Category: Apple Insider

Ive left Apple in 2019 to create his own independent design consultancy, LoveFrom, following nearly three decades at the company.

However, according to The New York Times, the companies decided not to renew their contract. While it’s unclear precisely what caused the split, chances are neither party was pleased with the current deal.

After all, Ive’s design firm had a habit of poaching designers from Apple.

Additionally, Apple executives were concerned over how much the company paid Ive.

And it was likely that Ive had grown tired of dealing with Apple. While working with Apple, LoveFrom wasn’t allowed to work on any projects deemed competitive to Apple.

It was learned recently that Ive had left Apple burnt out and tired in the wake of CEO Tim Cook’s numerous structural changes.

According to researchers at Gartner, Apple took fourth place in global shipments this year, holding 8.8% of the market. Apple shipped an estimated 6.37 million Macs in 2Q22 versus the 5.82 million from 2Q21.

Lenovo remained the dominant market share, at 24.8%, despite a 12.5% decline year-over-year.

HP and Dell held 18.8% and 18.5% of the global market, seeing a 27.5% and a 5.2% decline year-over-year, respectively.

Researchers at Gartner believe that Apple was the only manufacturer in the list to see growth in the past 12 months.

Apple’s largest growth was in America, where it grew 19.5% year-over-year, shipping 3.13 million units in the U.S. Its U.S. market share is now estimated to be 15.3%, versus the 10.5% it held in 2021.

IDC released its own estimates on Monday, claiming that Apple had actually declined 22.5% year-over-year, globally.

Research provided by these firms should be taken with a grain of salt, as it is difficult for researchers to deduce actual numbers. It is difficult to judge a firm’s accuracy as Apple does not provide unit sales for Mac at its quarterly investment calls.

Despite being available on the iPhone since the launch of iPhone 12, there’s still not a particularly vast swath of charging options on the market. Whether it is an accessory maker’s apprehension in committing to the standard or Apple’s lackadaisical certification process, users have limited options to choose from.

We’ve already covered those from Belkin and Mophie, but Hyper is throwing its hat in the ring with an Apple-certified option as well.

Hyper’s HyperJuice four-in-one is a compact charger tree helping you power up multiple devices in a compact space. Like most charging trees, it has a wide base and a stem in the middle with additional chargers.

The base is a matte black plastic, while the stem is made from a polished silver metal. Down the back of the metal stem is a seam where the cable gets routed.

Qi chargers

Unlike most other charging trees and MagSafe multi-chargers, Hyper offers a four-in-one solution. In practicality, that means you’re able to charge an iPhone, an Apple Watch, a set of AirPods, and a second Qi-enabled device.

There are users out there who have two phones to charge — such as a personal and a work device — or families with non-MagSafe devices that need to be charged. In those situations, this is massively helpful and is one less thing that needs to occupy your power outlets.

The MagSafe charging pad is Apple-certified and can reach faster speeds than most magnetic Qi chargers that try to emulate the MagSafe experience. The Apple Watch puck is certified as well.

Rotating our iPhone

When you place your iPhone on the MagSafe puck, it is free to rotate to any angle. This is great for portrait mode while bedside or for twisting it to landscape while watching a movie.

On the other hand, unlike the Belkin model, the MagSafe puck itself can pivot. It can angle your iPhone upwards or straight on, emphasizing the versatility of this device.

The last major feature is that the entire thing is collapsible. When you need to travel, the stem folds flat, so it can quickly slide into your bag.

Bundled with the HyperJuice charger is a 36W power adapter with a barrel connector. These are a bit cheaper to include than a USB-C brick.

HyperJuice power supply

It does have the benefit of having swappable receptacle connectors, so you can change them based on your location worldwide. It also is helpful if you should travel with the HyperJuice four-in-one.

The MagSafe charger is capable of up to 15W of power. The AirPods and Apple Watch chargers should max out at 5W each but typically will sit around 3W. Then you have the remaining Qi charging pad.

This last charger can charge at up to 15W on devices that support it. Apple users, of course, will be limited to only 7.5W though when using with an iPhone.

AirPods charging

If your AirPods and Apple Watch charge at 3W each and you max out the Qi pad and MagSafe at 15W each, that would be exactly 36W of power draw — assuming no power was lost anywhere in the system.

