The release of two upcoming Apple accessories may have just been rescheduled. AirTags item trackers jumped up, but AirPods Studio headphones slid back, according to information supposedly leaking out of Cupertino on Wednesday.
Apple won’t include a wall charger or a pair of headphones with the upcoming iPhone 12 series. And it doesn’t stop there. The company no longer bundles these accessories with any handset ordered from the Apple Store. Even if they came in the box before.
The LiDAR Scanner in the iPhone 12 Pro makes Apple’s new flagship device an augmented reality powerhouse. It enables the handset to make an accurate 3D map of its location into which virtual objects can then be placed.
However, the scanner apparently has been added to the iPhone 12 Pro models in a “build it and they will come” strategy. Apple didn’t show many specific applications demonstrating the benefits of the tech during Tuesday’s launch event for the device.
UPDATE: Apple lowered the iPhone 12 price for T-Mobile/Sprint subscribers on Friday.
The prices Apple promotes for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini aren’t for everyone. Subscribers to T-Mobile/Sprint must pay $30 more. The same goes for anyone who wants an unlocked unit.
This isn’t the case for the iPhone 12 Pro series.
Apple gave developers access to the final pre-release versions of iOS 14.1 and iPadOS 14.1 on Tuesday. This is an important last step before releasing these upgrades to the public.
However, we don’t yet know when they’ll be available for iPhone and iPad.
Apple’s “Hi, Speed” event included the company’s most critical release of 2020: the much-anticipated iPhone 12 series. And a long-awaited cheaper HomePod, too.
Here are the most important takeaways from Tuesday’s event to put these new products in context.
Apple is prepping the first laptops and desktops to launch with macOS Big Sur 11, according to the Eurasian Economic Commission. It’s possible these will be the initial models running Apple Silicon, as this company’s switch away from Intel chips is scheduled to begin soon.
The only thing wrong with Apple’s product-release events is that there aren’t enough of them. The company supposedly will put on three of them this autumn — and while that’s a good start, there needs to be many more.
Apple held a product-release event in September, and will announce more new products at a second event on Tuesday. Unconfirmed reports point to a third event in November. But there’s no reason to stop there. Apple should keep holding them every month. They get us excited about new products, which is good for Apple — and for Apple fans, too.
Shipments of Macs grew an astonishing 39% during the third quarter of 2020, reports a market-research firm. That’s a far faster growth rate than any of Apple’s rivals.
Still, the entire market for traditional computers — laptops, desktops and workstations — grew 14.6% in the July-through-September period. The reason is, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic forcing people to work or attend school from home.
Apple Watch got an update Monday that fixes a couple of bugs, including one that’s a real doozie. The bug could drain the smartwatch’s battery rapidly, so anyone experiencing that problem should quickly install watchOS 7.0.2.
Microsoft is reportedly using a workaround to get Xbox Game Pass on iPhone and iPad. Rather than going into the App Store, this cloud-gaming service will be available as a web application.
This is the same strategy Amazon took to get its own streaming game service on Apple handsets and tablets.
The privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo added directions to its mapping features. Users can get step-by-step routing info without giving up their privacy.
The mapping data offered by the site comes from Apple’s MapKit JS.
The first Mac running an Apple processor reportedly won’t take the stage at Apple’s big product event next Tuesday. Instead, the initial macOS computer with Apple Silicon supposedly won‘t see the light of day until November.
The Survivalists, which debuted Friday on Apple Arcade, shows that being shipwrecked on a deserted island doesn’t have to be a disaster. Players can train monkeys to make life comfortable. And there’s plenty of adventure to be found in this game for 1 to 4 players.
Apple added up to three months to the free Apple TV+ subscriptions it gave many of its customers in 2019. And it’s giving monthly rebates to some of those who paid for an annual subscription.
Apple did not give a reason for the extension. But it might give the service time to start the second seasons of its original slate of programs. These likely would be beginning already, but the COVID-19 pandemic shut down production for months.
Apple TV+ finally named a release date for its first animated feature film. Wolfwalkers will debut exclusively on Apple’s streaming video service December 11, 2020.
The film is from the studio that created Oscar-nominated The Secret of Kells. It’s set in medieval Ireland, and tells the story of two girls who transform into wolves.
A full-length trailer was released by Apple on Thursday.
The debut of season two of the Apple TV+ comedy series Dickinson has been scheduled for early January. But Apple is so pleased with this award-winning program based on the life of rebellious young poet Emily Dickinson it went ahead and committed to a third season on Thursday.
Comply Foam Tips 2.0 replace Apple’s standard silicon AirPods Pro tips with memory foam ones. These are designed to do a better job of blocking out ambient noise, while also giving the in-ear headphones a more comfortable and secure fit.
The notch in next year’s iPhone 13 allegedly is getting slimmed down a bit. It’ll be just as wide but not as tall, according to a tipster with history of inside information on upcoming devices.
Apple employees show they lean to the left in the clearest way possible: with their wallets. Election contributions by Apple employees inclined strongly toward Democrats in the 2020 presidential race.
It’s not even close. Apple employee contributions to Joe Biden’s campaign were more than 13 times greater than they were to President Donald Trump’s, for example.
A court case to decide the fate of Fortnite on Apple devices will kick off May 3, 2021. But the arguments Epic Games and Apple will take before a judge are about more than a single game, albeit a very popular one. The court’s decision might have far-reaching implications for the iPhone App Store and Apple’s business.
Apple is carving out a niche with cutting-edge nature documentaries. It recently released Tiny World, and now reportedly bought the rights to Earthsound. This will take Apple TV+ subscribers on an audio tour of the natural world.
Most people’s drawing skills peaked in first grade. Which means the diagrams we include in handwritten notes often look like they were drawn by a moderately skilled raccoon. Fortunately, iPadOS 14 offers shape recognition, turning our scrawls into the neat geometric shapes we envisioned.
Using this feature in Apple Notes or Email is easy. But there’s a trick to it. Here’s how to use shape recognition with an iPad and any stylus.
The careers of Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington will be the focus of an upcoming docuseries for Apple TV+. The Supermodels will explore how these four disrupted the ’90s fashion scene.
The invite to an Apple October product event might have an upcoming device hidden in plain sight. Part of the graphic included with the invite apparently bears a strong resemblance to AirTags, the item-location tags that are supposedly on the docket for the October 13 event.