MacRumors

Apple is set to conclude a lengthy antitrust investigation by the European Union into its mobile payments system by making significant concessions to give competitors access to the iPhone's NFC technology, the Financial Times reports.

The European Commission charged Apple in 2022 with violating competition law, contending that Apple was preventing competitors from accessing its near-field communication (NFC) technology to favor Apple Pay. In response to these charges, Apple apparently made several commitments to the European Commission in January, which now appear to have satisfied the regulators.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Financial Times claims that Apple agreed to provide third-party developers with open access to the ‌iPhone‌'s NFC. This access is said to not require the use of ‌Apple Pay‌ or Apple Wallet, effectively allowing competitors to create their own contactless payment solutions. London-based payment app Curve has already expressed interest in implementing its own NFC system on the ‌iPhone‌ once the agreement is official. Apple reportedly pledged to maintain this openness for a decade.

The settlement, which is expected to be finalized over the next few weeks, should help Apple avoid a potential fine by the EU that could have been as high as 10% of the company's global annual revenue. Given Apple's reported revenue of $383 billion in 2023, the fine could have amounted to approximately $40 billion.

Apple in iOS 18 has given the Calendar app a major update, adding some welcome interface design changes, not to mention long-awaited integration with Reminders.

In the month-by-month calendar view, the month now appears in large bold font in the top left, while the Events list toggle has been replaced by a new button that lets you choose between Compact, Stacked, Details, and List views.

The Compact view looks similar to the standard view in iOS 17, with events indicated by dots (but now colored to indicate which calendar they belong to), while the Stacked view displays each day's events as long thin pills on top of each other.

The new Details view shows the title of every event across the month. One neat additional touch here is that you can use a pinch to zoom gesture to expand or reduce the calendar and create more or less space between the days to view more items. This action also gradually switches between the Compact, Stacked, and Details views. Elsewhere, the List view should be familiar, and shows the month with the selected day's events listed below.

In the Today view, you can now switch between a Single Day or Multi Day view, with the latter providing details of all the day's events alongside any upcoming events for the following day.

When you tap the + icon in the top-right corner, a "New" card appears where you can switch between "Event" and "Reminder" tabs at the top. Reminders now appear in your calendar views, where you can mark them as completed.

You can also tap a reminder to get a Reminder Details screen, which includes the associated reminder list, plus a link to view that item within the Reminders app. There's also an Edit button in the top-right of the Reminder Details screen, which lets you change everything about the reminder that you can in Reminders, except without you having to leave the Calendar app.

iOS 18 is currently in beta for Apple Developer Program members, with a public beta to follow in July. The update should be widely released in September, but bear in mind that Apple could always make Calendar app changes based on feedback before then.

Apple today announced plans to introduce new AI curriculum at its Apple Developer Academy locations in Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and the United States. Apple Developer Academy students and mentors will learn about tools and technologies that take advantage of artificial intelligence.

The AI curriculum is being added to the program as a foundational skill, and students will learn how to build, train, and deploy machine learning models on Apple devices. Some of the available courses include the fundamentals of AI technologies, Core ML, and training AI models from the ground up.

"At Apple, we see coding as a universal language and believe in empowering developers, creators, and entrepreneurs across the world with tools and technologies that will allow them to create phenomenal experiences," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "With the introduction of curriculum dedicated to AI and other new technologies, we're excited to see what students will build to share with their communities and the world."

Apple Developer Academy students, mentors, and alumni will have access to the curriculum starting this fall.

T9 dialing, or Text on 9 keys, is a predictive text technology that emerged in the late 90s to make it easier to type text messages on devices with limited input options, such as traditional mobile phones with numeric keypads. Each number key (2-9) on a T9 keypad is mapped to a set of letters. For example, the key "2" corresponds to "ABC," "3" to "DEF," and so on.

Android phones have had the feature for years, and in iOS 18 beta, Apple has finally added T9 dialing support to the Phone App. So now you can type a contact's name using the number pad, and matching contacts will appear above the keypad.

When you press a key, T9 doesn't just consider the individual letters that the key represents but predicts the most likely word you are trying to type. In the same way, ‌iOS 18‌ combines all possible letter combinations to filter results from your contacts. To bring up your Dad's number, for example, you would tap 3-2-3 (D-A-D). Or if you have someone called Ben in your contacts, tapping 2-3-6 (B-E-N) should bring up their number.

