MacRumors

South by Southwest (SXSW), a major annual event that features film festivals, interactive media, music festivals, and conferences, has been canceled, the city of Austin announced today. SXSW was set to take place from March 13 to March 22.

Austin has declared a health emergency, and SXSW has been canceled on the advice of local health experts who have warned that it could cause COVID-19 to spread.

SXSW event organizers say they're exploring options to reschedule and are working to provide a virtual SXSW experience for 2020 participants.

The City of Austin has cancelled the March dates for SXSW and SXSW EDU. SXSW will faithfully follow the City's directions.

We are devastated to share this news with you. "The show must go on" is in our DNA, and this is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation.

As recently as Wednesday, Austin Public Health stated that "there's no evidence that closing SXSW or any other gatherings will make the community safer." However, this situation evolved rapidly, and we honor and respect the City of Austin's decision. We are committed to do our part to help protect our staff, attendees, and fellow Austinites.

We are exploring options to reschedule the event and are working to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible for 2020 participants, starting with SXSW EDU. For our registrants, clients, and participants we will be in touch as soon as possible and will publish an FAQ.

SXSW typically draws well over 70,000 people from around the world, and up until today, the organizers had planned to keep the event going despite multiple companies pulling out.

Apple was planning to debut new Apple TV+ content at SXSW, but earlier this week said that it would no longer attend. Other companies that include Amazon Studios, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Panasonic, SAP, HBO, and Intel had all declined to attend because of COVID-19 fears.

As the coronavirus continues to spread in Santa Clara County where many of Apple's corporate offices are located, Apple is now encouraging employees in the area to work from home today if they are able to, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple has asked employees to do so as an "additional precaution," and working from home is a recommendation rather than a requirement as some employees may have jobs that require being in the office.

Yesterday, Santa Clara County asked tech companies in cities like Cupertino, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and San Jose to "consider use of telecommuting options for appropriate employees."

There are 20 known cases of coronavirus in Santa Clara County, and several other suspected cases. Cupertino, which is where Apple Park and Infinite Loop are located, is a part of the county.

Employers have also been asked to suspend nonessential employee travel, which Apple has already done, and cancel large in-person meetings and conferences. It is still unclear what Apple plans to do about WWDC, which normally takes place in June in San Jose.

For the last few years, Apple has announced WWDC dates in mid-March, so we could soon hear news on whether WWDC will take place or if Apple will substitute some kind of digital event.

Though corporate employees are able to work from home if possible, Apple's retail store locations in the Bay Area remain open. Apple has, however, implemented "deep cleaning" protocols to keep retail workers and customers safe from the virus.

Earlier this week we picked up a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and did a feature overview to see if it's worth $1,400, but we also thought we'd take a deeper look at Samsung's newest smartphone to see how the cameras measure up to the cameras in Apple's iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Hardware Details

Samsung's Galaxy S20 Ultra, like the iPhone, has a multi-lens rear camera setup. There's a 108-megapixel wide-angle camera, a 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera, a 48-megapixel telephoto camera, and a DepthVision Camera for portrait shots.

For comparison's sake, the iPhone is sporting a 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera, a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera, and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera.

Portrait Mode

When it comes to Portrait mode photos, the Galaxy S20 Ultra wins out thanks to that depth sensor. There's not a major difference, but the images coming from the S20 Ultra appear to be sharper and the edge detection is better. The iPhone does win out when it comes to dynamic range, and the S20 Ultra seems to have a bit of desaturation in some images, but overall, the S20 Ultra wins this category.

Standard Camera Tests

When it comes to standard photos using the three different lenses on each camera, we actually preferred the iPhone images for the most part because the iPhone offered more balanced color and better dynamic range, but with high-end smartphone cameras, a lot comes down to personal preference.

The S20 Ultra seems to be overexposing highlights in images with the sun and clouds, resulting in too much contrast. In images with less dynamic lighting, the results are closer and both look great.

The exception here is the ultra wide-angle camera. The S20 Ultra is just producing a sharper, crisper ultra wide-angle picture, while the iPhone produces a softer image. That's not too much of a surprise, though, because the sensor of Apple's ultra wide-angle lens isn't as good as the sensor in Apple's wide-angle camera lens.

S20 Ultra Space Zoom

The Galaxy S20 Ultra has some bells and whistles worth pointing out, such as a 100X "Space Zoom" feature. The iPhone 11 Pro Max maxes out at 10X digital zoom. The S20 Ultra clearly wins here, though you're not going to get a lot of use out of 100X zoom photos.

