MacRumors

In an effort to increase adoption of contactless payments, major credit card issuer MasterCard has launched a limited time "Fare Free Mondays" promotion, offering free public transit to Apple Pay users in London on Mondays between November 23 and December 14, 2015.

Starting today, and on the next three Mondays, MasterCard customers using Apple Pay to touch in and out on London's public transit network will have up to £27.90 in daily fares refunded by MasterCard. The promotion is valid for travel on the Tube, buses, tram, DLR, London Overground and most National Rail services in London.

Mark Barnett, president of MasterCard UK&I:

“The move by TfL last year to accept contactless cards and devices on London Underground has been a phenomenal catalyst to the growth in contactless payments across the UK. Now that Apple Pay has arrived we want to encourage travellers on London’s transport network to try it out and give them another convenient option to pay for their travel. What better way to do this, than to offer MasterCard customers using Apple Pay the chance to travel for free over the next four consecutive Mondays.”

MasterCard competitor Visa today also unveiled a new Apple Pay "Ready" campaign in Europe, including two TV ads from agency Saatchi & Saatchi that highlight how fast, easy and reliable using a Visa card in Apple Pay is in everyday situations such as paying to use the Tube or in a cafe.

Apple Pay expanded to the U.K. in July and is accepted at more than 250,000 locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The iPhone-based mobile payments service recently gained support for Tesco Bank and TSB in the country alongside over 90 new U.S. issuers.

Following the launch of Apple Pay in Australia and Canada earlier this week, Apple has shared a new Apple Pay Guided Tour video that walks users through how to use Apple Pay on their iPhones.

The video goes through the steps of making a payment at an NFC terminal with a finger on the Touch ID home button of an iPhone and it covers the security behind Apple Pay. Apple Pay shares no credit card numbers or personal information with cashiers during the checkout process.

There's also a walkthrough on how to set up Apple Pay through the Wallet app and details on using the payments service within an app.

Apple Pay is now available in the United States, the UK, Canada, and Australia, with the latter two countries receiving the service through a partnership with American Express. In 2016, Apple Pay will expand to Spain, Singapore, and Hong Kong through the same AMEX partnership.

Apple has previously published a number of Guided Tour videos, most recently sharing a video series that walks users through how to use the various features of Apple Music. In the past, Apple has also done quite a few Apple Watch Guided Tour videos to teach users how to unlock the full capabilities of the wrist-worn device.

Apple appears to be working on an iOS app that will provide customers with easy access to Apple support staff, troubleshooting tips, and repair options for their iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices. A series of screenshots of the app were provided by Sonny Dickson to uSwitch Tech, revealing key details about the app and what it's capable of.

There are direct options for chatting with an advisor, scheduling an in-store visit (which lists the next available appointment at a local Apple Store), and sending a device in for service, along with a list of support documents and guides to solve common problems like using iTunes to do a restore, maximizing battery life, or upgrading to the latest version of iOS.

According to an "insider," the app is tied to an Apple ID and will automatically list all of the devices that each person owns, giving them direct access to pre-defined troubleshooting problems, much like Apple's support site does now. From there, it walks users through all of the available support options. It's said to be "highly interactive and well integrated."

Having a centralized spot to access support documents and repair options will be hugely useful for many users who may not know the extent of Apple's online support offerings. The app will also further streamline the repair and support process, taking some of the pressure off of in-store Genius employees who work on repairs and potentially cutting down on the number of people coming in to the store for small issues.

It is not clear if the app is a standalone support app that will be added to iOS devices in the future or if this is functionality that will be incorporated into the existing Apple Store app. At this time, the Apple Store app has limited functionality when it comes to support, only allowing users to schedule appointments with Geniuses at their local Apple Stores.

Following the launch of Personal Pickup in Australia and Canada earlier this week, Apple today expanded the in-store pickup service to the United Kingdom. Personal Pickup allows customers to place an order on the Apple Online Store or Apple Store app and pick it up at a nearby Apple Retail Store, generally within an hour.

Personal Pickup launched in the U.S. in 2011, but was unavailable elsewhere until this week. The service is offered for several Apple products, including Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs and the Apple Watch. Apple notifies customers via email or text message when their order is available for in-store pickup with a valid photo ID.

