Apple Insider – Page 105

Posted on August 12, 2019 by — Leave a comment

TP-Link cancels HomeKit plan for Kasa smart plug mini

By William Gallagher
Monday, August 12, 2019, 03:01 am PT (06:01 am ET)

Following previous pledges to support HomeKit in its Kasa range, TP-Link has now revealed that its popular accessory will not be updated to work with Apple’s system.

TP-Link’s Kasa Smart Plug Mini

Electronics manufacturer TP-Link will no longer bring HomeKit support to its Kasa Smart Plug Mini. Previously, the company had promised support when unveiling the range at CES in January 2019. At the same time, the company had also claimed that existing devices would be updated to work with HomeKit early in the year. However, following months of delays, TP-Link has now cancelled plans to support Apple’s system.

The news has not been formally announced, but rather was spotted by a Reddit user in a company support FAQ document.

“Due to changes in our roadmap, the Kasa Smart Plug Mini (HS105) smart plug will not offer support for Apple HomeKit,” says TP-Link’s document.

“Despite the change in direction for this specific SKU,” it continues, “our team is committed to the development of innovative smart home solutions that will continue to delight our customers around the globe.”

The Kasa Smart Plug Mini was going to be a significant boost to HomeKit because of the company’s deals with Amazon. The retailer periodically offered the plug for only $15 when bought with an Echo speaker, so Amazon’s rival system would actually have brought HomeKit into more homes.

It’s not known yet whether the company is abandoning HomeKit for all devices or solely for this one product. Nor are there any details about whether there will be any recourse for customers who bought the Kasa Smart Plug Mini in the expectation that HomeKit was coming.

AppleInsider has reached out to TP-Link for more details.

Posted on August 10, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple’s iOS Contacts app claimed to be vulnerable to SQLite hack

Researchers at security conference Def Con 2019 demonstrated a method of exploiting regular database searches to produce malicious results, and used Apple’s standard iOS Contacts app to prove it.

Apple’s iOS Contacts is one of the many applications that uses SQLite

Security firm Check Point has demonstrated a vulnerability in the industry-standard SQLite database format which can be exploited. Speaking at Def Con 2019, the company showed the technique being used to manipulate Apple’s iOS Contacts app. Searching the Contacts app under these circumstances can be enough to make the device run malicious code.

“SQLite is the most wides-spread database engine in the world,” said the company in a statement. “It is available in every operating system, desktop and mobile phone. Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Android are popular users of SQLite.”

“In short, we can gain control over anyone who queries our SQLite-controlled database,” they continued.

When you search for a contact or look up information in any app, you are really searching a database and very commonly that will be using SQLite.

Documented In a 4,000-word report seen by AppleInsider, the company’s hack involved replacing one part of Apple’s Contacts app and it also relied on a known bug that has hasn’t been fixed four years after it was discovered.

“Wait, what? How come a four-year-old bug has never been fixed?” write the researchers in their document. “This feature was only ever considered vulnerable in the context of a program that allows arbitrary SQL from an untrusted source and so it was mitigated accordingly. However, SQLite usage is so versatile that we can actually still trigger it in many scenarios.”

In other words, the bug has been considered unimportant because it was believed it could only be triggered by an unknown application accessing the database, and in a closed system like iOS, there are no unknown apps. However, Check Point’s researchers then managed to make a trusted app send the code to trigger this bug and exploit it.

They replaced a specific component of the Contacts app and found that while apps and any executable code has to have gone through Apple’s startup checks, an SQLite database is not executable.

“Persistency [keeping the code on the device after a restart] is hard to achieve on iOS,” they said, “as all executable files must be signed as part of Apple’s Secure Boot. Luckily for us, SQLite databases are not signed.”

Detail from the Check Point team’s hack documentation

They had to have access to the unlocked device to install this replacement for part of Contacts. After that, though, they were able to choose what they wanted to happen when the Contacts database was searched.

For the purpose of the demonstration, they just had the app crash. The researchers said that they could have crafted the app to steal passwords.

