Wi-Fi calling to all T-Mobile customers with compatible devices.

Amazon today announced the launch of a new Fire TV Stick, designed to compete with Google's Chromecast and Apple's Apple TV. The Fire TV Stick is a media streaming stick much like the Chromecast, designed to allow users to plug it in to the HDMI port of a television to access content like TV shows, movies, games, and more.

The Fire TV Stick offers a dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage, and dual-band/dual-antenna MIMO Wi-Fi. It can be controlled with a remote control, a smartphone, or voice control through an app. According to Amazon, it offers 50 percent more processing power than the Chromecast, along with 2x the memory and 32 times more storage.

"Fire TV Stick is the most powerful streaming media stick available--a dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of storage, dual-band and dual-antenna Wi-Fi, included remote control, voice search with our free mobile app, easy set-up, an open ecosystem, and exclusive features like ASAP for instant streaming," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. "The team has packed an unbelievable amount of power and selection into an incredible price point--Fire TV Stick is just $39."

In addition to allowing users to access Amazon Prime content, the Fire TV Stick also supports third-party apps like Netflix, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, Spotify, Pandora, and more, delivering much of the content that's also available on competing products like the Chromecast, the Apple TV, and products from Roku.

The Fire Stick offers "Fling" technology, letting users switch between viewing content on their televisions and Fire Phone or Fire tablet, and it provides wireless mirroring from both compatible Amazon products and those that support Miracast. It also supports various Amazon technologies like X-Ray for looking up movie, music, or TV show information, and it utilizes Whispersync to sync all of a user's content.

Amazon also has the Fire TV, a set-top media streaming box that's a closer competitor to the Apple TV than the Fire TV stick, but the slimmed down plug in-based media sticks from Amazon and Google are far cheaper than the Apple TV, which still costs $99.

While Google and Amazon have concentrated on offering a slimmer portable media solution to consumers, Apple is said to be working on a revamped set-top box that might include support for third-party apps and games along with deeper integration with cable TV channels. It is unclear when Apple might launch its revised set top box, as development has reportedly been delayed several times over the course of the last two years.

Amazon's Fire TV Stick is priced at $39, but for the next two days, Amazon Prime members will be able to purchase the device at a discounted price of $19.

Last week, news surfaced that popular drugstore Rite Aid was disabling support for NFC and Apple Pay in its retail stores and over the weekend, CVS followed in its footsteps. Apple has now commented on the situation, telling Business Insider that it's working to get as many merchants on board with Apple Pay as it can.

The feedback we are getting from customers and retailers about Apple Pay is overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. We are working to get as many merchants as possible to support this convenient, secure and private payment option for consumers. Many retailers have already seen the benefits and are delighting their customers at over 220,000 locations.

Both CVS and Rite Aid are members of Merchant Customer Exchange or MCX, a team of retailers that are designing their own payments system to compete with Apple Pay.

Headed up by Walmart, which has also publicly stated that it won't be supporting Apple Pay, MCX is composed of several different retail outlets and restaurants, including Best Buy, Lowe's, Old Navy, Southwest, Target, 7 Eleven, Dunkin Donuts, Hobby Lobby, and more.

MCX's payment solution, CurrentC, is currently in testing in Minnesota and takes a decidedly different approach to mobile payments. CurrentC does not use NFC, instead basing payments around the scanning of QR codes with a smartphone camera. CurrentC is highly beneficial to merchants, but appears to be of questionable value to customers given that it requires both a social security number and a driver's license number, along with access to a bank account.

Despite only being available in Minnesota at the time being, MCX's CurrentC app has received hundreds of negative reviews from Apple Pay supporters. Android and iOS users on reddit have also teamed up to call for a boycott on all MCX partners, as disabling NFC support to prevent Apple Pay purchases also disables Android-based payment solutions like Google Wallet.

Though quite a few big name retailers have opted out of Apple Pay, Apple has signed on with several major partners including Macy's, Chevron, Disney, McDonald's, Nike, Petco, Whole Foods, and more. Apple Pay is accepted at the retail stores of any of its partners, and at any store that accepts NFC payments.

