Several of Apple's services appear to be experiencing issues, with MacRumors readers reporting problems with Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+, the App Store, and more.

When attempting to access ‌Apple Music‌ or ‌Apple TV‌+, for example, the services refuse to load for some people and pop up a connection warning.

Apple's System Status page lists ‌App Store‌, Apple Arcade, ‌Apple Music‌, ‌Apple TV‌+, Radio, Apple Books, Find My, Game Center, iCloud Account, ‌iCloud‌ backup, ‌iCloud‌ Calendar, ‌iCloud‌ Contacts, Photos, ‌iCloud‌ Mail, and iWork outages.

We'll update this article when Apple's services come back online.

Apple and Epic Games do not want to have a jury trial in their ongoing legal dispute over Fortnite and Apple's App Store policies, according to a filing submitted to the Northern California court handling the case today.

The two companies said they have met and have agreed that both Epic's claims and Apple's counterclaims should be tried by the court with a bench trial at a date to be determined.

Epic and Apple have met and conferred, and the parties agree that Epic's claims and Apple's counterclaims should be tried by the Court, and not by a jury. Therefore, with Epic's consent, Apple hereby withdraws its demand for a jury trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 38(d). The parties respectfully request that the case (including any claims and counterclaims) proceed to a bench trial on a schedule determined by the Court.

In a counterclaim against ‌Epic Games‌, Apple had originally asked for a trial by jury, but given that the judge overseeing the court told the two companies that she does not want to try two separate cases, Apple has withdrawn the request.

There was a preliminary injunction hearing between ‌Epic Games‌ and Apple earlier this week, and during that hearing, the judge suggested that a jury trial might be appropriate to ensure a final judgement that's better able to stand up to appeal, but Apple and ‌Epic Games‌ have declined.

During the preliminary hearing, the judge was hard on ‌Epic Games‌, criticizing the company for the way that it initiated the lawsuit. ‌Epic Games‌ in August added a direct payment option in popular iOS game Fortnite, breaking Apple's ‌App Store‌ rules as the payment option skirted in-app purchases.

Apple then pulled the app from the App Store, and ‌Epic Games‌ filed a pre-prepared lawsuit against Apple, leading to a legal dispute that could take years to resolve. At the current time, Fortnite is not available on Apple devices and Epic's developer account has been terminated.

During Monday's hearing, the judge said that Epic was "not forthright" and had made a "calculated decision" to defy Apple's ‌App Store‌ rules. "There are people in the public who consider you guys heroes for what you did, but it's not honest," she said.

With Apple and Epic declining a jury trial, the case could be heard sometime in July 2021, with a specific date set to be determined by the court.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was this week awarded 667,974 restricted stock units or RSUs worth more than $76 million at Apple's current price, according to a filing with the SEC. The first half of the RSUs are set to vest in one-third increments in 2023, 2024, and 2025, so Cook will receive 111,329 shares every April starting in 2023.

The second half of the RSUs are performance-based awards and will vest on October 1, 2023, based on Apple's relative shareholder return. Cook can potentially receive up to 200% of the 333,987 RSUs awarded for performance.

These performance-based restricted stock units are scheduled to vest on October 1, 2023. The "target" number of restricted stock units is reported. Between 0% and 200% of the target number of units may vest based on Apple's relative total shareholder return from the first day of Apple's fiscal 2021 and ending with the last day of Apple's fiscal 2023.

Paired with the time-based stock awards, Cook can earn up to 1,001,961 shares worth more than $114 million today if Apple's performance in the S&P 500 is in the 85th percentile or higher relative to other companies.

This is the first stock grant that Cook has received since 2011, with the last of that grant set to vest in 2021. As noted by Reuters' Stephen Nellis, Apple's board of directors issued a statement on Cook's RSU award:

Tim has brought unparalleled innovation and focus to his role as CEO and demonstrated what it means to lead with values and integrity. For the first time in nearly a decade, we are awarding Tim a new stock grant that will vest over time in recognition of his outstanding leadership and with great optimism for Apple's future as he carries these efforts forward.

Several employees on Apple's executive team have also received stock awards, including Luca Maestri, Deirdre O'Brien, and Jeff Williams, all of whom have been awarded 178,128 shares. As with Cook's award, half of these RSUs will vest between 2023 and 2025, while the rest are performance based awards.

