MacRumors

The United States National Transportation Safety Board today conducted a hearing dissecting the fatal 2018 crash of Apple engineer Walter Huang, who was using the autopilot feature of a Tesla Model X, reports CNBC.

The NTSB called Tesla's Autosteer feature "completely inadequate" and said that Tesla's forward collision warning system did not provide an alert, nor did the automatic emergency braking system activate, but the board also had some choice words for Apple.

At the time of the crash, Huang was playing a game on his company-issued development iPhone. He was not paying attention to the road and likely did not have his hands on the steering wheel as the Tesla was in Autopilot mode.

So first let me say, if you own a car with partial automation, you do not own a self-driving car. Don't pretend that you do. This means that when driving in the supposed "self-driving" mode: you can't sleep; you can't read a book; you can't watch a movie or TV show; you can't text; and, you can't play video games. And, that is precisely what we found in this crash - the driver was playing a video game on his smartphone when his car veered into the median barrier.

In a statement, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt criticized Apple for not having a policy that prevents employees from using their iPhones while driving.

Let me circle back to the issue of driver distraction - one that involves the role of employers. Employers have a critical role in fighting distracted driving. At the NTSB, we believe in leading by example. Over a decade ago, under the leadership of my former colleague and NTSB chairman, Debbie Hersman, NTSB implemented a broad-reaching policy which bans using Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) while driving. We know that such policies save lives.

The driver in this crash was employed by Apple - a tech leader. But when it comes to recognizing the need for a company PED policy, Apple is lagging because they don't have such a policy.

During the hearing, the NTSB said [PDF] that employers play an important role in preventing distracted driving. A strong policy is an effective strategy for cutting down on distracted driving, and Apple has no policy that prohibits cell phone use while driving.

Apple in a response provided to CNBC, said "We expect our employees to follow the law." In California, where the crash took place, there are distracted driving laws that prohibit the use of cell phones while driving, even in vehicles with an autopilot mode.

Apple has also implemented a Do Not Disturb While Driving feature that activates when a driver attempts to use a cellular phone while driving, though it can be disabled.

The NTSB's goal is to get all employers to implement and enforce policies that ban the use of personal electronic devices while driving.

Ahead of Apple's 2020 shareholders meeting, which is set to take place tomorrow, Apple has asked attendees traveling from China to make sure they adhere to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's quarantine guidelines.

In the notice, which was shared on Twitter this morning and spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple says that it has worked in close consultation with public health experts and is following official CDC guidance.

Health and Safety Precautions
Apple is following official guidance on COVID-19 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and working in close consultation with public health experts. We ask shareholders who have traveled to China in February to ensure they have completed the required 14-day quarantine period prior to the meeting in order to attend.

Coronavirus concerns have made people wary of attending events with a large number of people. Mobile World Congress (MWC), a major event that normally takes place in February, was canceled, and upcoming events that include the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and Pax East are seeing multiple major companies drop out.

The coronavirus, known as COVID-19, has been primarily limited to China, but in recent days, infections have spread significantly in other countries like South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

Just today, the CDC warned Americans that it expects COVID-19 to spread in the United States. More than 80,000 people worldwide have contracted COVID-19, and there have been 2,700 deaths.

Apple's shareholder meeting will take place at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus. Apple's shareholder meetings are first come first serve as space for attendance is limited, with pre-registration required.

Shareholder meetings are not typically interesting to the general public and Apple executives share little about Apple's products. Apple CEO Tim Cook did make a few comments last year about Apple's services business and roadmap, so similar information could be shared this year, and if there's any interesting information, we'll let MacRumors readers know.

Students at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California are now able to add their ACCESS student IDs to the Wallet app on the iPhone and the Apple Watch, allowing their devices to be used to access buildings, attend athletic events, purchase meals, check out library books, and more.

Once a student ID card has been added into the Wallet app, students can use an ‌iPhone‌ or Apple Watch in lieu of a physical card by holding their device near a reader. The contactless student ID can be used anywhere the physical ID card is required.

Santa Clara University is located close to Apple's Cupertino headquarters, and it was one of the universities that worked with Apple and partner company Transact during the pilot program for contactless student IDs.

