MacRumors

Starting on February 27, Apple will be requiring all developers to have two-factor authentication enabled for their Apple IDs, with two-factor necessary for signing into Developer accounts after that date.

Apple today told developers via email that the requirement is being implemented to help keep developer accounts more secure and to make sure that no third-parties can access a developer account.

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Developers who do not have two-factor authentication enabled for their Apple IDs will need to turn it on by February 27.

Two-factor authentication can be enabled on an iPhone or Mac by following Apple's instructions. Once enabled, a verification code from a trusted device will be required when logging in to a developer account.

Popular grocery store chain Kroger has launched a new mobile payments service called Kroger Pay, which it will be using in lieu of Apple Pay.

According to a WCPO, a local Cincinnati news site, Kroger Pay launched in Columbus and Colorado today, but will be expanding to all Kroger stores by the end of the year.

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Kroger Pay is QR-based, so to pay, users need to open up the app and generate a single-use QR code that's scanned at checkout when making a purchase.

Kroger customers can link any major debit or credit card to the Kroger Pay app, and it also includes a Kroger Rewards debit card for earning fuel points and other rewards with purchases.

"Kroger Pay is one of the few mobile wallets that pairs loyalty and payment," said Mary Ellen Adcock, group vice president of operations. "The application of this exciting technology is another step in our front-end experience transformation."

With Kroger embracing its own payment solution, it looks like the grocery store chain has no plans to introduce support for ‌Apple Pay‌. Kroger did test support for ‌Apple Pay‌ in stores that support contactless payments, but reportedly discontinued the program "due to little interest by customers."

Kroger in 2018 told a Reddit user that it did not have plans to implement ‌Apple Pay‌ in any of its stores.

Kroger has been working on its payments service for more than two years, and has been accepting the Chase Pay digital wallet since 2017.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

Apple is planning to unveil both its news service and its TV streaming service at its March 25 event, reports Bloomberg, and celebrities will be in attendance.

Apple's plans for a March 25 event were revealed yesterday, but at the time, Apple was only known to be unveiling an upcoming news subscription service in Apple News. The rumored TV service that's in the works will also reportedly be included.

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Hollywood stars such as Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, and JJ Abrams are set to attend the event, which will be held at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. All of these actresses are starring in television shows that Apple has purchased, and JJ Abrams is directing one of them.

Apple's upcoming video service is said to be similar to Amazon's Prime video option and Netflix's service. It will include TV shows and movies acquired by or funded by Apple, and Apple has more than two dozen original television shows in the works. An actual paid subscription service will launch by the summer.

There is some confusion over Apple's streaming TV plans. While Bloomberg's report suggests Apple's content will be delivered via paid streaming service, other rumors have indicated that Apple plans to provide at least some of its original content to Apple device owners for free.

These other rumors have also suggested that Apple will be teaming up with content providers like Showtime to allow Apple owners to sign up for add-on services like Showtime premium through its TV app, where the upcoming streaming service will presumably be available.

Apple's plans for its TV service will become clearer after March, when the details are officially announced.

Along with its TV service, Apple is going to unveil a premium news service that will let ‌Apple News‌ users sign up for a $9.99 per month subscription that will provide unlimited access to paywalled content from sites like The New York Times and the Washington Post, though Apple is said to be still negotiating deals ahead of the service's launch.

There's also a magazine subscription service in the works, which will provide unlimited access to dozens of magazines for $9.99 per month, similar to the Texture service that Apple acquired in 2018. All of these services could potentially be bundled into a single subscription package option in the future.

The March 25 event is believed to focus solely on services, with Apple not planning to introduce any hardware.

Several hardware products, such as the iPad mini 5, seventh-generation iPad, AirPower, updated AirPods, and seventh-generation iPod touch are in the works and are expected to be updated in the spring, but those updates are not expected at the March event and could instead come via press release.

With the AirPower having already been announced and all of the other updates being relatively minor in scale based on circulating rumors, it makes sense for the new products to debut more quietly.

The iPad mini 5, for example, is expected to be quite similar in design to the ‌iPad mini‌ 4, with the exception of an updated processor, and the same goes for the seventh-generation iPad. That device may get a slightly bigger 10-inch screen and a new chip, but the changes won't be significant.

AirPods rumors have been a bit mixed, but it looks like we may get a wireless Charging Case and "Hey Siri" functionality with other features saved for a later update in 2019 or 2020. We're also not expecting significant design changes to the seventh-generation iPod touch, which will look similar to the sixth-generation model.

Update: A separate report from Reuters suggests that Apple may be planning to hold an event to introduce its streaming television service in April, not March.