“We established that simply querying a database may not be as safe as you expect,” they said. “We proved that memory corruption issues in SQLite can now be reliably exploited.”

“Our research and methodology have all been responsibly disclosed to Apple,” they concluded.

This is not the first time that a problem in an SQLite database has resulted in a bug, nor one that remained unfixed for years.

Posted on August 10, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Rumor: iPad Pro with triple-lens camera, iPad with dual-lens shooter to launch in October

By Mikey Campbell
Friday, August 09, 2019, 07:05 pm PT (10:05 pm ET)

An unconfirmed rumor out of China this week claims Apple plans to debut new iPad Pro and iPad variants in October, both of which will move from single-lens rear cameras to multi-sensor arrays.

Citing a Chinese supply chain source, Mac Otakara on Saturday reports Apple’s next-generation iPad Pro could adopt a triple-lens camera array, while a 10.2-inch entry-level iPad might benefit from a dual-sensor solution similar to iPhone XS.

Both models are rumored to launch in October, the person said.

AppleInsider was unable to confirm the veracity of Mac Otakara’s claims.

The Japanese publication has a decent track record in predicting Apple’s hardware moves, often gleaning information from third-party case makers made privy to leaked schematics in the months prior to a major product unveiling.

As for the triple- and dual-lens iPads, Mac Otakara’s source said diagrams of related accessories are currently “floating around.” Whether the devices in question are official Apple products or third-party add-ons is unknown.

Adopting multi-sensor rear-facing cameras in two new iPads would be an unprecedented move for Apple, as the company has yet to migrate dual-lens shooters to its tablet line despite first integrating the technology in 2016’s iPhone 7 Plus. The setup, which incorporates a wide-angle and “telephoto” lens, was later used in 2017’s iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, and last year’s iPhone XS and XS Max.

In February, noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted an iPad mini refresh and said he expected the existing 9.7-inch iPad, last updated in March 2018, to gain a 10.2-inch LCD screen. Apple subsequently released a revamped iPad mini in March alongside a new 10.5-inch iPad Air, the latter of which effectively usurped the second-generation 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

Apple’s iPad Pro has not been updated since the line received a massive redesign with a full-face display and Face ID in October 2018, while the most recent 9.7-inch iPad variant saw release in March 2018. Both models are due for a refresh.

If today’s rumor is true, Apple’s iPad Pro and iPad lines will sport camera technology commensurate to that of their iPhone contemporaries for the first time. This year’s top-end iPhone, anticipated to launch in September, is widely rumored to benefit from a triple-sensor camera design boasting a new super-wide angle lens.

Posted on August 9, 2019 by — Leave a comment

AppleInsider is growing, are you a good fit for our team?

By AppleInsider Staff
Thursday, August 01, 2019, 12:49 pm PT (03:49 pm ET)

AppleInsider is looking for passionate, energetic journalists with the determination to build and break influential stories on all things Apple.

In this role, you’ll help drive one of the top technology publications on the Internet by keeping your finger on the pulse of the industry —whether it’s dropping a bombshell story of your own regarding the iPhone maker, or being the first to cover and contextualize and insightful analysis of stories originating elsewhere.

As the next generation of Apple users immerse themselves in the company’s ecosystem, you must earn their trust as their go-to expert, with deep knowledge of the company’s storied history, current initiatives, and next steps.

Working at AppleInsider provides a major platform for a writer to establish a voice and distinct personality while connecting with a tech savvy worldwide audience of millions. This is a challenging and rewarding position that demands skill, expediency, and attention to detail in conjunction with the ability to collaborate and communicate with staff, plus help manage others in a fast-paced environment.

It isn’t enough to just regurgitate a press release these days. You must have the knowledge and wisdom to educate readers on current events and technological innovations as they pertain to the average user of Apple products and the company’s investor base. Comprehensive knowledge of all things Apple is not a qualification for this position in its own right. Ideal candidates must be skilled in the art of story telling, capturing and communicating the essence of each story to our vast audience.

