A new safety feature is coming to iOS 11 this fall called "Do Not Disturb While Driving," which will block unnecessary notifications to your iPhone when it's connected via Bluetooth to a vehicle. Apple said it'll also be able to use speed-detection to know if a user is in a car while it's moving.
iOS 11 introduces a new way to help drivers stay more focused on the road with Do Not Disturb while driving. iPhone can detect when you may be driving and automatically silence notifications to keep the screen dark. Users have the option of sending an auto reply to contacts listed in Favorites to let them know they are driving and cannot respond until they arrive at their destination.
When you're driving, Messages will auto-reply with a specific text message to those trying to reach you that you currently can't reply to their text. Users who are passengers will be able to tell iOS 11 and grant full notification access to their iPhone.
Apple Pay will soon get a person-to-person payments feature within Messages in iOS 11, allowing users to send money to friends and family members directly within a text conversation.
Apple said that when users get paid, they will receive money in a new "Apple Pay Cash" account, which they can then use instantly to make a purchase using Apple Pay in stores or online, send as a payment to someone else, or transfer it from Apple Pay Cash to their bank account.
Apple announced three new types of Apple Watch faces as part of WatchOS 4 during its keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday in San Jose, California.
A new Siri watch face powered by machine learning and "Siri intelligence" comes with a top left complication that allows the wearer to receive dynamically updating notifications from a range of Apple apps and services, like Apple Home, Calendar, and Weather. The watch face offers "proactive assistance" depending on your schedule and the time of day, according to Apple, and users can rotate the Crown for more details.
The second new watch face in WatchOS 4 is a "trippy" animating kaleidoscopic face that plays on photos in a user's photo album to generate visuals when the user rotates the crown.
The last new watch face is actually a set of three Disney inspired ones to supplement the existing characters. Woody, Jessy, and Buzz from Toy Story are included, and all have animating vignettes when interacted with.
At WWDC this morning, Apple has confirmed that Amazon Prime Video will finally be coming to Apple TV and tvOS sometime later this year. With the new app, users will be able to add Amazon Prime TV content directly into Apple's TV app.
Apple CEO Tim Cook didn't mention any further details about the Amazon Prime Video on tvOS announcement, besides saying that, "You'll be hearing a lot more about tvOS later this year."
Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicks off today in San Jose with the traditional keynote being held for the first time in many years at the McEnery Convention Center.
The keynote begins at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time, and we're expecting to see a number of announcements including both software such as iOS 11 and OS X 10.13, and hardware potentially including Mac notebook and iPad Pro updates.
Apple is providing a live video stream on its website and via Apple TV.
In addition to Apple's video stream, we will be updating this article with live blog coverage and issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account as the keynote unfolds. Highlights from the event and separate news stories regarding today's announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.
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The full keynote transcript is available after the jump.
Apple shares are trading around 1 percent lower today, just ahead of WWDC 2017, after one analyst issued a rare downgrade of the stock.
"We are downgrading AAPL to Sector Weight and recommend investors reduce position sizes," said Andy Hargreaves, equity research analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, in a note to clients. "We believe AAPL anticipates strong performance in the iPhone 8 cycle, while providing relatively little weight to risks through the cycle or the potential for iPhone sales to decline in fiscal 2019."
Wall Street remains largely upbeat about Apple's stock heading into the second half of this year, as investors anticipate the so-called "iPhone 8" to be a hit among customers, but Hargreaves believes the stock has limited upside, as he said hype surrounding the hotly-anticipated device appears to be "priced in."
Hargreaves anticipates the upside of the iPhone 8 to be offset by key risks, including the "potential for gross margin pressure, diminishing value of the mobile operating system, and the likelihood for declines in iPhone unit sales beyond the iPhone 8 cycle due to market saturation and elongating."
Hargreaves also believes iPhone sales will likely resume declining in 2019, as the iPhone 8 will result in above-average sales in 2018 that are unlikely to be matched once Apple returns to a normalized upgrade rate, similar to what happened after pent-up demand for the larger-screened iPhone 6 started to fade.
AAPL was trading at $153.85 at the time of publication, after opening at $154.34, but remains only slightly off its all-time high.
Getting an iPhone repaired at select Apple-authorized repair shops is about to get a lot faster for customers.
Apple's proprietary iPhone calibration machine via Motherboard
ComputerCare, a computer repair shop in Santa Clara, California, today announced that it has been selected as one of only three Apple Authorized Service Providers in the United States to participate in a new pilot program that will allow it to manage iPhone repair and calibration completely onsite.
As part of this pilot program, ComputerCare and two other yet to be named repair shops have received a specialized and proprietary calibration machine from Apple to ensure that iPhone repairs are fully compliant with Apple's specifications and security requirements for features such as Touch ID and Multi-Touch.