The RSUs serve as bonus compensation for Cook and Apple's executives, and will encourage employees to stay with the company through at least 2025, which is when everything will be fully vested. Cook has been Apple's CEO since August 2011, and there has been some speculation lately on how long he will continue to work for Apple. Cook in a recent interview said that he can't envision his life not working at Apple.

I consider it the privilege of a lifetime to be here in this role at this time. I love working with this team. I consider them family. It's hard to explain. It may sound like messaging or something, but it's not. It's that deep in my heart, I really love the people I work with and currently it's tough to envision my life without that. So we'll see. At some point, of course, we all do something different, but at the moment, there's no place I would rather be than right here.

When Cook does opt to retire at some point in the future, Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams could assume the role of CEO, according to a recent Bloomberg report. Williams is "primed" to take over for Cook if necessary and considered the "heir apparent" within Apple.

Rumors have suggested that Apple's iPhone 12 models will not include power adapters or EarPods in the box, and a minor code tweak in iOS 14.2 seemingly confirms Apple's plan to sell the new devices without EarPods.

In iOS 14 and earlier versions of iOS, there's a mention of reducing exposure to RF energy by using the "supplied headphones," which is the same wording that Apple has used for years now.

In iOS 14.2, this wording has been tweaked to say just "headphones," removing the "supplied" part of this statement. The full code reads as follows:

To reduce exposure to RF energy, use a hands-free option, such as the built-in speakerphone, headphones, or other similar accessories.

All prior mentions of headphones have included "supplied," and the deliberate elimination of the word in the new code strongly suggests Apple has no plans to "supply" headphones with the upcoming ‌iPhone 12‌ models.

The mention of "supplied headphones" in ‌iOS 14‌ is on the top, and the new wording without the word "supplied" is on the bottom
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in May that the ‌iPhone 12‌ models will not come with EarPods in the box, with Apple instead planning to introduce some kind of AirPods promotion to encourage iPhone buyers to purchase ‌AirPods‌ as well.

There have also been rumors that Apple is eliminating the power adapter from the ‌iPhone 12‌ box, which means customers will get an ‌iPhone 12‌ and a USB-C to Lightning cable with nothing else.

The removal of the power adapter was all but confirmed when Apple released the Apple Watch Series 6 models without a power adapter, but until now, we've heard little else about the potential removal of the EarPods.

Apple has long offered EarPods with new ‌iPhone‌ models to give customers a way to listen to music, make calls, and more, but Apple has been aiming to transition to Bluetooth-only headphones since the launch of the ‌AirPods‌ and the removal of the headphone jack from the ‌iPhone‌ lineup.

Current iPhone 11 and 11 Pro models ship with EarPods that have a Lightning connector to plug into the Lightning port, but it appears the ‌iPhone 11‌ devices will be the last to come with headphones in the box.

Apple is said to be removing the power adapter and the EarPods from the ‌iPhone 12‌ box in order to cut costs, as the 5G chips in the new devices are expensive. The change will also allow Apple to slim down the size of the ‌iPhone‌ box, reducing packaging and environmental waste.

Steve Moser contributed to this report.

Back in January, medical device company Masimo levied a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of stealing trade secrets and improperly using Masimo inventions related to health monitoring in the Apple Watch.

Masimo is known for its pulse oximetry devices, and Apple just recently debuted the Apple Watch Series 6 with blood oxygen monitoring capabilities. Following the launch of the Series 6, Masimo has accused Apple of attempting to delay the legal proceedings in order to sell more watches and gain a more dominant share of the smart watch market.

As highlighted by Bloomberg, Apple has not officially responded to the original January lawsuit, instead filing requests to dismiss the trade secret part of the case and to have Masimo patents invalidated. Apple has asked the trial court to put the case on hold until the patent issue is resolved, which could take a significant amount of time.

Apple told the court that delaying the case until a patent review will narrow the issues and "reduce wasted resources." With no hold, the first hearing on the case will take place in April 2021.

According to Masimo, the potential postponement would allow Apple to "seize on a critical window of opportunity to capture an emerging field," using its "considerable resources and ecosystem" to capture market share with no regard for Masimo patent technology.

Masimo CEO Joe Kiani said in the filing that Masimo believes Apple's customers see the Series 6 as a "medical product," which can "harm consumers" and "reduce [Masimo's] opportunities to sell truly clinical-grade products to consumers."

Masimo accused Apple of stealing secret information by pretending to have a working relationship with Masimo and then poaching Masimo employees. Masimo also believes that Apple is infringing on 10 Masimo patents, and says that Apple relied on Masimo technology when developing the light-based heart rate sensor used in the Apple Watch.

