MacRumors

Apple has added a new support document on its website (via iFun.de) that confirms the third-generation Apple TV or later can be used to control HomeKit-enabled accessories when you are away from home using an iOS device.

After signing in with the same Apple ID on an iOS device and Apple TV, users can use Siri commands to remotely control lights, locks, thermostats, smart plugs and other HomeKit-enabled accessories. A separate new support document lists the available HomeKit-compatible devices as they begin to roll out.

The new support documents were added just as multiple accessory makers announced the first HomeKit-compatible products, including Lutron, iHome, Elgato, Insteon and Ecobee. Many of the accessories are available for purchase or pre-order this week, and others should be unveiled following Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference next week.

It has been known that the Apple TV would serve as a centralized hub for many of these accessories since their original unveiling at CES 2015 in January, while support for the HomeKit framework was quietly included in the Apple TV 7.0 software update last September, but today marks one of the first official confirmations from Apple.

Apple is widely expected to announce a new A8-based Apple TV with an App Store and Siri at WWDC next week. The next-generation set-top box is rumored to feature a "dramatic increase" in internal storage, well beyond the 8GB included in the current model, and the inclusion of Siri will enable users to control HomeKit-enabled accessories using voice commands.

HomeKit was announced at WWDC last year as a software framework for communicating with and controlling connected devices in the home, but the home automation platform experienced delays over the ensuing months and did not officially launch until this month. Apple is expected to provide more details about HomeKit and related accessories during its WWDC keynote on June 8 at 10 AM Pacific.

(Thanks, Marco!)

Apple CEO Tim Cook was honored at the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Champions of Freedom event in Washington yesterday, where he took the opportunity to give a speech covering Apple's stance on privacy, the importance of guarding customer information, and the company's views on encryption.

TechCrunch has shared details on both the event and Cook's speech, calling him "characteristically passionate" about the topics he spoke on.

"Like many of you, we at Apple reject the idea that our customers should have to make tradeoffs between privacy and security," Cook opened. "We can, and we must provide both in equal measure. We believe that people have a fundamental right to privacy. The American people demands it, the constitution demands it, morality demands it."

Cook highlighted Apple's commitment to customer privacy while also lambasting other Silicon Valley companies like Google and Facebook for collecting customer data. "They're gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it," Cook said. "We think that's wrong. And it's not the kind of company that Apple wants to be."

"We believe the customer should be in control of their own information. You might like these so-called free services, but we don't think they're worth having your email, your search history and now even your family photos data mined and sold off for god knows what advertising purpose. And we think some day, customers will see this for what it is."

On encryption, Cook said he believes it's "incredibly dangerous" that some government agencies advocate for unfettered access to consumer data and devices, an issue that's come to light following encryption changes that Apple introduced with iOS 8. As of iOS 8, Apple no longer stores device encryption keys, making it impossible for the company to bypass a passcode and provide consumer data at the government's request.

According to Cook, weakening encryption with a "master key" for the government has a "chilling effect on our First Amendment rights and undermines our country's founding principles." He says Apple will continue moving forward with encryption and will focus on building products "that keep people's information safe."

More of what Cook had to say during yesterday's speech can be found over at TechCrunch. The Verge has also shared details on the speech.

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.

Apple is set to kick off its 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday with a keynote event that begins at 10:00 a.m., and as it does every year, the company has begun decorating the Moscone Center in San Francisco where the conference will be held.

As of this afternoon, work crews have begun placing the iconic Apple stickers on the outside of the building, while also preparing to begin erecting banners in the lobby of Moscone West. As can be seen in photos shared by MacStories, the first leaves of the logo are visible.

In a few hours, we'll likely see the first banners for the 2015 event, which may sport the tagline "The epicenter of change." Apple will continue decorating the center throughout the week, adding additional signage both inside and outside.

Oftentimes Apple's banners reveal hints on upcoming operating system changes, suggesting potential names and feature sets, but those revelatory banners will likely be kept under wraps until later this week. In 2014, we didn't see signs for iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 until Friday.

This year's keynote will include the debut of iOS 9 and OS X 10.11, along with a new streaming music service, a revamped version of iTunes Radio, a new Apple TV set-top box, and a rewards program for Apple Pay. For more details on what to expect, make sure to check out our WWDC roundup.

Apple plans to provide a live stream of the WWDC keynote on the Apple TV and through its website. MacRumors will also provide live coverage of the event for those unable to watch, both on MacRumors.com and through our MacRumors Live Twitter account.

Update: The Apple logo on the outside of Moscone West has now been completed and the first interior WWDC 2015 banners have gone up. Image via MacStories.

