Apple today announced iOS 14 at WWDC, and during the keynote it focused on new updates coming to its smart assistant Siri. The major new feature of Siri is a subtle design so that it doesn't take over the entire iOS screen when asking Siri a question.
Overall, Apple said that Siri has expanded its knowledge and it can help find answers from across the Internet. You can now also ask Siri to send an audio message, and Siri is expanding translation to support a number of new languages.
Apple today during its WWDC keynote unveiled iOS 14, which includes a Picture in Picture mode for viewing video within a moveable frame while doing other things on your iPhone.
With Picture in Picture support, iPhone users can now watch TV shows and movies while navigating elsewhere on their device.
The implementation is similar to Picture in Picture on iPad. Users can be swiped to the side and the audio will keep playing while the video remains hidden.
Apple today announced that iOS 14 features an all-new Translate app for translating conversations, with support for 11 different languages at launch and an offline mode for private voice and text translation.
Supported languages include Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
When you place your iPhone in landscape orientation, a microphone button appears as a quick way to begin translating. The side-by-side user interface makes it easy for two people to have a conversation in different languages.
Here's how Apple explains the feature:
Automatic language detection transcribes the original and translated text on the appropriate sides of the screen, followed by translated audio. Translate uses advanced on-device machine learning and the powerful Apple Neural Engine to enable natural-sounding conversations.
Users can save translations in the Favorites tab, which also displays a recent history.
iOS 14 is available in beta for registered Apple developers today, with a public beta to follow next month. The free software update will be released in the fall for the iPhone 6s and newer.
Apple today previewed iOS 14, which features an all-new home screen design with widgets and a new App Library view, plus much more.
Widgets
Widgets can be pinned in different sizes on any home screen page, providing useful information at a glance. Users can also create a Smart Stack of widgets, which uses machine learning to surface the right widget based on time, location, and activity. Widgets can be customized for work, travel, sports, entertainment, and other areas of interest.
App Library
After the final home page screen is the App Library, an all-new section that automatically organizes all of a user's apps into one, easy-to-navigate view, and intelligently surfaces apps that may be helpful at a given time. Users can choose to limit how many home screen pages are displayed in order to gain quicker access to the App Library.
Incoming Calls Are Less Obtrusive
When you receive an incoming phone or FaceTime call on your iPhone or iPad, it is now presented with a compact banner rather than taking up the entire screen, which is a far less disruptive experience.
Translate is designed to be the best and easiest app for translating conversations, offering quick and natural translation of voice and text among 11 different languages. On-device mode allows users to experience the features of the app offline for private voice and text translation.
Siri expands its knowledge, helps find answers from across the internet, and can now send audio messages. Keyboard dictation runs on device when dictating messages, notes, email, and more.
The Home app makes smart home control even easier with new automation suggestions and expanded controls in Control Center for quicker access to accessories and scenes. Adaptive Lighting for compatible HomeKit-enabled lights automatically adjusts the color temperature throughout the day, and with on-device Face Recognition, compatible video doorbells and cameras can identify friends and family. The Home app and HomeKit are built to be private and secure, so all information about a user’s home accessories is end-to-end encrypted.
AirPods gain the ability to seamlessly switch between Apple devices with automatic device switching. Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking brings a theater-like experience to AirPods Pro. By applying directional audio filters, and subtly adjusting the frequencies each ear receives, sounds can be placed virtually anywhere in a space to provide an immersive listening experience.
Digital car keys give users a secure way to use iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock and start their car. Digital car keys can be easily shared using Messages, or disabled through iCloud if a device is lost, and are available starting this year through NFC. Apple also unveiled the next generation of digital car keys based on Ultra Wideband technology for spatial awareness delivered through the U1 chip, which will allow users to unlock future car models without removing their iPhone from their pocket or bag, and will become available next year.
Find My will add support for finding third-party products and accessories with the new Find My network accessory program. This will allow customers to use the Find My app to locate other important items in their lives, in addition to their Apple devices. User privacy remains central to the Find My network with end-to-end encryption built in. A draft specification is available for accessory makers and product manufacturers starting today.
Safari offers a Privacy Report so users can easily see which cross-site trackers have been blocked, secure password monitoring to help users detect saved passwords that may have been involved in a data breach, and built-in translation for entire webpages.
Health has all-new experiences to manage sleep, better understand audio levels that may affect hearing health, and a new Health Checklist — a centralized place to manage health and safety features — includes Emergency SOS, Medical ID, ECG, Fall Detection, and more. Health also adds support for new data types for mobility, Health Records, symptoms, and ECG.
The Weather app and widget keep users up to date on severe weather events and a new next-hour precipitation chart shows minute-by-minute precipitation when rain is in the forecast.
