Apple Adds Genius Bar Reservations to Product Support Options [Mac Blog]

Apple has updated its Support website, adding the option for users to schedule Genius Bar appointments at their local Apple retail stores within the Support site. Previously, users had to navigate to their local Apple Store’s page to make appointments.

The new option, first spotted by 9to5Mac, is presented after a user defines what kind of problem they’re having with a particular product. Users are then prompted to enter their location and are given a choice of what Apple Store they’d like to visit. However, the option isn’t available for all issues. For example, users having battery issues with an iPad can make a Genius Bar reservation while users looking for help manually syncing their iPad to iTunes cannot.

In the last year, Apple has been overhauling its online support infrastructure, revamping its AppleCare website and chat interface. This is the latest move in the company’s efforts to streamline its support and make it as simple as possible for customers to seek solutions for potential problems.

Buyer’s Guide: Deals on Retina iMac, Older iPads, Apple Accessories, and More [Mac Blog]

As the holidays approach, deals on iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple accessories will be picking up, culminating in a slew of deals around Black Friday. Some retailers have already begun offering discounts on Apple products, and this week, there are discounts on the Retina iMac, a range of older iPads, and various Apple accessories including Western Digital hard drives and Beats earphones.

Retina iMac

Apple’s newest Retina iMac hasn’t been available for long, but Amazon is already offering the stock machine (3.5GHz/8GB/1TB) for $2,449, a discount of $50.

MacMall isn’t offering significant discounts on the Retina iMac (approximately $5 off all models), but the site does have 25 different configurations in stock, ranging from the base model for $2,494 to the higher-end 4.0GHz/32GB/512GB model for $3,894. The benefit to ordering from MacMall is that the machines are in stock and likely to ship faster than purchasing from Apple, as Apple’s store is offering shipping estimates of 7 to 10 days.

iPad Air

Now that the iPad Air 2 is available, Best Buy is offering significant discounts on the older iPad Air models. While the iPad Air doesn’t offer Touch ID or the fast A8X processor found in the iPad Air 2, it’s still a very capable device for those who would rather get a good price than the latest bells and whistles.

– iPad Air WiFi-only Silver 64GB – $499.99 ($200 off)
– iPad Air WiFi-only Space Gray 64GB – $499.99 ($200 off)
– iPad Air WiFi-only Silver 128GB – $699.99 ($100 off)
– iPad Air WiFi-only Space Gray 128GB – $699.99 ($100 off)

– iPad Air Cellular AT&T Silver 64GB – $629.99 ($200 off)
– iPad Air Cellular AT&T Space Gray 64GB – $629.99 ($200 off)
– iPad Air Cellular AT&T Silver 128GB – $829.99 ($100 off)
– iPad Air Cellular AT&T Space Gray 128GB – $829.99 ($100 off)
– iPad Air Cellular Verizon Silver 64GB – $629.99 ($200 off)
– iPad Air Cellular Verizon Space Gray 64GB – $629.99 ($200 off)
– iPad Air Cellular Verizon Silver 128GB – $829.99 ($100 off)
– iPad Air Cellular Verizon Space Gray 128GB – $829.99 ($100 off)

iPad mini 2

As with the iPad Air, it’s now possible to get discontinued models of the iPad mini 2 at a steep discount. Apple’s no longer selling the iPad mini 2 in higher capacities, leading discounters to offer excellent deals on models with lots of storage. There’s little difference between the mini 2 and the mini 3 aside from Touch ID, making the mini 2 a very good purchase. Deals below are from Best Buy.

– iPad mini 2 WiFi-only Silver 64GB – $399 ($200 off)
– iPad mini 2 WiFi-only Space Gray 64GB – $399 ($200 off)
– iPad mini 2 WiFi-only Silver 128GB – $499 ($200 off)
– iPad mini 2 WiFi-only Space Gray 128GB – $499 ($200 off)

– iPad mini 2 Cellular AT&T Silver 64GB – $529.99 ($200 off)
– iPad mini 2 Cellular AT&T Space Gray 64GB – $529.99 ($200 off)
– iPad mini 2 Cellular AT&T Space Gray 128GB – $629.99 ($200 off)
– iPad mini 2 Cellular Verizon Silver 64GB – $529.99 ($200 off)
– iPad mini 2 Cellular Verizon Space Gray 64GB – $529.99 ($200 off)
– iPad mini 2 Cellular Verizon Silver 128GB – $629.99 ($200 off)
– iPad mini 2 Cellular Verizon Space Gray 128GB – $629.99 ($200 off)

Original iPad mini

Walmart has a limited time deal offering the original 16GB WiFi-only iPad mini in Silver or Space Gray for $199, a $50 discount off Apple’s price for the tablet.

