Apple today send out invites for a surprise media event that's set to be held on Monday, December 2 in New York City, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Invitation image via Lance Ulanoff According to the media invitations, Apple will be honoring its "favorite apps and games of 2019." There is no word on just what that means, and as Apple has never held a similar event, we don't know what to expect. Apple does, however, always share its year-end favorite apps and games, during the first few days of December, so it sounds like this year, the content will be unveiled during a full event and awards ceremony. Apple's best of the year content offerings highlight games, music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and more, with last year's announcement focusing on content that shaped entertainment and culture around the world. It's not clear if any hardware will be introduced at the event, but it seems unlikely given the clear wording of the media invites. We're still expecting Apple to release the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR in December, so there could be a mention of an official launch date, but beyond that, no more hardware refreshes are rumored for this year.

Following a brief initial teardown of the 16-inch MacBook Pro on Friday, repair site iFixit today shared its full teardown of the new machine, giving us insights into the changes that Apple has made with the keyboard and other components. The new ‌MacBook Pro‌ features the largest display that Apple has introduced in the MacBook line since the 17-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ was discontinued, and it also features a brand new scissor keyboard called the Magic Keyboard, a new thermal architecture, and some other design tweaks. When it comes to the keyboard, Apple has reverted to the same scissor switch mechanism used in older ‌MacBook Pro‌ models and the standalone Bluetooth Magic Keyboard for the iMac. It's slightly thinner than the prior scissor key design, but iFixit says the two scissor mechanisms look identical other than the thickness and some keys between the two keyboards are even interchangeable. Scissor switches are more reliable than butterfly switches and are not prone to breaking from dust or other small particulates. In fact, iFixit says there's no dust-proofing membrane on these keys, suggesting Apple doesn't expect these keyboards to fail. Aside from the new scissor switch mechanism, the keyboard looks quite similar to the keyboard from the prior ‌MacBook Pro‌, though there is a separate physical Escape key, a separate Touch ID button, and an updated inverted "T" design for the arrow keys. Underneath, there's an Apple-designed rubber dome, a backlight assembly, and a black gasket for blocking out excess light. The keyboard assembly is riveted down, which

Apple today released new iOS and iPadOS 13.2.3 for the iPhone and the iPad, updates to the iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.2.2 software that was released last week on November 7. The new iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.2.3 updates are available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the updates, go to Settings > General > Software Update. iOS and ‌‌iPadOS‌‌ 13.2.3 are minor updates focusing on performance improvements and bug fixes for issues that were not able to be addressed in iOS 13.2 and iOS 13.2.2 rather than major outward facing changes. According to Apple's release notes, the update fixes a bug that could prevent Mail from fetching new messages and it addresses a bug that caused photos, links, and other attachments to not display properly in the Messages details view. The iOS 13.2.3 and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.2.3 release notes are the same.iOS 13.2.3 includes bug fixes and improvements for your iPhone. This update: Fixes an issue where system search and search within Mail, Files, and Notes might not work Addresses an issue where photos, links, and other attachments might not display in the Messages details view Fixes an issue that could prevent apps from downloading content in the background Resolves issues that may prevent Mail from fetching new messages, and fail to include and quote original message content in Exchange accountsiOS 13.2.2, the prior update released last week, addressed an issue that caused apps running in the background on the iPhone and ‌iPad‌ to unexpectedly quit, leading to background apps that refreshed more often than normal. Apple is also

With Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro now in stores, we were able to pick one up this morning to take a look at it and provide MacRumors readers with our first impressions on the new machine. Read on below and watch our video to see our overview and our initial thoughts on the new ‌MacBook Pro‌. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. When you glance at the new 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, it's difficult to tell it apart from the 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, because the design is the same general design that Apple has been using for the ‌MacBook Pro‌ for years now. Apple bumped up the thickness and the weight of the new ‌MacBook Pro‌, though, and there's a lot of heft here. It feels more dense when toting it around, and the extra weight and size is somewhat noticeable. The most notable change to the ‌MacBook Pro‌ is the larger 16-inch display with its slimmed down bezels. The new model has a resolution of 3072 x 1920 at 226 pixels per inch, which is an improvement over the 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌. In use, the updated display appears to be somewhat sharper and more vibrant than before, but it's not a huge difference from the 15-inch display and it's probably not the sole reason someone should upgrade. Beyond the display, there are quite a few attractive new features that set the 16-inch machine apart from its predecessors. A new "Magic Keyboard" has been added that does away with the butterfly mechanism and returns to a scissor-style mechanism that's meant to be more reliable and not prone to failure due to crumbs and small particulates. We liked the feel of

