MacRumors: Apple Mac iPhone Rumors and News

Apple Employees Testing Apple Arcade Ahead of Launch

Saturday August 17, 2019 10:40 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple Arcade, Apple's upcoming subscription-based gaming service, was first introduced in March and is set to launch this fall.

Ahead of the upcoming launch, Apple has debuted an early access program for its employees, with screenshots and details shared by 9to5Mac this morning. Apple employees are able to access Apple Arcade for $0.49 per month, with a one month free trial available.

Apple Arcade games will be available on the Mac, iOS App Store, and Apple TV, with the screenshots shared today sourced from the Mac App Store. The Apple Arcade tab in Apple's App Stores will feature a selection of highlighted games and different game categories.

Many of the games in development for Apple Arcade have been previously announced, but here are a few Apple is highlighting, along with their descriptions:

Way of the Turtle: "Play as two curious turtles lost on a cursed island in the middle of nowhere. Obtain shells containing special powers such as dash and attack to defeat enemies and overcome different challenges."

Down in Bermuda: "Adventurous aviator Milton left his loving wife and daughter to voyage across the Atlantic on the journey of a lifetime."

Hot Lava: "Hot Lava transports you back to your childhood imagination. Relive those moments of excitement, joy and chaos. Run, jump, climb and surf in first person across nostalgia-packed environments flooded with hot molten lava."

According to 9to5Mac, most of the games right now are still in-development builds, and other titles available to employees include "Sneaky Sasquatch", "Kings of the Castle", "Frogger in Toy

New Ceramic and Titanium Apple Watch Models Uncovered in watchOS 6 Beta

Saturday August 17, 2019 6:27 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

New leaked assets from the watchOS 6 beta suggest Apple plans to launch new ceramic and titanium Apple Watch models as early as next month.

Discovered by iHelpBR, the assets belong to the initial Apple Watch setup screen animation, which resembles the rear design of the watch including the model type and the words "Designed by Apple in California."

The firmware assets clearly reference a 44mm titanium case and a 44mm ceramic case. iHelpBR has also found analogous assets for the 40mm size Apple Watch model.

Back in February, respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted Apple would introduce a "new ceramic casing design" to its Apple Watch line-up, and these assets do appear to back up that claim.

Apple introduced "Edition" models with the Apple Watch Series 2 that were made from ceramic. Prices started at $1,299, which it continued offering when the Series 3 Apple Watches came out, but Apple discontinued the Edition models when the Series 4 launched last year.

Current Apple Watch models do have a ceramic back, but the assets indicate Apple will revisit a new high end ceramic model in 2019. And it looks like we can also expect an entirely new titanium model – a material perhaps currently in favor at Apple following work on its just-released titanium Apple Card.

Apple Watch Series 2 ceramic model in white
It's not clear if the titanium casing will replace stainless steel or become an additional option. Another unanswered question is whether these materials will be exclusive to a

App Developers Claim Apple's iOS 13 Location Tracking Changes Are Anti-Competitive

Friday August 16, 2019 2:20 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Apple in iOS 13 made changes to the way location tracking permissions work, and there's no longer an option for apps to ask to "Always Allow" location tracking.

Instead, Apple allows users to select "Allow While Using the App," "Allow Once," or "Don't Allow," which some app creators have taken offense to. The leaders of seven companies that make apps for iOS devices banded together to write an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook to speak out about the changes, with the details shared by The Information.

There's no longer an "Always Allow" option on privacy popups in iOS 13 for enabling permanent location access
The companies that wrote to Cook are upset that there's no longer a readily available "Always Allow" option. Users can still turn on "Always Allow" in the Privacy section of the Settings app, but it's not available by default and requires additional steps.

As an example, Zenly, a location tracking app owned by Snap, needs to have location tracking on permanently to function. Since there's no option to turn on "Always Allow," Zenly has to have a clunky secondary display screen that instructs users to open up the Privacy settings on their iPhones to change the location setting. This makes consumers more aware of apps that are tracking them continually, but it is an extra step that app developers must contend with.

