MacRumors

Apple today seeded the fourth betas of upcoming iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third betas and more than a month after unveiling the new software at the WWDC keynote.

Registered developers can download the betas over the air after installing the proper profile from the Apple Developer Center.

iOS 14 introduces a redesigned Home Screen that supports widgets on iPhone for the first time, plus widgets have been redesigned and can now be customized in three sizes through the new widgets gallery.

An App Library shows all of the apps installed on an ‌iPhone‌ in one place, both in an icon view and in an alphabetical list. With all of the apps in the App Library, app icons and ‌Home Screen‌ pages can be hidden for a cleaner look.

Incoming phone calls and FaceTime calls no longer take up the entire ‌iPhone‌/iPad display, and Siri requests have also been minimized so summoning ‌Siri‌ doesn't monopolize the screen. ‌Siri‌ is smarter in iOS 14 and can send audio messages, and dictation can now run on device. A Picture in Picture mode allows users to watch videos or use ‌FaceTime‌ while using other apps.

App Clips lets users take advantage of some app features without needing to download a full app, useful for quick actions like purchasing a coffee, making a restaurant reservation, or renting a scooter, where downloading an entire app would be a hassle. App Clips can be scanned from QR codes, NFC tags, or Apple-designed App Clip Codes, plus they can be shared in Messages or accessed from Safari.

In the Messages app you can now pin important conversations, use @mentions in group chats, and take advantage of inline replies to keep multi-person conversations better organized. There are new Memoji options and group chats can be assigned icons with photos, emoji, or Memoji.

The Health app supports the Apple Watch's new Sleep Tracking feature and there's a Health Checklist for managing health settings, and in the Weather app, there's more info on precipitation and severe weather events.

Cycling directions are available in the Maps app with directions incorporating elevation, how busy a street is, and stairs, plus for those who own electric vehicles, there are options for routes with EV charging stops.

Digital Car Keys let an ‌iPhone‌ be used in lieu of a physical key, a feature that's coming soon to BMWs, and CarPlay now lets users set wallpapers.

A new translate app provides text and voice translations to and from 11 languages, and there are tons of new privacy protections. Developers need to get user permission before accessing devices on a local network, limiting access to photos, and providing apps with approximate locations instead of exact locations.

Safari has a Privacy Report that lets you know which websites have trackers, and there are new icons on the Home screen that let you know when an app is using a camera or microphone. Third-party browser and mail apps can be set as default for the first time, and Apple added new AirPods capabilities.

As for the ‌iPad‌, the Apple Pencil can now be used in any text field, with handwritten text converted automatically to typed text thanks to the new Scribble feature.

There are tons more features in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, so make sure to check out our iOS 14 roundup and our iPadOS 14 roundup for a full list of everything new. We also highlight all of the new feature tweaks and changes introduced with each beta iteration, and you can see the changes from beta 2 and beta 3 in our beta 2 and beta 3 tidbits articles.

Beta 3 brought a new red Music icon, changes to the design of the Music Library in the Music app, a Clock widget, an updated Screen Time widget, and more.

We'll be doing a separate article featuring the changes in beta 4 after we download the update and discover what's new.

iOS and iPadOS 14 are available to registered developers and public beta testers at this time. Beta testing for ‌iOS 14‌ will last for a couple of months, with the update set to be released in the fall.

Apple's Phil Schiller is moving on to become an "Apple Fellow," Apple announced today, while Greg Joswiak will take over as Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

Schiller will continue to lead the App Store and Apple Events, but will no longer be in charge of marketing.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said he is "thrilled" that Joswiak will be leading the marketing team, and that his experience will ensure a seamless transition.

"Phil has helped make Apple the company it is today and his contributions are broad, vast, and run deep. In this new role he will continue to provide the incredible thought partnership, and guidance that have defined his decades at Apple," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Joz's many years of leadership in the Product Marketing organization make him perfectly suited to this new role and will ensure a seamless transition at a moment when the team is engaged in such important and exciting work. I'm thrilled that the whole executive team will benefit from his collaboration, ideas, and energy."

Schiller said that he'll work at Apple for "as long as they will have me," but that he also wants to make some time for family, friends, and personal projects.

"It has been a dream come true for me to work at Apple, on so many products I love, with all of these great friends -- Steve, Tim, and so many more," said Schiller. "I first started at Apple when I was 27, this year I turned 60 and it is time for some planned changes in my life. I'll keep working here as long as they will have me, I bleed six colors, but I also want to make some time in the years ahead for my family, friends, and a few personal projects I care deeply about."

