MacRumors

Apple CEO Tim Cook today took to Twitter to announce Apple's Racial Equity and Justice initiative, with a $100 million commitment.

The effort will be led by Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson.

Beginning in the United States and expanding globally over time, the initiative will challenge the systemic barriers to opportunity and dignity that exist for communities of color and particularly for the black community with special focus on issues of education, economic equality and criminal justice reform.

Cook says the initiative will build on Apple's existing work in the racial justice space, significantly broadening its scope and impact through a model that was also used for Apple's environmental efforts.

Lisa has revolutionized our environmental work by looking across the company, bringing existing teams and projects together under one umbrella, dramatically expanding those efforts and compounding and magnifying their results. We want to bring that same holistic focus and companywide scale to racial justice and breaking down barriers to opportunity across our society.

Apple says the effort will build on its work with historically black colleges, community colleges, STEM education, and underserved students and teachers, as well as forging new partnerships with organizations like the Equal Justice Initiative.

Apple is announcing a new developer entrepreneurial camp for black developers ahead of WWDC 2020. In the supply chain, Apple is also committing to increasing its spending with black owned partners and increasing representation across companies it does business with.

Cook says that within Apple, "significant new steps" toward diversity and inclusion will be made because there is more "we can and must do to hire, develop, and support those from underrepresented groups."

This is a comprehensive effort governed by three principles: representation, inclusion, and accountability. I think accountability deserves special attention. Whether it is at Apple or anywhere else in society, the burden of change must not fall on those who are underrepresented. It falls heaviest on those in positions of power, leadership, and influence to change structures for the greater good.

Our commitment is to meet this challenge. Listening, learning, and acting collaboratively. Apple has never shied away from tough conversations about tough topics. In fact, they're the only way we make progress and that is still true today. We will do our part, and I want to send our gratitude to everyone who is pushing needed changes forward in their communities. Thank you.

Apple already maintains an inclusion and diversity website and shares regular updates on its efforts to diversify its workforce, push pay equity, and work with underserved communities to empower students and educators.

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 today shared details on the schedule for its upcoming WWDC 2020 event, which is set to take place in a digital only capacity for the first time. Though digital, Apple says that this year's event will be the "biggest WWDC to date," as all developers are able to attend for free.

The WWDC Keynote event will take place on Monday, June 22 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and it will be streamed directly from Apple Park. Developers and Apple users will be able to watch on Apple.com, the Apple Developer app, the Apple Developer website, the Apple TV app, and YouTube.

A Platforms State of the Union, which is designed to provide developers with a deeper look into the newest updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, will take place on June 22 at 2:00 p.m. and it will be available in the Apple Developer app and the Apple Developer website.

From June 23 to June 26, Apple plans to hold more than 100 technical and design-focused engineering sessions, with new videos posted each day at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time in the Apple Developer app and the Apple Developer website.

Apple is unveiling all new Apple Developer Forums on June 18, wihch will connect the developer community with over 1,000 Apple engineers who will be able to answer questions and engage in technical discussions. On the first day of WWDC, anyone can search and view the forum discussions, and Apple Developer Program members can post their own questions.

Apple is also hosting one-on-one developer labs from June 23 to June 26, with developers able to request an appointment with an Apple engineer for technical guidance and in-depth details on how to implement new features. For students who entered the Swift Student Challenge this year, Apple plans to announce the finalists on June 16.

Apple recommends that all developers download the Apple Developer app, as Apple plans to share additional WWDC 2020 information ahead of June 22.

For those unable to watch Apple's livestream, MacRumors will provide live coverage of the keynote on the MacRumors website and through our MacRumorsLive Twitter account, plus we'll have in-depth coverage of all of Apple's announcements throughout the week.

Following eight months of beta testing, Adobe today made its free Photoshop Camera app available to all iPhone users.

Like many other third-party camera apps, Photoshop Camera revolves around adding filters and effects to your photos, before or after taking the shot. There are over 80 custom filters and effects to choose from at launch, along with custom-designed lenses inspired by artists and influencers like singer Billie Eilish.