ComputerCare said the calibration machine is compatible with the iPhone 6s and newer, although Apple has been using the machines since as early as 2013. The calibration process is said to take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
With an in-house calibration machine, ComputerCare said it will be able to drastically speed up repair times for its customers, as it will no longer need to ship repaired iPhones to Apple for final testing and calibration.
"We already manage iPhone repairs at our facilities, but because of the devices' specialized security features, the current process requires them to be shipped to Apple for final testing and calibration before being returned to customers," said Georgia Rittenberg, President of ComputerCare. "Having a calibration machine onsite helps us to remove that extra step in the process and dramatically reduces turnaround times."
Apple already has iPhone calibration machines in the back of every Apple Store, enabling Genius Bar employees to perform same-day repairs for most issues. But, not every customer lives near an Apple Store, so expanding the machines to select third-party repair shops is convenient.
If the pilot program is successful, Apple will presumably consider providing a larger number of Apple Authorized Service Providers with calibration machines in the future. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple and Amazon will join Foxconn in a bid to win Toshiba's NAND memory chip unit, which has been on sale since March and was previously said to finally conclude bidding sometime in June. Nikkei quoted Foxconn chairman Terry Gou as saying that Apple and Amazon will "chip in funds" to help Foxconn win the final bid (via Reuters).
Gou left out the exact amount of the funding that Apple and Amazon would provide, and it was also mentioned that Japanese manufacturer Sharp, which Foxconn acquired last year, will also take place in the bidding. In an official statement, Foxconn referenced Apple and Amazon by calling the U.S. companies "strategic partners" in the bid for Toshiba's memory chip unit, while mentioning that more details would come "at the appropriate time."
Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc will join Foxconn's bid for Toshiba Corp's semiconductor business, the Nikkei business daily quoted Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou as saying on Monday. The two U.S. technology giants plan to "chip in funds", Gou said in an interview, according to the newspaper.
"Of course Apple and Amazon are offering money together, but I cannot comment on how much funds each company is putting on the table," Gou said at a hotel in Osaka.
The sale of Toshiba's chip unit has been riddled by a legal battle with Western Digital over the past few weeks, making it uncertain who -- if anyone -- would end up winning the bid for the unit. Following the announcement of the initial sale, Apple was reportedly looking into spending several billion dollars for a "substantial stake" in the Toshiba memory chip unit, as well as potentially partnering up with Foxconn in the bidding war.
Foxconn has already been suggested as an unlikely winner of the unit due to its deep ties with China, with the Japanese government likely to oppose any winning bid that would take key Toshiba chip technology out of the country. Foxconn's previous bid of $27 billion was reportedly rejected by Toshiba, so now it appears that the manufacturer will beef up its offering for Toshiba's unit with the help of Apple, Amazon, and Sharp, although it's unclear if more money will be enough for the China-based company to win.
According to Gou, if Foxconn would win Toshiba's chip unit it plans to keep the Japanese leadership in place, which it hopes is a way to appease the Japanese government ahead of the end of bidding.
"We will definitely not undermine nor interfere with [Toshiba's existing management]. We will treat them like the way we have been treating Sharp," Gou said, adding that he was confident that Foxconn stood a good chance of winning the bid.
"We let Japanese [managers] run Sharp ... we are also hoping that Toshiba's memory unit will survive into the next 50 to 100 years at least, like Sharp."
Other bidders include Broadcom and South Korea's SK Hynix, and the winner is expected to be announced sometime this month, ahead of Toshiba's next shareholder meeting.
Update: Terry Gou has said that, "Apple is in for sure," in regards to the Foxconn-led group aiming to win Toshiba's memory chip unit. According to a Reuters report, Tim Cook and Apple's board of directors approved the decision to participate in the bidding.
As we get closer to Apple's WWDC 2017 keynote, which is set to kick off today at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, several developers have taken to Twitter to share the swag they've received at the conference this year. The items include a Levi's denim jacket with a custom WWDC17 logo and a collection of Apple-themed enamel pins.
The Levi's trucker jacket comes in black, includes fits and sizes for both men and women, and has two interior pockets large enough to fit an iPhone 7 Plus.
The pins handed out to WWDC attendees this year include a collection of six Apple designs, including the old rainbow-themed Apple logo, the "hello" Mac greeting, the Swift logo, an emoji with sunglasses, the original Macintosh, and the Metal logo.
A few developers have noted that the pin packs include different designs, with separate collections including an iMessage heart bubble, thumbs up emoji, Activity rings, and more. In addition, each developer has received personalized pins that represent their home country.
WWDC scholarship attendees at the conference are also taking away an Apple TV dev kit, as one 9to5Mac reader pointed out. Students and STEM organization members who won a scholarship got free tickets to WWDC, normally priced at $1,599, and received free lodging as well this year at the San Jose State University dorms, located approximately 15 minutes away from the venue when walking.
