MacRumors

Apple is looking to add Fitness+ Audio Meditations to the Mindfulness Apple Watch app, according to a now-removed image from WWDC.

Apple's Platforms State of the Union video featured a brief image of a collection of devices running the company's various new operating systems, and the Apple Watch in that image showed the Mindfulness app with a Fitness+ Audio Meditations feature.

Apple has now attempted to hide its plans for Fitness+ Audio Meditations by uploading a wholly new Platforms State of the Union video that removes the implicating image, replacing it with a generic image of the Mindfulness app. MacRumors was able to verify that Apple revealed the feature in the original video.

At the time of writing, Apple has kept the original video with the image showing Fitness+ Audio Meditations live for the American sign language version of the Platforms State of the Union.

Apple already offers an Apple Watch-exclusive Fitness+ experience in "Time to Walk." Time to Walk is an Apple Watch feature for Apple Fitness+ subscribers that plays audio stories from influential people while completing a walk workout. Fitness+ Audio Meditations appears to be the next Apple Watch Fitness+ audio experience.

Fitness+ Audio Meditations may allow Apple to begin to compete with popular existing guided meditation apps such as Headspace, and could help users learn to meditate through spoken instructions and sound.

In watchOS 8, Apple has renamed the Breathe app "Mindfulness," refocusing it around short meditation practices, tips, and thought-provoking themes. The app has been overhauled with new animations and visualizations, a new summary screen, and other general improvements.

Given the fact that Apple has hastily attempted to remove the first look at Fitness+ Audio Meditations, it is likely that the feature is being kept back for a formal announcement at a later date, perhaps prior to the public release of watchOS 8.

(Thanks, Jake!)

Apple today launched a promotion in Canada that offers a $75 Apple Store gift card with the purchase of a new iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 mini through June 28. The offer does not apply to the iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The offer is valid in Canada at physical Apple Store locations, through Apple's online store, in the Apple Store app, or by calling 1-800-MY-APPLE for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini purchases made between June 10 and June 28. Purchases made with carrier financing are eligible, with full terms and conditions outlined on Apple's website.

Apple's online store went down earlier today in Canada, likely in relation to this promotion launching. The offer does not appear to be available in the United States or other countries at this time, nor does it apply to any other products.

Apple released the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini in October 2020, and introduced a purple color option for the devices in late April.

With iOS 15, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max will be able to tap into the Find My network, allowing users to locate their lost AirPods in the unfortunate event they get lost outside of nearby Bluetooth range.

Users have always been able to locate their AirPods through the ‌Find My‌ app within Bluetooth range. Now, with iOS 15, AirPods Pro and ‌AirPods Max‌ can tap into the ‌Find My‌ network to relay their approximate location, even if they're out of Bluetooth range from the owner. AirPods Pro and ‌AirPods Max‌ will still need to be within close proximity to a ‌Find My‌ device, such as an iPhone, however.

‌Find My‌ allows devices to crowdsource the location of other ‌Find My‌ devices, meaning even if they're relatively far away, ‌Find My‌ should be able to provide an approximate location.

Use the Find My network to get an approximate location of your missing AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. This will help you get within Bluetooth range so you can play a sound and locate them.

Beats headphones, also owned by Apple, added support for ‌Find My‌ earlier this year. ‌Find My‌ also gained other new features in iOS 15, including brand new separation alerts that notify users if a ‌Find My‌ compatible device is left behind, a brand new Find My widget for the Home Screen, and the ability for ‌Find My‌ to locate an ‌iPhone‌ even if its low on battery, or completely turned off.

U.S. President Joe Biden has withdrawn a series of executive orders from his predecessor Donald Trump banning Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat in the United States.

Trump signed several executive orders banning apps tied to China during his time in office. In the most high profile order, Trump sought a ban of the short-form video app TikTok, which is owned by Chinese firm Bytedance, in 2020.

However, Trump's bans were never enforced after several court orders blocked the restrictions, despite claims by the Trump administration that the apps posed a risk to national security.

