Safari Crashing for Both iOS and Mac Users, Fixes Identified
Safari users are today reporting an odd issue causing Apple’s web browser app to crash on both Macs and iOS devices. Several Mac users are also not receiving autocomplete suggestions when entering text into Safari’s address bar, with many pages including sites like Google failing to load completely. For many iPhone and iPad users, simply tapping on the URL bar causes Safari to crash.
URL searches, autocomplete, Top Sites and other Safari features rely on queries being sent to and returned by Apple’s servers, suggesting this is where the problem lies. The issue also seems to depend on what data the browser most recently cached.
The current fix for iOS and Mac involves disabling Safari Suggestions, which stops the app from crashing to the home screen. On your iOS device, go into Settings, tap Safari, and toggle off the “Safari Suggestions” switch. On your Mac, the same setting is found in Safari -> Preferences -> Search.
Alternatively, opening a Private Browsing window also appears to solve the issue.
The problem appears to be affecting users around the world and will likely be resolved when Apple corrects the service on their end.
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple News is reportedly getting subscription articles
Apple is getting ready to bring paywalled articles to its News app, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. If true, this would signify a major change in the service, since it would provide publishers with paywalls (such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal) a new way to display their entire content. Currently, these publications can only provide excerpts from articles to Apple News users, and the app doesn’t support account logins for subscribers. That’s very different than the full reading experience offered by free, ad-supported publishers.
As Reuters points out, making such a move would also benefit Apple tremendously. Not only would the company appease paid publications, but it would help differentiate News from other similar products — including Facebook’s Instant Articles. There are no details on how (or when) this will work within the iOS application, but something tells us we could learn more about that at Apple’s rumored March event, if not sooner.
Source: Reuters
Apple Expects First Ever Decline of iPhone Sales Next Quarter
Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed during the company’s financial earnings conference call today that iPhone sales will likely decline in the March quarter, marking the first year-over-year decline since the smartphone was released in June 2007. The decline will be realized if Apple sells less than 61.2 million iPhones this quarter.
Apple forecasts that its total revenue in Q2 2016 will be between $50 and $53 billion, compared to $58 billion in the year-ago quarter, signaling the company’s first year-over-year drop in revenue in thirteen years. Apple has posted over 50 quarters of year-over-year revenue growth since 2003.
Apple is currently facing significant foreign exchange headwinds. A strong U.S. dollar makes it more difficult for Apple, which reports its earnings in U.S. dollars, to perform when some 66% of their business is overseas. Every $100 of Apple’s non-U.S. dollar revenue earned in Q4 2014 translates into only $85 U.S. dollars today.
Financial analysts had already predicted the iPhone would face its first quarterly sales decline in Q2 2016 compared to the year-ago quarter, with some reports claiming the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus may not outsell last year’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, its first devices with larger than 4-inch screens.
iPhone growth in the just-announced first fiscal quarter of 2016 was the slowest since the smartphone’s introduction in 2007. Apple sold a record 74.8 million iPhones during the quarter, which includes the busy holiday shopping season, up only 300,000 units from 74.5 million a year earlier.
Nevertheless, Cook said that 60% of customers who have owned an iPhone prior to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have not yet upgraded, meaning there is a large base of potential customers that could upgrade to newer models, including the iPhone 7 expected in September, over the coming year.
Today’s announcement has been referred to by some as “peak iPhone,” but Cook remains optimistic about annual iPhone sales in 2016. Even if Apple sells a projected 45 to 50 million iPhones next quarter, that would still be more revenue from one product than most companies earn overall in a single quarter.
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple Watch and Apple TV See Record Quarterly Sales
Both the Apple Watch and the Apple TV set new quarterly sales records in 1Q 2016, according to information shared by Tim Cook during today’s earnings call. The Apple Watch saw especially strong sales in December as people purchased the device during the holiday season, something that’s perhaps not a surprise given the significant discounts offered by some third-party retailers.
While Apple did not offer discounts itself, Best Buy cut prices on the Apple Watch by $100, and Target offered a $100 gift card with the purchase of an Apple Watch. These price drops likely boosted Apple Watch sales by a good amount during the quarter. Apple also expanded Apple Watch availability to more than 48 countries ahead of the holiday season.
As for the Apple TV, Apple says it saw its best quarter ever following the launch of the fourth-generation device. The Apple TV 4, priced at $149 to $199 depending on capacity, includes features like a full App Store, a touch-based remote control and Siri voice control. Available apps on the Apple TV have expanded, with 3,600 total apps now downloadable on the device.
