Apple CEO Tim Cook Speaks Out Against Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom’ Law

Apple CEO Tim Cook today sent out a series of Tweets condemning Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s decision to sign a controversial “religious freedom” bill into law, saying Apple is “deeply disappointed” in the move and “open for everyone.”

Apple is open for everyone. We are deeply disappointed in Indiana’s new law and calling on Arkansas Gov. to veto the similar #HB1228.

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 27, 2015

The religious freedom legislation that was approved by Pence on Thursday could let businesses turn away gay and lesbian customers by citing “religious freedom.” The approval of the bill has earned Indiana national attention, and much of it has been negative, with organizations and companies throughout the United States vowing to stop supporting the state.

Senate Bill 101 prohibits state or local governments from substantially burdening a person’s ability to exercise their religion — unless the government can show that it has a compelling interest and that the action is the least-restrictive means of achieving it. It takes effect July 1.

Along with Apple’s condemnation, the NCAA has questioned the impact the legislation will have on future sporting events, Salesforce has vowed to halt expansion plans in the state, several conventions typically held in Indiana have said they will find other venues, and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee spoke out against the decision and barred all non-essential publicly funded City employee travel to the state.

In his tweets, Cook also called for Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson to veto H.B.1228, a similar bill that was recently passed by the Arkansas state senate, and he reiterated Apple’s own commitment to equality and its efforts to treat every customer the same, regardless of “how they worship or who they love.”

Around the world, we strive to treat every customer the same — regardless of where they come from, how they worship or who they love.

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 27, 2015

Cook came out as gay last October, but even before then, he’s had a long history of supporting equality and speaking out against discrimination. In 2013, he lectured on equality at his alma mater Auburn University, and during that same year, both he and Apple publicly supported the Employment Nondiscrimination Act.

Under his direction, Apple released a statement in support of Supreme Court gay marriage rulings, and Cook also led Apple to march in support of the LGBT community during the 44th annual Pride parade in San Francisco.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Buyer’s Guide: Deals on iPad Air 2, iMac, MacBook Air, and Apple Accessories [Mac Blog]

Deals continue to be good this week, with Best Buy offering deep discounts on a few iPad Air 2 models and iPad mini 2 models. B&H Photo is discounting some of the new MacBook Air models by $50, and there continue to be steep discounts on older MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models.

We’ve got quite a few Mac-oriented Apple accessories available at a discount this week, including a backup battery pack and SD card storage. We’ve even got deals on Apple Watch accessories — Casetify is offering discounts on its custom Apple Watch band pre-orders.

iPad Air 2

Best Buy is still offering the lowest prices we’ve seen on a few select iPad Air 2 models. The 16GB Cellular iPad Air 2 in silver is available for $499.99, $130 off its regular price. The 64GB Cellular iPad Air 2 in silver is available for $599.99, $130 off. The 128GB Cellular iPad Air 2 in silver is priced at $699.99, also a $130 discount.

B&H Photo is offering a discount on all of its iPad Air 2 models, dropping prices by $30 to $50. With the discount, the 16GB WiFi only iPad Air 2 is priced at $459 and the 64GB model is priced at $569.

iPad Air

Best Buy is also discounting cellular versions of its iPad Air stock, dropping the price on the 16GB Verizon Space Gray model to $379.99 and the price of the 32GB Verizon Space Gray model to $429.99, two of the lowest prices we’ve seen on those tablets.

Both Best Buy and B&H Photo have deep discounts on their remaining stock of now-discontinued higher-capacity iPad Air models, as listed below.

– iPad Air Wi-Fi Silver 64GB – $449
– iPad Air Wi-Fi Silver 128GB – $529
– iPad Air Wi-Fi Space Gray 128GB – $529

– iPad Air Cellular Silver 128GB (AT&T) – $549.99
– iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 128GB (AT&T) – $549.99
– iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 64GB (AT&T) – $499
– iPad Air Cellular Silver 64GB (Verizon) – $566.99
– iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 64GB (Verizon) – $629
– iPad Air Cellular Silver 128GB (Verizon) – $599
– iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 128GB (Verizon) – $599

iPad mini

Best Buy has a sale on its original iPad mini stock, discounting the 16GB tablet by $50, which drops the price to $199.99. It’s available in Silver and Space Gray.

iPad mini 2

Amazon has a few iPad mini 2 models available at discounted prices. The 16GB Cellular Verizon iPad mini 2 in Silver is available for $329. The 16GB Cellular Verizon iPad mini 2 in Space Gray is available for $335. The 32GB Cellular Verizon iPad mini 2 in Space Gray is available for $399.99.

