MacRumors

The surging popularity of AirPods has reportedly resulted in record numbers of counterfeit wireless headphones being seized at the U.S. border.

According to The Information's Wayne Ma, roughly 360,000 counterfeit wireless headphones with a retail value of $62.2 million were confiscated in the first nine months of the U.S. government's fiscal year, based on data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. By comparison, the report claims 295,000 counterfeits with a retail value of $61.7 million were seized at the U.S. border in the entire 2020 fiscal year.

U.S. Customs told The Information that 80% of all counterfeit products coming into the U.S. were from mainland China or Hong Kong. While it's unclear how many of the seized counterfeit headphones were AirPods, U.S. Customs said seizures have increased 50% in the past five years as products such as Apple's earbuds have gained popularity.

The retail value of counterfeit wireless headphones seized by U.S. Customs appears to have skyrocketed following the release of AirPods Pro in October 2019.

MacRumors shared a comparison of real and fake AirPods Pro back in 2019:

The Information examined counterfeit AirPods Pro sold in Hong Kong in December, noting that they had a genuine Apple serial number and were physically indistinguishable from legitimate AirPods Pro, and even had functional active noise cancellation and Transparency mode features. The report claims one of the only ways to determine that the AirPods were fake was by looking up their firmware version, which was incorrect.

Today marks the release of three remastered classics on Apple Arcade, including Angry Birds Reloaded, Doodle God Universe, and Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City.

Angry Birds Reloaded features familiar physics-based bird slingshotting action from the original game, with new characters and visual enhancements. There is also a new game mode with eagles wreaking havoc on the island.

Doodle God Universe is a world building game that tasks players with mixing and matching elements like water and stone to create an entire universe.

First released in 2018, Alto's Odyssey is an award-winning endless sandboarding game with beautiful procedurally generated graphics, dynamic lighting and weather conditions, and original music. In the Apple Arcade edition of the game, players embark on a sandboarding journey to find a new biome called The Lost City and unearth the secrets hidden within, with the classic Alto's Odyssey experience preserved.

The classic endless runner Jetpack Joyride+ is also coming to Apple Arcade on July 23.

Additional classic games were added to Apple Arcade in April, including Fruit Ninja Classic, Monument Valley, and Cut the Rope Remastered.

Priced at $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year, Apple Arcade provides access to a catalog of around 200 games without ads or in-app purchases across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, with additional titles added periodically.

Twitter is testing a new timeline layout in which photos are stretched to the edge of the display with no horizontal margins, mimicking the design layout of popular photo and video sharing apps, such as Instagram.

The new layout was shared by Jane Manchun Wong on Twitter, who often uncovers what features and changes Twitter is working on behind the scenes. The change is still in testing, but according to a screenshot shared by Wong, photos will now go edge-to-edge, compared to the current layout that features horizontal margins on either side of photos.

Separately, while Twitter announced this week it would be shutting down "Fleets," its stories-like function in August, the company is possibly eyeing a possible new feature, the most wanted by users.

In a tweet (via 9to5Mac), the company's product lead, Kayvon Beykpour, surveyed his followers as to whether they would subscribe to "Twitter Blue," the platform's monthly subscription service, if it offered users the ability to edit tweets for a few minutes after they were posted.

While there is no say as to whether the ability to edit tweets will ever become a reality, the company's product lead survey is certainly telling that Twitter is once again exploring the idea and attempting to garner public opinion.

Ahead of its global premiere next week, Apple today held a screening event for season two of the Apple TV+ hit comedy series "Ted Lasso" at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, and was attended by the cast and creators of the show, including Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"Ted Lasso" first aired last year as one of the first original series for the ‌Apple TV+‌ platform and has since grown in popularity. The second season of the show, which will consist of 12 episodes with an episode premiering every Friday, will premiere on ‌Apple TV+‌ on Friday, July 23. Even before its debut, Apple has already renewed the show for a third season, which the creators of the show have hinted may be the last.

This week "Ted Lasso" scored an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, alongside 20 overall nominations. Jason Sudeikis, who plays Ted Lasso in the show, was also nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Apple today launched the third part of its annual Back to School promotion, with back to school deals now available in most countries in Europe, some countries in Asia, and the Middle East.

Higher education students and educators can get a set of free AirPods with the purchase of select Macs and iPads, which is the same deal that went live in the United States and Canada in June and Australia and New Zealand in January.

