MacRumors

Apple is today launching a new Apple Security Research Device Program that's designed to provide security researchers with special iPhones that are dedicated to security research with unique code execution and containment policies.

Apple last year said it would be providing security researchers with access to "special" iPhones that would make it easier for them to find security vulnerabilities and weaknesses to make iOS devices more secure, which appears to be the program that's rolling out now.

The iPhones that Apple is providing to security researchers are less locked down than consumer devices and will make it easier to find serious security vulnerabilities.

Apple says the Security Research Device (SRD) offers shell access and can run any tools or entitlements, but other than that, it behaves similarly to a standard iPhone. SRDs are provided to security researchers on a 12-month renewable basis and remain Apple property. Bugs discovered with the SRD must be "promptly" reported to Apple or a relevant third-party.

If you use the SRD to find, test, validate, verify, or confirm a vulnerability, you must promptly report it to Apple and, if the bug is in third-party code, to the appropriate third party. If you didn't use the SRD for any aspect of your work with a vulnerability, Apple strongly encourages (and rewards, through the Apple Security Bounty) that you report the vulnerability, but you are not required to do so.

If you report a vulnerability affecting Apple products, Apple will provide you with a publication date (usually the date on which Apple releases the update to resolve the issue). Apple will work in good faith to resolve each vulnerability as soon as practical. Until the publication date, you cannot discuss the vulnerability with others.

Apple is accepting applications for the Security Research Device Program. Requirements include being in the Apple Developer Program, and having a track record finding security issues on Apple platforms.

Those that participate in the program will have access to extensive documentation and a dedicated forum with Apple engineers, with Apple telling TechCrunch that it wants the program to be a collaboration.

The Security Research Device Program will run alongside the bug bounty program, and hackers can file bug reports with Apple and receive payouts of up to $1 million, with bonuses possible for the worst vulnerabilities.

Apple today seeded the third betas of upcoming iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the second betas and 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 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 in our beta 2 tidbits article.

We'll be doing a separate article featuring the changes in beta 3 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 several months, with the update set to be released in September 2020.

Apple today shared a new feature celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law on July 26, 1990. The law prohibits discrimination due to disability, and has led to significant improvements and awareness of accessibility to help disabled individuals navigate their worlds.

Apple has long been a champion of accessibility in its products, including numerous features and technologies as core components of its products, operating systems, and apps. The company's feature piece today shares quotes from an Apple employee, ADA activists, and others about both the overall benefits of the ADA and the part Apple has played in the movement.

Jazz musician Matthew Whitaker, who is blind, shares his thoughts on using VoiceOver on an iPod touch as a child, and has graduated to using Logic Pro X on a MacBook Pro to record his music.

Disability rights lawyer Haben Girma was the first Deafblind student at Harvard Law School, where she focused her studies on the intersection of the ADA and technology and has since helped push forward ADA accommodations in the online world.

Actor and model Tatiana Lee, who is paralyzed from the waist down due to spina bifida, discusses her efforts to support disability representation in Hollywood films and how Apple's technology like Voice to Text and Siri Shortcuts helps her be productive even when her hands are occupied performing other tasks.

And finally, Dean Hudson, an accessibility technology evangelist at Apple, talks about the strides Apple has made since he arrived in 2006, including VoiceOver for iPhone and the more recent Switch Control.

Samsung today announced the Galaxy Z Flip 5G smartphone, a new device that is essentially the same model launched earlier in 2020, now with 5G support.

Continuing with the design of the previous model, the Galaxy Z Flip 5G can be folded in half and unfolds to a full 6.7-inch AMOLED display. You can also open the device halfway, in "Flex Mode," letting you view content on the top half of the display and interact with the bottom half.

Flex Mode supports apps like YouTube, where you can watch a video on the top display while it's free-standing, while reading and typing comments on the bottom display. The camera also has been updated to support Flex Mode, allowing you to double-tap in Flex Mode to switch the preview window from the top to the bottom half of the device.

A similar multitasking feature supports all of the apps on the Galaxy Z Flip 5G. You can drag and drop apps you want to use using App Pair, opening the photos app and the messaging app at the same time to choose photos to send to friends.

When it's fully closed, the Galaxy Z Flip 5G has a small 1.1-inch display that presents the current time, incoming notifications, and other relevant information. If you tap on one of these notifications, when opening the phone you'll see the related app open and ready to use.

