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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Update: These mysterious entries have now been removed from the website. Original story follows … The Hermès website is currently featuring some product listings for ‘Series 5’ bands in its Apple Watch lineup. However, the product photos and description are copies of the product pages for the equivalent Series 4 bands. This may just be a stocking mistake.
Apple is about to launch its flagship iPhone 11 lineup next week, but these high-end models only make up about half of Apple’s total phone sales volume. Its cheaper SKUs are also important to its business. Currently, it offers the iPhone 8 and iPhone 7 as cheaper models. It is possible that the iPhone 7 will no longer be sold once the iPhone 11 is released.
A report from Nikkei says the company is planning to launch a new 4.7-inch iPhone in the spring, a spiritual iPhone SE successor — at least in terms of price point.
A PDF document is circulating that claims to reveal the “Apple Software Development Resource” guide, which supposedly includes details for internal employees and contractors about Apple’s plans for rolling out iOS 13…
Apple today announced that it is relaxing some notarization requirements for Mac apps. For apps outside of the Mac App Store, macOS Catalina will only run notarized software. However, developers have found it difficult to adopt notarization.
To ease the transition, Apple is temporarily relaxing some of the things that the company previously mandated for an app to be notarized.
Apple’s iPhone 11 event is quite literally a week away, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for a few last-minute leaks. A Geekbench test result has surfaced that purports to show CPU statistics for the iPhone 11. More specifically, this is supposedly a benchmark for the “iPhone 12.1,” which is the successor to the iPhone XR.
The Geekbench score reports 5415 for single-core and 11294 for multi-core. If real, this would mean the new iPhone lineup is about 12% faster for single-core tasks, but the multi-core result is essentially unchanged compared to what the current iPhone XR scores.
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This is a strange story of the inexplicable nature of the viral Internet. This morning, the term ‘iMessage’ started trending on Twitter. Apparently, an unsubstantiated rumor is spreading that Apple is shutting down iMessage games, like the very popular GamePigeon iMessage app. We aren’t sure how this rumor got started… but we can confirm to people that Apple has made no such announcement that they are shutting down the iMessage App Store.
The App Store has a lot of games to play on your iPhone and iPad. With the new Apple Arcade subscription service, you can access more than a hundred titles that run on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and even the Mac. However, touch controls only go so far.
With iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, you can now connect your iPhone and iPad to game console controllers, like the PlayStation 4 DualShock controller and the Xbox wireless controller. Here’s how.
Apple announced a new scheme that will allow independent repair shops to offer official servicing of iPhones that are out of warranty. The new Independent Repair Provider Program gives small repair businesses access to the same Apple-genuine parts, training, and resources as Apple authorized service providers.
The company said it trialed the initiative at 20 stores across North America, Europe, and Asia. It is today launching the program for the United States and will announce further regions in the future.
Apple today announced that it will be reinstating the Siri audio program later in the year with some new policy changes. Apple apologized for how it previously handled user data.
The company says it will no longer retain audio recordings by default. Users will have to opt in if they want Apple to use voice samples, and Apple will aim to delete any recordings that are inadvertent activations.
Apple will premiere its Apple TV+ original TV show Dickinson at the Tribeca television festival on September 14.
The company will screen the first episode to festival attendees and then hold a panel with the show screenwriter Alena Smith, and stars Hailee Steinfeld (who plays Emily Dickinson) and Jane Krakowski (who plays Dickinson’s mother).
Apple is testing a new type of search result format for some questions. As spotted on Reddit, Spotlight Search can now answer some typed-in questions with direct answers, rather than a generic list of web results.
The listing highlights the extract, which should hopefully answer the question, along with the source website and a button to report a concern if the result is inappropriate.
Apple and Siri hit headlines at the start of the month as a report highlighted how Apple hired teams of contractors to listen and review audio clips from customer’s Siri interactions.
Apple responded by halting the Siri grading process. Ultimately, this put a whole host of people out of work. The Irish Examiner spoke to contractors in Cork who were impacted by the decision.
Apple Music today launched a new curated playlist on the service, called “New Music Daily”. Unlike most Apple Music human editorial playlists, New Music Daily is refreshed every single day.
The debut lead single on the playlist is Taylor Swift’s “The Man,” from her brand-new album, and the cover art also features a photo of the singer. Presumably, Apple will be featuring lead artists in the artwork on a rolling basis.
As we approach Apple’s September iPhone event, Bloomberg has posted its breakdown of Apple’s current product pipeline. This includes a few new iPhone 11 details, information on forthcoming iPad Pro updates, and a look to 2020 for new AirPods and a cheaper HomePod.
The Powerbeats Pro have been available in black since May, but it has taken Apple a few more months to get the other colors out the door…
Apple has just registered a lot of products with the Eurasian Economic Commission database, from iPads to Watches to iPhones and even the iPod touch.
However, most of these filings do not represent new products and are merely updating the database to account for the fact that these hardware models will soon ship with new versions of their respective operating systems, like iOS 13 and macOS Catalina. There are a handful of wholly new devices too, including what looks to be model identifiers for the upcoming 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Adobe has started private beta testing of Photoshop CC for iPad. When the application was announced back in October 2018, Adobe promised a 2019 launch. Adobe has now sent out TestFlight builds to its invite group, which suggests it is approaching a shippable version…
With the iPhone 11 announcement only a couple of weeks away now, the hype train is getting to its peak. We believe Apple will officially unveil the new 2019 iPhone lineup at a media event on September 10, but official press invites have not yet been sent out to confirm the date.
Today, ChargerLAB claimed in a tweet that the iPhone 11 will finally drop the 5W charger, and come with an Apple USB-C charger instead and a Lightning to USB-C cable in the box. This should mean that the iPhone ships with a fast charger for the first time, even though the connector on the actual device will still be Lightning.
Apple has launched a Twitter account dedicated to its credit card service, the Apple Card. You can follow the account @AppleCard on Twitter.
Apple announced that Apple Card is available to everyone in the United States from today. To sign up, simply open the Wallet app on your iPhone and begin the application process.
In a press release, Apple Pay VP Jennifer Bailey said Apple was “thrilled” with the interest in Apple’s credit card. Apple also announced that it is extending the 3% Daily Cash offer to third-party merchants, starting with Uber and Uber Eats.
Theoretically, HomeKit supports fans as a smart home accessory. There are some HomeKit ceiling fans already on sale, but what I’ve been holding out for is a HomeKit tower fan for my office. Unfortunately, there aren’t really any to speak of.
After years of waiting, and a particularly hot summer, I gave up and explored the enthusiast route. I bought a standard fan with an IR remote control and set out to induct it into my HomeKit home using Homebridge…
The new macOS beta released today includes a nice little surprise for HomeKit users: new icon options for HomeKit lights, smart outlets, and fans.
Disney today confirmed new availability details for its upcoming Disney+ subscription streaming service, which goes live in the US on November 12 for $6.99 per month.
The company confirmed that it will roll out apps for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Interestingly, they will also let you subscribe to Disney+ from inside the app, which means Apple will be able to take its typical 15% to 30% commission on subscription revenue.
US President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook met for dinner on Friday night. In an interview with reporters, Trump said the pair discussed the impact of tariffs on Apple’s business.
Cook reportedly argued that it would be hard for Apple to pay tariffs on its Chinese-assembled products, because many of its competitors do not have to pay the same level of tariffs, namely Samsung, whose manufacturing is mostly located in South Korea (via CNBC).