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.
Apple's next-generation Apple Watch and watchOS 7 will focus on new mental health capabilities, according to leaker Jon Prosser who recently spoke on the Geared Up podcast. The mention of new Apple Watch features comes towards the end of the podcast.
The next-generation version of the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Series 6, has been rumored to include a blood oxygen sensor, which Prosser says Apple will take advantage of to implement new mental health-related features, such as detecting panic attacks.
What their biggest focus on is right now and I hope it comes this year, it might come next year, but I hope it's coming to WWDC is mental health capabilities. Where they can take the oxygen levels in your blood with your heart rate and determine if you're hyperventilating.
They can identify a panic attack before it happens and warn you on your watch. Especially if you're driving, they'll ask you to pull over and they'll offer breathing exercises once you get pulled over.
Prosser says that while he hopes the feature is released this year, "it might come next year." He also says he hopes for a WWDC unveiling, but if the new feature relies on a blood oxygen sensor in an unreleased version of the Apple Watch, it's not likely Apple will unveil the capability until the fall when new Apple Watch models that support it are released.
There is, however, a possibility that it will be revealed at WWDC if older Apple Watch models have a latent ability to detect blood oxygen level, which is not clear at this time, or if the feature does not involve blood oxygen monitoring.
The panic attack detecting rumor was first shared by EverythingApplePro and leaker Max Weinbach back in April, who said that the Apple Watch will also be able to determine when a user is experiencing high levels of stress. Weinbach and EverythingApplePro did not suggest the feature would rely on blood oxygen monitoring, however, and said that it would be available on the Apple Watch Series 4 or later.
Hints that blood oxygen tracking capabilities are coming to a future version of the Apple Watch were found in a leaked version of iOS 14. Blood oxygen monitoring is an important feature because a drop in blood oxygen levels can suggest a serious respiratory or cardiac problem that requires immediate medical attention.
Multiple prior rumors from Bloomberg and other sources have also indicated that the next-generation Apple Watch and watchOS 7 will include sleep tracking features, allowing the Apple Watch to measure sleep quality, length, and other metrics.
Apple will begin reopening its retail stores in the United States next week, reports CNBC, starting with locations in Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama, and Alaska.
Apple plans to limit the number of customers in the store at a time, and temperature checks will be performed at the door. Apple also has a number of other measures in place to keep customers and employees safe, as we outlined this morning.
"We're excited to begin reopening stores in the US next week, starting with some stores in Idaho, South Carolina, Alabama and Alaska. Our team is constantly monitoring local heath data and government guidance, and as soon as we can safely open our stores, we will."
"Our new social distance protocol allows for a limited number of visitors in the store at one time so there may be a delay for walk-in customers. We recommend, where possible, customers buy online for contactless delivery or in-store pick up."
Reopened Apple Stores will operate on reduced hours and will primarily focus on repairs, with Apple encouraging customers to purchase online where possible.
Most stores are not listing hours at this time with the exception of Apple Boise Towne Square, which reopens Monday at 11:00 a.m.
During last week's earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple planned to start reopening some stores in the United States in May. Store reopenings are done on a city by city, county by county basis, with Apple taking into account local data and guidelines.
Apple has already reopened stores in South Korea, Austria, and Australia, with plans to also reopen stores in Germany next week.
Apple in mid-April reopened Apple Garosugil, its lone store in South Korea, located in the Seoul's Gangnam District.
Apple's South Korea reopening has served as a test ground for further store reopenings, and Apple created an instructional video on reopening practices that's now being shared with other retail employees around the world as they prepare to reopen stores. We're not able to share the video, but it provides a good overview of the measures Apple is putting in place to safely operate retail locations.
Retail employees are following a strict set of guidelines that very heavily emphasize social distancing of two meters (or six feet in the United States). Apple is taking the following measures:
Prior to when work starts, all employees undergo a health screening complete with a temperature check, with the results logged in a daily spreadsheet.
Daily briefings are done in the mornings in the Forum area at Apple Stores, with employees making sure to sit at least two meters apart.
Prior to being allowed in the store, customers are also given a temperature check.
All Apple Stores are providing hand sanitizer, which customers are encouraged to use.
Stores are limiting the number of people inside, forming lines with customers waiting at least two meters apart.
Products purchased by customers or returned after repair are delivered from the back in a relay system, being handed off from employee to employee to allow each person to stay in a separated zone without back and forth.
Product specialists and Genius Bar staff are positioning themselves across tables away from customers in order to maintain distance.
In the forum area, employees sit one cube away from customers they're interacting with.
Employees are encouraged to communicate with one another through the Talk app to cut down on unnecessary movement within the store.
Half of the workstations in the back are empty, with employees working at alternating workstations to keep more distance between them.
Tables have been rearranged to put products on corners to prevent customers from being near one another.
Products on tables have been reduced.