Accessibility features include Headphone Accommodations, which amplifies soft sounds and tunes audio to help music, movies, phone calls, and podcasts sound crisper and clearer, and sign language detection in Group FaceTime, which makes the person signing more prominent in a video call. VoiceOver, the industry’s leading screen reader for the blind community, now automatically recognizes what is displayed visually onscreen so more apps and web experiences are accessible to more people.
iOS 14 is available in beta for registered Apple developers today, with a public beta to follow next month. The free software update will be released in the fall for the iPhone 6s and newer.
It's been five years since Nintendo first announced its foray into mobile gaming on iOS and other platforms. Although the company has seen some success in the business, it's also seen some misfires, and this week Bloomberg is reporting that Nintendo is now "retreating" from its mobile gaming plans.
For the near future, Nintendo will now focus on apps that have already been released. In terms of potential new Nintendo apps, developer partner DeNA has mentioned recently that players shouldn't expect a new game until near the end of the current fiscal year.
Although Nintendo saw high profits with titles like Fire Emblem Heroes, the company's recent earnings have been declining. In total, Nintendo released iOS apps like Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Dragalia Lost, Mario Kart Tour, Super Mario Run, and Dr. Mario World from 2016 through 2019.
According to Sensor Tower, three of Nintendo's biggest apps saw decreasing revenue from February through May, 2020 (including Dragalia Lost, Super Mario Run, and Fire Emblem Heroes). This was during a period when mobile apps were otherwise noticing an uptick in user engagement due to stay-at-home orders.
In the beginning, Nintendo kicked off the smartphone gaming initiative following struggling Wii U console sales, hoping that the booming mobile gaming market could help prop up poor console numbers. In the wake of the success of the Nintendo Switch, a mobile/home console hybrid released in 2017, it seems that Nintendo has less of a reason to keep up with releasing games for smartphones and tablets.
Most recently, "Animal Crossing New Horizons" on the Switch has seen massive success. In May, the game became the best-selling entry in the franchise with 13.4 million units sold, and is the fastest selling Switch game overall.
Mobile games are expected to make $77.2 billion this year, which would account for half of the overall video game industry’s sales, according to research from Newzoo. But “since the release of Mario Kart Tour in fall 2019, Nintendo’s mobile pipeline is empty,” said Serkan Toto, a mobile games consultant in Tokyo. “In a sense, Nintendo’s enormous success on console reduced the need and the pressure to put resources into mobile.”
Nintendo originally intended to launch around three apps per year, but they were continuously delayed and players saw longer and longer wait times between releases for new games. When they did finally launch, many arrived with criticisms about an abundance of in-app purchases and poor controls.
Now, according to mobile gaming analyst Serkan Toto, new Nintendo smartphone games will come down the line, "but it's very likely these will be just alibi releases to appease shareholders."
Apple's first-ever all-online Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today with the traditional keynote kicking things off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
We're expecting to see a number of announcements, including iOS 14, macOS 10.16, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14, as well as an announcement about Apple's long-rumored transition of its Mac lineup from Intel processors to Apple-designed Arm-based chips. Last-minute rumors have indicated that hardware announcements are unlikely this year.
Apple is providing a live video stream on its website, on YouTube, and in the company's TV and Developer apps across its platforms. We will also be updating this article with live blog coverage and issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account as the keynote unfolds. Highlights from the event and separate news stories regarding today's announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.
Live blog transcript ahead...
9:00 am: Apple's keynote kicks off in one hour, so stay tuned!
9:20 am: 40 minutes to go! In a normal year, attendees would be making their way into the main hall at McEnery Convention Center, but this is no normal year for WWDC.
9:52 am: Just a few minutes away now. Apple's live stream is up with some preliminaries...showing views from space with tiny Memojis floating around.
9:55 am: It's not clear where the keynote will be broadcast from, or even if it'll be live — we suspect the whole thing will be prerecorded, the better to avoid any "hiccups" since there won't be a live audience.
10:00 am: The memoji are spinning even faster, and it turns out that they're all using MacBooks. We're building up to the start, with an aerial view of Apple Park.
10:00 am: We're taking an AR-esque flight into the Steve Jobs Theater.
10:01 am: Tim Cook has walked on stage, with a Genius Bar black still sitting alone. "Good morning."
10:01 am: "We're all looking forward to a more hopeful tomorrow, which is why we wanted to make sure we had a WWDC this year."
10:02 am: "We want to welcome you to our home here at Apple Park. I want to address the topic of racism, injustice and inequality."
10:02 am: "This country was founded on the principles of freedom and equality for all. For too many people and for too long, we haven't lived up to those ideas."
10:03 am: Tim is discussing the investments Apple is making to help encourage systemic change and encourage black developers.
10:04 am: Now talking about COVID-19, thanking healthcare workers and mentioning the "profound impact our products have had" to help people keep in touch with family and friends, to do work, and to keep entertained.
10:04 am: "This year, the conference will be available to our entire community of 23 million developers, as well as anyone who is interested, for free. This will allow us to be more inclusive than ever."
10:05 am: "Let's get started by sending it over to Craig."
10:05 am: Updates coming to every platform. iOS up first. "We're making it even more powerful and easier to use." iOS 14.