Apple allegedly contacted Masimo in 2013, ahead of the launch of the original Apple Watch, and asked to meet for a potential collaboration. Apple was aiming to "understand more" about Masimo's products and was allegedly seeking to add Masimo technology to future Apple devices. Masimo said that the two companies had productive meetings, but then Apple began hiring important employees. Apple ultimately hired several Masimo employees including Michael O'Reilly, who had served as Chief Medical Officer and EVP of Medical Affairs at Masimo. He has been working on Health Special Projects at Apple, and had a hand in the development of the Apple Watch.

Masimo in its original January lawsuit asked the court to block Apple from using Masimo's patented inventions and it asked the court for damages.

The second beta of iOS 14.2 introduces the new Emoji 13 characters that Apple previewed earlier this year as part of World Emoji Day.

New emoji options include ninja, people hugging, black cat, bison, fly, polar bear, blueberries, fondue, bubble tea, and more, with a list below.

• Faces - Smiling Face with Tear, Disguised Face
• People - Ninja, Person in Tuxedo, Woman in Tuxedo, Person with Veil, Man with Veil, Woman Feeding Baby, Person Feeding Baby, Man Feeding Baby, Mx. Claus, People Hugging
• Body Parts - Pinched fingers, Anatomical Heart, Lungs
• Animals - Black Cat, Bison, Mammoth, Beaver, Polar Bear, Dodo, Seal, Beetle, Cockroach, Fly, Worm
• Food - Blueberries, Olive, Bell Pepper, Flatbread, Fondue, Bubble Tea, Tamale
• Household - Potted Plant, Teapot, Piñata, Magic Wand, Nesting Dolls, Sewing Needle, Mirror, Window, Plunger, Mouse Trap, Bucket, Toothbrush
• Miscellaneous - Feather, Rock, Wood, Hut, Pickup Truck, Roller Skate, Knot, Coin, Boomerang, Screwdriver, Carpentry Saw, Hook, Ladder, Elevator, Headstone, Placard, Transgender Symbol, Transgender Flag
• Clothing - Thong Sandal, Military Helmet
• Musical Instruments - Accordion, Long Drum

The update also features 55 gender and skin-tone variants, along with new gender-inclusive emojis that can be used as an alternative to gendered versions, such as person with veil and person with tuxedo rather than the current woman/man options.

As noted by Emojipedia, Apple previewed a handful of these emojis in July, but many of the new characters are being seen in their official form in the new beta.

After the Emoji 13 update, there will be a delay with Emoji 14 that will prevent the new emojis from being introduced in 2021. Emoji 14 will be released six months late, which means it likely won't be able to be added to smartphones until 2022. There is a stop-gap Emoji 13.1 update planned for 2021, but it mostly focuses on skin tone variations and only introduces a few new emoji that include face exhaling, face with spiral eyes, face in clouds, heart on fire, and mending heart.

Apple today informed developers that it is making new App Store marketing tools available for use, providing developers with a simple way to create short links, embeddable code with app icon and product page, QR codes, and more.

Take advantage of new marketing resources to promote your apps around the world. You can now generate short links or embeddable code that lead to your ‌App Store‌ product page and display your app icon, a QR code, or an ‌App Store‌ badge. Download localized ‌App Store‌ badges, your app icon, and more.

Developers can enter the URL for their app on the marketing page, with Apple then providing tools to generate the aforementioned links and badges. QR codes in particular may be of interest to developers as these can be used to quickly find an app with a scan with an iPhone camera, and QR codes are also used for the App Clips feature introduced in iOS 14.

QR codes can be generated with different colors and with each app's icon for a unique, personalized look that takes seconds to create.

Developers can access the new tools on Apple's App Store Marketing site for developers.

Email aliases in the Mail app don't appear to be functioning correctly in the iOS 14 update, according to multiple customer complaints on the MacRumors forums and the Apple Support Communities.

Affected customers have set up aliases in the Mail app for subscriptions, account signups, and more, as aliases are useful for concealing a primary email address and limiting unwanted messages. Those aliases are not working as intended as of the ‌iOS 14‌ update, with the Mail app on iPhone and iPad ignoring the preferred alias that's selected when sending an email.

