MacRumors

Apple today announced financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2020, which corresponds to the first calendar quarter of the year.

For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $58.3 billion and net quarterly profit of $11.2 billion, or $2.55 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $58.0 billion and net quarterly profit of $11.6 billion, or $2.46 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Gross margin for the quarter was 38.4 percent, compared to 37.6 percent in the year-ago quarter, with international sales accounting for 62 percent of revenue. Apple also declared an increased quarterly dividend payment of $0.82 per share, up from $0.77. The dividend is payable on May 14 to shareholders of record as of May 11.

In addition to the increase in the dividend payment, Apple says it has authorized another $50 billion for share repurchases.

Apple in mid-February announced that it would not meet its previously announced financial guidance of $63–$67 billion in revenue for the March quarter due to the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus, which at that time largely involved production and demand issues in China.

Apple did not issue revised guidance at the time, and the coronavirus epidemic of course quickly spread around the world, resulting in even more challenges for Apple as it closed its retail stores, told most of its employees to work from home, and experienced reduced consumer demand for many products amid economic uncertainty.

“Despite COVID-19’s unprecedented global impact, we’re proud to report that Apple grew for the quarter, driven by an all-time record in Services and a quarterly record for Wearables,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “In this difficult environment, our users are depending on Apple products in renewed ways to stay connected, informed, creative, and productive. We feel motivated and inspired to not only keep meeting these needs in innovative ways, but to continue giving back to support the global response, from the tens of millions of face masks and custom-built face shields we’ve sent to medical professionals around the world, to the millions we’ve donated to organizations like Global Citizen and America’s Food Fund.”

Apple did not offer any guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2020.

Apple will provide live streaming of its fiscal Q2 2020 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.

Apple earnings call recap ahead...

1:42 pm: Apple's stock price bounced briefly higher in after-hours trading following the earnings release, but has settled back to around its closing price for the regular session of the day.

1:57 pm: Apple has not provided revenue guidance for Q3 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

2:01 pm: Apple's earnings call should begin momentarily...

2:02 pm: Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri participating in the call as usual.

2:04 pm: Tim: Good afternoon everyone. Thanks for joining us today. Hope you're staying safe and well. Apple today reports $58.3B revenue. Most challenging environment we've ever operated our business... we're proud to say Apple grew during the quarter.

2:04 pm: Tim: Apple is contending with COVID-19 since January. How we responded, what we've been inspired to do, tells a great story about Apple's durability. Also speaks to Apple's unmatched capacity to be creative, to always think long term, and forge ahead...

2:06 pm: Tim: Apple launched new products while sourcing masks and face shields for healthcare workers.

2:06 pm: Tim: Apple News reached 125M monthly active users. COVID-19 special coverage.

2:07 pm: Tim: We let customers skip Apple Card payments in March and April.

2:08 pm: Tim: Apple launched a COVID-19 symptom checking website and app. App has been installed ~2M times, website has had ~3M unique visitors.

2:09 pm: Tim: Apple has modified operations where appropriate, including retail stores. We're compensating retail employees normally despite store closures.

2:09 pm: Tim: While we felt some temporary supply constraints in February, production was back to usual by late March.

2:10 pm: Tim: Teachers are relying on our products/tech. We're deploying major orders of iPads in school districts around the world. Ontario, Canada; NYC; etc.

2:10 pm: Tim: Free 90-day trials for Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X.

2:11 pm: Tim: Medical professionals using Apple Watch to treat patients safely from a distance. ECG measurements for example.

2:12 pm: Tim: I don't think I can recall a quarter where I've been prouder of what we do/how we do it.

2:13 pm: Tim: We withdrew our Q2 2020 revenue guidance in February... during last three weeks of quarter, as virus spread globally and social distancing measures put in place worldwide, we saw downward pressure on demand. We will not be issuing guidance for the coming quarter.

2:15 pm: Tim: We can't say how many chapters are in this book for sure, but we can say the ending will be a good one.

2:15 pm: Tim: I hand things off to Luca.

