Apple this morning introduced the newest version of macOS, the operating system that runs on the Mac. macOS Catalina is now available in a beta capacity for registered developers who are able to download it for testing purposes.

The new macOS Catalina beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center, and once installed, subsequent betas will be available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences.


As with all new betas, you're not going to want to install macOS Catalina on a primary machine as it is early release software and could have major bugs.

Apple delved into cross-platform apps in macOS Catalina, porting additional iOS apps to macOS and overhauling some existing apps. There are new Music, Books, and Podcasts app, with the iTunes app being retired.

Apple is also making it possible for developers to bring their iPad apps to the Mac with just simple changes, which will make it simple for developers to create cross-platform content while also increasing the number of available Mac apps.

You're able to use the iPad as an external display thanks to new continuity functionality built into macOS Catalina and iOS 13, and there's a new "Find My" feature for locating lost devices and friends even when your devices have no cellular or WiFi connection.

macOS Catalina is only available to registered developers at this time, but later in the summer, Apple plans to make a public macOS Catalina beta available, giving public beta testers a chance to try the software before it sees a public launch in the fall.

Following the conclusion of today's keynote event where Apple introduced new versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, Apple has made the first beta of iOS 13 available to developers for testing purposes.

The iOS 13 beta testing period will allow Apple to work out bugs ahead of the software's release and it will let developers build iOS 13 and iPadOS features into their apps ahead of the software's public release. One of the major announcements today was the split between iOS 13 and iPadOS, with iPadOS being a new dedicated operating system that runs on the iPad.


Registered developers can download the initial iOS 13 and iPadOS betas from Apple's Developer Center using iTunes. After that, subsequent betas should be available over the air.

Like all major updates introduced at WWDC, iOS 13 is a major overhaul to the iOS operating system. There's a long-awaited Dark Mode feature available for the first time, fulfilling the wishes of many iPhone and iPad users.

iOS 13, like iOS 12, has a number of optimizations that make app download sizes smaller, reduce launch times, and make Face ID way faster on Face ID-enabled devices.

The Photos app features an updated layout with better curation of various photo moments throughout the years, with more intelligent organization and revamped, enhanced editing tools. There's a new swipe-based keyboard option, and Portrait Lighting adjustments can now be made right in the Camera app. You can also move light closer or further away to adjust the way your photos look. There's a new Find My app for finding your iPhone or Mac even when there's no WiFi or Cellular collection.

Apple has added a new privacy-focused Sign In With Apple feature that's designed to allow you to sign in with websites and apps via Apple rather than through services like Google and Facebook.

You can use your Apple ID to authenticate your login, and developers will be provided with a unique, random ID. You can even keep your email address private by using a randomized email address generated by Apple, and logins can all be authenticated using Face ID or Touch ID.

An updated Maps experience brings broader road coverage, new pedestrian data, more precise addresses, and more detailed landcover. Updated maps are available in select cities and states and will roll out across the U.S. by the end of 2019.

Apple is added a new street view feature called "Look Around" that lets you see street-level imagery of a city. The Maps app is also gaining Collections for sharing favorite restaurants or travel destinations with friends, and a Favorites section for navigating to frequent destinations.

Updates have been made to Reminders, with the app getting a total overhaul to make it more useful, and Messages now offers Profile photos and Animoji/Memoji stickers. There are also tons of new Memoji accessory packs. Siri features a new, more natural voice, and Siri Shortcuts now offers up Suggested Automations to make it easier and more personalized than ever.

CarPlay has an updated dashboard view, and on the HomePod, there's a new feature that lets it distinguish between voices so each person in the home can access their own music. Live Radio is now supported through Siri, and a Handoff feature lets you swap music from iPhone to HomePod with ease.

Notes has a new Gallery View, Text Editing is better than ever with new gestures for scrolling, text selection, and more, and the Files app also now supports external storage devices like SD cards and USB drives.

Only registered developers are able to download the iOS 13 beta at this time. As Apple has done in the past, a public beta for public beta testers will be provided in July after the software has gone through a couple rounds of developer testing.