There appears to be no way for affected users to successfully control which alias is selected, leading to emails sent from unwanted addresses. A member of the Apple Support Communities describes the problem:

I have an IMAP account (not gmail) with a few aliases. I have been using this for YEARS and it's always worked fine. Today, I sent my first email from ‌iOS 14‌ and it changed my from address after I sent the email. Note, the correct address was selected in Mail - it was changed during sending. I then sent some mails from other aliases, and those were also all wrong - never the right address.

I then double checked on my ‌iPad‌, and the same thing occurs. For now, I have just removed all aliases.

Many of the complaints are from iCloud users who are using aliases with Apple's ‌iCloud‌ mail service, including those who have an older @mac.com or @me.com alias available to use with their @iCloud.com email addresses. Apple's Mail app appears to default to the @iCloud.com email address instead of the properly selected @mac.com that some users prefer. From the MacRumors forums:

One of the few who still uses @mac.com for the email address. After the upgrade I am noticing that the from address defaults to @icloud.com even though the settings still points to @mac.com address. Not sure if anyone here is noticing that.

The problem also affects email aliases associated with non-iCloud accounts, including those set up with Gmail accounts, so there appears to be an issue with all email accounts that have an associated alias that causes the Mail app to pick a random "From" address.

There seems to be no fix or workaround at this time aside from disabling aliases, and as pointed out on the MacRumors forums, the problem continues to persist in the iOS 14.2 update that's in beta testing. We expect iOS 14.2 to be in beta for at least another few weeks (likely until the iPhone 12 models launch) so there's time for Apple to add additional bug fixes.

Update: Early reports suggest that the second iOS 14.2 beta provided to developers on September 29 fixes the email alias bug.

Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 updates to developers, two weeks after seeding the first betas and a little over two weeks after releasing the iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates.

iOS and iPadOS 14.2 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper developer profile has been installed.

The iOS 14.2 update brings a new Music Recognition control for the Control Center, which enhances the integration of the Apple-owned Shazam app in the iOS operating system. Music Recognition lets you discover music playing around you and it can recognize music playing in apps even when you're wearing AirPods.

The Shazam Music Recognition feature can be added to Control Center through the Control Center options in the Settings app. To use the feature, open up Control Center and then tap on the Shazam icon to initiate a single recognition. While Apple devices have been able to use Shazam through Siri or the Shazam app for some time, the Control Center option makes it easier to get to the music recognition tool.

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The new update also includes a redesigned Now Playing widget for the Control Center, which lists recently played albums that you might want to tap into and listen to when you have no music playing. There's also a redesigned interface for AirPlay, making it easier to play music across multiple ‌AirPlay‌ 2-enabled devices in the home.

For those who have low vision, Apple added a "People Detection" feature in the Magnifier app that uses the camera to let iPhone users know how far away other people are, which can be useful for social distancing purposes.

The new iOS 14.2 beta will likely be in testing for some time as Apple works on releasing new iPhones, with the new iPhones expected to debut sometime in October.

Apple today seeded the Ninth beta of an upcoming macOS Big Sur update to developers for testing purposes, a week after releasing the eighth beta and more than two months after the new update was unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

The macOS Big Sur beta can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center and once the appropriate profile is installed, subsequent betas will be available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences.

macOS Big Sur introduces a refreshed design to the Mac operating system, overhauling the entire look from the curvature of the window corners to the dock icons to the system sounds. Everything feels fresh but familiar, with a lighter and more modern appearance. There's a new customizable Control Center that mirrors the Control Center on iOS devices, putting key system controls right at your fingertips.

The Notification Center has been redesigned with iOS-style widgets that are available in multiple sizes, plus there are more interactive notifications that are now grouped by app to make it easier to see what's going on. Safari is faster and more battery efficient, plus there's a new start page that can be customized with wallpapers and sections that include Reading List and iCloud Tabs, which makes Safari more tailored to your individual usage needs.

Tabs have been redesigned, there's a built-in language translation feature, Chrome and Firefox Extensions can be ported to Safari, and YouTube supports 4K video playback. There's also an option to choose which sites an extension works with for greater privacy. Speaking of privacy, a new Privacy Report feature lets users know the trackers Safari is blocking when you visit websites.

Messages is more similar to the Messages app on iOS with support for pinned conversations, mentions, inline replies, and Memoji creation, plus the built-in search feature has been overhauled to make it easier to find links, photos, and conversations in the app.

Apple redesigned the Maps app to add support for Look Around, indoor maps, and Guides, which are lists of notable attractions, restaurants, and more created by trusted sources. Maps can also be used to generate directions for cycling routes and electric vehicle trips that can be sent to iPhone, and shared ETA updates are now viewable on the Mac.

