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Apple search engine efforts ‘stepping up’ as Google deal under threat – FT - 9to5Mac

Speculation about plans for an Apple search engine to compete with Google has been around for many years now, ever since the company was first seen ...

Speculation about plans for an Apple search engine to compete with Google has been around for many years now, ever since the company was first seen to be using its own web crawler back in 2014. Apple confirmed the existence of the Applebot crawler in 2015. A report in the Financial Times claims that Apple is now ‘stepping up’ efforts to create its own search engine as its lucrative deal with Google comes under threat … Google currently pays Apple an estimated $8-12 billion per year to be the default search engine on iOS devices. In 2018, for example, the sum was estimated at a little under $10 billion around 20% of the company’s Services income for the year. However, antitrust regulators are now putting this deal in the spotlight, and arguing that it may be anticompetitive. This raises the question of what Apple would do if it was banned from renewing the deal, and lost that income. One suggestion that has been that the iPhone maker could create an Apple search engine. The FT report cites circumstantial evidence and industry commentary, rather than inside sources, and not much of it is new. It opens, for example, with a change seen in iOS 14 to the swipe-down search box. Apple is stepping up efforts to develop its own search technology as US antitrust authorities threaten multibillion-dollar payments that Google makes to secure prime placement of its engine on the iPhone. In a little-noticed change to the latest version of the iPhone operating system, iOS 14, Apple has begun to show its own search results and link directly to websites when users type queries from its home screen. That web search capability marks an important advance in Apples in-house development and could form the foundation of a fuller attack on Google, according to several people in the industry. It also points to the two-and-a-half year old news of Apple poaching Google’s John Giannandrea, putting its own spin on the hire. Apple poached Googles head of search, John Giannandrea. The hire was ostensibly to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities and its Siri virtual assistant, but also brought eight years of experience running the worlds most popular search engine. It includes commentary from former senior Google execs, but this too is purely speculative. They [Apple] have a credible team that I think has the experience and the depth, if they wanted to, to build a more general search engine, said Bill Coughran, Googles former engineering chief, who is now a partner at Silicon Valley investor Sequoia Capital […] Apples position is very unique because it has the iPhone and iOS. It controls the default browser, said Sridhar Ramaswamy, Neevas co-founder and Googles former head of advertising. Expanding in search feels natural for Apple, he said, as it has the ability to gather data and learn from user behaviour at large scale.  Applebot’s crawl rate the number of times it visits websites in order to update its database is said to have increased substantially. Others note that Apple is one of the few companies in the world with the resources to create a search engine to compete with Google. But all of the known facts would be consistent with Apple simply working on making Siri smarter. The single biggest argument against Apple creating a search engine is the company’s strong privacy stance, and its less-than-flattering commentary on ad-funded services like Google. A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, youre not the customer. Youre the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldnt come at the expense of your privacy. Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products. We dont build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We dont monetize the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we dont read your email or your messages to get information to market to you. Walking that back would be problematic to say the least. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

Apple FCC filing hints at hidden reverse wireless charging feature in iPhone 12 - 9to5Mac

Reverse Wireless Charging was one of the rumored features for iPhone 11 last year, but Apple allegedly removed it from the final version of the devices. Now, FCC filings for iPhone 12 have revealed that this year’s devices might have a functional reverse wire…

Reverse Wireless Charging was one of the rumored features for iPhone 11 last year, but Apple allegedly removed it from the final version of the devices. Now, FCC filings for iPhone 12 have revealed that this year’s devices might have a functional reverse wireless charging system. Following the iPhone 11 rumors in 2019, iFixit disassembled the new smartphones as usual and then discovered that the iPhone 11 Pro has some components that are part of a bilateral wireless charging system, but that was unfinished so it doesn’t work at all. While this suggests that Apple indeed tried to implement this technology on last year’s iPhones, there were no rumors about bilateral wireless charging on the iPhone 12. However, new FCC files suggest the new phones might have this technology. As first spotted by Jeremy Horwitz, the FCC documentation for the iPhone 12 models brings some interesting details about how these devices can be wirelessly recharged. FCC says iPhone 12 works with regular Qi chargers and also with a new “charging function at 360 kHz” that can recharge accessories. This is an interesting fact since Apple hasn’t mentioned anything about this feature on stage, and this is clearly disabled on iPhone 12 devices at least for now. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman then suggested Apple might be holding this new reverse charge through MagSafe for the rumored AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro 2. Apple, of course, could announce new AirPods that work specifically with the iPhone 12’s new MagSafe system which would explain why they haven’t mentioned anything about reverse wireless charging for now. Unfortunately, more details about this are unknown for now. Are you excited about the possibility of having bilateral wireless charging on iPhone 12? Let us know in the comments below. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

