Follow Benjamin on Threads to keep up with his latest projects. Benjamin blogs about Apple news and rumors and posts insightful product and app reviews. Read his work on 9to5Mac and his personal blog.
Benjamin Mayo also creates apps for iOS as a professional indie developer and contractor; more details here. Email to discuss making your iOS project.
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Apple is said to be accelerating the product pipeline for new Mac laptops. Following the warm reception to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, reliable Ming-Chi Kuo now expects Apple to deliver new MacBook Air and new MacBook Pro models in the second quarter.
This means the butterfly keyboard will have flown away on all of Apple’s products by June.
Apple TV+ today announced that it had ordered a new thriller drama ‘Suspicion’, based on an award-winning Israeli series ‘False Flag’, which Apple bought the rights to last year.
Suspicion will star Uma Thurman, Kunal Nayyar, Noah Emmerich and Georgina Campbell among others. Apple did not announce a release date for the series at this time …
Apple today released a fun new commercial for its new AirPods Pro wireless earbuds, released last October. The ad centers around an AirPods Pro wearing woman who uses transparency mode to do errands around the city whilst switching to noise cancellation mode to be transported into the music.
Not that the AirPods Pro particularly need marketing, the buds have been sold out basically since launch. Apple currently quotes a month-long delivery delay if you order now from the Apple Online Store. Watch the ad after the break …
Apple is developing a new app as part of its work on iOS 14. The new app, codenamed Gobi, will allow users to get more information about the world around them by using an augmented reality experience on the phone. The AR experience would also be part of Apple’s forthcoming AR headset project.
Based on 9to5Mac code findings, Apple appears to be testing integrations with Apple Stores and Starbucks. For instance, users would be able to hold up their phone in an Apple Store and view information about the products on display, get pricing, and compare features.
In a statement today, Apple said that an employee of its Cork, Ireland campus has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus and is now in isolation. The company says it is continuing to carry out a regular deep cleaning at all offices and retail stores.
Some workers are being told to stay at home whilst Apple cooperates with local health authorities to assess the situation.
The latest installment in Apple’s ongoing Shot on iPhone ad campaign is a daring one, a five-hour journey through the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Shot on iPhone 11 Pro in 4K, Apple says the 5 hour 19 minute 28 second video was recorded on one battery charge. The journey covers more than 45 galleries and not only features the art on exhibition, but Apple set up several live performances along the way. Watch the video after the break …
According to code seen by 9to5Mac, Apple is set to roll out rich system-wide support for mouse cursors with iOS 14. Apple added rudimentary compatibility with external mice in iOS 13 Accessibility settings, but iOS 14 (iPadOS 14) will make it mainstream.
The iOS 14 build also referenced two new Smart Keyboard models in development. More on mouse cursor support in iOS 14 after the break …
The successor to Apple Powerbeats3 are almost here. After hitting the FCC last week, 9to5Mac has obtained videos of the new headphones and the website WinFuture has reported specs and shared marketing photos of the upcoming product.
The new Powerbeats 4 feature a slightly sleeker design, which should be more comfortable on the ear, and boast up to 15 hours of battery life according to WinFuture’s source. See the pairing animations for the new headphones after the jump …
Apple sold less than 500,000 iPhones in China across February as the region enforced restrictions on travel and public gatherings to counter the threat of coronavirus spread.
Specifically, government figures showed Apple sold 494,000 phones in February, down 60% compared to the 1.27 million iPhones sold in the same month a year ago.
Over the weekend, Bank of America analysts released a report predicting that the flagship 5G iPhone series could be delayed by a month as another example of the COVID-19 coronavirus impact on the supply chain.
Apple’s flagship iPhones usually debut in September; the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro were released on 20 September 2019. However, some models have previously launched in late October/early November (iPhone XR / iPhone X). As the production of iPhone 12 continues to be held up, the September launch window is looking increasingly unlikely.
Apple is telling employees to work from home this week if their job allows for it. Workers at Apple Park were told not to come to work on Friday, and now this policy has been expanded to cover Apple offices in California, Seattle, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This represents most — but not all — of Apple’s corporate locations.
The new policy was first reported by Bloomberg, and has now been confirmed by Apple itself. In line with announcements from other tech companies, Apple says it will continue to pay hourly contract workers their normal wages.
As part of its International Womens Day celebrations, Apple has dedicated its homepage to an interactive feature of “women who are changing everything”. On both desktop and mobile, Apple’s homepage has been transformed into a scrollable universe of biographies of influential women in modern culture, from Malala to Greta Gerwig.