Update 2: The Hollywood Reporter also confirms that Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, and J.J. Abrams have all been invited to an Apple event set to be held on March 25.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Apple's preliminary disengagement data for its self-driving car project surfaced yesterday pointing towards a high number of disengagements, and today, the DMV has shared the full disengagement reports from the company, providing more insight into Apple's autonomous car testing.

A disengagement report tracks the number of times an autonomous vehicle disengages and gives control back to a safety driver or the number of times the safety driver in the vehicle interferes.

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Yesterday's information suggested Apple had the worst rank when it came to disengagements, but Apple has now provided details [PDF] explaining its disengagement reporting procedures and some changes that were made mid-year.

For the period between April 2017 and June 2018, Apple vehicles drove 24,604 miles autonomously and experienced 40,198 manual takeovers and 36,359 software disengagements, a number that is comparatively high based on disengagement reports from other companies.

As of July 2018, however, Apple stopped reporting its total number of disengagements and instead began focusing on "Important Disengagements," aka disengagements that might have resulted in a safety-related event (aka accident) or a violation of the rules of the road.

Using this metric, Apple vehicles have driven 56,135 miles since July 2018, with only 28 "Important Disengagements" reported. Two of these "Important Disengagements" were indeed minor collisions that weren't the fault of Apple's vehicles. One accident took place in August 2018 and the other was in October 2018.

Under Apple’s revised reporting threshold, the company’s cars experienced only one important disengagement every 2005 miles, compared to every 1.1 miles if the full data is counted. If other companies use similar thresholds to Apple’s new standard, Apple would rank much better.

Making direct comparisons between Apple's disengagement report and the results from other companies is difficult because there is no standard for reporting disengagements. It's up to each individual company to decide what constitutes a disengagement and what disengagements need to be reported.

It is clear, though, that Apple's vehicles are in the early stages of testing, as the company says itself in a DMV cover letter.

According to Apple, safety is its "highest priority" and its approach to disengagements is "conservative" because its system is not yet able to operate in "all conditions and situations."

Apple's testing parameters require drivers to proactively take manual control of a vehicle any time the system encounters a scenario beyond its current capabilities. The vehicle itself also self-monitors and returns control back to the driver when errors or issues are encountered.

Situations where drivers take over include the appearance of emergency vehicles, construction zones, or unexpected objects in the road, as Apple's vehicles cannot self-navigate these obstacles.

The autonomous software hands over control when it can't sufficiently track an object, is unable to generate a motion plan using the path planning system, when the vehicle systems don't respond as expected, and when there are communication issues.

Apple now has more than 62 vehicles out on the road, a number that will likely ramp up in 2019 as autonomous software testing continues. Apple is required to provide annual disengagement reports to the DMV, so we'll see the company's 2019 performance in early 2020, and will be able to look for improvements.

Apple is planning to launch its rumored streaming television service in April or May, but some cable content providers won't be participating, reports CNBC.

Recent rumors have suggested that along with Apple's own original content, which will be provided to Apple users for free, the service will allow Apple customers to subscribe to additional add-on subscription services on top of Apple's own offering. Customers will be able to sign up for existing digital services like Showtime and watch that content within the TV app, so long as those services are partnered with Apple.

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According to CNBC, as Apple prepares to launch the service, some content providers are still not on board. HBO may not be participating because of disagreements over data sharing and revenue splits, for example, and Hulu and Netflix are not expected to participate.

Starz, Showtime, and Viacom are all expected to offer subscription streaming services through Apple's platform, though, and HBO may also join up if the disagreements can be settled.

Apple is requesting a 30 percent cut on every subscription that originates from its TV service, higher than the 15 percent cut that Apple takes when customers sign up for services like Netflix through the App Store.

The April or May target launch date is in line with past details from The Information, which suggested Apple was telling content partners to be prepared for a launch by mid-April.

Apple has more than two dozen original television shows and movies in the works for its streaming service, which rumors have suggested will be available in more than 100 countries by the end of the year.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Pixelmator Pro for Mac, Pixelmator's higher-end editing software, was today updated with support for masks from Portrait Mode photos.

When you open up a photo taken with an iPhone that offers Portrait Mode, Pixelmator Pro will open the photo itself along with a useful layer mask for doing things like swapping out the background in just a few minutes.

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The portrait mask uses the depth information from the ‌iPhone‌ to isolate the subject of a photo, making it easy to remove background elements with little effort.

The Portrait mask feature is limited to the Pixelmator Pro software, and it is not available on the standard version of Pixelmator or the Pixelmator app for iOS devices.