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with BluShark to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a high-quality leather band designed for the Apple Watch. BluShark makes a whole range of watch bands for traditional watches. BluShark has offered a collection of nylon and silicone designs in a variety of colors for a few years, but the company is expanding into ‌Apple Watch‌ bands and has them available for purchase now. BluShark has launched a series of high-end leather ‌Apple Watch‌ bands crafted from Italian calf hide and ethically sourced crocodile and ostrich leathers, sized to fit both 40mm and 44mm ‌Apple Watch‌ models. The leather ‌Apple Watch‌ bands are available in different shades of brown and black, with each one carefully stitched to hold up to wear over time. As with all leather products, expect these bands to take on a unique patina as they age. Seven winners will be provided with an $80 gift card to purchase any of the ‌Apple Watch‌ bands in the collection, which will be available for between $40 and $78. The watches come with stainless steel lugs, but BluShark will also be able to provide lugs for other ‌Apple Watch‌ finishes. BluShark is also releasing a series of ‌Apple Watch‌ adapters within the next two to three weeks that will allow existing BluShark nylon and silicone bands to work with the ‌Apple Watch‌. To enter to win our ‌‌giveaway‌‌, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our week

Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro models are in stores as of today, and iFixit, a site known for its product teardowns, has purchased one and is going to take it apart. The teardown is happening live on YouTube, which means MacRumors readers interested in getting a peek at what's inside the new machine can follow along as it's deconstructed. iFixit plans to provide a first look at the inside of the new Magic Keyboard and will also give a brief overview of additional internal components, with more information to come later in a full teardown. Update: iFixit's brief look at the new ‌MacBook Pro‌ confirms that the internal design of scissor switch is nearly identical to that found in the Magic Keyboard and earlier, pre-butterfly ‌MacBook Pro‌ models. Individual key caps are replaceable, with iFixit even demonstrating that a Magic Keyboard key cap can be snapped on the ‌MacBook Pro‌'s keyboard, although it's a little thicker. A look inside the new ‌MacBook Pro‌ reveals a similar layout to previous models, with the SSD and RAM soldered onto the logic board, making them nonreplaceable. iFixit's full teardown will be available on Monday, offering a more substantial look at the internals of the new MacBook

Apple today sent out emails highlighting its newest Apple Pay promo, which offers customers a 75 percent discount off of all cards purchased through Snapfish. Snapfish is a photo site that allows customers to print their photo designs on a range of products, including cards, making this a solid discount for those who are planning to purchase holiday cards to send out to friends and family. To get the deal, customers will need to ‌Apple Pay‌ in the Snapfish app when checking out, and will need to enter the promo code PAYFASTER. Snapfish is offering the deal through November 20. Pricing on cards starts at as little as

Following the release of iOS 13.2.2 on November 7, Apple has stopped signing iOS 13.2, which means downgrading to iOS 13.2 is no longer possible. iOS 13.2 was a major update that brought support for AirPods Pro, added new emojis, and introduced Deep Fusion support for the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date. iOS 13.2.2 is the current public version of iOS. iOS 13.2.2 is a bug fix release that addresses an issue that caused apps running in the background to unexpectedly quit, leading to background apps refreshing more often than normal. The update also fixes a few other bugs with cellular connectivity, cellular data, Safari, and more. Developers and public beta testers can also download iOS 13.3, an upcoming update that introduces Communication Limits for Screen Time and a handful of other tweaks and