What is impressive, though, is photos taken with the 30X zoom feature. Samsung's 30X zoom pictures are crisper and clearer than Apple's 10x zoom photos.

S20 Ultra Single Take

There's also a "Single Take" feature that takes photos and videos from different angles and then spits out a bunch of different options like Boomerang-style videos, pictures with filters, videos with music, and more, so you have this kind of auto editing feature that can produce some interesting photo and video options you might not have thought to do on your own.

S20 Ultra 108-Megapixel Camera

We do need to mention that massive 108-megapixel camera. It definitely has focus issues at the current time, and it's hard to get it to focus.

When it does work, it can provide sharp, detailed photos that are great if you need to crop in, and it has great depth of field for some nice background bokeh.

A 108-megapixel camera produces massive file sizes, so this isn't a lens you're going to want to use often. Luckily, Samsung did built in a feature that lets it take more reasonable 12-megapixel photos.

Night Mode

Both phones have a Night Mode, and both Night Modes work fairly well. On the Galaxy S20 Ultra, it's a mode you need to enable that's not turned on by default, which is a bit of a hassle.

The iPhone seems to have better HDR processing and delivers a more usable photo in extreme low lighting conditions. In situations with just a bit more light, though, it's a wash - both produce nice images.

Video Comparison

One of the Galaxy S20 Ultra's major new features is 8K video, which is higher quality than the 4K video offered by the iPhone. 8K video from the S20 Ultra looks great, but image stabilization is poor, which means the 8K video is not as good as it sounds on paper.

When comparing 8K video from the S20 Ultra to 4K video shot on the iPhone 11 Pro (both at 24 frames per second because that's the max for the S20), the S20 Ultra's crop factor, rolling shutter, and lack of stabilization are highly noticeable.

Pitting 4K video against 4K video (at 60fps), both cameras perform similarly in terms of stabilization and focus, though the iPhone 11 Pro Max seems to be just a bit more stable. Both are just about equal, though.

Front-Facing Camera

As for the front-facing camera, there's a 40-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.2 aperture in the Galaxy S20 Ultra, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max features a 12-megapixel camera with an f/2.2 aperture.

You might think the 40-megapixel camera is significantly better, but we didn't see a whole lot of difference between the S20 Ultra and the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Samsung does have a "beauty mode" that we turned off, while the iPhone has no similar mode that can be toggled on.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, as with most high-end smartphone camera comparisons, there's no crystal clear winner. Both the Galaxy S20 Ultra and the iPhone 11 Pro Max have good cameras that are capable of capturing some amazing photos in good lighting conditions.

The iPhone wins out when it comes to dynamic range and video stabilization, but the S20 has better portrait mode photos. Standard point and shoot images are going to come down to personal preference, so make sure to watch the video to see all of our comparisons.

"Today at Apple" sessions have been suspended at all Apple Stores in Italy through at least March 19, as noted by setteBIT and iMore, presumably as a precautionary measure due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Italy has been hit particularly bad by the coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 4,000 infections reported in the country, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The country has temporarily closed schools and banned some large gatherings in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

Apple Stores remain open for business in Italy for the time being, beyond one location at the Oriocenter shopping mall northeast of Milan that will be closed this weekend due to Italian government orders.

Today at Apple sessions have also been suspended in China and Hong Kong.

Related: COVID-19 Coronavirus: Impact on Apple's iPhone, Mac and WWDC

Santa Clara County, which includes cities like Cupertino, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and San Jose, today issued new health guidelines (via The Verge) recommending that companies minimize or cancel "large in-person meetings and conferences."

The updated guidance comes as six new COVID-19 cases were found today, which means there are now at least 20 people in the county with known coronavirus infections.

Santa Clara County is hoping to reduce the spread of the virus in the Bay Area, and in addition to recommending against in-person conferences, has provided additional guidelines for employers:

• Suspend nonessential employee travel.
• Minimize the number of employees working within arm's length of one another, including minimizing or canceling large in-person meetings and conferences.
• Urge employees to stay home when they are sick and maximize flexibility in sick leave benefits.
• Not require a doctor's note for employees that are sick as healthcare offices may be very busy and unable to provide that documentation right away.
• Consider use of telecommuting options for appropriate employees.
• Consider staggering start and end times to reduce large numbers of people coming together at the same time.

While Santa Clara County recommends postponing or canceling mass gatherings and large community events, it says if there's no option to cancel, extra steps should be followed such as providing more physical space, encouraging sick people not to attend, frequent hand washing, and avoiding close contact with others.