Artificial intelligence plays a key role in Photoshop Camera. When taking photos, the app can make automatic improvements to attributes such as lighting and focus. And for group selfies, the app recognizes where each subject is positioned to eliminate distortion.

Photoshop Camera is primarily targeted at mobile-first Instagram users, competing with the likes of Snapchat, Facetune, and Instagram itself.

The app is now available on the App Store.

Apple has registered nine unreleased iPhone models in the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) database, according to listings uncovered by MySmartPrice and confirmed by MacRumors.

The new and unannounced iPhones use the previously unknown model identifiers A2176, A2172, A2341, A2342, A2399, A2403, A2407, A2408, and the A2411.

Rumors have suggested Apple will complete its transition to an all-OLED lineup for this year's "‌iPhone‌ 12," with one new 5.4-inch device, two 6.1-inch models, and one 6.7-inch handset.

Rumors suggest the 6.7-inch ‌‌iPhone‌‌ and one 6.1-inch model will be higher-end OLED devices with triple-lens cameras, while the 5.4 and 6.1-inch models will be lower-end iPhones with dual-lens cameras and a more affordable price tag.

Based on the new model numbers, it's possible that the A2176 and the A2172 refer to the two more affordable models, while the other numbers could be variants of the high-end models. All of the models are listed as running iOS 13. Apple is expected to release new iPhones in the fall.

In addition to the new ‌‌iPhone‌ filings, Apple also registered a previously unseen Mac model with the identifier A2330 and running macOS 10.15 Catalina.

We've been hearing significant rumors about an imminent update to the iMac. Previously reliable leaker CoinX said in March that an ‌‌iMac‌‌ update was coming "soon," while an April rumor claimed a new low-cost 23-inch iMac is coming in the second half of the year.

Mark Gurman said in late April that a "substantial" iMac update with a possible redesign would be coming later in the year, and on Monday, Sonny Dickson claimed that a redesigned iMac with "iPad Pro design language" will be coming at this month's WWDC.

Similar EEC filings have preceded the launch of new Apple products on numerous occasions, including multiple ‌iPad‌, ‌iPad Pro‌, ‌iPhone‌, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods models. The filings are legally required for any encrypted devices sold in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.

Apple on Wednesday removed popular podcast player Pocket Casts from the App Store in China. According to the app's developers, the removal of Pocket Casts was at the request of the country's Cyberspace Administration, which determined that the app could be used to access content regarded as illegal in China.

"We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship," Pocket Casts said on its official Twitter account. "As such we won't be censoring podcast content at their request. We understand this means that it's unlikely that our iOS App will be available in China, but feel it's a necessary step to take for any company that values the open distribution model that makes podcasting special."

Pocket Casts' developers told The Verge that they asked Apple for details on which content violated Chinese law, but were told to contact the Cyberspace Administration of China for the specifics. The app was reportedly removed about two days after Apple contacted the developer.

China's Cyberspace Administration has been known to block access to sites and internet services it doesn't approve of. Blocked content typically includes criticism of the government or other politically sensitive issues. Last year Apple removed the app of news outlet Quartz from China's ‌‌App Store‌‌ after complaints from the government that it included content that is illegal in the country. The app was covering the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement protests at the time.

Apple has also been forced to remove many VPN apps from the ‌App Store‌ in China due to the administration's regulations. Other apps affected in the past or present include WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and the New York Times app.

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.

The iOS 13.6 beta, which is currently in testing, introduces an Apple News feature that's designed to save your place in an article when you start reading something and then exit out of the article or the app.

In iOS 13.5.1 and earlier, if you exit out of an article while reading it and then attempt to return to that same article later, the ‌Apple News‌ app automatically starts back at the beginning of the article. In iOS 13.6, it opens back up to the place that you left off so you don't need to scroll down to find the portion of the article you were last reading.

As noted on the MacRumors forums, it takes about thirty seconds for the ‌Apple News‌ app to register and save your position in an article before it's safe to exit out. This isn't a feature that's needed for short articles that you read right away, but for longer content, such as ‌Apple News‌+ magazine articles, it's a welcome change.