The best match appears first above the keypad, and tapping the person's name will call them. If there are several possible matches in your contacts, they can be revealed as a list by tapping "X more..." below the first match. Taken together, the new options should enable faster calling.

In addition, when you type in a new number into the keypad in ‌iOS 18‌, it now gives you two options to add it to your contacts. In iOS 17, a single "Add number" option appears above the keypad, whereas in ‌iOS 18‌ there is a new button in the top-left corner that reveals "Create New Contact" and "Add to Existing Contact."

‌iOS 18‌ is currently in beta for Apple Developer Program members, with a public beta to follow in July. The update should be widely released in September.

The United States Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission today levied a lawsuit against Adobe [PDF] for imposing a hidden termination fee on subscribers who want to cancel their Adobe plans. Adobe is accused of forcing subscribers to "navigate a complex and challenging cancellation process designed to deter them from cancelling subscriptions they no longer wanted."

Adobe offers its Creative Cloud products on a subscription basis, with fees that are paid monthly. A monthly payment suggests that it's possible to cancel anytime, but that's not how Adobe works because most customers are actually locked into a hidden annual agreement.

Customers who sign up for a free trial and are then charged and signed up to the default Creative Cloud plan, which is actually an annual contract. Canceling the annual contract requires customers to pay a lump sum of 50 percent of the "remaining contractual obligation" to cancel, despite the fact that service ends that month.

Adobe does let customers sign up for a month-to-month subscription plan, but at a higher cost than the annual contract that's paid monthly, and the difference is not always clear to new or existing customers. Adobe even has a whole help page because of the confusing nature of its subscription. If you look at the Adobe website, for example, Adobe lists a $60/month fee for accessing its full suite of apps, but that's only if you agree to the annual contract. A true month-to-month plan that you can cancel anytime is $90/month, and if you pay for a year upfront, you get no money back when you cancel after a 14-day period.

According to the DoJ, Adobe's setup violates the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA) through the use of fine print and inconspicuous hyperlinks to hide information about the Early Termination Fee.

The complaint alleges that for years, Adobe has profited from this hidden fee, misleading consumers about the true costs of a subscription and ambushing them with the fee when they try to cancel, wielding the fee as a powerful retention tool.

The complaint alleges that Adobe has further violated ROSCA by failing to provide consumers with a simple mechanism to cancel their recurring, online subscriptions. Instead, Adobe allegedly protects its subscription revenues by thwarting subscribers' attempts to cancel, subjecting them to a convoluted and inefficient cancellation process filled with unnecessary steps, delays, unsolicited offers and warnings.

The lawsuit asks for "unspecified amounts of consumer redress" along with monetary civil penalties and a permanent injunction that would prevent Adobe from continuing to use hidden fees to thwart customer cancelations.

watchOS 11 appears to include a new feature that allows an Apple Watch to automatically detect and record when you're taking a nap. As shared on Reddit, an Apple Watch owner took a nap and was able to see the sleep data recorded in the Health app, despite not putting the device in Sleep Mode.

Right now, the Apple Watch only tracks and records sleep when it is in Sleep Mode, and there is no support for tracking naps.

The change should allow an Apple Watch running ‌watchOS 11‌ to record and include a nap in the Sleep section of the Health app, and it may also support automatic sleep tracking even when Sleep Mode isn't activated. Nap tracking has long felt like a missing feature from the Apple Watch, and this will be a welcome feature for those who supplement sleep with naps.

Apple did not mention a change to the Sleep app in its preview information for ‌watchOS 11‌, and the only mention of sleep is related to the new Vitals app, which collects data for your health metrics during sleep in order to populate a typical range feature.

Apple appears to be planning to unveil its new Beats Pill speaker on Tuesday, June 25, according to a teaser shared on social media site X (formerly Twitter) today.

The Beats by Dre account posted a short video starring LeBron James and featuring the Beats Pill speaker, with the text "6/25," which seemingly hints at the debut date of the device.

