MacRumors

Apple today seeded the fourth betas of iOS and iPadOS 15 to developers for testing purposes, with the updates coming two weeks after Apple released the third betas.

Registered developers can download the profile for the iOS and iPadOS betas from the Apple Developer Center, and once the profile is installed, beta updates will be available over the air.

iOS 15 is a major update that introduces a slew of new features focused on cutting down on distractions and spending more time with friends and family.

FaceTime has a revamped interface with new SharePlay features for listening to music, watching videos, and sharing your screen with your friends and family members, and in Messages, if something like a url, photo, news article, or song is shared with you, you can see the content in Apple's dedicated apps.

Focus lets you create custom notification modes that hide irrelevant apps and notifications when you're doing things like working or spending time with your family so you can better focus on the activity at hand, and there's a new notification summary that de-prioritizes less important notifications so you're not constantly inundated with information.

Maps has a new 3D view in select cities that lets you see 3D landmarks, there are immersive AR directions when walking, and driving directions are better than ever, especially at complex interchanges.

Safari now supports Tab Groups for improved organization, and extensions can be used in Safari for iOS devices for the first time. Later this year you'll be able to add your ID card to the Wallet app in some U.S. states, and Apple is making it easier to add key cards for hotels, smart home locks, and more to the Wallet app.

Spotlight is better than ever and can bring up more tailored search results, and Photos has a "Live Text" feature that lets you take a photo of something with text like a receipt to translate it into typed text on your iPhone. ‌Photos‌ can also identify landmarks, books, plants, and pets, so you can snap a photo of a plant and get information on what it might be.

Apple has also added multiple privacy improvements, such as a new App Privacy report coming to the iPhone that will let you know how often apps access sensitive info like your location, a Mail feature that hides your IP address, and Siri processing that's done on device.

For a complete overview of everything that's new in iOS 15, we have a dedicated roundup that walks through all of the new features, and Apple has been adding feature refinements throughout the beta testing period. Beta 3, for example, introduced Safari refinements, updates to the Focus interface, and more.

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of the upcoming watchOS 8 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming two weeks after Apple released the third watchOS 8 beta.

To install ‌watchOS 8‌, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once installed, ‌watchOS 8‌ can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software update.

To update to new software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life, it must be placed on the charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌iPhone‌. It's not recommended to install ‌watchOS 8‌ on a main Apple Watch as the software may be unstable at this early date.

watchOS 8 has several new features that are extensions of new features introduced in iOS 15. There are improvements to Wallet that allow it to hold keys for unlocking hotel, car, and home doors, plus Apple will let U.S. users add their IDs to Wallet later this year.

Apple overhauled the Home app, and for the Workout app, there are new Tai Chi and Pilates workout types, and the Breathe app has been renamed to Mindfulness thanks to a new Reflect session that invites users to get into a positive state of mind. When sleeping, the Apple Watch now measures respiratory rate.

Focus mode from iOS 15 syncs to the watch so users can stay on task, and in the Messages app, Scribble, dictation, and emojis can be combined within the same message, making it easier to communicate. Dictated text can be edited, and GIFs can be sent right from the watch.

There's a new Portrait watch face, and the Photos app has been updated with support for Memories and Featured ‌Photos‌. A new Find My app lets items be located right on the wrist, and there are also new updates for Music, Weather, Timers, and more, along with a new Contacts app.

Apple today announced two games that are coming soon to Apple Arcade, including the classic racing game "Asphalt 8: Airborne" from Gameloft and a new Zelda-inspired roleplaying game "Baldo" from Italian game studio NAPS team.

Originally released on the App Store in 2013, "Asphalt 8: Airborne" is coming to Apple Arcade, but no specific release date has been announced. The popular racing game features more than 240 real cars to select from automakers and brands such as Ferrari, Ducati, Lamborghini, McLaren, Bugatti, Mercedes, Audi, Ford, and Chevrolet.

"Baldo" is described as an action-adventure roleplaying game with puzzles, exploration, and combat, all set in a hand-drawn open world. Players will embark on a journey into a magical land full of mysteries to discover as they complete the main story quest and many side quests. The game will be available on Apple Arcade starting Friday, August 27.

Another racing game "Detonation Racing" launches on Apple Arcade this Friday, with players having to navigate an environment rigged to blow up, collapse, and burst into flames at the least convenient moments. The game hails from Electric Square, the creators of another popular racing game "Forza Street" and the "Hot Wheels id" racing system.

Priced at $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year, Apple Arcade provides access to a catalog of around 200 games without ads or in-app purchases across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, with additional titles added periodically.