The new phone still has a 3,300 mAh dual battery, fast charging support, a capacitive fingerprint sensor on the side, and facial recognition. The front camera is a 10-megapixel selfie camera, while the rear camera is a 12-megapixel ultra wide camera.

Internally, the Galaxy Z Flip 5G features 8GB RAM and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus 5G Mobile Platform, allowing the smartphone to access 5G networks in supported areas. Samsung ensures that the form factor of the Galaxy Z Flip hasn't bulked up with the addition of 5G, measuring in at about 6.5 inches long, and half that at just under 3.5 inches when folded.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5G will be available in carrier and Unlocked by Samsung versions starting August 7, 2020, in Mystic Gray and Mystic Bronze and priced at $1,449.99. The previous device (without 5G) started at $1,380.

The winners of the 13th annual iPhone Photography Awards have been announced today, following submissions from thousands of photographers from around the world.

Dozens of photographs taken via iPhone were chosen as winners, with the grand prize going to street photographer Dimpy Bhalotia from the United Kingdom, for her photo called "Flying Boys."

Follow-up winners include Artyom Baryshau from Belarus with "No Walls," Geli Zhao from China for an untitled image; and Saif Hussain of Iraq with "Sheikh Of Youth."

In total, the ‌iPhone‌ Photography Awards gave out awards to photographers from Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

You can view the full collection of winners on the iPhone Photography Awards website.

Apple and Amazon are under investigation by Italy's antitrust regulator over allegations that the two companies have been blocking the sale of Apple and Beats devices to resellers in order to stifle competition (via Reuters).

The L'Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) is looking into the allegation, which has been made by legal but unauthorized resellers who could theoretically sell the hardware at a discounted price.

In a press release (translated) today spotted by setteBIT, the ACGM said it was investigating Apple and Amazon for alleged contravention of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The purpose of the investigation is to ascertain whether Apple and Amazon have implemented a restrictive agreement to prohibit the sale of Apple and Beats branded products by electronics resellers not participating in Apple's official program, who legitimately purchase products from wholesalers and then resell them to retailers.

In the Authority's view, the agreement to exclude certain parties from the marketplace appears to have the potential to reduce competition by raising barriers to the outlet of online sales markets to the detriment of unofficial resellers, which are usually small and medium-sized enterprises that sell on the web using marketplace services.

The AGCM did not say how long the investigation would take, but did acknowledge that officials carried out inspections at the local offices of both companies this week. Apple has yet to comment on the matter.

This isn't the first AGCM investigation into Apple. A previous probe looked into the company for iPhone battery slowdowns, which the antitrust watchdog said was a form of planned obsolescence and subsequently slapped Apple with a 10 million euro fine.

Apple will launch a next-generation version of AirPods Pro in the second half of next year, according to a new report today.

According to DigiTimes' sources, at least some of the next-gen ‌AirPods Pro‌ models will be assembled by Inventec Appliances in Vietnam, with current generation ‌AirPods Pro‌ manufacturers Luxshare and GoerTek also taking a share.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who often reliably predicts Apple's product plans, has previously said that Apple is working on a second-generation version of the ‌AirPods Pro‌ that will go into mass production into the fourth quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022, suggesting no ‌AirPods Pro‌ refresh in 2020 or early 2021.

Future AirPods could include light sensors, which could be used for health monitoring features. DigiTimes has suggested the new sensors could be included in AirPods in one to two years. Health monitoring features could let the AirPods monitor heart rate, step counts, and health conditions, as well as detect head movements.

Apple is also rumored to be working on a third-generation version of the lower-end AirPods, for a planned rollout in the first half of 2021. Kuo originally said the third-generation AirPods will look similar to the current AirPods with no design changes, but later said that the new AirPods will feature a form factor design "similar to ‌AirPods Pro‌."

The third-generation AirPods are expected to adopt a more compact system-in-package (SiP) that's similar to the internals of the ‌AirPods Pro‌, which will allow the audio features of the AirPods to be integrated into a casing more similar in design to the ‌AirPods Pro‌.

Facebook says it is bringing a new personal fundraising tool to Instagram that allows users to raise money for causes they support. The feature is similar to an existing fundraising system on Facebook, but this one will begin as a small test for users in the U.S, the U.K., and Ireland.

