Prior to delivering the keynote address at the Ceres sustainability gala in New York City this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke briefly with GQ about the company’s environmental efforts, iPhone trade-ins, and more.

Apple has heavily promoted its iPhone trade-in program at its retail stores and on its website over the last year, and Cook said the increased emphasis has been effective, noting that a third or more of customers that visit its retail stores end up trading in an older device for a newer one.

“This year we’ve really moved the dial on getting the consumer to think about trade-in,” he said. “We were up to a third or more of the people that come into our stores that are trading in, and this number is trending up.”

Apple’s estimated trade-in values currently range from up to $100 for the iPhone 6s to up to $600 for the iPhone XS Max in the United States, with values varying in other countries. The credit can be applied towards your next Apple Store purchase or paid out in the form of an Apple Store gift card.

When asked whether Apple had a plan to encourage more third-party accessory makers to be more sustainable, Cook suggested that Apple is considering introducing some kind of sticker or label that indicates a particular product meets certain environmental standards, be it an iPhone case or a charging cable.

“[…] That is something we’re talking about,” he said. “I don’t want to pre-announce it.”

An eco-friendly badge would likely only apply to Apple-certified accessories that license hardware like the Lightning connector through the MFi Program.

Apple received an award from Ceres this week for its sustainability initiatives, including all of its retail stores, offices, data centers, and other facilities being powered by 100 percent renewable energy since 2018. Apple also has a recycling robot named Daisy that is capable of disassembling 200 iPhones per hour.

Apple has a more ambitious, long-term goal to create a fully closed-loop supply chain, in which it would be able to stop mining raw materials and instead build new products entirely with recycled materials. Cook said he is “not worried” about Apple eventually figuring out ways to achieve that feat.

This article, “Tim Cook Says One-Third or More of Apple Store Visitors Now Using Trade-In Program” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Arcade has received another weekly refresh, with five more games added to the service across iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

The new titles include neo-classic side-scrolling action platformer “Fallen Knight” by FairPlay Studios, barnyard game “Hogwash” by Bossa Studios, the hypnotic getaway “Lifelike: Chapter One” by Kunabi Brother, puzzler “Tales of Memo” by Tendays Studio, and roleplaying folktale “Yaga” by Versus Evil.

“Hogwash,” “Tales of Memo,” and “Yaga” have also been added to Apple Arcade on the Mac, while “ChuChu Rocket! Universe” and “LEGO Brawls” have been extended to the Mac after debuting on iOS last month.

Apple Arcade now has 89 games available for iOS and tvOS, and 81 on macOS, as Apple closes in on its promise of over 100 games.

Apple Arcade is Apple’s new subscription-based gaming service, providing iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac users with access to dozens of premium games for $4.99 per month, with no in-app purchases or ads. The service launched in late September with a one-month free trial available.

This article, “Apple Arcade Adds Five New Games on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV as ‘LEGO Brawls’ Expands to Mac” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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MacRumors has partnered with accessory maker Targus to offer our readers 15 percent off sitewide on the company’s website. The exclusive deal has kicked off this week, and will run through November 30, 2019, providing our readers with a month of savings on laptop bags, backpacks, docks, and mobile accessories.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

To claim the discount, head to Targus and add an item into your cart. In the final checkout screen, enter the coupon code MACRUMORS15 in the field at the top right of the screen. This will take 15 percent off your order total, so it can be used on multiple items at once, but it is not valid on clearance products or open box items. It also can’t be combined with other discount offers.

Below we’ve collected a few ideas for accessories you can use the new code on, so check them out and be sure to head to Targus before the end of November to take advantage of the sale.

Targus 15% Off Sitewide Sale

• 15.6-Inch Arts Edition Polka Dot Laptop Sleeve – $29.75, down from $34.99
  
• 13-Inch CityLite Pro Laptop Sleeve – $25.50, down from $29.99
  
• 15-Inch Groove X2 Compact Backpack – $59.50, down from $69.99
  
• VersaVu Signature 360-Degree Rotating Case for 9.7-Inch iPad – $51.00, down from $59.99
  
• Save 15% on Cables and Adapters – $9.99 to $59.99
  
• Save 15% on Screen Protectors for iPhone and iPad – $19.99 to $64.99
  
• Save 15% on USB Hubs – $18.99 to $99.99

Additionally, our readers can get the same 15 percent discount on Targus’ sister site, SENA Cases. This site focuses on premium leather cases for iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.

You’ll find the same discount code process on SENA Cases as on Targus, so shop around on the website, add a few items to your cart, and then enter MACRUMORS15 during the checkout screen. This will net you 15 percent off your order total.

SENA Cases has a few accessories that are up for pre-order with a 15 percent discount as well, so anywhere you see this offer you won’t be able to stack our exclusive coupon code on top of the existing discount.