2:16 pm: Luca: Revenue was $58.3B, up 1% YoY despite extreme circumstances of COVID-19 and FX headwinds.

2:16 pm: Luca: Installed base of active devices reached all-time high in all geographic segments.

2:17 pm: Luca: Services had strong 17% YoY growth. $13.3B revenue from services.

2:17 pm: Luca: 38.4% gross margin, flat sequentially.

2:17 pm: Luca: Products gross margin was 30.3%, decreasing 380 basis points sequentially due to loss of leverage and unfavorable mix. More pronounced drop due to COVID-19.

2:17 pm: Luca: 65.4% gross margin for services.

2:18 pm: Luca: Reported tax rate was 14.4% for quarter.

2:18 pm: Luca: Net income $11.2B. EPS of $2.55, up 4%.

2:18 pm: Luca: iPhone revenue of $29B, down 7% YoY. ‌iPhone‌ supply and demand were both affected by COVID-19 at some point during quarter.

2:19 pm: Luca: While we did see a slight elongation in our replacement cycle towards end of quarter, active installed base of ‌iPhone‌ reached all-time high.

2:20 pm: Luca: Well on our way of doubling our FY16 services revenue during FY20.

2:21 pm: Luca: Customer engagement in our ecosystem continues to grow strongly. Transacting and paid accounts reached new all-time high during March quarter. Paid accounts increased double-digits in all of Apple's geographic segments. >515M paid subscriptions. Up 125M YoY.

2:22 pm: Luca: Target of 600M paid subscriptions before end of calendar 2020.

2:22 pm: Luca: Apple Watch continues to extend its reach. Over 75% of customers purchasing Apple Watch around the world during the quarter were new to the product.

2:22 pm: Luca: Mac revenue was $5.4B. iPad revenue was $4.4B.

2:23 pm: Luca: Towards end of quarter, new iPad Pro launched. LiDAR Scanner for AR. Also a new MacBook Air with significantly improved performance at a lower price. We're very pleased with customer interest in both products.

2:24 pm: Luca: Enterprise markets have been working remotely... we've been helping transition our customers.

2:25 pm: Luca: Leading grocers around the world offer Apple Pay so customers can use contactless payments. As stores shift to become fulfillment centers for online orders, companies are leveraging apps.

2:26 pm: Luca: Our liquidity has not been an issue for us during this highly unusual financial market situation. Ended the quarter with $193B in cash + marketable securities. Net cash was $83B at end of quarter.

2:26 pm: Luca: Apple repurchased 64.7M AAPL shares during quarter.

2:27 pm: Luca: I'd like to provide color on June quarter. As Tim mentioned, given lack of visibility and certainty in near term, we will not be issuing guidance. Based on what we've seen in April and how we think things might play out, would like to provide insight on headwind/tailwinds.

2:27 pm: Luca: USD has appreciated recently against most currencies around the world. We expect this to impact our revenue by more than $1.5B on a YoY basis.

2:28 pm: Luca: ‌iPhone‌ and Wearables, we expect YoY revenue performance to worsen in June quarter relative to March quarter. ‌iPad‌ and Mac, we expect YoY revenue performance to improve.

2:30 pm: Luca: We are in the midst of developing our most exciting pipeline of products and services ever, while contributing over $350B to the US economy over five years.

2:30 pm: Luca: Our board has authorized $50B for share repurchases in addition to $40B remaining over current share repurchase plan. Board also authorized a 6% increase in quarterly dividend. 82 cent dividend payable on May 14, 2020 to shareholders of record as of May 11, 2020.

2:31 pm: Q&A session.

2:31 pm: Shannon Cross, Cross Research: Tim you talked about seeing some improvement in second half of April... can you talk more about that?

2:32 pm: Tim: If you look at China, we were having a really good January. Lockdowns started towards end of January. February we saw a steep decline in demand. We closed our stores in February. As lockdown completed in second half of February, we began to open stores on a staggered basis. From a demand point of view, we saw improvement in March over February. If you look where we are today, we've seen further improvement in April compared to March. That's China.