Qualifying devices include the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, 24-inch iMac, Mac Pro, Mac mini, M1 iPad Pro, and iPad Air. The low-cost iPad, iPad mini, and refurbished products from Apple are not eligible for the promotion, but all educational purchases are available at discounted prices through the dedicated EDU store in each country.

Apple customers who make a qualifying purchase can get the second-generation AirPods for free, or upgrade to AirPods with Wireless Charging or AirPods Pro for an additional fee. Students are also eligible for AppleCare+ at a 20 percent discount.

Apple's Back to School promotion requires verification through UNiDAYS in many countries, with full terms and conditions available on the promotional pages for Apple's country-specific websites.

Back to School deals are available to students and educators in countries that include the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand.

Apple was the number three worldwide smartphone vendor in the second quarter of 2021, according to smartphone shipment estimates shared today by Canalys.

Apple's iPhone sales were surpassed by smartphone sales from Samsung and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, with Xiaomi surpassing Apple and taking the number two spot for the first time.

Samsung was the most popular smartphone vendor with 19 percent market share and 15 percent growth, while Xiaomi earned 17 percent market share thanks to an 83 percent growth in smartphone sales during the quarter. Apple was responsible for 14 percent market share, followed by Oppo and Vivo with 10 percent each.

Xiaomi's growth is thanks to overseas business, with the company increasing shipments by more than 300 percent in Latin America, 150 percent in Africa, and 50 percent in Western Europe. Xiaomi is known for selling more affordable smartphones, and its average selling price is around 75 percent cheaper than Apple's iPhones.

Going forward, to overtake Samsung, Canalys suggests that Xiaomi will need to increase its sales of high-end devices like the Mi 11 Ultra, which is priced at over $900.

So a major priority for Xiaomi this year is to grow sales of its high-end devices, such as the Mi 11 Ultra. But it will be a tough battle, with Oppo and Vivo sharing the same objective, and both willing to spend big on above-the-line marketing to build their brands in a way that Xiaomi is not. All vendors are fighting hard to secure component supply amid global shortages, but Xiaomi already has its sights set on the next prize: displacing Samsung to become the world's largest vendor.

Global smartphone shipments vary from quarter to quarter, and it's usually Apple and Samsung taking the first and second spots. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Apple was the number one smartphone vendor in the world due to strong sales of the ‌iPhone‌ 12 models, so Apple may overtake Xiaomi in subsequent quarters as the launch of the iPhone 13 approaches.

Spain's Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) last week sent a letter (via iPhoneros) demanding that Apple compensate customers for "reported obsolescence practices" related to recent iPhone models including the ‌iPhone‌ 12, ‌iPhone‌ 11, ‌iPhone‌ 8, and ‌iPhone‌ XS.

According to the OCU, Apple's iOS 14.5, iOS 14.5.1, and iOS 14.6 updates have "significantly damaged consumer devices" by "causing their processor speed to drop dramatically" and lowering battery life. As evidence, the OCU cites "numerous media outlets."

The OCU asked Apple to justify the "lack of performance" of the aforementioned ‌iPhone‌ models following the recent iOS updates, and said that the letter is intended to "initiate a dialog with Apple" in order to find the "best way to compensate consumers."

Apple's "excessively rapid wear and tear" on iPhones following updates is unfair to consumers and harms the environment, says the OCU.

If Apple does not provide an adequate response, the OCU plans to consider other actions such as a lawsuit enforcing consumer rights.

Apple has been accused of planned obsolescence in the past, primarily relating to the 2017 release of iOS 10.2.1, which included a feature that throttled the performance of older iPhones with degrading batteries in order to prevent device shutdowns.

Apple failed to make it clear that mitigating shutdowns would require compromising device performance, which led to consumer upset and a series of lawsuits that Apple is continuing to deal with today. Most recently, Apple shelled out $3.4 million to settle a lawsuit in Chile, and it has also faced lawsuits in the United States, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

As for iOS 14.5, 14.5.1, and 14.6, there have indeed been reports of excessive battery drain, and iOS 14.5 in particular fixed an iPhone 11 battery drain issue with a new recalibration process. There were also some scattered reports of throttling with the iOS 14.5.1 update, but reports from affected users suggest the issue was addressed in iOS 14.6.