SCU expects that most of its 5,500 undergraduate students will be using the mobile student ID system by the end of the year.

Apple first announced plans to bring contactless student IDs to ‌iPhone‌ and Apple Watch at the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference, and rolled out the first IDs in October 2018.

Since then, Apple has added additional universities to the program, and participants include Marshall University, Clemson University, Duke University, University of Oklahoma, University of Alabama, Georgetown University, University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky, University of San Francisco, University of Vermont, Arkansas State University, South Dakota State University, Norfolk State University, Louisburg College, University of North Alabama, and Chowan University.

Accessory company Pad & Quill today announced the "Aria Smart Keyboard Case" for the upcoming 2020 refresh of the iPad Pro. Pad & Quill's cases are available for pre-order in both 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes, and they include a square camera cutout for a triple-lens camera.

We've seen square cutouts in leaked iPad Pro cases over the past few days, with rumors pointing to the 2020 iPad Pro family gaining similar cameras as those seen on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.

Yesterday, leaker Ben Geskin shared a few images of a case allegedly fitting the 2020 iPad Pro, with a similar square camera cutout. Now that Pad & Quill has launched pre-orders for its own official cases, it appears more likely that we can expect a similar camera setup on the upcoming iPad Pro line.

Apple is expected to update the iPad Pro sometime in 2020, perhaps in the first half of the year. The new models are rumored to have the same 11-inch and 12.9-inch dimensions as the previous generation. Not much else is currently known about the new iPad Pros, other than the rumored triple-lens camera.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo backed this up with a prediction of his own, stating that the 2020 iPad Pro will come with a triple-lens camera system with support for 3D sensing for augmented reality. This unveiling could happen during an Apple event rumored to take place in March.

The Aria Smart Keyboard Case is $99.95 for the 11-inch model and $109.95 for the 12.9-inch model. You can use the code PQ15 to take 15 percent off your order as well.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Pad & Quill. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apple and Johnson & Johnson today announced a new study that aims to gather more information surrounding atrial fibrillation and other conditions tracked by iPhone and Apple Watch. The "Heartline Study" will include an ‌iPhone‌ app, and explores whether health tracking features of ‌iPhone‌ and heart health features on Apple Watch can improve health outcomes.

The study is specifically aimed at individuals over 65 years of age. Apple and Johnson & Johnson are looking to see if Apple's health tracking technology can help reduce the risk of stroke thanks to earlier detection of atrial fibrillation, which is a leading cause of stroke in the United States and detectable with the Apple Watch's ECG feature.

The main issue with atrial fibrillation is that it is difficult to diagnose, due to the lack of physical symptoms in most patients. With Apple Watch, watchOS can alert users to a potential AFib event even if they are unaware of what's happening to them.

"Apple technology is making a meaningful impact on scientific research through the powerful capabilities of iPhone and Apple Watch, all with privacy at the center of the participant experience," said Myoung Cha, Apple's Head of Health Strategic Initiatives. "The Heartline Study will help further understanding of how our technology could both contribute to science and help improve health outcomes, including reducing the risk of stroke."

Those interested in the study must be 65 or older, a U.S. resident for the duration of the study, have traditional Medicare, own an ‌iPhone‌ 6s or later (with iOS 12.2 or later), and agree to provide access to their Medicare claims data. Once randomized participants are selected, they will be divided into two groups: one will only use the ‌iPhone‌ app and the other will use the ‌iPhone‌ app in addition to obtaining an Apple Watch. The study will last three years.

Apple and its devices regularly participate in scientific studies, most recently at Stanford Medicine with the "Apple Heart Study." This study began in 2017, and in November 2019 Stanford Medicine published results that ultimately determined the Apple Watch can successfully detect atrial fibrillation.

Apple has again declined a request to testify at a U.S. congressional hearing that is part of a wider investigation into Chinese influence on technology companies.

According to The Washington Post, both Apple and TikTok declined an invitation from U.S. Senator Josh Hawley to attend the hearing, which took place on Monday, February 24.