Photos includes a better Retouch tool, Apple Music's For You section has been replaced with a Listen Now section, HomeKit Secure Video cameras support Face Recognition and Activity zones, and Siri can answer a wider range of questions than before.

In the future, the macOS Big Sur App Store will help users better understand privacy practices with clear info on the information that an app collects, and after installing macOS Big Sur, you'll see faster updates that begin in the background and then finish more quickly to make it easier to keep your Mac up to date.

For more on everything that's new in macOS Big Sur, make sure to check out our roundup.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 7.1 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the first beta and a little over two weeks after releasing the watchOS 7 update.

To install the ‌watchOS 7‌ beta, developers need to download the proper configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once the profile is in place, the ‌‌‌‌watchOS 7‌‌‌‌ beta can be downloaded through the dedicated ‌Apple Watch‌ app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.

To update to the new software, the ‌Apple Watch‌ needs to have 50 percent battery life, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the ‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌.

There were no new features discovered in the first beta of watchOS 7.1, so we don't yet know what new additions may be included in the beta. It may focus on under-the-hood improvements and bug fixes for issues that weren't able to be addressed in the initial ‌watchOS 7‌ release.

If new features are found in the second beta of watchOS 7.1, we'll update this article. watchOS 7.1, like ‌watchOS 7‌, is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 3 and later.

Apple is hiring Siri Annotation Analysts with fluency in a number of languages that are not currently supported by the voice assistant, suggesting that a major expansion of Siri's availability is in the works.

Apple's office in Cork, Ireland is hiring people fluent in Ukrainian, Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, Croatian, Greek, Flemish, Romanian, and as ThinkApple points out, Polish. Apple is also hiring people fluent in Indonesian and Vietnamese out of a Singapore office.

As described in job listings, Annotation Analysts that work for Apple listen to and transcribe snippets of ‌Siri‌ conversations to evaluate ‌Siri‌'s responses.

As an Annotation Analyst, you'll listen and transcribe audio files and evaluate ‌Siri‌'s response and language usage, from customers who have opted in to the grading program. You'll use your language and cultural knowledge, along with analytical skills, to evaluate responses against guidelines.

These kinds of ‌Siri‌ evaluations were previously done by third-party contracting companies but Apple brought the work in-house following a mid-2019 uproar over the way Apple used ‌Siri‌ recordings for evaluation with little notice to customers. Apple overhauled its ‌Siri‌ grading program and added options for customers to both opt out of having their ‌Siri‌ recordings used for product improvement and to delete already collected ‌Siri‌ recordings.

Apple does not support ‌Siri‌ in the languages that it is hiring for, which indicates ‌Siri‌ may be coming to new countries in the not too distant future. If ‌Siri‌ is gaining additional language support, those languages could also be added to the Translate app that was released in iOS 14.

‌Siri‌ is currently in more than 37 countries, with a list available on Apple's website. The languages that work with the Translate app are more limited and include Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Junecloud this week announced that its popular package tracking app Deliveries will be switching to a paid subscription model on September 30. A subscription will unlock all features of the app across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, with pricing to be set at 99 cents per month or $4.99 per year through the App Store.

Deliveries until now has been a one-time purchase, with iOS and macOS versions of the app each costing $4.99. Junecloud says users who already purchased the app can continue using most features without a subscription, and they will also receive a complimentary subscription for up to 18 months from the purchase date. Users who bought the app more than 18 months ago will receive a complimentary subscription until February 1, 2021.

Specifically, existing users will still be able to add new deliveries to the app and sync with iCloud. However, a subscription will now be required to sync with Junecloud, which allows users to add deliveries to the app simply by forwarding the corresponding email. Any new features added to Deliveries in the future will also require a subscription.

Junecloud hopes that switching to a subscription model will attract a wider customer base:

We have so many wonderful customers, but most people have never tried Deliveries. We know a big part of that has always been the upfront cost: the current price of $4.99 for the iOS app and $4.99 for the Mac app is a lot to ask before you’ve even had a chance to figure out if it does what you want it to do. Subscriptions will make it possible to download the app on all your devices and try it for a month, or even a full year, for less than it would have cost to buy both versions.

Deliveries makes it easy to track packages from UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS, Canada Post, and many other couriers, complete with push notifications and more. The app is also useful for tracking orders from companies like Apple and Amazon.