MacRumors broke the news earlier this month that Apple was planning an international expansion of Personal Pickup in Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom, and the service is now live in three of those four countries. The service will likely launch in at least a few more countries in the near future.

Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts has been working to bridge the gap between Apple's online and retail store shopping experiences, and the international expansion of Personal Pickup fits within those plans. Apple has opened 463 retail stores in 17 countries since May 2001, with nearly 200 located outside the U.S.

Apple recently debuted a new Apple Music ad, starring singer Mary J. Blige and actresses Taraji P. Henson and Kerry Washington, during the 2015 Emmy Awards.

In the one-minute spot, focused on Apple Music playlists, Washington says that Apple's curated playlists are like having "a boyfriend who creates you a mixtape -- in your laptop."

Jimmy Iovine, who joined Apple in 2014 following the company's acquisition of Beats Electronics, has made headlines today following controversial comments he made about women on CBS This Morning today in relation to the ad.

In particular, when asked to explain his thinking behind the Emmy ad, Iovine said that "women find it very difficult at times -- some women -- to find music, …and [Apple Music] helps makes it easier with playlists curated by real people." He proceeded to mention the problem of girls "sitting around" and "talking about boys."

The Verge transcribes:

"I just thought of a problem, you know: girls are sitting around, you know, talking about boys. Or complaining about boys, you know, when they're heartbroken or whatever. And they need music for that, right? So it's hard to find the right music, you know. Not everybody has the right lists, or knows a DJ or something."

Iovine's comments have been widely criticized on Twitter and in several media outlets.

Update: Jimmy Iovine has provided BuzzFeed with an apology, saying "I could have chosen my words better."

Jimmy Iovine told BuzzFeed News, "we created Apple Music to make finding the right music easier for everyone -- men and women, young and old. Our new ad focuses on women, which is why I answered the way I did, but of course the same applies equally for men. I could have chosen my words better, and I apologize."

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.

More than an estimated 100 million iPhones are being used in the United States, according to new data shared by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners [PDF]. At the end of the September 2015 quarter, more than 101 million iPhones were in use, and two-thirds of those iPhones were newer iPhones that have been released in 2014 and 2015.

An estimated 58 million of the 101 million iPhones in use were the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, while four million were iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models. The iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, and 6s Plus are the four iPhones that have larger 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens, and the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 appears to be the most popular model. CIRP's data was gathered in September, shortly after the iPhone 6s launch. iPhone 6s and 6s Plus numbers are likely much higher now.

"The analysis shows the continued strength of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, now one year old," said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. "We estimate a combined 60 million of these flagship phones sold in the US from the September 2014 launch through September 30, 2015. For comparison, the iPhone 5S sold about 28 million in the same period in 2013-2014. With only a weekend of availability in the quarter, we estimate 4 million of the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus sold in the US."

CIRP's data suggests that while the larger-screened iPhones make up a large chunk of the iPhones in use in the United States, iPhone adoption is slowing as the U.S. market matures. For the past eight quarters, the iPhone installed base grew an estimated average of eight percent, but the installed base grew four percent in the September 2015 quarter and six percent in the September 2014 quarter. Growth numbers were as high as 17 percent in the December 2013 quarter following the launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c.

As the U.S. market becomes saturated with smartphone owners, Apple has increasingly focused its attention on luring customers from Android and other competing platforms. Apple has introduced a new "Move to iOS" Android app, an Android-switching microsite, and a trade-in program for Android users looking to switch to an iPhone.

Apple's efforts have been successful, and in October, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple saw the highest rate of Android switchers it had ever measured in the fourth quarter of 2015. 30 percent of customers who were upgrading from an existing smartphone to an iPhone were former Android users.

CIRP's numbers are extrapolated from a September 2015 survey of 500 U.S. Apple customers who purchased an Apple product in the preceding quarter. CIRP analyzes data on iPhone buyers, their new model selection, and their prior phones and compares that to iPhone sales data adjusted to the U.S. market.