2:34 pm: Tim: If you look at the rest of the world, we were doing great in January. First 5 weeks of the quarter. We do believe that we were headed towards top end of our quarterly guidance. The next 5 weeks were spent reacting and getting supply chain back up in full force. The rest of world happened in March, shelter-in-place etc, last 3 weeks of quarter we saw sharp decline in demand. Early April started like the end of March, but in second half of April we've seen an uptick across the board. Not just related to a certain region or product.

2:34 pm: Tim: Part of it is due to our new products, part of it is due to stimulus programs taking effect in April, part of it is customers purchasing more devices to work from home...

2:35 pm: Cross: Luca, you talked about puts/takes in quarter, didn't really mention operating expenses. Can you talk about op. ex.?

2:36 pm: Luca: We manage the company for the long term. We know the core of the business is innovation/product and services development. We'll continue to invest in our pipeline. We're very excited about what we have in store. We're aware of the environment and we will manage tightly. We are making new investments in new services we launched recently. We purchased baseband business from Intel and we want to develop that.

2:37 pm: Wamsi Mohan, Bank of America: We are all appreciative of Apple's contribution during this pandemic. In past downturns, we've not really seen Apple pull back from investing, you've largely maintained new product introductions... but Apple can't do much in person right now, so how should we think about the cadence of new products in upcoming quarters?

2:38 pm: Tim: We're continuing to operate. We were able to launch and ship the new ‌iPhone‌ SE, the Magic Keyboard for ‌iPad Pro‌, and the new ‌MacBook Air‌. Business continues. New products are our lifeblood. We're continuing to work... everyone is getting used to work from home. In some areas of the company, people may be even more productive. In some areas, not as productive. It's mixed depending on what the roles are. As you can tell from what we did this quarter despite the environment, we have our head down and are working.

2:39 pm: Mohan: I know you're doing a lot with ‌Apple Card‌, financial programs...would you consider using the strength of your balance sheet to defer payments, or offering bundles?

2:39 pm: Tim: As you know, we launched the payment plan earlier on ‌Apple Card‌ for ‌iPhone‌. We're working on that for other products and you'll see something on that shortly.

2:40 pm: Tim: The trade-in programs are also fairly wide across the board... act as something great for the environment and to get entry price down. In terms of deferred payments, nothing to announce today. But access to ‌Apple Card‌ gives us more access to freedom/flexibility in US.

2:40 pm: Katy Huberty, Morgan Stanley: Tim, where do you see structural changes on back of this health crisis? New revenue streams at Apple? Past comments on health, AR, more areas of inspiration and creativity?

2:41 pm: Tim: I think there are things just from a great reminder of how important our products are for remote work. Pretty clear to me that where things will get a lot closer to normal than they are today... people are finding they can learn remotely. That trend will accelerate some. Also true about working remotely in some areas/jobs. I think we have significant solutions/products for all of those groups.

2:42 pm: Tim: On the health area, I gave some examples in my opening comments about ECG being used on Apple Watch. You can bet we're looking at other areas. We were already doing that. We viewed that area as a huge opportunity for the company and a way to help a lot of people. You will see us continue on that. I wouldn't say that the health door opened wider, it was already opened fairly wide.

2:42 pm: Huberty: $50B share repurchase authorization, any context on the thought process landing on that number? Does current landscape change Apple's view on merger & acquisition opportunities?

2:44 pm: Luca: If you look at our actual results, you see how much we actually do in terms of share repurchases. $50B is in addition to over $40B still remaining in share repurchase program. Total over $90B. Run rate for past several years is very adequate. We will provide an additional update a year from now. Nothing really has changed there. Nothing has changed on our approach for M&A. Very active over past several years. We purchase companies on a fairly regular basis to fill gaps in our portfolio, for hardware, software, and services...

2:44 pm: Amit Daryanani, Evercore: How did channel inventory look in March quarter?