Google and Facebook have already canceled annual developer events that were set to be held in Santa Clara County, with Facebook canceling F8 last week and Google canceling I/O earlier this week.

Santa Clara County has no specific dates included in its recommendations, and Apple has not yet made any announcements about WWDC, which is typically held in June at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.

Apple may still have some time before it makes a decision about whether to cancel WWDC this year because of the coronavirus, but with the county's recommendation and the fact that Google and Facebook have both canceled events, Apple may choose not to hold WWDC.

There were also rumors suggesting Apple would hold an event in March to announce new products like a low-cost iPhone, AirTags, and updated iPad Pro models, but that seems unlikely to happen at this point. Apple could hold an online only event or simply debut new products via press release.

Apple is rejecting apps that are related to the COVID-19 coronavirus that aren't provided by health organizations or government institutions, according to CNBC

Four independent developers that spoke to CNBC said that their coronavirus apps, which were designed to let people see stats about which countries have confirmed cases, had been rejected.

One developer was told over the phone by an Apple employee that anything related to the coronavirus needs to be released by an official health organization or government, while another received a notice that "apps with information about current medical information need to be submitted by a recognized institution."

Apple has been evaluating and rejecting coronavirus apps to prevent the spread of misinformation, looking at where the health data is sourced from and whether developers represent organizations that users can trust to publish accurate data.

Searches for coronavirus and COVID-19 on the App Store bring up few results, including a COVID-19 virus tracker from Healthlynked that uses World Health Organization data, the Epoch Times, and an app from the Brazilian government.

Other tech companies have taken similar steps to prevent the spread of misinformation. Facebook and Twitter have banned misleading coronavirus-related ads, and Amazon has banned coronavirus products and sellers attempting to price gouge on items like face masks and hand sanitizer.

Google also has a policy against apps that capitalize on a natural disaster or profit from a tragic event and there are no apps related to the coronavirus available from Google Play in the United States.

Apple in January was ordered to pay the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) $838 million for infringing on Caltech patents related to WiFi transmissions.

Apple was hoping to get one of the patents in the case invalidated, but today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled against Apple and declined to invalidate the patent in question, upholding a prior decision from an administrative patent court.

According to Reuters, Apple tried to get the patent invalidated on "obviousness" grounds, suggesting the patent was an invention that came from standard product design and development and is obvious to experts.

The lawsuit dates back to 2016, when Caltech sued Apple and Broadcom for infringing on a series of patents granted between 2006 and 2012. The patents related to IRA/LDPC codes that use simpler encoding and decoding circuity for improved data transmission rates and performance, with the technologies used in the 802.11n and 802.11ac Wi-Fi standards supported by many Apple products.

Caltech claimed that Apple was infringing on four patents with the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple TV, Airport routers, and Apple Watch, and demanded a jury trial along with preliminary and permanent injunctions against Apple products in the U.S. that use Caltech technology.

A jury in January ruled in Caltech's favor, ordering Broadcom to pay $270 million and Apple to pay $838 million. Apple still plans to appeal the verdict.

The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has been spreading around the world since January, and so far, it has had a major impact on Apple's device production and device sales in affected countries like China, Italy, South Korea, the United States, and almost every other country.

As the virus has continued to move through the United States and other countries, has led to some production and supply problems, and has caused WWDC to be held as a digital-only event for the first time. This guide covers everything that we know about COVID-19's impact on Apple.

Coronavirus Explained

SARS-CoV-2 is a virus in the coronavirus family that surfaced in Wuhan, China in December of 2019, and the illness that it causes is COVID-19. It is believed that the virus originated at a seafood market where exotic animal meats were sold, though Chinese scientists have suggested that it may have originated elsewhere and then spread in the market.

Genetically, SARS-CoV-2 has been found to have a similarity to coronaviruses in bats, which is the animal it may have originated from, though researchers believe a secondary animal such as a pangolin was involved in the transmission.

SARS-CoV-2 is known as a coronavirus because of its shape, which is circular with protruding club-shaped spike peplomars that look similar to the corona aura that surrounds the sun and other stars.

Coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections, and while many coronaviruses in humans cause mild problems similar to a cold, rarer versions are more dangerous. Other examples of coronaviruses that have raised alarms in the past include SARS and MERS, both of which were deadlier than SARS-CoV-2, but not as widespread. Symptoms include fever, a dry cough, and shortness of breath.