This is a remote position, offering candidates the convenience of no commute. All locations and preferred work times will be considered.

Applicants must have:

At least three years prior experience delivering clean, concise copy for a fast-paced online publication.

A gift for quickly crafting headlines that not only capture the essence of a story at hand, but lure in readers with accuracy and precision.

A fundamental understanding of SEO and how to enrich Stories and Headlines with best SEO practices.

A healthy addiction to Social Media, especially as it pertains to Apple.

Proficiency in authoring AP-styled news copy and the willingness to bring yourself up to speed rapidly.

Not just technical aptitude with Apple products, but a keen understanding of how the company evolved over time, and how that pertains to today’s news.

The proven ability to produce accurate, exciting content under constant deadlines, week-in and week-out.

Basic HTML skills.

An infectious drive as a self-starter that inspires other team members.

Bonus Qualifications

While not necessary to apply, these additional qualifications would be seen as a bonus:

Ability to travel at times

Supervisory experience

Podcasting experience

Mac or iOS Development experience

Close proximity to Silicon Valley

Comprehensive understanding of financial markets

To apply, send us an email with your resume in plain text, and links to previous work.

Posted on August 8, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple facing antitrust examination in Russia

Russia has joined the list of countries taking a look at alleged antitrust law violations by Apple, this time, over removal of parental monitoring applications from the App Store.

Apple's Screen Time in iOS 12 on assorted devices

The latest investigation surrounds Apple’s withdrawal of parental monitoring applications on iOS. Cybersecurity company Kapersky Lab filed the complaint with the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service on March 19 following the removal of the firm’s Safe Kids application.

“From our point of view, Apple appears to be using its position as platform owner and supervisor of the sole channel for delivering apps to users of the platform to dictate terms and prevent other developers from operating on equal terms with it,” Kaspersky said. “As a result of the new rules, developers of parental control apps may lose some of their users and experience financial impact. Most important, however, it is the users who will suffer as they miss out on some critical security features. The market for parental control apps will head toward a monopoly and, consequently, stagnation.”

Apple has been removing many of the parental monitoring apps since the fall 2018 release of iOS 12, which not just contained Apple’s own Screen Time routines, but also revised the terms of using Mobile Device Management (MDM) routines. Apple says that the pulled monitoring applications were using MDM intended for enterprise improperly, and in violation of the developer’s rules.

Prior to app withdrawal, including in Kapersky’s case, developers found to be using the MDM in violation of Apple’s guidelines were given 30 days to fix the issue and submit an app update. Some did modify apps, losing some functionality in the process —but others did not and had their wares removed as a result.

“Parents shouldn’t have to trade their fears of their children’s device usage for risks to privacy and security, and the App Store should not be a platform to force this choice,” Apple said. “No one, except you, should have unrestricted access to manage your child’s device.”

In a Newsroom post in April Apple also denied claims that the removals are related to its own Screen Time feature.

“Apple has always supported third-party apps on the App Store that help parents manage their kids’ devices,” the company said. “Contrary to what The New York Times reported over the weekend, this isn’t a matter of competition. It’s a matter of security.”

Reuters reports that Kapersky believes that Apple’s App Store guidelines allowed for the company’s use of MDM. However, the company also claims that it wasn’t sure how to get Apple’s permission to use it the way it wanted.

Apple is fighting antitrust allegations all over the world. In the United States, the bipartisan investigation by the House Antitrust Subcommittee aims to examine “platform gatekeepers” and “dominant firms,” including how much control they have over their respective markets. At its launch, Chairman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) called the growth of monopoly power on the U.S. Economy “one of the most pressing economic and political challenges we face today,” with market power of digital markets presenting “a whole new set of dangers.”

In Europe, Apple also faces a complaint from Spotify via the European Commission over Apple’s share of Spotify’s subscriptions, as well as other obstacles that make it harder for streaming services to compete with Apple Music. For example, Spotify cannot replace Apple Music as the default service on Apple’s HomePod, giving Spotify a disadvantage.