Though Apple has not yet come out with a 5G iPhone, the company is expected to lead the 5G smartphone market in 2020, according to a new report today from analytics firm Strategy Analytics. Apple is expected to capture a dominant share of the emerging 5G market in 2020, following the launch of 5G iPhones. Strategy Analytics believes that Apple simply needs to match its current upgrade rates to dominate the 5G market after September 2020. "It may seem counterintuitive that Apple, which currently has no 5G phones in its portfolio will be able to pass current 5G market leaders Samsung and Huawei," comments Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics. "But with three new 5G models coming next year, Apple merely needs to match its current upgrade rates for newly introduced iPhone models to take the lead next year." "Currently Samsung is the undisputed market leader in 5G smartphones," comments Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics. "But with the two largest 5G markets in 2020, China and the USA, dominated by Huawei and Apple respectively, these two vendors are set to lead in 5G next year."All of the iPhones coming in 2020 are expected to include 5G technology, according to well-respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo originally believed that only the two higher-end iPhones coming in 2020 would support 5G, but later revised his prediction. Apple will offer 5G speeds for all of its smartphones in order to better compete with lower-cost Android smartphones that support 5G. We're expecting a total of three iPhones in 2020, including a 5.4-inch

Apple has been struggling to add new subscribers to its Apple News+ service that launched in March, according to a new report from CNBC that cites people familiar with ‌Apple News‌+. When ‌Apple News‌+ debuted, Apple signed on approximately 200,000 subscribers within 48 hours, but has not had luck attracting many new customers. The subscriber count has not "increased materially from its first couple of days," based on information from CNBC's sources. ‌Apple News‌+, which offers up access to magazines and newspapers for $9.99 per month, was promoted at launch, but Apple has not been heavily marketing it since then. Despite this, Apple is said to be committed to improving ‌Apple News‌ for years to come. Publishers who thought the service would bring in more revenue are "disappointed" with poor sales. Apple takes 50 percent of the revenue from every ‌Apple News‌+ subscriber, while the rest of the money is doled out to publishers based on the amount of time that subscribers spend reading their content. One publisher has received between $20,000 and $30,000 per month from ‌Apple News‌+, which is lower than expected. Another publisher told CNBC that while ‌Apple News‌+ revenue growth is lower than anticipated, advertising from the free ‌Apple News‌ product has consistently climbed. A Bloomberg report from earlier today suggested Apple is considering a bundle that would include Apple Music, Apple TV+, and ‌Apple News‌+ for one monthly price, which could potentially make ‌Apple News‌+ more appealing because other services would be available alongside it. Such a bundle could be

Logitech today announced that existing Circle 2 Home Security Cameras are being updated with HomeKit Secure Video support. ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Video is designed to offer up a more secure way to manage the footage captured by in-home security cameras. The Logitech Circle 2 camera will leverage the iPad, Apple TV, or HomePod (whichever is set up as a Home Hub) to analyze video on your devices. Video feeds are encrypted end-to-end and uploaded to iCloud where you and you alone can see the footage. ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Video will send notifications if activity is detected so recordings can be reviewed, and Apple is providing 10 days of ‌iCloud‌ storage for video content that does not count against data plan limits. Using Apple's ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Video does, however, require a higher-end ‌iCloud‌ storage plan with either 200GB or 2TB of storage. A single camera can be connected with the 200GB plan, while up to five cameras can use ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Video with the 2TB plan. In the United States, 200GB of storage is priced at $2.99 per month, while 2TB of storage is priced at $9.99 per month. When ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Video was announced, Apple said that Logitech, Eufy, and Netatmo would be among the first companies to support it. Official support for ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Video came in iOS 13.2, which means companies can now begin rolling out the feature. ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Video for the Logitech Circle 2 camera requires a beta firmware update that Logitech is rolling out

Apple today released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro, which were originally released on October 30. Today's firmware update is labeled as 2B588, up from 2B584, which was the release version of the firmware that the ‌AirPods Pro‌ shipped with. There's no word on what's included in the firmware update, but it may improve connectivity or resolve other small issues with the earbuds. The firmware update will install automatically when connecting the ‌AirPods Pro‌ to your iPhone or iPad, and it could take some time for the update to become available for everyone. To check the firmware of your ‌AirPods Pro‌, follow these steps: Launch the Settings app on your iPhone, iPod touch, or ‌iPad‌. Tap General. Tap About. Scroll down to ‌AirPods Pro‌ and tap it. The firmware number is listed under "Firmware Version." There's no reliable way to force a firmware update on the ‌AirPods Pro‌, so ‌AirPods Pro‌ owners will need to be patient and expect the ‌AirPods Pro‌ to be updated over the course of regular