Pixelmator Pro has been around since late 2017 and it has seen several major updates since then with the Pixelmator team introducing useful new functionality on a regular basis. Pixelmator Pro can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $39.99, and there is a free trial available on the Pixelmator website. [Direct Link]

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Apple's former vice president of corporate law Gene Levoff with insider trading, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey on Wednesday.

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The complaint alleges that Levoff had access to Apple's earnings results before they were publicly announced and used this information to buy Apple shares in advance of better-than-expected earnings results and to sell shares ahead of weaker-than-expected earnings results between 2011 and 2016.

Through his illegal insider trading in 2015-2016, the complaint alleges that Levoff profited and avoided losses of approximately $382,000:

For example, in July 2015 Levoff received material nonpublic financial data that showed Apple would miss analysts' third quarter estimates for iPhone unit sales. Between July 17 and the public release of Apple's quarterly earnings information on July 21, Levoff sold approximately $10 million dollars of Apple stock – virtually all of his Apple holdings – from his personal brokerage accounts. Apple's stock dropped more than four percent when it publicly disclosed its quarterly financial data.

Levoff also served on Apple's Disclosure Committee from September 2008 to July 2018. In this position, he was ironically responsible for ensuring that other Apple employees were compliant with Apple's insider trading policies, including enforcement of "blackout periods" around the time of Apple's earnings reports.

Levoff was also tasked with signing off on some Apple acquisitions in his role. He was terminated in September 2018, according to the lawsuit.

Read the full complaint here. The news was first reported by CNBC.

Update: Apple issued the following statement per Bloomberg's Mark Gurman: "After being contacted by authorities last summer we conducted a thorough investigation with the help of outside legal experts, which resulted in termination."

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced the 25 members of the Trump administration's new American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty.

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The advisory board's recommendations will help guide the National Council for the American Worker's efforts to establish a strategy to ensure that American students and workers have access to "affordable, relevant, and innovative education and job training that will equip them to compete and win in the global economy."

The board, co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump, is expected to help address a "skills crisis" due to the rapidly increasing use of technology, automation, and artificial intelligence that is shaping many industries across the United States.

The full list of members:

  • Jay Box, President, Kentucky Community and Technical College System

  • Walter Bumphus, President & CEO, American Association of Community Colleges

  • Jim Clark, President & CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America

  • Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

  • Tom Donohue, CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

  • Juanita Duggan, President & CEO, National Federation for Independent Business

  • Elizabeth Goettl, President & CEO, Cristo Rey Network

  • Marillyn Hewson, Chairman, President, & CEO, Lockheed Martin

  • Eric Holcomb, Governor, Indiana

  • Barbara Humpton, CEO, Siemens USA

  • Al Kelly, CEO, Visa

  • Vi Lyles, Mayor, Charlotte, North Carolina

  • Bill McDermott, CEO, SAP America

  • Sean McGarvey, President, North America’s Building and Trades Unions

  • Doug McMillon, President & CEO, Walmart

  • Craig Menear, Chairman, President, & CEO, Home Depot

  • Michael Piwowar, Executive Director, Milken Institute

  • Scott Pulsipher, President, Western Governors University

  • Kim Reynolds, Governor, Iowa

  • Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President, & CEO, IBM

  • Scott Sanders, Executive Director, National Association of State Workforce Agencies

  • Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., President & CEO, Society for Human Resource Management

  • Jay Timmons, President & CEO, National Association of Manufacturers

  • Sheree Utash, President, WSU Tech

  • Marianne Wanamaker, Professor, University of Tennessee

President Trump established the National Council for the American Worker in July 2018 to "create and promote workforce development strategies that provide evidence-based, affordable education and skills-based training for youth and adults to prepare them for the jobs of today and of the future."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues 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.

Sleep fitness company Eight Sleep today announced "The Pod," a smart bed that lets users control the temperature of their side of the bed through their iPhone. Not only that, but The Pod will dynamically warm or cool you (55 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit) as you sleep based on settings you enter in the app.

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The Pod does not support HomeKit and Eight Sleep has no plans to do so as of now. When we asked about ‌HomeKit‌ integration, the company pointed out that The Pod does support IFTTT, which opens up many smart home connection possibilities. The Pod also integrates with Alexa devices, Google Home, Philips Hue, Wemo products, and more. With these integrations, you can say things like "Alexa, cool down my bed" to prepare for nighttime.

This "smart temperature mode" is powered by machine learning and biofeedback, and is accompanied by a thermo alarm that leverages temperature to wake you up more naturally, without disturbing a sleep partner and without the need of a noisy alarm. This mode gradually cools your side of the bed in the minutes prior to the wake-up time you set on your ‌iPhone‌.