Apple today updated the Apple TV with a brand new National Geographic channel, bringing popular National Geographic shows and content to the company's set-top box. National Geographic first announced plans to introduce an Apple TV channel in November.

The channel includes shows like Life Below Zero, Live Free or Die, The Incredible Dr. Pol, and more. As with the company's iOS apps, content is available through the Apple TV channel the day after it airs on television. The channel also offers on-demand access to back episodes of popular shows.

Like many of the channels on the Apple TV, accessing content like full on-demand episodes requires authentication with a cable TV provider. For those without a cable subscription, there are a few select episodes available for free, plus there are digital shorts and clips from shows available for viewing.

Over the weekend, we launched a new version of the MacRumors Forums. Beyond a long overdue redesign, we also migrated to a new discussion platform called XenForo.

The MacRumors Forums have been running since 2001 and have over 800,000 members and 20,000,000 posts. We have discussions documenting the first iPod, the first iPhone and the death of Steve Jobs.

The move to a new software platform brings us a number of new features, including but not limited to:

- Responsive design
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The modern new design was carefully crafted by Audentio Design. We are listening to feedback and will be making ongoing tweaks. Please offer specific comments and questions in the site feedback forum or this article thread.

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Intel today at Computex 2015 announced its next-generation lineup of quad-core Broadwell processors for notebooks and desktop computers, including a trio of Core i7 processors appropriate for the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro: i7-5950HQ, i7-5850HQ and i7-5750HQ. The new processors have base frequencies of between 2.5 GHz and 2.9 GHz and feature integrated Intel Iris Pro 6200 graphics.

The fifth-generation Broadwell chips are expected to be available in the next 30-60 days, meaning the first notebooks and desktop computers with the new processors should be available in July or August.

Interestingly, Apple refreshed the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro just last month, but noticeably missing were processor upgrades, as the new machines continue to use the same Haswell processors from the previous generation. While appropriate Broadwell chips will soon be available over the next few months, it is possible that Apple did not want to wait that long to refresh the notebook.

It is also possible that Apple will skip fifth-generation Broadwell processors entirely for the MacBook Pro and release Skylake-based notebooks as early as later this year. Intel also announced the future availability of Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C, and USB 3.1 and DisplayPort 1.2 support, and the new spec would be suitable for inclusion in the next refresh to the Mac lineup.

Ahead of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, several of the company's HomeKit partners are today announcing the availability of the first HomeKit-compatible products. HomeKit is Apple's home automation platform, first introduced at the 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference.

HomeKit provides a standardized framework for manufacturers that develop home automation products, letting them interface with the Apple ecosystem and with each other. Through HomeKit, connected devices like lights, thermostats, speakers, smart plugs, and more can be controlled by Siri. For example, HomeKit enables commands like "Siri, turn off my lights," or "Siri, turn the temperature up before I get home."

Though HomeKit was announced in 2014, it has taken nearly a year for companies to complete Apple's certification process and get products ready for store shelves. Several companies like iDevices, Schlage, and Elgato have previously announced plans for HomeKit-compatible products, but until today, no products were ready to launch.

The first three companies to announce completed HomeKit-compatible products that will be available for purchase shortly are Lutron, iHome, and Elgato. Lutron is debuting its Caséta Wireless Lighting Starter Kit with Smart Bridge, while iHome is announcing its iSP5 SmartPlug, and Elgato is launching its "Eve" connected home sensors. Ecobee and Insteon also announced new HomeKit-compatible products today.

Lutron's Smart Bridge, part of the Lighting Starter Kit, supports HomeKit and is designed to let users control their Lutron Caséta Wireless dimmers using Siri on an iPhone or iPad. The kit includes one Smart Bridge, two Caséta Wireless dimmers (which support dimmable LED, halogen, and incandescent bulbs), two remotes, and two pedestals.

The Caséta Wireless Smart Bridge with HomeKit support allows homeowners to control lights in specific rooms or areas. For example, just before bed, tell Siri "turn the lights off" and the Caséta Wireless Smart Bridge will turn off lights throughout the house. Unsure if the basement light is still on? Ask Siri to check and if so, turn it off.

iHome's iSP5 SmartPlug fits into a standard wall socket and can use Siri or the iHome Control app to control lamps, fans, and other devices that are plugged in to the SmartPlug. The SmartPlugs support different "scenes" to control multiple connected devices within the home, and the app will allow multiple SmartPlugs to be grouped and controlled with a single command.

Up to two SmartPlugs are able to fit into a single wall socket and a Wi-Fi connection is required for the plugs to communicate with iOS devices. According to iHome, today's iSP5 SmartPlug is just one of several products that will include HomeKit support, with other accessories in the iHome Control line coming in the future.