Communal tables and couches have been removed from employee break rooms and have been replaced with individual chairs evenly spaced about the room.
Operating hours are reduced.
Employees are all wearing face masks.
After opening its South Korea store on April 16, Apple has reopened its sole store in Vienna, Austria, and 21 stores located in Australia. Stores in Germany will begin reopening on May 11, and all of the newly opened locations are following many of the same guidelines listed above to keep both customers and employees safe.
There's no word yet on when Apple retail stores in the United States will start to reopen, but Apple CEO Tim Cooklast week said that stores in North America will begin reopening starting in the month of May.
Apple plans to evaluate data and make reopening decisions on a city by city, county by county basis, following local guidelines and recommendations before opening up a store.
For this week's giveaway, we've once again teamed up with Throwboy to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of Throwboy's plushes modeled after classic Apple products and icons.
Throwboy makes a whole range of different plush pillow options priced at $30 to $40, with each one designed to look like an Apple product of some kind, including classic Macs, the iPod, the iPhone, and more. Each pillow features detailed embroidery and careful construction to highlight each component and to accurately represent Apple's designs.
The 1998 pillow, for example, is modeled after Apple's original iMac with its bright Bondi Blue design, while the 2001 pillow modeled after the original iPod comes complete with a screen and click wheel embroidery.
The 2007 pillow looks like the original iPhone with black bezels and a silver backing, and the Icon Pillow looks like Apple's classic happy Finder icon.
There's even a rainbow-colored Spinning Wheel Pillow that's designed to look like the dreaded spinning pinwheel that the cursor morphs into when an application is busy.
All of Throwboy's plushes are soft, squishy, huggable, and the perfect accent piece for an Apple fan. Each pillow is the ideal size to be used as a comfortable throw pillow for a couch or a chair. Photos of the pillows in action can be seen on Throwboy's Instagram account.
We have 10 of Throwboy's pillows to give away to MacRumors readers, and each winner will be able to pick their favorite pillow: iMac, iPod, classic iPhone, Finder Icon, or Spinning Wheel.
To enter to win our giveaway, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
The contest will run from today (May 8) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on May 15. The winners will be chosen randomly on May 15 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
A new NFC specification announced this week by the NFC Froum will allow future NFC enabled devices to offer wireless charging capabilities, which means a smartphone could be used to charge a small accessory like headphones.
According to the NFC Forum, the Wireless Charging Specification (WLC) will allow smartphones or other NFC charging devices to wirelessly charge small, battery-powered consumer and IoT devices at a power transfer rate of up to one watt.
The 1W rating is much slower than the Qi-based standard used by iPhones and other smartphones. Qi-based wireless charging on the iPhone maxes out at 7.5W, but is even faster on some Android devices.
Charging over NFC would require new hardware, and it's not a feature that can be added to existing devices. The NFC Forum believes the WLC specification could be used to complement Qi-based wireless charging.
It works using a single antenna to manage communications and charging, which is convenient for low-power devices like smart watches, fitness trackers, and earbuds that already use NFC for connectivity because there's no need to build in Qi support.
"The NFC Forum's Wireless Charging Technical Specification allows for wireless charging of small battery-powered devices like those found in many of the estimated 36 billion IoT devices in use today," said Koichi Tagawa, chair, NFC Forum. "NFC wireless charging is truly transformative because it changes the way we design and interact with small, battery-powered devices as the elimination of plugs and cords enables the creation of smaller, hermetically-sealed devices."
Apple in 2015 joined the NFC Forum and participates in the approval of new NFC specifications and developments.
Rumors in 2019 suggested that Apple was working on bilateral wireless charging that would allow its iPhones to charge the AirPods and the Apple Watch, but the feature was ultimately nixed. At the time, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the two-way wireless charging feature Apple was exploring did not meet Apple's requirements.
Samsung has implemented bilateral wireless charging in its smartphones, but the Wireless PowerShare option does not use NFC and is powered by the Qi-based charging coils in the device. Samsung's smartphones can charge other smartphones or accessories like headphones that support Qi wireless chargers.
A nationwide class action lawsuit filed against Apple in Northern California court this week accuses the company of knowingly concealing a defect with a display-related flex cable on recent 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models.
As discovered by repair website iFixit last year, some MacBook Pro models released in 2016 and 2017 have experienced issues with uneven backlighting caused by a delicate flex cable that can wear out and break after repeated opening and closing of the display. Impacted notebooks can exhibit uneven lighting at the bottom of the screen, which has been described as a "stage light" effect, and the backlighting system can eventually fail entirely.
Since the issue often takes time to manifest, the affected MacBook Pro units can be outside of Apple's one-year warranty period when they start exhibiting symptoms, resulting in an out-of-warranty repair fee of up to $850.