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In addition, The Pod includes biometric tracking to monitor time slept, time to fall asleep, time of wake up, respiratory rate, heart rate, heart rate variability, temperature in bed, sleep breaks, light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep. All of this is fed into Eight Sleep's AI engine to calculate your "sleep fitness score" and rate your sleep each night.

You can then take this score to adjust your next night of sleep as needed, change settings in The Pod, and even compare scores with friends.

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Sleep monitoring has become a popular market over the past few years, and even Apple has shown interest in the technology by acquiring sleep tracking company Beddit in May 2017. Beddit is a slim sensor strip that you place over your existing mattress to monitor sleep stats like sleep time and efficiency, heart rate, respiration, temperature, movement, snoring, room temperature, and room humidity.

You can reserve Eight Sleep's Pod for $95 beginning today, and the remaining balance will be due at the time of shipping in April 2019. The Pod is available in Full ($1,995), Queen ($2,195), King ($2,495), and Cali King ($2,495), and each mattress will have a 100 night trial period with free returns.

Over the past 24 hours, we've seen a handful of reports talking about a new update to the speaking voice of Siri on HomePod in a few regions. These reports are mostly located in the United Kingdom and Australia, and mention the British (Male and Female) and Australian (Male and Female) speaking voices for the assistant, specifically on Apple's ‌HomePod‌ smart speaker.

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The change appears to be very subtle. MacRumors readers described the Australian Female and British Male voices as "more natural" and "much clearer," and similar reports have emerged about other voices. Although there are many different descriptions for each voice, the consensus appears to be that the tweaks make ‌Siri‌ sound more human-like.

‌HomePod‌ users can choose any ‌Siri‌ voice no matter the region they are located in, but as of now the vast majority of these reports appear to be located in the same regions as the voice they represent. This may be the beginning of a wider rollout, but that's still unclear at this point.

Twitter user @callumjcoe recorded the difference between the current iteration of the Australian Female voice (on an iPad) and the updated voice (on ‌HomePod‌). Of course, distortion and muddled sound quality from a recording don't provide a perfect example, but there is a slight change between the two heard in the video, which is likely much more pronounced in person.

As of writing, MacRumors hasn't noticed any similar updates to ‌Siri‌ on ‌HomePod‌ (for any voices) in the United States. Apple has updated ‌Siri‌ over the past year with improvements to the assistant's ability to recognize local businesses and destinations, as well as new jokes, but many Apple users remain frustrated with the technology. One of the last major updates to ‌Siri‌ came in iOS 11 in 2017, when Apple gave ‌Siri‌ a more natural voice that had better pronunciation and different inflection depending on what's being said.

In early 2018, ‌Siri‌ creator, co-founder, and former board member Norman Winarsky talked about the origins of Siri and the company's intentions for the assistant before Apple acquired it. According to the co-founder, ‌Siri‌ was originally meant to be incredibly intelligent in just a few key areas -- travel and entertainment -- and then "gradually extend to related areas" once it mastered each. Apple's acquisition pivoted ‌Siri‌ to an all-encompassing life assistant, and Winarsky said that this decision has likely led Apple to search "for a level of perfection they can't get."

Although unconfirmed, the new voice changes to ‌Siri‌ may be Apple's latest attempt to make the voice assistant more personable and easy to talk to, in the wake of ongoing user complaints. If the changes roll out to other regions, we'll update this article.

(Thanks Sebastian, Robert, and Jared!)

Related Roundup: HomePod
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral)

Apple recently introduced an easier way to manage subscriptions via the App Store, as spotted by MacStories editor-in-chief Federico Viticci.

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iPhone and iPad users running iOS 12.1.4 or iOS 12.2 beta can now simply open the ‌App Store‌, tap on their profile picture in the top-right corner, and tap on Manage Subscriptions to view and edit ‌App Store‌, Apple Music, and Apple News subscriptions.

We've confirmed this Manage Subscriptions shortcut is not in earlier iOS versions.

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iOS 12.1.2

Managing subscriptions previously required an extra step of tapping on the box with your Apple ID name and email address via the ‌App Store‌ or Settings.

Apple will reportedly host a subscription-focused media event on Monday, March 25 at Steve Jobs Theater, where it is expected to announce its widely rumored subscription news service and perhaps its streaming movie and TV show service.

Further cementing its status as Nintendo's most successful mobile game to date, Fire Emblem Heroes has officially crossed the half-a-billion-dollar revenue mark, which it hit just after the two-year anniversary of its launch in early February 2017. The game's $500 million in player spending includes players on both iOS and Android (via Sensor Tower).

