MacRumors

Apple updated its investor relations page today to note that it will announce its earnings for the third fiscal quarter (second calendar quarter) of 2013 on Tuesday, July 23. The earnings release typically occurs just after 4:30 PM Eastern Time following the close of regular stock trading, and the conference call is scheduled to follow at 5:00 PM Eastern / 2:00 PM Pacific.

MacRumors will provide running coverage of the earnings release and conference call.

The release will provide a look into the strength of iPhone 5 and iPad mini sales into their third quarter of availability, and perhaps updates on the new products announced at WWDC. Apple's stock price is down some 23 percent year-to-date and roughly 300 points off its highs of last year. Analysts have continuing concerns about Apple's ability to innovate without Steve Jobs, though the current price is up slightly from the previous earnings call.

In the past two July earnings calls, Apple has announced the imminent launch of OS X Lion and Mountain Lion, though there is no indication yet that Mavericks will launch the day after the call.

Apple reported strong results three months ago when it announced a dramatic increase in its share repurchase authorization and a larger dividend payment. Apple should update investors on the progress of its share repurchase program.

Apple provided guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 for revenue of between $33.5 and $35.5 billion and gross margin between 36% and 37%.

9to5Mac reports that Apple is likely to launch its annual "Back to School" promotion in the United States and other countries this week, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. The program offers iTunes Store/App Store gift cards to students who purchase a Mac or iPad, and for the first time the program will also include iPhone purchases this year.

The promotion will give eligible students an iTunes/App Store gift card with the purchase of a Mac, iPad, and for the first time, an iPhone. The gift cards that come with Mac purchases will be worth 100$ while the cards accompanying the iOS Devices will be worth $50.

MacRumors had heard over the weekend that Apple retail stores will be performing an "overnight" tonight to adjust signage and other aspects of store layouts. Our source indicated that tonight's changes are likely to be in support of the Back to School promotion, suggesting that it will indeed launch tomorrow.

Apple runs the Back to School promotion at different times throughout the year in different countries to correspond to the various educational calendars, but the program launching this week will be the company's largest as it will likely include the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Apple is carefully monitoring the way that its retail workers are using iOS 7, reports 9to5Mac. Both retail store managers and Apple's Human Resources team have been contacting employees that are found using iOS 7 to ensure that the beta software was installed through official Developer channels.

Apple's retail workers are only authorized to install iOS 7 if they are members of the iOS Developer Program or part of an internal testing project. Employees are not allowed to sign up for a developer account and share the iOS 7 beta with coworkers, as noted in a warning letter that Apple sent out to some retail employees.

Am I allowed to load and use iOS beta software on my devices? Not unless you are a member of the iOS Developer Program, or have been explicitly authorized by management to participate in the development or testing of internal Apple applications as part of an official Apple project.

You may not load iOS beta software onto any other person's iOS device. Employees are not authorized to receive iOS beta software from any third parties, even if those third parties are iOS Developer Program members.

Employees have also been forbidden from showing the iOS 7 beta to Apple Store customers. According to retail workers who spoke to 9to5Mac, Apple is "super strict" about all iOS 7 usage in store. "We could get fired for showing a customer iOS 7 on our phones because of the Apple Developer NDA agreement," said one employee.

Customers who bring in malfunctioning phones running iOS 7 will not be able to have them serviced in store either, as Apple has implemented guidelines preventing Geniuses from working on phones running the beta software.

Apple routinely uses its retail employees to test and improve software. Last year, Apple relied on its workers to help improve its Maps app, and this year, certain employees have been given access to OS X Mavericks for beta testing purposes.

iOS 7, which offers a radical design overhaul along with a number of performance enhancements, is currently only available to developers. The final version of the software is expected to be released this fall alongside the next generation iPhone.

The Korea Times reports (via Engadget) that Apple and South Korean carrier SK Telecom are in talks regarding a future iPhone that would support faster LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) data networks. Just last week, the carrier announced the launch of the world's first publicly accessible LTE-A network.

“SK Telecom is approaching Apple to put our LTE-A technology on the upcoming iPhone 5S. We are in the middle of negotiations,” said an SK Telecom executive, requesting anonymity. [...]

Because Korea has recently seen a huge demand for devices supporting high-speed networks, Apple intends to use Korea as the litmus test to gauge the marketability of LTE-A technology before making inroads into China, according to industry sources.

LTE-A supports a theoretical maximum download speed of 150 Mbps, twice as fast as the LTE standard used on the iPhone 5, although real-world speeds are in general significantly slower than theoretical maximums.

The report suggests that Apple could release an LTE-A iPhone "in the coming months" on the iPhone 5S, but it seems fairly unlikely that Apple would be prepared to support the standard so soon after beginning negotiations with SK Telecom, even if the company has already been working on the technology.

Bloomberg reports that Apple has filed for a trademark for the term 'iWatch' in Japan:

The maker of iPhones is seeking protection for the name which is categorized as being for products including a handheld computer or watch device, according to a June 3 filing with the Japan Patent Office that was made public last week.

'iWatch' is one of the possible names for the long-rumored Apple wristwatch that has generated increasing buzz over the past year.