Going forward, Joswiak will be in charge of Apple's product management and product marketing, developer relations, market research, business management, and education, enterprise, and international marketing.

Joswiak has been serving as vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing for the past four years and has been at Apple for more than 20 years.

Alongside the launch of updated iMacs, Apple today also made a minor update to the iMac Pro, equipping the base configuration with the 10-core 3.0 GHz Xeon W chip that was previously an upgrade option.

All other specs appear to remain the same, with 14-core and 18-core processors available as upgrades. The starting price also remains at $4,999, although the stepped-up base processor essentially results in an $800 price cut on upgraded models.

Notably, the ‌iMac‌ Pro is not getting the $500 nano-texture glass option that was made available on the regular 27-inch ‌iMac‌ today.

Apple today announced a new 27-inch iMac with faster 10th-generation Intel Core processor options, next-generation AMD graphics, up to 128GB of RAM, a higher-resolution 1080p front-facing FaceTime camera, a True Tone display with a nano-texture glass option, a T2 chip, higher fidelity speakers, studio-quality microphones, and more.

A breakdown of the new 27-inch iMac's features and specs:

• 10th-generation Intel Core processors for up to 65 percent faster CPU performance, according to Apple. This includes up to a 10-core option with a 3.6GHz base clock speed and Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz, whereas the previous-generation iMac used 9th-generation Intel processors with up to eight cores.
• Next-generation AMD Radeon Pro 5000 series graphics options with up to 55 percent faster performance than the previous generation, according to Apple.
• Up to 128GB of RAM, compared with up to 64GB with the previous generation.
• Up to 8TB of SSD storage, compared with up to 2TB with the previous generation.
• True Tone technology that automatically adjusts the white balance of the iMac display to match the color temperature of the light around you. Apple says this provides a more natural viewing experience.
• Nano-Texture glass is available as a $500 upgrade option. Also available on the Pro Display XDR, Apple says this finish "maintains contrast while scattering light to reduce glare to the barest minimum."
• 1080p front-facing FaceTime camera, up from 720p on previous generation.
• Apple's custom-designed T2 Security chip for encryption. The chip checks that software loaded during the boot process has not been tampered with.
• Apple says the T2 Security Chip also works with the speakers to enable variable EQ for better balance, higher fidelity, and deeper bass.
• A new studio-quality microphone array for higher-quality audio.

Starting at $1,799, the new 27-inch iMac is available to order today on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app. It will begin arriving to customers and will be in select Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers starting this week.

The new 27-inch iMac features the same design used since the 2012 model, with a redesigned, Apple Silicon-based iMac expected later this year.

Apple today also made a minor update to the iMac Pro, equipping the base configuration with the 10-core 3.0 GHz Xeon W chip that was previously an upgrade option. In addition, the smaller 21.5-inch iMac now comes standard with SSDs across the line for the first time. Customers can still choose to configure their 21.5-inch iMac with a Fusion Drive.

T-Mobile today announced that it has launched the first nationwide standalone 5G network in the United States, with the carrier's 5G footprint expanding by 30 percent across the country effective immediately.

Whereas non-standalone 5G relies on mid-band 4G LTE architecture, standalone 5G allows signals to travel further, covering hundreds of square miles from a single tower and going deeper into buildings than before. In standalone 5G areas, T-Mobile says it has also seen up to a 40 percent reduction in latency during testing for improved responsiveness.

T-Mobile brags that its 5G network is more than two times larger than AT&T's and more than 10,000 times larger than Verizon's, now covering 1.3 million square miles in more than 7,500 cities and towns across the United States.

This news comes one day after the T-Mobile and Sprint brands completed their unification under the T-Mobile brand nationwide.

Apple plans to announce a refresh of its iMac lineup today, but it will be a spec bump to existing models rather than a redesign, according to leaker Jon Prosser.

Update: Apple has indeed announced a new 27-inch iMac with faster 10th-generation Intel Core processor options, next-generation AMD graphics, up to 128GB of RAM, up to 8TB of SSD storage, a higher-resolution 1080p FaceTime camera, a True Tone display, a T2 chip, higher fidelity speakers, studio-quality microphones, and more.