Apple has maintained that it would never intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to push customers to upgrade.

Mophie today introduced a new 3-in-1 wireless charging stand, which is designed to work with Apple's MagSafe Charger, which is not included.

The 3-in-1 Stand for ‌MagSafe‌ Charger features a wireless charging pad designed for the AirPods or AirPods Pro, an Apple Watch charging puck, and an upright stand where a ‌MagSafe‌ Charger can be inserted.

Mophie is asking $90 for the 3-in-1 Stand for ‌MagSafe‌ Charger, but customers will also need to own a ‌MagSafe‌ Charger, which is priced at $40, bringing the total price for this accessory to $130.

The 3-in-1 Stand for ‌MagSafe‌ is made from white plastic and a silver aluminum material, so it does match the ‌MagSafe‌ Charger and there's a near seamless look. The Wireless Charging Stand has a cable for the AirPods charger and the Apple Watch Charger, but you will need a separate power adapter for the ‌MagSafe‌ cable.

Mophie's stand offers all of the benefits of ‌MagSafe‌, including support for landscape or portrait modes, magnetic attachment, easy placement and fitting, and 15W wireless charging (12W for the iPhone 12 mini).

The 3-in-1 Stand for ‌MagSafe‌ Charger can be purchased from Apple or from Mophie for $89.95.

Elago is known for its range of clever case designs for Apple's devices, and its newest case designed for the Apple TV Siri Remote adds the one feature that Apple left out - Find My functionality.

With the ‌Apple TV‌ ‌Siri‌ Remote R5 Case, there's space to insert an AirTag at the back, which means that if you ever lose your remote, you can locate the ‌AirTag‌ that's inside with the ‌Find My‌ app.

Priced at $15, the Elago Remote R5 Case is made from a thick layer of what the company calls premium silicone, which is designed to protect the remote from drops and other damage.

Elago says that the design of the R5 was modeled after its previous cases, but with the added ‌AirTag‌ holder functionality. With this case, all buttons remain accessible, including the ‌Siri‌ button on the side, which is protected by a silicone cover.

The ‌Apple TV‌ ‌Siri‌ Remote R5 Case can be purchased from Amazon or from the Elago website for $14.99.

There are all kinds of weird, unique, and interesting Apple-related accessories out there, and in our latest YouTube video, we've rounded up some of the most notable products we've come across in the last few months.

From an Apple Watch band with a camera to an ultra fancy phone sanitizer, these accessories may not be for everyone, but they're definitely worth checking out.

• Cleanstation ($200) - From Simplehuman, known for its trash cans, the cleanstation is a UV-C sanitizer that promises to rid your iPhone of 99.9% of germs in just 30 seconds.
• Wristcam for Apple Watch ($300) - As the name suggests, this is a band that adds a camera to your Apple Watch. It's an 8-megapixel camera and it holds 2000 photos or an hour of video, connecting to the watch over WiFi or Bluetooth. It's bulky, but useful if you need hands-free recording.
• Pivo ($139) - Pivo is a nifty little rotating stand for your ‌iPhone‌. You can film yourself and the Pivo will make sure that you stay in the frame with smart autotracking, and it's compatible with any tripod.

All of the links to the products are in this article, but make sure to watch our video to see them in action.

New emojis are added to iOS devices on a near-yearly basis, with Apple adopting the characters voted on and approved by the Unicode Consortium on the regular.

The Unicode Consortium is now working on the list of emojis that will be added in the Emoji 14 update, and Emojipedia has details on what we can expect with mockups of what the emoji might look like.

New face emoji include melting face, face with open eyes and hand over mouth, face with peeking eye, saluting face, dotted line face, face with diagonal mouth, and face holding back tears.

There are several new skin tones that are proposed for emoji like palm up hand, heart hands, handshake, person with crown, pregnant person, and more, along with several miscellaneous items.

Troll, coral, lotus flower, empty nest, nest with eggs, beans, pouring liquid, biting lip, jar, playground slide, wheel, ring buoy, hamsa, mirror ball, low battery, crutch, x-ray, bubbles, ID card, and heavy equals sign may all make it into the next iOS emoji update after the final candidates are decided upon in September.

Emoji candidates are not finalized and will not be finalized until later this year, so that means that while these are on the draft list, they may not make it into the final version of Emoji 14. That said, most draft candidates are accepted.