Full iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 teardown from iFixit reveals modular design with interchangeable parts - 9to5Mac

After streaming the teardown live on YouTube on Friday, the folks over at iFixit have now shared the full details of what’s inside the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. The teardown shows a few key changes this year, including the fact that the iPhone 12 and iPhon…

After streaming the teardown live on YouTube on Friday, the folks over at iFixit have now shared the full details of whats inside the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. The teardown shows a few key changes this year, including the fact that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro share many of the same parts. Interestingly, the teardown reveals that the displays work interchangeably between the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, even though the iPhone 12 Pro features a higher maximum brightness. Our early tests indicate both displays work interchangeably when swapped between the standard 12 and 12 Proeven though the max brightness specs are ever-so-slightly different, as careful observers have pointed out. There’s a little more to the story here; we’ll see if we’re able to unearth more details later. Another interesting tidbit is that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are so similar that where the iPhone 12 Pro houses its LiDAR sensor and telephoto lens, the iPhone 12 has a plastic spacer to keep the overall form factor identical. Elsewhere, both devices feature modular SIM card readers that are excellent for repair. The actual SIM card tray has switched sides, which iFixit attributes to Apple needing to make room on the logic board to accommodate Qualcomms 5G modems. One major change to repairability this year comes in the form of new rubber gaskets used to hold the speaker grilles in place: This makes for a much easier speaker removal and replacement procedure than in years past, which required reworking messy adhesive. Since the speaker has to be removed for battery replacement, this is a thoughtful design and a win, repair-wise. Apple has also abandoned its clever L-shaped battery design this year in favor of a more generic rectangular battery; a change iFixit attributes to cost-saving efforts. The Taptic Engine is the exact same between the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, though it is just a smidge smaller and slightly thicker than the iPhone 11 last year. Finally, with all of the innards taken out, we can clearly see the 18 magnets Apple is using in the iPhone 12 to accommodate its MagSafe accessories. All in all, iFixit gives the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro a repairability score of 6 out of 10, which is the same as the iPhone 11 series, citing two key positives:

• Display and battery replacements remain a priority in the new iPhones’ design.
• Most other important components are modular and easy to access or replace.

First iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro pre-orders begin arriving to customers around the world - 9to5Mac

As the clock turns to October 23 around the world, the first iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPad Air pre-orders have started arriving to buyers. This also means the new devices are officially becoming available for purchase and pick up at Apple Stores in many …

As the clock turns to October 23 around the world, the first iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPad Air pre-orders have started arriving to buyers. This also means the new devices are officially becoming available for purchase and pick up at Apple Stores in many countries. Eager iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro users have taken to Instagram and Twitter to share new pictures of their devices. Both devices are both available in new colors, so were eager to see how those new colors look in the real world. Of course, Apple Stores look a bit different this year for the iPhone 12 launch than in prior years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve previously reported on the various ways Apple has shifted its retail strategy to ensure customer and employee safety this year, including a new Express Storefront pickup concept. For iPhone 12 launch day this year, Apple Stores are focusing almost exclusively on pickups of previously-placed online orders. As such, many people who pre-ordered their iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro for in-store pickup have started seeing their order status change to Ready for Pickup in the Apple Store app. The iPhone 12 is available in five different colors: black, white, Product(RED), green, and blue. The iPhone 12 Pro is available in four different colors: pacific blue, gold, graphite, and silver. In terms of pricing, the iPhone 12 starts at $829 (or $799 for Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T) for 64GB of storage. You can can upgrade to the 128GB configuration for $879 ($849 for Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T), or to the 256GB continuation for $979 ($949 for Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T). On the other hand, the iPhone 12 Pro retails for $999 for 128GB of storage, $1099 for 256GB of storage, and $1299 for 512GB of storage. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available for pre-order on November 6, with orders and in-store availability beginning on November 13. Check out a handful of iPhone 12 images below, and let us know when your device arrives, or if you have any stories of your Apple Store experiences, in the comments below. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

Apple lobbies the US government to cut taxes on local chip production - 9to5Mac

Apple has been trying to boost domestic chip production in the United States, and for that the company has lobbied the U.S. government to get some tax reductions and other benefits. This suggests that the company is likely to increase its supply chain in the …