Nothing, a new brand from OnePlus founder Carl Pei, has today officially launched the "Ear (1)" true wireless earbuds after months of anticipation around the company's AirPods Pro rival.

The Ear (1) features an in-ear design, Active Noise Cancelation, Bluetooth 5.2, IPX4 water resistance, and a charging case with Qi-compatible wireless charging and a USB-C port. Fast pairing is supported on Android devices only.

The ANC uses three microphones on each earbud and can be set to Maximum for loud environments, Light for quieter environments, and there is also a transparency mode for hearing the sound around you. During calls, the microphones are used to cancel out background noise.

The Ear (1) earbuds offer 5.7 hours of battery life with ANC turned off, and 34 hours of battery life when used with the charging case. This drops to four hours for the buds and 24 hours with the case with ANC switched on.

Each earbud can be controlled with tap and gesture controls, which can be customized with the accompanying app. The app also features EQ controls and Find my Earbud functions.

One of the most striking things about the earbuds is their unique design based around transparent plastic, which reveals some of the device's internal circuitry and magnets. Each earbud has a color-coded red or white circle to indicate the left and right ears.

Inside, the earbuds feature 11.6mm drivers. Nothing's hardware and software have been tuned by the well-known Swedish electronics company Teenage Engineering.

The Ear (1) earbuds cost $150 less than Apple's AirPods Pro, but offer many of the same features, such as a premium design, ANC, transparency mode, IPX4 water resistance, 24 hours of battery life with the charging case. Some features, like Bluetooth 5.2, three microphones per earbud, and earbud weight, are actually better than AirPods Pro, but they will of course lack Apple-specific features such as auto-pairing with the H1 chip. The Ear (1) earbuds are also cheaper than Samsung's $200 Galaxy Buds Pro.

In recent months, Nothing has undertaken an aggressive and secretive marketing campaign to build enthusiasm around its true wireless earbuds. Pei has previously said that the company plans to launch a connected ecosystem of new devices that will extend far beyond this initial product.

The Ear (1) earbuds will go on sale on August 17 in 45 countries, priced at $99 in the United States.

Researchers are rethinking plans to use the Apple Watch in studies after finding inconsistencies in the data gathered by the device (via The Verge).

Inconsistencies in the Apple Watch's heart rate variability data are reportedly caused by Apple tweaking the device's algorithms, meaning that data from the same time period can change without warning. Associate professor of biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and developer of the Beiwe data platform, J.P. Onnela, told The Verge:

These algorithms are what we would call black boxes — they're not transparent. So it's impossible to know what's in them.

Research fellows at Brigham and Women's Hospital exported the heart rate data from Apple Watches for the same period of time, but several months apart. The data should have been identical, but since it is filtered through an algorithm prior to export it was drastically different.

Apple changes its algorithms regularly and without warning, so exporting the same data at different times may use different algorithms. Beyond heart rate variability, researchers looking into sleep tracking have experienced similar problems with changes to algorithms.

This mostly precludes commercial devices from being used by researchers, resulting in the need for devices specifically designed to collect data for scientific studies. While this is adequate for some studies, it heavily constrains research into the medical value of commercially available products for users. Some researchers say that Apple should publicize the changes it makes to algorithms or make the Apple Watch's raw data available.

Instagram will now automatically default the accounts of users on its platform under the age of 16 to "private" during initial account set-up, meaning only followers that a user accepts and approves of will be able to see their photos, videos, and posts, the company announced today.

Instagram has been on a recent push to make its platform safer and more secure for younger users, which make up a considerable amount of the platform's demographic. Instagram says that research concluded that eight out of ten "young users" who signed up for its platform choose to make their account private rather than public.

Instagram asks users for their date of birth during initial account sign-up, and from now, for users under the age of 16, the app will automatically select "Private" for their account. Existing users under the age of 16 will receive an in-app notification encouraging them to convert their public account into a private one.

Private accounts let people control who sees or responds to their content. If you have a private account, people have to follow you to see your posts, Stories and Reels. People also can't comment on your content in those places, and they won't see your content at all in places like Explore or hashtags.

Historically, we asked young people to choose between a public account or a private account when they signed up for Instagram, but our recent research showed that they appreciate a more private experience. During testing, eight out of ten young people accepted the private default settings during sign-up.

Instagram is not going into full enforcement mode, however, as it will continue to allow users under the age of 16 to keep their account public if they wish. The company today also announced several other changes coming to the platform, including updated rules for advertisers.

The Facebook-owned app says that in a few weeks, it will no longer allow advertisers to target ads for users under the age of 18 based on their age, gender, or location. This new rule will apply to Instagram, Facebook, and Facebook Messenger.

