Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Patrick Gates — an Apple senior director of engineering who led development of iCloud, FaceTime, and iMessage during nearly 14 years at the the tech giant — has left to join a stealth startup founded by two other former Apple employees, notes <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/43789c" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>The Information</em></a>. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://eshop.macsales.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">OWC</a> has acquired Akitio, a maker of external computer storage products and accessories, with an emphasis on Thunderbolt 3 technology. OWC's Woodstock, Illinois facility will serve as worldwide headquarters for all OWC brands, including Akitio.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">mophie has announced ahead of CES the <a href="http://www.mophie.com/shop/powerstation-usbc-pd" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">powerstation PD</span></a> <span style="text-decoration: underline;">and</span> <a href="http://www.mophie.com/shop/powerstation-usbc-pd-xl" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">powerstation PD XL</span></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;">,</span> two universal batteries designed to charge popular smartphones at the fastest speed possible. d</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple says App Store customers set new spending records over the holidays, wrapping up a record-breaking year. App Store spending topped $1.22 billion between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Customers also spent over $322 million on New Year’s Day 2019 alone, setting a new single-day record.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">And it continues. Qualcomm has announced that it’s posted security bonds totaling €1.34 billion required for Qualcomm to be able to enforce the remedies ordered by the District Court of Munich on Dec. 20, 2018, after the court found that Apple is infringing Qualcomm's patented power savings technology used in smartphones. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We have the Apple Watch, so is it time for the “Apple Glove”? Apple has filed for a patent (number 20190004604) for a “finger-mounted device with sensors and haptics.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Future Apple Watches may identify users based on their skin textures. Apple has applied for a patent (number 2019000370) for a “wearable electronic device including a wrist biometric sensor for acquiring skin texture patten images and related methods.”</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re tired of having to reach behind your iMac or iMac Pro to access the ports, Satechi’s $89.99 <a href="https://satechi.net/products/aluminum-imac-stand" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Type-C Aluminum Monitor Stand Hub</a> is just what you’re looking for. It features seven built-in ports and an ergonomic design.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. Or two. <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/396696556/MagSafe-Lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The first </a>— filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern Division of Illinois, Eastern Division — claims that Apple’s discontinued MagSafe connector is partially to blame for a face-damaging fire.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple CEO Tim Cook has penned a letter to investors saying the company is revising our guidance for Apple’s fiscal 2019 first quarter, which ended on Dec. 29. You can read the entire letter at <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yb2k3mng" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">https://tinyurl.com/yb2k3mng</span></a>, but, among other things, Apple now expects lower iPhone sales than previous forecast.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple is the driving force in the premium smartphone market, with a new Counterpoint Research report — as noted by <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/12/31/apples-iphone-continues-its-domination-of-the-premium-smartphone-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a> —suggesting the growth in the quarter was driven by new iPhones, along with new flagship launches in China by local vendors. Counterpoint says Apple captured a 47% share of the premium segment in the period, followed by Samsung with 22%, Huawei with 12%, Vivo at 5%, Oppo with 5%, and Xiaomi at 3%. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">iOS 12 is now installed on 78% of devices released in the last four years, according to new data at the Apple <a href="https://developer.apple.com/support/app-store/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">App Store support page</a> for developers. </p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8492003/ebro-darden-apple-music-global-editorial-head-hip-hop-r-and-b" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Billboard</em></a> reports that Hot 97 (WQHT) New York morning personality and Apple Music Beats 1 anchor host Ebro Darden has been appointed Apple Music’s global editorial head of hip-hop and R&B. In this newly designated role, he’ll manage a team of hip-hop and R&B editors in developing editorial strategies for artists, albums and song releases in the U.S. and globally, the article adds.</p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve stared into my crystal ball once more, and here’s what I’m foreseeing for Apple’s Mac/macOS plans in 2019.</p><p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></p>

<p style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Apple’s iPhones and iPads led in new device adoption over Christmas, according to <a href="http://www.localytics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Localytics</a>. The analytics and marketing platform says “we discovered that Christmas shoppers were heavily focused on obtaining Apple products this year: iPads have become a mainstay of the holiday season and the iPhone Xr’s momentum shows no sign of decreasing.”</p>