Apple has been trying to boost domestic chip production in the United States, and for that the company has lobbied the U.S. government to get some tax reductions and other benefits. This suggests that the company is likely to increase its supply chain in the United States. As reported by Bloomberg, the U.S. government made public this week the lobbying disclosure for the second and third quarter of 2020, which reveals that Apple has lobbied the Treasury Department, Congress, and the White House. The reasons behind the lobbies between Apple and the U.S. government are many, but most of them include tax reductions for chip production in the country. Part of the document mentions that the company discussed “issues related to tax credits for domestic semiconductor production.” Apples U.S. lobbying efforts are now mostly led by company veteran Tim Powderly, who was promoted around the time Cynthia Hogan, Apples prior top U.S. lobbyist, left to join former vice president Joe Bidens campaign. An Apple spokesman declined to comment. Apple’s first custom chip, the A4, was introduced in 2010 with the first generation iPad and then it was quickly added to iPhone 4 and other devices. Apple chips are now present in almost every device made by the company, and soon Apple Silicon will replace Intel processors on the Mac. The company relies on TSMC and other suppliers located in Asia to produce its custom chips, which has become a problem due to the trade war between these countries and the United States. As chips are now an essential part of Apple, the company has been investing in new ways to produce them at a lower cost. Apple currently builds some of its products in a Texas facility, including Mac Pro. Components such as Qualcomm chips, which are part of the iPhone, are also produced in the U.S. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

Quibi video service shuts down 6 months after launch, 1 day after Apple TV app release - 9to5Mac

According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the short-form video streaming service Quibi will shut down after less than a year. The report says that Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg has spent the day calling investors to inform them of the shutdow…

According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the short-form video streaming service Quibi will shut down after less than a year. The report says that Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg has spent the day calling investors to inform them of the shutdown. Notably, the shutdown comes just 24 hours after Quibi debuted its Apple TV application… Quibi launched in April of this year, but despite raising $1.75 billion in capital, it has failed to garner mainstream viewership. The idea of the service was that the shows would be divided into short-form quick bites and would be formatted to watch on an iPhone display in portrait orientation. Todays report from The Wall Street Journal says that Quibi hired a restructuring firm to value its options in recent weeks. The firm recommended a list of potential ideas, including that the company shut down. On Wednesday, Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg called investors to tell them he is shutting the service down, some of the people said. In recent weeks, Quibi hired a restructuring firm to evaluate its options, the people said. The firm recommended the options to the board of directors this week, a list that included shutting the company down. The Information has also reported that Quibi will communicate its plans to investors and employees today, with one very likely possibility being that the company will shut down. Shutting down Quibi obviously wasnt the first choice for Katzenberg. The media executive had spent several weeks shopping Quibi around to various companies about a potential sale. A report earlier this month said that Quibi had even approached Apple about an acquisition, but Eddy Cue, Apples Senior Vice President of Internet Services, wasnt interested. Just yesterday, Quibi released an all-new application for the Apple TV. In and of itself, the release of an Apple TV application was a stark reminder that Quibis goal of being a smartphone-only service had failed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

New photos and videos show MagSafe Charger and cases arriving ahead of iPhone 12 - 9to5Mac

While iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro from pre-orders are expected to be delivered on Friday, customers are getting MagSafe Charger and iPhone 12 cases ahead of schedule. Users have been sharing photos and even videos of these new accessories on social networks, …

While iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro from pre-orders are expected to be delivered on Friday, customers are getting MagSafe Charger and iPhone 12 cases ahead of schedule. Users have been sharing photos and even videos of these new accessories on social networks, so we can now take a better look at them. One of the main new features of this year’s iPhones is MagSafe, which is present on the entire iPhone 12 lineup and lets users easily attach accessories magnetically to the backside of the iPhone. In addition to new cases, MagSafe also enables fast induction charging through new Apple MagSafe chargers. The MagSafe Charger works as a Qi charger, but it fits perfectly on iPhone 12 thanks to the new built-in magnets in the phone. Since the user doesn’t have to worry about aligning the iPhone correctly in the charger, the MagSafe Charger is extremely smaller compared to other existing solutions. Here, in these images, we can see how the MagSafe Charger compares to the Apple Watch Charging Dock and a regular Qi charger: iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro silicone cases from Apple are already available for ordering and some customers have also received them ahead of schedule. The cases remember those for the iPhone 5 as they protect the entire phone, but there’s the new cutout for the MagSafe magnets as you can see below. There are also videos on YouTube showing the unboxing and a brief hands-on with the iPhone 12 silicone case and MagSafe Charger: As we reported earlier today, customers who have already pre-ordered their iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are starting to see their order status shift to preparing to ship. However, the estimate shipping time for some models has slipped to November, especially with the iPhone 12 Pro. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

GMA shows first hands-on with iPhone 12, talks about charger removal with Apple VP - 9to5Mac

Apple introduced the iPhone 12 lineup this week at its October online event, which means the press was unable to try out the new iPhones right after the announcement. However, the company sent the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro to ABC News tech reporter Becky Wo…