Regardless of where SARS-CoV-2 came from, the virus has infected over 95,000 people and killed more than 3,000, primarily in China. It has spread to over 50 locations around the world, including the United States, and in the U.S. specifically, there have been cases of community transmission, where medical professionals are unsure of how the virus was contracted.

Many younger people who contract COVID-19 have recovered, but because this is a new virus, there are still many unknowns, and older people who are more prone to respiratory issues have not fared as well. There are also unknowns about the extent of the transmissibility of the virus, which has led to events worldwide being canceled as it spreads.

For those who want more information on the COVID-19 outbreak, the CDC's website is a good source, as is the World Health Organization.

Coronavirus Impact on Apple's Device Sales

When news of COVID-19 spread in late January and infection numbers began to rise, Apple shut down all retail stores, corporate offices, and contact centers in China for two or more weeks.

Many of the stores started reopening in late February, but there are still some store locations that remained closed into March, while other stores that reopened in February are operating on reduced hours. As of March 13, all stores in China had reopened.

Closing stores, operating on reduced hours, government-imposed travel bans and quarantines, and the public's fear over contracting coronavirus in public spaces led to less foot traffic in stores in China, which has significantly impacted Apple's sales in the country.

After closing stores in China, Apple elected to close all other retail stores in the United States and other countries on March 14, which has also had an impact on sales.

Apple started reopening stores with its sole location in South Korea, which reopened on April 18 on limited operating hours, and began opening up additional store locations in May. More than 300 Apple Stores worldwide have reopened with safety measures that include mandatory masks, limits on the number of people in the store, social distancing, fever checks, and more, but some stores began reclosing in the United States and other countries in June amid COVID-19 spikes.

Many retail locations that remain open are primarily open for repairs and online order pickups with Apple limiting in-store access in many locations.

Coronavirus Impact on Apple's Device Production

Many of Apple's suppliers in China were forced to shut down production for several weeks in early February, with the factory closures coming right after the Lunar New Year holiday. Main iPhone suppliers that include Foxconn and Pegatron were closed for quite some time because an outbreak of COVID-19 at a supplier campus where workers live in close quarters would be devastating.

Apple's factories were up and running by mid to late February for the most part, but travel restrictions from heavily impacted areas in China, mandatory quarantines, and low labor return rates led to delays with factories ramping up to full production. Outbreaks in new countries like South Korea also led to some factory closures.

Supplier issues caused some Apple products to have long ship times, such as build-to-order versions of the iMac, ‌iMac‌ Pro, Mac Pro, and MacBook Pro, but as of May, Apple's suppliers are back up and running.

Analysts have lowered their estimated device shipments for the first half of 2020 due to the coronavirus, and the overall impact of the coronavirus throughout the rest of 2020 remains to be seen.

Apple implemented travel restrictions for its employees, and employees have not been able to travel to China to begin the preparation process that takes place ahead of when new flagship iPhones are manufactured. In February, Apple employees typically travel to China to perfect their manufacturing processes with partners like Foxconn, and delays ate into the time that Apple needs to finalize orders for chips and other ‌iPhone‌ components.

At this time, it's unclear if the COVID-19 outbreak is going to impact the launch of the ‌iPhone‌ 12, but most rumors indicate that Apple still plans to launch the new iPhones during the fall months. A recent report from Japanese site Nikkei says that Apple is considering pushing back the launch of its 2020 iPhones by several months, but a separate report from Bloomberg says that the ‌iPhone‌ 12 models are still on course for a fall launch, though the launches of the new devices could be staggered. Apple in 2018 released the ‌iPhone‌ XR later than the XS and XS Max, and we could see a similar situation in 2020.

Most rumors now suggest that Apple's iPhones will be delayed by about a month, so we could see launches in October or November instead of September.

Apple's Response to Coronavirus

Apple in January announced plans to donate to money to groups dedicated to fighting the COVID-19 outbreak in China, and later, Apple CEO Tim Cook said it would more than double the company's donation.

As mentioned before, Apple temporarily closed all corporate offices and retail stores in China in response to the virus. Corporate offices are now reopened, and stores are in the process of reopening. In the United States, Apple asked all of its corporate employees to work from home where possible, and it is providing unlimited sick leave to any employee infected with the coronavirus. Retail stores were closed for approximately two months, and as of June, Apple has begun allowing corporate employees to start to return to their offices.

According to Apple CEO ‌Tim Cook‌, Apple's chief concern is the health and safety of its employees, supply chain partners, customers, and communities in which it operates, with Apple prioritizing people over revenue.