10:05 am: "Spent time rethinking some of the most iconic elements of the iPhone."
10:07 am: Home screen widgets and picture in picture on iPhone were the biggest features from the launch video.
10:08 am: "Wouldn't it be great if there were a way to organize all your apps without doing a thing?" The app library, automatically organizes apps into one simple to navigate view. Suggestions, Recently Added, Entertainment, Social, Apple arcade, Health & Fitness, etc, all auto-filled with apps. Can hide entire pages of apps, which will be shown in the App Library.
10:09 am: Some apps are shown larger than others, with most-used apps shown on the top level. Suggestions uses "on-device intelligence" to show commonly used apps. Intelligently curated categories help keep things organized. "We think this will make it easier than ever to get to your apps.
10:10 am: Next, widgets. A lot has changed since we first introduced widgets. We're reimagining the widgets experience. They're more beautiful and data rich. Available in different sizes, so you can choose one that best fits your needs. Swipe to Today view, and you can see colorful options in a variety of sizes. "We like these widgets so much, we wanted to make them even more accessible. You can drag widgets out of Today View and put them right on the Home Screen.
10:11 am: Tapping on a widget allows the user to change between the different sizes available from a particular app. A "Smart Stack" lets you swipe through widgets to pick the right one for the moment — but the Smart Stack can do this for you automatically. In the morning, it might show your News Briefing, and then during the day it could show you your Calendar. Then, in the evening, get a summary of Activity.
10:11 am: Picture-In-Picture is coming to iPhone as well, the implementation looking similar to that currently available on the iPad.
10:12 am: Can swipe PiP to the side, and audio will keep playing, though the video is hidden. Can be swiped back to the main screen. "It's a great way to continue enjoying your video, while tapping into everything else your iPhone can do for you.
10:12 am: Those are the big updates to iOS itself, but Siri is getting some help as well.
10:13 am: Currently, Siri takes over the entire screen. But now there's a new compact design, with a Siri image at the bottom of the screen. Interacting with Siri might pop up a notification box with Weather information rather than taking over the whole screen.
10:14 am: Siri has 20x more facts than 3 years ago. You can now ask Siri to send an audio message, and Siri will start recording automatically. You can also use speech recognition, and you can run dictation on-device, allowing for accuracy and privacy.
10:15 am: Siri is expanding translation to support a number of new language pairs, and Siri will now support full translation support across languages as well. There's a new app called Translate to do conversations in multiple languages on-device, completely offline. Can translate in real-time between any of 11 languages.
10:16 am: "Translate will make communicating between languages easier than ever before."
10:16 am: Messages has seen 40% increase in messages delivered over the past year, 2x in Groups.
10:17 am: You can now pin conversations, so they're easy to get to.
10:17 am: More Memoji updates, with 20 new hair and headwear styles. Face coverings have been added as well, plus more age options.
10:19 am: Inline replies are coming to Groups. View replies in full conversation, or view as a thread. Mentions are here too, and you can set it so you're only notified when you're mentioned. Can set group photos for a chat, too.
10:20 am: Maps. Apple Maps is the best way to navigate and explore the world, while protecting your privacy. Our new map finished rolling out through the US earlier this year. Maps has come a long way and people have noticed.
10:20 am: New map is coming to more countries, including the UK, Ireland, and Canada.
10:21 am: In iOS 14, we're making it easier to find great places and find new ways to get there.
10:22 am: Adding Guides, from third-party partners like Zagat, AllTrails, etc. "Best Pizza in New York" — also adds features to help users reduce their carbon footprint. Adding "Cycling" navigation options.
10:23 am: Lets users ride on bike lanes, paths, and roads. Takes altitude change into account, as well as busy or quiet roads, and can note whether to carry up stairs or avoid stairs altogether. Coming to NYC, LA, SF, Shanghai and Beijing, with more cities coming.
10:23 am: Adding EV Routing options for Maps. Maps will track your current charge, including elevation and weather, and will keep track of what chargers work with your car to make sure you have the correct chargers. BMW and Ford are partnering, with more OEMs to come.
10:24 am: Congestion and Green Zone support coming, to give alternate routing options for cities that restrict travel for some drivers in certain areas.
10:24 am: CarPlay is available in 97% of cars in the US. 80% worldwide.
10:25 am: New wallpaper options coming for CarPlay, plus new categories of CarPlay apps. Parking, EV Charging, and food ordering. Now, rethinking car keys. They're big, bulky, and ripe for reimagining.
10:26 am: Digital version of car keys. The first car to support it will be the 2021 BMW 5 Series. Uses NFC to open the car, then put the phone on the charging pad and you can start the car. The key is stored in the Secure Element of the phone, and can be disabled via iCloud if your phone is lost. Keys can be shared via iMessage.
10:27 am: The new BMW will be available to customers next month. In addition to adding this feature to iOS 14, it'll be in iOS 13 too. We want this to work in any car, so we've been working on standards with industry groups. We want to allow the U1 chip to securely unlock and start your car, so the phone can be anywhere in the car. We hope to start this next year in cars.