Users with access to the test will see the new option in Instagram in Edit Profile -> Add Fundraiser -> Raise Money. They can then choose a photo, select a category, and then add details to help tell their story and encourage others to donate.

When people donate to a fundraiser, they can choose to keep their information hidden from the public, but the creator of the fundraiser will be able to see their username, name on their profile and donation amount. After a fundraiser ends, the funds go to a designated bank account.

According to Facebook, anyone who can use Instagram's donation sticker to donate is also eligible to donate to personal fundraisers. The company says each Instagram fundraiser lasts 30 days, but there's no limit to the number of times it can be extended. Users must be at least 18 years old to create a fundraiser, and donations are accepted after the fundraiser is approved.

Google this week announced several new security features for its G Suite services, and the most notable for Gmail users is a pilot of an email specification that allows brand logos to display within authenticated emails.

Brand Indications for Message Identification (BIMI) is developed by the AuthIndicators Working Group, and requires emails to pass Google's anti-abuse validation, after which it brands the incoming message with a logo of the company that sent it.

Our BIMI pilot will enable organizations, who authenticate their emails using DMARC, to validate ownership of their corporate logos and securely transmit them to Google. Once these authenticated emails pass all of our other anti-abuse checks, Gmail will start displaying the logo in existing avatar slots in the Gmail UI.

By authenticating messages using the existing DMARC system and requiring strong authentication, the spec aims to give users and email security systems increased confidence in the source of emails while creating a trusted brand presence.

Google says it will be starting the BIMI pilot in the coming weeks with a limited number of senders. To learn more about BIMI, you can visit the working group's website.

Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo today released a new report detailing his research on which lens suppliers will begin providing parts for Apple in the coming years.

We predict that Semco, the best Korean lens supplier, and Sunny Optical, the best Chinese lens supplier, will enter the Apple lens supply chain in 2H20 and 2021, respectively.

The new suppliers are said to hurt the revenue of Genius Electronic Optical, which presently provides lenses for Apple.

While the ins and outs of which suppliers source Apple's parts may not be of great interest to consumers, Kuo references another shift that will be of interest to iPhone buyers. Kuo believes that Semco will be providing a large percentage of new periscope telephoto lenses to Apple for the 2022 ‌iPhone‌.

Kuo previously reported on Apple's design plans for periscope lenses in conjunction with Taiwanese supplier Genius Electronic Optical, though it seems those plans may have changed.

Periscope lenses have already seen their way into some smartphones and provide manufacturers a way to provide much higher optical zoom in a smartphone-sized package. Huawei, for example, ships the P30 Pro which offers a 5x true optical zoom using a similar mechanism. A 10x optical zoom phone is reportedly also in the works from Huawei.

Apple has filed patents related to periscope lenses as recently as 2016. According to the description included in the patent, light would be channeled into the camera through a primary lens, bounced off of the included mirror in the smartphone, and then would be sent to a secondary lens that moves up and down for the purpose of zooming in. Apple describes it as a "folded telephoto camera lens system".

macOS Big Sur, an update significant enough that Apple called it macOS 11 instead of macOS 10.16, introduces design changes, feature updates, and app tweaks that make macOS feel refreshingly new and streamlined.

In our latest YouTube video, we've highlighted some of the best features coming in macOS Big Sur that will make upgrading to the new software worth it.

