Apple runs biggest Apple Pay promotion in China since its launch, offering discounts & rewards

Apple is reportedly running the largest Apple Pay promotion in China since the service launched there almost 18 months ago.

The company is offering discounts of up to 50%, and points rewards of up to 50 times the usual number, for using the service at 28 major retail outlets and 16 online stores. The major push is in response to the greatest challenge faced by Apple Pay in the country …

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Apple meeting with Australian Attorney-General to discuss proposed ban on end-to-end encryption

Australia’s Attorney-General has said he will be meeting with Apple as the country becomes the latest to demand that the company cease offering end-to-end encryption, reports Sky News.

Attorney-General George Brandis says he will hold talks with tech giant Apple this week in bid to get co-operation on the Turnbull government’s proposed laws compelling tech companies to give police and intelligence agencies access to encrypted information messages from suspected terrorists and criminals …

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Former Apple creative director says Steve Jobs era over, Apple ‘fundamentally changed’

Former Apple creative director Hugh Dubberly has suggested that Apple is in danger of being left behind by Samsung now that the company is in the post Steve Jobs era.

It’s not so much that Samsung has gotten better, but Apple has fundamentally changed. The pipeline that Steve [Jobs] started is over.

Dubberly has a perspective on both companies, having also worked as a member of Samsung’s global design advisory board …

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Report: All three new iPhones yet to start mass production, OLED iPhone 8 supply may not ramp until November

We’ve been hearing various reports since the start of the year that the typical production schedule for the iPhone lineup is not happening this year, and these claims have only been boosted in recent weeks. Today, Economic Daily News is reporting that all three new iPhones — the major-redesigned iPhone 8 and the ‘7s’ iterative updates to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus — are yet to start mass production.

The report says that the new 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch phones are expected to ramp up in August, a month behind the normal new iPhone production timelines. Moreover, the OLED 5.8-inch iPhone (with bezel-less screen and all-new chassis design) may not be available until November.

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