MacRumors

United States Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler introduced a proposal [PDF] this afternoon that would de-couple cable subscriptions from cable set-top boxes. Under the proposal, cable and satellite subscribers would be able to access and watch cable content on any set-top box of their choosing, including the Apple TV, rather than being limited to the set-top box provided by the cable company.

While allowing customers to access the full content provided with a cable subscription through the Apple TV is not quite the cord-cutting solution Apple has been aiming for, it is a step towards a more open relationship between technology companies and cable companies. Such a system would not give Apple control over content, but it would allow Apple to build an interface for that content.

The new rules would create a framework for providing device manufacturers, software developers and others the information they need to introduce innovative new technologies, while at the same time maintaining strong security, copyright and consumer protections. Nothing in this proposal changes a company's ability to package and price its programming to its subscribers, or requires consumers to purchase new boxes.

As The Verge points out, the FCC faces a tough battle attempting to get this proposal passed and implemented due to resistance from cable companies who want to have control over content and how and where it's displayed.

A similar plan for the CableCard, which allows companies like TIVO to offer cable content, has largely failed because of its complexity and because many cable providers refused to make the process simple enough to be widely adopted. Cable companies are against the proposal because of the loss of control and the loss of the revenue from rented cable set-top boxes, and more than 40 telecommunications groups have already formed a coalition to oppose the FCC's plan.

Cable companies argue it would give technology companies unfair access to customer data and potentially disrupt deals that have been established for channel positioning, giving some programmers better spots in the lineup for higher payments.

Having continually failed to reach deals with content providers and cable companies, Apple has settled on focusing on its tvOS operating system and the App Store available on the fourth-generation Apple TV. The tvOS App Store model allows for cable companies to create apps and deliver cable content to consumers on the Apple TV, but it's a fragmented system that's less than ideal because it still doesn't give Apple full control over the interface. The FCC's proposal has the potential to greatly improve the cable watching experience on the Apple TV, at least for cable subscribers.

Earlier today, reputable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the iPhone 7 Plus will likely have a dual-lens camera system based on technology Apple acquired from LinX Imaging. The new hardware could lead to some significant improvements in camera quality on Apple's next flagship smartphone.

LinX's multi-aperture cameras pack impressive image quality in a smaller size than single aperture cameras, meaning the iPhone 7 Plus may lack a protruding camera lens and be able to take SLR-quality photos — think Canon or Nikon. The camera modules are also capable of very interesting technology called 3D depth mapping and more.

We previously provided an in-depth look at LinX's camera modules after Apple acquired the company, but it is worth recapping some of the major advantages of their technology, given today's iPhone 7 Plus rumor.

Noise Reduction

The images captured by the LinX camera are brighter and clearer, with significantly reduced noise levels, compared to smartphone cameras. Available detail when zoomed into a photo was also much greater, as can be seen in the comparison below. View this PDF for more side-by-side image comparisons.

Improved Indoor Photos

In the photo below, the image was taken in mid-levels of light, at approximately 40 to 50 lux, similar to a decently well-lit room in a house or restaurant. The LinX sensor let in more light than the iPhone 5 or the Samsung Galaxy S4, for a photo that is clearer and sharper with less noise.

Improved Low Light Photos

LinX technology is able to significantly improve low light performance by using multiple channels to increase the sensitivity of the camera for better detail. It also keeps exposure times short to cut down on the motion blurring that can impact photo quality in conditions where lighting is not optimal.

LinX technology doesn't have to compromise between pixel size and resolution, as it can use small pixels but still let in adequate amounts of light.

3D Depth Mapping

LinX's multi-aperture cameras can create detailed depth maps of objects. With depth information on a per-pixel basis along with RGB information, LinX cameras can create 3D point clouds of objects from a single frame or a complete 3D model by combining several frames captured from different angles.

3D depth mapping has a number of useful applications, including 3D scanning of objects, sizing of objects, background removal and replacement and gesture recognition. The depth maps also allow for improved refocusing; by knowing the depth at every pixel, the feature allows for a synthetic blur to be applied that emulates a shallow depth.

Benefits Overview

Read A Look at LinX Camera Technology for more details about the dual camera systems.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.4 beta to public beta testers, just a few days after releasing the second OS X 10.11.4 beta to developers and just over a week after releasing OS X 10.11.3.

The second beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store for those who are enrolled in Apple's beta testing program. Those wishing to join the program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website.

OS X 10.11.4 includes a couple of new features, such as the ability to support password protected notes in the Notes app, but like the recent OS X 10.11.3 update, it appears to focus primarily on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements with few noticeable outward-facing changes.

Apple is likely to release OS X 10.11.4 in the spring, alongside iOS 9.3, watchOS 2.2, and tvOS 9.2.