The most likely scenario, if you’re trying to max everything out, is that you’ll run into a power bottleneck. 36W of power won’t be enough for everything to hit max speeds simultaneously.

iPhone and Apple Watch on HyperJuice 4-in-1

In reality, especially for Apple users, this shouldn’t be an issue. Most devices won’t hit max speeds and stay there for long; if they do, it won’t necessarily be all at the same time.

Since iPhones can’t utilize the 15W on the Qi charger, it’s even more of a non-issue.

The alternative is that Hyper gives users a choice. You can choose to use the 36W barrel connector that is included or you can substitute your own USB-C charger. The back of the charger has a USB-C input for more versatility.

Hyper says you need at least a 30W USB-C power supply but we’d recommend a bit more if you want to get the most out of your device.

If you’re looking for an official, Apple-certified MagSafe charger that can deliver up to 15W, your choices are lacking. Belkin, Mophie, and Nomad are the only notable brands to launch official MagSafe chargers thus far, and now Hyper is joining in.

Charging multiple devices

Between them, Hyper is your only choice if you want one that is capable of charging up to four devices. As we mentioned, it also happens to be incredibly versatile.

It can wirelessly charge a wide array of devices, can collapse down for travel, and has multiple power inputs — something we rarely see.

This easily makes the HyperJuice 4-in-1 the most capable MagSafe charger on the market — but it carries a price tag to match.

• Extremely versatile
• Collapsable design
• Premium construction and metal body
• Apple certified MagSafe and Apple Watch modules
• USB-C or DC input

• No USB-C charger included
• Expensive

In an escalation of an ongoing patent infringement war between Apple and Ericsson, Apple has fallen victim to a court decision in Bogota. The two companies are fighting over 5G patents owned by Ericsson, which Apple is alleged to have infringed upon.

The Juzgado 042 Civil del Circuito de Bogota in Colombia’s capital declared in April that Apple’s 5G hardware infringes on claim 13 of Colombian patent NC2019/0003681. FOSS Patents reports the patent, deemed to be standards-essential to 5G and granted to Ericsson in 2019, is said by the court to remain valid until December 2037.

After April’s infringement, Ericsson posted a bond of worth $50,000 the following month, in order for enforcement to take place. The court then ordered a preliminary injunction on July 6 impacting Apple Colombia S.A.S, the Cupertino company’s subsidiary in the country.

Under the injunction, Apple is banned from importing, selling, advertising, or otherwise commercializing any products infringing the patent, which means any 5G-equipped iPhone or iPad. Apple also has to “warn and communicate” with retailers, social media platforms, mass media, and other firms to ensure compliance.

The court also orders Colombia’s customs authority, the Direccion de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales, to prevent imports of the affected hardware.

Apple is appealing the ruling, but there is an unusual wrinkle to proceedings. Judge Ronald Neil Orozco Gomez decided that Apple cannot seek or enforce an “antisuit injunction” from a foreign country that can prevent or restrict the enforcement of the preliminary injunction.

The court order, a so-called “anti-antisuit injunction,” makes it hard for Apple to gain an antisuit injunction against Ericsson, as that would go against the court order.

Instead of trying to combat the Colombia order, Apple is instead trying to demand antisuit damages in the Eastern District of Texas. An emergency motion to the court on Friday had Apple claiming the injunction gives Ericsson “economic and logistical leverage” to pressure the company into giving up its litigation and paying Ericsson’s royalty demands.

The motion asks Chief Judge Rodney S. Gilstrap to rule that Ericsson must “indemnify Apple from any fines, fees, penalties, and costs it incurs as a result of the Colombian injunction.”

The logic behind the move is that Apple’s motion isn’t seeking an antisuit injunction, but instead an antisuit damages claim, which would technically appease the Colombian court’s limitations.

In a filing, Musk’s lawyers claimed that Twitter did not respond properly or fully to multiple requests for information about the quantity of fake accounts on the platform. Musk’s team asserts that the data is fundamental to the platform’s business performance.

At stake is obviously the deal, but also a $1 billion kick-out fee that Musk must pay if the deal does not conclude. The legal filing to the SEC on Friday suggests that he should not be on the hook for that, alleging that Twitter did not cooperate.

Suits and counter-suits are expected to be filed shortly. It’s not clear when any of this will lurch to a final conclusion.

