Like the classic AirFly, the Pro version allows Bluetooth headphones like AirPods or Beats to work with 3.5mm headphone jacks. For example, on an airplane, you can plug the AirFly dongle into the headphone jack, pair AirPods with the AirFly via Bluetooth, and then listen to the in-flight entertainment system wirelessly.
AirFly is also ideal for treadmills with headphone jacks for listening to a TV at a gym, and it is also compatible with the Nintendo Switch.
What sets the AirFly Pro apart from the classic version is that it can turn any AUX port into a wireless audio receiver, useful for sending audio from an iPhone to a rental car, boat, or speaker without Bluetooth. AirFly Pro can also be paired with multiple Bluetooth headphones for shared listening.
AirFly Pro has a built-in battery that is rated to last 16+ hours and recharges via USB-C. The dongle is available for $54.95 on Apple.com.
A few months ago, YouTuber and photographer Andrew Levitt teamed up with his friends Jacob Phillips and Taylor Gray on a one-week road trip to try to recreate all of Apple's default wallpapers included in macOS.
Just a few weeks after the video, Apple publicly released macOS Catalina, giving Levitt and his friends one more wallpaper to recreate. The task was more challenging this time, however, as the default macOS Catalina wallpaper showcases the remote, northern tip of Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California.
To get there, Levitt and his friends took a ferry to Catalina Island and hiked over eight hours across the island, complete with camping gear and other supplies.
The trio of friends eventually reached the tip of the island and, despite windy conditions, managed to capture a nearly identical version of the default macOS Catalina wallpaper with a drone.
On the hike back to the ferry terminal, Levitt and his friends were stopped by a police officer and learned that hiking at night on Catalina Island is apparently forbidden. Fortunately, the police officer was kind and merely escorted them back to the other side of the island. All in all, a fascinating video.
Apple today announced it has released its Research app with three studies related to heart and movement, women's health, and hearing. The app is designed to make it easier for iPhone users to contribute to medical research.
iPhone users in the United States can download the free Research app from the App Store and enroll in the multi-year studies starting today. After enrolling in a study, participants using an iPhone or Apple Watch can contribute movement, heart rate, and noise level data captured during everyday activities.
- Apple Women's Health Study: In partnership with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Apple has created the first long-term study of this scale focused on menstrual cycles and gynecological conditions. This study will inform screening and risk assessment of conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), infertility, osteoporosis, pregnancy and menopausal transition.
- Apple Heart and Movement Study: Apple is partnering with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the American Heart Association on a comprehensive study of how heart rate and mobility signals — like walking pace and flights of stairs climbed — relate to hospitalizations, falls, heart health and quality of life in order to promote healthy movement and improved cardiovascular health.
- Apple Hearing Study: Alongside the University of Michigan, Apple is examining factors that impact hearing health. The Apple Hearing Health Study is the first of its kind to collect data over time in order to understand how everyday sound exposure can impact hearing. The study data will also be shared with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a contribution toward its Make Listening Safe initiative.
Apple COO Jeff Williams:
Today marks an important moment as we embark on research initiatives that may offer incredible learnings in areas long sought after by the medical community. Participants on the Research app have the opportunity to make a tremendous impact that could lead to new discoveries and help millions lead healthier lives.
Apple emphasizes that the Research app was designed to only share data with the chosen studies when the user approves. An enrollment screen explains how data will be used and allows a user to control the type of data shared with each study. Apple says the data collected will never be sold to third parties.
Apple is considering bundling its subscription services as early as 2020, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple News+, according to Bloomberg.
The report indicates that Apple has included a provision in its contract with Apple News+ publishers that permits Apple to bundle News+ with its other services if it desires. The monthly price of the bundle would presumably be lower than the cost of paying for each service separately in a bid to attract more subscribers.
Apple Music and Apple News+ each cost $9.99 per month in the United States, while Apple TV+ is $4.99 per month.
The report goes on to cite "some media executives" who said the amount of money they have received from Apple News+ so far has been less than expected. On the other hand, some executives are pleased with the service so far, including Los Angeles Times executive editor Norm Pearlstine.
Apple this evening shared a new trailer for its upcoming Apple TV+ show "Servant," which is set to come out in just over two weeks.
This particular clip shows a doll maker creating Jericho, the lifelike fake baby that plays a starring role in the show.