Posted on August 7, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Apple quietly initiated a record $24 billion in stock repurchases during June quarter

Since 2012, Apple has been buying back shares at the extraordinary rate of around $10 billion per quarter. A year ago it picked up the pace to around $20 billion per quarter. After a reprieve in the March quarter, the company has resumed its buyback frenzy with its largest-ever quarterly funding: $24 billion in the June quarter. Here’s why.

Apple’s chief financial officer Luca Maestri noted in the June earnings call that “we returned over $21 billion to shareholders during the quarter, including $17 billion through open-market repurchases of almost 88 million Apple shares and $3.6 billion in dividends and equivalents.”

A frantic pace of stock buybacks

Maestri’s figures indicate Apple bought back its shares at a price of around $197. Over the last nine months, Apple reported buying a total of 252.6 million shares of its common stock for $49.2 billion, at nearly $195 per share.

That price is far higher than the lowest troughs Apple stock reached over the winter where phony reports claimed nobody was buying iPhones anymore and in particular that nobody was buying high-end iPhones—at a time when it was abundantly clear that most of the iPhones being sold were high-end models, and that the worst news for Apple was that its replacement rate was slowing down as economically battered buyers in China simply deferred new purchases into the future.

But why is Apple buying back shares seemingly regardless of their price? It appears clear that Apple expects its share price to grow much higher in the future. So rather than carefully timing its repurchases to only occur when the stock price hits its lowest levels, Apple continues to buy shares back nearly as fast as it can all the time, even as the stock price jumps up and down as it continues to increment higher.

Since 2012, Apple has now funded a total of $271.3 billion in stock buybacks. Most of these shares were repurchased at what would today be an incredible discount. While analysts have occasionally picked out a given trough in Apple’s stock price and declared that its buybacks were a huge mistake, it’s hard to imagine in hindsight how Apple could have better invested $271 billion of its past iPhone profits.

Effectively spending lots of money is hard work. Apple has been able to spend at most around $4 billion per quarter on highly effective R&D. Further, Apple’s 10K noted that it “anticipates utilizing approximately $10.0 billion for capital expenditures during 2019, which includes product tooling and manufacturing process equipment; data centers; corporate facilities and infrastructure, including information systems hardware, software and enhancements; and retail store facilities.”

Maintaining a cash pile of over $100 billion —actually $200 billion balanced with $100 billion in debt —is a liability, as it is extremely difficult to effectively invest that much money in anything productive. Apple is already leading the tech industry while spending a mere $10 billion annually on Capex and historically less than $15 billion annually on R&D. Its cash holdings are mostly invested in government and corporate debt securities and other safe investments that do not pay out a high rate of return.

So, Apple’s solution has been to buy up its own shares as rapidly as possible, effectively concentrating its value as a company for its shareholders. And at the same time, also paying out around $12 billion per year in dividends.

And yet, even as it funds a record $24 billion in share repurchases in the quarter, it also generated another $10 billion in net income in the quarter. Of all the problems that analysts invent for Apple, the most challenging thing the company faces is actually how to responsibly spend all of the money it is generating from leading the development of the world’s consumer technology.

Return of the ASR

The $17 billion that Maestri outlined for the June quarter wasn’t even the total buyback spend initiated in the quarter. In addition to the cash that was used to actively buy shares directly, Apple also initiated its first Accelerated Share Repurchase in over a year. Under an ASR, Apple pays an investment bank to buy back shares on its behalf. The bank effectively shorts the stock held by its clients and then later buys new shares to replace them, assuming the risk itself while Apple retires its shares at a planned cost per share.

Apple has previously performed ASRs in addition to buying back shares directly. However, over the last year, it stopped doing ASRs and began funding buybacks directly even faster —that pace of $20 billion or greater per quarter. In the March quarter, these buybacks slowed down to $8 billion, but that has now reversed with the largest ever buyback Apple has funded in a quarter: $12 billion in direct buybacks and a $12 billion ASR.