Apple today released the second beta of an upcoming iOS 9.3 update for public beta testers, just a few days after seeding the second iOS 9.3 beta to developers. iOS 9.3's second public beta comes a week after Apple released iOS 9.2.1, a minor update, to the public.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the second iOS 9.3 update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.

Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and OS X betas.

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iOS 9.3 is a major update to the iOS 9 operating system, introducing a long list of new features and improvements. iOS 9.3's biggest new feature is Night Shift mode, which is designed to automatically cut down on the amount of blue light an iOS user is exposed to at night by shifting to more yellow tones for the iPhone or iPad's display. With iOS 9.3, there's a number of changes for educational users, and the iPhone is now able to pair with multiple Apple Watches.

The update also includes new 3D Touch Quick Actions for stock apps like Weather, Settings, Compass, Health, App Store, and iTunes Store, plus it introduces password protection for individual notes in the Notes app. News in iOS 9.3 includes in-line video playback, landscape mode on the iPhone, and more personalization, while the Health app introduces a new Apple Watch-style "Activity" interface.

Today's second beta includes support for a Night Shift toggle in the Control Center on iOS devices. Night Shift is denoted by a new eye-shaped icon in between the icons for the timer and the calculator on the iPhone. Tapping on the icon brings up options to turn the feature on or disable it until the next day.

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A full list of changes in iOS 9.3 can be found in our "What's New" post. iOS 9.3 will launch to the public this spring.

As noted by AnandTech, Intel this week quietly released an updated processor price list which includes several new Skylake chips that could be used in an updated 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro.

The direct upgrade path for the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro would use the following quad-core chip options: a 2.6 GHz Core i7-6770HQ, a 2.7 GHz Core i7-6870HQ, and a 2.8 GHz Core i7-6970HQ, all coming in at the same price points as the Haswell variants currently used in the MacBook Pro.

Perhaps a more intriguing but less likely scenario involves a series of new mobile Xeon E3 chips. These chips could offer even better CPU, graphics, and memory performance, although pricing becomes an issue with the highest-performing chip in the family.

As for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, Intel announced chips appropriate for those machines back in September, although it suggested the chips would not actually be launching until early 2016. Those chips have been included on Intel's price lists for several months, but have been slow to show up in the wild. A claimed benchmark for a 13-inch MacBook Pro running one of these chips last week appears to have been a fake.

Most of Apple's Mac lineup is in need of updates, as Intel's Skylake delays have hampered Apple's ability to launch refreshed models. But with the Skylake logjam finally starting to break, Apple appears set to update its entire notebook lineup over the next several months. Opportunities for major product introductions could come at Apple's rumored March media event or at WWDC likely scheduled for mid-June, although smaller updates could come at any time via press release.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a research note obtained by MacRumors that predicts two 5.5-inch versions of the "iPhone 7 Plus" are in development, one with a single iSight rear-facing camera and another boasting a dual-camera design.

The rumored iPhone 7 Plus model with a dual-lens camera system would take advantage of imaging algorithms that Apple acquired through its purchase of Israeli camera technology company LinX Imaging last year.

LinX technology offers several improvements the iPhone 7 Plus could benefit from, including multiple sensors for a smaller size, possibly eliminating the need for a protruding camera lens. The lenses would also have better sensitivity to light and greatly improved image quality in low light.

Specifically, Kuo cites the LinX Imaging algorithm for its unique ability to achieve high-end dual-camera applications such as optical zoom simulation while sidestepping the traditional bottlenecks associated with compact camera module (CCM) assembly.

To that end, Kuo expects a 2-3x optical zoom function to feature in Apple's iPhone 7 Plus. However, owing to supply chain constraints on dual-camera modules, the KGI analyst expects the larger handset to come in single-camera and dual-camera versions.

Apple is well known for headlining improvements to the camera technology in its iPhones and showcasing their photography capabilities as a market-leading feature.

Even so, major improvements to camera technology have typically come in "S" release years, therefore it remains to be seen whether Apple chooses to include such improvements in this or the next generation of its flagship devices.

Safari users are today reporting an odd issue causing Apple's web browser app to crash on both Macs and iOS devices. Several Mac users are also not receiving autocomplete suggestions when entering text into Safari's address bar, with many pages including sites like Google failing to load completely. For many iPhone and iPad users, simply tapping on the URL bar causes Safari to crash.

URL searches, autocomplete, Top Sites and other Safari features rely on queries being sent to and returned by Apple's servers, suggesting this is where the problem lies. The issue also seems to depend on what data the browser most recently cached.

The current fix for iOS and Mac involves disabling Safari Suggestions, which stops the app from crashing to the home screen. On your iOS device, go into Settings, tap Safari, and toggle off the "Safari Suggestions" switch. On your Mac, the same setting is found in Safari -> Preferences -> Search.