"Servant" is a thriller produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, known for movies like "Signs," "Glass," "Split," and more. The movie follows a Philadelphia couple who hire a nanny to look after their "child" following a tragedy.
Based on the trailers that have been shown so far, including the newest trailer, a couple loses a child and then adopts Jericho, a rather real-looking fake baby. The nanny that's hired to look after Jericho turns out to be unusual herself, leading to a series of strange events.
"Servant" will be the first major new series to come to Apple TV+ following its November 1 launch, with the show set to debut on Thursday, November 28. "Servant" is a shorter form show that will feature 10 30 minute episodes.
If you're interested in discussing Apple's new TV shows, make sure to head over to the new MacRumors Apple TV+ forum.
Stanford Medicine today published results from the Apple Heart Study that kicked off in 2017, marking the third time data from the study has been shared (via Reuters and CNBC).
The aim of the study, conducted by Stanford and Apple, was to determine whether the Apple Watch is able to detect atrial fibrillation, which can be an indicator of serious heart health problems. Researchers wanted to determine how well the Apple Watch worked and whether it was safe to use.
A total of 419,297 people in the United States participated in the study, and 0.52 percent of participants (2,161 people) received an irregular heart rhythm notification over 117 days of monitoring. People who received a notification were sent ECG patches to further monitor for heart problems, but quite a few of those went unreturned.
Of the 450 people who returned the patches with data that could be analyzed, atrial fibrillation was present in 34 percent overall and 35 percent of participants age 65 or older. Of those who had an irregular reading and returned a patch, 84 percent of subsequent notifications were determined to be atrial fibrillation.
Among participants who were notified of an irregular pulse, the positive predictive value was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.76 to 0.92) for observing atrial fibrillation on the ECG simultaneously with a subsequent irregular pulse notification and 0.71 (97.5% CI, 0.69 to 0.74) for observing atrial fibrillation on the ECG simultaneously with a subsequent irregular tachogram. Of 1376 notified participants who returned a 90-day survey, 57% contacted health care providers outside the study. There were no reports of serious app-related adverse events.
According to researchers, the low number of warnings in the study indicates that the device does not cause an excess of false notifications in healthy people who wear the watch.
In some cases, atrial fibrillation detected by the Apple Watch was in the early stages of development, and it didn't happen frequently enough for the patch testing to detect it, something that was more prevalent in younger participants.
The study did ultimately determine that the Apple Watch can detect atrial fibrillation. Stanford cardiologist and co-author of the study Dr. Mintu Turakhia said that the trial was overall a success, especially when it came to determining how many people are going to get heart-related notifications from Apple Watch and what those types of notifications mean for patients, doctors, insurers, and more.
Dr. Daniel Cantillon, a Cleveland cardiologist who was not involved, told Reuters that the technology was promising, but more than half of participants were under 40, a group at low risk for atrial fibrillation, leading to concerns about scaring healthy people.
Separately, a New York cardiologist told CNBC that there's a risk of the Apple Watch finding young people who have early signs of atrial fibrillation that the medical community doesn't know how to treat. "We just don't understand atrial fibrillation well in the 35-year-old, otherwise healthy person," he said.
Wessler treats patients who have visited him based on data gathered from the Apple Watch, and he expects those kind of visits to pick up in the future. Should Apple's research continue, Wessler believes it's important to find the right population that's most at risk to use these tools rather than delivering them to a mainstream audience.
The study was overall beneficial, demonstrating the potential for large-scale studies that use a variety of technologies to monitor patients remotely without requiring on-site visits. Since this study kicked off in 2017, it did not use the new Apple Watch models that are able to take ECG readings, instead relying on the standard heart rate sensor.
Apple CFO Luca Maestri is teaming up with auction site Charitybuzz to offer Apple fans the opportunity to bid on lunch with Maestri and a tour of the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Maestri will have lunch with two people at the Apple Park campus, with the proceeds from the auction benefitting the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. The lunch, which also comes with a tour with an Apple employee, will last for approximately one hour.
Luca Maestri is a senior vice president at Apple and the company's chief financial officer, reporting directly to Tim Cook. He oversees Apple's accounting, business support, financial planning and analysis, treasury, M&A, investor relations, internal audits, and tax functions at Apple.