2:45 pm: Tim: If you look at ‌iPhone‌ channel inventory during Q2, reduction of it was more than reduction in previous year. Not unusual that we reduce in Q2. If you look back, generally speaking, in first half of calendar year, we reduce channel inventories. In second half of calendar year, we raise channel inventories, I believe that will happen again this year.

2:46 pm: Daryanani: How do you view Apple's manufacturing strategy? Do you feel comfortable that supply chain is well situated to launch traditional fall products?

2:47 pm: Tim: Our products are truly made everywhere. I would focus on that vs. one element of manufacturing process which tends to get more visibility, which is the final assembly. We have some final assembly in the United States, in China as well. I'd have to conclude that if you look at the shock to the supply chain this quarter, for it to come back up so quickly, really demonstrates that it's durable and resilient. I feel good about where we are. That said, we're always looking at tweaks, it's just not something we talk about. We view it as confidential and competitive information. We will look to see what we learned from this and what we could change after we get totally out of this.

2:50 pm: Question about services... Luca says AppleCare revenue will be impacted by Apple Stores being closed. Advertising is also a headwind, such as App Store Search Ads.

2:50 pm: Question: Have you seen any downticks in products? Lower storage, lower end products? Due to rising unemployment?

2:51 pm: Tim: I haven't seen what you're asking. I have seen a strong customer response to ‌iPhone‌ SE, which is our most affordable ‌iPhone‌. Those customers appear to be coming from wanting a smaller form factor with the latest technology, or coming from Android. ...As opposed to "buying down."

2:52 pm: Tim: Response to our top-of-the-line new ‌iPad Pro‌ has also been strong, so not seeing what you're alluding to, at least not at this point.

2:54 pm: Question about store traffic... Tim says store traffic is back to where it was in February in China, but isn't back to pre-pandemic level.

2:55 pm: Tim: I think that people like to be out and about... they just know that now is not the time to do that.

2:56 pm: Tim says the new ‌iPhone‌ SE is faster than the fastest Android smartphones.

2:57 pm: Question about ‌iPhone‌ pricing... Tim says Apple has always been about delivering the best product at a good price. We had an SE for a while... great to bring it back, it was a beloved product. We want to give people the best deal that we can while making the best product.

2:58 pm: Question about commodity pricing... Tim says NAND pricing increased slightly in March quarter, while DRAM and displays and other commodities declined. For the June quarter, we would expect NAND and DRAM pricing to remain at historically low prices.

2:58 pm: The conference call has ended.

Intel today officially announced its lineup of 10th-generation "Comet Lake" desktop processors, which includes a number of chips that would be appropriate for the iMac. AnandTech details all 32 of the new processors in organized tables, but only a handful of the chips would make their way into the ‌iMac‌.

At the top of the list is the flagship Core i9-10900K that Intel calls the world's fastest gaming processor. The i9-10900K features 10 cores and a base frequency of 3.7 GHz, while Intel's Thermal Velocity Boost can push single-core speeds to 5.3 GHz. It's also the successor to the i9-9900K chip currently used in the highest-end ‌iMac‌ configurations, so it's likely the new chip will make its way into Apple's lineup.

The current ‌iMac‌ family, with the exception of the outdated low-end model, uses a combination of 8th- and 9th-generation "Coffee Lake" chips, all of which have natural replacements in the new Comet Lake generation.

Natural replacements for the 21.5-inch ‌iMac‌ lineup include the new Core i3-10100, Core i5-10500, and Core i7-10700, while the 27-inch iMacs would see the Core i5-10500, Core i5-10600, and Core i5-10600K, in addition to the high-end i9 option.

While these are reasonable guesses at what we might see in the next-generation ‌iMac‌, there's no guarantee that Apple will go with direct successor chips at each spot in the lineup. That's particularly true since rumors are pointing to a "substantial" refresh of the lineup with a potential redesign, including a rumored 23-inch model.