All of the images are just designs that Emojipedia is guessing at, and each operating system maker (like Apple) will have their own custom designs.

Emoji 14 has been under development for some time and has been delayed due to the ongoing global health crisis. After the final emoji candidates are decided on, smartphone makers will begin using them in late 2021 and 2022. There's a good chance that we won't see Apple adopt these new emoji until 2022 as there's often a delay of several months before new emojis make it onto iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

World Emoji Day is coming up on July 17th, and in the past, Apple has given us insight into its future emoji plans in celebration of the day. Apple last added new emoji in April with the iOS 14.5 update.

Apple chip supplier TSMC has confirmed that it will begin mass production operations at its new factory in Arizona in 2024, Nikkei Asia reports.

TSMC Chairman Mark Liu announced that the company's $12 billion factory in Phoenix, Arizona, which is currently under construction, will begin mass production in the first quarter of 2024. While the 2024 timeframe had previously been rumored by Bloomberg, TSMC's announcement serves as a confirmation and indicates that the project is on track.

The first batch of engineers hired to staff the new U.S. factory arrived in Taiwan in late April this year for training, and the company is looking to accelerate its schedule for the facility as much as possible.

The facility will mass-produce chips fabricated with a 5nm process. TSMC has been gradually miniaturizing its process over the years, going from a 16nm A10 chip in iPhone 7 models, to a 7nm A13 chip in ‌iPhone‌ 11 models, and most recently a 5nm process for the ‌iPhone‌ 12's A14 chip. Likely clients for the chips made in the Arizona factory include Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Apple. The new Arizona plant will make it theoretically possible for Apple's 5nm custom silicon chips, such as the A14 or M1 chip, to be manufactured within the United States.

TSMC's main factories are located in Taiwan, but it already operates a factory in Camas, Washington, as well as design centers in Austin, Texas and San Jose, California, meaning that the Arizona facility will be its second manufacturing site in the United States.

Alongside the news about the Arizona factory, TSMC also said that it was looking into chip production sites in Japan, likely for chips destined for Sony devices, and set out the intention to build up overseas manufacturing capacity to ensure long-term competitiveness.

The latest research from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) shows that all four iPhone 12 models accounted for 63% of total iPhone sales in the United States in the quarter ending June 2021.

The highest-end iPhone 12 Pro Max tied with the year-old iPhone 11 for the largest share of any single model at 23%, while the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone XR had the smallest share, each at 5%, according to CIRP. As pandemic-related restrictions ease in the United States, the Chicago-based research firm said increased consumer spending correlated with consumers shifting to more expensive iPhone models.

"Apple did very well as it emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic," said Josh Lowitz, a CIRP co-founder. "Increased consumer spending correlated with consumers shifting to more expensive iPhone models as they retired older phones and shopped more at Apple's own retail locations to buy those iPhones."

The shift to more expensive models resulted in the iPhone's average selling price in the United States rising to $869 in the June 2021 quarter, added Lowitz.

The research note also indicates that Apple experienced a significant increase in iPhone sales through its retail operations, including both physical stores and online. In the June 2021 quarter, 27% of iPhone sales in the United States were completed through Apple, compared to a previous high of 21% in September 2020, according to CIRP.

CIRP bases its findings on its survey of 500 customers in the United States who purchased an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch in the April-June 2021 period.

Royalties from music streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify, are weighted unfairly against artists, according to a committee of Members of Parliament in the UK (via BBC News).

An investigation by the UK parliament's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee into music streaming found that artists see "pitiful returns."

The committee called for a "complete reset" of the market in the UK, with artists being given a "fair share" of record label earnings from streaming. All of the money streaming services currently pay goes to rights-holders, who then pass on a small share to artists. Labels and publishers currently keep the vast majority of profits.

MPs proposed that royalties should be split evenly between labels and artists, instead of the average current rate where artists receive around 16 percent. Other recommendations included new legislation that allows musicians to reclaim the rights to their work after a certain period of time, improves artists' rights to adjust contracts, and increased transparency about how much money is flowing from streaming services.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which represents the recorded music industry in the UK, said that streaming was "enabling more artists than ever" to earn a "long-term, sustainable income" and that any new policies should be properly examined to prevent "unintended consequences for investment into new talent."