Best Buy and Amazon also have remaining stock of now-discontinued higher-capacity iPad mini 2 models, which are a good deal if you’re looking for an iPad mini. Compared to the iPad mini 3, the iPad mini 2 only lacks Touch ID.

– iPad mini Cellular Silver 128GB (AT&T) – $449
– iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 128GB (AT&T) – $435
– iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 64GB (AT&T) – $399.99
– iPad mini Cellular Silver 128GB (Verizon) – $449
– iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 128GB (Verizon) – $534.99
– iPad mini Cellular Silver 64GB (Verizon) – $396.99
– iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 64GB (Verizon) – $414.99

iPad mini 3

Best Buy has discounts on a single iPad mini 3, the 128GB Cellular iPad model in gold. The price is $579.99, a discount of $150.

iMac

– 21.5-inch 1.4GHz/8GB/500GB (Best Buy) – $999.99, $100 off
– 21.5-inch 2.7GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,189, $110 off
– 21.5-inch 2.9GHz/8GB/1TB (B&H Photo) – $1,369, $130 off
– 27-inch 3.2GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,689, $110 off
– 27-inch 3.4GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) – $1,794, $205 off
– 27-inch 3.5Ghz/8GB/1TB Retina iMac (B&H Photo) (MacMall) – $2,349, $150 off

Mac mini

– 1.4GHz/4GB/500GB (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $464.99, $34 off
– 2.6GHz/8GB/1TB (Best Buy) – $649.99, $49 off
– 2.8GHz/8GB/1TB (MacMall) – $934.99, $64 off

MacBook Air

– 2015 11-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB – (B&H Photo) $849.99, $50 off
– 2015 13-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (B&H Photo)- $949.99, $50 off
– 2014 11-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB – (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) (MacMall)$789, $109 off
– 2014 11-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (Amazon) (B&H Photo) – $919, $180 off
– 2014 13-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $819, $180 off
– 2014 13-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (Amazon) (B&H Photo) – $1029, $179 off

Retina MacBook Pro

– 2014 15-inch 2.2GHz/16GB/256GB (Best Buy) (B&H Photo) (MacMall) – $1,799, $200 off
– 2014 15-inch 2.5GHz/16GB/512GB (B&H Photo) –$2,249, $250 off
– 2014 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/128GB (B&H Photo) (MacMall) – $1,098, $201 off
– 2014 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/256GB (B&H Photo) – $1,249, $239 off
– 2014 13-inch 2.8GHz/8GB/512GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,588.99, $210 off

Apps

There are quite a few apps that are on sale at discounted prices or available for free for a limited time. We’ll highlight a few here, but make sure to check out our sister site AppShopper for a complete list.

Puzzle game MUJO is available for free, down from $1.99. Call of Duty: Strike Team is available for $1.99, down from $6.99. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is available for $2.99, down from $4.99. Fantastical 2 for iPad is available for $6.99, down from $9.99. Fantastical 2 for iPhone is available for $2.99, down from $4.99.

XCOM: Enemy Within is available for $4.99, down from $12.99. BioShock is available for $2.99, down from $10.99. Civilization Revolution 2 is available for $4.99, down from $14.99.

Tangent was named Apple’s app of the week this week, and it will be available to download for free for the next six days.

Apple Accessories

Groupon is selling the Otterbox Defender case for the iPhone 6 for $37.99, down from its regular price of $49.95. Groupon has the Incase Hard-Shell Case for the 11 or 13-inch MacBook Air for $9.99, down from $49.95. The site is also selling the Griffin Survivor Case and Stand for the iPad mini for $29.99, down from $59.99. LivingSocial has Apple EarPods for $13.99, down from $29.99.

Groupon has the Beats by Dre Pill speaker for $159.99, down from $199.95. The Lifeproof nuud Case for iPad 2/3/4 is available from Groupon for $34.99, down from $129.99. Groupon is also selling the 3.3ft Apple Lightning to USB cable for $10.99, $9 off its regular price, or $18.99 for a pack of 2.

StackSocial has the Nifty MiniDrive for MacBook Air or MacBook Pro at a slight discount of $32.99, down from $39.99. StackSocial also has the ChugPlug Portable MacBook Power Pack for $84.99, down from $129.99. The Timbuk2 Slide Laptop Backpack for the 15-inch MacBook Pro is available for $24.99 from Newegg with coupon code EMCAPNV56.

