MacRumors

The next iteration of the Apple Pencil could be available in black for the first time, according to leaker Mr. White who shared the tidbit on Twitter this morning.

We haven't heard rumors of a next-generation ‌Apple Pencil‌ and it's not clear when a new model might be released. Apple is rumored to be working on mini-LED versions of the iPad Pro, and it's possible that a new ‌Apple Pencil‌ could be unveiled alongside the upgraded tablets.

There were initial rumors suggesting a 12.9-inch mini-LED ‌iPad Pro‌ could launch in the fall of 2020, but more recent information has indicated that Apple's plans have been delayed and mini-LED ‌iPad Pro‌ models won't be coming until sometime in 2021.

Apple also already refreshed the 11 and 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ models in March of 2020, so it seems unlikely that we're going to see a new ‌Apple Pencil‌ at any point in 2020.

Both the original ‌Apple Pencil‌ and the ‌Apple Pencil‌ 2 designed for 2018, 2019, and 2020 ‌iPad Pro‌ models are available only in white, even though the iPad itself comes in multiple colors. Apple could perhaps in the future offer the ‌Apple Pencil‌ in a few colors matching the available finishes of the ‌iPad Pro‌ models.

Mr. White doesn't often leak details about Apple's product plans, but he has shared multiple hardware prototypes in the past, some of which have been accurate and some of which have not been accurate.

Apple today updated its Apple Research app to introduce updates for its Apple Hearing Study and its Apple Heart & Movement Study.

There's a new "Speech in Noise" test that's available in the Apple Hearing Study, with the test designed to help researchers understand participants' hearing ability under various circumstances, including when background noise is present.

For the Apple Heart & Movement Study, there's a new survey available that will help researchers understand the impact of COVID-19 on daily life.

This update includes bug fixes and improvements, including:

- New 'Speech in Noise' test in the Apple Hearing Study to help understand participants' hearing ability under various circumstances, including the presence of background noise
- New survey in the Apple Heart & Movement Study to help understand the impact of COVID-19 on daily life

Those who have downloaded the Apple Research app and have signed up to join one of the above studies will see the new additions to the app.

Apple first launched the Apple Research app in November 2019. The app was created to make it easier for iPhone users to participate in and contribute to medical research.

The app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Peloton today introduced an Apple TV app, providing easy access to its full library of live and on-demand workout videos on the big screen. There are thousands of workouts related to cycling, running, walking, strength training, yoga, stretching, and more.

Peloton bikes already feature a built-in touchscreen for accessing workout videos, but the Apple TV app allows the videos to be watched on a larger TV without AirPlay. Some workouts are designed with the Peloton bike or treadmill in mind, but other exercises can be done on the floor with a mat, such as yoga, stretching, and meditation.

Peloton bike owners were notified of the new Apple TV app today, including 9to5Mac's Zac Hall. The app is free to download, but requires a Peloton membership.

Apple has updated its Maps app to include real time transit directions and data for Hong Kong residents.

From today, local Apple Maps users can search for metro train stations, bus routes and ferry piers, and get real time transit information for services. The only limitation appears to be a lack of indoor station mapping.

The metropolitan area is one location in Asia where hints of transit support surfaced months ago. However, Apple's Hong Kong mapping has been a complicated issue because of the administrative region's self-governance and autonomy disputes with mainland China.

As noted by tech blog Ata Distance, ‌Apple Maps‌ actually uses two different map data sources for Hong Kong – AutoNavi map data for mainland SIM iPhones, and another one for non-mainland SIM iPhones. This led to an unusual situation in which transit directions where available to Chinese visitors but not to residents of Hong Kong.

Also today, Apple Pay Octopus officially launched in Hong Kong, just before 1.00 a.m. local time, following a silent rollout that began on Monday. A press event is scheduled to take place at 12.30 p.m. local time.

‌Apple Pay‌ Octopus is similar to ‌Apple Pay‌ Suica with Express Transit – users just hold the top of their iPhone or Apple Watch near an Octopus reader to use, and there's no need to unlock the device or open an app. Even if the device shuts down due to low battery, users can still use Octopus.

Apple Octopus Pay is compatible with ‌iPhone‌ 8 and later devices updated to iOS 13.5, and Apple Watch Series 3 and later running watchOS 6.2.5.

Octopus Cards Limited first announced ‌Apple Pay‌ Octopus would be "coming soon" in July 2019, but the launch was pushed back several times, eventually to "later in 2020" without explanation.

(Thanks, Sean!)

Apple Music has cancelled its Beats 1 radio schedule for Blackout Tuesday and is suggesting that listeners tune in to a radio stream celebrating the best in black music.

