The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) today announced that Apple has joined the group as a Platinum member, and Senior Engineering Manager Tom Doron has joined the CNCF Governing Board.
The CNCF sustains and integrates open source monitoring and deployment systems like Kubernetes and Prometheus. Cloud Native Computing Foundation CTO Chris Aniszczyk said the foundation is "thrilled" to have Apple's support.
"Having a company with the experience and scale of Apple as an end user member is a huge testament to the vitality of cloud native computing for the future of infrastructure and application development," said Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. "We're thrilled to have the support of Apple, and look forward to the future contributions to the broader cloud native project community."
87 other companies are already members of the CNCF, including Spotify, Atlassian, eBay, Intuit, Reddit, Shopify, Squarespace, Walmart, and more.
The CNCF hosts monthly meetings with these companies to advise the Governing Board and Technical Oversight Committee on "key challenges, emerging use cases, and areas of opportunity and new growth for cloud native technologies."
Apple today introduced a new iCloud for Windows app designed for PCs, according to a blog post shared by Microsoft. The new app is designed to allow Apple users to access their iCloud content on their Windows 10 PCs.
The iCloud app for Windows includes iCloud Drive, iCloud Photos, Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, Safari Bookmarks, and more.
What you can do with iCloud for Windows
- Safely store your photos and videos in iCloud. With iCloud Photos, any new photos and videos that you take on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch automatically download to your PC. And you can upload new photos and videos from your PC so that you can access them from your other devices too. - Use Shared Albums to share photos and videos with just the people you choose. Then invite friends to add their own photos, videos, and comments. - Get your documents on every device you use with iCloud Drive. Simply drag your documents into the iCloud Drive folder on your PC and access them at any time, on any device. - Keep your iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders up to date automatically between your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and PC. - Keep your Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Google Chrome bookmarks on Windows the same as your Safari bookmarks. - Update your iCloud preferences, see how much iCloud storage you're using, delete items to free up storage, and update your storage plan whenever you want.
According to Microsoft, the iCloud Drive feature on Windows is powered by the same Windows technology behind the OneDrive Files On-Demand Feature, which lets users be more productive offline on mobile devices and quickly share files on iOS.
Apple has a support document for getting started with iCloud for Windows, which basically requires having an existing iCloud setup on an Apple device.
Windows users can download iCloud for Windows from the Microsoft Store starting today.
Belkin today announced a new addition to its lineup of HomeKit-compatible Wemo-branded smart devices, the Wemo 3-Way Light Switch, which is now available.
Announced at CES, the new 3-Way Light Switch is priced at $49.99 and adds HomeKit functionality to your household lights.
The new Light Switch joins the Wemo Mini Smart Plug and the Wemo Dimmer, Belkin's other devices that offer full HomeKit compatibility without the need for the Wemo Smart Bridge.
Other Wemo products, such as the Insight Smart Plug, Motion Sensor, and existing Light Switch connect to HomeKit setups through the Wemo Smart Bridge. The newest Wemo products are much more convenient, offering a HomeKit connection without the use of the bridge.
You're able to control the Light Switch using the Home app, the Wemo app, or Siri functionality, and it also works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
The 3-Way Light Switch is available today from Belkin or from Amazon, and it will be available from Apple starting on June 18.
iMovie for iOS was today updated to version 2.2.7, adding a long list of new features to the video editing app for the iPhone and the iPad.
The update brings a new green screen effect that lets you remove the background of clips shot in front of a green or blue screen, a neat new feature for quickly swapping in a new background.
Still images with transparent backgrounds, such as logos or graphics, can be inserted on top of your video, and photos can be used as overlays to create picture-in-picture and split-screen effects.
Apple has added 80 new soundtracks across genres that include pop, chill, sentimental, and more, all of which automatically adjust to match the length of your video.
Apple has removed the ability to share to iMovie Theater, and all movies and trailers are now saved to iCloud Photos to watch them on other devices.