The reasons for doing an ASR might involve enabling its partner bank to buy up shares during the blackout period where Apple itself can’t buy shares. It’s also considered to be a financial engineering effort to reach a specific metric.

Apple doesn’t need to cover up its real-world performance. Despite being hit by unfavorable currency exchange rates, a chaotic tariff war, and a rollercoaster ride of economic uncertainty in its important Chinese market, Apple has expanded and enhanced its overall businesses so much that its new sales alone have made up for the weakness hitting its largest segment of iPhone sales —something most analysts claimed would be impossible.

So while it spends as much money as it can on buybacks, even using an investment bank to handle a massive ASR, Apple’s overall cash holdings are only slowly decrementing, even as it pays off debts incurred to finance earlier buybacks.

Apple currently has so much cash —$225 billion, half of which is balanced by debt holdings, meaning the company has $113 billion free and clear to spend —that it certainly could use it to play financial engineering tricks to make its performance as a company look better than it is. However, it doesn’t need to: Apple’s real-world performance is incredibly far ahead of all of its peers.

Why Apple is investing in AAPL

In the June quarter, Apple suffered through a sales slump, particularly in China, that resulted in a 13 percent drop from last year’s peak revenues and an 8.5% drop in profits. But that compares to the much larger collapse in Samsung Mobile performance—an incredible 41.6% collapse in operating profits—which hit its premium flagship sales so hard that its Mobile IM segment reported profits of just 11% that of Apple. Huawei also suffered through a bleak period of no growth, caused mostly by U.S. policy blocking its sales and partnerships with American companies.

And while research groups are desperately trying to portray Apple as being troubled due to the volumes of phones it sells compared to all other vendors on earth collectively, Apple’s lock on premium sales to the world’s most affluent buyers is making it vastly more profitable than every other phone company put together. Any comparison of market share that frets over how many phones Apple is selling while ignoring the real value of those phone sales is worthless.

Apple doesn’t have to burn any cash to create the smokescreen impression that it is performing extremely well in a difficult environment. Apple is both building as a manufacturer and retailer, and as a platform vendor, and as a sales organization, and —somewhat invisibly —as a training organization that’s teaching incredible numbers of people worldwide how to use its platforms to build third-party tools for its platforms.

The executive team with the clearest picture of Apple’s future prospects is actively investing the company’s cash resources as rapidly as effectively possible in the company’s expansion, but the company is simply generating so much cash that it is effectively forced to return the excess to shareholders as efficiently as possible by increasing the value of their investment.

Posted on August 6, 2019 by — Leave a comment

New Apple videos cover how to apply for and use Apple Card

By William Gallagher
Tuesday, August 06, 2019, 03:58 am PT (06:58 am ET)

Emphasizing the simplicity and speed of signing up, ten new videos from Apple cover applying for Apple Card directly in your iPhone’s Wallet app through using the titanium card at retail.

Alongside a limited release of the Apple Card for a small group of testers outside the company, Apple has released a series of 10 videos that not just details the remarkably few steps needed for you to apply, but how to activate the titanium card, how to get support, and more.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVFUocmDNVM&w=560&h=315]

To apply, Right now you need to have received an invitation before the feature is available in your Wallet app, but thereafter it’s a fast process.

Inside the Wallet app, there is a button with a plus sign at top right of the front screen. Tap this and all users go to a section that lets you add regular credit and debit cards. Those with invitations, however, also get an option to tap to add Apple Card.

Then you get a description of the card alongside optional information you can see about how Apple and Goldman Sachs Bank manage your data, plus details about the card’s rates and terms.

If you tap Continue, you’re shown a form with details such as contact information, date of birth and so on. Very nicely, that information is likely to have already been filled out for you because your device gathers it from your Apple ID. You can change or correct it here, then tap Next.

Apple’s video rather skips over a section now as it does not detail what you see as you wait to find out if you’ve been approved. Users who are already signed up report that this stage takes no more than a minute or two, though.

