Apple Pay and CurrentC Skirmish, Tim Cook Comes Out, iOS 8 Adoption and Tips, Next Office for Mac - MacRumors

Apple Pay Faces Off Against Retailer-Backed CurrentC Mobile Payments System Following Apple's launch of its Apple Pay mobile payments system in the U.S. with the release of iOS 8.1 early last week, tensions have escalated rapidly as several retailers including pharmacy chains Rite Aid and CVS shut down their NFC payment terminals in order to prevent customers from using the systems for Apple Pay and other mobile wallet systems. The retailers are part of a consortium known as Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) that is pursuing its own complicated mobile payments system planned for launch in early 2015. Just hours after MCX publicly confirmed that consortium members are required to exclusively support CurrentC, the company began notifying pilot testers and those who had expressed interest in the service that their email addresses may have been accessed without authorization, undermining the group's claims of an emphasis on security. In a virtual press conference, MCX executives speculated that the group was being attacked for "challenging the status quo", but argued that its partner merchants know their customers and feel they are looking for a robust solution like MCX to manage payments, coupons, and loyalty programs in one location. For its part, Apple is choosing to focus on the positives of Apple Pay, with Tim Cook noting on Monday that users had registered more than one million cards in the first 72 hours of Apple Pay availability, quickly making the service larger than all existing competitors combined. Apple has called the response to Apple Pay "overwhelmingly positive" and noted it is working hard to add retail partners to the service.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Oct 30, 2014 Apple CEO Tim Cook Publicly Comes Out as Gay in Letter Declaring Support for Equality It's not likely to be a surprise to many people who have followed Apple and its CEO, but Tim Cook's public acknowledgement that he is gay marks a significant event in the business world. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Cook is the first Fortune 500 CEO to voluntarily come out as gay. In his letter on the magazine's website, Cook notes that he prefers not to think of himself as an activist, but believes in promoting equality and if his openness can help comfort or inspire others, it is worth the tradeoff of a measure of his personal privacy.   Read Full Article iOS 8 Now Installed on Over Half of Active iOS Devices Customer adoption of iOS 8 has been slower than other recent major iOS updates, but with iOS 8.1 launching last week and numerous iPhone 6 units making their way into the hands of consumers, iOS 8 has now passed the 50% mark as measured by App Store activity. To help users take advantage of some of the new features of iOS 8, especially Continuity features that allow Macs and iOS devices to work more seamlessly together, we've been publishing some how-to posts and videos on such topics as Instant Hotspot, Handoff, and AirDrop. Users with older machines that don't officially support Handoff have also been interested in the Continuity Activation Tool as a potential solution.   Read Full Article Next Version of Office for Mac Shown in Leaked Screenshots, Launch Planned for First Half of 2015 Microsoft has been quiet on its plans for Office for Mac, which has not seen a major update in four years, but it looks like the company is getting closer to releasing the next version of its productivity suite for OS X. Leaked screenshots of "Outlook 16" for Mac reveal a flatter look and a follow-up set of internal Microsoft presentation slides reveal closer feature parity and more consistent look with the Windows version of Office, while enhancing support for Microsoft's various cloud-based services. A leaked timeline indicates Microsoft is targeting the first half of next year for its next Office for Mac launch.   Read Full Article FTC Sues AT&T Over 'Misleading' Unlimited Data Throttling Practices While not strictly an Apple issue, an announcement by the Federal Trade Commission that it is investigating AT&T for throttling speeds of customers on unlimited data plans proved extremely popular with our readers. The FTC accused AT&T of insufficient disclosure of the throttling policy, which involves severe speed reductions of up to 80-90% for these exceeding certain data thresholds. For its part, AT&T has called the allegations "baseless", asserting that it has been "completely transparent" with its customers and that the policy has affected only 3% of customers with users receiving text message warnings before any throttling is applied.   Read Full Article Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Apple Over 2011 MacBook Pro Graphics Issues For nearly a year, we've been tracking the growing reports of graphics issues with 2011 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models, with affected users claiming the issue is a hardware defect related to soldering of the graphics chip and pleading with the company to institute a repair program to cover affected machines. But with Apple so far proving unwilling to address the issue, a class action lawsuit has now been filed on behalf of customers affected by the issue. The suit seeks to have Apple acknowledge the issue, assess potentially affected machines, and provide free repairs or reimbursement for past repairs to affected users.   Read Full Article AT&T Locking Apple Interchangeable SIMs in iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 With the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, Apple quietly introduced an Apple SIM, a multi-carrier SIM card that could potentially allow users to switch carriers as needed. The reality, however, is a bit more limited, with AT&T opting to lock SIM cards once they are activated for use on its network, forcing users to obtain a new SIM card if they wish to switch to another network. T-Mobile CEO John Legere addressed the issue in an interview earlier this week, touting his carrier's policy that gives users complete flexibility to join or leave T-Mobile's network. Apple marketing vice president Greg Joswiak noted in a separate interview that the Apple SIM grew out of a desire for customer convenience but that with phone purchases still generally tied to carriers, users should not expect the Apple SIM concept to expand to the iPhone over the near term.   Read Full Article