The Andrea Bocelli Foundation's goal is to empower people and communities in situations of poverty, illiteracy, distress due to illness, and social exclusion by promoting and supporting national and international projects that aim to overcome these barriers.
The current bid on the lunch with Maestri is at $10,500, and its estimated value is $50,000. The auction will end on December 5 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Apple CEO Tim Cook in past years has also done charity lunches facilitated by Charitybuzz to earn money for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, but the last one was held in 2017. That auction earned $680,000.
Apple plans to release new iPad Pro models with rear 3D sensing in the first half of 2020, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a research note with TF International Securities, seen by MacRumors, Kuo said the iPad Pro models will gain 3D sensing through the rear-facing camera system. Apple is expected to use a time-of-flight system, which measures the time that it takes for light to bounce off of objects in a room to generate a 3D map.
The timeframe lines up with a recent report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who also said Apple plans to release iPad Pro models with rear 3D sensing as early as the first half of 2020. Gurman expects the iPad Pro models to feature dual rear cameras, up from a single lens, along with a new augmented reality sensor.
Kuo also reiterated that Apple plans to release a so-called "iPhone SE 2" in the first half of 2020 too. He has previously said the device will be released by the end of the first quarter with similar features as the iPhone 8, including a 4.7-inch display and Touch ID, but with a faster A13 chip and 3GB of RAM.
The low-cost iPhone will likely start around $399 with 64GB of storage, and come in Space Gray, Silver, and Red, according to Kuo.
Kuo has made both the iPad Pro and low-cost iPhone predictions in the past, so this really only serves as an update that the plans are still on track for early next year. Apple often holds a media event in March, and it is certainly possible the new iPad Pro and low-cost iPhone could be announced then.
It is worth noting that Kuo is likely just referring to the device as the "iPhone SE 2" as an easy way to refer to Apple working on a new low-cost iPhone. With its rumored 4.7-inch display, the device would certainly not resemble the original iPhone SE in terms of size, so it could end up having a different name.
Apple Music was today updated with a new feature called Replay, which is designed to allow Apple Music subscribers to take a look at the music that they listened to most in 2019.
Available on the web, in the Mac Music app, and the Music app on iOS devices, the Replay feature aggregates top songs of the year, while also providing playlists for past years too.
Playlists are available for every year that an Apple Music subscriber has had the service, dating back to 2015. Replay playlists can be added to the Apple Music Library so they can be streamed right alongside other playlists and shared with others.
According to TechCrunch, Replay will continue to be updated throughout the year, changing and evolving as a person's musical tastes and interests shift.
Apple plans to update the Replay playlist each Sunday with new songs and data insights to reflect each person's current listening activity.
Apple Music has never offered an aggregated year-end playlist with song data, something that Spotify has provided for years with its Wrapped experience. Apple now has an equivalent feature, and one that is perhaps more useful given the fact that it's updated on an ongoing basis.
Apple Music subscribers can access Apple Music Replay on the web and add the playlists to iOS or Mac devices. Replay should also be available in the iOS and Mac Music apps without the need to use the feature on the web, but it's still in the early stages of rolling out and not available on every platform yet.
When asked about the redesigned scissor keyboard on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Schiller acknowledged that the butterfly keyboards on recent MacBook Pro models have received a "mixed reaction" due in part to "some quality issues" that could result in sticky, repeating, or nonfunctional keys.
Schiller says Apple carefully considered customer feedback and found that many professional users wanted the MacBook Pro to have a similar keyboard as the standalone Magic Keyboard for the iMac:
As you know, a number of years ago we started a new keyboard technology with this butterfly keyboard and began it with MacBook. It had some things it did really well, like creating a much more stable key platform. It felt more firm and flat under your finger -- some people really like that, but other people weren't really happy with that. We got sort of a mixed reaction. We had some quality issues we had to work on. Over the years we've been refining that keyboard design, and we're now on the third generation, and a lot of people are much happier with that as we've advanced and advanced it.
As we started to investigate specifically what pro users most wanted, a lot of times they would say, "I want something like this Magic Keyboard, I love that keyboard."
Another common request among professionals was to bring back a physical Esc key. Schiller said it was the "number one" complaint about the Touch Bar. To its credit, Apple listened and made the change:
There is a fairly large number of customers who use the Touch Bar and see great benefit in some of its features, but there were also some complaints. If I were to rank the complaints, No. 1 was customers who like a physical Escape key. It was just a hard adaptation for a lot of people.