10:30 am: There's a new feature called App Clip, which is a small part of an app. Instead of downloading an entire app, you can just download a small part of it to do things like pay for parking or make payments. With Sign In With Apple and Apple Pay, you can rent a scooter or make a payment extremely quickly. "It's all about getting to the part of an app the moment you need it." They can be launched from the web, from a restaurant listing in Maps, etc.
10:31 am: Made it possible for apps like Yelp to create App Clip experiences for each restaurant. They're all less than 10MB, so they download fast. Immediately discoverable, small in size so they launch fast, Apple Pay and Sign In With Apple, plus the option to download the full app from the App Store.
10:31 am: Now moving on to iPadOS.
10:33 am: iPadOS 14! Unique made-for-iPad designs that take advantage of the large, multitouch display. Extending the design language of iPad to make things more streamlined and more powerful.
10:34 am: Same redesigned widgets from iOS 14 are coming to iPad. Photos gains a new sidebar, looks much like the sidebar in Photos for Mac.
10:35 am: New toolbars and drag and drop functionality across a number of Apple's standard iPad apps.
10:35 am: New full-screen music player, with rich album art and lyrics in one view.
10:36 am: Minimalist Siri experience coming over from iOS 14, and other notifications like incoming calls are getting small, notification-esque windows instead of a full-screen takeover.
10:36 am: Call notifications coming to iOS 14 as well.
10:37 am: Search has been redesigned to be universal. Works as an app launcher, or to make calls, or search within apps like Mail and Files. It's... Spotlight from the Mac, basically.
10:39 am: Handwriting on the iPad will be just as powerful as typed text. "Scribble" is coming to iPad. Hand-write in any text field and it'll automatically be converted to text.
10:39 am: Hand-drawing shapes will automatically change to standard shapes.
10:40 am: Can double-tap on written text to select and copy it. Change it, move it around, etc.
10:41 am: Scribble can recognize both English and Chinese, and can use data detectors to detect phone numbers and addresses.
10:42 am: AirPods updates. Automatic switching allows AirPods to seamlessly move between devices without manually switching them.
10:43 am: AirPods Pro are gaining spatial audio — AKA surround sound.
10:44 am: For an authentic surround sound experience, the sound field needs to stay fixed even when you move your head. Use accelerometer to track the motion of your head, remapping the sound field so it stays anchored to your device even as your head moves.
10:44 am: If your bus turns the corner or your plane banks, you surround sound stays in sync.
10:44 am: Supports 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos.
10:45 am: Apple Watch updates next.
10:46 am: In watchOS 7, apps can enable multiple complications at one time.
10:47 am: Configuring watch faces has been redesigned, to make choosing complications much easier. WYSIWYG watch face setup.
10:47 am: Face Sharing is here, with curated faces from the App Store, a website, or to receive watch faces from friends and family.
10:48 am: Maps on Apple Watch is also gaining cycling directions, like iOS 14. Will include features like notes about dismounting and walking a bike, or using stairs.
10:50 am: Workout is gaining Dance as a workout type. Tracks some of the most popular styles of dance for fitness. Uses accelerometer and gyroscope to know whether you're dancing with just the lower half, upper half, or whole body. Also, functional strength training, cooldown, and others.
10:50 am: Activity app is being renamed Fitness.
10:50 am: Sleep Tracking!
10:51 am: Helps to make recommendations about waking up and when to go to sleep.
10:53 am: Uses machine learning to sense motion, and micro motions from rise and fall of the breath. New sleep section in the health app, including view of trends over time. Schedule, Wind Down, and Sleep Mode are available on iPhone without a watch as well.
10:54 am: In WatchOS 7, Apple Watch will give automatic detection for hand washing and sensing how long you actually wash. Can use audio to confirm the sound of running water or squishing soap. Will give coaching on the watch, including haptic and sound to confirm you wash as long as you should. At the end, you'll see, hear, and feel that you've washed for long enough.
10:55 am: On to Privacy. "We believe Privacy is a fundamental human right."
10:55 am: Privacy principles:
Data minimization
On-device intelligence
Security protections
Transparency and control
10:56 am: These principles come together across our products. Hardware, software, and services.
10:56 am: 200 million Sign In With Apple accounts created.
10:58 am: For location sharing, users will now be able to share approximate location, instead of always sharing exact location. Adds a light for microphone and camera sharing as well. Adds tracking control for websites. Must ask before tracking you across websites. For apps, privacy policy summaries will be available on the App Store before an app is downloaded.
11:00 am: New features for Home. There's a new alliance with Amazon, Google, and other industry leaders for a new standard.
11:01 am: In iOS 14, adding a new accessory will prompt new automations. In the Home app, it'll show accessories that might need your attention right at the top of the app.
11:02 am: Smart bulbs will now have Adaptive Lighting, letting colors automatically change throughout the day.
