For a limited time Apple is offering people a deal with an iPhone XR refund. You can get up to US$500 off the iPhone XR when you participate in the Apple GiveBack program with your current iPhone. You can get extra credit for an iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, or iPhone 8. For example, I could get US$300 for my iPhone 7 Plus. You’ll receive your refund once Apple verifies the condition of your device.

Daniel Dilger wrote an informative article on why Apple will be focusing more on users, instead of units in the fiscal 2019 year.

The real value of Apple’s business has never changed. The real reason why Apple has always been uniquely able to sell premium hardware in a marketplace full of less expensive, generic commodity is its ability to successfully reach people, convince them that things are better inside the Apple ecosystem, and then retain their loyalty by delivering what Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook refers to as «user sat.»

At every keynote Apple emphasizes how customer satisfaction is its number one priority. Apple won’t be reporting unit sales anymore. Plenty of other companies don’t either, but it’s Apple so everyone is freaking out and death knelling.

Jake Knapp used to work on the Gmail team at Google. He recently wrote how he avoids iPhone distraction. He basically went full nuclear and deleted all of his apps, although it looks like he re-downloaded only the most important ones. If want to start limiting your phone usage, try his approach. In my opinion though, if you’re suffering from digital addiction, just get one of those flip phones. Buying an expensive smartphone only to delete 99% of the apps seems like you’re defeating its purpose, and you’ll save yourself a lot of money.

I’ve previously written about calls to Silicon Valley to embrace ethics, and how companies should have a Chief Ethics Officer. But you can’t really have ethics without morals, and this article explains how we can improve our moral reasoning.

Addressing the issues brought upon by artificial intelligence, biological advances, and the information age, I’d like to create a generalized method of moral reasoning for any human being in our current age to address issues like gene editing while remaining faithful to the work of philosophers and historians.

Apple has a long history of working with the music industry. Steve Jobs changed how songs were sold when he got the music industry to go along with US$0.99 songs on iTunes. Apple changed the game again when it decided to try and compete directly with Spotify and launched Apple Music. An interesting piece of analysis in the Financial Times looks at where Apple and the music industry might go next.

Music executives say that after a late entrance to music streaming in 2015, the tech group has been gaining confidence and ratcheting up its efforts to grow Apple Music. The number of subscribers has grown to 56m, up from 50m in May, and Apple recently overtook Spotify to become the top music streaming service in the US, the world’s biggest music market by revenues. “Apple stumbled out of the gate with an inferior product three years ago. Apple Music did not become this spectacular product like iTunes was,” said a senior executive at one of the “big three” record labels.