MacRumors will be providing live coverage of the WWDC keynote in a live blog on the MacRumors.com front page, as well as via the MacRumors Live Twitter account. Any reader interested in avoiding spoilers for this year's keynote can check out our spoiler-free video stream, which will be updated with a direct link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple.
Apple's online store has temporarily closed its virtual doors ahead of today's WWDC opening keynote at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
When clicking on the "Buy" button for any product on Apple's website, be it a MacBook or accessories, the online store currently says "we're busy updating the Apple Store for you" and advises customers to "please check back soon."
During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce updated 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Pro models, alongside major new versions of its iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS software platforms.
Apple is also rumored to possibly debut a 10.5-inch iPad Pro and smart speaker with Siri, positioned as an Amazon Echo and Google Home competitor, but those announcements could be delayed until later this year.
Apple routinely closes its online store in the hours leading up to its special events, but that's not typically the case ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference, since the keynote is usually focused on software only.
For that reason, the store's downtime today is a good sign that new products of some kind will be announced imminently.
WWDC has been absent of major hardware announcements since 2013, when Apple unveiled redesigned models of the Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and its AirPort Time Capsule and Extreme wireless routers.
MacRumors.com will be providing news coverage and a live transcript of the WWDC opening keynote on Monday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Twitter users can follow @MacRumorsLive for live updates.
Update: Apple's online store became functional again at approximately 5:10 a.m. Pacific Time, but only briefly as Apple fixed an earlier message that incorrectly said to check back starting at 8:01 a.m. Pacific Time.
A Drag and Drop capability looks set to be coming to iPads in iOS 11, after a reference to the feature was spotted on Monday in Apple's own Feedback app for iOS beta testers.
An entry alluding to "Split View/Drag and Drop" now appears in the app's list of preset options that beta testers use to report issues. Since no such feature currently exists in iOS, it's highly likely we can expect one to be unveiled in iOS 11, which Apple is set to preview in its keynote later today at the Worldwide Developers Conference.
Just in case you wanted another iOS 11 spoiler (this is an option in the Feedback app when filing a bug) /via @charavelpic.twitter.com/mQVlJjZbb4
— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) June 5, 2017
A Drag and Drop feature in Split View on iPads would presumably allow users to easily move content between apps, in a more seamless way than the current method of copying/pasting, which is cumbersome in comparison. Coming on the back of the appearance of an iOS Files app reference earlier today, it looks as if iOS 11 could be about to introduce workflow features many users would benefit from.
Several MacRumors readers have mentioned a desire for a better file management system to make it easier to transfer content between apps. MacStories' Federico Vittici recently made a mockup featuring a drag and drop interface and a file storage shelf on the iPad. Today's leak appears to indicate a similar feature is indeed on the way.
During Monday's WWDC keynote, MacRumors will provide a live blog both here on MacRumors.com and on our MacRumorsLive Twitter account, with continuing detailed coverage of everything Apple announces during the week.
Details on the app are scant, as the app description is merely "Files App for iOS" and there are no other details on the app other than an icon depicting a blue folder, although Troughton-Smith points out the app only supports 64-bit architectures. iOS 11 has been rumored to be dropping support for 32-bit apps, and Apple has been warning users about apps that have not been updated with 64-bit support.
As we noted in our iOS 11 wishlist feature, file management is one area where MacRumors readers have been hoping to see improvement, and this upcoming Files app could help provide that.
The Files app is undoubtedly a default system app for iOS 11, but system apps that can be deleted have App Store entries to allow users to reinstall them. As Troughton-Smith notes, a listing for the Activity app has also appeared in the App Store, suggesting users will be able to delete the app in iOS 11, something that is not currently possible.
Update 11:48 PM: Apple appears to have pulled the Files and Activity listings from the App Store.
Over at TouchArcade, we've been running around like maniacs all week getting ready for the WWDC and E3 double header that we're about to fly to the West Coast for. The event scheduling gods were kind to us this year, allowing us to attend both events.
For whatever reason, the last few years have had WWDC and E3 taking place on the same week, and we'd opted to attend E3 over WWDC as it's a overall safer bet that there will be more relevant things for us at a gaming event. With WWDC tickets shifting to being luck of the draw, it's entirely possible that there just won't be that many iOS game developers for us to talk to. Either way, better late than never, read on for the big things that happened this week in the world of iOS gaming.
Bozoma Saint John, Apple Music and iTunes head of Global Consumer Marketing, is planning to leave the company, reports Axios.
Saint John, also known as "Boz," joined Apple when the company acquired Beats Music in 2014. She came into the public spotlight at the 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference, where she demonstrated new Apple Music features on stage.