• Fresh Design - macOS Big Sur overhauls the macOS interface with a design meant to be fresh but familiar at the same time. Windows have a lighter appearance and cleaner look with rounded edges, there are new icons, the menu bar has been redesigned to be more useful, and there are new, more cohesive symbols throughout the OS. On the whole, most of the tweaks are minor, but all together, it's a welcome change.
• Control Center - Part of the macOS Big Sur redesign includes a new Control Center accessible from the menu bar, which puts useful Mac functions just a click away. It has quick access controls for WiFi, AirDrop, Bluetooth, volume, and display and keyboard brightness, along with toggles for options like Dark Mode, True Tone, and Night Shift. It's also customizable, so you can make sure your most used controls are readily available.
• Notification Center - Notification Center received one of the biggest design updates in macOS Big Sur, with Apple redesigning widgets and changing the way notifications work. Widgets more closely match the widgets introduced in iOS 14, with customizable sizes and functions to go along with the updated look. Notifications are now grouped together by app, which makes them more readable, and many notifications are more interactive with options to do things like reply to an email without opening the Mail app.
• Safari Customization - You can set a wallpaper for Safari in macOS Big Sur, choosing from one of Apple's options or a photo of your own. You can also add Favorites, Frequently Visited websites, Siri Suggestions, Reading List, iCloud Tabs, and the new Privacy Report to the Safari start page so you can have your most used Safari functions more readily available.
• Safari Privacy Report - Privacy Report is a new Safari feature that lets you know which trackers Safari is blocking from tracking you across the web. You can see what trackers a website has installed by clicking on the little shield button in Safari, but Apple also provides a Tracking Report with info on trackers blocked each week and which trackers are used across the most sites.
• Safari Tab Preview - Safari tabs have been updated in macOS Big Sur, and if you hover over any tab you have open, you can see a little preview of the site. The preview lets you get a glimpse of what's in the tab so you don't need to click all the way over to it to see what it is, which is handy when you have a bunch of tabs open.
• Safari Translation - There's a built-in translation feature in Safari, which lets you translate languages with a click so you don't need to install a separate extension. Apple's built-in translation option works with English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese.
• Messages - Messages in macOS Big Sur is now a Mac Catalyst app, so it's got much of the same functionality that's available in Messages for iOS. It supports all of the new iOS 14 features like pinned conversations, inline replies, and mentions, plus there's an updated Photos picker, an option for creating and sharing Memoji stickers, an images search for finding trending images and GIFs to share, and support for Message effects like balloons, confetti, and more. Search is also much improved and brings up separate listings for conversations, photos, contacts, and locations, similar to Messages for iOS.
• Battery Usage - In the Battery section of System Preferences, Apple now provides details on the Mac's battery life over 24 hours or the last 10 days, broken up by battery level and screen on usage so you can see how your battery is performing. Apple also brought back an estimate of remaining battery life, which is a feature that was removed from macOS Sierra in 2016.
• Video Editing - The Mac ‌Photos‌ app now supports video editing, so you can adjust parameters like light and color, add filters, and crop and rotate videos without having to use a third-party app.
• New Startup Sound - There are a whole bunch of new and updated sounds in macOS Big Sur and we have a video coming that will exclusively cover sound changes, but there's one major update worth noting here -- the return of the macOS startup sound. macOS Big Sur once again chimes when the Mac is booted up.

There are many more new features in macOS Big Sur, and more detail on what's coming in the update can be found in our macOS Big Sur roundup. macOS Big Sur is limited to developers at the current time, but Apple should be making a public beta available in the near future.

It's been increasingly clear that Apple has been working on an AR/VR Headset for the consumer market. Originally expected as early as 2020, the most recent rumors place its release in 2021 or 2022.

But what's been less clear is the exact feature set a pair of AR/VR Apple Glasses will provide. Rumors have been scattered over the functionality with some internal debate about the direction of the unreleased headset -- ranging from an ultra-powerful wearable product to a more limited accessory for the iPhone.

A newly revealed patent application from Apple uncovered by AppleInsider shows some intriguing research that Apple has been doing into the field as far back as 2016.

In the patent, Apple addresses the question of how someone wearing a pair of Apple Glasses would be able to interact with the mixed virtual/real environment they are looking at. When using an ‌iPhone‌ or iPad as an AR viewfinder, the user would typically tap on the screen to interact with objects shown on the screen. But when wearing an AR headset, the same task would be cumbersome. Previous attempts at directly interacting with an AR environment required additional hardware such as a glove or finger sensors. Meanwhile, trying to visually detect finger-to-surface contact is not accurate enough to be useful.

Apple describes how it can more elegantly accomplish this task by using infrared heat sensing to detect when a user touches a real-world object.

The present disclosure is related to a method and device for detecting a touch between at least part of a first object and at least part of a second object, wherein the at least part of the first object has a different temperature than the at least part of the second object. The method includes providing at least one thermal image of a portion of the second object, determining in at least part of the at least one thermal image a pattern which is indicative of a particular value or range of temperature or a particular value or range of temperature change, and using the determined pattern for detecting a touch between the at least part of the first object and the at least part of the second object.

The method could then allow Apple Glasses to visually project controls onto real-world objects and react when they are touched by the user by sensing the heat transfer when touching the object.

As with all patent applications, we can't be certain Apple will incorporate this technology into its future products. But we do believe Apple is planning on releasing an Apple AR/VR headset. Full details can be found in our Apple Glasses roundup.