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Fire Emblem Heroes is a free-to-play game that lets players spend real money inside the app once they download it. Most of Nintendo's apps have followed this structure, except Super Mario Run, which requires players to pay $9.99 to see the full game. In total, Fire Emblem Heroes has brought in "more than seven times the revenue" of Super Mario Run, and grossed more than twice the combined earnings of all of Nintendo's other mobile games, according to Sensor Tower.

To date these include Miitomo (now defunct), Super Mario Run, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Dragalia Lost. Released just last September, Dragalia Lost has already become Nintendo's second most lucrative mobile game, surpassing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Super Mario Run.

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In terms of platforms for Fire Emblem Heroes, players on Google Play/Android accounted for the majority of spending at 54 percent, while the iOS App Store made up 46 percent of player spending. Most players are located in Japan, which accounted for 56 percent of the game's $500 million total, while the United States is the game's second largest market at 31 percent of player spending.

Despite Super Mario Run performing poorly in comparison to the free-to-play games, Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Nintendo will "continue pushing" for pay-once mobile games over freemium experiences. One senior official at Nintendo called the F2P structure of Fire Emblem Heroes as "an outlier" in the grand scheme of Nintendo's mobile strategy, claiming that Nintendo "prefers" Super Mario Run's payment model.

Despite this, Nintendo's next two mobile game releases will be free-to-play: Mario Kart Tour will launch this summer and Dr. Mario World is set to release later in 2019.

Apple is offering a special $70 promotional discount on its "Skyline Collection" of Beats Studio 3 Wireless Headphones on its online store.

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The Skyline Studio 3 Wireless Headphones come in Crystal Blue, Desert Sand, Midnight Black, and Shadow Grey. All of the colors feature gold accents with a gold beats logo and gold band.

The collection was originally launched online in October for $349.99, but Apple is currently offering them for $279.99 online and via Apple Store pickup, presumably for a limited time.

Studio 3 Wireless Headphones feature Apple's Pure Adaptive Noise Canceling technology, designed to block external noise when listening.

They're also equipped with an Apple W1 chip, designed to make it easy to switch between devices when listening. The power efficiency of the chip also means the headphones last for 22 hours on one charge.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals
Tags: Beats, Deals

Apple Watch is the "clear market leader" in the burgeoning U.S. smartwatch market, according to a new report from consumer research firm The NPD Group.

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Market data shows U.S. smartwatch sales showed strong growth in the 12 months ending November 2018 when compared to the same timeframe a year ago. Apple, Samsung, and Fitbit made up 88 percent of smartwatch unit sales in that time.

The report found dollar sales of the devices were up 51 percent, amounting to nearly $5 billion in sales, while unit sales experienced a 61 percent increase, indicating an impressive acceleration in demand for the wearables.

"Over the last 18 months smartwatch sales gained strong momentum, proving the naysayers, who didn't think the category could achieve mainstream acceptance, had potentially judged too soon," said Weston Henderek, director, industry analyst for NPD Connected Intelligence. "The ability to be truly connected via built-in LTE without the need to have a smartphone nearby proved to be a tipping point for consumers, as they now recognize the value in being able to complete a wide range of tasks on the device including receiving notifications, messaging, accessing smart home controls, and more."

According to the report, 16 percent of U.S. adults now own a smartwatch, which is up from 12 percent in December of 2017. Interest from the younger 18-34 age demographic is said to be responsible for the overall growth in the smartwatch market, but NPD analysts expect Apple Watch will continue to entice older consumers thanks to health features like Fall Detection and ECG and greater control over home automation.

Apple doesn't break out Apple Watch unit sales from its overall earnings. However in its recent earnings call for the first quarter of the 2019 fiscal year, CEO Tim Cook said the company's wearables revenue was being driven by the "amazing popularity" of Apple Watch and AirPods, and that the category alone was "approaching the size of a Fortune 200 company."

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)

Apple has been testing Lexus SUVs equipped with its autonomous driving software out on the roads around Cupertino since April 2017, and for the first time, the company has filed a disengagement report with the DMV.

A disengagement report tracks the number of times an autonomous vehicle disengages and gives control back to a safety driver or the number of times the safety driver in the vehicle interferes. All of Apple's self-driving SUVs have safety drivers able to take over in the event of an emergency.

The DMV will be publishing the full reports later this week, but they appeared briefly on the website and The Last Driver License Holder was able to get a brief look at some of the data. The information covers the period from December 2017 to November 2018 for all companies operating self-driving vehicles in California, including Apple.