Apple does not break out sales of the Apple Watch and the Apple TV, choosing instead to lump them into an “Other” category that also includes iPods and Beats headphones, so exact sales numbers for the two devices are not known. Revenue for the Other category did see a big increase, jumping more than 40 percent from $2.7 billion in 1Q2015 to $4.35 billion in 1Q2016. Sales were also up quarter over quarter, as revenue in 4Q2015 was at $3 billion.
Overall, it was a record quarter for Apple with $18.4 billion in profit on $75.9 billion in revenue. During the quarter, the company sold 74.8 million iPhones, 16.1 million iPads, and 5.3 million Macs.
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now), Apple Watch (Neutral)
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple CEO Tim Cook: Virtual Reality is ‘Really Cool, Has ‘Interesting Applications’
During today’s earnings call for the first fiscal quarter of 2016 (fourth calendar quarter), analyst Gene Munster asked Tim Cook to share his thoughts on virtual reality in an effort to get a hint on whether or not that’s a feature Apple is working on for future devices. “What are your thoughts on the VR theme?” Munster asked. “Is this a geeky niche or something that could go mainstream?”
In response, Tim Cook said that he does not believe that virtual reality is a niche. “It’s really cool,” he said. “And it has some interesting applications.”
With virtual reality products like the Oculus Rift gaining in popularity, there has been speculation that Apple will release some kind of virtual reality or augmented reality feature in its iOS devices. Apple reportedly has a small team of employees working on exploring the augmented reality field.
Last week, Apple hired one of the leading virtual reality experts in the United States, Doug Bowman. Apple has also made some recent acquisitions that point towards an interest in VR/AR, including augmented reality startup Metaio, real-time motion capture firm Faceshift, and expression analysis startup Emotient.
Apple has also filed several patents for virtual reality products over the years, including video goggles, motion-sensing 3D virtual interfaces for iOS devices, and 3D “hyper reality” displays.
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple has another record quarter, but iPhone sales growth slows to a halt
It’s going to be very interesting to see Apple spin these financials results. The company just announced its Q1 2016 results, and the company posted recored quarterly revenue and profit of $75.9 billion and $18.4 billion, respectively. That sounds great until you realize that the doomsaying over slowing iPhone sales has come true. Apple sold 74.8 million iPhones in its first full quarter of iPhone 6S and 6S Plus availability — up a meager 0.4 percent over a year ago.
The bad news continues when looking at the iPad — Apple moved 16.1 million tablets in the quarter, down 25 percent over a year ago. It looks like the iPad Pro isn’t the savior the company was looking for. Mac sales declined slightly as well, down 4 percent to 5.3 million units in the quarter.
While none of Apple’s main product lines had the growth we’ve come accustomed to seeing, there were a few additional bright spots in the company’s financials (beyond that record-breaking revenue and profit, of course). Apple’s recently-created “other products” category, which includes the Apple TV, Apple Watch, and the iPod, had the biggest quarter in terms of revenue since the company started reporting data in this fashion. Revenue of $4.4 billion in the “other products” category was up significantly quarter-over-quarter (44 percent) and year-over-year (63 percent). Of course, a year ago this category didn’t have an Apple Watch or a new Apple TV to buoy it, but still it seems both products likely were popular holiday gifts for the company.
It’s also worth noting that Apple’s “services” category also jumped up significantly this quarter — revenues of $6.1 billion are up 20 percent quarter-over-quarter and 27 percent year-over-year. It’s probable that people are buying more apps than ever for their iOS devices, spending cash on downloads for those new Apple TVs, and perhaps even subscribing to Apple Music.
Apple also pointed out that it now has over 1 billion active devices across all its product categories, including the Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Apple TV and Apple Watch. Those devices have “engaged with Apple’s services” at some point during the last 90 days. CFO Luca Maestri said that was up over 25 percent compared to a year ago.
The company is holding its quarterly financial call with CEO Tim Cook at 5PM ET, and we’ll be listening in to see how Apple explains these results and what other details the company decides to share. Stay tuned!
[Image credit: Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images]
Source: Apple (BusinessWire)
Apple has 1 billion active devices
Apple’s device sales weren’t stellar as 2015 wound to a close, but it did cross an important milestone: it now has 1 billion active devices. The figure includes all iOS, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch units that have used Cupertino’s services in the past 90 days. While that’s not as huge a figure as you’ll see on the Android side (which crossed the 1 billion mark back in 2014), it’s no mean feat for a company that focuses almost exclusively on higher-priced hardware.