Apps that want continual location data must instruct customers to enable it in the Settings app
According to the companies who wrote to Cook, the changes could potentially lead users to think their apps are broken unless they're "savvy

Hands-On With CarPlay in iOS 13: Everything That's New

Friday August 16, 2019 12:56 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Along with many new features for the iPhone and the iPad, iOS 13 brings updates to CarPlay, overhauling the interface for the first time in years and adding useful new functionality.

In our latest YouTube video, we went hands-on with CarPlay in iOS 13 to give MacRumors readers an idea of what's new with Apple's in-car platform.

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CarPlay in iOS 13 has a redesigned and revamped Home screen with new table views, rounded corners, and an updated Home button that swaps between a dashboard icon and an app row icon depending on what app you're using.

The new tile-like user interface displays the Maps app, Shortcuts, Siri suggestions, Music Now Playing interface, and upcoming Calendar events all at a glance, which is convenient. Tapping on any of the tiles opens up the relevant app. You can, of course, still access the standard icon list from previous versions of CarPlay with a swipe.

In the new Calendar app, you can see all of your upcoming events for the day, which is useful for when you get in the car in the morning. If a calendar event has a location associated with it, you can tap on the event and get directions to where you need to go.

Maps has an updated look and feel, and it takes advantage of all of the features in iOS 13. In supported areas, there's better detail for roads, buildings, parks, and more, and you can use the Favorites and Collections features to route to saved locations. It's also easier to find

Kuo: Apple Watch Series 5 Lineup to Launch in Fall With OLED Displays Supplied by Japan Display

Friday August 16, 2019 8:52 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Japan Display will supply OLED displays for new Apple Watch Series 5 models slated to launch in the second half of 2019, according to the latest prediction from well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In a research note with TF International Securities shared with Chinese media outlets today, Kuo forecasted that Japan Display will gradually increase its proportion of OLED display orders for the Apple Watch, starting with 15-20 percent of orders in 2019 and reaching 70-80 percent in 2021.

Kuo believes that Apple will also gradually increase the proportion of LG's supply of OLED displays for iPhones, and tap Chinese manufacturer BOE as an additional supplier, in a bid to diversify its supply chain.

Apple Watch Series 5 models will likely be unveiled next month alongside a trio of new iPhones. This would hardly be a surprise, as Series 1 through Series 4 models all launched in September, but specific rumors about Series 5 models have actually been relatively quiet, so this is nice reassurance.

For example, Kuo previously said a "new ceramic casing design" would be "added" to the Apple Watch lineup, but he did not explicitly mention Series 5 models. Reuters also reported that Japan Display would begin supplying OLED displays for the Apple Watch, but likewise did not specify Series 5 models.

Looking farther ahead, rumors suggest that Apple Watch Series 6 models will adopt MicroLED displays in

HomePod Launching in Japan and Taiwan on August 23, Pre-Orders Available Now

Thursday August 15, 2019 9:57 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Apple's HomePod is set to launch in Japan and Taiwan next week, on Friday, August 23, Apple announced today. Ahead of the launch, Apple is accepting pre-orders through its online stores in Japan and Taiwan.

The HomePod is available for ¥32,800 in Japan and NT$9,900 in Taiwan, which is $10 to $15 higher than the price in the U.S. When the HomePod first launched in the United States in 2018, it was priced at $349, but the price was lowered to $299 in April of this year.

Apple announced plans to expand the HomePod to Japan and Taiwan earlier this summer, and added support for the new countries in the 12.4 software made available for the HomePod in late July.

Apple now sells the HomePod in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, China, and Hong Kong, along with Taiwan and

Apple Files Lawsuit Against Virtualization Company Corellium for Illegally Replicating iOS and Apple Apps

Thursday August 15, 2019 3:36 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today filed a lawsuit against Corellium, a mobile device virtualization company that supports iOS. Corellium describes itself as the "first and only platform" that offers iOS, Android, and Linux virtualization on ARM.