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New iPads, 27" Retina iMac, Mac Mini, OS X Yosemite, Apple Pay, and More - MacRumors

Apple Launches New iPads, 27" Retina iMac, Updated Mac Minis, Apple Pay, OS X Yosemite, and More While Apple's media event last Thursday may not have been as highly anticipated as September's iPhone 6 and Apple Watch event, the company still found plenty to pack into the sequel. Take a look back at our archived live coverage of the October event or check out the full video posted by Apple.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Oct 23, 2014 Apple Launches iPad Air 2 with Thinner Profile, Touch ID, and A8X Processor The highlight of last week's event for many people was the iPad Air 2, a thinner and more powerful version of Apple's flagship 9.7-inch tablet. Apple began taking pre-orders for the device on Friday and those shipments have started arriving while the company has also started selling them in stores. Early reviews have praised the iPad Air 2's thinner design, more vibrant display, and fast performance, but question whether it marks a big enough leap forward to attract consumers amid continued declines in sales. Benchmarks have revealed the iPad Air 2 is up to 68% faster than the original iPad Air and even 55% faster than the iPhone 6, thanks to the new iPad's triple-core A8X chip. A bump to 2 GB of RAM should also help cut down on reloading Safari tabs.   Read Full Article Apple Announces iMac with Retina 5K Display for $2,500 Apple's big Mac announcement last week was a new 27-inch Retina "5K" iMac boasting a 5120 x 2880 display and starting at $2499. The machine was quickly praised for its display, and benchmarks have shown that it outperforms non-Retina iMacs and even the low-end Mac Pro due to high-end Haswell chips used in the the new machine. Apple touted pricing on the new iMac, noting that high-quality 4K displays alone can cost in the range of $3000, but those hoping to use one of the new iMacs as an external 5K display for another computer will find that to not be an option. Current display connectivity standards don't support 5K resolutions over single cables, and for that same reason a standalone 27-inch Retina Thunderbolt display from Apple is unlikely until at least late next year when next-generation DisplayPort/Thunderbolt is fully supported.   Read Full Article Apple Releases iOS 8.1 With Apple Pay Support, SMS Relay, Camera Roll, and More This Monday saw the release of iOS 8.1, bringing a number of new features including the new Apple Pay payments system, text message forwarding to Macs, Instant Hotspot, the return of Camera Roll in the Photos app, a public beta of iCloud Photo Library, and more. Apple Pay in particular has been a popular topic since its launch on Monday, with readers interested in seeing how to set up the service and examples of it in action. Apple Pay works both in stores and in apps, and while there have been a few glitches in the early days, Apple Pay seems to be working well for most users.   Read Full Article OS X Yosemite Hits the Mac App Store as a Free Download Shortly after the conclusion of Thursday's media event, Apple released OS X Yosemite to the public via the Mac App Store. The free update brings a new look and a number of new features to the Mac operating system. Among the features are Mac support for iCloud Drive, new Mail features such as Mail Drop and Markup, and a host of "Continuity" features to make it easier for users to move among Mac and iOS devices mid-task. Yosemite also brings new support for Notification Center widgets and extensions such as share sheets to enhance utility.   Read Full Article Apple Releases New Mac Mini Starting at $499 After nearly two years without an update, Apple finally released a new Mac mini at last week's event. While the update did bring a new, lower starting price of $499, many Mac mini fans were underwhelmed by the specs and the lack of a redesign. Apple also discontinued the server edition of the Mac mini that had previously offered support for dual hard drives, and the machine's RAM is no longer user upgradeable.   Read Full Article Apple Releases iPad Mini 3 with Touch ID Home Button  While the iPad Air received a significant overhaul in the form of the iPad Air 2 last week, the iPad mini saw a much smaller update including only a Touch ID home button and a new gold color option. The new iPad mini 3 is otherwise identical to the iPad mini 2 released last year and which Apple is still selling in lower-capacity options at significantly lower pricing. As a result many reviewers are actually recommending the iPad mini 2 over the iPad mini 3, finding the $100 premium for the new model at the 16 GB level not worthwhile simply for Touch ID.   Read Full Article