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Image via The Last Driver License Holder

According to the data, Apple registered 871.65 disengagements per 1000 miles, with a disengagement approximately every 1.1 mile. For comparison's sake, Waymo, Google's autonomous vehicle arm, had 0.09 disengagements per 1000 miles with 11,154.3 miles per disengagement.

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Apple's total number of disengagements was higher than any other company doing autonomous vehicle testing, suggesting Apple drivers need to take over for the self-driving vehicle more frequently than other companies as it works out kinks in the software. This could be because Apple is driving more challenging routes, Apple drivers are abundantly cautious, or it could be because its self-driving software is less evolved.

There are likely multiple factors at play when it comes to Apple's performance, and it's worth noting that Apple has not been testing self-driving vehicles for as long as other companies.

Disengagements are self-reported numbers and companies are able to take some liberties with how this data is reported and just what counts as a disengagement, so the data should be viewed with that in mind.

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Image via The Last Driver License Holder

According to the data, Apple has 62 self-driving vehicles out on the road, though earlier reports have suggested that number is a little low. As of November, Apple reportedly had 72 vehicles on the road.

Apple's self-driving vehicles were involved in two minor collisions in 2018, one in August and one in October, though neither collision was Apple's fault. In the August collision, the vehicle was in self-driving mode, while in the October collision, it was in manual mode.

More detail on Apple's self-driving car performance will be available later this week when the full reports are released.

Our guide to upcoming products provides an overview of all of the new devices that we're expecting to see in 2025, based on the most current rumors.

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The dates listed here are not always concrete, but we update this guide as new information comes out. The upcoming products guide is the go-to place to see all of the Apple products that are upcoming at a glance. For more information, make sure to click on the included links to visit our individual product roundups.

June 2025

Each June, Apple holds its annual Worldwide Developers Conference to introduce new versions of the software that runs on Apple devices. WWDC is always focused on new operating systems, but there are sometimes new hardware products as well. The Mac Studio could launch around the middle of the year, so it might see a WWDC debut.

Software

  • iOS 19 - iOS 19 will bring a complete design refresh, with the biggest change since iOS 7. We're also expecting the Apple Intelligence Siri features that were not ready to debut in iOS 18.
  • iPadOS 19 - iPadOS 19 will get the same design updates as iOS 19.
  • macOS 16 - Apple is also planning to refresh macOS 16, and it will have some of the same design changes coming to iOS 19 and iPadOS 19.
  • tvOS 19
  • watchOS 12
  • visionOS 3

September 2025

Apple refreshes the iPhone and Apple Watch lineups each September, and this year we're expecting new iPhone 17 models, an Apple Watch 11, and new versions of the Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Ultra.

  • iPhone 17, iPhone 17 "Air" and iPhone 17 Pro - There won't be an iPhone 17 Plus this year, but Apple is introducing an iPhone 17 "Air," which will be the thinnest iPhone to date at around 6mm. It will be a middle option between the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro, with a super thin chassis, a single-lens rear camera, and a 6.6-inch display. The iPhone 17 will have a dual-lens camera setup and will be Apple's most affordable model, while the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could get some major changes in camera design. Apple may opt for a half-glass half-aluminum casing and a horizontal camera. All iPhone 17 models are expected to have ProMotion displays and A19 chips.
  • Apple Watch Series 11 - The 11th generation Apple Watch could be able to monitor for high blood pressure if Apple is able to get the feature completed in time.
  • Apple Watch Ultra 3 - The Apple Watch Ultra didn't get a 2024 update, but it will see a refresh in 2025. The new model could feature any new health capabilities that come to the Apple Watch Series 11, such as blood pressure monitoring, and it is also expected to get satellite connectivity for texting when off-grid.
  • Apple Watch SE - Apple didn't refresh the Apple Watch SE in 2024, and a new model won't be coming until 2025. The next Apple Watch SE is expected to feature a "new look" of some kind, which could be a colorful plastic casing. It will also get a faster S-series chip.
  • AirPods Pro 3 - The AirPods Pro will get a refresh in 2025, and Apple plans to introduce a new design. Better audio quality is expected, as is improvements to Active Noise Cancellation. There will be a new, faster H3 chip, and it's possible that health features like body temperature monitoring and heart rate monitoring could be included.

Late 2025

Later in 2025, Apple is expected to introduce high-end M4 chips in the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro.