Update 6:55 PM PT: Walmart, one of the major retailers behind MCX, has given Business Insider a statement on why it has opted not to accept Apple Pay, stating that it believes merchants are in the "best position" to create a mobile payment service for consumers.

There are certainly a lot of compelling technologies being developed, which is great for the mobile-commerce industry as a whole. Ultimately, what matters is that consumers have a payment option that is widely accepted, secure and developed with their best interests in mind. MCX member merchants already collectively serve a majority of Americans every day. MCX’s members believe merchants are in the best position to provide a mobile solution because of their deep insights into their customers’ shopping and buying experiences.

Earlier this year, rumors suggested that Microsoft was preparing to launch a new version of Office for Mac in 2014, and now images of what is said to be a new version of Outlook have surfaced on Chinese site cnBeta [Google Translate], suggesting Microsoft is drawing closer to releasing updated Mac Office software.

Depicting "Outlook for Mac 16," the images show a new version of Outlook that's been updated with a new OS X Yosemite-style look, adopting translucent menu elements and a flatter overall design. The interface takes on a "simple, modern style," according to cnBeta, which is "more intuitive" and it includes support for Retina displays much like Office 2011 for Mac.

The design is said to be more unified with both the Windows version of Office and the iPad version, making it easier to switch between platforms. The new Office for Mac and Outlook for Mac are said to take advantage of cloud file sharing, allowing users to swap between devices and to collaborate on projects. It's also much simpler to share documents with an entire team and Outlook for Mac will integrate with OS X Yosemite's Notification Center.

Microsoft's last major Office for Mac release came in October of 2010, more than four years ago, and there's been little information about an updated version of the software since then.

A presentation given earlier this year by Thorsten Hübschen, Business Group Lead at Microsoft Germany, suggested that Microsoft would debut a new version of its Office productivity suite for the Mac in 2014, and a Microsoft representative later confirmed that employees were "hard at work" on the next version of Office for Mac.

But with this leaked version of Outlook reportedly carrying the version 16 label and Microsoft only nearing a public preview of Office 16 for Windows ahead of a launch next year, the company's plans are somewhat unclear. Mac versions of Office typically follow their Windows counterparts by only a few months, but it has been two years since the launch of Office 2013 for Windows (version 15) and a corresponding Mac version has yet to appear.

While some merchants are pushing back against Apple's new Apple Pay mobile payment service as they work on their own competing solution, banks are putting their weight behind Apple's solution that seeks to streamline the current experience of using a credit or debit card.

In an effort to encourage users to adopt Apple Pay, Wells Fargo has just launched a program offering credits of up to $20 just for trying out the service. Wells Fargo credit card users can receive one-time $20 credits, while debit and prepaid card users can receive $10 credits simply by using their iPhone 6 or 6 Plus to complete an Apple Pay purchase on their cards through November 30.

Credit card customers will receive $20 credits on their statements within 1-2 billing cycles, while debit and prepaid customers will receive $10 credits on their linked Wells Fargo checking accounts within 45 days.

Banks have been strong supporters of Apple Pay, as the Touch ID authentication offers improved security over traditional credit cards, reducing fraudulent purchases for which banks assume responsibility. Apple does take a small cut of transactions processed using Apple Pay, but that amount appears to be a worthwhile tradeoff for these banks.

(Thanks, Matthew!)

Fitbit today announced three new wearable devices, including the Surge, described as a "fitness super watch," the Charge, an update to the Fitbit Force activity tracker, and the Charge HR, which tracks a user's heart rate.

Positioned as Fitbit's most advanced wearable yet, the Fitbit Surge offers GPS tracking, continuous heart rate monitoring, and the activity tracking that's been standard in Fitbit's early wearables, keeping track of steps, distance traveled, calories burned, floors climbed, sleep quality, and various other fitness-based activities like running and cardio workouts.

Available in Tangerine, Black, and Blue, the Surge has a black and white touchscreen display. Aside from tracking various activities, it also allows users to control their music and it includes customizable watch faces able to display incoming smartphone information like call and text notifications. It is not possible to answer phone calls or texts from the device, but its limited capabilities allow it to offer up to five days of battery life on a single charge.