The DC Superhero Clip Case for the iPhone 5/5s is available for $7.99 from Groupon, down from $29.99. There’s also a Nintendo version for $8.99. The Bobine flexible iPhone cable/dock is available from StackSocial for $24.99, down from $35. Just Mobile’s AluPen Twist stylus is available from DailySteals for $19, down from $40. Speck is offering 25% off select iPhone 5/5s/5c cases for a limited time.

Casetify is offering a 15 percent discount plus free shipping on its custom Apple Watch bands with the code WATCH15. The deal will last until 3/30.

MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.

Hands-On With the Apple Watch: A Developer’s Experience at Apple’s WatchKit Labs

Earlier this month, Apple began inviting a select number of developers to an Apple Watch development lab in Sunnyvale, California, located near the company’s main Cupertino campus. Developers were invited to reserve a testing appointment to test their Apple Watch apps on actual Apple Watch devices to get ready for the device’s April 24 launch.

One of the developers who had a chance to visit Apple’s WatchKit lab and get hands-on time with the Apple Watch shared his testing experience with MacRumors and gave us some of his thoughts on the device after spending all day using it.

Apple maintained strict control over the Apple Watches that developers were allowed to use for testing. Security guards were on hand, and developers were not allowed into the room until receiving a badge, which had to be worn at all times. Entering into the lab was done through two doorways, each of which was locked and could only be opened via an electronic keycard.

Developers had to cover their cameras and leave their bags on shelves, and they were not allowed to pair the Apple Watch with their own iPhones. No one was allowed to go to the bathroom or run out for coffee until they let Apple’s security see their wrists to prove they weren’t leaving with a watch.

Apple has used similar tight security when bringing the Apple Watch on location to be featured in magazines as well, and it’s clear they’re making sure none of these devices leak out ahead of April 24.

In the lab, there were 5 rows of long tables, and approximately 10 developers could fit at each table. Apple had five engineers on hand to help developers put the finishing touches on their apps, and all of the engineers in the room were described as helpful and insightful. It’s still not clear what criteria Apple used to decide which developers to invite to Sunnyvale, but a lot of major app developers were there, as were teams from various startups and bigger companies.

Developers were given 42mm Apple Watch Sport models to test their apps with, and 38mm models were only supplied upon request. The developer we spoke to thought the Sport models were “extremely light” and did not look tacky or cheesy. He also thought that the 42mm Apple Watch was the ideal size, neither too big nor too small. The extra 4mm of screen size made a big difference when it came to reading text on the device, and he thought that people who used the Apple Watch for long periods of time might better appreciate the larger screen.

The design and the feel of the watch were described as “absolutely amazing” and software was described as “fluid” and not like other smart watches available on the market. “Animations on the Apple Watch are really what separate it from its competitors,” he said. Handoff works very well, letting users transfer tasks from the Apple Watch to the iPhone with ease, and Siri’s functionality was described as “absolutely phenomenal.”

He also shared a bit of information about battery life. Wearing the watch all day, he used it regularly to send messages and test his app, and he said the watch battery lasted all day with some to spare. He was really impressed and said, “When Apple says all day battery life, they mean it.”

Overall, the developer that we spoke with thought his time at the Apple WatchKit lab was an “inspirational experience” and in his opinion, Apple is on the right track with the Apple Watch.

Apple has heavily guarded the Apple Watch thus far, but two weeks from today, the general public will be able to see the device in person and test it out after Apple begins its in-store try-on period. The company will let people schedule 15 minute appointments beginning on April 10, which is also the day that Apple Watch pre-orders will begin.

The Apple Watch will officially launch on April 24, but pre-orders are recommended because supplies may be constrained.

Eyefi Review: Hands-On With the Mobi Pro 32GB WiFi-Connected SD Card [iOS Blog]

Popular WiFi-connected SD card manufacturer Eyefi recently released a brand new product, the Eyefi Mobi Pro. For those unfamiliar with Eyefi, the company makes WiFi-connected SD cards to give people a way to quickly transfer photos from their cameras to their Macs, iPhones, and iPads, even when a WiFi network is unavailable.

The company’s newest card, the Eyefi Mobi Pro offers 32GB of storage, support for RAW file transfers, and a wireless transfer feature that lets users selectively choose which photos to upload. When used on a home WiFi network, the Mobi Pro lets users transfer images at high speeds, but when away from home, it creates its own WiFi hotspot, so it’s always possible to get pictures from the SD card to an iPad, iPhone, or Mac.