Biden's new executive order revokes the WeChat and TikTok orders that Trump issued in August, which attempted to force ByteDance to divest TikTok to a U.S. company, along with another one that Trump signed in January which targeted several other messaging and financial transaction apps including Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Going forward, the Biden administration says it will instead take an "evidence-based approach" when reviewing the security concerns posed by apps. The U.S. Department of Commerce will be tasked with the job of reviewing apps developed by those "in the jurisdiction of a foreign adversary."

A separate US national security review of TikTok launched in late 2019 remains active, and an administration official has said that the White House remains "very concerned" about the data risks of TikTok users.

Biden's order says collecting of data from Americans "threatens to provide foreign adversaries with access to that information," and directs the Commerce Department to continually evaluate any transactions that "pose an undue risk of catastrophic effects on the security or resiliency of the critical infrastructure or digital economy of the United States."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News 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.

Occasional leaker Mr White has today shared interesting images on Twitter of what appears to be an old-school fifth-generation iPod touch prototype with chamfered edges and a brushed aluminum finish.

The original iPod touch 5 that Apple released in October 2012 had a unibody anodized aluminum chassis with rounded edges, and was available in several colors, including slate.

Another interesting detail on the prototype, which lacks an Apple logo on the back, is the presence of a 30-pin dock connector, suggesting it was designed before Apple formally adopted Lightning.

Along with the iPhone 5, iPod nano (7th generation), and iPad (4th generation), the original iPod touch 5 was one of the first Apple devices to feature a Lightning port.

The prototype also has the headphone jack bottom-right, whereas on the iPod touch 5 it was located on the left. Apple discontinued the iPod touch 5 in 2015.

We haven't heard of any rumors suggesting Apple has an upgraded iPod touch in the works. The current seventh-generation iPod touch was the result of a refresh in May 2019, and is currently the only product in Apple's iPod product line, following the discontinuation of the iPod nano and iPod shuffle in 2017.

With tvOS 15, Apple is bringing Spatial Audio to the Apple TV when the set-top box is used with AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. It has been unclear how this feature will work because the ‌Apple TV‌ does not have a U1 chip for head tracking purposes, but Apple recently gave an explanation to Engadget.

When you’re watching a TV show or movie on the ‌Apple TV‌, the head tracking feature (powered by AirPods Pro or Max) detects that you’ve been looking in the same direction, calculates your probable head orientation, and activates the Spatial Audio effect. If you get up, it reactivates.

When you sit down to watch a movie or TV show, the included head tracking feature will lock in after it detects you’ve been looking in the same direction for a while. Once you get up to walk around, it will reactivate.

Spatial Audio will work with stereo, 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos content, and connecting the AirPods to an ‌Apple TV‌ that’s running tvOS 15 has been streamlined. When you’re wearing AirPods and are near the ‌Apple TV‌, you’ll see an on-screen popup that will let you connect with a click of the remote.

Spatial Audio is designed to provide a theater-like listening experience with sound that seems to come from all around you. tvOS 15 is also gaining new SharePlay features for watching TV with friends over FaceTime calls and support for pairing two HomePod mini speakers to an ‌Apple TV‌.

It's been a few days since Apple announced macOS Monterey, and we continue to dig through new features that weren't mentioned during the WWDC keynote, including a much more convenient way of erasing a Mac.

Following in the footsteps of the iPhone and iPad, the Mac has gained an "Erase All Content and Settings" option on macOS Monterey. The option allows you to erase all user data and user-installed apps from your Mac without needing to reinstall the macOS operating system, making it far easier to restore a Mac to like-new factory settings.

From the macOS Monterey features page on Apple's website:

Erase all contents and settings
System Preferences now offers an option to erase all user data and user-installed apps from the system, while maintaining the operating system currently installed. Because storage is always encrypted on Mac systems with Apple silicon or the T2 chip, the system is instantly and securely "erased" by destroying the encryption keys.

