Apple's rumored iPhone 12 lineup will start with 128GB of storage, according to Jon Prosser of the YouTube channel Front Page Tech. This would be twice as much base storage as the 64GB that Apple has offered for the last three years.
Prosser revealed this info in his latest video, claiming that 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch iPhone 12 models will be available with 128GB or 256GB of storage and that 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro models will have 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options. All four models are expected to feature OLED displays, 5G support, and a faster A14 chip.
Prosser also corroborated rumors that iPhone 12 Pro models will support ProMotion, unless Apple disables the feature in software due to battery life concerns.
Apple has gradually increased the base storage capacity of its newest iPhones over the years, going from 16GB to 32GB with the iPhone 7 lineup and from 32GB to 64GB with the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.
Apple is expected to unveil its iPhone 12 lineup in September, although at least one model might not be available to order until October or November.
Update: An anonymous Twitter account with a thus-far proven track record has suggested that the two iPhone 12 models will start with 64GB of storage, with 128GB of base storage reserved for the higher-end iPhone 12 Pro models.
G is general P is professional
In my dream, to target different markets & customers, the basic model of 5.4/6.1 ' iPhone 12 might start with 64 GB The 6.1/6.7' iPhone 12Pro might start with 128 GB
— 有没有搞措 (@L0vetodream) May 11, 2020
MacRumors and Anker have partnered up this month to offer our readers new discounts on useful accessories like USB-C to Lightning cables, portable batteries, wireless chargers, and wall chargers. All of the devices in this sale can be found on Amazon.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
You can find the full list of over a dozen discounted accessories below. To see the sale prices, add the Anker products you want to your cart, then enter the relevant coupon codes during the checkout screen on Amazon. These discount codes will be live from today through Sunday, May 17th at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
Apple plans to invest around NT$10 billion (US$334 million) towards the opening of a new factory at the Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan, according to a Chinese report in the Economic Daily News. English coverage is available at Focus Taiwan.
The report claims that Apple will use the factory to produce Mini-LED and Micro-LED displays for future devices, in partnership with Taiwan-based suppliers Epistar and AU Optronics. In March, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple is planning at least six Mini-LED products for release by the end of 2021, including 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, an iMac Pro, a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, a 10.2-inch iPad, and a 7.9-inch iPad mini.
Kuo has previously said that Mini-LED backlit displays will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays used on the latest iPhones, including high contrast and dynamic range.
Woot's newest refurbished sale is focusing on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus today, offering sale prices from $199.99 for the 64GB iPhone 8. The 256GB iPhone 8 is also available, priced at $229.99.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Woot. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
For the iPhone 8 Plus, prices start at $299.99 for the 64GB smartphone and rise to $349.99 for the 256GB model. Across the board, the iPhone 8 family is available in Space Gray, Silver, Gold, and (Product) Red, although some colors have already begun selling out on Woot.
All iPhone 8 devices have been inspected and are expected to have a moderate level of wear and tear. According to Woot, this means the smartphones may have scratches, dents, and dings, but outside of their physical appearance, they have been tested to be in full working condition.
Each of these smartphones also come with a 90 day Woot limited warranty, so be sure to visit Woot before the sale expires later tonight. Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.
In a bid to reduce its reliance on China as a base for operations, Apple could be planning to produce up to $40 billion worth of smartphones in India through contract manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn, reports The Indian Economic Times.
Several meetings between Apple's senior executives and top ranking government officials over the last few months have paved the way for the iPhone maker examining the possibility of shifting nearly a fifth of its production capacity from China to India and scaling up its local manufacturing revenues, through its contract manufacturers, to around $40 billion over the next five years, say officials familiar with the matter.
A senior government official told ET the decision is being linked to India's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, which was introduced to boost local manufacturing of electrical products, particularly smartphones.
A company must manufacture at least $10 billion worth of mobile phones in a phased manner between 2020 and 2025 to benefit from the PLI scheme and are required to meet target on a yearly basis.
Currently, Apple sells $1.5 billion of phones in India, but less than $0.5 billion of those are locally manufactured. In contrast, in 2018-2019 Apple produced $220 billion worth of products in China.
According to ET, government officials are willing to look into concerns that Apple hs with the PLI scheme, including how it values plant and machinery already in use in China, and the extent of the business information required under the scheme.
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.
Newton Mail is continuing to operate beyond its original closure date after the service was bought by new owners (via The Verge).