Signs of a new Beats Pill speaker first surfaced in April when NBA superstar LeBron James was spotted carrying it in a photo. It was later spotted with F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, soccer star Lionel Messi, and Kim Kardashian.

Our first real look at the speaker came in May with images hidden in the iOS 17.5 beta, and since then, it has been spotted in multiple regulatory databases.

While no official details have surfaced on the Beats Pill feature set, it has a pill-shaped design that's similar to the Beats Pill speaker that was discontinued in 2022. The new model includes a lanyard that was not provided with prior speakers, and based on the iOS 17.5 leak, we know it will come in gold, red, and black. Other likely features include upgraded Bluetooth 5.3, Find My integration, and USB-C charging, all of which are upgrades Apple has been adding across its product lineup.

Apple shared iOS 18 beta release notes on its developer website last week, and they reveal some smaller changes related to FaceTime, Siri, and the Wallet app.

iOS 18 is currently in beta for Apple Developer Program members, with a public beta to follow in July. The update should be widely released in September.

FaceTime

Apple says FaceTime will use more data in Low Power Mode on iOS 18 when network conditions are good, for improved video call quality.

Siri

iOS 18 includes a new setting that can "significantly" improve Siri's audio quality in Bluetooth-enabled vehicles that lack CarPlay, according to Apple.

The new option can be found in the Settings app under Siri → Siri Responses → "Respond over Media Source." The description for this setting says that "Siri will respond over A2DP car stereos, which is ideal while listening to media from your phone."

Wallet

As noted by Nicolás Álvarez, the notes indicate that users adding an ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone may now be asked to take a Live Photo instead of, or in addition to, conducting a series of head and facial movements. Apple says the Live Photo will be evaluated by the device to ensure that the real and rightful person is adding the ID.

Apple first announced the ability to add a driver's license or ID to the Wallet app in 2021, but only four U.S. states have rolled out the feature so far, including Arizona, Maryland, Colorado, and Georgia. The feature provides a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports, businesses, and venues.

Apple will launch its annual Back to School promotion for university students in the United States and Canada this week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple's back to school sales provide students with a free Apple gift card when purchasing a Mac or an iPad, and this year's promotion could help Apple push the new M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Pro models. Last year, Apple offered U.S. students up to $150 when purchasing a Mac and up to $100 when purchasing an ‌iPad‌.

Apple actually began advertising its Back to School sale on social networks in early June, with some Instagram users seeing an ad promoting Macs with discounts to college and university students.

The ad depicted a Back to School image with the following text: "Buy Mac for university or college with education savings. Plus get a gift card for up to $200." The screenshot of the ad was from a Canadian user, and that price point suggests we will see the same $150 discount in the United States that Apple provided last year.

Clicking on the ad redirected to Apple's education website, but the ad seems to have gone up early as there has been no sign of a Back to School promotion as of yet. Last year's back to school sale began on Monday, June 5.

Apple is discontinuing Apple Pay Later, the buy now, pay later feature that it just launched last October. ‌Apple Pay‌ Later is being discontinued as of today, but people who have existing ‌Apple Pay‌ Later loans will be able to continue to pay them off and manage them through the Wallet app.

Apple announced plans to end the feature in a statement provided to 9to5Mac, which also notes that customers will be able to access installment loans through their credit and debit cards with changes coming to ‌Apple Pay‌ this fall.

Starting later this year, users across the globe will be able to access installment loans offered through credit and debit cards, as well as lenders, when checking out with Apple Pay. With the introduction of this new global installment loan offering, we will no longer offer Apple Pay Later in the U.S. Our focus continues to be on providing our users with access to easy, secure and private payment options with Apple Pay, and this solution will enable us to bring flexible payments to more users, in more places across the globe, in collaboration with Apple Pay enabled banks and lenders.

Apple Pay Later officially launched in October and only in the United States, but it had been available in a testing capacity since March 2023. Available in the Wallet app, ‌Apple Pay‌ later allowed customers to split a purchase made with ‌Apple Pay‌ into four equal payments over a six week period, with no interest or fees. ‌Apple Pay‌ Later was available on purchases made on an iOS device using ‌Apple Pay‌, and was limited to merchandise priced between $75 and $1,000. Each purchase required a separate loan application and approval.