MacRumors went hands-on with the new Eyefi Mobi Pro SD card to check out all of the new features and to figure out whether or not it’s worth the $99 price tag.

What’s in the Box

The Eyefi box contains one 32GB Class 10 SDHC WiFi card, a USB card adapter that’s used to configure the Mobi card, and an activation card that lets the Mobi Pro pair with desktop and iOS apps. The card also allows users to sign up for a free year of access to Eyefi’s cloud service, which allows unlimited photo uploads and storage.

Setup

The Eyefi box directs users straight to a setup website, which makes finding the setup steps easy. The website has instructions for setting the Mobi Pro up to connect to a mobile device or a computer.

Read more

Coppertino Announces LOOP Music Locker With Support for HD Audio Files, VOX Music Player for iOS [Mac Blog]

Coppertino, the company behind the popular VOX Music Player for Mac, has some major announcements to share exclusively with MacRumors readers today, including its upcoming expansion to iOS, an update to the VOX Mac app, and the launch of an all new music storage service, LOOP.

LOOP is a new cloud-based music locker service that will be built in to both the VOX Music Player for Mac and the upcoming VOX iOS app. Unlike most music lockers available, LOOP will support any type of music file, including FLAC, and it offers unlimited storage. Songs stored in LOOP can be streamed in full quality to any device with the VOX Mac and iOS apps, and music can also be cached for playing offline.

Many of the popular music lockers like iTunes Match or Google Play Music limit the number of songs that can be uploaded and only support a few file types. iTunes, for example, only supports MP3 and AAC, while Google Play Music supports MP3, AAC OGG, and WMA. You can upload FLAC music files to Google Play Music, but they’ll be transcoded to MP3. LOOP can play them natively, but access to high quality music files comes at a cost — the service is priced at $49.99 per year or $4.99 per month, which is a bit more expensive than Google Play Music (free) and iTunes Match ($24.99/year).

Along with LOOP, Coppertino’s iOS app is big news, because it’s the first time the VOX Music Player has expanded beyond the Mac. Like the Mac app, the iOS app will play any type of music file and it’s deeply integrated with the LOOP music service, giving users access to all of their uploaded songs and albums. Like the VOX Music Player for Mac, the iOS app will be available for free — only the LOOP music storage service costs money.

Coppertino’s new music service, its upcoming iOS app, and the updated Mac app are still in testing and aren’t quite ready for launch, but the company wants to get MacRumors readers involved in the beta testing process with early access to the apps and to LOOP music storage.

The first 700 MacRumors readers who are interested in checking out the LOOP music storage locker and the new VOX apps for Mac and iOS can sign up on Coppertino’s website. Those of you who are interested just need to enter an email on the Coppertino site and the company will send a link to download the apps and instructions on signing up for LOOP. Testers will need to install both the iPhone app and the Mac app to take part in the beta program.

During the beta testing period, MacRumors readers will get free access to the LOOP music locker to test it out and can opt for a longer free trial period after the service launches. MacRumors readers will also get an option to purchase access to the LOOP service at a discount, dropping the price to $34.99 for the year instead of $49.99.

Coppertino’s existing VOX Music Player for Mac, which will get an update with the LOOP service in the near future, can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for free. [Direct Link]

‘Citymapper’ and ‘Transit App’ Offer In-Depth Looks at Transit Experiences on Apple Watch

As a few popular iPhone apps begin rolling out updates for their built-in Apple Watch apps ahead of the April 24 launch, a pair of transit-focused services have posted on Medium to share detailed looks into exactly what kind of experience users can expect from Citymapper and Transit App on the Apple Watch next month.

Sifting through the data gathered from its iPhone app, Citymapper learned that its users frequently turned their phone on and off throughout one trip, unlocking to reorient themselves and quickly locking the device again to save battery. That’s where its upcoming Apple Watch app comes in, Citymapper promising an experience tailor-made for the wrist-worn device.

This is the nature of transit information when you move across the city. You need snippets of information. Different things at different times, depending on where you are along the way.

Transit info works well on a device that focuses attention on one thing at a time. And where the transaction cost (ie hassle) of getting additional information is low (raise your wrist and swipe). Using a wearable app may also be safer. City dwellers are generally walking too fast, crossing streets, using stairs, jostling through crowds.

Citymapper has a few cool things planned for its Watch app, with Glances showcasing “how messed up your city is”, pointing out stalled bus and train schedules around a user’s location. The app will even notify a user, with the much-touted wrist-tap feature, when to get off of a current bus or train route to continue along their way.