Below the interactive collage, Apple’s site features sign up links for Today at Apple and its new She Creates series, as well as sections raising awareness for projects like Kode With Klossy and the Malala Fund. Check it out now at Apple.com.
According to a report from Business Insider, Apple is telling employees at its Cupertino campuses, Apple Park and Infinite Loop, that it recommends working from home today as an “additional precaution” (via Mark Gurman).
Further details on the policy are not clear at this time. Many divisions of Apple may struggle to do their jobs remotely effectively, which is perhaps why this is a recommendation rather than a requirement at this stage. Apple is yet to confirm the arrangements publicly.
Apple continues to improve the experience for Apple Card users. In the latest iOS 13.4 betas, the Wallet app includes a richer and more detailed transaction history for App Store purchases and other Apple subscriptions.
OPPO has made an ascendancy in recent years with its high-spec low-price smartphones, and now the company is making its break into the smartwatch market with its Apple Watch clone, err I mean, competitor.
The OPPO Watch was announced at an event in China today; the company touted its signature design, curved AMOLED display, health features, built-in cellular and its range of rubber or leather bands. The OPPO Watch goes on sale later this month in China, obviously not to be confused with the similar-looking — and similar-sounding — Apple Watch.
Apple is reporting that some cloud services including iMessage, iCloud Photos and iCloud Drive are currently experiencing technical difficulties.
In a pair of Digitimes reports, the supply-chain focused publication suggests that the launch of Apple’s next phone model may be a little further off. The iPhone 9, or iPhone SE 2, whatever you want to call it, has apparently reached the final stage of production verification.
However, this means that a formal release could still be weeks away. Additionally, Digitimes reports that PCB orders for the iPhone SE 2 have been delayed from the first quarter to the second quarter, again suggesting a schedule pushback.
The Correlium team has today released a beta of a work-in-progress hack to get the Android operating system running on the iPhone.
Using the checkra1n jailbreak exploit to gain access to the bootloader of older iPhone models, Project Sandcastle lets you install a semi-working version of Android on an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. Support for additional phone models is in the works.
Apple today announced the Shot on iPhone winning photos for the contest it started in January. This year, applicants had to show off their skills using iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 Pro Max, submitting their best Night mode shots.
A panel of judges selected six winners this year. The photographers and their compositions will be featured in an online gallery, on Apple’s Instagram page, and be part of a global billboard ad campaign.
As the impacts of the coronavirus on businesses remain unclear, Foxconn is trying to appease its partners by announcing today that it expects to resume normal production at full capacity in China by the end of March.
Foxconn remains Apple’s primary producer of high-end flagship iPhone models. Whilst parts come in from all over the world, final assembly of Apple’s most expensive iPhones happens in Foxconn factories, so it’s good news for Apple that Foxconn thinks it can be back up and running sooner rather than later.
Apple is set to pay up to $500 million to settle a United States lawsuit over the iPhone battery performance throttling debacle of 2018.
Via Reuters, Apple agreed to a preliminary settlement in legal documents filed on Friday. The company denied wrongdoing but said it settled to avoid lengthy court proceedings. The monetary suit is equivalent to $25 per impacted iPhone.
As we enter March, the number of rumors about upcoming Apple hardware continue to rise. There’s a palpable feeling that Apple is about to release new shiny stuff soon, although no one is 100% sure of exactly what is coming down the pipe. With the coronavirus outbreak spreading, Apple’s plan for the summer season are also in question.
Here’s a look at everything Apple could release this month, from iPhone to Mac to iPad and more.
A weekend report published in British newspaper The Independent put a renewed spotlight on the treatment of ethnic Uyghurs in China. Focusing on labor conditions at Chinese factories, the report says that the Chinese regime has relocated thousands of the Muslim Uyghurs from the west Xinjiang region, to be forced into work at these factories.
In addition to Nike, Dell, Volkswagen, and other big US brands, Apple is also linked to the story — specifically two Apple suppliers, BOE and O-Film.
Filings for new Powerbeats headphones today hit the FCC, model number A2015, following 9to5Mac’s discovery of “Powerbeats4” in code references back in December. The new model is expected to feature ‘Hey Siri’ support and a H1 chip, like what we have seen in Powerbeats Pro and latest-generation AirPods.
This model has hit the FCC ahead of an official announcement from Apple or Beats. The filings include a drawing of the new earbuds, and they look very similar to existing Powerbeats.