Newton was originally set to shut down on April 30, following previous owner Essential's decision to cease all operations earlier this year. Essential originally came in possession of the mail app through its acquisition of the CloudMagic team in 2019.
The new owners are software designers Maitrik Kataria and Justin Mitchell, who concede in a Medium post that they're not a "well-funded VC backed company" but are simply big fans of Newton Mail.
Like many of you, we were gutted to learn that Newton was shutting down, yet again. This time though, we had to do something. We scrambled to get in touch with Essential as fast as possible. After a rollercoaster of a bidding process, we were lucky enough to be chosen as the new owners of CloudMagic.
This wasn't easy for us. We aren't a well funded VC backed company. Nor are we a big corporation looking to acquire assets we can use. We are just an indie app development agency that loves building products.
Both Justin and I have years of experience in designing and building beautiful software products for startups and companies. We understand the ins and outs of product design and development but M&A (mergers and acquisitions) was a new rodeo for us.
Lucky for us, the circumstances around the buyout and recent economic situation, accelerated the sale and let us take over ownership of what we think is one of the best apps developed.
Existing users of Newton Mail shouldn't see any differences in the short term and the service will continue to cost $50 a year to use, but the new owners plan to bring better communication and customer support to users, as well as fix some bugs in the software. After that, they intend to roll out new features including a new dark mode within three to six months.
Users can also expect a revamped privacy policy that will help give them better control over their data and bring the service in line with GDPR compliance. In addition, existing users are being offered three free months of service, a 20-percent discount for lapsed subscribers who want to give Newton Mail another go, and a referral program for new customers.
The new owners are promising that if their attempts at running Newton Mail fail, they'll open-source the app and "find a way for self-hosted servers to support the product indefinitely."
Multiple rumors are converging upon the possibility that at least two models in Apple's upcoming iPhone 12 lineup will feature faster 120 Hz displays.
The rumors reach back to July 2019, when Notable Samsung leaker "Ice Universe" first suggested that 2020 iPhones could feature faster displays made by Samsung and LG that would allow for a smoother on-screen experience.
Also last year, DigiTimes linked the then-nascent era of 5G with the wide adoption of higher refresh rate smartphone displays. The Taiwan industry publication based its prediction on the penetration rate of over-120Hz panels in the gaming notebook segment, which was prompting panel makers to step into the sector and develop panels with refresh rates ranging from 120 Hz to 240 Hz.
This year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has suggested faster 120 Hz displays could be coming to two high-end iPhone 12 models, and over the weekend, Twitter leaker Max Weinbach suggested that the iPhone 12 Pro, which is expected to come in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes, will exclusively feature a high refresh-rate 120Hz display.
An increasing number of phones launched in the last 12 months have boasted panels with faster refresh rates than the standard 60 Hz panel, which remains a holdover from traditional CRT displays that required the refresh rate to match the power supply frequency and thereby avoid potential interference.
Apple already uses proprietary variable refresh rate technology in its iPad Pro models under the moniker "ProMotion," which dynamically adjusts the display to the movement of content for fluid scrolling, greater responsiveness, and smoother motion.
The iPad Pro's display refresh rate changes on the fly depending on what's being viewed, which conserves battery life. If you're watching a movie or playing a game, for example, the refresh rate is at 120 Hz, but if you're reading a web page or looking at a photo, you don't need a 120 Hz refresh rate, so it adjusts accordingly. This adaptivity means the refresh rate also matches the viewed content more precisely, eliminating judder and distortion.
Of course, Apple's iPad Pro models use LCD panels rather than OLED, and rumors have suggested Apple will complete its transition to an all-OLED iPhone lineup in 2020 with new 5.4-inch, (two) 6.1-inch, and 6.7-inch models, so this would be the first time we have seen ProMotion tech in an OLED panel.
The implications for the iPhone viewing experience are hard to overstate. Current pixel resolutions as high as they are, doubling the refresh rate would bring a whole new fluidity and realism to viewed content. In that sense, combined with HDR10 support and a wide color gamut, Apple's wider adoption of 120 Hz ProMotion tech could do for OLED iPhones what the company's Retina Displays achieved for LCD iPhones in 2010.
USB-C hubs that attach directly to Apple's notebooks have become quite commonplace in recent years, but Sanho Corporation's HYPER brand is today releasing an updated version of its HyperDrive Duo hub that includes a couple of new twists.
As with most USB-C hubs, the new HyperDrive DUO includes an array of expansion ports for your Mac, including an HDMI port, a pair of USB-C ports (one capable of Thunderbolt 3 with 100W power delivery), a pair of USB-A ports, and slots for both SD and microSD cards. New in this updated Mac version of the HyperDrive hub is support for 4K 60Hz HDMI.