Timing for the ‌iMac‌ update remains uncertain, as the 23-inch model rumor claimed the new machine will be coming in the second half of the year, while reliable leaker "CoinX" cryptically said in March that both ‌iMac‌ and Mac mini updates would be coming "soon." The ‌Mac mini‌ update did come two weeks later, but we've yet to see anything official about new iMacs.

Intel says the new 10th-generation Comet Lake desktop chips will be available at retail and in desktop machines starting in May.

Apple has never sold a new iPhone with an OLED display for under $999, but with the iPhone 12 lineup expected to include a wider range of models, that could soon change.

iPhone 12 pricing could start at $649 this year, according to Jon Prosser of the YouTube channel Front Page Tech. Prosser says this information comes from his same source who accurately revealed the new iPhone SE's launch date.

The prices would be as follows:

• 5.4-inch iPhone 12: $649
• 6.1-inch iPhone 12: $749
• 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro: $999
• 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max: $1,099

All four models are expected to feature OLED displays and 5G support, as analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously claimed. The less expensive 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch models are said to have dual-lens rear cameras, while the more expensive 6.1-inch model and 6.7-inch models are expected to have triple-lens rear cameras with a LiDAR Scanner.

Even if these prices are merely educated guesses, it is reasonable to assume that Apple will finally offer an OLED-based iPhone for less than $999 this year. Given its smaller size and lower pricing, the 5.4-inch iPhone could easily become one of Apple's best selling iPhone models ever, especially during these uncertain times.

Apple is expected to unveil its iPhone 12 lineup in September, although at least one model might not become available to order until October or November.

Apple will report its financial results for the second quarter of its 2020 fiscal year at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time today, providing a first look at how the company's sales have been affected by the global health crisis.

On February 17, Apple announced that it no longer expected to meet its March quarter revenue guidance due to COVID-19's impact on the iPhone supply chain and demand for its products in China. The virus has since become a global pandemic, with all Apple Stores outside of China and Korea remaining closed.

Apple's letter to shareholders at the time:

Our quarterly guidance issued on January 28, 2020 reflected the best information available at the time as well as our best estimates about the pace of return to work following the end of the extended Chinese New Year holiday on February 10. Work is starting to resume around the country, but we are experiencing a slower return to normal conditions than we had anticipated. As a result, we do not expect to meet the revenue guidance we provided for the March quarter…

Apple had forecasted revenue between $63 billion and $67 billion for the quarter, which ran December 29 through March 28. On average, analysts now expect that figure to be approximately $54.5 billion, down six percent from $58 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The second quarter encompassed the launch of new iPad Pro and MacBook Air models, which became available to order on March 18.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri will review the financial results on a conference call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, with a live stream on Apple's website. MacRumors will be providing detailed coverage of the remarks.

Global smartphone production could see a record fall of up to 16.5 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to the latest research by TrendForce.

Global production for 2Q20 is now estimated to register another YoY drop of 16.5% to 287 million units, the largest decline on record for a given quarter. TrendForce forecasts total yearly production volume of 1.24 billion units, an 11.3% decrease YoY.

Worldwide smartphone production for the first quarter reportedly fell by 10 percent year on year to around 280 million units, the lowest in five years, due to disruptions across the supply chain caused by the global health crisis.

Prior to the crisis, TrendForce had expected Apple to once again reach yearly production of 200 million units, owing to the release of the new iPhone SE, four new models in the fall, and the phasing out of the popular ‌iPhone‌ 6s series by the seasonal smartphone replacement cycle.

However, ‌iPhone‌ production fell by 8.7 percent year on year in the first quarter, reaching 37.9 million units, due to labor and material shortages following the post-Lunar New Year work resumption, which saw Apple ranked in third place in the global market.

Apple's recent launch of the low-priced ‌iPhone‌ SE is expected to see it stay relatively close to 1Q 2020 figures, reaching 36 million units. The higher price of Apple's next-generation flagship iPhones is said to be an ongoing concern, however, given that Apple's main smartphone sales are in Europe and the U.S., both of which are still grappling with the health crisis.