Apple and TikTok each have declined a request to testify at a March congressional hearing that would have probed their relationships with China, a move that threatens to ratchet up tensions with federal lawmakers who see Beijing as a privacy and security threat.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.), one of TikTok's leading critics, had invited the two tech firms to appear at a March 4 session, his office confirmed Monday. Both previously had declined to testify at a hearing last year on the same issue.

According to the Post, TikTok has said it plans to send a representative to engage with the subcommittee at a later date, but Apple has not commented on its absence.

Apple and TikTok skipped a similar hearing in November last year, leaving two chairs empty at the meeting with only placards bearing the companies' names.

Senator Hawley, who is a frequent critic of Apple for its ties with China, attacked the company for its no-show, saying its entanglement with the country's authoritarian government was "a fact they would rather we think not too much about."

In October, U.S. lawmakers called out Apple for not standing up for democratic values and free speech in Hong Kong, after it pulled an app from the App Store that protestors had been using to track police movements in the city state, saying it violated the company's guidelines and local laws.

Apple initially approved the app after reviewing its decision to initially reject it app from the ‌‌App Store‌‌. Its reversal came after the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper criticized the company for letting the app into its store.

"Apple assured me last week that their initial decision to ban this app was a mistake," tweeted senator Hawley at the time. "Looks like the Chinese censors have had a word with them since. Who is really running Apple? ‌Tim Cook‌ or Beijing?"

In a related development today, The Guardian reports that Apple could be forced to disclose details of censorship requests from China after two major shareholder groups backed a proposal that would force the tech giant to make new human rights commitments.

The motion is set to be voted on by the company’s investors on Wednesday, and was prompted by numerous allegations of Apple kowtowing to Beijing and blocking apps from being used by Chinese customers. Apple reportedly failed in an attempt to block the vote from taking place.

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

Apple has now reopened 29 of its 42 retail locations in China, according to Apple's store websites in the country that were reviewed by Bloomberg. Many of Apple's stores in China have been shut down for the last few weeks due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Most locations that have been reopened continue to operate on shortened hours, with some open for less than eight hours a day. Additional stores are expected to reopen as soon as this week, but there is no word on when all Apple Stores in China will be operational.

Apple last week said that its March quarter revenue will fall short of expectations because of constrained iPhone supplies worldwide and lower customer demand for Apple products in China caused by store closures.

The shuttered stores and limited hours have significantly reduced customer traffic, and though Apple's supplier factories in areas outside of the Hubei province have reopened, ramp up to full production on devices has been slower than expected.

According to a second report from Bloomberg, Apple's ‌iPhone‌ sales started dropping in January as the coronavirus spread. Numbers supplied by a UBS research note that includes official Chinese data suggests ‌iPhone‌ sales fell 28 percent compared to the prior month, which is a larger than normal decline for that time of the year.

February sales numbers are expected to be "far worse" due to supply and demand issues related to the outbreak.

Apple has said it is continuing to monitor the coronavirus situation and will provide additional information during its next quarterly earnings call in April.

People lead busy lives, and keeping track of everything that needs to be done in a day can be tough, which is why there are an endless number of to-do and productivity apps on the App Store.

Apple offers a built-in Reminders app and a built-in Notes app, both of which can be useful, but most people who need a robust task tracking solution will want to look to a third-party app. In our latest YouTube video, we rounded up some of our favorite to-do options with a range of capabilities.

Notion (Free)

Notion is an all-in-one productivity app that's perfect if you need an app that combines note taking and wiki creation with to-do list making. It has a simple color coordinated design, but it can actually be used to create neatly organized notes and lists with a hierarchy as complex or as simple as you need it to be.

Notion is cross platform so it works on Mac and iOS, plus it has robust search tools, supports real-time collaboration, offers easy editing and list rearranging, and works offline.

The app is free to use, but unlocking the full range of capabilities, including unlimited "Blocks" of data and more than 5MB in file uploads costs $4 per month.

TeuxDeux ($2.99/Month)

Despite the cringeworthy name, TeuxDeux is a solid to-do app if you need something that's simple, straightforward, and free from confusing bells and whistles. It is the most barebones of the to-do apps that we've tried out, and it's an ideal choice if you want a design that's close to writing down tasks on a piece of paper.

