Top Stories: Beats Studio Buds Announced, Apple Watch Series 7 Rumors, and More

The Apple news cycle started to move beyond WWDC this week, but that doesn't mean there still wasn't a lot to talk about, led by the official debut of the much-leaked Beats Studio Buds that might give us a hint of what to expect for the second-generation AirPods Pro.

Top Stories 63 Feature
With no hardware announcements at WWDC, we also took a look at when we might finally see the long-rumored redesigned MacBook Pro models, while Apple this week launched its annual Back to School promo in the U.S. and Canada. Other major news stories this week included Apple Watch rumors, YouTube starting to officially roll out picture-in-picture support on iOS, and more, so read on for all of the details!

Apple Announces Beats Studio Buds

Following a few months of rumors, Apple unveiled new Beats Studio Buds earbuds this week with a truly wireless design like the AirPods Pro, but at a lower price point and with some differences in features. Check out our hands-on review for a closer look at the Beats Studio Buds.

studio buds open tips
While news was quieter on the software front after last week's WWDC extravaganza, this week did mark the release of the third betas of iOS 14.7 and macOS 11.5, along with Apple Podcasts Subscriptions. And just in time for the summer months, Apple has some new iPhone 12 cases.

When Can We Expect the Redesigned MacBook Pros Now?

While there was some hope that Apple would announce a new MacBook Pro at WWDC last week, no new hardware was unveiled. (Here's everything that was announced at WWDC in just nine minutes.)

M1X MBP Feature
With Apple's annual developers conference now in the rearview mirror, we've outlined when to expect the new MacBook Pro models to arrive, and recapped key new features that have been rumored, including a major redesign.

YouTube Says iOS Picture-in-Picture Coming to All US Users

Ever since the launch of support for picture-in-picture (PiP) video in iOS 14, there have been calls for YouTube to support the feature to allow users to continue watching videos in a small window while multitasking in other apps.

YouTube Picture in Picture Feature
After several fits and starts, YouTube now says that it is officially starting to roll out PiP support on iOS for YouTube Premium users, with a rollout to all iOS users in the United States to follow.

Apple Watch Series 7 Expected to Feature Thinner Screen Bezels and More

While we're likely still around three months away from Apple unveiling the Apple Watch Series 7, rumors have already started surfacing about key new features, including design changes such as thinner bezels around the display and possibly flat edges.

Apple Watch 7 Unreleased Feature
In a report this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu also outlined when we can expect more health sensors for measuring body temperature and monitoring blood glucose levels on future Apple Watch models.

Apple Launches 2021 Back to School Promotion Offering Free AirPods With Select Purchases

Apple this week launched its annual Back to School promotion for the upcoming school year in the U.S. and Canada, offering students free AirPods with the purchase of select new devices.

2021 back t0 school
During checkout on Apple's online store, customers can upgrade the complimentary ‌AirPods‌ to include a wireless charging case for just $40 or upgrade to the AirPods Pro for $90. Check out the list of devices eligible for free AirPods.

iOS 15 Lets You Drag and Drop Images and Text Across Apps

One smaller but useful new feature introduced in iOS 15 is the ability to drag and drop images, text, files, and more across apps on an iPhone, and we've shared a demo of the feature in action.

ios 15 home screen icons yellow
The first beta of iOS 15 was seeded to developers last week, and the software update should be released for all compatible iPhones in September. Check out our iOS 15 roundup for an overview of key new features.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Top Rated Comments

Lemon Olive Avatar
37 months ago
I'd consider upgrading from a series 4 to a series 7 if there is some leap in processing speed. Asking Siri to do something and then waiting 45 seconds for her to decide if she can or not just kills the whole mood of using it.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
37 months ago
Never soon enough to see more powerful Macs (16" laptops/32" iMac). Come on Apple release the kraken!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kulfon Avatar
37 months ago
Somehow after the June 7th launch of 14' and 16' mini LED MBPs (was it was accurately predicted by Prosser), I have enough of rumors:-)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TacticalSS Avatar
37 months ago
Is it too much to ask for good earbuds with ear loops, a rechargeable USB-C case, and audio pass through? I'd like to listen to music while walking/biking outdoors but still be able to hear everything I need to.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
37 months ago
Happy Juneteenth!

This upcoming week will be a little more exciting and thrilling.

Perhaps, new IOS/OS beta’s?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magicschoolbus Avatar
37 months ago
Excited to see the new Apple Watch!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
apple id account

Apple ID Accounts Logging Out Users and Requiring Password Reset

Saturday April 27, 2024 12:41 am PDT by
There are widespread reports of Apple users being locked out of their Apple ID overnight for no apparent reason, requiring a password reset before they can log in again. Users say the sudden inexplicable Apple ID sign-out is occurring across multiple devices. When they attempt to sign in again they are locked out of their account and asked to reset their password in order to regain access. ...
macbook pro purple february

Best Buy Introduces Record Low Prices on Apple's M3 MacBook Pro for Members

Thursday April 25, 2024 7:41 am PDT by
Best Buy is discounting a collection of M3 MacBook Pro computers today, this time focusing on the 14-inch version of the laptop. Every deal in this sale requires you to have a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, although non-members can still get solid second-best prices on these MacBook Pro models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a...
macos sonoma feature purple green

Apple's Regular Mac Base RAM Boosts Ended When Tim Cook Took Over

Friday April 26, 2024 6:34 am PDT by
Apple used to regularly increase the base memory of its Macs up until 2011, the same year Tim Cook was appointed CEO, charts posted on Mastodon by David Schaub show. Earlier this year, Schaub generated two charts: One showing the base memory capacities of Apple's all-in-one Macs from 1984 onwards, and a second depicting Apple's consumer laptop base RAM from 1999 onwards. Both charts were...