2014 Retina MacBook Pro

There are a few deals on the latest 2014 Retina MacBook Pros this month, offering some of the biggest discounts we’ve seen on the notebooks thus far.

– 13-inch/8GB RAM/128GB storage (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,199.99 ($100 off)
– 13-inch/8GB RAM/256GB storage (Best Buy) – $1,374.99 ($124 off)
– 13-inch/8GB RAM/512GB storage (Adorama) (B&H Photo) – $1,699.99 ($100 off)
– 15-inch/16GB RAM/256GB storage (Best Buy) – $1,799.99 ($200 off)

Apple Accessories

JBL onBeat mini iPhone/iPad Speaker Dock is available for $30 from Meh, a discount of $69.The Agloves Touchscreen Winter Gloves are available for $7.99 from Groupon, a discount of $18. Scosche’s Premium Earphones are available from Groupon for $18.99, a discount of $60.

Best Buy is offering $20 to $40 off all Western Digital portable hard drives, dropping prices as low as $60 for a 500GB My Passport Ultra. Speck MacBook Cases for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are available for $19.99 from Groupon, a discount of $30. Groupon is also selling the Powerbeats by Dr. Dre Earbud headphones for $79.99, a discount of $70.

For the next few weeks, Target will be offering 10 percent off all of the items on a child’s wish list. Parents need to download the Target Wish List app and have kids create a wish list of products that will then be available at a 10 percent discount. Apple products are excluded, but Apple accessories such as cases are included.

Make sure to check out our deals posts each week for the latest products that are available at low prices, and keep an eye on our Black Friday roundup, which will be updated on a regular basis with all of the discounts we find on popular Apple products.

MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.

Apple Grabs Record US PC Market Share On Strong Mac Sales in Q3 2014

As forecasted, the third calendar quarter of 2014 was a stellar quarter for Mac shipments, with Apple gaining ground on its competitors in the US. According to IDC’s quarterly PC tracker (via Re/code), Apple reached its highest PC market share ever reported, a metric that accounts only for Mac shipments and does not include the iPad.

The company gained ground with 13.4 percent of the US PC market, edging out Lenovo (10.7 percent) to grab the number three spot behind HP (27.7 percent) and Dell (24 percent). Shipments in the US climbed to more than 2.26 million in the third calendar quarter of 2014.

Globally, Apple’s market share climbed 5.7 percent year over year, with the company selling a record-breaking 5.5 million units in the just ending quarter. Apple now sits in the number five spot when it comes to global Mac shipments, behind Lenovo, HP, Dell and Acer.

Apple refreshed its MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro earlier this year with updated processors and other minor improvements. The company also dropped prices on some models and heavily promoted the desktops during the back-to-school season with a $100 gift card along with a discounted purchase price for both students and educators.

Next year may see even stronger Mac sales as Apple prepares to update its Mac lineup with Intel’s Broadwell processors. A 12-inch MacBook with an ultra thin chassis, a Retina display, and an Intel Core M chip may be one of the first Broadwell machines to ship in the new year.

FCC Document Details New Apple-Developed Wireless Beats Solo2 Headphones

The first Beats product to be released under Apple’s guidance has been unveiled in documents recently submitted to the FCC, suggesting Apple will soon be releasing a pair of Beats Solo2 headphones that include wireless Bluetooth functionality.

As seen in diagrams, the design of the new wireless Solo2 headphones is nearly identical to Beats’ existing Solo2 line. The Solo2 headphones are the company’s newest product, released in May, just a day after Apple’s Beats acquisition became official.

The Beats Solo2 headphones will contain Bluetooth and BLE radios, allowing them to function wirelessly. Beats currently offers a wireless version of its more expensive Studio headphones, but its Solo2 line is somewhat more affordable. The company’s current non-wireless Studio headphones retail for $300 while the wireless version retails for $379, suggesting Solo2 wireless headphones could sell for approximately $279 if it uses the same markup.

At $3 billion, Apple’s Beats acquisition is its largest in history, and Beats’ line of successful headphones was said to be one of the driving factors behind the purchase. Beats’ aggressive marketing tactics and clever advertising campaigns have skyrocketed its headphones to popularity, and they are very popular with athletes and the younger demographic. A survey released shortly after the acquisition was finalized suggested that a large percentage of students believed Beats would make Apple more “cool.”

The new Solo2 wireless headphones remain under FCC review for the time being and a potential release date is unknown.

GT Advanced COO: Apple Told Us ‘Put On Your Big Boy Pants and Accept the Agreement’

Apple and GT Advanced fought to keep key documents related to their sapphire agreement out of the public eye after the latter company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection, but earlier this week, a judge ruled that the documents did not contain trade secrets or confidential information, and would thus be largely unsealed.