If you’re approved, the next screen you see will show you a summary of what your Apple Card is offering you. That will be the credit limit, the APR and the fact that there are no fees.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrybAHup-Sc&w=560&h=315]

Apple recommends that you check the fine print in the Offer Terms and Conditions, and that you should look into your credit score.

Assuming you want to go ahead, you tap Accept Apple Card and you’re done.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf95qO3av1M&w=560&h=315]

The card is immediately added to your iPhone, and also to your Apple Watch. It’s really been added to your Apple ID, so it’s even available in Safari.

One thing to note is that Apple tells you the Apple Card will “be automatically selected when you use Apple Pay.” That might not be what you want, so you’ll have to go through Wallet settings to change it.

Posted on August 5, 2019 by — Leave a comment

An iPhone with in-screen TouchID could ship as soon as 2021

By Mike Wuerthele
Monday, August 05, 2019, 03:41 am PT (06:41 am ET)

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo isn’t limiting himself to rumors about 2019 and 2020 phones, and has published one now predicting that the 2021 iPhone will have both Face ID and Touch ID.

In a note published on early Monday morning, Kuo predicts that the 2021 iPhone may adopt fingerprint on display (FOD) technology in 2021. The expected supplier of the technology is Qualcomm, using its ultrasonic technology, rather than other that have been developed over the last year or so.

Kuo believes that “four critical technical issues” will improve in the next 12 to 18 months. Limiting factors cited are module thickness, sensing area, power consumption, and lamination yield rate.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOgKilAjJuc&w=560&h=315]

Apple has filed patents on the technology, which Kuo believes proves Apple’s continued interest in implementing under-screen solutions. In April, Apple was granted a patent to turn the entire display into a fingerprint reader by taking advantage of acoustic imaging —exactly what Kuo has predicted here.

A slightly different implementation is apparently also in the works, using a series of pinholes in the display panel, which would allow for an optical sensor. It is less likely that this method will be used, according to Kuo, however.

Apple maintains that the chance of another face matching a stored user is about one in a million. Identical twins have on occasion fooled the system, and it is possible to train the system with a failed Face ID unlock and a PIN entry to identify two people that look substantively alike. Touch ID has a one in 50,000 unlock with somebody else’s fingerprint.

Posted on August 3, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Review: Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 is expensive with mediocre performance

The Microsoft Surface Book 2 is a hybrid 2-in-1 laptop that can be used as a tablet or a full blown laptop. But, given the performance, is it worth the money?

Microsoft Surface Book 2

The Surface Book is essentially parallel to the MacBook Pro lineup for Microsoft. There are 15-inch and 13.5-inch variants, and even though Microsoft has its own Surface Pro lineup, its specifications are not as powerful or as feature packed as the Book.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q85ioi2ksr0&w=560&h=315]

Top of the line Surface Book 2

The model under review is the top-of-the-line 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 with an 8th-generation i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD, and it has Intel’s UHD 620 GPU coupled with the discrete Nvidia GTX 1050. Our configuration sells for $3,000.

The Surface Book 2 is a little bit big for a 13-inch laptop at 12.3 x 9.1 x 0.9 inches versus the 13-inch MacBook Pro coming in at 12 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches. On paper it may not look all that drastic, but in reality it’s a noticeable difference.

The 13.5-inch PixelSense display on the Surface Book is stunning to look at, equipped with a 3000 x 2000 resolution which results in a taller display, making it perfect for browsing the web or creating documents. While the display looks beautiful in its own right, it’s just not as nice as the MacBook Pro’s version due to the fact it doesn’t have a P3 Wide Color Gamut, so colors aren’t as vibrant and color accurate. It’s still a good display, and it’s one of the best displays on a Windows laptop.

You can also disconnect the display from the keyboard and use the Surface Book 2 as a tablet —which you obviously can’t do with anything from Apple. Disconnecting it is super easy thanks to the dedicated button on the keyboard, and connecting it back to the keyboard is plug and play.