Blackout Tuesday is a campaign organized by the music industry to support Black Lives Matter after Minneapolis citizen George Floyd was killed by police in the course of his arrest.

On launching ‌Apple Music‌, many users on Mac and iOS devices are today being met with a message replacing the usual For You, Browse, and Radio sections, along with a Listen Together button that links to the aforementioned station.

In steadfast support of the Black voices that define music, creativity, and culture, we use ours. This moment calls upon us all to speak and act against racism and injustice of all kinds. We stand in solidarity with Black communities everywhere. #TheShowMustBePaused
#BlackLivesMatter

Otherwise, the ‌Apple Music‌ service is operating as usual. Users are still able to access their music library and search the ‌Apple Music‌ catalog.

Following the unrest in numerous U.S. cities after last week's killing of George Floyd, Apple CEO Tim Cook on Sunday addressed the pain that many are feeling and urged others to commit "to creating a better, more just world for everyone."

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.

Apple and Walgreens have partnered up on a new offer to entice U.S. users to sign up for Apple Card, with users who open an account during the month of June eligible to receive $50 in bonus Daily Cash if they spend at least $50 on their ‌Apple Card‌ at Walgreens within the first 30 days.

The offer can be found in the Walgreens iOS app at the bottom of the Weekly Ad & Coupons page, and you can tap directly from the offer page into the Wallet app to start an ‌Apple Card‌ application.

For users with an Apple Cash card, Daily Cash earned through ‌Apple Card‌ purchases is transferred to Apple Cash, where it can be used for person-to-person payments and more. Alternatively, it can be applied to an outstanding ‌Apple Card‌ balance.

Walgreens has been a close partner with Apple in promoting ‌Apple Card‌ benefits, becoming one of the select merchants offering a premium 3% Daily Cash back on purchases made using an ‌Apple Card‌ via Apple Pay.

In April, Walgreens expanded the 3% Daily Cash offer to include purchases made with a physical ‌Apple Card‌ at Walgreens drive-thrus. That offer was originally set to expire at the end of June, but has since been extended through July.

Apple is dropping prices on the iPhone SE, iPhone 11, ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max in China in celebration of the 6.18 shopping festival, reports CNBC.

Apple has cut prices on its official store on the Alibaba-owned Tmall, and JD.com, an Apple reseller, is also offering significant discounts. This is the second time that Apple has participated in the 6.18 event.

On Tmall, users can buy an iPhone 11 64GB model for 4,779 yuan ($669.59), down around 13% from its original 5,499 yuan selling price. The iPhone 11 Pro starts at 7,579 yuan down from 8,699 yuan, while the iPhone Pro Max is listed for 8,359 yuan versus the original price of 9,599 yuan. The recently-released iPhone SE, the cheapest in Apple's range, is priced at 3,099 yuan, down from 3,299 yuan.

Tmall rival JD.com has even steeper discounts. The iPhone 11 64GB model is priced at 4,599 yuan, the iPhone 11 Pro at 6,999 and the iPhone 11 Pro Max at 7,499 yuan. If the full discounts are applied, the iPhone 11 Pro Max is at a more than 21% discount from its original price on JD.com. The iPhone SE is listed at 3,069 yuan with discount, down from 3,199 yuan.

According to CNBC, JD.com plans to offer discounts every day during the shopping festival, but the discount structure could vary from day to day. Apple product sales on June 1 were three times that of the same period last year, a JD.com spokesperson said.

While Apple is offering discounts through Tmall and through resellers like JD.com, its own retail stores and online store will not be offering iPhones at lower prices.

For most of February, Apple's retail stores in China were shut down, causing a sharp drop in sales. Apple has been working to regain sales momentum in the country now that stores are operational once again.

Apple's iPhone sales dropped eight percent in the first quarter of 2020, according to new data shared today by Gartner.

Apple sold an estimated 40.92 million smartphones during the quarter, a 3.7 million drop from the 44.57 million that it sold in the first quarter of 2019.

Other smartphone manufacturers saw much steeper drops in sales. Samsung's sales, for example, were down 22.7 percent, and Huawei's sales were down 27.3 percent. Xiaomi was the only smartphone manufacturer that saw a slight increase in sales, with the overall smartphone market down 20.2 percent.

"The coronavirus pandemic caused the global smartphone market to experience its worst decline ever," said Anshul Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner. "Most of the leading Chinese manufacturers and Apple were severely impacted by the temporary closures of their factories in China and reduced consumer spending due to the global shelter-in-place."

Apple in early February was forced to close all of its retail stores in China, and later in the year, the rest of its stores across the world were shuttered amid the global pandemic.

Stores in China started reopening in late February, and by mid-March, all retail locations in China were operational, just in time for Apple's other stores to shut down on March 14.