In April, Twitter announced that it has accepted Elon Musk’s offer to purchase the company for $44 billion, for $54.20 a share.

According to a report by Reuters on Friday afternoon, Twitter’s shares fell 6% as a result. At time of publication, the stock is sitting at about $34.60 a share.

However, in May, Musk announced that he would temporarily halt his purchase of the social media while he sought to confirm how many accounts on the platform were spam accounts.

He then insisted that he would walk away from the deal if fake accounts comprised more than 5% of Twitter’s total user base.

Bret Taylor, chairman of the board at Twitter, has announced that the company plans to pursue legal action against Musk for trying to back out of the deal.

The Alliance for Open Media (AOM) was founded in 2015 to find a suitable video format that would adhere to W3C and HTML5 standards. It has co-developed the AV1 standard, an open video codec created as a royalty-free alternative to HEVC.

AV1 is seen as a better technical alternative to many video formats, as it offers better compression and, thus, uses less bandwidth and storage.

The 14 governing members of AOM include Google, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Samsung, and many others including Apple, which joined in 2018. There are 41 general members including Adobe, AMD, Alibaba, the BBC, Hulu, VideoLan, Vimeo, and more.

Now, the European Union is investigating alleged anticompetitive behavior related to the license terms of AV1 by AOM and its members in Europe. The watchdog group has sent a questionnaire, seen by Reuters, to companies involved.

“The Commission has information that AOM and its members may be imposing licensing terms (mandatory royalty-free cross licensing) on innovators that were not a part of AOM at the time of the creation of the AV1 technical, but whose patents are deemed essential to (its) technical specifications,” read the questionnaire.

The group cites concerns that AOM may be restricting innovators’ ability to compete with AV1.The EU alleges that if true, it eliminates incentives for innovations.

The companies involved could be fined up to 10% of their global revenue for breaching EU rules. No timetable for the investigation has been announced.

On Wednesday, Apple released a new version of the beta software, bringing the updated build number to 5A5304a. The previous build was numbered 5A5282d.

According to Apple, the beta software contains improvements to Automatic Switching alongside more general bug and stability fixes.

Both AppleInsider and Apple strongly suggest users avoid installing betas on to “mission-critical” or primary devices, due to the potential for data loss or other issues. Instead, the recommendation is to install betas onto secondary or non-essential devices, and to ensure there are sufficient backups of important data before making any major changes.

The firmware update, which brings the software to version 10M1103, is meant for the redesigned Siri Remote released in 2021.

As mentioned, Apple does not state what features or fixes are contained in the new software update. However, given the lack of detail, it’s likely that the update is a minor one focused on bug fixes and under-the-hood improvements.

Apple also fails to specify how users can update their Siri Remote, though the process is likely similar to other accessories — like AirPods — that carry out the process automatically. In other words, the update will just happen in the background and can’t be manually installed.

Apple last updated its Siri Remote firmware in August 2021. The previous version was numbered 9M6772.

There are numerous case materials, bands, and sizes available across Apple Watch’s history, but Apple has kept the device lineup within two size classes. That may change with the “Apple Watch Series 8.”

The first three generations of Apple Watch had 38mm and 42mm case sizes, then the fourth through sixth generations had 40mm and 44mm case sizes. Apple expanded those again slightly for the Apple Watch Series 7 to 41mm and 45mm, thanks to a display that wrapped over the edge of the case.

Despite these size changes, all Apple Watches fall into large or small sizes. So, if a customer purchased bands for the 42mm Apple Watch Series 2, it would still work on a 45mm Apple Watch Series 7 since they both fall into the large category.

“Apple Watch Series 8” may change this two-size system with a new larger third size. Details are slim at the moment since the only leaked detail is the display size at 1.99 inches.

Apple Watch sizes through each generation based on Apple’s millimeter height measurement

This is a significant number because display manufacturers measure displays by a diagonal using inches, versus watch cases being measured using the distance from the top of the watch screen to the bottom. So, the Apple Watch Series 7 with a 45mm case has a display size of about 1.9 inches.

The leak didn’t specify how that increase of 0.09 inches would be applied. It could mean a larger display in a slimmer case or a proportional increase in case size to display size.