Microsoft Surface Book 2 in tablet mode

The Surface Book 2 also features 10-point multi-touch and is compatible with the Surface Pen, and Surface Dial which Apple doesn’t offer for any of their laptops. We unfortunately don’t have the Surface Pen or Dial to review alongside the Surface Book, but it is nice to have the option to use accessories to help get more out of the laptop.

The Surface Book 2 looks similar to its predecessor, using the same gray magnesium with a reflective Windows logo stamped on the back of the device. It’s a sturdy device, and a laptop that looks like it cost a lot of money.

The keyboard on the Surface Book 2 is great, it offers plenty of key travel, and it’s well spaced out for a 13-inch laptop. It’s a nice refreshing change from Apple’s butterfly keyboard which may end up breaking months after purchase.

Microsoft Surface Book 2

Battery life on the Surface Book 2 is rated for 13 hours, and during our two weeks of testing the laptop, it exceeded our expectations. From web browsing to 30-minute game sessions and watching videos, we never felt like we needed to be by a wall outlet and charge the laptop.

Can’t have everything

The trackpad is one of the best I’ve used on a Windows laptop, and as a daily MacBook Pro user, I appreciate having multi-touch gestures on the trackpad which allows me to use similar gestures as my MacBook Pro. Whether it’s pinch to zoom or showing all my open windows at once, it’s nice to have these features on a premium laptop.

What I’m not a fan of though are the speakers on the Surface Book 2, offering a mediocre experience at best. It distorts at high volume and lacks bass, and it doesn’t get very loud. The 12-inch MacBook sounds louder and clearer than the Surface Book 2, which is a huge disappointment for such a jam packed hybrid laptop.

Microsoft Surface Book 2

In terms of inputs and outputs, we have plenty of ports on the Surface Book 2 including two USB A ports, a full sized SDXC card reader, a USB-C 5-gigabit-per-second port and the Surface Book’s charging port. The charging port is magnetic, which is similar to Apple’s old MagSafe technology which I really like, but it really needs another USB-C port, or even better, a 40 gigabit-per-second Thunderbolt 3 port.

Performance is concerning

So when it comes to performance, the 8th generation quad-core i7 processor on this top of the line Surface Book 2 works really well in everyday tasks and some casual gaming.

In Geekbench 4 the Surface Book 2 scored 5,081 in single core, and 15,595 in multi-core which is in line with the base model 13-inch MacBook Pro that retails for just $1,299. Apple’s top-of-the-line 15-inch MacBook Pro scored 5,879 and 29,976 in single and multi-core tests, respectively, which is clearly a much faster device.

Geekbench 4 scores for Microsoft Surface Book 2

In Cinebench R20 we received a CPU score of 942 which is way below than the base model 13-inch MacBook Pro which posted a CPU score of 1,583 in Cinebench R20.

Cinebench R20 score

When it comes to its drive speeds we averaged a 2,500MB/s for its read speeds, and 1,200MB/s for its write speeds which is really fast for everyday operation, and gaming. The $1,299 base model 13-inch MacBook Pro tops out at around 495MB/s for its write speeds and around 1,350MB/s for its read speeds., while the top of the line 15-inch MacBook Pro tops out at 2,600MB/s for both its read and write speeds.

Gaming isn’t the Surface Book 2’s strong suit

In Unigine Heaven we received a score of 529, an average frames per second of 21, and a max frames per second of 48.3. Comparing that to Apple’s 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro. The base model 13-inch MacBook Pro received a score of 784, and an average frames per second of 31.1 with a max frames per second of 66.7, while the top-spec 15-inch MacBook Pro with Vega 20 graphics pulled in a max FPS of 147.4 and an average of 82.3 with an overall score of 2072.

When it comes to gaming, we installed some of the games we play occasionally on PC, and that’s Overwatch, Apex Legends, and Black Ops 4. We weren’t very optimistic about gaming on the GTX 1050, and with Overwatch we were able to play at a constant 60fps in 1080p with settings in Medium.