There are also a few other minor tweaks and bug fixes, with Apple's full release notes below:
- Transform your video with the new green screen effect that lets you instantly remove the background of clips shot in front of a green or blue screen - Adjust the green screen effect with a 4-point mask and strength slider - Choose from 80 new soundtracks in genres including pop, chill, and sentimental that automatically adjust to match the length of your movie - Drop in still images with transparent backgrounds to use as logos or custom graphics on top of your video - Add photos as overlays to create picture-in-picture and split-screen effects - Choose to hide the border that surrounds picture-in-picture and split-screen effects - Instantly return to the edit screen of your project when switching back to iMovie from other applications - ClassKit support lets students deliver video assignments to teachers using the Schoolwork app - For users with videos in iMovie Theater, the Theater window is now accessible from the ••• menu at the bottom of the Projects screen - Sharing to iMovie Theater is no longer supported; save your movies and trailers to iCloud Photos to watch them on other devices including Apple TV - Resolves an issue that could lead to a black viewer when previewing your video fullscreen on an external display
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS Mojave 10.14.6 update to developers, three weeks after seeding the first macOS Mojave 10.14.6 beta and a month after the release of macOS Mojave 10.14.5, which brought AirPlay 2 support for third-party TVs.
The new macOS Mojave 10.14.6 beta can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after the proper profile has been installed from Apple's Developer Center.
There were no new features or significant changes discovered in the first beta of macOS Mojave 10.14.6, which indicates it likely focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS Mojave 10.14.5 update.
If new features are found in the second beta of macOS Mojave 10.14.6, we'll update this post with details.
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 is likely to be one of the last updates to the macOS Mojave operating system as Apple will soon transition to work on macOS Catalina, announced at WWDC last week.
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.4 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after releasing the second tvOS 12.4 beta and a month after releasing the tvOS 12.3 update with the new TV app.
Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 12.4 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV through a profile that's installed using Apple's Xcode software.
There were no new features discovered in the first two betas of tvOS 12.4, suggesting the update focuses on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements rather than outward-facing features, which is typical for new tvOS software.
Apple offers up little information on what's included in tvOS updates, so we may not know what's new in tvOS 12.4 even after release. Despite the limited information, we share news of new tvOS updates so developers are able to download the software upon release.
Should we discover new features in the third tvOS 12.4 beta, we'll update this post with details.
Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 5.3 update to developers, two weeks after releasing the second watchOS 5.3 beta and two weeks after the launch of watchOS 5.2.1, an update that expanded ECG availability and introduced new pride watch faces.
Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software update.
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.
There were no new features discovered in the first two watchOS 5.3 betas, suggesting that it focuses on bug fixes and under-the-hood performance improvements.
There could also be hidden changes that will be available after the update is released, such as support for the upcoming Apple Card, set to debut this summer. If new features are discovered in the third watchOS 5.3 beta, we'll update this post with details.
Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming iOS 12.4 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the third iOS 12.4 beta, and a month after releasing iOS 12.3, a major update that introduced a revamped TV app.
Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.4 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.
There were no new features discovered in the first three iOS 12.4 betas, so it's not entirely clear what's coming in the update. As a more significant 12.x update, it's possible that the update is focusing on a feature that's not yet available -- the Apple Card.
Apple is planning to release the Apple Card in the summer, so iOS 12.4 could be the update that prepares the iOS operating system for that launch, adding hidden features that will be unlocked when the update becomes available to the public.
If we find new features in the fourth beta of iOS 12.4, we'll update this post.
iOS 12.4 may be one of the last updates to the iOS 12 operating system as Apple transitions to iOS 13, set to launch this September.
"As we near completion of our new Viborg data center in central Jutland, Denmark, we've decided to focus on growing that site instead of building an additional data center in Aabanraa," an Apple spokesperson told Reuters today.
In July 2017, Apple announced that it planned to spend nearly $1 billion on a data center just outside of Aabenraa, a small town in Denmark near the German border. As with Apple's other data centers, the Aabenraa facility was expected to be powered by 100 percent renewable energy, including wind and biomass.
Aabenraa officials described the news as "completely unexpected," noting that Apple informed them of its decision with a "short phone call" today. The municipality said it will assist Apple with selling the 285-hectare property.
The first phase of construction of Apple's other data center in Denmark, near Viborg, is expected to be completed later this year.
Dutch company TomTom today announced that it has significantly revamped its iPhone navigation app with several new features, including customizable offline maps with weekly updates, lane guidance, and CarPlay support. The app has also been renamed from TomTom GO Mobile to TomTom GO Navigation.
The offline maps are available on an à-la-carte basis, meaning that users can download maps only for the regions they need to save storage space. TomTom says the maps will automatically receive weekly updates to help users avoid newly blocked lanes, active road construction, and other traffic delays.
CarPlay support enables users to access the TomTom app from their dashboard display in vehicles equipped with Apple's software platform, complete with new lane guidance functionality that helps users avoid missing turns and last-second merges by zooming in on their lane as they approach an intersection or exit.