Compared to Apple's upcoming Apple Watch, the Surge offers many of the same fitness capabilities, but cuts the vivid color display and the deep iPhone integration in favor of extended battery life. The device is also unable to offer many of the cutting edge vibration and pressure technologies built into the Apple Watch, but it is available at a lower price.

Alongside the Surge, Fitbit has also released two simpler wearable devices that are the successors to the Fitbit Force, the wearable activity tracker that Fitbit recalled for skin irritation issues. The Charge and the Charge HR take on the same design as the Fitbit Force, offering the same capabilities like monitoring sleep and tracking steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, stairs climbed, and more.

Both devices are identical, but the more expensive Fitbit Charge HR includes a heart rate monitor that continuously measures heart rate much like the Surge. The standard Fitbit Charge does not include heart rate monitoring capabilities.

Earlier this month, Apple removed Fitbit's line of activity tracking devices from its stores and ceased selling the device. While it is unclear why the company pulled the activity trackers from its stores, the move did follow Fitbit's announcement that it had no plans to integrate with Apple's HealthKit and it comes ahead of the launch of Apple's own wearable device, the Apple Watch.

Though it no longer offers the Fitbit line of activity trackers, Apple continues to sell other fitness tracking devices like the Jawbone UP and the Nike Fuelband. It is unclear if Apple will continue to allow these devices to remain in stores or if it will cease selling all competing activity trackers ahead of the early 2015 launch of the Apple Watch.

Fitbit's standard activity tracker, the Charge, is available for purchase for $129.95. The Charge HR, which includes continuous heart rate tracking, will be available in early 2015 for $149.95, and the Surge, Fitbit's sensor-laden fitness wearable, will also be available in early 2015 for $249.95.

Apple is pushing NFC in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus for Apple Pay, but the company may have bigger plans for the wireless technology beyond mobile payments. A report from The Information claims Apple has been in talks with technology providers about using NFC for building security access and public transit ticketing.

The Apple representatives have talked to technology providers like HID Global and Cubic, which enable secure access to buildings and transit fare systems, respectively, said people briefed on the discussions. Spokespeople for the companies declined to comment about any discussions with Apple, but executives there discussed how they could integrate their systems with the iPhone.

Apple debuted NFC in its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and is using the short-range wireless technology for mobile payments processing.The technology has wide-ranging applications beyond payments, including a replacement for office and hotel security cards, home automation processes and more.

Besides the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple has also included an NFC chip in the new iPad Air 2 and Retina iPad Mini 3 to provide secure element of Apple Pay information for in-app purposes on those devices. Future iterations of the device, could however, add antennas and other components to enable NFC functionality for a variety of purposes.

With recent moves by pharmacy chains CVS and Rite Aid to disable Apple Pay or even NFC payments entirely at their stores, a separate mobile payments initiative backed by these and other major retailers is gaining significant attention. This consortium of merchants, which includes Best Buy, Walmart, Lowe's, and many more, is known as Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) and is developing a mobile payments solution known as CurrentC.

Though it is supported by major retailers attempting to work around the credit card swipe fees charged by banks and card issuers, CurrentC may be hindered by a complicated user interface and security concerns as detailed in a report by TechCrunch.

Unlike Apple Pay, which uses NFC to process payment wirelessly, the CurrentC system uses a dedicated app and relies on QR code scanning to process a consumer's payment. The app stores receipts as well as provide access to loyalty accounts, which can be used to apply discounts at participating retailers.

To use CurrentC, consumers must have an active account that requires them to set up a bank account as a payment source and confirm their identity by providing their driver's license and social security number. This sensitive information is stored in the cloud and not on the phone.

When you sign up for CurrentC, you’re supposed to add your bank account. This lets CurrentC process payments for you without retailers having to pay the steep credit card processing fee. You can also add retailers’ loyalty credit cards or gift cards as payment methods.