The filing actually represents the second 'iWatch' trademark filing discovered from Apple. The first report of the 'iWatch' trademark came from Russia, also on June 3rd.

Bloomberg repeats its February claim that Apple has a team of about 100 product designers working on a wristwatch computer. The most recent reports have suggested we won't see the Apple watch until late 2014 and that the watch will feature biometrics as a key feature, allowing for increased security and opening the door to broader health-related applications.

Last week, it was reported that a growing number of owners of Apple's new MacBook Air were experiencing Wi-Fi issues, with users reporting problems such as dropped connections that require a restart in order to reconnect. It was reported earlier this week that Apple has been replacing affected machines and collecting the defective units in order to examine them as part of the company's investigation into the issue.

As noted by AppleInsider, Apple is now sending out invitations to certain MacBook Air owners asking if they wish to participate in the company's AppleSeed customer software seeding program for the purposes of testing a new "MacBook Air WiFi Update 1.0". While Apple does not specify in its invitation exactly what problem the software update is designed to address, it presumably focuses on the connection issues being reported by users.

You have been selected to join our AppleSeed program. If you accept, we will provide you with a pre-release version of the MacBookAir WiFi Update 1.0 to install and use.

While trying out MacBookAir WiFi Update 1.0, we ask that you provide us with your feedback. Our program includes a bug reporting system for our participants. If you wish to be a seed volunteer and help Apple release high-quality software, follow the instructions below.

Beyond the connection issues, Apple's OS X 10.8.4 public release and OS X Mavericks beta also appear to have a software issue that prevents machines supporting the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard from taking advantage of the faster speeds for file transfers. It is, however, unclear whether Apple will address this issue for current MacBook Air owners through this software update in testing or through a separate update such as the upcoming OS X 10.8.5 update.

Nowhereelse.fr shares [Google translation] a pair of photos of what may be the rear shell of Apple's rumored lower-cost plastic iPhone. While the site acknowledges that the part could simply be a Chinese clone of an iPhone 5 rear shell, certain features such as a round rear microphone hole and rounded rear edges are consistent with previous claims for the lower-cost iPhone, including leaked design drawings from a case maker.

Apple has been said to be planning to release the lower-cost iPhone later this year in an array of colors, with one report claiming that Apple would be using essentially the same colors as found in the company's line of iPhone 4/4S bumpers, although that report indicated that green appeared to have been excluded from the set. This green rear shell is indeed fairly close in color to the green iPhone bumper.

Update 10:03 PM: Nowhereelse.fr has spotted two more photos [Google translation] showing the same part also in yellow and red.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has signed a deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) to produce some A-series chips for Apple's iOS devices starting in 2014. The article confirms a report from Digitimes published earlier this week regarding the deal.

This month, after years of technical delays, Apple finally signed a deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to make some of the chips starting in 2014, according to a TSMC executive. The process had been beset by glitches preventing the chips from meeting Apple's speed and power standards, TSMC officials said.

The report states that TSMC plans to start producing the chips in early 2014 using 20-nanometer technology, which would make chips smaller and more energy efficient. The two companies have been discussing their arrangement since 2010, with serious discussions on the process of creating the chips starting in 2011.

TSMC executives told the WSJ that Apple had asked to either invest in the company or to have TSMC set aside a factory specifically for Apple chips. Executives said they had denied both options because they wanted to keep TSMC's independence and manufacturing flexibility intact.

Apple has so far used Samsung to exclusively manufacture the A-series chips for its iOS devices, but with the two companies becoming rivals in the mobile device market, Apple has been trying to reduce its reliance on Samsung for components.

As the WSJ notes, Apple and Samsung's relationship as far as components goes back to the early days of the iPod as Samsung won some business from Apple after the company became unhappy with original iPod processor supplier PortalPlayer. While Apple was aware that Samsung planned to compete with it in the mobile device market, Samsung had told Apple that it kept its component business separate from the mobile device business and promised to keep its executives from sharing information with each other.

Some Apple executives didn't like the arrangement, and in 2008 Apple began an effort to shift away from Samsung for its flash memory supplies. In 2010, Apple made a similar move with its iPhone displays, shifting production from Samsung to Sharp and Toshiba, although Retina display iPads continue to use Samsung displays.

And while Apple is trying to rid itself of its reliance on Samsung, the Korean company understandably would still like to keep Apple as one of its customers, with an estimated $10 billion of Samsung's reported $59 billion in component sales coming from the Cupertino company.

Last month, Apple submitted plans to relocate its flagship San Francisco retail store three blocks north, putting the new store directly on Union Square, the heart of the city's high-end shopping district.

Despite initial praise for the project from city officials, Apple's proposal rapidly drew criticism for a number of its features, including an 80-foot-long blank wall along Stockton Street and the apparent removal of a sculptural fountain currently located at the entrance stairway to a public plaza.

The San Francisco Chronicle now reports that the city's Planning Department has issued its preliminary project assessment (PDF) on Apple's proposal, indicating that it would like to see a number of changes to the project.