Apple this evening shared a new trailer for its upcoming Apple TV+ show "Servant," which is set to come out in just over two weeks. This particular clip shows a doll maker creating Jericho, the lifelike fake baby that plays a starring role in the show. "Servant" is a thriller produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, known for movies like "Signs," "Glass," "Split," and more. The movie follows a Philadelphia couple who hire a nanny to look after their "child" following a tragedy. Based on the trailers that have been shown so far, including the newest trailer, a couple loses a child and then adopts Jericho, a rather real-looking fake baby. The nanny that's hired to look after Jericho turns out to be unusual herself, leading to a series of strange events. "Servant" will be the first major new series to come to ‌Apple TV‌+ following its November 1 launch, with the show set to debut on Thursday, November 28. "Servant" is a shorter form show that will feature 10 30 minute episodes. If you're interested in discussing Apple's new TV shows, make sure to head over to the new MacRumors ‌Apple TV‌+ forum.

Stanford Medicine today published results from the Apple Heart Study that kicked off in 2017, marking the third time data from the study has been shared (via Reuters and CNBC). The aim of the study, conducted by Stanford and Apple, was to determine whether the Apple Watch is able to detect atrial fibrillation, which can be an indicator of serious heart health problems. Researchers wanted to determine how well the ‌Apple Watch‌ worked and whether it was safe to use. A total of 419,297 people in the United States participated in the study, and 0.52 percent of participants (2,161 people) received an irregular heart rhythm notification over 117 days of monitoring. People who received a notification were sent ECG patches to further monitor for heart problems, but quite a few of those went unreturned. Of the 450 people who returned the patches with data that could be analyzed, atrial fibrillation was present in 34 percent overall and 35 percent of participants age 65 or older. Of those who had an irregular reading and returned a patch, 84 percent of subsequent notifications were determined to be atrial fibrillation.Among participants who were notified of an irregular pulse, the positive predictive value was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.76 to 0.92) for observing atrial fibrillation on the ECG simultaneously with a subsequent irregular pulse notification and 0.71 (97.5% CI, 0.69 to 0.74) for observing atrial fibrillation on the ECG simultaneously with a subsequent irregular tachogram. Of 1376 notified participants who returned a 90-day survey, 57% contacted health care providers

Apple CFO Luca Maestri is teaming up with auction site Charitybuzz to offer Apple fans the opportunity to bid on lunch with Maestri and a tour of the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. Maestri will have lunch with two people at the Apple Park campus, with the proceeds from the auction benefitting the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. The lunch, which also comes with a tour with an Apple employee, will last for approximately one hour. Luca Maestri is a senior vice president at Apple and the company's chief financial officer, reporting directly to Tim Cook. He oversees Apple's accounting, business support, financial planning and analysis, treasury, M&A, investor relations, internal audits, and tax functions at Apple. The Andrea Bocelli Foundation's goal is to empower people and communities in situations of poverty, illiteracy, distress due to illness, and social exclusion by promoting and supporting national and international projects that aim to overcome these barriers. The current bid on the lunch with Maestri is at $10,500, and its estimated value is $50,000. The auction will end on December 5 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Apple CEO ‌Tim Cook‌ in past years has also done charity lunches facilitated by Charitybuzz to earn money for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, but the last one was held in 2017. That auction earned

Apple Music was today updated with a new feature called Replay, which is designed to allow Apple Music subscribers to take a look at the music that they listened to most in 2019. Available on the web, in the Mac Music app, and the Music app on iOS devices, the Replay feature aggregates top songs of the year, while also providing playlists for past years too. Playlists are available for every year that an ‌Apple Music‌ subscriber has had the service, dating back to 2015. Replay playlists can be added to the ‌Apple Music‌ Library so they can be streamed right alongside other playlists and shared with others. According to TechCrunch, Replay will continue to be updated throughout the year, changing and evolving as a person's musical tastes and interests shift. Apple plans to update the Replay playlist each Sunday with new songs and data insights to reflect each person's current listening activity. ‌Apple Music‌ has never offered an aggregated year-end playlist with song data, something that Spotify has provided for years with its Wrapped experience. Apple now has an equivalent feature, and one that is perhaps more useful given the fact that it's updated on an ongoing basis. ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers can access ‌Apple Music‌ Replay on the web and add the playlists to iOS or Mac devices. Replay should also be available in the iOS and Mac Music apps without the need to use the feature on the web, but it's still in the early stages of rolling out and not available on every platform