Unfortunately, the iPhone app's route bar is not available on CarPlay at this time:
Hi Dirk, unfortunately, the CarPlay® User Interface templates do not allow for the route bar in its current form. We are investigating ways to incorporate the information and features of the route bar in future versions of the app. Cheers, TomTom Team
— TomTom (@TomTom) June 11, 2019
TomTom GO Navigation also provides point-of-interest search, real-time traffic conditions, speed camera alerts, and other services.
TomTom GO Navigation is available in the App Store and is expected to launch on Android later this year. The app offers a free trial, followed by one-, three-, and six-month subscriptions for $1.99, $4.99, and $8.99 respectively.
Best Buy has introduced a new sale this week, highlighting discounts on both the Apple Watch Series 3 and Series 4. The sale covers numerous models of each Apple Watch from 2017 and 2018, including stainless steel cases, aluminum cases, GPS only models, and GPS and cellular models.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Although there are many devices in the sale, you'll find the same savings for each Apple Watch model: Series 3 devices are discounted by $80 and Series 4 devices are discounted by $50. This means that prices on Apple Watch Series 3 start as low as $199 and prices on Apple Watch Series 4 start as low as $349.
We've listed a few devices on sale below, but be sure to head to Best Buy to browse every Apple Watch that's been marked down.
The Apple Watch Series 3 and Series 4 are both rated for immersion in water as deep as 50 meters, but there are a few differences between the two models. The newer Series 4 has an upgraded processor, a bigger display area, fall detection, and an electrical heart sensor that lets you measure your own ECG, which is one of the big new features of the wearable.
Series 3 models lack these features, but you'll still be getting all of the expected health tracking features, the ability to log your workouts, and iPhone-connected benefits, like receiving texts on your wrist. If you're looking to jump into the Apple Watch ecosystem for the first time and don't care about having the newest gadget, Series 3 models are definitely a solid place to start.
Head to our full Deals Roundup to stay up-to-date on all of the latest and greatest sales happening now.
Update 2: Apple Watch Series 4 models with GPS only are launching in Slovenia on July 19:
@MacRumors Hey guys, seems like Apple Watch (GPS models only for now) will finally go on sale in Slovenia starting next Friday. The promo image (from https://t.co/utnIoLlML6) is in Slovene but it shouldn't be hard to understand "19. julij" (July 19). pic.twitter.com/C1pZFVudGC
— Nace Jemec 🏳️🌈 (@w3bfreak) July 12, 2019
Apple surpassed Google but Amazon usurped both tech giants to become the world's most valuable brand in market research firm Kantar's annual BrandZ brand value report.
According to the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand ranking 2019 [PDF], the ecommerce giant saw its brand value rise to $315.5 billion, beating second-placed Apple's $309.5 billion evaluation and Google's $309 billion in third. Apple's brand value saw a 3 percent rise over last year, while Google saw a 2 percent rise, but Amazon outshone both with a whopping 52 percent gain.
Amazon's rise to the top spot ends a Google-Apple duopoly that began in 2007 when Google surpassed Microsoft to capture the No. 1 rank. Apple and Google had since jostled amongst each other for the position, but Google took the top spot from Apple in 2018.
Doreen Wang, Kantar’s global head of BrandZ, told CNBC that Amazon's jump was due to it selling a variety of services.
"Amazon’s phenomenal brand value growth of almost $108 billion in the last year demonstrates how brands are now less anchored to individual categories and regions. The boundaries are blurring as technology fluency allow brands, such as Amazon, Google and Alibaba, to offer a range of services across multiple consumer touchpoints."
The top ten most valuable global brands in the report is made up almost entirely of technology and telecom companies, with Microsoft, Visa, Facebook, Alibaba Group, Tencent, McDonald's, and AT&T rounding off the top ten after Amazon, Apple, and Google.
To qualify for the ranking, brands must be publicly traded, or publish their financial results. BrandZ’s list uses measures of brand equity based on interviews with over 3 million consumers about thousands of brands, with analysis of each company and financial performance, using data from Kantar Worldpanel.
Brandz is one of several brand rankings released each year, with others including Forbes and Interbrand. Apple has consistently performed well in these studies over the past decade as its revenue has ballooned on the strength of iPhone sales, but the company is increasingly looking to subscription services, original content, and other untapped markets to prop up its business in the face of the recent downturn in the global smartphone market.
Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn says it has enough capacity to make all iPhones bound for the U.S. market outside of China if the current trade war between the two countries intensifies.
That's according to Foxconn board nominee and semiconductor division chief Young Liu, who made the comments at an investor briefing in Taipei on Tuesday, reports Bloomberg.
As the U.S.-China trade war gets more unpredictable, Foxconn – also known as Hon Hai – will "fully support Apple if it needs to adjust its production," he said.
"Twenty-five percent of our production capacity is outside of China and we can help Apple respond to its needs in the U.S. market," said Liu, adding that investments are now being made in India for Apple. "We have enough capacity to meet Apple’s demand."
Liu conceded that Apple has not given its Taiwanese partner instructions to move production out of China, but he said Foxconn is "capable of moving lines elsewhere according to customers' need."
The Hon Hai senior executive said it will respond swiftly and rely on localized manufacturing in response to the trade war, just as it saw the need to have a base in the U.S. two years ago before the trade dispute began.
Foxconn has been considering expanding its production plants in India as a way to diversify its supply chain away from China, where most of the Taiwan-based firm's facilities currently reside.
Apple manufactures most of its iPhones through Foxconn, but the latter's growing India base provides security in the face of Apple's vulnerability to rising U.S.-China tensions over trade and technology.
Foxconn already has plants in India, and in late 2017 it was reported that the firm would invest around $356 million to expand its facilities there to begin assembling Apple's high-end iPhones. Manufacturing iPhones in India could help Apple lower prices by allowing it to avoid a tariff that adds 20 percent to devices imported from China.
Apple Pay officially went live in The Netherlands today, with Dutch bank ING leading the charge to bring Apple's digital payment system to debit and credit card users in the country.
With Apple Pay on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac, ING bank customers with Maestro debit cards in The Netherlands can make purchases with their digital wallet in stores, in apps and on websites.
ING customers can activate Apple Pay in the ING Mobile Banking App and add their debit card to the Wallet. Apple Pay works wherever it is possible to make contactless payments, in web shops and in apps.
According to Apple's regional Apple Pay web page, Apple Pay can be used in The Netherlands with several online and high street retailers including Adidas, ALDI, Amac, ARKET, BCC, Burger King, Capi, cool blue, COS, Decathlon, Douglas, H&M, Jumbo, Lidl, McDonalds, Starbucks, and others.
Apple Pay has been gradually expanding across Europe and the Middle East, launching in Poland, Norway, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Austria, and Iceland over the last year. Up until today, The Netherlands was one of the most populous countries in Europe that was still awaiting Apple Pay.
Rumors about the iPhones coming in 2019 have been circulating since before the 2018 iPhones even launched, and at this point, we've heard quite a few details on what to expect.
For our most recent YouTube video, we got our hands on some cases created for the 2019 iPhones, with designs based on current rumors suggesting a triple-lens camera setup for the next-generation iPhone XS and XS Max, and a dual-lens camera for the next-generation iPhone XR.
Cases for upcoming iPhones often appear months before the iPhones themselves, and that's because there's a lot of money to be made being the first company out with cases designed for newly released devices.
Many of the renderings and part leaks that we see for new iPhones, the 2019 iPhone lineup included, come from case makers who pay people in Apple's supply chain for design information in order to create early versions of cases. More often than not, these super early cases are spot on, but there have been some major misses in the past.
This year, Apple is said to be launching three iPhones: an iPhone XS successor, an iPhone XS Max successor, and an iPhone XR successor. These three phones will be available in the same sizes as current iPhones, 5.8 inches, 6.5 inches, and 6.1 inches, respectively.
The 5.8 and 6.5-inch models will continue to offer OLED displays and will be positioned as the higher-end iPhones in the lineup, while the 6.1-inch iPhone is expected to continue to offer an LCD display and a lower price tag.
As you can see in the 5.8 and 6.5-inch cases, the next-generation iPhone XS and XS Max are rumored to include a triple-lens camera setup arranged in a triangular shape with an adjacent flash. This design requires a large square-shaped camera cutout for the cases, which looks quite obtrusive when seen in case form.
Apple's going to do what it can to minimize the look of the rear camera, which will still protrude, with rumors suggesting the rear panel will be made from a single pane of glass. This should make the camera bump blend in a bit better, so we can expect Apple's version to look better than renderings we've seen.
The triple-lens camera setup could include a 12-megapixel telephoto lens, a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, and a 12-megapixel super wide-angle lens with a wider field of view for landscape shots.
It's not really clear what capabilities Apple will add into a triple-lens camera, but at a minimum, we can expect a wider zoom range, better low light performance, more pixels captured, and a larger field of view. Given some of the highly touted camera features from Android phones, like the Night Sight mode on the recent Pixel devices, we can likely expect some similar features from Apple.
There could perhaps be a mode for significantly brightening up darker scenes, and Bloomberg has suggested Apple is working on a feature that will use extra pixel data to offer up tools for doing things like fitting in a subject that may have been cut off from an initial shot.
All of these cases have a large square camera cutout, but the successor to the iPhone XR isn't expected to have the same triple-lens camera setup. Instead, it's rumored to have a dual-lens camera, which is still an upgrade from the single-lens camera in the current iPhone XR.
In our testing, these cases fit the current iPhones perfectly with the exception of the new camera cutouts, as beyond camera tweaks, we're not expecting any major design changes. The 2019 iPhone lineup will look quite a lot like the 2018 iPhone lineup, but in addition to camera changes, Apple may also be planning a new frosted glass design for its OLED devices and new colors for the iPhone XR successor.
Rumors have suggested the new iPhones could be a tad bit thicker than the current models, but that's not noticeable with the cases and is such a small change that it may be imperceptible in real life. There are also some adjustments to button placement, so the buttons could be moved a bit.
There have been rumors that Apple's 2019 iPhone lineup will use a round iPad-style mute switch in a pill-shaped cutout instead of a traditional bar mute switch, which could account for some of the button differences.
Other rumors have indicated the 2019 iPhones will feature bilateral wireless charging (so you can charge your AirPods or other wireless devices), larger batteries, Lightning connectors, WiFi 6 for faster WiFi speeds, and an 18W power adapter for faster charging right out of the box.
What do you think of the design of the 2019 iPhones? Let us know in the comments.
(Thanks to Sonny Dickson for helping us get our hands on these cases!)
At Ubisoft's E3 event this afternoon, Rob McElhenney, known for "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, today shared some new details on his upcoming TV show for Apple TV+, "Mythic Quest," along with a new trailer for the series.
"Mythic Quest" features a team of game developers who work on a massive multiplayer roleplaying game called, as the name suggests, Mythic Quest, which is similar to World of Warcraft or Everquest, only bigger.
The team is about to put out "Raven's Banquet," a new expansion. Rob McElhenney stars as Ian Grimm, the leader of the company developing Mythic Quest. In the trailer, the video announcing the new expansion turns out to be a video of Grimm, and all his employees criticize it.
The show also includes F. Murray Abraham, Imani Hakim, David Hornsby, Danny Pudi, Ashly Burch, Charlotte Nicdao, and Jessie Ennis. It was created by McElhenney and Charlie Day, though Day is not in the show. The show was revealed at Ubisoft's E3 event because the "Mythic Quest" creators partnered with Ubisoft to learn how a real game development studio works.
Apple hasn't yet shared the trailer on its Apple TV+ YouTube channel, but it was shown in the livestream at about two hours in, and is available in the video above. Apple will likely have the trailer available on its own YouTube channel soon.
Apple also recently shared a full trailer for another one of its shows, "For All Mankind," which explores what would have happened had the space race never ended.
"Mythic Quest" and "For All Mankind" are set to launch this fall when the Apple TV+ service becomes available.
Paciolan, a ticketing service provider for college athletics, today announced plans to allow customers to add contactless tickets for sporting events to their Apple Wallets.
The contactless tickets available in Apple Wallet will allow event attendees to enter stadiums with just their iPhone and Apple Watch using NFC. Apple Pay chief Jennifer Bailey said that students and fans will love having their tickets right on their Apple devices.
"iPhone and Apple Watch make going to college sports games easier than ever," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Internet Services. "We've said our goal is to replace the physical wallet and students and fans will love the convenience and security of having their tickets right on the Apple devices they carry with them every day."
iPhone and Apple Watch users will receive purchased tickets via the Messages app and can add them into the Wallet app by tapping on a link. When at a stadium, the tickets will pop up on the iPhone or Apple Watch's display.
Paciolan says that NFC-based tickets will help cut down on fraud at the gate and will allow colleges to better understand who is attending games.
Contactless tickets will be available starting in the fall 2019 football season for games at Baylor University, Louisiana State University, Michigan State University, University of Mississippi, Georgia Tech, and Rutgers University.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