Beta testing for iOS 13 will last for several months as Apple fixes bugs and refines new features. The update will see a public launch in September 2019 alongside new iPhones.

Apple today previewed iOS 13, which will introduce a new Dark Mode to iOS devices and several performance improvements across the board, including faster Face ID, slimmer downloads and updates, and quicker app launches.


Dark Mode has been implemented across the iPhone and iPad operating system and its native apps, including the appearance of notifications, widgets, calendar, and notes. Dark Mode is also available to third-party app developers for integration into their own apps, and can be scheduled to turn on automatically at sunset or at a certain time.

Apple has also added a swipe to type feature to the stock iOS keyboard called QuickPath, which brings easy one-hand typing to the iOS keyboard by continuously swiping through the letters of a word, and Memoji are automatically made into sticker packs built into the iOS keyboard, so they can be used in Messages, Mail and other apps.

iOS 13 will also bring new sharing suggestions for Messages – users can automatically share a user's name and photo, or customized Memoji or Animoji, to easily identify who is in the Messages thread.


A new sign-in feature allows users to log in to third-party apps with their Apple ID, Notes has a new Gallery View, more powerful collaboration with shared folders, new search tools and checklist options, and time-synced lyrics are coming to the Music app.

Elsewhere, Siri has a new, more natural voice, and Siri Shortcuts now supports Suggested Automations that provide personalized routines for things like heading to work or going to the gym. And with AirPods, Siri can read incoming messages as soon as they arrive, from Messages or any SiriKit-enabled messaging app.

In addition, the Files app is gaining the ability to share folders with iCloud Drive and access files from external storage devices like SD cards and USB flash drives, while new Location Services options include a new one-time location option and more information on when apps are using location in the background.

On the performance front, Face ID is now 30 percent, downloads are 50 percent smaller, updates are 60 percent smaller, and app launches are twice as fast as iOS 12.

iOS 13 will also bring an easier Photos app browsing interface and new editing tools, a revamped Reminders app, and enhanced Apple Maps features.

"iOS 13 brings new capabilities to the apps you use every day, with rich updates to Photos and Maps, and privacy-protecting features like Sign In with Apple, all while delivering faster performance," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "We're excited for customers to experience what's coming to iPhone this fall and can’t wait for them to see how great everything looks in Dark Mode."

Developer betas of iOS 13 are already available, while the final public version will be released this fall.

Apple today revealed the next version of macOS, which is called macOS Catalina. The company started off by announcing that the "future of iTunes" will be divided into three apps: Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV. This means that the traditional iTunes app will be going away in macOS Catalina.


Essentially, Apple is replacing iTunes with these media apps. According to the company, the apps will "greatly simplify and improve" the way that users discover media on the Mac.

To start, Apple Music will sync with your Apple Music account and provide full access to music streaming, playlists, music videos, Beats1 radio stations, downloaded songs, and more. The iTunes Music store will remain alive, located in the Apple Music app, for those users who still prefer to own their music.


The Apple TV app will be essentially the same as it is on tvOS and iOS, allowing you to sync your Up Next list across devices and easily jump directly into your favorite shows. Similarly, Apple Podcasts will offer more than 700,000 shows in its library and sync your content across devices.

Certain features previously seen in iTunes will be migrated elsewhere on macOS, like iPhone syncing and device storage management now located in Finder.


Apple also announced Sidecar, a way to use the iPad as an extended display for Mac. This gives artists the chance to use an Apple Pencil and draw on their iPad, and quickly jump into an editing program on their Mac for the same artwork.

macOS Catalina is also gaining an accessibility feature called Voice Control, which lets users control their Mac entirely with their voice. This is aimed at anyone who can't operate traditional input devices, and uses Siri speech recognition technology.

Other updates include improved security, Screen Time on macOS, and enhancements to apps like Photos, Safari, Mail, Notes, and Reminders. macOS Catalina is available to Apple Developer Program members from today, and a public beta program will launch later in June. A full public launch will follow in the fall.