Apple introduced the iPhone 12 lineup this week at its October online event, which means the press was unable to try out the new iPhones right after the announcement. However, the company sent the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro to ABC News tech reporter Becky Worley, who presented today a quick hands-on with the new devices on Good Morning America. Worley showed the iPhone 12 in the Blue color and the iPhone 12 Pro in the Pacific Blue color, which are the colors that stood out the most in this year’s iPhone lineup. We had only seen renders of the new iPhones so far, but the Good Morning America video gives us a better idea of how the new colors look in person. The new MagSafe technology, which was one of yesterday’s keynote highlights, was also demonstrated by Worley this morning with the new Leather Wallet, which magnetically attaches to the backside of the iPhone 12. Besides showing the new devices, Good Morning America had a brief interview with Kaiann Drance, Apple VP of iPhone Marketing who introduced the iPhone 12 during Apple’s special event. Drance, asked about the removal of the power adapter and EarPods from the iPhone box, said that this year’s models bring several other improvements that are more interesting to users. There’s so much in the phone already. There’s a lot of amazing reasons of, and we think it’s a good price for all that. But, for the other reasons I mentioned people often already have all that, and it’s sitting around in their house. Maybe they have multiple ones of that. So it was kind of the right thing to do in terms of the larger environmental goals. You can watch the five-minute hands-on and interview on the video below: Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro start this Friday, October 16, with the phones being shipped a week later, October 23. iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available in November. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

HomePod mini confirmed for iPhone 12 event today, smaller design with spherical shape - 9to5Mac

It’s not just the entire iPhone 12 lineup that Evan Blass has leaked before today’s Apple event. As rumored, HomePod mini will make an appearance at today’s iPhone 12 event, and Blass has revealed the first look at the new smaller smart speaker. Here’s a reca…

It’s not just the entire iPhone 12 lineup that Evan Blass has leaked before today’s Apple event. As rumored, HomePod mini will make an appearance at today’s iPhone 12 event, and Blass has revealed the first look at the new smaller smart speaker. Here’s a recap of what we knew about HomePod mini before Blass revealed the new spherical design: What do you think about the new rounded HomePod mini design? Anyone getting Echo Dot vibes? Can Apple seriously sell a speaker with HomePod features for $99? Apple’s event kicks off at 1 p.m. ET today where we’ll be reporting all the official news in real time so stay tuned to find out. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

iPhone 12 icons appear on iCloud website showcasing narrower notch and more - 9to5Mac

While we are all waiting for the iPhone 12 tomorrow, Apple seems to be getting ready in advance for tomorrow’s event. The company has now uploaded new small icons that are designed to illustrate the iPhone 12 on the iCloud website, and although they’re not hi…

While we are all waiting for the iPhone 12 tomorrow, Apple seems to be getting ready in advance for tomorrow’s event. The company has now uploaded new small icons that are designed to illustrate the iPhone 12 on the iCloud website, and although they’re not high resolution images, we can notice some differences between these icons and those used to illustrate previous iPhone models. The images were first spotted by @AppleSWUpdates on Twitter, and 9to5Mac was able to get these assets in a better quality. According to the Twitter post, which we can corroborate, Apple has added four new iPhone icons to its server today which suggests that the company will indeed introduce four new iPhones tomorrow. It’s worth mentioning that these icons don’t need to be extremely detailed as they’re shown in a very small size on iCloud web apps and also on the Find My app. Even so, by comparing the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 icons with the iPhone 12 icons, we can definitely see that the edges of the new devices are somewhat different. Based on rumors, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max will feature a new design with flat edges and at least one of the new models probably the iPhone 12 mini will have a slightly smaller notch. When we compare the two icons closely, we can see that in fact the notch is a bit smaller but nothing extremely noticeable. These, of course, might also be placeholders to hide the official icons until tomorrow’s event. But the icons are identified as “iPhone13,x” which confirms that they were uploaded to represent iPhone 12, since iPhone 11 is internally identified as “iPhone12,x.” Update: Apple has also uploaded an asset of a new unknown Apple TV identified as “AppleTV11,1.” 9to5Mac found references to this Apple TV model earlier this year in a leaked iOS 14 build. The current Apple TV 4K is internally identified as “AppleTV6,1.” The icon added today to the Apple server is the same icon as the Apple TV 4K, which may suggest that the new device will keep the same design as the current model. Rumors about a new Apple TV this year have been contradictory. While there’s a consensus about Apple working on a new generation Apple TV with an upgraded processor and a new Remote, a recent Bloomberg report said Apple might not introduce the new Apple TV this year. Apple will officially announce the iPhone 12 lineup during its Hi, Speed event on Tuesday, October 13. The event will kick off at 10 a.m. PT and you can learn more about what to expect in our full preview right here. H/T: Thiago Gabe FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: