Days before WWDC kicks off, Apple had shuttered its Apple Events app on tvOS, instead folding it into the Apple TV app, streamlining the process of finding and watching Monday’s keynote event.
The wording on the app confirms that, “Apple Events is now part of the Apple TV app.” Using the app, you can watch both current and past Apple special events.
Apple reportedly cracked one of the big problems with its ill-fated AirPower charging mat — specifically the question of how to charge the Apple Watch. That’s according to top Apple leaker Jon Prosser, who posted pictures on Twitter Thursday to prove his point.
“Remember how I said that the main problem was that current prototypes didn’t support Apple Watch?” Prosser wrote. “Yeah. Well. They got the Watch working.”
Two separate leaks Thursday provide new details about Apple’s forthcoming AirTags, circular Bluetooth tracking devices that will help users find lost keys and other items.
iOS leaker @Soybeys posted what supposedly are some of the sound effects Apple will use for AirTags. A second report from Twitter user @blue_kanikam says AirTags will utilize a custom R1 chip, similar to the iPhone 11’s U1 chip, to know where the tiny tracking tags are spatially in order to work with other devices.
The U.K. government, which clashed with Apple and Google over its approach to contact tracing, has reportedly done a U-turn and will now adopt the tech giants’ privacy-conscious framework for fighting COVID-19.
The BBC reported the change of heart Thursday, one day after revealing that a former Apple executive, Simon Thompson, has taken charge of the delayed project. Thompson, who works as chief product officer at online retailer Ocado, supervised Apple’s e-commerce efforts a decade ago.
Apple has officially started offering its Mac trade-in program at Apple Stores in the U.S. and Canada. Apple has long offered trade-ins for credit toward a new purchase or a gift card for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Store. However, until now Mac trade-ins were limited to online-only. That meant that people had to mail in their Mac to Apple.
By making this available in its retail stores, it makes it easier than ever to trade your old Mac.
The exclusive WWDC 2020 jackets that Apple sent to winners of its Swift Student Challenge feature a nifty plaid pattern made of emojis.
Brayden Gogis, a 16-year-old game developer who lives in Indianapolis, is one of 350 winners in this year’s youth coding competition. He described the experience of unwrapping his Apple prize package — and gave us a closer look at the unique emoji pattern.
A Siri Shortcut activated by the phrase “Hey, Siri, I’m being pulled over” could prove valuable in the event of a police traffic stop. The shortcut triggers your iPhone to start recording video from its front-facing camera, pauses any music, sends your location to a trusted contact, and uploads the video to iCloud or another cloud server of your choice.
The shortcut is designed to help protect users during interactions with law enforcement.
Apple stock has already recovered to its pre-coronavirus lockdown levels, but according to two investment firms much larger gains are on the horizon.
Speaking with CNBC, Todd Gordon, managing director at Ascent Wealth Partners, argued that Apple could be set to rally an additional 40% from its current share price. That would take Apple to $490 — or $135 above its $355 all-time high.
One of the creators of newly launched email service Hey accuses Apple of behaving like gangsters by allegedly threatening to remove the app from the App Store if it did not start selling its premium subscription through Apple’s platform — thereby giving Apple a cut of the profits.
“Like any good mafioso, they paid us a visit by phone,” Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson wrote in a long Twitter thread. “…[W]ithout even as much of a curtesy euphemism, [Apple said] they’d burn down our store (remove our app!), lest we paid up.”
Christie Smith, Apple’s vice president of inclusion and diversity, has left the company after two-and-a-half years in the role. Smith worked under Apple’s SVP of Retail and People Deirdre O’Brien.
Smith’s departure was reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by Apple. Her departure had been planned for a couple of months, but Tuesday was her last day.
Apple has posted the YouTube live stream link that will allow viewers to tune in to its WWDC 2020 keynote next week.
The June 22 event will kick off at 10 a.m. Pacific, streaming directly from Apple Park. This is the second time Apple has streamed a special event on YouTube, following last year’s iPhone unveiling.
A Chinese video sharing app which ripped off was heavily inspired by TikTok in its design has been booted out of the App Store, shortly after it was removed from the Google Play Store due to reports of plagiarism.
Zynn not only closely resembled TikTok in its design, but also in much of its content. A previous report from Wired claimed that many popular TikTok users have had their content (and even knockoff user profiles) shared on the rival app. That didn’t go over well!
Stories picked by Apple News’ human editors are far more likely to represent a diverse range of outlets — and be more serious and less focused on celebrities and entertainment — than its algorithmically curated alternative, researchers claim.
Jack Bandy and Nicholas Diakopoulos from Northwestern University analyzed thousands of Apple’s “Top Stories” and “Trending” articles over a 10-month period. They discovered that the latter, which are determined algorithmically, show stories from significantly fewer outlets, predominantly CNN or Fox News. Articles from BuzzFeed and People also figured heavily in the mix — with an emphasis on light news.
Apple says that it is disappointed to be targeted in two new antitrust investigations by the European Union. The two antitrust investigations, into both the App Store and Apple Pay, were announced Tuesday.
“It’s disappointing the European Commission is advancing baseless complaints from a handful of companies who simply want a free ride, and don’t want to play by the same rules as everyone else,” Apple told Reuters in a statement. “We don’t think that’s right — we want to maintain a level playing field where anyone with determination and a great idea can succeed.”
According to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, Apple has overcome whatever delays it faced in manufacturing the iPhone 12 and, as of now, the devices should debut in September as planned. Shipping would take place early the next month.
While that’s marginally later than last year’s launch date, it suggests that Apple has managed to claw back its schedule after coronavirus rocked the supply chain earlier this year.
Apple faces another antitrust complaint in the European Union, this time from Japanese tech company Rakuten. The anti-competition complaint relates to Apple’s e-book business, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.
In response, the EU opened an official investigation into the App Store. On Tuesday, EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the government will scrutinize Cupertino’s business practices. “We need to ensure that Apple’s rules do not distort competition in markets where Apple is competing with other app developers, for example with its music streaming service Apple Music or with Apple Books,” Vestager said. “I have therefore decided to take a close look at Apple’s App Store rules and their compliance with EU competition rules.”
Apple has updated its 16-inch MacBook Pro buying options by offering the new Radeon Pro 5600M mobile GPU. This joins the existing Radeon Pro 5300M and 5500M GPU options for the MacBook Pro.
Kitting out the new MacBook Pro with a AMD Radeon Pro 5600M GPU with 8GB of HBM2 memory adds $700 onto the base model MacBook Pro. According to Apple, it will improve performance by up to 75% compared to the 5500M configuration. Is that worth it? It absolutely depends on how much of a pro user you are!
Apple has expanded its 0% Apple Card financing option for products, including the Mac, iPad, AirPods Pro, AirPods, and Apple Pencil. (No Apple Watch, though!)
The company previously launched a 0% Apple Card financing option for iPhone in December. However, this is the first time that Apple has expanded this to cover other Apple products. Tim Cook suggested that Apple would be expanding the program during Apple’s most recent earnings call.
Sports merchandise online store Fanatics is offering customers in the U.S. a 20% on selected goods so long as they buy them using Apple Pay. The special offer, the latest example of Apple partnering with a retailer for an Apple Pay promotion, is being marketed as a Father’s Day special offer.
Father’s Day 2020 falls on Sunday, June 21. The offer, however, is valid only through 11.59pm EST on June 19. That means that you’ll need to get a bit organized, rather than just settling for the “buy dad a last minute gift the night before” act.
Apple’s “foldable” iPhone will use dual displays to get around the foldable screen problem that plagues other folding phones like Samsung’s beleaguered Galaxy Fold, claims Apple leaker Jon Prosser.
“The current prototype has two separate display panels on a hinge,” Prosser wrote in a tweet Monday. He claims the foldable iPhone prototype boasts “round, stainless steel edges like current iPhone 11 design” and features no notch. Instead, there is a “tiny forehead” on the outer display that houses the Face ID sensors.
In another piece of possible evidence that this year’s iPhone 12 handsets will feature ToF (time-of-flight) camera sensors, a report published Monday claims that component makers in the Apple supply chain are gearing up their production for mass-manufacturing.
Time-of-flight camera sensors typically work by emitting a laser pulse which is used to bounce off objects. By measuring how long it takes for the laser to hit the object and return to the sensor, you can work out how far away it is. This makes it possible to create detailed 3D maps of spaces. That could help Apple in both improving its iPhone camera tech and augmented reality ambitions.
When it comes to how much content you get for your dollar, Amazon Prime Video is the best value VOD (video-on-demand) service and Apple TV+ is the worst, claims movie and TV search engine Reelgood.
At a time when new streaming services are launching all the time, the company ran the numbers to compare the likes of Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, and Apple TV+. Unsurprisingly, Apple TV+ doesn’t fare too well.
Images which showed up on Twitter over the weekend depict what may be the new iPhone 12 series of handsets with both physical molds and CAD drawings.
As expected, this includes four different versions, rumored to include a 5.4-inch handset, two 6.1-inch versions, and a giant 6.7-inch edition. More importantly, though, the images showcase the handsets’ reported redesign — with flatter edges like the iPhone 4 or newer iPad Pro models.
Updated: Apple shares closed at a new all-time high of $331.50 Friday as part of a broad market rally fueled by a strong jobs report. Apple stock has now made up all of its coronavirus-induced losses — and then some.
AAPL fell as low as $224.37 on March 23 as the coronavirus-related shutdowns wreaked havoc on the United States economy. Less than 10 days earlier, Apple had temporarily shuttered all of its stores around the world except for those in China. The company had also revised its earning guidance due to the effects of COVID-19.
We already know that video conferencing apps like Zoom are booming as people work from home. But did you know that fitness apps are experiencing a similar golden age while people try and stay in shape (or get into shape for the first time) during lockdown while gyms are closed?
According to app analytics platform Sensor Tower, global downloads of health and fitness apps are already up a massive 47% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020. And there’s still one month (or a third of the quarter) left on the clock.