The iOS 13.6 update also appears to be laying the groundwork for an ‌Apple News‌+ audio feature that will see Apple offering audio versions of some ‌Apple News‌ stories. Audio is not enabled at this time, but it looks like it's a feature Apple plans to launch in the near future.

Along with these ‌Apple News‌ changes, iOS 13.6 includes a toggle that offers more granular control over the downloading and installing of iOS updates and it adds a new Symptoms section to the Health app.

iOS 13.6 is in beta testing and is limited to developers and public beta testers at this time, but the new features will be available to everyone when it sees a public release.

Apple will be discontinuing iTunes U at the end of 2021, according to a new support document shared by the company today.

Apple says that iTunes U tools have been replaced with next-generation apps for teachers and students, which include Classroom and Schoolwork, plus the Apple School Manager tool.

Apple has been hard at work building the next generation of apps for both teachers and students:

- Classroom turns your iPad into a powerful teaching assistant, helping teachers guide students through a lesson, see their progress, and keep them on track.

- Schoolwork helps teachers save time and maximize each student's potential by making it easy for teachers to share class materials, get students to a specific activity in an app, collaborate with students, and view student progress.

In addition to Classroom and Schoolwork, Apple also introduced Apple School Manager to enable IT Administrators to easily manage iPads, Macs, Apple TV, Apple IDs, books, and apps, while ensuring data is kept secure and private. Apps such as Pages, Numbers, Keynote, GarageBand, iMovie, Clips, and Swift Playgrounds have education-specific features that are used regularly by teachers and students.

With this in mind, Apple will discontinue iTunes U at the end of 2021. iTunes U will continue to be available to all existing customers through the 2020-2021 educational year.

According to Apple, iTunes U will be available for the 2020 to 2021 educational year, with support ending in late 2021. For public content publishers, until iTunes U is discontinued, new and existing content will be available publicly, but Apple suggests creators start exploring other options. Current iTunes U users can continue publishing content through Apple Podcasts or Apple Books.

Apple suggests private publishers transition over to the Schoolwork app, and Apple plans to add ClassKit support to iTunes U to make transitioning easy. Materials in iTunes U courses can be transitioned into Schoolwork Handouts, and iTunes U will also get an export feature so those who want to move to third-party apps or Learning Management Systems can do so.

iTunes U has been around since 2007, and was built in to the iTunes app to provide university lectures and learning content from U.S. colleges. iTunes U allowed educators to create courses with audio, media, handouts, ebooks, and more, with the iTunes U app available for users to access their collections on iPhone and iPad.

When Apple started to transition away from iTunes in 2017, iTunes U content was discontinued as a standalone feature and was transitioned into the Podcasts app and the Podcasts section of iTunes. Support for iTunes U has since been dwindling, with Apple instead focusing on new educational tools.

Apple today sent out an email to iBooks Author users, letting them know that the Mac app is being discontinued on July 1 and removed from the App Store.

In the email, Apple says that following the inclusion of book creation tools in Pages, the company's new focus will be on developing features for the Pages app.

Thank you for being a member of the iBooks Author community. We have some news to share with you about the future of book creation.

Two years ago we brought book creation into Pages. With key features such as the ability to work on iPad, collaborate with others on a shared book, draw with Apple Pencil, and more, Pages is a great platform for making books.

As we focus our efforts on Pages, iBooks Author will no longer be updated and will soon be removed from the Mac App Store. You can continue to use iBooks Author on macOS 10.15 and earlier, and books previously published to Apple Books will remain available. If you have iBooks Author books you'd like to import into Pages for further editing, we have a book import feature coming to Pages soon.

Apple says that iBooks Author will continue to be available on macOS 10.15 and earlier for those who have already installed the apps, and books that were published to Apple Books will remain available.

In the future, Apple plans to add an import feature to Pages to allow books to be imported into the app, and a support document covers details on how users can transition from the ‌iBooks‌ Author app to the Pages app.