Otherwise, you can shop around for cases for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, the newest iPads, the Apple Watch, and 11-inch to 13-inch Mac notebooks.

Be sure to check out both 15 percent discounts on Targus and SENA Cases before the sales expire on November 30, and then head to our full Deals Roundup for a full recap of the latest Apple-related bargains.

This article, “MacRumors Exclusive: Targus and SENA Cases Take 15% Off Accessories for iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Much More” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Watch Series 5 models are now available to purchase at Apple Stores and select resellers in Brazil, Korea, and Thailand, with both Wi-Fi-only and cellular models released today following pre-orders.

Pricing starts at R$3,999 in Brazil, ₩539,000 in Korea, and ฿14,400 in Thailand.

Carriers:

• Brazil: Claro and Vivo
  
• Korea: KT, SK Telecom, and LG U+
  
• Thailand: AIS, dtac, and TrueMove

Apple has also started selling the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max in Korean stores as of today.

This article, “Apple Watch Series 5 Launches in Brazil, Korea, and Thailand” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Creating a macOS installer on a bootable USB drive provides a convenient way of installing a fresh copy of macOS on multiple Macs, and also allows you to perform a clean installation quickly and easily.

If you tried to run your installer recently and unexpectedly received an error that it is damaged and can’t be used, then don’t worry – keep reading for a simple and straightforward way to fix it.

Why is my macOS Installer Damaged?

If you tried to use a macOS installer in the last few days or weeks, you may have been met with an error message saying something like “This copy of the Install macOS Mojave.app application is damaged, and can’t be used to install macOS.”

As Apple explains in a newly published support document, the likely reason for the “damaged” error message is an expired certificate. Happily though, the fix is very simple.

How to Fix a Damaged macOS Installer

To fix the damaged installer, you should just download the installer again. Doing so will also ensure that you have all of the macOS updates that have been released since you made the original installer, meaning you won’t have to update macOS immediately after the initial installation is complete.

You can find the latest official download links below for the last six versions of Apple’s Mac operating system, all of which contain a new certificate that has not expired:

• macOS Catalina
• macOS Mojave
• macOS High Sierra
• macOS Sierra
• OS X El Capitan
• OS X Yosemite

To learn how to perform a clean installation of macOS using the bootable USB drive method, click one of the following links: macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, macOS Sierra.

This article, “How to Fix a Damaged macOS Installer” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Google today announced a change to its core Search algorithm that it says can better understand conversational search queries. Through improvements in natural language analysis, the company says that it has improved its ability to analyze queries that reflect how people speak in real life and recognize the relevant context.

Particularly for longer, more conversational queries, or searches where prepositions like “for” and “to” matter a lot to the meaning, Search should be able to understand the context of the words in a query, allowing users to search in a way that feels more natural.

The company says the improvements are down to a system it introduced last year called BERT, or Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, which allows Google to analyze the context of a sentence a lot better and return more pertinent information.

In a blog post announcing the change, Google offers the following example to show off BERT’s capabilities – a search for “2019 brazil traveler to usa need a visa.”

The word “to” and its relationship to the other words in the query are particularly important to understanding the meaning. It’s about a Brazilian traveling to the U.S., and not the other way around. Previously, our algorithms wouldn’t understand the importance of this connection, and we returned results about U.S. citizens traveling to Brazil. With BERT, Search is able to grasp this nuance and know that the very common word “to” actually matters a lot here, and we can provide a much more relevant result for this query.

Google reckons BERT will help Search better understand one in 10 searches in the U.S. in English, and it plans to bring the capability to more languages and locales over time.

As far web searches go, the changes usher in the “biggest leap forward in the past five years, and one of the biggest leaps forward in the history of search,” said Pandu Nayak, a Google vice president.

Google is the default search engine in Apple’s Safari web browser. Apart from its Google.com website, Google Search is also available on iOS through the company’s namesake app. [Direct Link]

This article, “Google’s Search Algorithm is Now Better at Parsing Natural Speech Queries” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sat down for an interview with People en Español where he talked about diversity at Apple, his personal life and his decision to publicly announce his sexual orientation.

Back in 2014, Cook wrote a letter for Bloomberg Businessweek where he came out as gay in an effort to bring comfort to anyone who feels alone” and “inspire people to insist on their equality.”

Cook says that he does not regret his decision to come out. “I have not regretted it for one minute,” he said. “Not at all.” Cook went on to explain that he had been receiving notes from kids struggling with their sexual orientation, and he wanted to do something. It took him a year between getting the words right and picking the right time for the announcement.

Obviously I couldn’t talk to each one individually that reached out, but you always know if you have people reaching out to you that there’s many more that don’t, that are just out there wondering whether they have a future or not, wondering whether life gets better… From there I really decided. There’s been a lot of people that came before me that made it possible for me to sit here today, and I needed to do something to help those people that were in a younger generation.