Assuming Apple goes with the same Apple Watch Series 7 design and display bezels, the case would be around 47mm. Some rumors suggest the “Apple Watch Series 8” might get a redesign with flat sides, which would provide more space for the display in the same case size.

Using proportions with flat sides and slimmer bezels yields an even larger end result

From what we could measure, the 1.99-inch display would fit in a 45mm equivalent case with flat sides, making the case size slimmer and display size larger all at once. However, that doesn’t quite fit with the rumors.

The long-rumored flat-sided Apple Watch would have a large 2.2-inch display in a 47mm case. The leaker, display supply chain analyst Ross Young, appears to be leaning towards a 47mm case with a 1.99-inch display. Or at the least, he isn’t discounting it.

Apple is expected to announce the “Apple Watch Series 8” alongside the iPhone 14 during an event in September. There could be three sizes of Apple Watch with a rugged model option, new health metrics, and better performance.

Apple has a wide array of default ringtones included in the iPhone. With a few taps, anyone can change the ringtone from the default to one of many alternatives.

If what is included in iOS doesn’t work for you, there’s also a sea of ringtones available to buy from the iTunes Store. With a wealth of sounds available, you could easily acquire part of a favorite song to hear whenever your phone starts ringing.

Not everyone wants to spend money on a ringtone, though. Furthermore, not everyone wants to use the same snippet of a popular song if others are doing the same thing.

One option is to create your own ringtone. A unique signal that is personal just to you and your devices.

Here’s how you can put your audio masterpiece as your alert sound on your iPhone.

There are a few steps to creating the ringtone, and the first is to make the actual ringtone itself.

You can do this in a few ways, such as by clipping down a DRM-free MP3 or creating something entirely from scratch. On Mac, your best bet for doing either is via GarageBand.

Make sure to export the file from GarageBand as an AAC, before renaming it to an m4r file.

In GarageBand for macOS, create a new project. You will have to play around with the various settings and instruments to create a track to your liking, but make sure it is reasonably brief, such as 30 seconds or less.

If you have a non-DRM MP3 file that you want to trim, you can import it to GarageBand and cut it down to just the chunk of audio you need. Alternately, you could slap some of Apple’s loops together to make a suitable composition.

You will need to drag and drop the ringtone file onto this iPhone screen in Finder to send it from your Mac to the iPhone.

• Once you are finished with the composition or edit, click Share, then Export Song to Disk.
• Give the tone a name and set the save location as appropriate. The desktop would be ideal for one-off transfers.
• Make sure it is set to AAC, and click Export.
• Right-click the ringtone file and rename it, changing the suffix from .m4a to .m4r. While functionally similar, the iPhone will recognize the latter as a ringtone file.
• Connect your iPhone to your Mac using a Lightning-to-USB cable.
• Open Finder and select the iPhone.
• Drag the ringtone file onto the Finder window.
• Once it has transferred over, you can access the ringtone on the iPhone.
• On the iPhone, open Settings and select Sound & Haptics.
• Tap Ringtone and select your new custom ringtone. It will usually be pushed near the top of the list.

If you have GarageBand installed on both your Mac and your iPhone, you could use iCloud Drive to work on the ringtone on the Mac, then transfer it to the iPhone for the final export.

You could also transfer the GarageBand project from macOS to iOS and export on your iPhone.

Doing so this way also allows you to find out what the ringtone sounds like through the iPhone’s speakers before officially setting it as the ringtone. Further tweaks can be made before the final export.

• Create your ringtone in GarageBand on Mac.
• Once complete, click Share, then Project to GarageBand for iOS
• Give the project an appropriate name and save it within iCloud Drive by clicking Save.
• On the iPhone, open GarageBand.
• Tap the dropdown arrow in the top left, then My Songs.
• Tap Browse and find the saved project in iCloud Drive. Tap and hold, then select Share.
• Under Share Song, select Ringtone.
• Enter the name of the ringtone, then tap Export.
• Open Settings and select Sound & Haptics.
• Tap Ringtone and select your new custom ringtone.

Sharing the song in GarageBand on iOS allows you to save as a ringtone directly to the device.

Since this second method relies on using GarageBand on the iPhone to export, you could eliminate using the Mac altogether and create the ringtone entirely on the mobile device.

Once you have finished making the creation, you must go into the project browser, hold down the file to find the Share menu, then follow the rest of the process for creating the actual ringtone.