Another new feature of the new HyperDrive DUO is that it comes with a new removable magnetic grip that is inserted between the hub and the notebook that increases the sturdiness of the attachment to help prevent accidental disconnects that can result in loss of data transmission or even data corruption. A similar grip can be found on the company's iPad Pro USB-C hub.
The HyperDrive DUO itself is equipped with longer than normal USB-C connectors that extend through the magnetic grip, but the design also means that the accessory can be used with many MacBook cases by simply removing the magnetic grip, with the MacBook's case serving as the extra spacer for the connectors.
And for those who want to use the HyperDrive DUO hub with non-MacBook USB-C devices like an iPad Pro, it also comes with a short extension cable that gives flexibility for connecting to any single-connector USB-C device. A vegan leather pouch helps keep the hub, grip and extension cable protected and organized for travel.
The HyperDrive DUO is launching today for $99.99 in silver and space gray through HyperShop.com, B&H Photo, and other retailers.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Microsoft today released updates to its suite of Office apps for iPad, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Notably, Word and PowerPoint for iPad now support Split View, which allows you to open two documents simultaneously side-by-side.
Split View can be accessed by touching and holding on a document in any file view and then dragging it to the left or right side of the screen. To exit Split View, grab the slider in the middle of the screen and drag it to either the left or right to close one of the documents and take the remaining one full-screen.
Microsoft is also said to be working to implement full support for the new trackpad controls introduced in iPadOS 13.4, but these are not yet available. Basic trackpad functionality is present, but Microsoft still has some work to do to roll out support for the complete set of trackpad features.
After announcing back in late January that the HomePod would be coming soon to India, the company today began sending out emails to customers letting them know that the Siri-powered smart speaker is now available.
Apple's HomePod page in India now has a "Buy" button, although with the company not yet operating its own online storefront in the country, the button redirects to a search tool for local and online resellers. We're not yet seeing HomePod stock at major retail partners Amazon.in, Flipkart, and Paytm, but presumably listings should be popping up shortly.
HomePod is priced at ₹19,900 in India, which is equivalent to about $263 in the United States. That is roughly 10 percent below the normal $299 price in Apple's home country, although we have been seeing some deals as low as $199 in recent weeks.
Siri support for an Indian localization of English was added to the HomePod with software version 13.3.1 back in late January.
iPhone 12 Pro may contain a 120Hz ProMotion Display, a 3x rear camera zoom, and improved Face ID, according to unreliable leaker Max Weinbach, who shared his information with YouTube channel EverythingApplePro.
Weinbach suggests that iPhone 12 Pro, rumored to come in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes, will feature a high refresh-rate 120Hz ProMotion display, as currently seen on iPad Pro. The new flagship iPhone's display is said to dynamically switch between 60Hz and 120Hz as required to preserve battery life.
To accommodate the increased power consumption of a high-refresh rate display and 5G cellular connectivity, iPhone 12 Pro may contain a larger internal battery. Weinbach specifically suggests that the largest rumored iPhone, the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max, will feature a battery capacity of 4400mAh. This would be a substantial increase over the 3969mAh of Apple's largest current smartphone, iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The rumors also suggest that Face ID will feature a wider angle of view to support unlocking at a wider range of angles, alongside a smaller notch design. Weinbach reinforces rumors of a LiDAR Scanner on the rear of the device to be used to make autofocus faster and improve the accuracy of Portrait Mode photos, as well as for augmented reality experiences.
Smart HDR could be improved to reduce noise in low-light environments. The telephoto zoom lens is reportedly increasing to a 3x optical zoom, upgraded from the current 2x. This would allow users to take images and video closer to the subject without the reduction in quality of digital zoom.
Last month Weinbach and EverythingApplePro shared what they claimed was a sneak peek of iPhone 12 Pro Max, based on alleged leaked CAD designs. Weinbach has previously made a couple of accurate predictions of the iPhone 11 Pro Midnight Green finish, and a less obtrusive volume HUD in iOS 13, but has also shared a number of incorrect rumors such as a native iPad Calculator app in iOS 13, iPhone displays that work under water, Dark Mode delayed, and a HomePod launch in Austria and Italy within 2019.
In this week's App Recap, we've highlighted three new apps that are worth checking out. We've also compiled a list of apps that received major updates this week.