In the lawsuit, filed today in the Southern District of Florida, Apple accuses Corellium of copyright infringement for illegally replicating the operating system and applications that run on the iPhone and the iPad.

A virtual iPhone on Corellium's website used as evidence in Apple's lawsuit against the company

Corellium's business is based entirely on commercializing the illegal replication of the copyrighted operating system and applications that run on Apple's iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices. The product Corellium offers is a "virtual" version of Apple mobile hardware products, accessible to anyone with a web browser.

Specifically, Corellium serves up what it touts as a perfect digital facsimile of a broad range of Apple's market-leading devices--recreating with fastidious attention to detail not just the way the operating system and applications appear visually to bona fide purchasers, but also the underlying computer code. Corellium does so with no license or permission from Apple.

According to Apple, Corellium's iOS virtualization product infringes on Apple's copyrights. "Corellium has simply copied everything: the code, the graphical user interface, the icons -- all of it, in exacting detail," reads the lawsuit.

Corellium's product creates digital replicas of iOS, iTunes, and user interface elements available on a

Apple Touts U.S. Impact of 2.4 Million Jobs

Thursday August 15, 2019 1:17 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Apple is directly or indirectly responsible for creating a total of 2.4 million jobs in the United States, the company announced today.

Apple says that this is four times the number of American jobs that were attributable to the company compared to eight years ago, and that it is on pace to directly contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy as announced last year.

That 2.4 million figure includes Apple's own employees and those at U.S. companies that create components for Apple devices or otherwise work at Apple, such as battery testing company Maccor and modem company Broadcom, which has a manufacturing facility in Colorado.

Apple also works with Texas company Finisar, and since getting $390 million as part of Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund, Finisar is on track to fill 500 full-time positions. Finisar will soon begin shipping the VCSELs used to power Face ID. According to Apple, it spent a collective $60 billion across 9,000 American companies in 2018.

The App Store, says Apple, is responsible for 1.9 million American jobs, up by 325,000 over the course of the last 2.5 years.

Several states saw double-digit growth during that period, including a 43 percent increase in North Carolina, representing almost 15,000 new jobs, and a 50 percent increase in Florida, which added almost 30,000 new jobs. Pennsylvania saw a 64 percent increase in growth, going from 40,800 jobs in 2016 to more than 67,000 today.

Apple itself currently employs 90,000 employees across 50 states and is on track to create 20,000 new jobs across the U.S. by 2023 with new campuses in

New iPhones to Debut on September 10 According to File Found in iOS 13 Beta 7

Thursday August 15, 2019 12:22 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today released the seventh beta of iOS 13, and an image hidden within the update suggest Apple is going to hold an event to show off new iPhones on Tuesday, September 10.

An iOS 13 screenshot in the beta, covertly named "HoldForRelease," features the Calendar app with the date set to Tuesday the 10th.

The screenshot was originally found by iHelpBR, and the site points out that a similar screenshot was found last year ahead of the September 12 iPhone event with a September 12 date.

September 10 is a very likely date for the iPhone event based on the dates of past iPhone events, and we would be surprised were it not held on that date. Almost all iPhone events in recent history have been held during the second week of September, and generally on Tuesdays.

Last year's Wednesday, September 12 event was an anomaly because September 11 fell on a Tuesday and Apple prefers Tuesday or Wednesday to Monday in order to give members of the media time to travel.

We've also heard the September 10 date bandied about from multiple sources that have contacted us. All three new iPhones are expected to debut at the event and see a release shortly after. Last year, the iPhone XS and XS Max were released in September ahead of the iPhone XR, which came in October.