Apple has been slowly reopening its stores outside of China since the beginning of May and while not all locations have reopened, close to 100 stores in the U.S are open for repairs and pickups, plus stores in countries like Australia, Canada, Italy, and Germany have reopened.

"Apple had a strong start to the year thanks to its new product line up that saw strong momentum globally. If COVID-19 did not happen, the vendor would have likely seen its iPhone sales reached record level in the quarter. Supply chain disruptions and declining consumer spending put a halt to this positive trend in February," said Annette Zimmermann, research vice president at Gartner. "Apple's ability to serve clients via its online stores and its production returning to near normal levels at the end of March helped recover some of the early positive momentum."

Apple in April shared its earnings results for the second fiscal quarter of 2020, which corresponds to the first calendar quarter of the year. Apple posted revenue of $58.5 billion, up just slightly from the $58 billion in revenue it brought in during the second fiscal quarter of 2019.

iOS 14 will be compatible with all iPhones and iPod touch models able to run iOS 13, according to information shared today by Israeli site The Verifier.

The compatibility data was allegedly found in a leaked version of iOS 14 and confirmed by what The Verifier says is a "trusted source from the system development process."

iOS 13 is compatible with the iPhone 6s and later, with a full list of models below.

• iPhone SE (2020)
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max
• iPhone XR
• iPhone X
• iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
• iPhone SE (2016)
• iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
• iPod touch (7th-generation)

The site says that this is the last version of iOS that the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and 2016 iPhone SE will support, which is no surprise as Apple often provides software updates for approximately four or five years after the release of a new device.

There is no word on which iPads will be able to run iPadOS 14, but if iPadOS 14 is compatible with all iPads able to run iPadOS 13, it will work on the iPad Air 2, 3rd-gen iPad Air, iPad mini 4 and 5, 5th, 6th, and 7th-generation iPads, and all iPad Pro models.

The Verifier doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to accurate leaks with both hits and misses, but French site iPhoneSoft.fr also previously said that iOS 14 will be compatible with all devices able to run iOS 13.

Apple will unveil iOS 14 at its all-digital WWDC event, which is set to kick off on June 22.

Apple appears to be moving ahead with plans to provide Apple News+ users with an option to listen to audio stories of some news stories, according to details found in the iOS 13.5.5 beta.

An icon depicting an ‌Apple News‌+ Audio feature is present in the beta, along with some related imagery.

Apple is planning to offer a recap of the day's top stories, based on this wording found in the update: "Listen to a quick recap of today's top stories."

A rumor earlier this month from Digiday first pointed toward Apple's work on audio versions of its news stories.

Over the course of the last several months, Apple has been asking publishers participating in ‌Apple News‌+ for permission to create audio versions of their stories.

Apple plans to handle production costs and compensate publishers for the audio news recordings in the same way ‌Apple News‌+ payouts work. 50 percent of subscriber revenues go to publishers based on how much time subscribers spend with publishers' content in a 30-day stretch.

It's not clear when exactly Apple plans to roll out support for audio versions of news stories, but given that some of the assets for the feature are in iOS 13.5.5, it's a feature that could be coming soon.

Steve Moser contributed to this report.

A series of 3D printed iPhone 12 mockups designed based on leaked schematics and info from Apple's supply chain was today shared by Japanese site Mac Otakara, giving us a first look at what we can expect from the 2020 ‌iPhone‌ lineup.

Rumors have suggested Apple will release four ‌iPhone‌ 12 models in 2020: A 5.4-inch ‌iPhone‌ 12, a 6.1-inch ‌iPhone‌ 12, a 6.1-inch ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, and a 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The images depict all four sizes, though Mac Otakara's mockup seems to feature a 6.5-inch ‌iPhone 12 Pro Max‌ rather than 6.7-inch version that's been rumored multiple times in the past.

In line with prior rumors, the mockups of the two lower-end devices feature dual-lens camera setups while the higher-end mockups feature a three-lens camera setup similar to the setup of the current Pro models.

‌Mac Otakara‌ says that the SIM tray that was on the right side of the device in prior ‌iPhone‌ models will be moved to the left side under the volume button.

This is a rumor that we've heard previously, and it seems to be a change that Apple is making to accommodate the 5G antenna module that's expected to be included in all four ‌iPhone‌ 12 models.

The iPhones also appear to have a variable number of speaker holes on each side based on the printed models, and all of the iPhones expected in 2020 will continue to feature Lightning connectors.

At least some of the new ‌iPhone‌ models will feature an iPad Pro-style design with a metal frame that has flat edges, a significant design departure from current models. The higher-end ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro models are also expected to feature a 3D camera setup similar to the LiDAR Scanner in the iPad Pro, though that does not appear to be depicted in the size mockups provided by ‌Mac Otakara‌.