The Eve brand of connected home sensors by Elgato, which the company announced last Fall, allow users to monitor air quality, smoke, humidity, air pressure, energy, and water consumption all with the ease of a synced iOS app. The line-up of different sensors each focus on a specific aspect of home detection: the Eve Room for indoor air quality, Eve Weather for outdoor temperature and humidity, Eve Door & Window for security notifications of open and closed points of entry into a house, and Eve Energy for basic energy consumption data and the control of electronic devices.

Some of the devices in the line aren't just simple sensors, either, with Eve Energy acting as a go-between for electrical-based devices and a wall outlet (although it's currently only available for European sockets). The product subsequently can monitor energy consumption of a device and can turn the product connected to it on and off at the touch of a button within the iOS app. Each of the products in the Eve family of home sensors are fully functional with Siri, allowing users to speak to their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to ask about temperature, the security of doors and windows, and control devices connected to Eve Energy.

The Caséta Wireless Lighting Starter Kit is available for $229.95 at Apple Stores beginning today. iHome's iSP5 SmartPlug will be available for pre-order for $39.99 from the iHome website beginning June 15. Elgato's Eve sensors are up for pre-order starting today, ranging in price from $39.95 to $79.95.

Ecobee and Insteon also announced a new HomeKit-compatible smart thermostat and Insteon Hub for controlling a range of switches, outlets, thermostats, and lightbulbs respectively. In the coming weeks, there will be even more announcements as companies producing smart home products finish their work on HomeKit.

Mitchel Broussard contributed to this report.

Intel today at Computex 2015 unveiled Thunderbolt 3 with a USB Type-C connector, instead of Mini DisplayPort, and support for USB 3.1, DisplayPort 1.2 and PCI Express 3.0, as outlined by Ars Technica. The new spec's Thunderbolt transport layer provides up to 40Gbps throughput, double the max bandwidth of Thunderbolt 2, alongside an optional 100 watts of power for charging devices in accordance with the USB Power Delivery spec, or 15 watts of power without USB PD.

"Thunderbolt 3 is backed by Intel's new Alpine Ridge controller. USB 3.1 support is provided by integrating a USB 3.1 host controller into Alpine Ridge. There will be two flavours of the controller, one that uses four PCIe 3.0 lanes to drive two Thunderbolt ports, and another version that only uses two PCIe lanes connected to a single Thunderbolt port."

Thunderbolt 3 is capable of driving up to two 4K external displays at 60Hz or a single 5K display at 60Hz running off a single cable. Dell and other manufacturers currently use a dual-cable solution for most 4K and 5K external displays, since the current DisplayPort/Thunderbolt spec does not provide enough bandwidth to drive the high-resolution monitors. Thunderbolt 3 also supports more protocols than any other I/O controller, making it compatible with virtually any dock, device or display.

Intel expects initial products with Thunderbolt 3 to start shipping before the end of this year, and ramp up in 2016. Thunderbolt 3 is rumored to launch alongside Intel's next-generation Skylake chips, succeeding the Broadwell line, later this year, and the new spec could theoretically be included in Skylake-based Macs that could possibly be released in late 2015. Refreshed Macs would likely gain USB-C ports integrated with Thunderbolt 3 as an all-in-one solution.

Apple today updated the Apple TV to re-add the Events Channel, where the company plans to broadcast the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on Monday, June 8. "Tune in at 10:00 AM (Local Time) on June 8 to watch this event live," reads the channel.

Apple has not yet updated its Events website, but it's likely the company will provide a live stream of the keynote on the website for users who are using Macs and iOS devices. As always, MacRumors will also provide live coverage of the event both on MacRumors.com and through the MacRumorsLive Twitter account.

This year's WWDC keynote event promises to be an exciting one, with Apple expected to debut a new streaming music service, a revamped version of iTunes Radio, an updated Apple TV set-top box, and iOS 9 and OS X 11. New features and updates to Apple Pay and HomeKit may also be announced, but as we learned earlier today, the company's much-rumored subscription television service will not make an appearance.

Update: Apple is now also advertising the live stream on its website.

Apple today updated its "Shot on iPhone 6" microsite to include a new video section, entitled "World Gallery in motion." The new section more heavily emphasizes the video taking capabilities of the iPhone 6, with a tagline that reads "The camera that changed photos does the same for video."

The Shot on iPhone 6 site previously featured a few videos captured with the iPhone 6, but the newly introduced video-specific gallery includes a total of six videos that are new. The short 15-second videos, also available on YouTube, cover subjects ranging from birds, dogs, and bugs to landscapes. All are set to accompanying music and end with the text "Shot on iPhone 6."