We're also making changes to how advertisers can reach young people with ads. Starting in a few weeks, we'll only allow advertisers to target ads to people under 18 (or older in certain countries) based on their age, gender and location. This means that previously available targeting options, like those based on interests or on their activity on other apps and websites, will no longer be available to advertisers. These changes will be global and apply to Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.

The app also announced new measures it's taking within the app to prevent "unwanted contact" by utilizing "new technology that will allow us to find accounts that have shown potentially suspicious behavior and stop those accounts from interacting with young people's accounts."

Apple has released a beta version of Safari 15, distinct from the Safari Technology Preview, for macOS Catalina, featuring the app's redesign that accompanies macOS Monterey.

The Safari 15 beta was first spotted by 9to5Mac, but contrary to reports that it is only available to download using the AppleSeed Program via an exclusive invite from Apple, the beta is in fact open to all users with a developer account.

Safari 15 is available in macOS Monterey, but users of the current release of macOS, macOS Big Sur, are able to explore the features of Safari 15 via the latest ‌Safari Technology Preview‌, release 128. This new beta version, separate from the Monterey beta or the ‌Safari Technology Preview‌, makes Safari 15 available for users of macOS Catalina.

Earlier versions of Safari 15 included a significant redesign that did away with the dedicated URL and search interface, instead allowing any individual tab to be used for navigation input. Tabs were also all arranged at the top of the display to minimize the space taken up at the top of a Safari window.

After a number of complaints about the new interface from users, macOS Monterey beta 3 made these design changes optional. Safari 15 also includes new features such as tab groups and a redesigned sidebar.

The Safari 15 beta and the ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ allow users of macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur to try the new design and features without needing to update their entire Mac's OS to a beta version of macOS Monterey.

Nevertheless, 9to5Mac reports that some users are also being invited by Apple to join the AppleSeed program to try a pre-release version of Safari 15 and provide feedback.

With each iteration, Apple Maps has been getting better at highlighting current traffic incidents and conditions like road closures so you know what to expect on suggested routes. And it looks like as of iOS 15 Beta 3, Maps will now factor weather warnings into your car journeys, too.

First spotted by Redditor ChrisSDreiling, the latest version of Maps will alert drivers to known flash floods on routes, and offer alternative suggestions that avoid roads on which the flood warning applies.

With extreme weather events often happening suddenly and without warning, this feature should come as a welcome development, and it'll be interesting to see what other weather event warnings Maps is able to draw on – and in what regions – to ensure that drivers get to where they're going safely.

For the full lowdown on all the new Maps features coming to iPhones with iOS 15, due for release this September, be sure to check out our dedicated Maps guide.

A number of the largest healthcare insurance companies in Australia now allow their customers to add their insurance cards to their digital Apple Wallet on their iPhone and Apple Watch, giving healthcare patients ease of access of by using their iPhone and Apple Watch instead of their plastic insurance card.

Bupa, Medibank, nib, and GU Health have announced support through electronic payment and claims system HICAPS, and in a press release, say that thanks to digital cards and Apple Wallets, overall customer experience will now be made easier with shortened wait times and quicker cash processing times. Tania Motto, the National Australian Bank executive for Business Everyday Banking, called the new feature an "exciting enhancement."

The move allows customers to make a health insurance claim by simply holding their iPhone or Apple Watch near any HICAPS terminal in Australia – creating a true digital wallet experience. Customers can also pay for gap payments simply and securely using Apple Pay.

NAB Executive for Business Everyday Banking, Tania Motton said: "We're excited to offer health practitioners the ability to accept digital health insurance membership cards through iPhone and Apple Watch at all HICAPS terminals across Australia.

"Digital technology is rapidly changing the way merchants receive payments – with more customers choosing contactless over cash. This is an exciting enhancement that will further support those who prefer a more digital experience.

"Claims made using this method help reduce the time spent on manual processing for practitioners due to forgotten plastic cards, while putting money back in customers' bank accounts quicker," said Ms Motton.

Apple Wallet integration will work across Australia at HICAPS terminals, and specific instructions can be found on the HICAPS website.

(Thanks, Richard!)

Apple introduced a sweeping overhaul to its Safari browser's interface on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, with a redesign that includes an address bar that floats at the bottom of the screen, changes to the way users switch tabs, and more.

Apple says this new-look Safari has been "reimagined for the way we browse today." In iOS 15, for example, Apple says the new floating address bar means Safari "maximizes your screen space and stays out of the way as you scroll and explore." However, some of the changes on both desktop and mobile have been heavily criticized by some users.