In the macOS Monterey beta, the new option can be found by opening the System Preferences app, clicking on System Preferences in the menu bar at the top of the screen, and clicking on "Erase All Content and Settings" in the drop-down menu. An administrator password is required to proceed with restoring the Mac to factory settings.

Erasing a Mac running an earlier version of macOS requires formatting the startup disk and reinstalling macOS, so this new option will make it far more convenient to restore your Mac to factory settings, whether you simply want to start fresh with your Mac or are planning to sell or gift the Mac to another person. After erasing a Mac, it will display the Setup Assistant and be ready to be set up like new.

macOS Monterey is available now in beta for developers, with a public beta to follow in July.

One of the key new features of macOS Monterey is the ability to AirPlay content to a Mac from other Apple devices, such as an iPhone, iPad, or another Mac. According to the macOS Monterey features page, AirPlay to Mac works works both wirelessly or wired using a USB cable, with Apple noting that a wired connection is useful when you want to ensure that there's no latency or don't have access to a Wi-Fi connection.

AirPlay to Mac also allows users to extend or mirror an Apple device's display to a Mac, and we've confirmed this works on a Mac-to-Mac basis. This makes it possible for supported Macs to use another Mac as an external display, and with AirPlay to Mac working both wirelessly or with a wired connection, Apple has come close to reviving Target Display Mode, which allowed 2009 to 2014 iMac models to serve as another Mac's external display.

It's worth noting that these new AirPlay features do not serve as a complete Target Display Mode replacement, as we've been told that AirPlay compresses video sent from one Mac to another, and at least some latency might still be possible.

Starting with macOS Monterey, a supported Mac can also function as an AirPlay 2 speaker source, allowing users to wirelessly stream music or podcasts from an Apple device to a Mac or use the computer as a secondary speaker for multi-room audio.

AirPlay to Mac works with a 2018 or later MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, a 2019 or later iMac or Mac Pro, an iMac Pro, and the 2020 Mac mini.

macOS Monterey is available now in beta for developers, with a public beta to follow in July. The software update will likely be publicly released for all compatible Macs at some point between late September and early November.

Facebook has been working on a new smart watch for the last several months, and The Verge today unveiled new details about the device, which will compete with the Apple Watch.

The Facebook smart watch will have a detachable display with two built-in cameras for taking pictures and videos to share on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

A camera on the front of the watch's display will be available for video calls, while a 1080p camera at the back can be used for capturing photos when the watch body is detached from the stainless steel watch frame.

Facebook is planning to work with other companies to create accessories that can be attached to the camera hub portion of the watch, like backpacks. Facebook is hoping that people will use the watch in the same ways that smartphones are used now to circumvent Apple and Google's control over mobile Facebook users.

Prior rumors about the smart watch suggested it will feature a cellular connection that does not require a smartphone, and wearers will be able to send messages with Facebook services like Messenger and WhatsApp. It's also expected to have built-in health tracking features like a heart rate monitor, and it will run a custom version of Android.

There have been rumors that Apple might one day add a camera to the Apple Watch, but it so far has yet to happen. Given Facebook's poor track record when it comes to data collection and privacy, people may be hesitant to use a Facebook-designed smart watch, especially one equipped with multiple cameras and a microphone.

Future iterations of the Facebook smart watch will serve as a key input device for augmented reality glasses that Facebook also has in the works. Facebook is aiming to launch its new smart watch next summer, and it could be priced at around $400.

With iOS 15, Apple is introducing more granular control over the people and places that show up in your Photos Memories, letting you fine tune just who makes random appearances in the ‌Photos‌ app and the ‌Photos‌ widget.

You've already been able to select "Suggest Fewer Memories Like This" when viewing a memory in the "For You" section of ‌Photos‌ or remove a photo from photo suggestions entirely, but now you can choose to feature a specific person less often.

When viewing the For You section of the ‌Photos‌ app, you can long press on an image with a person and select the "Feature This Person Less," option to prevent that person from popping up as often. The Remove From Featured ‌Photos‌ option prevents a specific photo from reappearing.