11:03 am: With Homekit secured video, your cameras are private. Activity zones let you focus on certain areas, and facial recognition let you know who is at your door. HomePod can announce who is at the door. Apple TV can put a picture-in-picture video of the camera on your Apple TV.
11:04 am: Apple TV gaining multi-user support for Apple Arcade. Adding support for Xbox Elite 2 and Xbox Adaptive controllers. Picture-in-picture support.
11:05 am: Apple TV+ Coming to Sony and Vizio smart TVs later this summer.
11:05 am: Isaac Asimov's Foundation coming to Apple TV+.
11:07 am: Next, macOS.
11:09 am: Apparently Apple's marketing gurus go on drug-fueled minibus vision quests to name their releases. Hence, macOS Big Sur.
11:09 am: The biggest change since the introduction of macOS X.
11:11 am: This OS reflects an important history. It's familiar, but also entirely new in every detail.
11:11 am: There's a new design, familiar but clearly inspired by iOS as well.
11:16 am: Messages on Mac is getting an update in Big Sur. "Taking Messages to the next level." — New Search, Photo picker, Memoji stickers, Messages effects, pinned conversations (saved across devices).
11:17 am: Maps update, gaining favorites, Guides, indoor maps, Look around, ETA of friends and their current locations, plus all the other features introduced in Maps for iOS 14.
11:18 am: Mac Catalyst updates, allowing for optimization for full resolution of the Mac screen. New capabilities like menu and keyboard APIs, date pickers, and more. Made new Maps and Messages apps with Catalyst.
11:20 am: Biggest update to Safari since it was first introduced. Page load performance is on average more than 50% faster than Chrome, plus industry-leading battery life. Safari was the first browser to implement private browsing. We want to give users more visibility into how websites try to track them. There's a privacy report button in the toolbar, to see how sites are using their pages. Safari securely monitors saved passwords to make sure they haven't been compromised in a data breach. Extensions adopting new standard, so you can bring over extensions from another browser.
11:21 am: In other browsers, Extensions can see everything you do, every page, everything you type, etc. Can give extensions access just for a day, on a certain website, or for every website.
11:21 am: Native-translation capabilities built in to Safari.
11:24 am: Tabs use favicons to help organize, while hovering over a tab shows you a preview of a page. Additional cleanup modes for closing tabs.
11:25 am: For years, deep below the surface, we've been working on something truly profound...
11:26 am: We've been working on some really big changes to take the Mac to a whole new level.
11:26 am: The Mac has always been about embracing big changes to stay at the forefront of personal computing. We moved to PowerPC, to MacOS X, and the move to Intel. Now it's time for a huge leap forward for the Mac.
11:26 am: We're announcing that the Mac is transitioning to our own Apple silicon.
11:27 am: At Apple, integrating hardware and software is fundamental to everything we do. Silicon is at the heart of our hardware. Having a world-class silicon design team is a game changer.
11:28 am: We've been working and refining our Apple Silicon for more than a decade.
11:28 am: The iPhone demanded capabilities that were seen as impossible in a device that small. We focused on performance per watt, and improved performance and energy efficiency. Ten generations of new designs, always improving performance. CPU performance has improved by 100x.
11:29 am: While iPhone chips could drive the iPad, we wanted to push the iPad even further. The iPad's retina display demanded a custom chip. So designed A5X, then other X chips specifically designed for the iPad. Wider memory subsystem and new GPUs. 1000x graphics performance in ten years.
11:30 am: Adding all of the processors across iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, we've shipped 2 billion SoC chips.
11:31 am: We're bringing all that expertise and disciplined approach to the Mac. A whole new level of performance, including power. All systems are constrained by power consumption, thermal, or both. Desktops consume most power but high performance. Notebooks are more efficient, but lower performance.
11:31 am: Building on our years of experience designing the world's most efficient mobile chips, we want highest performance with lower power usage. Our scalable architecture includes many custom technologies that will bring even more innovation to the Mac. With advanced power management, we will maximize battery life better than ever before. Secure Enclave will maximize security.
11:32 am: Family of Mac SoCs designed specifically for Macs. Unique features and performance, plus a common architecture across all product lines.
11:33 am: Tight integration of silicon with the software, including demanding pro apps including Final Cut and Logic are up and running on the custom chips.
11:34 am: Microsoft is working on Office for Mac, and Adobe is working on Creative Cloud.
11:35 am: Test machine running on "Apple Development Platform", using Apple A12Z Bionic processor that's used in the iPad Pro. All Apple's apps running on it. Office is up and running natively on the new Macs. "Word runs great."
11:36 am: Photoshop and Lightroom running on Apple Silicon.
11:37 am: The About This Mac screen shows macOS Big Sur is Version 11.0.
11:37 am: Final Cut Pro running on Apple Silicon, including 4K video, with filters running in real time.
11:38 am: The transition to Apple Silicon is also excellent for developers who have optimized apps for other Apple products.
