MacRumors Giveaway: Win an Apple Watch Band From Casetify

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Casetify to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the site’s Apple Watch bands.

Casetify offers a wide range of Apple Watch bands, from high-quality steel mesh and leather to some that are customizable with your own design. All Casetify Apple Watch bands fit all Apple Watch models and are available in 38 and 42mm size options.

With the Saffiano Leather Band, priced at $52, you can choose from hundreds of designs offered by Casetify in all kinds of colors and patterns.

The Steel Mesh Band, priced at $82, mimics Apple’s own Milanese Loop and it comes in multiple colors, including gold, rose gold, space gray, and the traditional silver.

Casetify’s Double Tour, priced at $90, is similar to some of Apple’s Hermès bands, but at a much more affordable price. It wraps twice around the wrist and comes with two different band lengths so you can also wear it as a single wrap to change things up.

The Magnetic Apple Watch Band is like the Leather Loop from Apple, with a simple wrap design that emulates the look and feel of genuine leather. It comes in multiple colors like blue, red, black, gray, and pink, and, unlike the Leather Loop, it is available for 38mm Apple Watch models.

The Nylon Fabric Apple Watch Band, priced at $40, looks a lot like Apple’s Woven Nylon bands. It’s lightweight, comfortable, and stylish, with solid and stripe color options available in black, white, and pink.

We are giving away five Apple Watch bands, with winners able to choose any band in any color from Casetify’s collection. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (January 19) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 26. The winners will be chosen randomly on January 26 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Tags: giveaway, Casetify
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Apple Hires a Few Dozen Employees From Silicon Valley Data Science Startup

Apple has hired several data scientists from Silicon Valley Data Science, a consulting firm that offers data engineering and data science services, reports Bloomberg.

A few dozen employees from Silicon Valley Data Science joined Apple in December and January to help the company better use its data to improve its advertising efforts. According to the Silicon Valley Data Science website, the startup helped businesses improve customer retention, increase engagement, improve conversion rates, develop new revenue-generating data products, streamline operations, and more.

At Apple, the team will work on ad-related analytics to bolster Apple’s advertising efforts. One area of focus could be better optimizing App Store ads.

Founder and CEO of Silicon Valley Data Science Sanjay Mathur is one of the employees that has taken a position as Apple. His LinkedIn profile now says that he leads “strategy and analytics initiatives for a group at Apple.”

Several other LinkedIn profiles from former Silicon Valley Data Science employees now list data scientist positions at Apple. The company’s former CTO, for example, now works on “Algorithms,” while the former Head of Data Science is now Apple’s “Principal Data Scientist.”

While the Silicon Valley Data Science website is still up, the company shut down in December and its services are no longer offered.

Tags: Apple ads, Apple acquisition
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Apple Says iOS 11 is Now Installed on 65% of Devices

iOS 11 is now installed on 65 percent of iOS devices, according to new statistics Apple shared yesterday on its App Store support page for developers.

That’s up six percentage points since December 5, when iOS 11 was installed on 59 percent of devices, and 13 percentage points since November 6, when iOS 11 was installed on 52 percent of devices.

28 percent of devices continue to use iOS 10, while earlier versions of iOS are installed on seven percent of iOS devices.

Since iOS 11 was released, its adoption rate has been quite a bit slower than iOS 10 adoption rates in 2017. In January of 2017, for example, iOS 10 was installed on 76 percent of iOS devices.

Apple has released several updates for iOS 11 since its September launch, but the operating system has also been plagued by bugs and security issues, which doesn’t appear to have helped adoption rates.

iOS 11.2.1 and iOS 11.2.2, the two latest iOS 11 updates, were both released to address major bugs and vulnerabilities. iOS 11.2.1 fixed a HomeKit bug that allowed for unauthorized access to HomeKit accessories, while iOS 11.2.2 introduced mitigations for the Spectre vulnerability impacting all modern processors.

iOS 11.2, released in early December, did bring some major new features to the operating system, like Apple Pay Cash and 7.5W Wireless Charging, but even that update doesn’t appear to have spurred a larger than normal growth in adoption rate.

