Apple was quick to rectify the “random shutdown” problem affecting some iPhones by offering in-store battery replacements for affected customers. Unfortunately, it seems that already-busy Apple store employees aren’t too happy about the replacement program.

Given that each replacement takes between 20 and 45 minutes, and staffers are doing 15 to 30 replacements per day, it’s quickly adding up to “more than we [can] replace,” according to a longtime Genius Bar guru.

The year’s almost over, so it’s time to review the best deals that graced the Cult of Mac Store in 2016. Our top deals include a bundle of three extra long, MFi-certified Lightning cables, a lifetime of VPN protection, a powerful planning tool for turning to-do lists into flowcharts, and a comprehensive set of lessons for coding in iOS 9 and 10. They’re all massively discounted, but you can shave off another 16 percent by using the code: “BESTOF2016” (some exclusions apply). Read on for more details:

If you like watching a kid opening a gift at Christmastime, you might delight in watching a video posted by iPhone photographer Cielo de la Paz that shows her opening an unexpected gift from Apple.

For the second straight year, the self-taught photographer had one of her pictures selected for Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” marketing campaign. In addition to compensation for use of the photos for the campaign, Apple surprises the photographers with a coffee table book displaying photos selected for the Apple World Gallery.

Once again, the world’s most popular camera is a phone.

Smartphones, led by Apple’s iPhone, was the type of camera used most by photographers in 2016 on the photo-sharing site Flickr, according its annual analysis of EXIF data on pictures uploaded to the site.

The iPhone was in the hands of shooters for 47 percent of the pictures uploaded to Flickr. Canon and Nikon were second and third with 24 and 18 percent.

Apple has acknowledged that the problem with certain iPhones shutting down at random may be more widespread than initially thought.

Apple plans to use a combination of drones, indoor mapping and other smart tech to improve its Apple Maps service, claims a new report.

Employing drones could help Apple catch up with industry leader Google. The search giant has routinely outpaced Apple on mapping technology ever since Cupertino entered the space with its (initially disastrous) Apple Maps in 2012.

Apple has big plans for the iPhone 8, claims KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

How big? According to Kuo, Apple will be scaling up iPhone production 120-150 million units in the second half of 2017. If true, this would would be well above the 110-120 million units Apple ordered of its bestselling iPhone 6 generation handsets.

Apple has filed a patent for a wraparound glass enclosure that would be perfect for next year’s “all-glass” iPhone 8. It is designed to be thin and light, but also robust, scratch-resistant, and radio-transparent.

Apple’s one-day Black Friday event is now live in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and other markets around the world. Just as expected, there are no discounts to take advantage of, but Apple is giving away free gift cards with eligible orders.

In the last decade or so, lots of companies have gotten design religion. Design has been brought in-house, where it can shape products from the very get-go. There’s an obvious source for this idea — Apple.

This week on the Kahney’s Korner podcast, I talked to Oliver Seil, senior design director of Belkin International’s Innovation Design Group. We discussed Belkin’s products and design process; the surprising complexity of USB cables (and why they cost so much); and why Apple has had such an enormous influence on design and manufacturing.

You can listen to the podcast or read a full transcript of the interview below. (Or dive into the show notes.)