With the iPhone event likely to be held on September 10, pre-orders for the new devices could take place on September 13 with a launch to follow on September 20. Apple often releases iOS updates two days ahead of when new iPhones become available, so iOS 13 could be released on

Siri Answers 83% of Questions Correctly in Test, Beating Alexa But Trailing Google Assistant

Thursday August 15, 2019 12:05 pm PDT by Juli Clover

In an annual test comparing Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa on smartphones, Loup Ventures' Gene Munster found that Siri was able to correctly answer 83 percent of questions, beating Alexa but trailing behind Google Assistant.

Munster asked each digital assistant 800 questions during the test to compare how each one responded. Alexa answered 79.8 percent of questions correctly, while Google Assistant answered 92.9 percent of questions correctly.

Compared to last year, Siri has seen improvement. During the July 2018 test, Siri answered 79 percent of questions correctly compared to the 83 percent of questions answered right this time around. Alexa last year was at 61 percent while Google Assistant was at 86, so there have been digital voice assistant improvements across the board.

This test covered smartphones specifically, comparing iPhones and Android devices. Munster says that smartphones were isolated from smart speakers because while underlying technology is similar, "use cases vary." Siri was tested on an iPhone running iOS 12.4, Google Assistant on a Pixel XL, and Alexa in the iOS app.

Questions were based on five categories and all assistants were asked the same 800 questions. Each question set was designed to "comprehensively test a digital assistant's ability and utility." Some of the sample questions across each of the categories:

Local - Where is the nearest coffee shop?
Commerce - Order me more paper towels.
Navigation - How do I get to Uptown on the bus?
Information - Who do

What's New in iOS 13 Beta 7

Thursday August 15, 2019 11:35 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today released the seventh beta of iOS 13 to developers, bringing new bug fixes and refining iOS 13 and iPadOS features introduced in previous betas.

Now that we're up to the seventh beta, changes and tweaks are getting much more minor, but there are still a few new things worth noting.

- Folders - Folder backgrounds are once again gray, with changes made in the previous beta reverted.

- Dark Mode - The Dark Mode Control Center widget wording has been tweaked. Instead of saying Light Appearance or Dark Appearance, it now says Light Mode or Dark Mode.

- Deleting Attachments in Messages - You can once again delete photo and other attachments from Messages. In a conversation, tap on the "i" and long press on a photo, link, or document to bring up a menu to delete it.

- Blocked Senders in Mail - There are new options to determine what to do with messages from blocked senders. You can move them to the trash or mark as blocked and leave them in the inbox (the default option).

- Silence Unknown Callers - When toggling on Silence Unknown Callers, there's new text in the Phone app that lets you know incoming calls will continue to ring from people in your contacts, recent outgoing calls, and Siri Suggestions.

- All Photos View - When viewing "All Photos" in the main Photos tab in iOS 13, Photos are displayed in a grid three across instead of the smaller thumbnails that were available before by default.

- Find My - Notify When Found is now

Apple Seeds Seventh Betas of iOS 13 and iPadOS to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

Thursday August 15, 2019 10:03 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today seeded the seventh betas of iOS 13 and iPadOS to developers for testing purposes, a week after releasing the sixth betas and two months after unveiling the new operating system at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Registered developers will need to download the profile for the iOS 13 and iPadOS betas from Apple's Developer Center. This beta, like earlier betas, can be downloaded over-the-air once the proper profile has been installed.

Apple split iOS 13 and iPadOS into separate updates in 2019, one designed for iPhone and one designed for iPad. iPadOS is identical to iOS 13 in almost every way, though there are some iPad-specific features such as new multitasking capabilities. For the most part, the two operating systems share the same features.

iOS 13 is a huge update with a long list of new features. Perhaps the most noticeable outward-facing change is a systemwide Dark Mode that changes the entire look of the operating system from light to dark, darkening everything from system elements to apps.

Apple overhauled the Photos app, introducing a new Photos tab that curates your entire Photos library and shows you a selection of highlights organized by day, month, or year, and there are revamped Photo editing tools.

For the first time, you can edit video right in the Photos app, cropping, rotating, applying filters, and adjusting lighting and color. There's a new High-Key Mono lighting effect, and for

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