Apple today revealed "iPadOS," a new version of iOS that Apple has designed specifically for the larger screens on the iPad family. Apple said that it renamed the OS to recognize the "distinctive experience" of iPad.


To start, the Home screen has been redesigned with a new layout that shows more apps on each page. The widget-based Today view can be added to the Home screen, providing quick access to news headlines, the weather, events, and more.

To enhance iPadOS even more, Apple updated Split View to allow users to work with multiple files and documents from the same app at the same time. For example, users can have two emails opened side by side in Mail, or two notes in Notes. Slide Over allows users to quickly view and switch between multiple apps, and App Exposé provides for a quick view of every open window.

iPadOS also overhauled Apple Pencil integration with the ability to mark up and send entire webpages, documents, or emails on iPad. Users can simply swipe the Apple Pencil from the corner of the display to enter mark up mode, quickly edit the document, and save it. Additionally, iPadOS has reduced Apple Pencil latency to as low as 9 milliseconds.


Another update centers on the Files app, which now has iCloud Drive support for folder sharing. Because iPadOS supports external drives, users can easily plug in a USB drive and transfer data all within the Files app. There's also a new Column View for easier navigation, Quick Actions for creating PDFs, and more.

To ensure all of the new parts of iPadOS could be controlled with ease, Apple is introducing new finger-based gestures for cut, copy, paste, and undo. Other updates include Dark Mode, custom fonts, a new floating keyboard, performance improvements, and updates to Maps and Photos apps.

iPadOS is available to Apple Developer Program members starting today, while the public beta will launch later this month. In the fall, iPadOS will be available as a free software update for the iPad Air 2 and later, all iPad Pro devices, the fifth-generation iPad and later, and the iPad mini 4 and later.

Apple today at its WWDC 2019 keynote unveiled its long-awaited Mac Pro redesign.


The all-new Mac Pro is an absolute powerhouse with up to 28-core Intel Xeon processors, up to 1.5TB of ECC RAM, up to 4TB of SSD storage, up to AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo graphics with 64GB of HBM2 memory, and eight PCIe expansion slots for maximum performance, expansion, and configurability.

The new design includes a stainless steel frame with smooth handles and an aluminum housing that lifts off for 360-degree access to the entire system. The housing also features a unique lattice pattern, which has already been referred to as a cheese grater, to maximize airflow and quiet operation.


Apple says the new Mac Pro provides over 300W of power and has a "state-of-the-art thermal architecture" to allow the processor to run "fully unconstrained all the time." This is a significant change from the previous Mac Pro, which Apple eventually admitted led it "into a bit of a thermal corner."

The new Mac Pro features Apple Afterburner, a new accelerator card that can decode up to three streams of 8K ProRes RAW video and 12 streams of 4K ProRes RAW video in real time, effectively eliminating proxy workflows.


Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller:

We designed Mac Pro for users who require a modular system with extreme performance, expansion and configurability. With its powerful Xeon processors, massive memory capacity, groundbreaking GPU architecture, PCIe expansion, Afterburner accelerator card and jaw-dropping design, the new Mac Pro is a monster that will enable pros to do their life's best work,

Apple says the new Mac Pro starts at $5,999 in the United States with an eight-core Intel Xeon processor, 32GB of ECC RAM, AMD WX 7100 graphics, and 256GB of SSD storage and will be available to order in the fall.

Apple also introduced a new 32-inch 6K display named the Pro Display XDR that will also be available in the fall starting at $4,999.


More details can be found on Apple's new Mac Pro page on its website. While not advertised, the current Mac Pro remains available to purchase for now.

As part of its new Mac Pro unveiling today at WWDC, Apple announced a new 32-inch 6K Retina display with advanced HDR viewing capabilities.


Called the Pro Display XDR, the new LCD monitor features a 6,016 x 3,384 resolution display and 20 million pixels. It uses a direct backlighting system with a large array of LEDs, able to produce 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness and 1,600 nits of peak brightness.