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Apple Leaks New iPad Air and Mini with Touch ID, Bose (and Soon Fitbit) Axed from Apple Stores, Jony Ive Interview - MacRumors

Apple's iPad User Guide for iOS Confirms iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3 With Touch ID Apple's media event is right around the corner, and while rumors about new iPads have been circulating for some time, the company itself has now slipped up and confirmed in prematurely posted user guide screenshots that it will be launching new "iPad Air 2" and "iPad mini 3" models, both equipped with Touch ID. Tune in this Thursday, October 16 at 10:00 AM Pacific for Apple's media event where it is expected to show off not only the new iPads but also new iMacs while also providing a final look at OS X Yosemite before its public debut. Apple's rumored 12-inch Retina MacBook Air will reportedly not be making an appearance at the event. MacRumors will have full coverage on our site, with running updates also going out through our @MacRumorsLive Twitter account and highlights on our main @MacRumors feed.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Oct 15, 2014 Apple Removes Bose Audio Products From Retail Stores, Fitbit Next Last week, MacRumors received word that Apple was planning to end sales of Bose audio products in its retail stores, and the company has now done so in both physical and online stores. The exact reason for the removal is unknown, but Bose competes with Apple's recently acquired Beats brand. Recent tensions between the two companies have included a now-dismissed patent lawsuit and a Bose sponsorship deal with the NFL that has seen players fined for wearing Beats headphones with visible logos on camera. Apple's retail store purge may not be limited to Bose, as Apple is reportedly also planning to end sales of Fitbit activity tracking products in the coming months. Apple is rolling out its own Apple Watch with fitness tracking features early next year.   Read Full Article iPad Air 2 Part Leaks Point to A8X Chip, 2GB RAM, 16GB Storage Option Apple may have leaked its Touch ID-equipped iPad Air 2, but other details on the device have also been covered in recent rumors. A series of photos published over the weekend revealed the device's logic board with A8X chip and a Touch ID button, while a subsequent closeup photo revealed a number of details on the logic board including the A8X chip, 2 GB of RAM, and a 16 GB storage option. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims the device will be in short supply, and MacRumors has heard Apple is planning to make the new models available starting Friday, October 24. A new Retina iPad mini is also coming alongside the iPad Air 2, although Kuo and others have reported that changes will be minor with the exception of Touch ID. Apple has also been rumored for some time to be working on a larger 12.9-inch iPad, but that device is not expected until next year and Apple has reportedly even delayed production on it to allow its manufacturing partners to focus on increasing iPhone 6 Plus supplies.   Read Full Article Jony Ive Details Apple Design Process, iPhone 6 Design Choices in New Interview Apple design chief Jonathan Ive sat down for a rare interview at a Vanity Fair summit last week, revealing some details about his relationship with Steve Jobs, the Apple design process, and specific design choices related to the iPhone 6. Ive also addressed Chinese phone manufacturer Xiaomi, which is having strong success closely mimicking Apple's designs, with Ive calling copied designs such as those used by Xiaomi "theft and lazy".   Read Full Article Apple Releases Sixth OS X Yosemite Public Beta, Third Golden Master Candidate for Developers Apple this week released its sixth public beta of OS X Yosemite, closely following the third golden master candidate seeded to developers late last week. Changes are few at this point as Apple works to fix the biggest remaining bugs prior to public release later this month. Apple is expected to provide a final look at OS X Yosemite at Thursday's media event before announcing official release timing, which could come as soon as immediately following the event. Apple has already begun approving Mac App Store apps with Yosemite-specific features, indicating that a release is indeed imminent.   Read Full Article Walgreens Planning for October 18 Apple Pay Launch One final item Apple may address at this week's media event is Apple Pay, the new mobile payments initiative announced at the company's iPhone event last month. The company has said the service will launch in October and has been testing an iOS 8.1 version that has hidden Apple Pay functionality. A launch indeed appears imminent, as Apple Pay partner Walgreens is notifying staff of a planned October 18 launch and Apple has begun lining up training for its own staff. Despite a number of high-profile retail partners for Apple Pay, many others are hesitant to sign on. Still, with Apple Pay being built on top of existing NFC wireless technology, many of these retailers are likely to come on board in the future as they update their point-of-sale systems. Apple has received a decent amount of praise from the payments industry for its Apple Pay implementation, with credit card issuing banks confident in the security mechanisms based on Touch ID and tokenization.   Read Full Article