Though simple, TeuxDeux offers several features that are must haves for a to-do app, such as recurring tasks, tasks that roll over to the next day if unfinished, Markdown support, easy drag and drop gesture support, and the ability to use it on both the iPhone and the desktop.

TeuxDeux is a subscription-based app and it costs $2.99 per month or $24 for a year.

Things 3 ($9.99)

Things 3 is one of the most robust to-do apps on our list, and it's also one of the more popular to-do list options. There's a good reason for that - Cultured Code has included every feature you could ever possibly want in a task management app.

The design of the app is ultimately easy to use, but it can be overwhelming at first and it does take some time to get used to the full feature set. Luckily, there's a built-in tutorial to get you acquainted with Things 3.

You can create Projects to organize different tasks, Areas to split things between work and family responsibilities, or just add a simple to-do. An inbox with sections like Today, Upcoming, Anytime, and Someday helps you keep track of what tasks need completing and when. Things 3 is the app to choose if you want to organize all aspects of your life.

Things 3 is one of the few to-do apps that's not subscription based, and it costs $9.99 to purchase. Things 3 is also available for Mac and iPad, though each app must be purchased individually.

Todoist (Free)

Todoist, like Things 3, is a well-known to-do and list making app. Different tasks can be organized into sections as needed, spitting up everything from work tasks to grocery lists. There's an inbox that shows you everything that needs to be done at a glance, plus sections for things that need to be done immediately and over the next week.

Todoist makes it easy to jot down a quick to-do using natural language in the app so you can get it out of your head, and it supports recurring dates and the option to assign tasks to others for collaborative projects. Personalized productivity trends are included, so you can make sure you're staying on task.

Todoist is free to download, but the premium feature that unlocks all functionality (such as reminders) costs $3.99 per month or $35.99 per year.

Any.Do (Free)

Any.do is another popular task management app that's been around for years. It has a simple interface that belies its complexity, with deep organizational options for managing daily to-dos, calendar tasks, projects, lists, and more.

It offers scheduled reminders, note taking capabilities, collaborative features, calendar integration, adding to-dos from email messages, simple drag and drop gestures, and more. Using the app requires an account, but it does support Sign in with Apple to make it easy, and with an account, the app can be used across all of your devices.

Any.do is free to use, but unlocking all features requires a premium plan priced at $9.99 per month for a one month subscription, $27 for a six month subscription, or $60 for a 12 month subscription.

A premium subscription unlocks color tags, location-based reminders, advanced recurring reminders, bigger file uploads, sharing capabilities, and more.

Conclusion

There are dozens if not hundreds of to-do apps on the ‌App Store‌, and it's impossible to test them all out. If you're looking for a new to-do app, it's worth checking out the options on our list, as these are apps that we've tried and found useful.

If we missed your favorite to-do app, make sure to let us know what it is in the comments.

Apple today shared two new "Technical Overview" white papers that take an extensive look into the technology and feature set of the Pro Display XDR and the Mac Pro.

Available as PDFs, the Mac Pro overview and the Pro Display XDR overview (via 9to5Mac) walk through key features and components, with ultra detailed rundowns on every component. The ‌Mac Pro‌ overview highlights the lattice case, Intel Xeon W chip, GPUs, PCIe expansion slots, MPX module, I/O, T2 chip, SSD, and more.

Apple explains the reason for design choices made for the ‌Mac Pro‌, does a deep dive into performance, and lists technical specifications. Much of this information has previously been shared in product pages and marketing info provided by Apple, but this is the single most comprehensive source for ‌Mac Pro‌ info.

The Pro Display XDR white paper is similar, detailing display panel components, LED backlighting system, timing controller, display accuracy, reference modes, enclosure design mounting, and technical specifications.

This information has also been previously shared by Apple for the most part, but again, the white paper is a useful place to see it all in one place.

These are useful resources for those who are interested in learning more about the ‌Mac Pro‌ and the Pro Display XDR ahead of purchase, and can be found through these PDF links: Pro Display XDR and Mac Pro.