These new controls for better managing what shows up as a featured image will come in handy when an unpleasant memory pops up, perhaps one featuring an ex-partner or a place that has a negative association.

Over the years, people have complained about the Memories feature in the ‌Photos‌ app and some of the people that it opts to feature.

The prior "Suggest Fewer Memories Like This" option that was available in iOS 14 for memory slideshows has been renamed "Feature Less," and you can select specific people, dates, and places to feature less often in Memories.

It's also worth noting that in a memory slideshow that Apple suggests, you can also now tap on the grid button on toolbar to enter into a view that shows you all of the photos at once. Just long press on it to get a "Hide from Memory" option that makes it disappear.

These new features are available in the ‌Photos‌ app in the current iOS 15 beta. iOS 15 will be in beta testing for several months, with a launch to come in the fall.

iPadOS 15 includes most of the new changes that were introduced in iOS 15, but there are also some iPad-specific features designed specifically for Apple's larger-screened iOS devices. One of these new features is an update to multitasking, which we've highlighted in our latest YouTube video.

Multitasking can be done the same way as it was before, but there's also a new multitasking menu that streamlines the multitasking experience, offering quick-tap options for entering into Split View or Slide Over with two apps. In the App Switcher view, you can also get into a quick Split View mode by dragging one app's window onto another, which is handy.

Apple also added a "Shelf" feature for managing multiple windows of the same app, so if you have multiple Safari windows, you can use the Shelf to swap between them for multitasking purposes.

There are multiple keyboard shortcuts that are available for multitasking to make it easier to swap between windows without your fingers having to leave the keys. Many of the shortcuts use the Globe key on an attached keyboard.

These new multitasking features will take some time to get used to, but overall this seems to make multitasking more intuitive to use. Have you tried iPadOS 15? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Additional signs of the Beats Studio Buds are continuing to pop up ahead of their release, with new images and details found in a Taiwan's NCC (National Communications Commission) database.

We've already seen multiple pictures of the Beats Studio Buds, which feature a wire-free in-ear stemless design that sets them apart from prior Beats headphones and the AirPods. The database photos give us some insight into size.

The Beats Studio Buds fit into the ear and feature silicone tips, and there's likely to be multiple size options available to ensure a snug fit. There's a small body that houses electronics, with a Beats logo visible.

For charging purposes, the Beats Studio Buds come with an oval-shaped charging case made from matching plastic material. The photos have all featured black Beats Studio Buds and a black case, but there will be white and red versions available too, presumably with matching cases.

The Beats Studio Buds use a USB-C cable for charging, according to the database, which means there's a USB-C port on the case rather than a Lightning port. So far, AirPods and past Beats headphones like the Powerbeats Pro have charged over Lightning, so this could signal a further shift to USB-C.

The design of the Beats Studio Buds has sparked interest because it is similar to the rumored design of the AirPods Pro 2, which are expected later this year. The next-generation AirPods Pro are rumored to have a compact, rounded design that's also stemless, which sounds a lot like the new Beats.

There is no word yet on when the Beats Studio Buds might launch, but they've already been spotted out in the wild in the ears of various athletes like LeBron James, so Apple may be planning to release them soon.

Apple will make Podcasts subscription options available starting on Tuesday, June 15, Apple said today in an email that was sent out to podcasters (via The Verge).

Support for Podcasts Subscriptions was introduced with the iOS 14.6 update, but in late May after releasing the update Apple said that the rollout of the feature would be delayed until June to make sure that the "best experience" is being provided to creators and listeners.

Podcast Subscriptions were first announced at Apple's April event and will see podcast creators able to offer paid subscription options with access to exclusive content, ad-free listening, and other perks.

Apple likely delayed the subscription feature because Podcast app users have been unhappy with the changes that were implemented in an iOS 14.5 update. There were multiple complaints about the usability of the app, which Apple began to address in iOS 14.6. When delaying the Podcast Subscriptions launch, Apple said that further improvements to the Podcasts app are in the works.