Apple first debuted iBooks Author for to allow Mac users to create ebooks in 2012, providing tools for creating textbooks, cookbooks, picture books, and more for the iPad. Apple offered templates and page layout options, along with drag and drop editing tools, but most of those features are now available in Pages.

With WWDC less than two weeks away, a number of MacRumors readers have noticed that shipping estimates for Apple's stock 27-inch iMac configurations are now listed as after the June 22 WWDC kickoff, leading some to believe that this is evidence of an ‌iMac‌ update coming at the keynote.

While there are indeed rumors of an imminent significant update for the ‌iMac‌, perhaps at WWDC, the shipping estimates are not a reliable indicator of this. Apple has been quoting extended shipping estimates on both stock and build-to-order configurations of the 27-inch ‌iMac‌ for over a month, so current quotes are nothing new and they slip back roughly day-by-day as time passes.

It's not entirely clear why shipping estimates initially slipped, as it happened while the global health crisis was affecting supply and manufacturing chains around the world. Certain component shortages could easily have slowed Apple's ability to produce machines, but the company may also be intentionally reducing inventories ahead of new models and only building what's necessary to fulfill orders.

Notably, the 21.5-inch ‌iMac‌ is not seeing extended shipping estimates at the present time as its availability has generally held up better than for its larger sibling.

As noted in our Buyer's Guide, the ‌iMac‌ is definitely due for an update, and we've been hearing significant rumors about an imminent update. Previously reliable leaker CoinX said in March that an ‌iMac‌ update was coming "soon," while an April rumor claimed a new low-cost 23-inch iMac is coming in the second half of the year.

Mark Gurman said in late April that a "substantial" iMac update with a possible redesign would be coming later in the year, and just yesterday, Sonny Dickson claimed that a redesigned iMac with "iPad Pro design language" will be coming at WWDC.

After a strong performance yesterday that pushed Apple's stock price to another record high, shares are up over two percent again today. With today's boost, Apple's market capitalization has surpassed $1.5 trillion, making it the first U.S. company to reach that mark.

Market capitalization is simply the share price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares of the company's stock, yielding the company's overall stock market value. At a current price of around $352 per share and with roughly 4.3 billion shares outstanding, Apple's market capitalization is now at around $1.53 trillion.

Apple's total share count has been declining in recent years as the company has been aggressively buying back stock, which helps to increase the value of the remaining shares on the market. That decrease in share count is, however, accounted for in market capitalization calculations.

After hitting an all-time high share price in late January, Apple's stock slid along with the rest of the market amid the global health crisis, with Apple's share price falling 35% from its peak by late March. A strong and steady recovery brought Apple back up to a fresh all-time high last Friday, and it has continued to gain in recent days.

Apple shares climbed to an all-time high at the close of Nasdaq trading on Tuesday, rising $10.53, or 3.16 percent, and hitting $343.99 per share. Apple now has a market value of almost $1.491 trillion.

Despite a bumpy start to the year, tech stocks have fared well during the global health crisis. Apple saw its stocks fall in February and March due to supplier constraints, store closures, and ongoing curbs on travel and transport, but demand for new devices was buoyed by increasing numbers of people working from home, and that saw Apple's share price surge again in April.

Tuesday's high came on the back of news that Apple plans to announce an upcoming shift to Arm-based Macs at its virtual WWDC event later this month.

Swapping over to its own house-made chips should allow Apple to release updates on its own schedule and with perhaps more frequent technology improvements. Apple should also be able to differentiate its devices from competing products with chips designed by its own internal teams, introducing even tighter integration between hardware and software.

There have been some mixed rumors on when Apple could launch the first Arm-based Macs. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will release MacBook models with its own custom processors in the fourth quarter of 2020 or the first quarter of 2021.

Kuo expects Apple to release several Mac notebooks and desktop computers with custom designed Arm-based processors in 2021, so the custom processors won't be limited to just one machine. Bloomberg has said that Apple is aiming to release at least one Mac with a custom-designed Arm-based processor by 2021.