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update to developers, one week after releasing the first beta and two weeks after the launch of the ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.1 update. The new ‌macOS Catalina‌ beta can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper software from the Developer Center. There's no word yet on what improvements the second update to ‌macOS Catalina‌ will include, but it most likely focuses on performance improvements, security updates, and fixes for bugs that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS 10.15.1 update. We didn't find any major new features in the first beta, but we'll update this article if any changes are found in the second beta. ‌macOS Catalina‌ is a major update that eliminates iTunes in favor of new Music, Podcasts, and TV apps, nixes support for 32-bit apps, adds a new Find My app, brings a new Photos interface, and includes multiple privacy enhancements and other app refinements. For full details on what's new in ‌macOS Catalina‌, make sure to check out our ‌macOS Catalina‌ roundup.

Apple today announced its much-rumored high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is the largest MacBook Pro that's been offered for sale since the discontinuation of the 17-inch MacBook Pro back in 2012. The updated 16-inch MacBook Pro features a larger display with slimmer bezels than the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which it has replaced in Apple's notebook lineup. The display has a resolution of 3072x1920 pixels with up to 500 nits of brightness. The notebook features an updated "Magic Keyboard" that does away with the unpopular butterfly mechanism, returning instead to a more reliable scissor mechanism with 1mm key travel, along with Intel's latest 9th-generation processors with up to 8 cores. It also has up to 64GB of RAM and up to 8TB of SSD storage. Above the keyboard, the Touch Bar lives on, but the 16-inch MacBook Pro marks the return of a physical Esc key. In line with the latest MacBook Air, the Touch ID sensor has also been separated from the Touch Bar. Other features include AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics options paired with GDDR6 video memory and an 8GB VRAM option, a larger 100Wh battery for longer battery life, a redesigned six-speaker sound system, and upgraded microphones. Starting at $2,399 in the United States, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is available today through Apple.com and the Apple Store app. It will be in Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers in the United States later this week and is "coming soon" to stores around the world, according to

Apple's AirPods Pro are normally priced at $249, but for those looking for a deal, Amazon has them at the discounted price of $235. That's a savings of $14, which isn't much, but it's better than full price. This deal could go quickly, and the last time it was available, Amazon only discounted the ‌AirPods Pro‌ for a few hours. Amazon says that the ‌AirPods Pro‌ have an extended delivery time due to shipping restrictions, with orders expected to arrive sometime next week. We're not expecting to see prices much lower than this on the upcoming Black Friday shopping holiday due to the fact that the ‌AirPods Pro‌ are newly released. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apple's new high-end modular Mac Pro is set to be released in December, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The launch timing of the ‌Mac Pro‌ was shared in a report on the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is set to come out as soon as tomorrow. Apple unveiled the new 2019 ‌Mac Pro‌ in June at its Worldwide Developers Conference, but since then has not provided any details on its prospective release date. A December launch would be in line with the launch of the 2013 ‌Mac Pro‌, which came out on December 18, and the 2017 iMac Pro, which came out on December 14. The new ‌Mac Pro‌ is a designed for Apple's pro user base with a heavy focus on upgradeability and expansion. It features a traditional PC shape, but with an Apple-esque stainless steel frame with a lattice pattern that maximizes airflow. The ‌Mac Pro‌ uses workstation-class Xeon processors with up to 28 cores, and it supports up to 1.5TB of high-performance memory. Pricing on the new ‌Mac Pro‌ will start at $6,000. Alongside the ‌Mac Pro‌, Apple will likely launch the Pro Display XDR, which is a 32-inch 6K display with a resolution of 6016 x 3384 and more than 20 million pixels. Pricing on the Pro Display XDR will start at $5,000. While Bloomberg has disclosed a December launch month for the ‌Mac Pro‌, there's still no word on a specific date. Given past launch timelines, it could come on either the week of the 9th or the week of the