Shortly after the launch of the iPad Pro, buyers began complaining about an issue that caused the iPad Pro to become unresponsive after charging, requiring a hard restart to restore functionality.

Apple has now responded to those complaints with a support document letting customers know it's looking into the problem and recommending the aforementioned hard restart as an interim fix.

To get back to using your iPad Pro, force restart it by pressing and holding both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for at least ten seconds, until you see the Apple logo.

Apple is aware of this issue and is investigating.

After being charged, affected iPad Pros appear to be completely frozen, unresponsive to touch and other interactions. The screen remains dark until a reset is performed. The issue appears to be quite widespread, with complaints on the Apple Support Communities, the MacRumors forums, and reddit.

Both 32 and 128GB (Wi-Fi and LTE) iPad Pro models on iOS 9.1 have been affected, and it is not clear if the problem is related to hardware or software. Software is a strong possibility, as iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users started seeing a similar issue with their smartphones randomly powering off and becoming unresponsive last month.

Apple released the iPad Pro last week as a direct competitor to Microsoft's new Surface Pro 4. The high-end tablets are primarily targeted at creative professionals, with the companion Apple Pencil and Surface Pen available as precise input tools to complement your finger.

iMore has shared a new video that compares sketching with the Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro to the Surface Pen on Microsoft's new Surface Book, which has equivalent display technology as the Surface Pro 4.

Editor Serenity Caldwell found the Surface Pen to be "about as responsive" as the Apple Pencil, but said Microsoft's stylus pressure was slightly harder to control and had more trouble at writing small type.

The Verge has created a similar video that provides more of a high-level comparison of the iPad Pro vs. Surface Pro 4, while also touching upon the Apple Pencil and Surface Pen and showing some limited usage of each accessory.

Editor Jacob Kastrenakes called the Apple Pencil "one of the best" he has ever used, adding that the Surface Pen "can be a little less natural" but benefits from having a hardware eraser -- which the Apple Pencil doesn't have.

Kastrenakes said the Apple Pencil is "really responsive" and has "amazing palm rejection," and he offered similar accolades for the Surface Pen, although quality will vary from app to app on both the iPad Pro and Surface Pro 4.

Apple Pencil online orders began to see movement earlier this week, while Apple retail stores started receiving more reliable Apple Pencil shipments on Tuesday for in-store purchase. The accessory is available to ship in 4-5 weeks online.

iFixit has completed an Apple Pencil teardown, removing the outer plastic casing to reveal the pencil's inner metal cylinder. The teardown provides a closer look at several Apple Pencil components, including the antenna, battery, pencil nib, Lightning connector and miniature folded logic board.

Apple Pencil has two emitters in the tip that enable the iPad Pro to determine the pencil nib's angle and orientation relative to the display, and adjust the pen stroke accordingly, explains iFixit. iPad Pro has a digitizer that likely determines the distance from each emitter to the screen.

At the core of the Apple Pencil is a tiny 0.329 Wh lithium-ion rechargeable battery that holds just 5% of the charge of an iPhone 6s battery, next to a small cylindrical black and gold antenna. There is also a small ribbon cable that connects the Apple Pencil's battery with its Lightning connector for charging.

On the other side of the battery is the Apple Pencil's tiny folded logic board that weighs just one gram, yet houses more than five components, including an ST Microelectronics low-power 32-bit ARM-based Cortex-M3 microcontroller and Qualcomm Bluetooth 4.1 chip from Cambridge Silicon Radio.

- Red: ST Microelectronics STML151UCY6 Ultra-low-power 32-bit RISC ARM-based Cortex-M3 MCU
- Orange: ST Microelectronics AS5C Y533 (also found in the 2015 Apple TV)
- Yellow: L05286 QS4 VG Z SGP 528
- Green: EWX 01129
- Not shown: Cambridge Silicon Radio Qualcomm CSR1012A05 Bluetooth Smart IC

iFixit awarded the Apple Pencil its lowest repairability score of 1 out of 10. While the pen nib and cap can be replaced if worn out or lost, iFixit says you can't get inside the Apple Pencil without destroying the device. It says the 12-hour battery is not replaceable, giving the Apple Pencil a limited lifespan.