11:39 am: We're doing some really important things to make this transition seamless for users. We want to make sure users can run all of their apps on day one, even if apps haven't been updated. We've been down this road before. A cornerstone of the Intel transition was Rosetta, allowing PowerPC programs to run on Intel Macs. Rosetta 2 will translate existing Intel apps to run on Apple Silicon. Even faster, more compatible. Translates apps on install. Can translate code on the fly when needed for just-in-time compilers. Transparent to users.
11:39 am: New virtualization technologies, to help developers run other environments like Linux.
11:40 am: Showing Maya running on Apple Silicon, via Rosetta 2.
11:41 am: Showing Shadow of the Tomb Raider running on Rosetta 2, downloaded straight from the Mac App Store.
11:42 am: Now showing Linux running in a Parallels VM.
11:42 am: Can also run iPhone and iPad apps natively and unmodified.
11:43 am: Starting day one, users can download iPhone and iPad apps right from the Mac App Store.
11:44 am: Launching a Quick Start program, to help developers make their apps universal and take advantage of Apple Silicon.
11:44 am: Developer Transition Kit hardware. Is a Mac mini with an A12Z SoC, 16GB memory, 512GB SSD, and the macOS Big Sur developer beta.
11:44 am: Developers can apply to the program today. Shipping units starting this week.
11:45 am: Every time we've done this, the Mac has come out stronger and more capable.
11:46 am: The developers get the DTK this week. For customers, we expect to ship our first Mac with Apple Silicon by the end of this year. We expect the transition to be complete within two years.
11:46 am: OS releases come out as developer betas today, with public betas (including WatchOS) starting in July. All the software will be released this fall.
11:47 am: "Thanks to you all for joining us. This has been such a big day, and it's just the beginning of a huge week to come. So, let's have a great WWDC!"
Apple has begun selling certified refurbished 2020 MacBook Air models through its online store in the United States for the first time, with prices discounted by approximately 15 percent compared to brand new models.
Apple says refurbished MacBook Air models are thoroughly inspected, tested, cleaned, and repackaged with a USB-C power adapter and USB-C cable in the box. In our view, a refurbished MacBook Air is virtually indistinguishable from a brand new model, so this represents a good opportunity for savings directly from Apple.
Keep in mind that third-party resellers frequently offer better deals than Apple's refurbished prices, so be sure to monitor our deals roundup.
A refurbished MacBook Air comes with Apple's standard one-year warranty effective on the date the notebook is delivered. The warranty can be extended to three years from the refurbished purchase date with AppleCare+ at a cost of $249 for the MacBook Air.
Just ahead of WWDC, Apple has approved a new version of Basecamp's email app "Hey" for release on the App Store, as noted by The Verge.
In response to Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller saying that "you download the app and it doesn't work," Basecamp says that version 1.0.3 of the app introduces a free account option, allowing users to sign up directly in the app to receive a temporary randomized @hey.com email address that works for 14 days.
Basecamp is still not adopting Apple's in-app purchase system, which was at the center of the back-and-forth controversy, so users will have to visit the "Hey" website to sign up for a paid account after the free two-week period.
"Hey" has also gained multi-user support for enterprise customers, after Apple initially took issue with the app's consumer focus.
Apple has faced renewed scrutiny over its App Store practices in the weeks leading up to WWDC, including the European Commission's announcement that it will be investigating Apple's in-app purchase system. In particular, Basecamp and some other developers have taken issue with Apple's long-standing 30 percent commission from in-app purchases.
Basecamp founder David Heinemeier Hansson recently described the commission as a "ransom," calling it "profoundly, perversely abusive, and unfair." However, he called the newly approved version of "Hey" a "good compromise."
Update - June 25: Apple has approved version 1.0.3 of "Hey" with the 14-day free account option.
Julianne Moore is set to play a con artist in an upcoming Apple TV+ film called "Sharper." The film comes from A24, the studio behind popular recent movies like "The Lighthouse," "Midsommar," and "The Farewell." (via The Hollywood Reporter).
"Sharper" is based on a spec script by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka (writers of the comedy film "The Sitter"). The Apple TV+ movie will follow a woman who cons her way through the world of Manhattan's wealthy elite.
Moore will be the lead in another Apple TV+ project, as the main character in the Stephen King adaptation "Lisey's Story." This show will also star Dane Dehaan and Clive Owen, with J.J. Abrams executive producing the series.
"Sharper" is the latest film to come out of Apple's partnership with A24, which will see numerous movies produced by A24 released exclusively on Apple TV+. This includes "On the Rocks" from director Sofia Coppola, which doesn't yet have a release date.
You can find the full list of current and upcoming Apple TV+ films and TV shows in our guide.
Apple's rumored 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display has entered trial production, according to Korean website The Elec.
The report claims that LG will supply the Mini-LED panels for the device, while Foxconn will be tasked with final assembly. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously said that Mini-LED technology will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays, including high contrast and dynamic range.