Cook said that he didn’t experience any fear ahead of the announcement, but he was concerned about the world outside of Apple even with unanimous support from Apple’s board. “I mean you look at it… there’s still half the states or so where you can be fired for being gay or trans,” said Cook.

Apple has a “history of being open and diverse” which made him feel comfortable making the announcement. According to Cook, being gay has given him a “level of empathy” that’s “much higher than average.”

I’m not saying that I understand the trials and tribulations of every minority group, because I don’t. But I do understand for one of the groups. And to the degree that it helps give you a lens on how other people may feel, I think that’s a gift in and of itself.

Cook also spoke about diversity and Apple’s recent decision to file an amicus brief in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy. “We know that we create better products by being more diverse,” said Cook. “We know the best products are created by the most diverse teams because products are created for everyone.”

When I talk to folks that are in the United States in the DACA program, what I see is a level of grit, a level of determination, a level of excitement to be in America to achieve something and to go beyond perhaps where their parents did. I see enormous dedication and [a] very diligent work ethic, which I’ve always deeply admired. It was the way I was brought up as well. That’s what I see, and I think it’s a travesty that we’re allowing, as a society, this cloud to hang over their heads for any period of time, but even more so for the period of time we have.

Cook’s full interview, which has additional details on Apple’s environmental efforts and Cook’s advice for children who are gay and their parents, can be read over on the People en Español website.

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.

This article, “Apple CEO Tim Cook Talks Diversity and Coming Out in New People Interview” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple this afternoon began sending out emails highlighting its latest Apple Pay promotion, which offers $10 off a purchase of $100 or more from the StubHub app.

StubHub is an online ticketing company that allows users to purchase tickets for sporting events, concerts, and more.

To get the $10 discount, you can enter PAYFASTER during checkout on ‌Apple Pay‌ purchase of $100+. Apple says that the discount will be available through October 31, and it is limited to the United States. Purchases of gift cards are not included.

This article, “Apple Pay Promo Offers $10 Discount on $100 StubHub Purchase” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today announced that it is the first company to receive a Green Supply Chain CITI Outstanding Brand award for its environmental efforts in China, specifically its contributions towards making its entire supply chain more environmentally responsible.

Apple announced the news on its Chinese site (via 9to5Mac), and said that as a CITI brand, the company will continue to maintain a “superior supply chain” while further promoting environmental management.

Ge Yue, the managing director of Apple Greater China, said that Apple has been committed to smart and sustainable manufacturing to be beneficial to the world.

“We always believe that to create the best products in the world, we must create the products that are most beneficial to the world. For this reason, we have been committed to promoting the development of smart and sustainable manufacturing. I am very grateful to Director Ma Jun and IPE for their cooperation with us. We believe that through our joint efforts, we will be able to achieve greater achievements in protecting the Earth and its important resources.”

Apple says that it is working on projects to strengthen its environmental impacts outside of its own supply chain, with plans to share best practices with others and extend its results to the entire industry.

In China, Apple’s clean water management program has been able to save more than 25 billion gallons of water, and Apple has 76 suppliers participating in an effort to run entirely on renewable energy.

More than 40 percent of Apple manufacturing partners are committed to producing Apple products with 100 percent clean energy, and by the end of next year, Apple and its suppliers will have a total of 6 GW of renewable energy in use worldwide.

This article, “Apple Wins CITI Outstanding Brand Award in China for Environmental Focus” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Former Apple lawyer Gene Levoff, who was in charge of enforcing Apple’s Insider Trading Policy, is facing criminal charges related to insider trading of Apple stock, reports CNBC.

Levoff was today indicted for insider trading, and he is facing six counts of security fraud and six counts of wire fraud. According to the U.S. government, Levoff used inside information from Apple, including financial results before they were published, to sell Apple stock ahead of weaker than expected earnings results between 2011 and 2016 as well as to purchase stock during stronger quarters.

This scheme to defraud Company-1 and its shareholders allowed Levoff to realize profits of approximately $227,000 on certain trades and to avoid losses of approximately $377,000 on others.

When Levoff discovered that Company-1 had posted strong revenue and net profit for a given financial quarter, he purchased large quantities of stock, which he later sold for a profit once the market reacted to the news.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission first filed charges against Gene Levoff in February, but now he is facing criminal charges in addition to civil charges.

Levoff worked for Apple from 2008 to 2018, and prior to when he was fired from the company, he was the senior director of corporate law.

Apple declined to comment on the criminal charges filed today, but in February, said the following: “After being contacted by authorities last summer we conducted a thorough investigation with the help of outside legal experts, which resulted in termination.”

This article, “Former Apple Lawyer Facing Criminal Charges for Insider Trading” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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