Alternatively, opening a Private Browsing window also appears to solve the issue.

The problem appears to be affecting users around the world and will likely be resolved when Apple corrects the service on their end.

Update: According to BuzzFeed, Apple has now fixed the issue that was causing the Safari browser to crash on iOS and Macs due to issues with Safari Suggestions.

Both the Apple Watch and the Apple TV set new quarterly sales records in 1Q 2016, according to information shared by Tim Cook during today's earnings call. The Apple Watch saw especially strong sales in December as people purchased the device during the holiday season, something that's perhaps not a surprise given the significant discounts offered by some third-party retailers.

While Apple did not offer discounts itself, Best Buy cut prices on the Apple Watch by $100, and Target offered a $100 gift card with the purchase of an Apple Watch. These price drops likely boosted Apple Watch sales by a good amount during the quarter. Apple also expanded Apple Watch availability to more than 48 countries ahead of the holiday season.

As for the Apple TV, Apple says it saw its best quarter ever following the launch of the fourth-generation device. The Apple TV 4, priced at $149 to $199 depending on capacity, includes features like a full App Store, a touch-based remote control and Siri voice control. Available apps on the Apple TV have expanded, with 3,600 total apps now downloadable on the device.

Apple does not break out sales of the Apple Watch and the Apple TV, choosing instead to lump them into an "Other" category that also includes iPods and Beats headphones, so exact sales numbers for the two devices are not known. Revenue for the Other category did see a big increase, jumping more than 40 percent from $2.7 billion in 1Q2015 to $4.35 billion in 1Q2016. Sales were also up quarter over quarter, as revenue in 4Q2015 was at $3 billion.

Overall, it was a record quarter for Apple with $18.4 billion in profit on $75.9 billion in revenue. During the quarter, the company sold 74.8 million iPhones, 16.1 million iPads, and 5.3 million Macs.

Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed during the company's financial earnings conference call today that iPhone sales will likely decline in the March quarter, marking the first year-over-year decline since the smartphone was released in June 2007. The decline will be realized if Apple sells fewer than 61.2 million iPhones this quarter.

Apple forecasts that its total revenue in Q2 2016 will be between $50 and $53 billion, compared to $58 billion in the year-ago quarter, signaling the company's first year-over-year drop in revenue in thirteen years. Apple has posted over 50 quarters of year-over-year revenue growth since 2003.

Apple is currently facing significant foreign exchange headwinds. A strong U.S. dollar makes it more difficult for Apple, which reports its earnings in U.S. dollars, to perform when some 66% of their business is overseas. Every $100 of Apple’s non-U.S. dollar revenue earned in Q4 2014 translates into only $85 U.S. dollars today.

Financial analysts had already predicted the iPhone would face its first quarterly sales decline in Q2 2016 compared to the year-ago quarter, with some reports claiming the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus may not outsell last year's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, its first devices with larger than 4-inch screens.

iPhone growth in the just-announced first fiscal quarter of 2016 was the slowest since the smartphone's introduction in 2007. Apple sold a record 74.8 million iPhones during the quarter, which includes the busy holiday shopping season, up only 300,000 units from 74.5 million a year earlier.

Nevertheless, Cook said that 60% of customers who have owned an iPhone prior to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have not yet upgraded, meaning there is a large base of potential customers that could upgrade to newer models, including the iPhone 7 expected in September, over the coming year.

Today's announcement has been referred to by some as "peak iPhone," but Cook remains optimistic about annual iPhone sales in 2016. Even if Apple sells a projected 45 to 50 million iPhones next quarter, that would still be more revenue from one product than most companies earn overall in a single quarter.

During today's earnings call for the first fiscal quarter of 2016 (fourth calendar quarter), analyst Gene Munster asked Tim Cook to share his thoughts on virtual reality in an effort to get a hint on whether or not that's a feature Apple is working on for future devices. "What are your thoughts on the VR theme?" Munster asked. "Is this a geeky niche or something that could go mainstream?"

In response, Tim Cook said that he does not believe that virtual reality is a niche. "It's really cool," he said. "And it has some interesting applications."

With virtual reality products like the Oculus Rift gaining in popularity, there has been speculation that Apple will release some kind of virtual reality or augmented reality feature in its iOS devices. Apple reportedly has a small team of employees working on exploring the augmented reality field.

Last week, Apple hired one of the leading virtual reality experts in the United States, Doug Bowman. Apple has also made some recent acquisitions that point towards an interest in VR/AR, including augmented reality startup Metaio, real-time motion capture firm Faceshift, and expression analysis startup Emotient.

Apple has also filed several patents for virtual reality products over the years, including video goggles, motion-sensing 3D virtual interfaces for iOS devices, and 3D "hyper reality" displays.