There's too much glass on Post Street and too much metal on Stockton. The plaza that would accompany it needs a friendlier entrance. Planners also want the project to include a circular bronze fountain by Ruth Asawa that is the centerpiece of the plaza now on the block.

Despite all this, the city's top planner said Thursday that he sees no reason Apple can't build a modernistic metal-and-glass box within the historic setting of the Union Square retail district.

The city's planners object to the uniform wall of glass along the store's main frontage on Post Street, suggesting that Apple should do more to break up the wall by including colors or textures or vertical design elements. The planners also suggest possibilities for improving the blank Stockton Street frontage, including adding windows or pulling back the storefront to allow for landscaping and perhaps public seating areas.

Regarding Apple's controversial proposed changes to the public plaza behind the store, planning officials have asked Apple find a way to widen the entrance stairway to help draw in visitors. Apple is also being asked to try incorporate the existing fountain sculpture by noted San Francisco artist Ruth Asawa into the new plaza design, and if it is not feasible, to assist with finding a new location for the fountain.

The Chronicle also spoke with San Francisco mayor Ed Lee about the fountain. Lee, who had been unaware of its proposed removal following his initial viewing of the project plans, suggests that an agreement with Apple to secure the fountain's fate may be near.

"I've had some very good conversations with Apple and the managers of the Hyatt," said Lee, who praised Apple's plans in May as "incredible" but later told The Chronicle he hadn't realized the new building would disrupt the Asawa fountain. "I think a decision will be made in a short period of time."

Apple has not disclosed a timeline for constructing the new store and relocating its operations from the existing store at 1 Stockton Street, and its timeline may depend on how long negotiations with city officials take to achieve a design satisfactory to all parties.

Customers on both the MacRumors and Adobe support forums are reporting severe flickering when using some 2013 13" MacBook Air models when using Adobe Photoshop, particularly the larger brush tools.

Adobe representative Chris Cox posted on Adobe's support forums that he believes it is a driver or GPU issue, or possibly a problem with the LCD driver circuits. Additionally, he says Adobe has not been able to reproduce the issue, suggesting that it could be a particular run or series of MacBook Air models that are running into issues.

When we file a bug with Apple that we cannot reproduce ourselves: Apple ignores it.

Apple needs to hear from customers who experience the problem, and needs details on exactly which systems have the problem.

We will continue to research this, and if we find a system that reproduces it, then we can file a bug with Apple and have some hope that they might investigate.

Also, thanks for the video - that is definitely a driver or GPU issue, though with that kind of flickering I'd also suspect the LCD driver circuits.

New chipsets, like those in the new MacBook Air, occasionally have sporadic quality control issues. Some MacBook Air owners are reporting issues with Wi-Fi and Apple has issued a 'capture' order to Genius Bar representatives to take broken machines and send them to Cupertino for further analysis.

Adobe advises affected customers to contact AppleCare so the problem can be diagnosed and, hopefully, quickly resolved by Apple. Some reports have suggested that upgrading to Mavericks solves the problem, indicating a possible software issue.

BGR reports that Apple is planning to release the third beta version of iOS 7 to its carrier partners on Monday, July 8, with seeding to registered developers expected on the same day.

BGR has been informed by trusted sources that iOS 7 beta 3 is currently scheduled to be made available to carriers for testing on July 8th. These are the same sources who accurately foretold the release timing of Apple’s last iOS 7 beta, and just like iOS 7 beta 2, it is likely that the new software will be released to developers on the same day it reaches carriers.

A July 8 release for the third beta would come two weeks after the release of the second beta, which occurred on Monday of this week. That release came two weeks after Apple rolled out the initial beta version of iOS 7 at its Worldwide Developers Conference.

In iOS 6 beta testing last year, Apple used a similar two-week interval between the first and second releases, but then moved to three-week intervals for the third and fourth beta versions.

If a July 8 release for beta 3 is accurate, Apple may be moving to a more rapid seeding schedule to keep developers updated on the numerous changes included in iOS 7. The upcoming operating system represents the most significant visual change to iOS since its debut in 2007, and Apple is said to still be refining many of the design elements as it proceeds through the beta testing period.

French site Nowhereelse.fr shares [Google translation] a photo of what are claimed to be trays of batteries for the iPhone 5S coming off of a production line. While their identity as iPhone 5S batteries can not be confirmed due to a lack of markings on them, if the claim is true it would be further evidence that production is indeed ramping up for the next-generation iPhone.

Over the past week, we've shared several photos of a prototype iPhone 5S manufactured in December 2012, revealing that the battery offers a higher capacity than the iPhone 5 battery, moving from 5.45 Whr and 1440 mAh to 5.92 Whr and 1560 mAh, an increase of roughly 8%.

Our photos show that the battery in the prototype iPhone 5S is itself a prototype, with a number of placeholders for various regulatory logos and identification numbers.

Earlier this week, a photo of iPhone 5S display assemblies on a production line also appeared, with the new parts identifiable by a change in the design of the flex cable connectors.

The iPhone 5S is expected to be introduced later this year, with the September timeframe being the most commonly claimed window for launch.