Apple has expressed interest in purchasing video-sharing social media platform TikTok, according to a newsletter snippet from Axios' Dan Primack:

Multiple sources tell me that Apple has expressed interest, albeit no sources inside of Apple, and that at least one other strategic has expressed interest. Yes, it would be an unusual deal for Apple, given that TikTok is a cross-platform app, and a bigger political headache than Tim Cook may want (both here and in China). But if anyone has the cash on hand...

In a follow-up tweet, Primack described Apple's interest as "serious."

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would shut down TikTok in the United States unless it finds an American buyer by September 15. Trump has also indicated that the U.S. Treasury should receive a "substantial amount of money" from the proposed sale, although there is some confusion as to what he exactly means by those comments.

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that it is "prepared to continue discussions to explore a purchase of TikTok in the United States."

Update - 7:57 a.m.: Axios has updated its report to note that "an Apple spokesperson tells Axios that there are no discussions about buying TikTok and the company isn't interested."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Last year, Apple and Oprah Winfrey launched Oprah's Book Club in the Apple Books app, providing readers with a curated selection of "stories that truly matter by today's most thought-provoking authors."

Oprah today announced that her latest selection is "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author. The book is available now on Apple Books in both written and audiobook formats on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The audiobook can also be listened to on the Apple Watch and through CarPlay.

Later this month, Apple says users will be able to read a collection of articles related to "Caste" on Apple News, curated by Oprah as the app's first-ever guest editor. Oprah is also interviewing Wilkerson about her book, and this will be available for free on Apple TV+ in the fall as part of her companion Oprah's Book Club video series.

"This might be the most important book I've ever chosen for my book club," said Oprah in an Apple Newsroom press release. "'Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents' provides a new way of seeing racial inequality, giving rise to countless aha moments and helping us truly understand America as it is now and how we hope it will be."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple is exploring the use of flexible displays to make convex devices, according to a new Apple patent filing published today.

The application titled "Electronic devices with convex displays," was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and builds a picture of how an Apple convex-shaped device may work. Apple devices such as iPhone 11 and ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro have curved edges, and the patent explains that such "conventional arrangements" where "only the proportions of the device other than the display have a convex shape... may limit the internal volume of the device and detract from its appearance."

The convex device envisioned in the patent would have a front face and a rear face, with the display stretching seamlessly from one side to the other. The two remaining exposed edges would allow access to the inner housing. The filing explains that the main advantage of a convex device would be maximizing the internal volume, making more space available for the battery, for example.

Crucially, a convex device is facilitated by use of a flexible display unit. Unlike other uses of flexible displays, such as for foldable devices, the patent suggests mounting a flexible display to a rigid body. The display would therefore permanently conform to the curved shape of the body. This would make flexible displays, which are otherwise known for their lack of durability, considerably more hardwearing. In addition to a flexible display, the patent refers to other flexible layers built around the body.

Another area of interest for Apple is the capability for a convex device to potentially be more aesthetically pleasing. The patent explains that since users "may find a thinner device more desirable than a thicker device," a "convex housing shape may increase the internal volume of a device while preserving a sleek, thin look that is aesthetically pleasing."

Though devices with flexible displays have come to market as foldable smartphones, there has not been a commercial convex device of this kind before. Apple has been granted patents in the past for flexible OLED displays, foldable devices, and devices made from a single sheet of glass, and the area is a clear interest for the company.

Yesterday we reported on Microsoft's accelerated efforts to purchase TikTok in the United States before President Trump follows through on a threat to ban the Chinese-owned app in the country.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that China's ruling Communist Party blasted those efforts via an editorial in the China Daily newspaper, saying it will not accept the "theft" of a Chinese tech company and is ready to respond if needed.

The United States' "bullying" of Chinese tech companies was a consequence of Washington's zero-sum vision of "American first" and left China no choice but "submission or mortal combat in the tech realm," the state-backed paper said in an editorial.

China had "plenty of ways to respond if the administration carries out its planned smash and grab," it added.

There is increasing concern among observers that Apple would become the likely focus of any countermeasures by China. Apple journalist John Gruber notes that with Google and Facebook already banned in China, Apple would be the obvious tit-for-tat target.

The Global Times, which is another Chinese government mouthpiece, reported in May that China could put Apple on an "unreliable entity list" alongside other U.S. companies, in a series of punitive countermeasures the country was prepared to take against U.S. moves to block Taiwan-based TSMC from selling chips to Huawei for its phones.

According to comments made last year by a Chinese ministry of commerce official, once a company is added to China's "unreliable entity list" it would face necessary legal and administrative measures and the Chinese public would also be warned against dealing with it to reduce risks.