"Imagine spending more than $2,500 on a laptop only for it to fail shortly after the manufacturer's warranty expires," said PARRIS Law Firm attorney R. Rex Parris. "What's even more appalling is Apple requiring customers to spend an additional $600 to $850 to replace the screen."
Apple seemingly fixed the issue by extending the length of the flex cable by 2mm in the 2018 MacBook Pro. It also launched a free repair program in May 2019, but the program only applies to 13-inch MacBook Pro models released in 2016.
iFixit found the 2018 MacBook Pro flex cable on the left to be 2mm longer
The class action lawsuit seeks restitution for all costs attributable to repairing or replacing the affected MacBook Pro units, and calls for Apple to expand its repair program to cover the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The proposed class is defined as all persons within the United States who purchased a 2016 or newer MacBook Pro.
Woot is ending the week with a refurbished sale on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, available in multiple storage sizes and colors. The sale starts with the 256GB SSD model (16GB RAM, Intel Core i7) for $1,579.99.
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 more storage, the 512GB SSD model (16GB RAM, Intel Core i9) is on sale for $1,849.99. Woot's refurbished sales are offering more than $800 in savings when compared to the original prices of these notebooks, which began at $2,399.00 when they launched in May 2019.
Similar to previous Woot sales, each MacBook Pro comes with a One Year Limited Woot Warranty. Each device has been refurbished and is ensured to be in full working condition. When shipped, they are packaged in a generic white box.
You can find even more discounts on new MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.
The Label's "The_Otherside" is this week's addition to Apple Arcade on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. The game is described as both a turn-based RPG and a strategy board game:
Otherside is a turn based RPG and strategy board game where you will control four survivors who hope to push back the shadowy threat. Make your way through each level solving puzzles, fighting monsters, and destroying the spirit anchors that threaten our dimension.
Do you have what it takes to restore the town back to normal and save the day?
"The_Otherside" is available on the App Store with an Apple Arcade subscription. The service provides iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac users with access to over 100 games with no in-app purchases or ads for $4.99 per month.
Apple's plan to release an updated version of AirPods later this year has been delayed due to the global health crisis, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.
This lines up with a recent report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said that mass production of third-generation AirPods will begin in the first half of 2021, followed by mass production of second-generation AirPods Pro between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Kuo also expects Apple's rumored high-end over-ear headphones to enter mass production at some point in mid-2020.
Kuo did acknowledge rumors of new AirPods coming in the second half of 2020, but he said they are "more likely to be the new Beats model." Last month, leaker Jon Prosser claimed that Apple was planning to release so-called "AirPods X" around September or October with a BeatsX-like design for sports and running.
Apple's second-generation AirPods launched in March 2019, while the AirPods Pro were released at the end of October.
Amazon is taking up to $100 off the Apple Watch Series 5 this week, with prices starting at $299.99 for the 40mm GPS models. Only the Gold Aluminum Case with Pink Sport Band is available at this price. If you order today, the Apple Watch should arrive sometime next week.
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.
The Apple Watch Series 5 was released in September 2019 with a new OLED screen that supports an always-on feature, which represents the biggest change to the Series 5 models. The newest Apple Watch is available in 40mm and 44mm sizes, and it has the overall same design as the Series 4 models.
Across the board, these sales are either new low prices on the Apple Watch Series 5, or they're matching previous low prices seen on these models on Amazon. There are a few other deals going on for different Series 5 models as well, including numerous 44mm cellular devices that are about $50 off Apple's original prices. Be sure to head to Amazon to check out the full sale before these prices expire, or the retailer runs out of stock.
Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.
Microsoft plans to add trackpad and mouse support to its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for iPad by the fall, according to TechCrunch and The Verge.
iPadOS 13.4 introduced trackpad and mouse support on all iPad models released in the past four to five years. Keyboards with trackpads include Apple's Magic Keyboard and Brydge's Pro+ for the iPad Pro and Logitech's Combo for the 10.2-inch iPad and the 10.5-inch iPad Air.
When using a trackpad, the cursor displays as a circle on the screen, popping up only when you have a finger on the trackpad. The circle then morphs into various other shapes when hovering over app icons, text fields, or other on-screen elements.
Apple today announced that it will begin reopening its retail stores in Germany on May 11, nearly two months after they were closed due to the global health crisis.
In a statement shared with German website Macerkopf, Apple said the stores will initially be focusing on Genius Bar service and support. Enhanced health and safety measures will be implemented, such as body temperature checks prior to entry, limits on how many customers can be in the store at once, social distancing, and reduced hours of operation.
Apple operates 15 retail stores in Germany and will be posting specific hours of operation for each location on its website.
Apple closed all of its retail stores outside of the Greater China region in mid-March. The company has since started to reopen some locations, including in South Korea, Austria, and Australia. All locations in the United States remain closed.
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.
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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.
Microsoft plans to add trackpad and mouse support to its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for iPad by the fall, according to 