Apple did not provide insight into why it is discontinuing ‌Apple Pay‌ Later, but it is working to unravel its partnership with Goldman Sachs, the company that handles the Apple Card, the Apple Savings account, and ‌Apple Pay‌ Later. Nixing ‌Apple Pay‌ Later means that Apple does not need to worry about replacing that functionality with a future partner.

In iOS 18, Apple will let users access installment financing options from their bank when using ‌Apple Pay‌, which will replace the ‌Apple Pay‌ Later feature that Apple is eliminating. ‌Apple Pay‌ will also gain support for viewing rewards or points balances in Wallet and redeeming them with purchases.

iOS 18 includes many new features for the iPhone, but not all of them will be available when the update is initially released in September.

Below, we have listed all of the features that will not be available until a later version of iOS 18, according to Apple's website. The features should begin rolling out with iOS 18.1 in October and iOS 18.2 in December, with more to follow next year.

Mail Categorization

In an update to iOS 18 coming later this year, the Mail app will gain four new categories powered by on-device intelligence:

• Primary: Personal and time-sensitive emails
• Transactions: Receipts and confirmation emails
• Updates: News and social media notifications
• Promotions: Marketing emails and coupons

These categories will be available on devices set to English, and All Mail will remain an option.

The app will also be getting a new digest view that shows emails from a single business, such as various emails from United Airlines ahead of a flight.

Some Apple Intelligence Features

A subset of Apple Intelligence features will be available on iPhone 15 Pro models and newer when iOS 18 is publicly released in September, but only with the device language set to U.S. English. The features will have a "preview" label initially.

On its Apple Intelligence page, Apple says "some features, additional languages, and platforms will be coming over the course of the next year," but the company has not shared specific details. In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some Siri features powered by Apple Intelligence are unlikely to launch until 2025, including personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. He also said Apple Intelligence will not support additional languages or regions until next year.

Gurman does expect Siri's redesign and more natural voice on the initial release of iOS 18, along with Apple Intelligence features that can improve your writing, prioritize notifications, summarize messages, generate custom emoji, and more.

Control Robot Vacuums With Siri

Robot vacuum support in the Home app is coming an update to iOS 18 later this year, allowing you to ask Siri to clean your floors and so forth.

Apple says the Home app will support the "core functionality" of robot vacuum cleaners, such as vacuuming, mopping, power control, cleaning mode, and charge status. Robot vacuums will also work with automations and scenes in the app.

Electricity Usage in Home App U.S. Only

Another new feature coming to the Home app in an update to iOS 18 later this year is the ability to view your home's electricity usage right in the app. This feature will be available for Pacific Gas and Electric Company customers in the U.S. who have residential electrical service, so long as they are the account owner or an authorized user.

Apple today released the first beta of an upcoming visionOS 1.3 update to developers, allowing them to test new features ahead of the software seeing a public launch. The visionOS 1.3 beta comes a week after the release of visionOS 1.2.

The visionOS beta can be downloaded by going to the Settings app on the device and toggling on developer betas. A registered developer account is required, and Apple recommends making a backup before installing new software.

Apple may make further improvements to Personas, EyeSight, and other features with visionOS 1.2, as well as implement additional bug fixes. We'll update this article when we discover what's new in the software.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 10.6 update to developers for testing purposes, with the beta coming a month after the release of watchOS 10.5.

To install the ‌watchOS 10.6 update, developers need to open the Apple Watch app, go to the Software Update section under "General" in Settings, and toggle on the watchOS 10 Developer Beta. An Apple ID linked to a developer account is required.

Once beta updates have been activated, watchOS 10.6 can be downloaded under the same Software Update section. To install software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life and it must be placed on an Apple Watch charger.

We don't yet know what's included in watchOS 10.6, but should anything new be found, we'll update this article.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Sonoma 14.6 update to developers, with the software coming a month after Apple released macOS Sonoma 14.5.

Registered developers can opt-in to the beta through the Software Update section of the System Settings app. Note that an Apple ID associated with an Apple Developer account is required to get the beta.

We don't yet know what might be included in macOS Sonoma 14.6, but if new features are found in the beta, we'll update this post.

Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a few weeks after the launch of iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5.