  • Mac Pro - Apple plans to update the Mac Pro sometime in late 2025. It will be equipped with the highest-end version of the M4 chip, which is codenamed "Hidra," and it could be either an "Ultra" or "Extreme" M4 chip. The Mac Pro is also expected to support up to 512GB Unified Memory.
  • M5 MacBook Pro - Apple is working on an M5 MacBook Pro that could launch in 2025, and if it is coming this year, it will likely launch sometime around October or November. No changes are rumored except for the M5 chip, and it's not a good year to buy because OLED display technology is rumored for 2026.
  • Apple TV 4K - The Apple TV will get a new Apple-designed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, along with a faster processor. No design changes are expected. The most recent rumors suggest the Apple TV will come toward the end of the year.
  • HomePod mini - Apple will refresh the HomePod mini in late 2025, adding a faster S-series chip and an Apple-designed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip. New color options are also likely.

Products With Unknown Release Dates

  • AirTag 2 - The AirTag 2 that's coming in 2025 could have a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip for improved range, allowing the AirTag to be located from further away.
  • Smart Home Command Center - Rumors suggest Apple is working on a smart home display that would serve as a central hub for controlling smart home products. It will also run Apple apps, and it can be used for FaceTime calls. The Command Center was initially expected in the spring, but with delays to Siri Apple Intelligence features, it could instead come in late 2025 or early 2026.
  • iPad Pro - Apple is working on a faster M5 chip that could come to the iPad Pro in either late 2025 or early 2026.
  • Vision Pro 2 - Rumors about the next Vision Pro have been unclear, but Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks Apple is coming to release a next-generatio version of the Vision Pro in 2025. Design changes aren't expected, but Apple will replace the M2 chip with an M5 chip.

2025 Updates That Already Happened

February and March Releases

In late February, Apple released the iPhone 16e, a $599 iPhone that replaces the iPhone SE 3. It has an A18 chip, a single-lens rear camera, and an all-display design with a 6.1-inch OLED display.

Then in March, Apple refreshed the MacBook Air with M4 chips and the Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips. There were no design changes, with the focus on performance updates.

Apple also updated the low-cost iPad with an A16 chip and the iPad Air with the M3 chip, again with no design change.

Further in the Future

  • iMac Pro - Apple could introduce a larger 32-inch iMac, replacing the previously discontinued 27-inch iMac and iMac Pro at some point. Apple's plans continue to be unclear, and it's not clear if and when a larger iMac will see a launch.
  • New Display - There have been multiple rumors of a Pro Display XDR successor, but there's no word on when an update might come.
  • Foldable iPhone - Apple is allegedly working on a foldable iPhone that might be between 7.5 and 8 inches, with a launch date slated for 2027 at the earliest.
  • Foldable iPad/Mac - Before we ever get a foldable iPhone, Apple will introduce some kind of foldable notebook and perhaps a foldable iPad. Current rumors suggest that Apple is working on a 17-to-20-inch MacBook that has a foldable display, but it won't come out for several years yet.

2025 Product Refresh Timeline

2024 Product Refresh Timeline

We have a list of all the products that Apple released in 2024, which can be useful for predicting 2025 launch timelines.

2023 Product Refreshes and Announcements

2022 Product Refreshes and Announcements

2021 Product Refreshes and Announcements

Guide Feedback

Know of an upcoming product that we've missed on this list or see an error that needs to be fixed? Send us an email here.

Apple is planning to hold an event on March 25, its first of 2019, according to a new report from BuzzFeed. The event will reportedly take place at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus.

Apple will use the event to unveil its rumored news service, which will add paid subscription options to Apple News.

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While Apple has many products in the works that are rumored to be debuting in the spring, BuzzFeed says not to expect the company to unveil a new iPad mini or second-generation AirPods, as their appearance at the event is "unlikely."

Instead, the event will be "subscription services focused," though it is unclear if it will also include details on the upcoming TV news service that Apple has in the works. That service is expected to launch as early as April, so it's certainly possible.

Recent rumors suggest Apple is planning to offer a $9.99 per month subscription for ‌Apple News‌ that would allow users unlimited access to paywalled content on sites like The New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

Apple is, however, said to be still negotiating financial terms, as it is requesting 50 percent of revenue from the service, with the rest to be split among publications. News sites are said to be wary to enter into this deal with Apple due both to pricing issues and Apple's desire to control email addresses and credit card information.

There have been rumors suggesting that Apple will bundle the news service with iCloud storage tiers and its television service, providing all-in-one Apple services package, which could mean both the news and TV services will be introduced all at once. The news subscription service could also include magazines, as Apple is said to be working on a $9.99 per month service that would offer magazine access much like the Texture app that it acquired last year.

With the event reportedly focused on services, it sounds like we also won't be seeing an upgraded iPad, a new 7th-generation iPod touch, or the AirPower at the event, along with the lack of a new ‌iPad mini‌ and new AirPods.