Since then, Saint John has spoken at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit, starred in an Apple Music ad alongside Eddy Cue, Jimmy Iovine, and James Corden, and represented Apple Music in interviews along with Larry Jackson and Zane Lowe.
It is not clear where Saint John, who formerly worked at Pepsi, will be heading after she leaves Apple. Her reason for leaving is also unclear, with Apple declining to comment on the news.
Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on Monday morning, with a keynote event that starts at 10:00 a.m. This year's event promises to be exciting, because alongside new versions of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, there are also rumors suggesting we're going to see several hardware updates.
New Mac notebooks are likely to be unveiled, and there's apparently a 70 percent chance we'll see the much-rumored 10.5-inch iPad Pro and a 50 percent chance Apple will use the event to introduce its Siri speaker, designed to compete with the Amazon Echo.
Check out the video and list below for an extensive overview of what we expect to see introduced at the event.
Software
iOS 11 We've heard little about iOS 11 ahead of its debut, so many of the features in the newest version of iOS will come as a surprise. iOS 11 is expected to feature a redesigned interface, with the first major system-wide design changes since iOS 7, but what it will look like is up in the air.
Apple has been rumored to be working on some major updates to Siri, and the company has purchased several AI and machine learning startups, so it's possible iOS 11 will introduce expanded Siri capabilities. One feature that's been rumored is Siri integration with additional types of third-party apps, expanding beyond the existing categories of ride booking, messaging, photo search, payments, VoIP calling, and fitness.
Rumors have suggested the update will include support for group FaceTime calls for the first time, a feature many have wanted for years, and Apple Music head Jimmy Iovine has said iOS 11 is going to include a new version of the Music app that "better showcases video" as Apple prepares to launch its first original Apple Music TV show, Carpool Karaoke.
At its Worldwide Developers Conference next week, Apple is expected to expand Siri's functionality, allowing the voice assistant built into the iPhone and iPad to work with a wider variety of apps, reports Reuters.
Apple first started allowing third-party apps to interface with Siri with iOS 10, but Siri integration is limited to apps in the following categories: ride booking, messaging, photo search, payments, VoIP calling, and fitness. In iOS 11, that's expected to expand to additional categories, but it is unclear which categories will be added.
Apple Inc is expected to announce plans next week to make its Siri voice assistant work with a larger variety of apps, as the technology company looks to counter the runaway success of Amazon.com Inc's competing Alexa service.
But the Cupertino, California company is likely to stick to its tested method of focusing on a small amount of features and trying to perfect them, rather than casting as wide a net as possible, according to engineers and artificial intelligence industry insiders.
Expanded third-party app access to Siri is one of the few tidbits we've heard about Apple's plans for iOS 11, which is also expected to feature new design elements and a revamped Apple Music app. Rumors suggest Apple has been working on significant improvements to Siri, so other Siri features could also be included.
Part of the reason behind bolstering Siri's capability is likely Apple's work on a Siri-based smart speaker designed to compete with the Amazon Echo and the Google Home. It's not yet clear what the speaker will be capable of, and it isn't included in today's Reuters report beyond a brief mention, but to be competitive, the speaker will need to interface with third-party apps much like iOS.
Rumors suggest there is a chance Apple plans to introduce the Siri speaker at WWDC to allow developers time to create integrations and features for the device ahead of a fall launch, but whether that will happen remains to be seen.
Apple's Siri and speaker plans will be unveiled on Monday, June 5 at 10:00 a.m., which is when the WWDC keynote event kicks off.
With the flood of full-featured Thunderbolt 3 docks about to hit the market, it's time to take a look at Belkin's Thunderbolt 3 Express Dock HD, one of the major contenders users have been waiting for in addition to the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock and CalDigit TS3 that we've also recently reviewed. As with the other docks we've looked at, Belkin's offering includes a variety of ports and even charging capabilities all over a single Thunderbolt 3 cable, making it a great option for turning the new MacBook Pro into a robust desktop setup.
Belkin's Thunderbolt 3 Express Dock HD is launching this Monday, June 5 (exact time still to be determined), and will be available directly from Belkin and through Apple, as well as from other select retailers, but we've already had a chance to spend a little time with it to see how it compares to the competition.
Apple's WWDC keynote will be kicking off at 10:00 am Pacific Time on Monday, and as is tradition, some MacRumors readers who can't follow the event live are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be updated with a direct link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple. No other news stories or announcements will be displayed alongside this story.
Apple has become quicker about making event videos available for replay over the past several years, and videos are now frequently available within an hour of an event's conclusion.
Users waiting for the video to be posted are welcome to gather in the thread associated with this news story, and we ask that those who follow the events refrain from making any posts about Apple's announcements in this thread.
Video Posted: A direct link to the video file is now available, with no spoilers.
Apple shares are trading around 1 percent lower today, just ahead of WWDC 2017, after one analyst issued a rare downgrade of the stock.