We decided that rather than just remove the Touch Bar and lose the benefits some people get, we could instead add the Escape key. While we were doing that, we had already in the MacBook Air created a discrete Touch ID button. People really like that. So the decision was made to keep the Touch Bar, but also to create room on either side for the Escape key and Touch ID key. That is the best solution for the largest number of people we've dealt with who had complaints -- and kept something innovative that people were using with Touch Bar.
When asked if Apple ever plans to merge the Mac and iPad, Schiller insisted the devices will remain separate:
No, that's not our view. Because then you get this in-between thing, and in-between things are never as good as the individual things themselves. We believe the best personal computer is a Mac, and we want to keep going down that path. And we think the best tablet computing device is an iPad, and we'll go down that path.
Schiller also downplayed the possibility of a touchscreen Mac, as Apple always has.
At the very end of the interview, Schiller takes a shot at Google's Chromebooks in the classroom, describing them as "cheap testing tools" that do not allow kids to succeed. Naturally, Schiller said Apple thinks the iPad is the "ultimate tool" for a child to learn on and be the most engaged.
Chromebooks have gotten to the classroom because, frankly, they're cheap testing tools for required testing. If all you want to do is test kids, well, maybe a cheap notebook will do that. But they're not going to succeed.
The full interview contains several more questions and answers and is a worthwhile read.
Update: Schiller also sat down with YouTube tech reviewer Jonathan Morrison to discuss the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Notably, Schiller said that Apple is unlikely to bring an SD card slot back to the MacBook Pro. He also said the technology does not exist yet to bring all of the Pro Display XDR features to a MacBook-sized screen.
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update to developers, one week after releasing the first beta and two weeks after the launch of the macOS Catalina 10.15.1 update.
The new macOS Catalina beta can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper software from the Developer Center.
There's no word yet on what improvements the second update to macOS Catalina will include, but it most likely focuses on performance improvements, security updates, and fixes for bugs that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS 10.15.1 update.
We didn't find any major new features in the first beta, but we'll update this article if any changes are found in the second beta.
macOS Catalina is a major update that eliminates iTunes in favor of new Music, Podcasts, and TV apps, nixes support for 32-bit apps, adds a new Find My app, brings a new Photos interface, and includes multiple privacy enhancements and other app refinements.
Apple reseller Expercom today revealed discounts on the just-announced 16-inch MacBook Pro, offering sales on both standard models and custom configurations. In the sales, you can get as much as $436 off the new 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Expercom. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
All sales listed below are available online. Expercom's shipping will be slightly slower than Apple's delivery dates, but the discounts are notably lower than the traditional prices offered by Apple.
Apple today updated its online store with a new collection of Apple Watch bands, iPhone cases, and the Sony DualShock 4 controller. For Apple Watch bands, this includes three new Sport Bands: Pomegranate, Beryl, and Khaki.
There's only one new Sport Loop, and it's for the (Product)Red initiative. This is the new dual-color style Sport Loop, with two shades of red along the length of the band.
There are also two new Hermès bands: Noir/Brique/Étain Swift Leather Double Tour and Noir/Brique/Étain Swift Leather Single Tour.
For iPhone, you can get the new Beryl and Pomegranate colors in a Silicone Case for the iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Sony's DualShock 4 controller has also been added to Apple.com at a price of $59.95. In iOS 13 and tvOS 13, you can connect either a DualShock 4 or Xbox Wireless Controller to your Apple device to play compatible games or even control your PS4 remotely via Sony's Remote Play iOS app.
Lastly, Otterbox recently launched the Figura Series Otter + Pop cases for iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max. These cases are exclusive to Apple and combine Otterbox's protection with a built-in PopSocket accessory, for $59.95.
Apple updated its online store today alongside the release of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is now available to order starting at $2,399 in the United States. Our announcement post has more information on the new MacBook Pro.
Apple today announced its widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro with a larger display and slimmer bezels, a new Magic Keyboard with a scissor mechanism and physical Esc key, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 8TB of SSD storage, AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics options, upgraded speakers and microphones, and more.
Here are some other things to know about the new 16-inch MacBook Pro:
In addition to a scissor mechanism keyboard with a physical Esc key, another much-requested feature that Apple has reintroduced is an inverse-T arrow key layout, last used on the 15-inch MacBook Pro in 2015.