In its latest editorial, however, The Global Times took a less threatening tone and said that U.S. treatment of ByteDance and Huawei was indicative of U.S. efforts to separate its economy from China's.

The paper said China had "limited ability" to give the Chinese companies protection by retaliating against U.S. companies because the United States had technological superiority and influence with its allies. Instead, it suggested that China's opening-up to the outside world and ending its strategy of decoupling with the U.S. should be priorities.

On Monday evening, President Trump reiterated that TikTok must sell off its U.S. operations in 45 days and that the deal must include a substantial payment to the U.S. government, otherwise the app would be banned.

"I don't mind whether it's Microsoft or someone else, a big company, a secure company, a very American company buys it," said Trump, according to Bloomberg.

"It'll close down on 15 September unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal, an appropriate deal, so the Treasury of the United States gets a lot of money," he added.

Trump stopped short of explaining how the federal government had the authority to demand a cut of a transaction between two companies neither of which it has a stake in. It also remains unclear how a ban of TikTok would be enforced.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

WhatsApp is rolling out a new way for users to fact-check forwarded messages for misinformation, after several months testing the new feature.

From today, messages that have been forwarded through a chain of five or more people will display a magnifying glass button alongside them in the chat thread.

Users who tap the button will be asked if they want to search the web to try and find news results or other sources of information about the content they have received.

WhatsApp says the feature works by allowing users to upload the message via their browser without WhatsApp ever seeing the message itself.

The ability is being piloted starting today in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. for everyone on the latest versions of WhatsApp for Android, iOS and WhatsApp Web.

The feature is the latest in a series of attempts by WhatsApp to slow the spread of misinformation on the chat platform. In April, for example, it imposed new restrictions on the mass forwarding of messages, so that if a user receives a message that has been forwarded more than five times, they will only be able to send it on to a single chat at a time.

The move comes after several hoaxes went viral on the platform, including false stories about the ongoing global pandemic one of which linked the outbreak to the rollout of 5G networks.

DigiTimes issued a report today highlighting Apple's apparent efforts to build a supply chain consisting entirely of China-based makers in order to manufacture iPhones specifically for the Chinese market.

The assessment is based on recent aggressive moves by Apple suppliers Luxshare and Lens Technology to acquire metal chassis plants operated in China by Taiwan-based makers, a strategy that the US tech giant has reportedly been encouraging.

Luxshare, the largest assembler of AirPods, has newly joined the iPhone assembly chain by acquiring lower-end iPhone production lines in China from Taiwan's Wistron, the sources said. To further expand its presence in the iPhone supply chain, Luxshare also has been keenly seeking to take over metal chassis plants in China from Taiwan-based firms in the iPhone supply chain.

Taiwan's metal chassis maker Catcher Technology reportedly had planned to sell 30% of its stakes in its China plants to Luxshare, but talks over the deal were suspended after Luxshare began negotiating with Pegatron's affiliate Casetek Holdings over purchasing its metal chassis plants in China, according to DigiTimes' sources.

Later, Catcher reportedly was also in talks with China's handset cover glass maker Lens Technology on selling its plants in Suzhou to the Chinese maker, but the deal hit a snag over the acquisition price, the sources said.

The moves are believed to be part of Apple's efforts to recruit more Chinese suppliers that can provide lower-cost components for iPhones for the China market. Together with the lingering pressure of US-China trade tensions, such deals are increasingly being seen as part of Apple's wider plan to diversify overseas production bases, as demonstrated in recent reports that several Apple suppliers are actively seeking to set up production facilities in India.

Apple in iOS 14 plans to allow users to set a third-party app as the default email or browser app on an iPhone or iPad, replacing the current Apple-made default apps Safari and Mail.

Apple hasn't provided many details on the new feature to users, but as noted by MacStories' Federico Vittici, Apple has shared documentation with developers who want their apps to have the option to be set as a default email or browser app.

According to Apple, developers will need to meet certain guidelines and when those parameters have been met, there's an option to request a managed entitlement that will allow the app to work in lieu of Apple's own apps.

Default browser apps must provide a text field for entering a URL, search tools for finding relevant links on the internet, or curated lists of bookmarks. When opening a URL, apps must navigate directly to the specified destination and render the expected web content without redirecting to an unexpected location.

Apps designed with parental controls or a locked down mode can, however, restrict navigation. Email apps set as default must be able to send a message to any valid email recipient and must be able to receive a message from any email sender. Apple says that apps that offer user-controlled incoming mail screening features are allowed.