Registered developers are able to opt into the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to the Software Update section, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option, and toggling on the iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 Developer Beta. An Apple ID associated with a developer account is required to download and install the beta.

The features Apple promised for iOS 17 have all been implemented, so it is not clear what will be included in iOS 17.6. It is expected to be one of the final feature updates to iOS 17, as Apple will soon transition most of its focus to iOS 18.

iOS 18 adds many new features to the Messages app, including the ability to schedule messages to be sent later, the ability to use any emoji or sticker as a Tapback, text formatting options like bold and italics, and much more.

iOS 18 is currently available in beta for members of the Apple Developer Program, with a public beta to follow in July. The software update should be widely released in September, and it is compatible with the iPhone XS and newer.

Below, we outline everything new in the Messages app on iOS 18, including some smaller changes that Apple's website does not mention.

Schedule Messages

iMessages can now be scheduled to be sent at a later date and time in both individual and group conversations. As of the first iOS 18 beta, you can schedule a message to be sent up to 14 days later. After scheduling a message, it becomes visible to you in a dotted-line bubble, with edit, delete, and reschedule options.

To access this feature, tap the plus sign to the left of the text field, tap More, and tap Send Later.

Tapback Changes

Redesigned Tapbacks

The classic set of Tapback icons are now colorful, including the heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, HA HA, exclamation marks, and question mark.

Emoji Tapbacks

You can now use any emoji or sticker as a Tapback.

Improved Visibility

It is now easier to view multiple Tapback reactions on a single message.

Text Formatting and Effects

Bold, italics, underline, and strikeout formatting is finally available for iMessages. In addition, there are all-new text effects that can animate words within an iMessage, including Big, Small, Shake, Nod, Explode, Ripple, Bloom, and Jitter.

Messages via Satellite U.S. Only

iOS 18 allows you to send and receive both iMessages and SMS messages via a satellite connection, even if there is no emergency.

This feature will work with messages, emoji, and Tapbacks, and all iMessages sent over satellite are secured with end-to-end encryption.

Messages via satellite is available on all iPhone 14 models and newer in the U.S. only at launch.

Hands-on demo videos show the feature in action.

RCS Support Later This Year

Apple's website says that iOS 18 will support RCS (Rich Communication Services) in the Messages app. While this feature is not enabled in the first iOS 18 beta, Apple said it will be rolled out later this year, likely by time iOS 18 is widely released.

RCS support will result in the following improvements to the default messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices:

• Higher-resolution photos and videos
• Audio messages
• Typing indicators
• Read receipts
• Wi-Fi messaging
• Improved group chats, including the ability for iPhone users to leave a conversation that includes Android users

SMS continues to be supported as well.

Emoji and Link Card Changes

When you send a message with only a single emoji, it now appears even larger than before.

Link cards are now more colorful, with the background better matching the linked content.

For some links, you can now choose between full-size and compact link cards, and there is an option to send a link as plain text instead.

Other Changes

• Any app can be locked behind Face ID, Touch ID, or an iPhone's passcode on iOS 18, including the Messages app.
• iOS 18 can solve math equations in the text field of any app, including the Messages app.
• iOS 18 adds contact photos next to names in the Messages app on CarPlay.

Today we're tracking a pair of deals on Apple's sixth-generation iPad mini and fifth-generation iPad Air, which are available on Best Buy and Amazon. Both of these sales are notable for having nearly every model of each tablet on sale right now, with as much as $200 off select models.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Starting with the 64GB Wi-Fi M1 iPad Air, Best Buy has this model for $399.99, down from $599.99. This is an all-time low price on this model of the 2022 iPad Air, and it's available in every color. You'll also find the 256GB Wi-Fi iPad Air on sale, as well as both cellular devices, one of which is only available on Amazon.

Apple introduced new M2 iPad Air models last month, which is why we're seeing steep discounts on the previous generation models more often. You can still save a bit of money on the 2024 models if you're interested in owning the latest version.

Secondly, Amazon has the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad mini 6 for $399.99, down from $499.99. This one is a second-best price on the iPad mini, and it's available in every color. You'll find every iPad mini 6 model on sale right now, with the exception of the 256GB cellular model.

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.