It's more than 40 percent bigger than Apple's iMac 5K display, and offers users P3 wide color, 10-bit, and several reference modes. The new screen has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and can maintain 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness indefinitely.

The Pro display also features Thunderbolt 3, which enables two monitors to run off a single power source, and up to four displays to be connected together for more screen real estate.

Priced from $4,999, the new monitors feature an anti-reflective coating, and a matte option is also available. The Pro Stand, which is sold separately for $999, provides both tilt and height adjustment, allowing Pro Display XDR to rotate into portrait mode. A VESA Mount Adapter will also be available for $199.

The new monitor and optional extras will be available to order from this fall.

Apple today announced a new version of watchOS coming this fall that will introduce several new watch faces, stock apps, and a new App Store dedicated to Apple Watch.


During its WWDC event, Apple showed off several new faces, including Modular Compact, Solar Dial, California, Gradient and Numerals faces.

The new watch faces introduce a new feature called Taptic Chimes that deliver a silent vibration on your wrist, and an hourly chime when audio is turned on.

The new apps include wrist-based versions of Audiobooks, Voice Memos, and Calculator, while the new App Store will allow users to purchase and download apps directly to their watch, bypassing iPhone.

Users can install third-party apps using the dedicated Apple Watch app store, search for apps using Siri, dictation or Scribble, and view app product pages designed for the watch screen right from the wrist. Developers can also build Apple Watch-only apps, created to work independently on Apple Watch without an iOS app.

Siri search queries will also display webpage results in full on Apple Watch.

In addition, watchOS 6 brings several new health and fitness features for Apple Watch, including a menstrual cycle tracking app, a Noise app, and a new Trends tab for the Activity tracking app.

During the WWDC 2019 keynote Apple unveiled tvOS 13, the latest operating system update for Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K devices. The update introduces a new Home screen, multi-user support, updates to Apple Music, new underwater screensavers, and more.

The updates start at the new Home screen, which Apple said is "designed for discovery." Apps on the dock can now play full-screen video previews on the Home screen, instead of just showcasing still images.


The big new addition to Apple TV with tvOS 13 is support for multiple user profiles on the new Apple TV Control Center. With this feature, you can easily switch between family members and change entire aspects of the operating system depending on who is using it.

This means that individual family members will have their own Up Next list in the TV app, see their own TV and movie recommendations based on their tastes, and also receive their own curated suggestions in Apple Music.

In regards to Apple Music, Control Center will also include quick access to the currently playing song. A new lyric feature has been added as well, which showcases onscreen lyrics timed in sync with the track.

tvOS 13 is also adding support for the Xbox One S controller and the PlayStation DualShock 4 controller. This way, users who already own one of these controllers will be able to play a wide variety of games on the tvOS App Store with ease. It'll also enhance games available on Apple Arcade when that service launches in the fall.


Lastly, Apple TV 4K devices will gain new 4K HDR screen savers that were filmed in collaboration with the BBC Natural History Unit. These screen savers are focused on underwater locations and showcase the depths of the oceans around the world.

tvOS 13 will be available for Apple Developer Program members starting today, while the public beta of the software won't launch until later in June. For everyone else, tvOS 13 will be available in the fall for free.

Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, with the traditional keynote kicking things off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

It’s a great day for an Apple keynote! See you in a few hours, developers! #WWDC19 pic.twitter.com/uoRhslrjH5

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 3, 2019

We're expecting to see a number of announcements, including iOS 13, macOS 10.15, watchOS 6, and tvOS 13. Many are also hoping for a preview of Apple's redesigned Mac Pro.

Apple is providing a live video stream on its website and via Apple TV. We will also be updating this article with live blog coverage and issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account as the keynote unfolds. Highlights from the event and separate news stories regarding today's announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.



Live blog transcript ahead…

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

The European Commission is awaiting a response from Apple after Spotify accused the iPhone maker of anticompetitive business practices in relation to its App Store, said the European Union's antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager.