It turns out Google tried something similar in 2016 for its own home-grown browser. According to Chris Lee, a former Google designer, Google began developing a redesign for the Chrome mobile app called "Chrome Home" that was very similar to the one Apple is currently aiming at for Safari.

Lee was a staff interaction designer at Google at the time, and on his personal blog (via 9to5Google), Lee says he created the "original concept and pitch" for an "ambitious redesign of mobile Chrome's main UI."

It brought Chrome's toolbar to the bottom of the screen and turned [it] into a peeking panel that could be swiped to expose additional controls.

Swiping up on the address bar displayed the Discover and recent sites, Downloads, Bookmarks and History, while other features were accessible in a menu via an ellipsis (three dot) icon, which consolidated key browsing options and simplified one-handed operation in an era of growing screen sizes.

Lee says Chrome Home "caught traction internally, eventually becoming a Chrome org priority." However, after live beta tests and sustained experiments, the team received "a mixture of reactions."

The feature gained a cult following among the tech community, but for many mainstream users, the change felt disorienting. Chrome serves billions of users around the globe with varying tech literacy. Over the course of many iterations, I became increasingly convinced that launching Chrome Home would not serve all our users well.

So just as I strongly as I had pitched the original concept, I advocated for us to stop the launch - which took not a small amount of debate.

Ultimately, the redesign was killed off in 2018. Lee suggests that though Chrome Home was short-lived that doesn't mean it was a wasted effort, but rather a lesson about "the intentionality needed to innovate within a product of massive scale."

For Safari users, the question now is whether Apple's mixed feedback from its beta testers will be enough to steer the browser's redesign towards an end result that's more broadly acceptable to its user base, or if the company's intention lies in forcing through a change that it believes will grow on people given time.

Updates to iOS 15 Beta 3 and macOS Monterey Beta 3 suggest it could be the former: Apple has walked back some of the design changes it had in mind for Safari on both desktop and mobile, but we won't find out what the finished article will be like until both operating systems are released in September.

Realme is gearing up to launch what it's creatively calling "MagDart," an accessory for its upcoming flagship smartphone, that much like Apple's MagSafe announced earlier last year, will utilize magnets to charge the device by snapping onto its back.

Realme's CEO, Madhan Sheth, confirmed the news via a tweet, stating that "Realme Flash" will be the "world's 1st Android phone with Magnetic Wireless Charging." The CEO's tweet didn't offer any specifics on the magnetic wireless charger, but the folks over at GizmoChina are reporting what Realme customers can expect.

According to the report, Realme will call its charger "MagDart" and will offer it in two different variants. The first variant features a thin circular design similar to Apple's ‌MagSafe‌ charger puck. Still, according to the report, Realme's will be even "sleeker" than Apple's and offer 15W charging speeds.

The second model, featuring a more unorthodox design, is a larger charger with a built-in fan to help "keep thermals in check during charging." Compared to the thinner "MagDart" charger, the more bulky model will offer charging speeds "that will rival modern wired fast charging tech." Both the thin and larger "MagDart" chargers will function as expected by clipping onto the back of the "Realme Flash."

Many comparisons will be put forward between Apple's ‌MagSafe‌ technology and Realme's "MagDart," but there's still much we don't know. Apple's ‌MagSafe‌ technology allows for a wide range of accessories, giving third-party companies the freedom to make several ‌MagSafe‌ additions for iPhone 12 users.

For example, Apple sells not only ‌MagSafe‌ chargers but also cases, wallets, and more. It remains unclear whether Realme's "MagDart" is just one part of a larger ecosystem of magnetic accessories the Chinese maker plans to launch for the Android market.

During a Tesla earnings call that took place today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk spent time sniping at Apple, reports CNBC. Musk criticized Apple's "walled garden" and made comments on the company's cobalt use.

In a discussion about plans to allow Tesla competitors to use the Tesla electric vehicle charger network, Musk said that Tesla does not want to create a walled garden to "bludgeon" Tesla competitors, alluding to Apple's App Store practices.

"I think we do want to emphasize that our goal is to support the advent of sustainable energy," Musk said in response to a question about letting competitors use its charger network. "It is not to create a walled garden and use that to bludgeon our competitors which is used by some companies."

Musk then faked a cough and said, "Apple."

Apple's iOS platform is often referenced using the term "walled garden" because it is a closed platform that Apple has full control over. Apple dictates what software can be installed on the iPhone and requires companies to use its ‌App Store‌.

In a discussion about Tesla's batteries, Musk again referenced Apple without being prompted to do so. Musk said that people mistakenly believe that Tesla uses a lot of cobalt, which is required for the lithium-ion battery cells used in electronic devices, but it's Apple that uses the most cobalt.