Citymapper on the Apple Watch will be available in every city Citymapper has already established itself, including places like New York City and Rome, and support English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, with more cities and languages “coming soon.”

Transit‘s Apple Watch app appears to be providing less of a notification-heavy experience and more of a straight-forward curated list of departure times and easy-to-follow directions, with a static “Take Me Home” button always on hand for when users get lost. The company aims to shave off as many precious seconds as possible with its wrist-worn experience.

It’s not every day that developers get the chance to build something for a completely new platform. And we think that the Apple Watch might just be the ideal platform for us. Sure, it’s not so difficult to pull your phone out of your pocket. But it’s while we’re in transit that those seconds matter most.

With Transit App for Apple Watch, all of that friction is gone. No matter where you are, you will have instant access to departure times for nearby routes — on hand at all times. Sprinting for the bus? Need to know which route is leaving soonest? Don’t want to interrupt your game of Candy Crush? We’ve got your back.

Both Citymapper [Direct Link] and Transit App [Direct Link] promise to be available on day one of the Apple Watch’s April 24 launch.

Intel’s New 3D NAND Technology Allows for Greater Than 10TB Solid-State Drives

Intel and Micron on Thursday announced the availability of new 3D NAND technology that enables high-density flash devices with three times more storage capacity than other NAND technologies in production. 3D NAND technology is also more cost efficient than planar NAND, with faster performance, improved latency and new sleep modes that result in low-power use by cutting power to inactive NAND die.

The advancements pave the way for future Macs and other devices with flash memory to be equipped with greater than 10TB solid-state drives, significantly more storage capacity than the maxed out 1TB PCIe-based flash storage upgrade option that Apple offers for the MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro. As planar NAND faces practical scaling limits, Intel and Micron expect that 3D NAND will shape the future of flash memory.

“Micron and Intel’s collaboration has created an industry-leading solid-state storage technology that offers high density, performance and efficiency and is unmatched by any flash today,” said Brian Shirley, vice president of Memory Technology and Solutions at Micron Technology. “This 3D NAND technology has the potential to create fundamental market shifts. The depth of the impact that flash has had to date—from smartphones to flash-optimized supercomputing—is really just scratching the surface of what’s possible.”

3D NAND has innovative process architecture with a floating gate cell that enables greater performance and increased quality and reliability. Intel and Micron expect that 3D NAND technology, which “stacks flash cells vertically in 32 layers to achieve 256Gb multilevel cell (MLC) and 384Gb triple-level cell (TLC) die,” will result in continued performance gains, cost savings and widespread adoption of flash storage solutions for mobile consumer devices and enterprise deployment.

Intel and Micron claim that the 256Gb MLC version of 3D NAND is being sampled by select partners beginning this week, while the 384Gb TLC design will be sampling later this spring. Both devices are slated to enter full production in the fourth quarter, and both companies are developing separate lines of SSD solutions based on 3D NAND technology that are expected to be available within the next year.

Given that flash storage solutions using 3D NAND are not expected to be available until the end of this year at the earliest, it is unlikely that larger SSDs based on the new technology will be included in any next-generation Macs for the foreseeable future. Apple also recently refreshed the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, so those two notebook models in particular are still early in their product cycles.

Apple Announces April 10 Grand Openings for Apple Watch Shops in London, Paris, and Tokyo

Apple today officially announced April 10 grand openings for its three dedicated Apple Watch shops located in high-end department stores in London, Paris, and Tokyo. As previously outlined, the store-within-a-store locations are at Selfridges in London, Galeries Lafayette in Paris, and Isetan in Tokyo.

The new locations appear set to handle only Apple Watch viewing and sales, with customers being directed to other Apple retail stores for their support needs.

The Selfridges Apple Watch shop will be located near the entrance to the iconic Wonder Room, a massive shopping hall that houses a wide selection of luxury jewelry and watch brands alongside a concept store and mezzanine wine bar. Apple has reportedly been drawing employees from other retail stores in London to staff the new shop. The Galeries Lafayette shop will take over four balcony sections overlooking the main rotunda of the department store.

Apple will begin in-store previews and pre-orders for the Apple Watch on April 10, with launches in the first wave of countries coming two weeks later. The high-end gold Apple Watch Edition models will only be available at select Apple retail stores, and the dedicated Apple Watch shops at these luxury department stores will almost certainly also be featuring the gold watches, which are priced from $10,000 to $17,000.