Some iOS 11 users who were unhappy with the current version of iOS were also able to recently downgrade their operating systems when a brief oversight saw Apple signing older versions of iOS dating back to iOS 6.

Apple next week will introduce iOS 11.2.5, another update that introduces an important bug fix for an exploit that allows a malicious link to freeze the Messages app when received via text message.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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Apple May Replace Some iPhone 6 Plus Models Needing Whole-Device Repairs With iPhone 6s Plus Through March

If you have a damaged iPhone 6 Plus that qualifies for a whole-device replacement, Apple may replace it with an iPhone 6s Plus through March, according to an internal document distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers today.

Apple specifically states that “orders for whole unit service inventory of some iPhone 6 Plus models may be substituted to an iPhone 6s Plus until the end of March 2018.” MacRumors confirmed the memo’s authenticity with multiple sources, who requested to remain anonymous due to their positions.

Apple doesn’t specify which iPhone 6 Plus models are eligible, nor does it provide a reason for the substitution, but it likely relates to Apple’s shortage of iPhone 6 Plus replacement batteries until late March to early April.

A previous internal document obtained by MacRumors states that Apple no longer manufactures the iPhone 6 Plus, so it likely has to reboot its production lines to replenish its supply of both the device itself and batteries, which would certainly take time. Apple did not respond to our request for comment.

It’s possible that some customers who have visited a Genius Bar recently opted for a whole-device replacement rather than waiting until March or April for a new battery, which may have depleted the little supply of iPhone 6 Plus replacement units that Apple had, but this is only speculation on our part.

Apple and most Apple Authorized Service Providers can replace an iPhone’s display, battery, speakers, rear camera, or Taptic Engine individually, while a defective Lightning connector, faulty logic board, and most other repairs are generally eligible for a whole-device replacement, our source said.

Your mileage may vary depending on the exact damage to your iPhone and the results of Apple’s diagnostic tests. Apple Support can be reached on the web or by scheduling a Genius Bar appointment at an Apple Store.

Related Roundup: iPhone 6sBuyer’s Guide: iPhone 8 (Neutral)
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Apple Receives FCC Approval for HomePod, Suggesting a Launch Could Come Soon

Ahead of the promised “early 2018” launch of the HomePod, Apple has received official FCC approval for the smart speaker. Now that FCC approval has been obtained, Apple is free to begin selling the device at any time.

All devices that use communications technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi must be submitted to the United States Federal Communications Commission to ensure compliance with federal regulations before they’re eligible to be sold in the United States. That FCC approval has been obtained suggests the HomePod will launch in the near future.

For comparison’s sake, Apple received FCC approval for the iPhone X on October 4, just under one month before the device was released to the public on November 3.

Today’s FCC clearance of the HomePod follows a rumor earlier this week suggesting HomePod supplier Inventec has already started shipping HomePod units to Apple. Apple is reportedly set to receive “about 1 million” HomePod devices and an industry source that spoke to the Taipei Times, the source of the rumor, has said that the HomePod is coming “soon.”

Apple originally planned to release the HomePod in December, but the company ended up requiring additional development time, delaying its debut until 2018. Apple has said the HomePod will ship out to customers in the US, UK, and Australia in “early 2018.”

Early 2018, by Apple’s historical definition, is something of a broad window. Apple considers “early 2018” to be the period between January and April, so it’s been tough to narrow down the prospective launch date of the HomePod. Given the shipment rumors and the FCC approval, however, we may see the device in late January or early February rather than later in the year.

Like many new Apple products, rumors suggest initial supplies of the HomePod could be constrained at launch. Inventec is expecting revenue from the HomePod to be “limited” during Q1 2018 due to a low quantity of HomePod devices available for shipment.

Related Roundup: HomePod
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