New Apps
Email - Edison Mail (Free) - Popular mobile app Edison Mail is now available on Mac App Store for the very first time. With its fast and simple user interface, the app touts the ability to make your email experience both fast and better organized than ever before. Some of its notable features include the ability to block email read receipts, convenient shortcuts and gestures, and a built in AI powered search. This week, Mac users gained a new primary inbox which focuses on important emails and an option to mute email notifications from selected senders.
Here Kitty! (Free) - Here Kitty! is a new interactive game that will children will love to play while at home. The game works by hiding an iPhone face down in a good hiding spot. Children can then try to find the "Kitty" either by calling out for it or by clapping, and the "Kitty" will respond with a meow. The app also records the amount of time it took to find the "Kitty," so it can even be played competitively. In addition, a new character will join the game each Saturday, so kids will enjoy getting to meet a new friendly creature each week.
Whisk (Free) - Whisk is a web page editor with a live preview that updates as you type. The app, formerly named HyperEdit in its first version, was recently revived after several years and brought to the Mac App Store for the first time. Some of the app's main features include the ability to render HTML and PHP as typed, previewing to other browsers, and live HTML W3C-based validation. Whisk can be used for crafting HTML, writing blog posts, running and debugging JavaScript, creating entire websites, and more. Although the app is free to download, it is worth noting that the initial download only contains a document viewer mode and a 14 day trial of the full version, so users looking to gain access to all of the app's functionality must pay a one-time fee of $29.99.
App Updates
Google Drive - Google this week updated its Google Drive app with a new Privacy Screen feature that allows users to enable either Face ID or a passcode authentication whenever the app is opened on their device. The app gives users the options to activate the new Privacy Screen feature either immediately when the app is opened or 10 seconds, one minute, or 10 minutes later.
Microsoft Outlook - Microsoft this week updated its Outlook app with a new Ignore Conversations feature that allows users to remove repetitive multi-reply email threads from their inbox. Although the feature has been available on other devices for quite some time, the feature was just added to the Outlook app for iPhone and iPad.
Stack - Stack, a popular web browser, released version 3.0 of its browser this week. The update introduces a subscription based pro version of Stack, a full redesign of the sidebar, and more. Stack's isn't like a traditional web browser, as its main purpose is to separate web apps from less important web pages and organize them in one place to enhance efficiency.
Twitter - Although not a specific update, Twitter announced this week that it would be testing a new threaded conversations layout for some iOS and web users. Twitter mentioned that users who do see the change will notice new lines and indentations to make it clearer as to who is replying. Additionally, the change will allow for more of a conversation to be displayed at once.
Apple's AirPods have been doing better than the company could have ever imagined, Apple's Vice President of Product Marketing Greg Joswiak said in a new report by Wired. Joswiak notes how the growth of AirPods "was almost like wildfire."
Joswiak touched upon Apple's vision for a wireless future. Apple crossed a pivotal point in its push towards a wireless future with the controversial decision to remove the headphone jack from its iPhone lineup beginning in 2016 with the launch of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
We had this incredible wireless product, the iPhone. And yet, what began to feel odd is when you saw somebody using wired headphones. Right then you thought, why would you attach the wire?
Joswiak also shared some of the development stages of the AirPods lineup.
We had done work with Stanford to 3D-scan hundreds of different ears and ear styles and shapes in order to make a design that would work as a one-size solution across a broad set of the population. With AirPods Pro, we took that research further – studied more ears, more ear types. And that enabled us to develop a design that, along with the three different tip sizes, works across an overwhelming percentage of the worldwide population.
Apple recently reported its financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2020, and Apple CEO Tim Cook proudly announced that a quarterly record for wearables had been set. In the first fiscal quarter of 2020, Cook had also announced that Apple's wearables category had set a new all-time revenue record. In addition, it was mentioned that Apple's wearables business is now the size of a Fortune 150 company.
Apple will reopen all four retail stores in Switzerland from May 12 at 11:00 a.m., according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Following the planned reopening of all 15 Apple Stores in Germany on May 11, Switzerland is set to follow one day later, reopening all stores in the country. Apple operates four Swiss stores in Zurich, Wallisellen, Geneva, and Basel.
Apple Stores in Switzerland will follow similar health and safety guidelines used for reopenings in South Korea, Austria, and Australia. Reopened Apple Stores will operate on reduced hours and mainly focus on repairs, with customers encouraged to make purchases online where possible.
The news comes after the announcement that Apple will begin reopening United States retail stores next week, beginning in Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama, and Alaska. Apple has been announcing reopening dates for stores across the globe almost every day for the past week.
