GDPR Privacy Update, WWDC Keynote, $50 iPhone Battery Credits, HomePod Sales - MacRumors

Brought to you by: Apple Sends Media Invites for WWDC Keynote on June 4 WWDC is right around the corner, and Apple this week issued media invitations for the keynote that will take place on Monday, June 4 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. MacRumors will be in attendance, so be sure to tune in for all our event coverage. Apple will also be live streaming the keynote. As for what to expect at WWDC, we'll have a full roundup next week, but in general we can expect a number of software-related announcements, almost certainly including new versions of all of Apple's operating systems. Our readers have been sharing their wishlists in forums, and we've summarized some of the most popular requests for iOS 12 and macOS 10.14. We'll have additional summaries for watchOS 5 and tvOS 12 in the coming days. One other hint we've heard comes from Apple SVP Craig Federighi, who teased that Apple will be sharing more on compatibility for the new Apple Filesystem (APFS) with Fusion Drives "very soon." We'll likely also see some hardware announcements, but details on those remain up in the air.   Read Full Article Sponsored Stories Live Up to Your Creative Potential With the Right Apps Your creative endeavors deserve a better toolkit, and with Setapp you can have it all. Setapp is 100+ applications available for a single monthly fee. Its collection includes top apps for drawing, photography and video making, music, writing, and blogging. You don't need to master complex tools to make art. Smart apps like Polarr and CameraBag Pro allow you to edit images and videos with ready presets. They will look pro and require no extra effort. Draw beautiful pieces with Tayasui Sketches, publish creative writings with Ulysses. Setapp takes care of the tools, inspiration is on you. Give it a go with a 7-day free trial. Visit Sponsor Popular Stories May 24, 2018 Apple Offering $50 Credit to Customers Who Paid for iPhone 6 and Later Battery Replacements From January to December 2017 Apple has announced that any customer who had the battery replaced on their iPhone 6 or later through Apple during 2017 will be eligible for a $50 rebate credit. The credits are an expansion of the battery replacement program launched on December 28, 2017 that is seeing Apple offer $29 battery replacements on eligible devices through the end of this year. The replacement program is the result of Apple's controversial move to throttle performance on older iPhones with degraded batteries in order to prevent the devices from unexpectedly shutting down. The throttling, initially rolled out in January 2017 with iOS 10.2.1, was intended to assist customers, but Apple came under fire for not adequately disclosing to users that a battery replacement would fix their shutdown or slowness issues.   Read Full Article Apple Sold an Estimated 600,000 HomePod Speakers During the First Quarter of 2018 Apple hasn't disclosed sales of its HomePod smart speaker, but that hasn't stopped analysts from trying to estimate how many units Apple has shipped since its February launch. According to Strategy Analytics, Apple shipped about 600,000 HomePods during the first quarter, giving the company about six percent of the global smart speaker market. Amazon continues to dominate the market with its Echo speakers at a range of price points, but Google is coming on quickly with its lineup. Apple's HomePod has undoubtedly been hampered by its premium $349 pricing and limited launch countries so far, but Apple says it has focused on sound quality in an effort to distinguish HomePod from cheaper competitors.   Read Full Article Google News vs. Apple News on iOS Google recently revamped its Google News service, including a redesigned app for iOS, and we took at look at what's new while also comparing it to Apple News.  The new look for Google News is rather similar to Apple News, with lots of white and a navigation bar along the bottom of the screen. Both apps have "For You" sections with personalized news recommendations, while Apple uniquely has a curated Spotlight section to help you find stories you might have otherwise missed. Google does have a couple of unique features in the form of a Full Coverage button to see a single topic from multiple angles, as well as a Newsstand section for subscribing to news and magazine sources.   Read Full Article Graphic Designer Envisions Apple Music With Simpler UI, Music History Stats, Group Playlists, and More The design of the Music app for iOS has been controversial since its 2016 redesign for iOS 10, but graphic designer Álvaro Pabesio has some great ideas for how it could be improved. It's just a concept design, so it's not based on anything Apple might actually roll out, but it's still a fantastic example of how some thoughtful design changes could have a major impact on usability for the app.   Read Full Article Apple Inks Deal With Volkswagen for Self-Driving Employee Shuttles While rumors over the past couple of years have suggested Apple was working on autonomous vehicles, more recent reports have tempered those expectations. Apple has reportedly abandoned plans for a full-on car, instead focusing on the software side to partner with existing car manufacturers. According to the latest report from The New York Times, talks with BMW and Mercedes failed to lead to partnerships, and instead Apple will be partnering with Volkswagen to develop autonomous vans for shuttling Apple employees between the company's Infinite Loop and Apple Park campuses in Cupertino.   Read Full Article GDPR Privacy Update As of May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) kicks into effect that outlines privacy guidelines for EU readers. We have been making changes to our privacy policy and data collection practices to come into compliance. We have updated our privacy policy here to be more transparent about our data collection policies. If you wish to opt out, the system will be in place tomorrow to allow you to disable certain cookies and tracking. If you have any questions, please email us at support@macrumors.com.   View Privacy Policy

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