The music industry's three major labels, Sony, Universal, and Warner Music, warned that any disruption could damage investment in new music and argued against the idea that streaming was comparable to radio, where artists already receive an equal 50/50 royalty split.

Representatives from streaming services, on the other hand, were not directly opposed to changing the royalty system but noted that 70 percent of their income already goes to labels, publishers, and artists, suggesting that it should be labels who reduce their share of royalties to give more to artists. Nevertheless, ‌Apple Music‌'s Global Senior Director of Music Publishing, Elena Segal, cautioned:

It is a narrow-margin business, so it wouldn't actually take that much to upset the so-called apple cart.

‌Apple Music‌ is believed to pay better royalties than Spotify and YouTube, which made it less of a focus for MPs, who were more concerned about the fact that YouTube accounts for 51 percent of music streaming while contributing just seven percent of music industry revenue.

The committee also said that streaming services should ensure that curators who make playlists adhere to a "code of conduct" to avoid bribes and favoritism toward certain artists that could lead to some music being unfairly overrepresented.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News 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.

The iPhone 13 set to launch later this year will feature the improved WiFi 6E protocol, offering users access to an extended version of the WiFi 6 framework with the added benefit of a 6GHz band, according to DigiTimes.

Apple introduced WiFi 6 with the iPhone 11 in 2019, and compared to the previous WiFi 5 framework, WiFi 6 offers significantly improved speeds and security. WiFi 6E adds minimal changes compared to WiFi 6 except for an added 6GHz band, which will result in increased bandwidth and less interference for devices that support Wi-Fi 6E.

DigiTimes says that as Apple plans to include the newer framework in this year's flagship model, it will slowly become the standard for iOS and Android devices next year, despite only being announced early last year.

Apple is set to incorporate Wi-Fi 6E technology into its new iPhones for this year, and the technology is expected to become a standard feature of both iOS and Android smartphones in 2022, the sources said.

Today's report also further reiterates past reports that the LiDAR sensor, currently exclusive to the high-end Pro and Pro Max ‌iPhone‌ 12 models, will remain exclusive to those variants. Reports earlier in the year casted the possibility of LiDAR expanding to all models of the lineup; however, that's increasingly unlikely to be the case.

As new iPhones will continue to adopt 3D face ID sensors for general models and ToF LiDAR scanners for Pro series, the three GaAS players will also see their third-quarter revenues further bolstered by VCSEL chips demand for the sensing solutions, the sources said.

The ‌iPhone 13‌ is expected to be a minor upgrade compared to the ‌iPhone‌ 12, with rumors of more advanced displays, improved cameras, and a smaller notch. Learn more about what we're expecting for this year's new ‌iPhone‌.

Microsoft has announced Windows 365, a new Cloud PC service that allows users to stream a Windows desktop via web browser to any device, including Macs and iPads.

The service works similar to the company's Xbox Cloud Gaming service – the Windows OS is loaded on a remote computer in the cloud, and Microsoft streams the entire desktop PC experience to the user's device. Microsoft is calling it a "hybrid Windows for a hybrid world" where office and remote working interchange.

Windows 365 provides an instant-on boot experience that enables users to stream all their personalized applications, tools, data, and settings from the cloud across any device including your Mac, iPad, Linux device, and Android," explained Microsoft 365 general manager Wangui McKelvey. "The Windows experience is consistent, no matter the device. You can pick up right where you left off, because the state of your Cloud PC remains the same, even when you switch devices."

Users will be able to choose the configuration of the virtual PC, such as the amount of storage and working memory. According to Microsoft, a cloud PC can be configured with up to 512GB and 16GB of RAM.

There will be two edition options with multiple Cloud PC configurations based on performance needs: Windows 365 Business and Windows 365 Enterprise. Information and files are encrypted and stored in the cloud, to avoid security concerns about leaving sensitive data on local devices.

The service will launch in early August and, initially at least, will be offered to business customers on a per-user, per-month subscription basis. Microsoft hasn't mentioned whether a personal product is in the works, but the company has been working from a roadmap that should see all its main services eventually move to a subscription model.

Assuming Microsoft offers a consumer plan down the line, not only should Windows 365 offer a full desktop experience on iPads, it may appeal to owners of Apple silicon Macs who are unable to run Windows through Boot Camp.