The switch to a paid subscription model will coincide with the release of version 9.0 of Deliveries, a major update with many new features, including Dark Mode support on iOS, expanded tracking history, faster methods of adding shipments, and more.

Adventure game "South of the Circle" is coming to Apple Arcade, with an innovative new aesthetic inspired by mid-century screen printing.

From State of Play, developers of "Kami," "INKS," and "Lumino City," South of the Circle is a new adventure game with a strong narrative focus.

Set in the 60s in Antarctica, South of the Circle tells the story of Cambridge academic Peter. He finds himself crossing desolate terrain in an attempt to reach British, Norwegian, and Soviet Antarctic bases as he fights for survival. As conditions worsen, the past and the present blur together, and Peter is forced to come to terms with survival, reality, and the consequences of his past.

Coming Soon to ‌Apple Arcade‌: South of the Circle. You are marooned in Antartica in 1959 during a Cold War standoff looking for rescue when the past begins to blend with the present. ⏰ Get a reminder when it's available: https://t.co/BMXTM89L4T pic.twitter.com/wURwFrjDkj — ‌Apple Arcade‌ (@AppleArcade) September 29, 2020

State of Play used full 3D motion capture for added realism, and the game features a host of award-winning actors such as Gwilym Lee, Olivia Vinall, Richard Goulding, Anton Lesser, Adrian Rawlins, and Michael Fox.

South of the Circle will be coming to ‌Apple Arcade‌ on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS soon.

Microsoft this week began testing mouse and trackpad support in the latest beta versions of its Word and Excel apps for iPad. The functionality was introduced in version 2.42 of each app, available through Apple's beta testing service TestFlight.

Mouse and trackpad support provides rich visual feedback when editing documents or spreadsheets. When using a trackpad, the cursor displays as a circle on the screen, popping up only when you have a finger on the trackpad. The circle then morphs into various other shapes when hovering over app icons, text fields, or other on-screen elements.

iPadOS 13.4 introduced trackpad and mouse support on all iPad Pro models, the iPad Air 2 and later, the fifth-generation iPad and later, and the iPad mini 4 and later. Keyboards with built-in trackpads include Apple's Magic Keyboard, Brydge's Pro+ for the iPad Pro, Logitech's Combo for the 10.2-inch iPad and the 10.5-inch iPad Air, and more.

Microsoft previously said that mouse and trackpad support in the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps will be made available to all users at some point this fall.

Apple will launch a 12.9-inch mini LED-backlit iPad Pro in early 2021 and a mini LED-backlit MacBook in the second-half of next year, according to DigiTimes.

The Taiwan-based industry publication claims Epistar will supply the over-10,000 mini LEDs used in each ‌iPad Pro‌ tablet. Meanwhile, Apple is expected to recruit Osram Opto as another supplier of mini LEDs for use in a new "high-end" MacBook, which lines up with supplier information cited by respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Osram Opto Semiconductors is expected to supply backlight-use mini LED for high-end MacBook in second-half 2021, becoming Apple's second supplier of such chips next to Taiwan-based Epistar, according to industry sources.

Apple is expected to launch 12.9-inch mini LED-backlit ‌iPad Pro‌ in early 2021, with each tablet to use over 10,000 mini LEDs solely supplied by Epistar, the sources said. Epistar is ready to start production of mini LEDs by modifying its blue-light LED chipmaking equipment for producing such mini LEDs in third-quarter 2020, the sources noted.

Kuo has long predicted that a high-end 12.9-inch ‌‌iPad Pro‌‌ would likely be Apple's first mini-LED product. Kuo believes that production will begin on mini-LED displays for the ‌iPad Pro‌ in the fourth quarter of 2020, though a launch may not come until next year.

Kuo has said a mini-LED version of a 16-inch MacBook Pro is in the works for a possible late 2020 release, and that Apple is also working on a mini-LED 14.1-inch MacBook Pro, although he hasn't provided launch information for the latter beyond suggesting there are several mini-LED devices in the works for 2021. According to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce, Apple suppliers won't begin competing to win manufacturing orders for new 14-inch and 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models with mini-LED displays until the first quarter of 2021.

Kuo has previously said that mini-LED displays will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays used on the latest iPhones. Mini-LED displays, which use on the order of 1,000 to 10,000 individual LEDs, can offer deeper, darker blacks, brighter brights, richer colors, and better contrast compared to traditional LED-based displays, though the technology comes at a significant increase in cost for the time being.