Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:
Huge: Over the weekend, Apple (AAPL) topped analysts’ expectations, selling an unprecedented number of new iPhones, Reuters notes. The company said that during the three days following the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, it sold 9 million iPhones. That’s almost twice the 5 million iPhone 5’s the company sold during that model’s launch weekend last year. Wall Street had been looking for sales of about 6 million new iPhones during the launch weekend. Apple did not break down its weekend sales between the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models. The iPhone blowout prompted Apple to revise upward its revenue estimate for the current quarter. The company now says it expects sales to be near the top of its previously-stated range of between $34 billion and $37 billion with a gross profit margin above its prior estimate of between 36% and 37%. Wall Street had anticipated fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of about $36.10 billion.
Breached: The new fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 5s is meant to make the handset more secure. But a group of German hackers claims to have already found a way around it, Reuters notes. The group, called the Chaos Computer Club, uploaded a video that shows one of their members bypassing the Touch ID sensor by using a photograph of a user’s fingerprint, which was then transferred to a transparent sheet. On the group’s website one member wrote: “Fingerprints should not be used to secure anything,” noting that it is too easy for people to lift prints and make fakes that will fool sensors like the one in the iPhone 5s. Though the video hasn’t been verified yet, several computer security experts said they believed the group’s claim to be true.
Unexpected Promotion: iPhone and iPad users in New York City are being urged to upgrade their devices to Apple’s new iOS 7 operating system by local police, AppleInsider notes. The New York City police officers distributed fliers to pedestrians across the city over the weekend, advising them of the new security measures included in iOS 7. Enhance security features in iOS 7 include Activation Lock, which prevents thieves from erasing and reactivating iPhones for resale. The theft of Apple devices has become such a problem in large metropolitan areas that police have coined the term “Apple picking” to describe it. Last year, a surge in iPhone and iPad thefts actually drove the New York City’s first increase in overall crime in decades. Apple released iOS 7 as a free download to existing mobile devices last week.
For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