Third-party browser apps set as default will open up automatically when a URL is tapped instead of the Safari app, while third-party email apps will open when a mailto: link is tapped.

Apple's full documentation can be found on its developer website. Apps will need to be updated with entitlements to be able to be set as the default browser or mail app in iOS 14, so no apps have that functionality at the current time.

We should begin seeing apps able to replace Mail or Safari as default apps close to when iOS 14 launches this fall.

If you have a Mac and have seen a "Not Charging" warning when plugging it in to power, Apple last week released a support document that explains why.

Macs running macOS 10.15.5 or later have a Battery Health Management feature to preserve the life of the battery, and occasionally, the Battery Health Management option will cause the Mac to pause its charging for calibration purposes.

Depending on its settings, your Mac might temporarily pause charging to help calibrate battery health management, a feature designed to improve the lifespan of your battery.

Apple says that when Battery Health Management is activated, "Not Charging" could be displayed and the charge level might be lowered temporarily, which is a normal function of the feature. Charging to full will resume based on usage habits.

When battery health management is turned on, you might occasionally see "Not Charging" in the battery status menu of your Mac, and your battery's maximum charge level might be lowered temporarily. This is normal, and it's how battery health management optimizes charging. Your Mac resumes charging to 100 percent depending on your usage.

Battery Health Management features are available on Mac notebooks that have Thunderbolt 3 ports and that run macOS Catalina 10.15.5 or later. The option improves the lifespan of a Mac's battery by reducing the amount of time that the battery spends at a maximum charge, which can cut down on chemical aging.

Battery Health Management works based on the battery's temperature history and charging patterns, so if you often leave your Mac charging overnight after using it during the day, the Mac might charge up to around 85 percent and sit there for a bit before charging to full ahead of when it's needed in the morning.

If you use your Mac while Battery Health Management is active, you might see the "Not Charging" warning that Apple mentions. Battery Health Management is enabled by default, but it can be turned off by checking the Battery Health Management option in the Energy Saver section of the System Preferences app once ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.5 or later has been installed.

There are some other reasons that Mac users might see the "Not Charging" warning, such as when the Mac isn't getting enough power to charge the battery. In these situations, Apple recommends people follow the steps in its support document covering charging with a USB-C power adapter.

Apple shipped an estimated 14.3 million iPads in the second quarter of 2020, maintaining its position as the number one tablet vendor in the world, according to new data shared today by Canalys. That's up 19.8 percent from the 11.9 million sold in the year-ago quarter.

Apple's own earnings for Q2 2020 indicated a major surge in iPad sales as people work and learn from home. Apple does not provide details on the number of iPads sold or a model breakdown, but iPad sales brought in $6.5 billion during the quarter.

Apple has long been the number one tablet vendor in the world, and in Q2 2020, held 38 percent market share. Samsung was the number two tablet vendor worldwide, shipping 7 million tablets, followed by Huawei, Amazon, and Lenovo with 4.7 million, 3.2 million, and 2.8 million tablets shipped, respectively.

The overall worldwide tablet PC market grew by 26 percent in Q2 2020, which Canalys attributes to remote work.

Worldwide tablet shipments hit 37.5 million units in Q2 2020, a remarkable 26% year-on-year increase. Tablets, part of the PC market, had faltered in recent years, but demand in Q2 2020 was boosted by consumers and businesses wanting affordable access to basic computing power and larger screens to facilitate remote work, learning and leisure. Vendors were able to ramp up production to meet this renewed demand. At the same time, retailers and carriers in various markets provided financial incentives on devices and data to encourage tablet purchases.

Canalys also provided data on worldwide PC shipments, with tablet data included. When accounting for combined Mac and ‌iPad‌ sales, Apple shipped 19.6 million devices during the quarter for 17.7 percent market share, trailing after Lenovo with 20.2 million devices shipped and beating out HP and Dell with 18 million and 12 million devices shipped, respectively.

Apple's Mac earnings were also way up, bringing in $7 billon, $1.2 billion more than the $5.8 billion in Macs sold in Q2 2019. During Apple's most recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that supply constraints affected both Mac and ‌iPad‌ sales during the quarter. Some Macs, such as the iMac, have had long shipment estimates since soon after the pandemic began.

Apple is working to get more iPads and Macs into the hands of customers, so sales are expected to see continued growth in the fourth quarter.