Not that Apple is depending solely on an ever-growing unit count to make money. As the company explained during its fiscal results call, there’s a lot of recurring revenue here. Customer satisfaction rates are very high, so existing owners are more likely to come back for upgrades and additional products (say, an Apple Watch to go with that iPhone). Also, there are services that are consistent money makers — Apple Music, anyone? We’re sure that Apple still wants to sell lots of devices (it remains “bullish” on places like China and India), but it’s adamant that this isn’t the only criteria that matters.
[Image credit: Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images]
Source: Apple (PDF)
Apple Reports Record Results: $18.4B Profit on $75.9B in Revenue for Q1 2016 on 74.8M iPhones
Apple today announced financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2016, which corresponds to the fourth calendar quarter of 2015. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $75.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $18.4 billion, or $3.28 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $74.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $18 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Both revenue and earnings were company records.
Gross margin for the quarter was 40.1 percent compared to 39.9 percent in the year-ago quarter, with international sales accounting for 66 percent of revenue. Apple also declared an upcoming dividend payment of $0.52 per share, payable on February 11 to shareholders of record as of February 8. The company currently holds $215.7 billion in cash and marketable securities, partially offset by $53.2 billion in long-term debt.
Apple sold a record 74.8 million iPhones during the quarter, up slightly from 74.5 million a year earlier, while Mac sales were down slightly to 5.3 million units sold from 5.5 million units in the year-ago quarter. iPad sales were also down once again, falling to 16.1 million from 21.4 million despite the introduction of the iPad Pro during the quarter.
“Our team delivered Apple’s biggest quarter ever, thanks to the world’s most innovative products and all-time record sales of iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The growth of our Services business accelerated during the quarter to produce record results, and our installed base recently crossed a major milestone of one billion active devices.”
Apple’s guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 includes expected revenue of $50–53 billion and gross margin between 39 and 39.5 percent. Revenue guidance is slightly below analyst expectations.
In supplemental materials, Apple explains that currency headwinds have cost the company 15 percent in earnings over the past 18 months. Using “constant currency” measures, Apple’s revenue for the holiday quarter would have been $80.8 billion for an 8 percent increase year-over-year.
Apple will provide live streaming of its fiscal Q1 2016 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.
Conference call starts at 2:00 PM Pacific – No need to refresh 
http://static.reportinglive.com/v8/rl.js
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple Now Has Over 1 Billion Active Devices Worldwide
Apple has announced that its active installed base of devices has reached 1 billion, based on the number of iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod touch, Apple TV and Apple Watch devices that have been engaged with the company’s services within the past 90 days.
Apple sold a record 74.8 million iPhones, 5.3 million Macs and 16.1 million iPads during the first quarter of the 2016 fiscal year. Apple also earned slightly over $6 billion in revenue from services, including App Store and iTunes sales, AppleCare, Apple Music subscriptions, Apple Pay, licensing and more.
Earlier this month, Apple said the 2015 holiday season was the “biggest ever” for the App Store, with customers spending a record-breaking $1.1 billion on apps and in-app purchases over a two-week period ending January 3. New Year’s Day set a single-day record with $144 million in sales, just one week after record sales on Christmas Day.
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple to Add Support for Subscription Content in Apple News App
Apple is planning to add subscription content from publishers with paywalls to its Apple News app, reports Reuters. This will allow sites that require subscriptions or memberships to view content to have more control over who reads their articles, but it will also introduce barriers for readers.
All content on Apple News is available for free with the existing model, but with support for subscriptions, publishers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal could limit the number of free articles Apple News users can access before requiring them to subscribe.
With no support for subscription content, publishers are limited on how they can make money through Apple News. Existing subscriber-only sites currently share their articles for free or offer only an excerpt, directing readers to a website to read the full content. Publishers are said to be unhappy with the information Apple provides them about readers, so this paywall compromise could soothe relationships and give publishers new ways to gain potential subscribers.
“Ensuring subscription mechanisms in our off-platform distribution partnerships is critical,” said Katie Vanneck-Smith, chief customer officer of Dow Jones, which publishes the Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones is working with Apple and others to take advantage of new platforms, she added. She declined to comment on the specifics of conversations with Apple.
Apple’s decision to allow subscription content in the Apple News app may not be popular with Apple News readers, but it’s a feature that will allow Apple to differentiate itself from other news platforms that don’t offer paid content to attract publishers.
Introduced in September, Apple News is said to have somewhere around 40 million users, but it is not clear if that number reflects people who use the Apple News app on a regular basis or those who have accessed the app at one point or another. It’s also not clear if that number is accurate – Apple recently announced that it has been underestimating the number of Apple News readers and providing incorrect usage statistics to publishers.
Discuss this article in our forums
AIVAnet 