With Apex Legends and Black Ops 4, we were able to get 50 to 60fps in its lowest settings in 1080p, which isn’t terrible, but the game doesn’t look as good versus a laptop with a much higher-end graphics card. Gaming isn’t the Surface Book’s strong suit, and while it can run some popular titles in low to medium settings at 1080p, serious gamers may want to look elsewhere.

Gaming on Microsoft Surface Book 2

Gaming scores

Overall, the Surface Book 2 is a solid device for everyday tasks, and the best Windows two-in-one you can buy, but the hefty price tag of $3,000 is a bit concerning given the performance is similar to a $1300 MacBook Pro. The unique design, beautiful display, and 2-in-1 functionality is a refreshing change from a traditional laptop, but it’s hard to recommend the Surface Book 2 in 2019.

We think it’s best to wait for the next generation Surface Book or pick up the much more affordable base model 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

How to save on Microsoft’s Surface Book 2

Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 is currently on sale at top retailers, including Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo and Microsoft itself.

Shoppers looking for bonus perks can also take advantage of no interest financing offers at the above retailers or even a sales tax refund in eligible states at B&H with the Payboo Card.

Those in the market for a Mac can also save on Apple’s MacBook Pro with instant and exclusive promo code savings in the AppleInsider Apple Price Guides.

Posted on August 3, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Amazon, Google follow Apple’s lead on voice assistant review policies

Following Apple’s decision to temporarily halt Siri grading as it evaluates the program’s privacy safeguards, Amazon and Google this week followed suit and updated their respective policies on human reviews of recorded voice assistant audio.

Apple on Thursday suspended its Siri grading program, which seeks to make the virtual assistant more accurate by having workers review snippets of recorded audio, after a contractor raised privacy concerns about the quality control process.

Now, Apple’s competitors in the space, namely Google and Amazon, are making similar moves to address criticism about their own audio review policies.

Shortly after Apple’s announcement, Google in a statement to Ars Technica on Friday said it, too, halted a global initiative to review Google Assistant audio. Like Siri grading, Google’s process runs audio clips by human operators to enhance system accuracy.

Unlike Apple’s Siri situation, however, a contractor at one of Google’s international review centers leaked 1,000 recordings to VRT NWS, a news organization in Belgium. In a subsequent report in July, the publication claimed it was able to identify people from the audio clips, adding that a number of snippets were of “conversations that should never have been recorded and during which the command ‘OK Google’ was clearly not given.”

The VRT leak prompted German authorities to investigate Google’s review program and level a three-month ban on voice recording transcripts.

“Shortly after we learned about the leaking of confidential Dutch audio data, we paused language reviews of the Assistant to investigate. This paused reviews globally,” Google told Ars Technica.

Google did not divulge the halt to global reviews until Friday.

Amazon is also taking steps to temper negative press about its privacy practices and on Friday rolled out a new Alexa option that allows users to opt out of human reviews of audio recordings, Bloomberg reports. Enabling the feature in the Alexa app excludes recorded audio snippets from analysis.

“We take customer privacy seriously and continuously review our practices and procedures,” an Amazon spokeswoman said. “We’ll also be updating information we provide to customers to make our practices more clear.”

Amazon came under fire in April after a report revealed the company records, transcribes and annotates audio clips recorded by Echo devices in an effort to train its Alexa assistant.

While it may come as a surprise to some, human analysis of voice assistant accuracy is common practice in the industry; it is up to tech companies to anonymize and protect that data to preserve customer privacy.

Apple’s method is outlined in a security white paper (PDF link) that notes the company ingests voice recordings, strips them of identifiable information, assigns a random device identifier and saves the data for six months, over which time the system can tap into the information for learning purposes. Following the six-month period, the identifier is erased and the clip is saved “for use by Apple in improving and developing Siri for up to two years.”

Apple does not explicitly mention the possibility of manual review by human contractors or employees, nor does it currently offer an option for Siri users to opt out of the program. The company will address the latter issue in a future software update.