The new iPad Pro will launch in the fourth quarter of 2020 at the earliest, the report adds, but a release next year appears more likely at this point. Earlier this month, it was rumored that new iPad Pro models with a Mini-LED display, A14X chip, and 5G connectivity will launch in the first half of 2021, a timeframe that several other sources have echoed.
Apple last refreshed the iPad Pro in March, but it was a relatively minor update, with new features including an A12Z Bionic chip that is essentially an A12X chip with an extra GPU core enabled, an Ultra Wide camera that enables 0.5x zoom, a LiDAR Scanner for enhanced augmented reality, and better sounding microphones. It was the first update to the iPad Pro since the device received a major redesign in October 2018.
Apple is also expected to release its first Macs with Mini-LED displays by the end of 2021.
Even though this year's WWDC is a bit different with its all-online format, we're still getting the traditional keynote address, which will be kicking off at 10:00 am Pacific Time today. Some MacRumors readers who can't follow the event live are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple reposts the video of the event for on-demand viewing so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be updated with a direct link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple. No other news stories or announcements will be displayed alongside this story.
Apple has become quicker about making event videos available for replay over the past several years, and videos are now frequently available within an hour of an event's conclusion. This year's video may be available even more quickly given the unique circumstances of the 2020 conference.
Users waiting for the video to be posted are welcome to gather in the thread associated with this news story, and we ask that those who follow the events as they occur refrain from making any posts about Apple's announcements in this thread.
Update: The full keynote video is available on Apple's website as a direct link to the video file with no spoilers.
Apple plans to launch third-generation AirPods with a form factor design "similar to AirPods Pro" in the first half of 2021, according to the latest research note from TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, obtained by MacRumors.
Introduced in November 2019, the AirPods Pro feature an in-ear design with three sizes of soft, flexible silicone tips included in the box, along with shorter stems below the ear. AirPods Pro also have several upgraded features over regular AirPods, including active noise cancellation, improved sound quality, and water and sweat resistance.
The current AirPods lineup includes second-generation AirPods with a wired charging case for $159, second-generation AirPods with a wireless charging case for $199, and AirPods Pro with a wireless charging case for $249.
Kuo also reiterated that iPhone 12 models will not include EarPods in the box, which he believes will help boost AirPods shipments into 2021. He also expects AirPods shipments to benefit from some kind of promotion program launching in the second half of 2020 — perhaps allowing customers to purchase AirPods at a discount alongside the iPhone 12?
Spotify appears to be exploring the possibility of adding music videos to the streaming service's "Now Playing" app interface.
Serial app de-coder Jane Wong discovered and enabled the feature, which currently consists of a tabbed interface for the Now Playing screen that offers different options for showing content while listening to tracks.
The new tabs include standard album art, the new video player, and "Canvas," which is the Spotify feature that shows a looping video clip or animation in place of album art.
Spotify has included video content before, but not on the scale that's presumably being considered here – showing full music videos, similar to how YouTube Music does.
Spotify is finally working on a tab to switch between Canvas, Album Art, and Video (which is new!) pic.twitter.com/xOwvoSnBdV
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) June 20, 2020
As the graphic above mentions, Spotify is "still exploring" what to do with this new video section, but it's hard to think of what other use there could be for it.
Apple has several new features for its iOS Safari browser in the works, including voice search, translation integration, improved tabs, a "guest mode" option, and new iCloud Keychain functionality.
Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman rounded up the new features in development in a tweet, while making it clear that there was no guarantee that they would be revealed at this week's WWDC.
Rumors of new Safari features have been trickling out ever since a leaked version of iOS 14 began circulating earlier this year. Notable among those rumors, Apple is said to be adding iCloud Keychain warnings whenever a password is reused as well as the ability for iCloud Keychain to generate two-factor authentication codes.
Elsewhere, a built-in language translation feature would allow users to translate web pages without using a third-party app or service. The translation option is expected to be available for each website that's visited, but an automatic translation feature will also be able to be turned on, similar to Chrome's automatic translation.
There’s the new iCloud Keychain stuff, translation integration, voice search, improved tabs, guest mode etc. in development — but who knows if that’s coming this week.
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) June 21, 2020
Apple is also working to bring full Apple Pencil support to Safari in iPadOS 14. Specifically, Apple may be planning to add full support for Apple Pencil input on websites, which would allow it to be used for drawing and marking up. This feature would be limited to iPadOS 14 as the Apple Pencil does not work on iPhones.
Late on Sunday, Apple leaker L0vetodream suggested a "huge update" for Safari was on the cards, although their wording implied that this was in relation to Safari for macOS.
It's important to note that the leaked version of iOS 14 that's been floating around the internet is an early version of the software. Apple's development plans may have changed since then, but we'll hopefully learn more when Apple's WWDC kicks off on Monday morning with a live stream.
Fujifilm is developing software for Mac that will enable its cameras to be used as high-quality webcams, the company announced today (via The Verge).
Fujifilm, Canon and Panasonic all offer software that brings webcam functionality to their cameras. The cameras are connected via a USB cable and provide a sharper picture for video calls, but most apps are PC only.