Apple is expected to offer four flagship iPhones in three different sizes later this year: A 5.4-inch ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌, a 6.7-inch ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌, and two 6.1-inch iPhones. One 6.1-inch model and the 6.7-inch model will be higher-end iPhones, while the other 6.1-inch ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ and the 5.4-inch ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ will be lower-end models and successors to the ‌‌iPhone‌ 11‌. Apple is expected to launch the new models in the fall.

Google launched its second-generation Pixel Buds this week to generally favorable reviews, thanks in part to a couple of new features that AirPods owners have appreciated for some time.

The new Pixel Buds use a pairing process on Android 6.0+ phones called Fast Pair: Hold the case near your phone, flip the lid, and a screen pops up on the screen to indicate automatic pairing, which links them to the user's Google account.

Apart from the obvious UI differences, that's pretty much identical to the way you connect a pair of AirPods to iPhone. But the similarities don't stop there. Google is also making it easier to find misplaced Pixel Buds. From Google's blog:

It can be frustrating when you put your Bluetooth headphones down and immediately forget where you placed them. If they’re connected to your phone, you can locate your headphones by ringing them… And, when you misplace your headphones, in the coming months, you can check their last known location in the Find My Device app if you have Location History turned on.

Sound familiar? Apple's Find My app includes a Find my AirPods feature that plays a tone to help users recover nearby ‌AirPods connected to iPhone or iPad. It also shows the last known location of AirPods if they're no longer connected.

Credit where it's due, Google appears to have implemented the features well, including notifying users when the earbuds and case battery are running low upon connection. The company says it plans to include its Fast Pair technology in other audio accessories, just like Apple added its instant-pairing W1 and H1 chips to its wireless Beats line.

The new Pixel Buds are compatible with iOS, but don't expect the new seamless pairing features to work with ‌iPhone‌ (the same goes for AirPods on Android). Unlike AirPods Pro, Pixel Buds don't include active noise canceling either, instead offering something called Adaptive Sound that automatically adjusts the volume based on the wearer's surroundings.

Features like Adaptive Sound and other settings are accessible in the Pixel Buds app on devices running Android 6.0 and later. The Pixel Buds software is also built into the settings menu as a system-level app on Pixel phones. Google's new Pixel Buds are priced at $179 in the U.S. and can be ordered on the Google Play Store.

Since iPadOS 13 was released last year, Apple has included native suppport for opening two or more windows in the same application to view them side by side.

Since then, more and more third-party apps have been building in multi-window support, and now Microsoft is beta testing its own versions for Word and PowerPoint on iPad.

The ability to display two documents next to each other is particularly useful for comparing two versions of the same document or keeping an eye on your reference notes while working. Similarly, PowerPoint support would let users cross-reference presentation slides on the same screen.

In a blog post, Microsoft details three ways to access multi-window support in Word and PowerPoint for ‌iPad‌:

• Touch, hold, and drag a file from the Recent, Shared, and Open file list in the app to the ‌iPad‌ screen edge to open it side-by-side.
• In Word or PowerPoint, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and open the dock. Then touch and hold the same app’s icon and drag it off the dock to the left or right edge of the screen. Then tap the document to open it.
• In Word or PowerPoint, access the Recent, Shared, and Open views in the app start screen, tap the "…" menu for a file in the list, then tap Open in New Window.

Microsoft hasn't said when the multi-window support will be available to all users, but it surely can't be long now, given that the same feature was demoed at WWDC 2019 for Microsoft Word.

Anyone interested in trying out the new feature will need to join the Office Insider program and download beta versions of Word and PowerPoint through Testflight.

Apple in the iOS 13.5 beta introduced a new Group FaceTime feature that's designed to disable the option that automatically enlarges the tile of the person who is speaking.

Group ‌FaceTime‌, by default, has a dynamic view with a tile for each person. The person who is speaking at the current time has a larger tile, while tiles for people who are not talking fade into the background, a layout that's not always ideal.