"We are looking into that and we have been asking questions around in that market but of course also Apple themselves, for them to answer the allegations. And when they come back, we will know more," said Vestager, speaking on the sidelines of an economic conference, according to Reuters.

In March, Spotify announced it had filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Commission over unfair App Store practices. Apple responded two days later, labeling the complaint as "misleading rhetoric" and arguing that "Spotify wants all the benefits of a free app without being free."

In a blog post, Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek took particular issue with Apple charging a 30 percent "tax" on App Store purchases. This results in Spotify charging existing subscribers $12.99 per month for its Premium plan via the App Store just to collect nearly the $9.99 per month it charges normally.

Apple also forbids developers from alerting users that they can sign up for a subscription or complete a purchase outside of an app, which would bypass Apple's commission on in-app purchases tied to digital goods.

Spotify later said "every monopolist will suggest they have done nothing wrong" and that Apple's response was "entirely in line" with its expectations.

Apple has faced increasing scrutiny as of late over the way it runs its App Store, beyond Spotify's complaint. In the United States, for example, the Supreme Court recently ruled that a class action lawsuit accusing Apple of operating an App Store monopoly can proceed to trial in a lower court.

Parental control app developers have also petitioned Apple to release a public API for its Screen Time feature to ensure a fair playing field on the App Store, while the Netherlands is investigating whether or not Apple favors its own apps.

In response, Apple added a new page to the App Store section of its website titled Principles and Practices, noting that the App Store was created with two goals: to be "a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps" and "a great business opportunity for all developers."


Apple emphasized that the App Store "welcomes competition" and listed many examples of third-party apps that compete with its own apps, such as Spotify versus Apple Music and Google Maps versus Apple Maps.

We believe competition makes everything better and results in the best apps for our customers.

We also care about quality over quantity, and trust over transactions. That's why, even though other stores have more users and more app downloads, the App Store earns more money for developers. Our users trust Apple — and that trust is critical to how we operate a fair, competitive store for developer app distribution.

The deadline for Apple's response to the European Commission is unclear.

Each year, Apple provides up to 350 students with a free ticket to WWDC and lodging for the conference. The lucky winners are selected based on the quality of their Swift Playground coding submission and written answers.

Apple has now highlighted dozens of WWDC 2019 scholarship winners and their apps in an editorial in the App Store under the Today tab.


This year's winners hail from over 20 countries and regions around the world, according to Apple, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea, Norway, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S.

The winners had the opportunity to discuss their apps with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple marketing executive Greg Joswiak, and vice president of software engineering operations Cheryl Thomas at the McEnery Convention Center on Sunday, according to photos shared by CNET's Connie Guglielmo.

Apple student developers get to talk up their apps with Joz, longtime VP of product marketing, and Cheryl Thomas, longtime VP of software engineering operatwho oversees Swift programming language. #WWDC2019 pic.twitter.com/63Imlk5cZK

— Connie Guglielmo (@techledes) June 2, 2019

WWDC scholars are treated to a special experience at the conference, starting with Apple's Scholarship Kickoff event yesterday at the Discovery Meadow park. There, Apple executive and WWDC scholar chaperone Esther Hare welcomed winners in a speech and posed for selfies with the young developers.

What a fun day getting to chat with so many of our incredible #wwdc19 scholarship winners and hearing their stories! It’s going to be a fantastic week! #WWDCScholars https://t.co/Iy5wF3cMAS

— Esther Hare (@EEhare) June 3, 2019

Each scholar also received a special badge, t-shirt, and magnetic pin, in addition to the reversible WWDC jacket that all developers received, although they have yet to receive a bigger gift like AirPods given out last year.

Here's another look at that reversible jacket:

Badge + swag pickup at WWDC! This is the coolest jacket ever. I spotted @tim_cook in Memoji form! #WWDC #WWDC19 #WWDCScholars pic.twitter.com/90by8KwiH6

— Ethan Saadia 🛬 WWDC (@EthanSaadia) June 2, 2019

From a year ago: A Week in the Life of WWDC 2018 Scholarship Winners