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iPad and Mac Event October 16, iOS 8.1 Coming Soon, Beats Banned by NFL, Sapphire Partner GT Declares Bankruptcy - MacRumors

Apple Invites Media to October 16 Event: 'It's Been Way Too Long' It's now official: Apple will be holding a media event on Thursday, October 16 where the company is expected to show off new iPads, some new Macs, a final look at OS X Yosemite, and maybe a few more surprises. We'll have full coverage of the event as Apple looks to fill out its product lineup heading into the busy holiday shopping season.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Oct 08, 2014 Apple Seeds Second iOS 8.1 Beta to Developers: Bluetooth Fix and Apple Pay Incoming Apple this week seeded its second developer build of iOS 8.1, with the rapid turnaround suggesting the company is moving quickly toward a public release later this month. Visible changes are few, but the update is said to fix Bluetooth issues involving pairing with vehicle systems and other accessories. While not yet showing up for testing, iOS 8.1 is also including several hidden references to Apple Pay, which Apple has said will be launching sometime this month. A parallel development process on the Apple TV software looks to be preparing the device to serve as a HomeKit hub to help users remotely control devices around their homes via their iOS devices.   Read Full Article Apple Releases Second OS X Yosemite Golden Master Candidate to Developers, Public Beta 5 A week after releasing an initial golden master candidate for OS X Yosemite, Apple this week pushed out a second candidate as the company works to take care of any remaining issues before the new operating system's public release later this month. Apple separately released a new iTunes 12 build for Yosemite testers last week, continuing to polish the revamped version of its media management software.   Read Full Article NFL Players Banned From Wearing Beats Headphones on Camera As part of a new marketing deal between the National Football League and Bose, players are now banned from wearing headphones made by Apple-owned Beats while in the presence of television cameras. The ban extends to television interviews during training camp, practices, and game days. The Beats brand has been popular with athletes and the company has been successful with marketing campaigns focused on athletes using Beats headphones, but Bose has clearly made it a priority to pursue this new marketing deal with the NFL to boost its own presence while minimizing Beats.   Read Full Article Apple's Sapphire Partner GT Advanced Technologies Files for Bankruptcy In a move that took many observers including Apple by surprise, sapphire producer GT Advanced Technologies filed for bankruptcy this week, announcing that it was running short of cash and needed protection from creditors as it restructures its business. Apple and GT partnered on a massive production facility in Arizona, but Apple elected not to use sapphire display covers on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as had been rumored. Technical difficulties on GT's part reportedly led to Apple withholding the final $139 million installment of a massive loan to assist GT in setting up the operation, putting the sapphire producer into a difficult position, although Apple is said to still be helping GT to meet its milestones. The bankruptcy development is unlikely to affect Apple Watch, as Apple has several suppliers it can work with to provide sapphire for the higher-end models using the material.   Read Full Article First CarPlay-Compatible In-Dash Systems Now Available From Pioneer It's been a long time coming, but Apple's CarPlay is now making its way into the hands of mainstream consumers with Pioneer's release of new firmware bringing the feature to a number of the company's aftermarket in-dash systems. Demos and early reviews of CarPlay have been largely positive, although it will take some time for apps to add compatibility, with Spotify being the first third-party app to go live with it. The CarPlay rollout comes at a fortunate time for Apple, as the AAA just released a study showing the standard Siri Eyes Free system from iOS 7 to be relatively distracting to drivers due to high complexity and low intuitiveness.   Read Full Article LTE Speeds of iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s Compared in New Video A new comparison of LTE data speeds on the iPhone 6 and 5s shows just how much faster the latest iPhones can be due to the new Qualcomm modem supporting LTE Advanced technology. The study shows the iPhone 6 topping 100 Mbps while the iPhone 5s manages roughly 35 Mbps in the same location. The test follows a similar comparison of Wi-Fi speeds between the two generations, with new 802.11ac support in the iPhone 6 nearly tripling data speeds when connecting to routers supporting the standard.   Read Full Article This Week's Deals: Free Pokemon Booster Pack, $100 Target Gift Card With iPad Air, Best Buy MacBook Discounts Pokemon fans playing the Pokemon TCG Online trading card game for iPad or other platforms can use the following redemption code for a free booster pack: MACRUMORS-SEPT-POKEMON-TCGO-APP. The bonus offer expires this Friday, so don't delay! On the hardware side, Target is offering a $100 gift card bonus with the purchase of any iPad Air model, so if you don't feel a need to wait until Apple's expected announcement of new iPads next week, this would be a good buying option. Best Buy is also offering $50-$125 off of Apple notebook models.

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