In the ‌FaceTime‌ section of the Settings app, there's now an "Automatic Prominence" section with a "Speaking" toggle. Turning off the "Speaking" toggle makes it so the tile for the person who's talking in ‌FaceTime‌ won't get larger, allowing tiles for all people to remain the same size. Enlarging a person's tile can be done by tapping it, as noted by The Verge.

A grid with static image sizes for all participants is perhaps preferable for meetings and events where multiple people are talking at once or right after one another, and it mimics layout options available in Zoom and other video chatting apps.

The iOS 13.5 beta also makes it easier to unlock an iPhone with a passcode when wearing a mask by bringing up the passcode interface more quickly and it lays the foundation for the introduction of the exposure notification API that Apple plans to release for health apps in May.

Many people are wearing masks that cover their faces when going outside, visiting stores, and other tasks, and Apple's Face ID iPhones do not unlock when the face is obscured by a mask.

In the iOS 13.5 beta, released this morning, Apple has streamlined the speed with which the passcode pops up when a person wearing a mask is detected, making it easier to get into an iPhone with a passcode when ‌Face ID‌ fails.

Speedier access to the passcode interface is noticeable when you swipe upwards on the Home screen when unlocking the ‌iPhone‌, as this action now immediately brings up the passcode interface if your face is covered by a mask.

Previously, the ‌iPhone‌ would attempt to initiate ‌Face ID‌ first, creating a few seconds of delay before the passcode interface was shown. The new, speedier passcode entry method makes it quicker to get into an ‌iPhone‌.

The feature is available in the current iOS 13.5 beta, which should see a public release in the next few weeks.

Apple in iOS 13.5 is introducing an exposure notification API designed to allow apps created by public health authorities worldwide to notify people who come into contact with someone who has COVID-19 about their exposure to the virus.

Apple's Exposure Notification feature is privacy focused and shares no personally identifiable information or location data with the public health authorities creating the apps, but some users may want to opt out of the feature, which is enabled by default when upgrading to iOS 13.5.

Apple in the iOS 13.5 update added a toggle to disable COVID-19 Exposure Notifications for those who do not want to participate and do not want to be notified should they come into contact with someone who has COVID-19. Here's how to get to it:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap on Privacy.
3. Tap on Health.
4. Tap on COVID-19 Exposure Notifications.
5. Tap the toggle to turn the feature off.

The purpose of the exposure notification system is to limit the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible by informing people who have been exposed so they can self-isolate and get recommendations from their local health authorities. Because it works by allowing two smartphones to interface with one another using random identifier beacons and Bluetooth, it works best when most people have it turned on.

Re-enabling Exposure Notifications can be done by following the steps above and tapping the toggle to turn the feature back on. If the toggle is green, it's on, and if the toggle is gray, it's off.

iOS 13.5 is available in a beta capacity at the current time, and there won't be apps that take advantage of Exposure Notifications until the update is released. Receiving Exposure Notifications also requires downloading an app from a public health organization that uses the API and agreeing to its terms and conditions. Simply having the toggle turned on won't do anything without the app.

Apple is today releasing the third beta of iOS 13.5 for developers along with the first beta of Xcode 11.5, laying the groundwork for the release of its opt-in exposure notification APIs that will be used by public health apps to create coronavirus contact tracing tools.

iOS 13.4.5 has been bumped up to iOS 13.5 to include the code that’s necessary to run the first apps built using the exposure notification API, while Xcode 11.5 includes a new version of the iOS SDK with the exposure notification API.

Apple is working with Google on its exposure notification initiative, and Google has also delivered its beta Google Play Services update with the exposure notification API and SDK to select developers who can test using Android Developer Studio.

Public health authorities are able to use these new tools to begin getting their apps that take advantage of exposure notification ready. Apple is planning to release its exposure notification API in mid-May following the testing period.

Apple and Google first announced plans to develop Bluetooth-based contact tracing technology (now known as exposure notification) on April 10, providing a privacy-focused way to track coronavirus exposure.