As of today, those previously sealed documents are now available for public inspection, including an unedited affidavit [PDF] from GT Advanced COO Daniel Squiller. Squiller submitted a revised affidavit on October 28, which gave some insight into the deal between Apple and GT Advanced, but the newly available unedited version expresses much stronger negative feelings towards the partnership and places more of the blame for GT’s failure on Apple.

According to Squiller, Apple used a “bait-and-switch” strategy, offering GT Advanced “an onerous and massively one-sided deal” in 2013. He says that Apple initially drew GT in with the promise of a huge deal, originally agreeing to purchase sapphire furnaces and let GT operate them, but eventually demanding a “fundamentally different deal” requiring GT to purchase the furnaces itself.

The new structure, as a contract matter, shifted all economic risk to GTAT, because Apple would act as a lender and would have no obligation to purchase any sapphire furnaces, nor did it have any obligation to purchase any sapphire material produced by GTAT.

GT gave into Apple’s new terms because it had “invested months negotiating a sale contract with Apple while being effectively locked out of pursuing other opportunities with Apple’s competitors.” During “extensive and all-consuming” negotiations with Apple, GT ceased speaking to other companies about its furnaces due to the lure of Apple’s large offer.

Apple reportedly told GT not to bother attempting to negotiate because it “does not negotiate with its suppliers.” GT was required to agree to all of Apple’s terms or risk losing the deal, and as has been previously noted, the contract was highly favorable to Apple, requiring GT to produce sapphire that Apple was not obligated to buy. Squiller alleges that when GT execs balked at the terms, Apple said “Put on your big boy pants and accept the agreement.”

As Squiller previously described, the company’s relationship with Apple became “unsustainable” after Apple refused to take responsibility for cost overruns and expenses that it caused due to its control over operations. Apple also reportedly selected fabrication equipment that “could not economically produce a product that Apple would accept” and then refused to permit equipment changes that would allow the company to produce an acceptable product.

Squiller accuses Apple of “embedding” itself in GT’s operations so deeply that GT was forced to “divert an inordinate amount of its cash and corporate resources” into the Mesa facility, affecting GT’s continued viability as a whole.

Apple and GT Advanced have already reached an agreement to officially end their partnership, nullifying the terms of the original deal. Under the terms, GT will repay its loans to Apple by selling off its sapphire furnaces, and it has already begun shutting down its Mesa, Arizona plant and laying off employees.

Unsealed GT Advanced Court Documents Give Insight Into Apple’s Business Practices

Though Apple and GT Advanced fought to keep documents related to their sapphire agreement sealed after GT’s bankruptcy filing, a judge recently ruled that the documents did not contain trade secrets and would be largely unsealed.

One of those documents, an unedited affidavit from GT Advanced COO Daniel Squiller, gave insight into the terms of the deal between the two companies, but another, the original privacy agreement that GT Advanced signed, gives a rare look into how Apple does business with its suppliers.

According to the documents, Apple and GT’s sapphire deal was known internally as “Project Onyx,” and was subject to strict confidentiality agreements. GT employees were forbidden from referring to Apple or the project by anything other than code names, and they were also required to undergo training regarding confidentiality and security in addition to signing extensive non-disclosure agreements. Only employees who needed to know about the project were given information, in order to keep the deal as quiet as possible.

GT was required to establish a qualified security team and adhere to strict guidelines that called for 24/7 surveillance, credential screening, tracking of all confidential supplies, and the secure destruction of all scrap materials to prevent potential leaks.

As part of the agreement, Apple was able to audit records, inspect facilities, and interview personnel to ensure compliance, and any evidence of non-compliance with the non-disclosure agreement would result in a $135,000 “Security Fee” to pay for the cost of the audit and an increase in Apple’s security efforts.

In addition to agreeing to Apple’s strict access restrictions, GT Advanced was required to maintain liability insurance, and comply with Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct, which demands safe working conditions for employees. GT was also required to fulfill orders for replacement goods for seven years after “the date Apple designates as end-of-life” for the Apple product featuring sapphire, as well as maintain an “adequate stock” of materials for Service Units.

The privacy agreement that GT Advanced was required to sign is likely similar in nature to the agreements that Apple gives to all of its suppliers, giving us a glimpse of the lengths Apple goes to in order to maintain secrecy. Despite Apple’s privacy efforts, the company still sees extensive product leaks. For example, ahead of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus release, hundreds of part leaks divulged information on nearly every aspect of the two devices, and a handset was even seen in the wild days before its official release.