Display brightness appears to remain unchanged, with the same brightness of up to 500 nits as the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Unlike the iPhone 11, which has 802.11ax aka Wi-Fi 6, the 16-inch MacBook Pro sticks with 802.11ac for wireless networking.
AppleCare+ remains the same $379 price as the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
As noted by Daring Fireball's John Gruber, there is about 0.5mm more space between keys. He also notes that the Touch Bar has been moved slightly further above the top row of keys to help avoid accidental touches.
We'll update this list if we spot any other tidbits worth mentioning. Let us know if you spot any others in the comments section.
Fun fact shared by @MKBHD: The new 16-inch MacBook Pro has a larger 100 watt-hour battery. That's the max allowed by the TSA for use on an airplane. pic.twitter.com/ReBKFj8gyE
— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) November 13, 2019
The new 16-inch MacBook Pro is available to order today through Apple.com and the Apple Store app in many countries. It will be available in Apple Stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers in the United States later this week and is "coming soon" to stores around the world, according to Apple.
The previous 15-inch MacBook Pro included an 87W USB-C power adapter in the box.
Apple says the 16-inch MacBook Pro uses the "most advanced thermal architecture ever in a Mac notebook" to enable the system to run at higher power for sustained periods of time. The notebook also features a redesigned fan with a larger impeller, extended blades, and bigger vents for a 28 percent increase in airflow.
Apple adds that the 16-inch MacBook Pro can ultimately sustain up to 12 more watts during intensive workloads than the previous 15-inch model.
Smartphone accessory maker PopSockets today announced a new version called the PopGrip Slide that will be available in exclusive colors on Apple's website and in select Apple stores around the world. This accessory is compatible with iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max.
The PopGrip Slide attaches to the iPhone and is specifically designed to work with Apple's Silicone Cases, coming in matching Black, White, Pink Sand, Midnight Blue, and Red color options.
PopSocket accessories allow for easier one-handed control of the iPhone, and the company says that it lets users take better selfies and can even be used as a stand for watching videos. The PopGrip Slide is compatible with PopSockets swappable products so the top can be twisted off and a new design can be added.
PopGrip Slide costs $15 and will be available exclusively on Apple.com and in select Apple stores soon.
Apple today introduced its widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro with a larger display and slimmer bezels, a new Magic Keyboard with a scissor mechanism and physical Esc key, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 8TB of SSD storage, AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics options, upgraded speakers and microphones, and more.
The new 16-inch MacBook Pro replaces the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which has been discontinued. It is possible the 15-inch model will appear in Apple's clearance store at some point, but it is not available at this time.
The new 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,399 in the United States, consistent with the former 15-inch MacBook Pro. A maxed-out 16-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.4GHz 8‑core Core i9 processor, 64GB of RAM, 8TB of SSD storage, and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics runs $6,099 on Apple's online store.
The new 16-inch MacBook Pro is available to order today through Apple.com and the Apple Store app in many countries. It will be available in Apple Stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers in the United States later this week and is "coming soon" to stores around the world, according to Apple.
Apple today announced and launched the long-awaited 16-inch MacBook Pro, which has now replaced the previous 15-inch MacBook Pro models in the line of Apple notebooks. Alongside the announcement, a handful of YouTubers and tech bloggers have begun sharing their first impressions of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, after having used it for a few hours.
The two big updates to the new notebook include its bigger 16-inch Retina display, and the updated scissor switch keyboard that ditches the butterfly keyboard of the previous 15-inch MacBook Pro. Essentially every first impression applauded Apple for the new keyboard, particularly in regards to the new physical Escape key (instead of a virtual one on the Touch Bar).
Below we've rounded up a few first impressions videos for the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Marques Brownlee:
iJustine:
The Verge:
UrAvgConsumer:
Engadget:
Rene Ritchie:
CNET:
The 16-inch MacBook Pro also features AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics options, GDDR6 video memory, a larger 100Wh battery for about an hour more battery than the previous generation, a redesigned six-speaker sound system, and upgraded microphones.
The new model starts at $2,399 in the United States and includes another $2,799 option, both of which can be individually configured with various internal upgrade options. For more information on the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, be sure to read our announcement post for the notebook.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Expercom. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