"Apple uses I think almost 100% cobalt in their batteries and cell phones and laptops, but Tesla uses no cobalt in the iron-phosphate packs, and almost none in the nickel-based chemistries," Musk said. "On a weighted-average basis we might use 2% cobalt compared to say, Apple's 100% cobalt. Anyway, so it's just really not a factor."

Apple does indeed use cobalt, which has in the past been linked to human rights abuses. Apple does, however, maintain a list of all of its cobalt smelters and refiners, and audits them regularly. In 2020, all of its cobalt suppliers were audited.

Apple and Tesla have had minor disputes in the past, stealing employees from one another as Apple pushes into the electric vehicle market. Back in 2015, Musk famously called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard." "If you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple," he said.

More recently, Musk claimed that he had attempted to speak with Apple about a possible acquisition of Tesla at one point in Tesla's early days, but Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to meet with him.

Oculus owner Facebook may soon allow its Oculus virtual reality headsets to report workout data to the Apple Health app, reports Bloomberg.

The Oculus iPhone app has code that would allow workouts completed with the Oculus headset to be recorded in the Health app like other workout data. The Oculus app would be able to report health-related metrics like exercise minutes and number of calories burned.

Third-party apps have long been able to provide workout and fitness data that's aggregated in the Health app using the dedicated HealthKit API.

As Bloomberg points out, the code's presence in the Oculus app does not mean the feature will actually see a launch.

Intel today announced that it is teaming up with Qualcomm to manufacture some of Qualcomm's future chips. The chips will be manufactured using Intel's 20A process, which is expected to ramp in 2024.

There is no word on which chips Intel will make for Qualcomm, but Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips are used in most Android smartphones. Though the 20A design is expected to be available starting in 2024, Intel did not provide a timeline for when it will begin working with Qualcomm.

Intel says that its 20A manufacturing process introduces RibbonFET, the first new transistor architecture since FinFET in 2011. The 20A technology brings faster transistor switching speeds and a smaller footprint. Before the 20A chips are ready, Intel will be working on Intel 7, Intel 4, and Intel 3 chips in 2021 through 2023.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said that Intel is aiming to be on a "clear path to process performance leadership by 2025."

We are leveraging our unparalleled pipeline of innovation to deliver technology advances from the transistor up to the system level. Until the periodic table is exhausted, we will be relentless in our pursuit of Moore's Law and our path to innovate with the magic of silicon.

Qualcomm's chips will be manufactured under Intel's new Intel Foundry Services business, which was announced in March. Intel wants to become a major provider of foundry capacity and manufacture chips for other companies, and to do so, it is building two new chip factories in Arizona.

When the Intel Foundry Services plan was introduced, Gelsinger said that Intel would pursue Apple has a potential customer. If this happens, Intel would be producing Apple silicon chips for use in Apple devices.

At the current time, Apple relies on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to produce all of the A-series and Apple silicon chips used in the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. TSMC is Apple's sole supplier, so it's not out of the question that Apple could eventually reach some kind of deal with Intel to diversify its supply chain.

Intel and Apple previously partnered on modem chips for iPhones when Apple was in a legal battle with Qualcomm. Intel was not able to deliver the 5G chips that Apple needed for the iPhone, so Apple and Qualcomm settled their dispute, dropped all litigation, and Apple went back to purchasing Qualcomm modem chips. After that snafu, Intel in 2019 decided to exit the smartphone modem chip business, and ultimately sold the majority of its smartphone modem business to Apple.

Earlier this month, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said that Qualcomm will provide laptop chips able to compete with Apple silicon by 2022, and that Qualcomm is "capable of having the best chip on the market" with a team of chip architects that previously worked for Apple.

Qualcomm in January acquired chip startup Nuvia for $1.4 billion, and the company plans to begin selling custom silicon Nuvia-based laptop chips in 2022.

Following the release of iOS 14.7 last week, Apple has stopped signing iOS 14.6, the previously available version of iOS that was released in May. With iOS 14.6 no longer being signed, it is not possible to downgrade to iOS 14.6 if you've already installed iOS 14.7 or iOS 14.7.1.

Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date.

iOS 14.6 was a major update that added Apple Watch iPhone unlocking, Apple Maps accident crowdsourcing, Apple Card Family sharing, AirTag improvements, and more.

iOS 14.7, the update that replaces iOS 14.6, added MagSafe Battery Pack support and introduced numerous bug fixes. Apple today also released iOS 14.7.1, a smaller update that includes a critical security fix and a fix for a bug that could prevent Touch ID iPhones from unlocking a connected Apple Watch.