International Day of Yoga takes place on Monday, June 21, and Apple is celebrating with a new Activity Challenge that will let Apple Watch users earn a new yoga badge and a set of animated yoga stickers.

Earn this award inspired by the International Day of Yoga. On June 21, do a yoga workout of 20 minutes or more. Record your time with any app that adds workouts to Health.

To earn the award, Apple Watch users will need to complete a yoga workout that lasts for 20 minutes or more on June 21. The award for completing the challenge looks similar to the award provided for past Yoga Day challenges, and there are several sticker options for various yoga poses like tree pose, crow pose, and warrior 2 to side angle.

Apple holds Activity Challenges for various holidays and events throughout the year, and began offering awards for International Day of Yoga in 2019.

Any yoga workout will fulfill the requirement, so long as you select the yoga workout type from the Workout app on the Apple Watch or use an app that adds yoga workouts to the Health app. Apple's Fitness+ service, available for $9.99 per month, offers built-in yoga workouts that you can do.

While there are many great new features in macOS Monterey, several of them are not available on Intel-based Macs, according to Apple.

On the macOS Monterey features page, fine print indicates that the following features require a Mac with the M1 chip, including any MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac model released since November 2020:

• Portrait Mode blurred backgrounds in FaceTime videos
• Live Text for copying and pasting, looking up, or translating text within photos
• An interactive 3D globe of Earth in the Maps app
• More detailed maps in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London in the Maps app
• Text-to-speech in more languages, including Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Finnish
• On-device keyboard dictation that performs all processing completely offline
• Unlimited keyboard dictation (previously limited to 60 seconds per instance)

Apple has not explained why any of these features are not available on Intel-based Macs. For what it's worth, Google Earth has long offered an interactive 3D globe of the Earth on Intel-based Macs both on the web and in an app.

Apple is currently in the midst of a two-year transition from Intel processors to its custom Apple silicon chips in Macs, with the changeover slated to be completed by WWDC 2022. Macs with the M1 chip have proven to be much faster than their equivalent Intel-based predecessors, with even the base model MacBook Air with the M1 chip outperforming a maxed-out Intel-based 16-inch MacBook Pro in benchmarks.

Apple is widely rumored to be planning redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models powered by a faster iteration of the M1 chip for later this year.

macOS Monterey is still compatible with a wide variety of Intel-based Macs, and is available now in beta for developers. The software update will likely be publicly released to all users at some point between September and November.

Update: According to Rene Ritchie, Intel-based Macs lack the Neural Engine that many if not all of these features require.

Before WWDC, rumors largely driven by leaker Jon Prosser suggested that Apple would announce redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros during the conference. Those rumors, however, did not come to fruition. Interestingly, though, Apple lists "m1x MacBook Pro" as a tag for the WWDC keynote uploaded on YouTube.

The tag, first spotted by Apple YouTuber Max Balzer on Twitter, is among other tags Apple has added to the video, including iOS 15, M1X, iOS, developers conference, and more. Apple released the M1 Apple silicon chip in November, and speculation has suggested that the next chip, expected in the redesigned MacBook Pros, would be called "m1x."

The inclusion of the tag, while not totally indicative, may suggest that Apple does plan to call the upcoming chip "m1x," or, more likely, is simply using the rumor mill as a way to bump up the WWDC keynote in YouTube search results. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has stated that the new MacBook Pros could debut as soon as early this summer.

Apple announced macOS Monterey this week, and one small but convenient feature that went unmentioned during the WWDC keynote is automatic window resizing.

As explained on the macOS Monterey features page, windows now automatically resize when they are moved from a Mac's built-in display to a secondary display, including an external monitor, another Mac, or an iPad using Sidecar.

This feature should prove to be particularly useful when moving windows between a smaller MacBook display and a larger external monitor.

Another new window management feature in macOS Monterey is the option to display the menu bar at all times when an app is in full-screen mode, making it easy to view an app's various menus and other glanceable information at any time.

macOS Monterey is available now in beta for developers, with a public release likely to occur at some point between September and November.