For more on what to expect from the 2020 ‌iPhone‌ models, make sure to check out our dedicated roundup.

European countries have begun to roll out COVID-19 contact tracing apps that take advantage of the Exposure Notification API designed by Apple and Google, with Italy and Latvia both launching new apps over the course of the last few days.

As noted by MacStories' Federico Vittici, Italy today released Immuni, a privacy-focused contact tracing app that's designed to alert users if they've been exposed to COVID-19 through the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API.

The app requires express user consent to operate, letting users know that it uses Bluetooth Low Energy to log random ID contact with other users, with date, duration, and signal strength of an exposure shared with the app.

Latvia last week also released Apturi, its own privacy-forward contact tracing app that also takes advantage of the Apple/Google ‌Exposure Notification‌ API.

It is based on a methodology developed by European scientists, including those from Latvia, and the new Bluetooth signal exchange algorithm developed by Google and Apple. Using it is voluntary. The app uses Bluetooth to anonymously detect nearby smartphones (within ~2 m proximity, present for longer than 15 minutes) that also have this app installed. This information is only kept on user's device, and automatically deleted after 14 days.

SPKC gets in touch with those individuals who have been confirmed to be a COVID-19 case - regardless of whether they use the app or not. SPKC receives this information from health institutions, not from the app. If the patient uses this app, SPKC will send them a code. When entered in the app, an anonymous notification will be sent to detected contacts that have been at risk to be infected. Sender's identity is not disclosed to recipients. Likewise, the infected individual does not know who the recipients are.

Latvia and Italy are the second and third countries, respectively, to introduce an app that uses Apple's API. Early last week, Switzerland released its "SwissCovid" app for members of the Swiss army, hospital workers, and civil servants. After testing, Switzerland is planning a wider rollout.

Apple released the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API as part of iOS 13.5. When it was released, Apple said that several U.S. states and 22 countries had requested and received access to the API, with more expected to join.

In the United States, there are no apps that use the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API at this time, but Alabama, South Carolina, and North Dakota have apps in the works that may soon see a release. It is not clear if other states will be on board, as some, such as Utah, have developed their own less private solution.

The ‌Exposure Notification‌ feature in iOS 13.5 is disabled by default and doesn't work without an app created by a public health authority and explicit user permission. The API is privacy-focused and collects no personally identifiable data or location information, with additional details available in our Exposure Notification guide.

Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 13.5.5 updates to developers, one week after releasing iOS 13.5 with the Exposure Notification API, Face ID mask updates, Group FaceTime changes, and more, and just an hour after releasing the iOS and iPadOS 13.5.1 updates with security fixes to address the unc0ver jailbreak.

iOS and iPadOS 13.5.5 can be downloaded from the Apple Developer center or over the air once the proper developer profile has been installed.

There's no word yet on what's included in the iOS 13.5.5 update, but as a 13.x.x release, it likely focuses on bug fixes for issues unable to be addressed in iOS 13.5. Once we download the update and take a look at what's new, we'll update this article with any findings.

Apple today released a supplemental update for macOS Catalina 10.15.5, the fifth update to the macOS Catalina operating system that was released in October 2019. The supplemental update comes a week after the release of the macOS Catalina 10.15.5 update.

‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.5 is a free update that can be downloaded from the Mac App Store using the Update feature in the System Preferences app. There's also a security update for those running macOS High Sierra.

The first macOS Catalina 10.15.5 update introduced a new Battery Health Management feature designed to extend the overall lifespan of a Mac's battery by reducing the rate of chemical aging. It also included controls to fine-tune the calibration of the Pro Display XDR and an option to control Automatic Prominence in a Group FaceTime call.

The supplemental update focuses on security fixes and Apple says it should be installed by all users.

macOS Catalina 10.15.5 supplemental update provides important security updates and is recommended for all users.

Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices. For detailed information about the security content of this update, please visit: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211215

According to the security notes for the update, it addresses a security flaw that could allow an application to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.

This is the same vulnerability that has been addressed in today's iOS 13.5.1, tvOS 13.4.6, and watchOS 6.2.6 updates, and it allowed for the unc0ver jailbreak that allegedly works on all versions of iOS, including iOS 13.5.

Apple today appears to have seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Catalina 10.15.6 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after releasing macOS Catalina 10.15.5 with battery health management features for Macs.

The macOS Catalina 10.15.6 beta can be downloaded from the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences, as it does not yet appear to be showing up in the Apple Developer Center.

There's no word yet on what features or improvements the sixth update to macOS Catalina will introduce, but it likely focuses on performance improvements, security updates, and fixes for bugs that weren't able to be addressed in the prior update.