Fujifilm says it is bringing the same functionality to Mac due to the "overwhelming response" of its customers when it released the app for PC. The macOS version of the Fujifilm X Webcam software is due to be released in mid-July 2020.
Fujifilm has also expanded the number of X-series mirrorless cameras that work with its Fujifilm X Webcam software, with the X-T200 and X-A7 now supported. Other cameras already supported include the X-H1, X-Pro2, X-Pro3, X-T2, X-T3, and X-T4. Fujifilm X Webcam also works with all three GFX medium format cameras.
As a result, Apple has already had the trademark for the term "Rosetta" for sometime, but this new activity and new application surrounding the name is notable given the increasing rumors that Apple is planning on transitioning from Intel to ARM processors in the near future. Apple officially dropped Rosetta support in Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) in 2011.
The trademark could simply be ongoing protection of a long existing trademark for Apple, but given the recent rumors, the new activity raises the possibility that Apple may decide to recycle the "Rosetta" name for a new emulation layer to transition from Intel to ARM. The trademark was filed under the following category:
A computers computer network And the computer software in which development of the computer programmes on a global communication network and the download for translating and performing are possible, computer software for computings performed by a cross platform, computer software, Electronic machines [apparatus and their parts]
Apple has been widely rumored to transition from Intel to ARM processors in the coming year, but there has be no rumors about how Apple would handle the transition with regard to emulation. Apple currently lists "Rosetta" without the "Apple" prefix in their list of active trademarks.
In a last minute series of tweets, leaker L0vetodream has posted a number of last minute predictions about WWDC 2020. Apple's WWDC kicks off on Monday morning with a live stream. A previous series of rumors suggested we'd see no new hardware at WWDC, which @L0vetodream agrees with saying "There will be no hardware tomorrow and Im sure Jon is right".
Beyond that, the Twitter account shares some details about the upcoming announcements. Most specifically, L0vetodream specifies "macOS Big Sur" as the name for macOS 10.16 which will also include a "redesigned UI" and "huge update" for Safari.
in my dream,Mac OS big sur, redesigned the Ui, and huge update for Safari
— 有没有搞措 (@L0vetodream) June 22, 2020
The other predictions are somewhat more vague, with this year being the "year of A14", Apple's own custom processor. The A13 presently drives the latest iPhones. tvOS and HomeKit integration are mentioned as well as watchOS updates including sleep and "hand wash monitoring function."
in my dream ,this year is the year of A14
— 有没有搞措 (@L0vetodream) June 22, 2020
in my dream, TV OS can monitor the HomeKit, regular update.
— 有没有搞措 (@L0vetodream) June 22, 2020
in my dream, Watch OS update the watch homepage, now can be shared through the link. Added in sleep and hand wash monitoring function.
— 有没有搞措 (@L0vetodream) June 22, 2020
iPadOS is described with a redesigned Sidecar -- Apple's feature to turn an iPad into a secondary monitor for a Mac. Finally, "improved and enhanced hand written input is also predicted.
im my dream, iPadOS redesigned sidecar, improved and enhanced hand written input.
— 有没有搞措 (@L0vetodream) June 22, 2020
in my dream no rename for IOS, homepage redesigned。widgets supported, Apps alignment changed, added more app clips, something like mini applications, Incoming call for iPhone is not forced full screen.
— 有没有搞措 (@L0vetodream) June 22, 2020
Apple has scrapped plans to reveal any new hardware at WWDC tomorrow, according to leakers Jon Prosser and Max Weinbach who shared the information on Twitter.
While WWDC is usually a software-driven event, until now leaks had strongly suggested the announcement of new hardware, particularly a redesigned iMac with iPad Pro design language. Other rumored hardware announcements were AirTags, AirPods Studio, and a refreshed Apple TV.
WWDC events sometimes have no new hardware reveals, as was the case in 2018. Last year, Apple used WWDC to offer a preview of the new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR. It is possible that Apple has faced supply chain issues this year, and may have decided to postpone hardware announcements until its manufacturing situation improves. It may also be the case that Apple simply did not have any hardware announcements planned for WWDC.
Looking like any possible hardware has been scrapped for WWDC tomorrow 🤔
Might be wrong about this one. Would love to be wrong!
I’ll be surprised with all of you, either way!
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) June 21, 2020
I had two sources tell me no hardware for WWDC tomorrow. They aren’t on WWDC related teams but heard it through the Apple grapevine. I’d take this with a grain of salt, but thought it was worth mentioning.
— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) June 21, 2020
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has also said he does not expect any hardware announcements at WWDC. Prosser and Weinbach are serial leakers, and both caution in their tweets that the information is somewhat uncertain.
Apple will livestream the WWDC keynote and we will be covering the event on MacRumors.com and through our MacRumorsLive Twitter account.
Spotify appears to be exploring the possibility of adding music videos to the streaming service's "Now Playing" app interface.