DxOMark this week published the results of its in-depth review of the iPhone 11's 12MP front-facing camera. The device delivered "decent performance" and achieved an overall score of 91 points, but failed to make the overall top 10.
iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro share the same front-facing camera specifications, so the results are similar but with a number of key differences, such as focus distance. The fixed-focus lens of iPhone 11 was found to focus slightly closer than the lens on the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which resulted in subjects that are further away being out of focus. Another difference was that iPhone 11 failed to maintain sharpness as well as iPhone 11 Pro Max as the subject moved further away from the camera. Otherwise, most images taken with the two devices were extremely similar.
Video on the iPhone 11 front-facing camera was, however, found to be "slightly better" in color accuracy and noise-management than Apple's top-end smartphone. This advantage is, however, diminished by the focus issues, which are said to pose a potential problem for "users who work with longer selfie sticks or who shoot a lot of group selfies". The review concludes that iPhone 11 offers a "good option for selfie video capture, but not among the best we have seen."
The iPhone 11's overall DxOMark score of 91 was just one point lower than that of the iPhone 11 Pro Max at 92. The Huawei P40 Pro has performed best in DxOMark testing, with a score of 103. iPhone 11's front-facing camera is surpassed by 12 other smartphones. Overall, iPhone 11 is praised as "a capable option for selfie shooters, with its front camera delivering nice colors and good exposure in most situations," but "image output can be quite noisy and the fixed-focus lens, which is geared towards closer focusing distances."
DxO is a well-known French image lab that is noted for its attempts at assigning objective scores of smartphone camera quality, although they have been subject to some criticism from those who argue that camera quality is inherently subjective and thus can't be quantified with a score.
In keeping with the successful AirPods brand, the rumored "Studio" over-ear headphones would significantly diversify Apple's AirPods lineup, which last added the in-ear AirPods Pro in October 2019. The supposed price of $349 would place "AirPods Studio" as a direct competitor to high-end noise-canceling over-ear headphones from Bose and Sony.
Looks like Apple is sticking with the “AirPods” branding for their new over-ear headphones.
AirPods Studio Codename: B515 $349
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) May 9, 2020
Apple recently updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the $1,299 base model remains a popular alternative to the $999 MacBook Air. To help with your buying decision, read our comparison of the notebooks below.
The differences between the base 13-inch MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air are quite nuanced, with each notebook possessing some unique features.
What's the Same
13-inch Retina display with 227 pixels per inch and True Tone support
Magic Keyboard with reliable scissor switch design
Force Touch trackpad
2 × Thunderbolt 3 ports
3.5mm headphone jack
256GB of SSD storage standard, configurable up to 2TB
Touch ID
T2 security chip
720p webcam
802.11ac Wi-Fi, also known as Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth 5.0
Three-microphone array with directional beamforming
Dolby Atmos surround sound
Advantages of Base 13-Inch MacBook Pro
The display supports the P3 wide color gamut for more vibrant and lifelike colors
The display is brighter at up to 500 nits vs. 400 nits on MacBook Air
Touch Bar
Slightly better sounding speakers
Advantages of MacBook Air
Up to 11 hours of battery life vs. 10 hours on base 13-inch MacBook Pro
Weighs slightly less at 2.8 pounds vs. 3.1 pounds for base 13-inch MacBook Pro
Faster RAM: 3733MHz LPDDR4X vs. 2133MHz LPDDR3 for base 13-inch MacBook Pro
6K display support vs. 5K on base 13-inch MacBook Pro
Unlike the MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air also has a gold color option.
Performance
Generally speaking, the MacBook Air remains best suited for lightweight day-to-day tasks like web browsing and creating spreadsheets, while the MacBook Pro is better equipped to handle more intensive tasks like rendering large video files. This is not only because the MacBook Pro has faster processors than the Air, but also because it has a more advanced thermal design for dissipating heat inside the computer.
While the MacBook Air has been updated with Intel's latest 10th-generation processors, the base 13-inch MacBook Pro continues to use older 8th-generation processors. However, the Air uses lower-wattage Y-series chips with lower clock speeds, so the Pro still has faster overall performance, as confirmed by benchmarks.