Apple has worked with its suppliers to source more than 20 million N95 masks that have been distributed to healthcare workers in the United States, and millions more have been donated in Europe. Apple has also been manufacturing face shields for medical communities, and has donated millions of dollars to various charities.

March Revenue Cuts

Apple in mid-February announced that its financial guidance for the March quarter would fall short due to the COVID-19 outbreak. During the January earnings call, Apple said it expected to see revenue of $63 to $67 billion in the March quarter, but that wasn't a goal the company was able to meet. Apple ended up reporting revenue of $58.3 billion during the quarter.

Apple cited lower customer demand in China and constrained ‌iPhone‌ supplies worldwide as the factors leading to lower than expected revenue numbers.

Coronavirus and WWDC

Amid the public health crisis, many companies canceled or postponed major events that would see people gathering in large numbers Apple elected to hold its WWDC 2020 event in a digital-only capacity for the first time with no physical gathering. The online-only event took place in June, kicking off on June 22.

The online WWDC event was "packed with content" for consumers, press, and developers alike, with developers provided with early access to new software and the opportunity to engage with Apple engineers. WWDC was be free in 2020, so developers did not need to pay the $1,599 ticket price to attend virtually.

With no event happening in San Jose, Apple pledged to donate $1 million to local San Jose organizations to offset the associated revenue loss as a result of WWDC 2020's online format.

Exposure Notification APIs Developed With Google

Apple and Google worked together on an exposure notification API, which is designed to allow apps from public health authorities worldwide to figure out if they've been exposed to COVID-19, and if so, what steps to take next to minimize the spread of the virus.

Google and Apple developed the backbone for the system, which relies on device-to-device Bluetooth communication to monitor who you've come into contact with, letting you know if that person later contracts COVID-19. Exposure Notification was added as an API in the iOS 13.5 release.

The underlying API will be used by official health apps and privacy is built in. It collects no geolocation information and data is kept on device unless consent is provided for it to be shared upon infection. Full details on the API can be found in our extensive Exposure Notification Guide.

Guide Feedback

Have questions about COVID-19's impact on Apple, know of something we left out, or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.

Apple in November announced plans to spend $2.5 billion easing the housing crisis in California, and today, Housing Trust Silicon Valley announced that it is launching the Apple Affordable Housing Fund, which is funded by a $150 million grant from Apple.

Using the $150 million provided by Apple, Housing Trust Silicon Valley will build "more affordable housing in the greater Bay Area" through loans made available to qualified developers working on projects that need unique and flexible capital to move into the construction phase." Developers are asked to submit requests for proposals on the Housing Trust's website by March 24, 2020.

"Today's announcement shows what our region can accomplish when we combine big investments, affordable housing industry expertise and opportunity, and the proven financial models led by Housing Trust Silicon Valley," said Amie Fishman, Executive Director of Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California. "This Fund will inspire innovative solutions from around the Bay Area, and we can't wait to see the solutions our affordable housing industry proposes moving forward."

All housing developed using money from the Apple Affordable Housing Fund will have long-term affordability restrictions, and will support a mix of incomes, from individuals and families at the lowest level incomes up to 120 percent of the area median income.

Property prices in California, especially in the Bay Area where Apple operates, have skyrocketed in recent years, and it is one of the most expensive places to live in the United States.

Along with pledging $2.5 billion to fund affordable housing, Apple has also said it will donate $50 million to support Destination: Home's efforts to address homelessness in Silicon Valley.

Apple Pay could soon be available in Mexico, based on reports from iPhone users in Mexico who have been able to add their Banregio cards to the Wallet app.

One user on Twitter whose tweet was shared by 9to5Mac was able to add his Banregio card to the Wallet app after setting his region to the United States. The card was able to be successfully added, and there was text included for verification purposes, but the verification process did not work as ‌Apple Pay‌ has not officially launched in the country.

Cards from banks other than Banregio were not able to be added to the Wallet app on the ‌iPhone‌, suggesting ‌Apple Pay‌ in Mexico may be limited to Banregio at launch.

When ‌Apple Pay‌ launches in Mexico, it will be the second country in Latin America to support the payments service. Apple launched ‌Apple Pay‌ in Brazil in 2018, but has not expanded it to other Latin America countries. ‌Apple Pay‌ has also been available in the United States and Canada for years.

Apple maintains a complete list of the countries where ‌Apple Pay‌ is available on its support site, and we have a detailed Apple Pay roundup with everything you need to know about Apple's payments service.