Payments are pulled automatically from the bank account linked to the user's account via Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions, a system adopted as a way to help merchants avoid paying the approximately 2-3 percent fee levied by credit card companies. MCX also provides retailers with consumer intelligence information, allowing them to send targeted ads and discount offers to consumers based on their purchase history.

CurrentC notes it may share info with your device maker, app store, or developer tool makers. Oddly, it will collect health data. Precise location information is used to verify you’re at the retailer where you’re making a transaction, and if you opt in it can be used for marketing or advertising. CurrentC notes that you can opt in to be able to capture and store photos in the app for a hypothetical visual shopping list or other features down the road.

In 2012, MCX reportedly ramped up its efforts to entice retailers to join its mobile payments system., asking participating merchants for an upfront fee of up to $500,000 and requiring them to sign three-year exclusivity deals. These deals appear to be the reason Rite Aid and CVS disabled unofficial access to Apple Pay in their stores, although it is unclear why they waited until after the service went live and customers were using it before disabling their systems.

CurrentC is currently in beta testing and on target for a 2015 launch, which positions it behind Apple's already existing Apple Pay system. It is reportedly being pilot tested in Minnesota at select retailers before rolling out nationwide next year. Because the payments do not require NFC or Bluetooth LE, the system will be compatible with a variety of Android and older model iPhones.

Adoption may be slow as retailers must modify their point of sales systems to accept these payments. Consumers may also balk at a system that requires the cloud storage of sensitive information and a cumbersome checkout process that relies on QR codes accessed through a separate app and tied to direct bank withdrawals. To compensate for these detractors, MCX reportedly will push retailer discounts and loyalty purchases to entice consumers to adopt this upcoming mobile payments system.

With the iPad Air 2, one of Apple's main selling points has been the improved display, which includes a new bonded construction that eliminates the air gap between the display and the cover glass, as well as a new antireflective coating to reduce glare in situations with high ambient light.

Ray Soneira of DisplayMate Technologies has now put the new display to the test, finding that the antireflective coating is indeed a significant improvement for the iPad and a major step above competing tablets, but in overall performance competitors are still doing better than the iPad. Apple receives only minimal credit for the bonded display, as it is mainly catching up with competitors on that aspect.

A major innovation for the iPad Air 2 (that is not fully appreciated) is an anti-reflection coating on the cover glass that reduces ambient light reflections by about 3:1 over most other Tablets and Smartphones (including the previous iPads), and about 2:1 over all of the very best competing Tablets and Smartphones (including the new iPhone 6). [...]

However, other than the new anti-reflection coating and bonded cover glass, the display on the iPad Air 2 is essentially unchanged and identical in performance to the iPad 4 introduced in 2012, and is actually slightly lower in performance than the original iPad Air (for example 8% lower Brightness and 16% lower display Power Efficiency) – most likely the result of an obsession with producing a thinner Tablet forcing compromises in the LCD backlight.

With competitors such as Samsung, Amazon, and Microsoft offering better color accuracy, viewing angles, and power efficiency, Soneira finds the improvements in the iPad Air 2 insufficient to move the device to the top of his tablet display rankings, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S retains its number one position.

Moving on to the iPad mini 3, Soneira unsurprisingly finds that the display is unchanged from the one used in the previous generation, unsurprising given that Apple kept the specs of the iPad mini identical with the exception of the Touch ID home button and a gold color option. Soneira notes the unchanged display is a "major disappointment", as the iPad mini 2's display has been rated poorly for color gamut and accuracy.

In 2013 the mini was given a Retina display, but remained with a reduced 62 percent Color Gamut – the only current iPad or iPhone without a full Color Gamut. Now, in 2014 the new iPad mini 3 still only has a 62 percent Color Gamut, plus it was denied the new enhanced anti-reflection coating and bonded cover glass of the iPad Air 2.

Soneira again points to competitors offering higher-quality displays on their tablets, concluding that the iPad mini 3 is "embarrassingly mediocre and way overpriced" considering its $399 starting price tag and significantly poorer display performance compared to both competitors and the iPad Air 2.

Full details on Soneira's testing of the new displays are available in his extensive report.