If March isn't the planned launch target for these items, it's not known when we might see them. Apple could plan a second spring event, though it has never done so, or opt to introduce them later in the year at WWDC. Eventless launches are also a possibility, so Apple could release these products via press release without highlighting them at an event.

Apple has held events in March in 2015, 2016, and 2018, so it makes since that the company is planning a 2019 March event as well. There is always a chance that BuzzFeed is wrong and Apple will debut these new devices at the event, but the site often provides accurate information on Apple's plans.

Related Roundups: AirPods 4, iPad mini
Related Forums: AirPods, iPad

There's nothing wrong with the stock Camera app that comes on every iPhone, but there are many third-party camera apps available in the App Store that add additional functionality, filters, and other effects that are worth checking out.

For our latest YouTube video, we asked MacRumors readers for their favorite camera apps, and compiled a list of the best and most popular options. If you're looking to take your ‌iPhone‌ photography up a notch, make sure to check these out.

Halide

Halide, priced at $5.99, was the top pick when we asked for preferred camera apps. More MacRumors readers chose it than any other camera app, which is no surprise because Halide offers a rich feature set.

Halide offers up full manual controls for shutter speed, ISO, and white balance, along with a live histogram for perfecting exposure. The swipe-based interface is easy to use, and you can capture photos in RAW, JPG, TIFF, or HEIC formats.

There are depth controls for newer iPhones, manual and autofocus tools, and for ‌iPhone‌ XR, there's a Depth Capture feature that works with pets, food, and other items, unlike the native Depth Control feature. Halide just added a new color histogram, which is a nifty option that lets you make sure you have the right exposure to preserve color detail and make colors pop. Halide has a new app coming out in the near future, so keep an eye out for that.

ProCam 6

ProCam 6, priced at $5.99, was also a popular choice with MacRumors readers. ProCam offers full manual control options for shutter speed, ISO, focus, and white balance, along with tap-based manual focus assist, built-in warnings for overexposure, and live values for metrics like ISO and shutter speed.

You can choose your video frame rate and resolution when taking video, or choose from multiple shooting modes like Night Mode, Burst Mode, Slow Shutter, and 3D Photos. Like most of the camera apps on this list, ProCam 6 lets you capture RAW, JPG, TIFF, and HEIF images, and there's a live light level histogram.

For editing after capturing a photo, ProCam 6 includes 60 filters, 17 lenses for fun effects, multiple adjustment tools, and video editing capabilities. There are custom profiles for saving your favorite shooting modes and camera settings, and Siri Shortcuts are supported.

Obscura 2

Priced at $4.99, Obscura has a simple swipe-based interface that puts the tools you need right at your fingertips, and it's ideal for one-handed use.

You can capture photos in RAW, HEIC, and JPG formats, take Live Photos, and capture images with depth on newer iPhones. There are tools for adjusting white balance, exposure, and focus, as well as ISO and shutter speed, plus there's a histogram for adjusting exposure.

There are 19 included filters available, which can be used in post processing or with live previews, and there are additional filter packs available for purchase in the app. Swiping down from the top of the app gives you access to your Photo Library, and swiping up on a selected photo shows all the metadata you might need to know.

Focos

Focos is a free download, but charges a fee for pro tools. It costs $0.99 per month or $11.99 for lifetime access. Focos offers full manual controls for capturing images, along with options for depth control, portraits, adjustable bokeh, and more.

You can import your Portrait ‌Photos‌ and adjust the bokeh (aka background blurring) effect, and there are options to simulate lens effects like creamy, bilinear, swirly, and reflex effects. There are also options to add lighting and edit depth maps.

Moment

Moment, like Focos, is a free download but requires a $4.99 purchase to unlock Pro tools. Moment offers options for manually adjusting exposure, ISO, shutter speed, focus, white balance, and image format, which lets you customize the look of your photos beyond what you can do with the stock Camera app.

RAW shooting is supported, as are HEIF and HEVC, Apple's newest photo and video formats, and there's a live histogram. Moment's app is designed to work with Moment's lenses, available separately on the Moment website, but it also works without them.

You have to pay for manual controls and advanced video tools, but it's worth the $4.99 if you want full control over how your ‌iPhone‌ photos turn out.

Conclusion

All of these camera apps are fantastic, but they're just a small sampling of the photography-oriented app options in the ‌App Store‌. If we missed your favorite camera app, make sure to let us know which one you prefer in the comments.

Please feel free to share your favorite photo editing apps too, because we'll be covering that in an upcoming video and article.