The beta API released today is the first part of a two-prong effort to provide an exposure notification platform for health agencies. Apps created by verified health authorities can incorporate the API to allow smartphones to communicate with one another, providing users with notifications if they’ve come into contact with someone that is later diagnosed with COVID–19.

When smartphone users with a contact tracing app installed come into contact with another person that also has an app installed, their phones exchange an anonymous identifier beacon. If one of those people contracts coronavirus, they can then choose to notify all of the other people they’ve been in contact with, and at that point, all the other smartphones that have exchanged info with the infected person’s smartphone will be notified.

The API works cross platform on both iOS and Android devices, and it was built with privacy and transparency in mind. A random, rotating identifier, which changes every 15 minutes, is assigned to a person’s phone and transmitted via Bluetooth to nearby devices.

No personally identifiable information is associated with the identifier, and the list of identifiers a person has been in contact with doesn’t leave the phone unless the user decides to share it. Users that test positive will not be identified to other users, Apple, or Google, and location data is not collected.

Exposure time is recorded in five minute intervals, with the maximum exposure time capped at 30 minutes. All Bluetooth metadata is encrypted, and exposure estimates will rely on the power level of the Bluetooth signal to determine the distance between two phones when contact was made.

Public health authorities will be able to define and calculate an exposure risk level that they can choose to assign to users in the event they are notified of COVID–19 exposure, allowing for fine-tuned notifications that will evaluate exposure based on information like approximate distance and exposure duration. Exposure risk is calculated on users’ devices in the app and the data is not shared with Apple or Google.

Apple and Google on Friday plan to release additional information including sample code that will aid developers in understanding how the exposure notification system will operate, and specific criteria for developing apps.

Detailed privacy information about Apple’s exposure notification initiative is available on Apple’s Contact Tracing website, with info on Bluetooth and Cryptography specifications along with a Frequently Asked Questions feature.

In the future, Apple and Google plan to debut a broader Bluetooth-based contact tracing platform that is built into iOS and Android, allowing more individuals to participate.

Update: Due to the Labor Day holiday in Europe on Friday, Apple plans to release additional details associated with the betas of the exposure notification API early next week.

Apple today seeded the third betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.5 updates to developers, two weeks after seeding the second betas and a month after releasing iOS and iPadOS 13.4 with iCloud Folder Sharing, iPad trackpad support, and more.

iOS and ‌‌iPadOS‌‌ 13.5 can be downloaded from the Apple Developer center or over the air after the proper developer profile has been installed.

iOS 13.5 is not a typo – Apple has introduced an API change to include initial support for its exposure notification platform in both the new iOS beta and Xcode 11.5, necessitating the version update to iOS 13.5 because it’s using a different SDK than iOS 13.4.

Today’s update introduces the exposure notification API in a beta capacity to allow public health authorities to begin developing COVID–19 contact tracing apps that take advantage of it. Most of the features are for health-related apps that will incorporate the new API, but there is a toggle that is designed to allow users to opt out of participating in COVID-19 exposure notifications.

The update features the same content that was in iOS 13.4.5 beta 2 along with the addition of support for apps that use the exposure notification API, which is set to be released officially in mid-May.

Earlier betas have introduced a new Apple Music feature that allows ‌Apple Music‌ songs to be shared on Instagram Stories. Tapping the Share button on a song in ‌Apple Music‌ creates a story with a song title, album name, and animated background, but at this time there is no way to get to ‌Apple Music‌ from the shared information.

iOS 13.5 also patches two security vulnerabilities that affect the Mail app on the iPhone and the ‌iPad‌. One vulnerability allowed an attacker to remotely infect an iOS device by sending emails that consume a significant amount of memory, while another allowed remote code executions.

The update may also address an issue with Personal Hotspot that prevents it from working for some people and it could also fix a VPN-related vulnerability, both of which are bugs that Apple has promised to address in upcoming iOS updates.

Update: Apple has also seeded the new iOS 13.5 beta to public beta testers.