Apple Daily: 'Leaked' 12-Inch MacBook Air, China and Apple, iPhone Activations

It wouldn't be Friday without a juicy Apple leak or rumor, and, as if on cue, photos of the display and lid of the rumored 12-inch MacBook Air supposedly leaked today. In other news, Tim Cook reportedly agreed to let Chinese officials check Apple products for security flaws, and iPhones accounted for precisely half of all phone activations in the U.S. during the last quarter.

'Leaked' Photos Reportedly Show Parts from 12-Inch MacBook Air

Just in time for weekend speculation fun, a set of photos have popped up on iFanr purporting to show the lid and display for the rumored 12-inch MacBook Air. The photos are noticeably less fuzzy than the usual leaked fare, and they helpfully show the parts stacked alongside a 13-inch MacBook Pro and a 9.7-inch iPad for comparison.

There's some doubt about the authenticity of the photos, however, in that they show that the traditional backlit Apple logo for MacBooks has been traded out for the polished metal logo common to iPads. For its part, iFanr believes Apple might have chucked the widely beloved backlit Apple in favor of making the unit ever so slightly thinner.

Also missing are the gray bezels common to most new MacBook Air models, which means that Apple might be extending the glass to the edges of the unit as seen with the MacBook Pro. That sounds lovely, but it does clash with an earlier rumor that the device would have the familiar gray bezels. Of course, there's always a good chance that Apple simply changed its mind.

Tim Cook Reportedly Agrees to Let China Search Products for Security Flaws

China's massive market means a lot to Apple—so much, in fact, that Apple CEO Tim Cook has reportedly agreed to let the country's officials inspect its products for security flaws, according to The Beijing News (via MacRumors). The officials are supposedly interested in finding "back doors" that would grant the Cupertino company (or anyone else, for that matter) access to private data stored in the units.

Calligraphy exhibit for the upcoming Apple Store in Hangzhou, China.

Lu Wei, director of China's State Internet Information Office, had expressed concerns last year that Apple might be afforded a window into Chinese state secrets through its devices. Cook assured Wei that this was not the case in a well-publicized visit, but the official apparently wanted to check out the products for himself.

The danger of such a decision is that it might reveal some secrets about how Apple designs its own software, which could in turn lead to leaked knowledge regarding how to exploit the vulnerabilities. But if it means staying in China's billion-strong market, that's a chance that Cook's apparently willing to take.

Half of All Phones Activated in Q4 2014 Were iPhones

Just in case you needed any more proof that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are wildly popular, consider the latest report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partner, which states that Apple accounted for half of all phone activations in the United States for Q4 2014 (via AppleInsider).

"Apple had virtually double the sales of Samsung, and five times that of LG. No other brand accounted for as much as 5% of US sales," says Josh Lowitz, partner and co-founder of CIRP.

Keep in mind that, at 500, the data sampling is quite small for reaching such sweeping conclusions, and that 86 percent of activations came from consumers who'd upgraded from an earlier iPhone. Still, Apple has certainly accomplished a major feat here, and impressively enough, CIRP reports that 25 percent of new iPhone users were former Samsung users and that 15 percent came from LG phones.

Follow this article's writer, Leif Johnson, on Twitter.