Geekbench 5 scores for the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air configurations:
MacBook Air / 1.1GHz dual-core Core i3: 1,002 single-core and 1,998 multi-core
MacBook Air / 1.1GHz quad-core Core i5: 1,055 single-core and 2,645 multi-core
MacBook Air / 1.2GHz quad-core Core i7: 1,102 single-core and 2,843 multi-core
MacBook Pro / 1.4GHz quad-core Core i5: 927 single-core and 3,822 multi-core
MacBook Pro / 1.7GHz quad-core Core i7: 1,036 single-core and 3,909 multi-core
Takeaways:
The base model 13-inch MacBook Pro for $1,299 has up to 91 percent faster multi-core performance than the base model MacBook Air for $999
If considering the MacBook Air, upgrading to the quad-core Core i5 option is well worth the extra $100, as it is up to 32 percent faster than the base model and more closely rivals the base 13-inch MacBook Pro
Geekbench 5 scores are calibrated against a baseline score of 1,000, which is the score of an Intel Core i3-8100. Higher scores are better, with double the score indicating double the performance. Compare with other Mac benchmarks here.
Bottom Line
If you value portability and up to an extra hour of battery life, and are willing to sacrifice some performance, the MacBook Air is a relatively good value. Just remember to consider spending an extra $100 on the quad-core Core i5 processor option, as the $999 base model is equipped with a particularly sluggish dual-core processor.
For more intensive tasks, the 13-inch MacBook Pro's faster processors and more advanced thermal design will allow you to push the limits more without the fans running obnoxiously. You'll also get the Touch Bar, a brighter and more vibrant display, and slightly better sounding speakers with high dynamic range.
This week saw a couple of big announcements, led by the launch of an update for the 13-inch MacBook Pro line. Most notably, the update brought the improved Magic Keyboard previously introduced on its 16-inch sibling and the MacBook Air, with high-end models also receiving updated processors.
The second significant announcement this week was that Apple's first all-digital Worldwide Developers Conference will kick off on June 22. Other news this week included a firmware update for the AirPods Pro, an update on Apple's Mini-LED efforts, and more.
Read on below and check out our video above for recaps of all of this week's most important stories!
New 13-Inch MacBook Pro Announced With Magic Keyboard, 10th-Gen Processors, Up to 32GB RAM and 4TB SSD, and More
Apple this week refreshed its 13-inch MacBook Pro lineup, with key features including the same Magic Keyboard as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, up to 80 percent faster Intel graphics than the previous generation, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 4TB of SSD storage, and 6K display support.
First introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro last year, the Magic Keyboard features a far more reliable scissor mechanism with 1mm of key travel. After five years, Apple has finally transitioned its entire notebook lineup away from its issue-prone butterfly keyboard.
Apple has announced that its first-ever online-only WWDC will begin Monday, June 22 via the Apple Developer app and website. The weeklong event will include a virtual keynote, sessions, and labs, with more details to be shared in June. And it's free!
Apple is expected to introduce iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS 10.16, tvOS 14, and watchOS 7 at WWDC 2020, with beta testing to take place over the summer.
Student developers from all over the world can enter Apple's Swift Student Challenge by creating an interactive scene in Swift Playgrounds that can be experienced in three minutes. Winners will receive an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set. Submissions are open through May 17.
Apple Updates AirPods Pro Firmware to Version 2D15
In recent months, some AirPods Pro owners have been complaining about reduced noise cancellation and crackling or static sounds, so users have listened for any improvements following the update.
Perhaps proving how subjective sound quality can be, feedback has been decidedly mixed, with some users noticing an improvement, some noticing no change, and some noticing further degradation to noise cancellation.
Apple has offered some help in the form of two new support documents for users to troubleshoot noise cancellation or crackling sound issues.
10 Tips and Tricks for the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard
The tips and tricks relate to adjusting the backlight brightness, customizing the cursor's behavior, enabling tap-to-click on the trackpad, other trackpad gestures, accessing the Emoji keyboard, and more.
Apple's Mini-LED Product Roadmap May Have Been Pushed Back to 2021
Disappointed that the new 13-inch MacBook Pro was not the rumored 14-inch model? That may be due to a slight delay in Apple's plans to release a range of new products with Mini-LED backlit displays.
Kuo has previously said that Mini-LED displays will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays used on the latest iPhones, including good wide color gamut performance, high contrast and dynamic range, and local dimming for truer blacks.
NFC-Based Digital Key Specification Released Ahead of Apple's Rumored CarKey Feature on iPhone
"CarKey" will allow an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock, lock, and start an NFC-compatible vehicle. Just like credit cards and boarding passes, users will be able to add a digital car key to the Wallet app, eliminating the need to use a physical car key or key fob.
MacRumors Newsletter
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
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