MacRumors

Apple today seeded new public betas of upcoming iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates to its public beta testing group. Today's software releases, which Apple labels as fifth betas to keep them in line with developer betas, are actually the fourth betas that Apple has provided to public testers and they come two weeks after the prior beta releases.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS/‌iPadOS‌ 14 updates over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website on an iOS device, with instructions available in our how to.

• How to Install iOS 14 (Public and Developer Betas)

iOS 14 brings changes to the Home Screen, including widget support. Widgets can now be placed right next to your apps, and with the focus on widgets, Apple has introduced new widgets from default apps and is allowing them to be customized in three sizes.

You can put widgets anywhere on any app page, with new widgets able to be found in the widget gallery. Along with widgets, Apple has introduced an App Library, which is an interface that shows all of the apps on your iPhone both in smart folders that are created automatically and in an alphabetical list.

With the App Library providing access to all your apps, there's now an option to hide entire app pages from your ‌iPhone‌, so you can avoid a cluttered Home Screen.

Apple has worked to make the ‌iPhone‌'s interface more compact, and incoming phone calls and Siri requests no longer take over the whole screen and are instead presented in a banner style, a feature also available on iPadOS.

There's a Picture in Picture mode for watching videos or using FaceTime while doing something else at the same time on the ‌iPhone‌. The Messages app has new features focused on group conversations like pinned conversations, mentions, and inline replies.

A new App Clips feature lets you use small bite sized bits of an app without the need to download the whole app, useful for times when you need an app to buy a coffee, rent a scooter, or make a restaurant reservation. App Clips will work through Apple-designed App Clip codes, NFC tags, or QR codes, and can also be shared in Messages or from Safari.

The Health app supports the Sleep Tracking feature added in watchOS 7, and the ‌iPhone‌ will support the Sleep Mode and Wind Down features designed to help you get a better night's sleep. There's also a new Health Checklist that makes it easier to manage health and safety features like Emergency SOS, Fall Detection, and Medical ID.

The Weather app now provides info on severe weather events and minute-by-minute precipitation readings (U.S. only), and the Maps app supports cycling directions for the first time so bike riders can plan routes with info like busy streets, elevation changes, stairs, and more. Maps also now lets electric vehicle owners plan routes with EV charging spots.

The Home app is smarter with automation suggestions and an Adaptive Lighting feature that lets HomeKit lights adjust their color temperature throughout the day, plus there are new features for ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Cameras.

A new Apple-designed Translate app provides text and voice translations to and from 11 languages, and with an on-device mode, translations can be done entirely on your phone.

Tons of new privacy features have been added in iOS and iPadOS 14. Apps need permission before accessing devices on a local network, you get notified when an app accesses the clipboard, and there are little icons in the status bar of the ‌Home Screen‌ when an app is using the camera or the microphone.

There are also new options for limiting access to select photos and providing apps with an approximate location rather than an exact location for better privacy protection. Safari has Privacy Report that tells you which trackers sites are using, and in the future, the App Store will include a summary of developers' privacy practices in an easy-to-read format.

AirPods can now seamlessly and automatically switch between devices, and AirPods Pro gain a new spatial audio feature for surround sound complete with dynamic head tracking.

As for iPadOS 14, it includes most of the new iOS 14 updates, minus the ‌Home Screen‌ redesign. The biggest change is the new Scribble feature that lets you use the Apple Pencil to write on any text field, with the written text converted to typed text.

Scribble works throughout the operating system so you can use the ‌Apple Pencil‌ for Safari searches, adding new items in Calendar and Reminders, sending Messages, handwriting in the Notes app, and more.

Beta 5 for developers introduced a larger Apple News widget option, a scrolling clock wheel for apps like Alarm Clock, an option to turn on Exposure Notifications, and a feature to better hide photo albums, and these new additions are also available in today's public beta.

For more on everything that's new in iOS and iPadOS 14, make sure to check out our iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 roundups, which have a detailed look on all of the new features.

Introduced in March, and offered every month since, the COVID-19 Customer Assistance Program has allowed Apple Card holders to skip their monthly payment without incurring interest charges amid these challenging times.

In an email to a MacRumors reader today, Apple Card financial partner Goldman Sachs indicated that it is currently planning to offer customers the ability to enroll in this program up to six times in 2020, which it said is "consistent with current regulatory guidelines" in the United States. For customers that have been enrolled since March, this means that August would be their sixth and final month of eligibility this year.

Customers can change their enrollment status for August at any time prior to August 31, should they wish to save their sixth enrollment for a later month. In this case, their next payment would be due at the end of the month, including interest if applicable. Goldman Sachs can be reached through the Wallet app or by phone at 1-877-255-5923.

"We know this is a difficult time for many and our thoughts are with you," said Goldman Sachs, adding that it is developing additional payment plans for customers who need them and that it hopes to share more details soon.

To enroll in the program, open the Wallet app on an iPhone or iPad, tap on the ‌Apple Card‌, tap on the black circle with three dots, tap on the message bubble, and send a message along the lines of "I want to enroll in the Customer Assistance Program." Confirmation of your enrollment will be sent to the email address associated with your Apple ID.

Customers need to re-enroll in the program each month.

Warren Buffett's $113 billion stake in Apple is approaching a quarter of his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway's entire market value, according to Business Insider. Adding in Berkshire Hathaway's $147 billion in cash assets, Apple and cash represent over half of the firm's market value.

Berkshire Hathaway held approximately $260 billion in cash and Apple stock at the last count, representing 52% of its $499 billion market capitalization, with Apple alone representing about 22.5% of Berkshire Hathaway's market value. Berkshire Hathaway's stock price is down about 9% this year even as Apple's share price has risen over 50%, exacerbating the impact of heavily weighted cash and Apple holdings.

Subtracting Apple shares and cash, the remainder of Berkshire Hathaway is valued by the market at just $240 billion, which is surprising given the scale of Berkshire Hathaway's operations. The company owns many businesses, including Geico, See's Candies, Dairy Queen, Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, NetJets, Precision Castparts, PacifiCorp, MidAmerican Energy, the BNSF Railway, and Marmon, which itself owns more than 100 manufacturing and services businesses.

Warren Buffett held 245 million Apple shares as of the end of June, representing a 5.7% stake in Apple as a whole. The stock price of Apple has soared by over 57% to an all-time high this year, boosting the value of Berkshire's Apple holdings by more than $40 billion to around $113 billion as of yesterday. Apple is by far the largest investment held in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, worth more than four times as much as its second-largest holding, a $25 billion stake in Bank of America.

These calculations were completed before Apple passed a market value of two trillion dollars earlier today. Berkshire Hathaway's holdings have been particularly exposed to the global health crisis in recent months via its multiple insurance, manufacturing, retail, and service businesses, but this has been largely offset by the soaring value of Apple shares. The value of the firm's Apple stake relative to the rest of its portfolio highlights the extent to which investors are increasingly favoring tech companies and neglecting more traditional businesses such as banks and insurers.

Texas-based startup OnwardMobility today announced that it plans to release a new Android-based BlackBerry smartphone with a physical QWERTY keyboard and 5G support in the first half of 2021 in North America and Europe.

The device will really only be a BlackBerry in spirit, as part of a brand licensing agreement with the Canadian company. Once a dominant player in the smartphone industry, BlackBerry exited the business in 2016 following years of declining sales, falling victim to the rise in popularity of the iPhone and Android smartphones.

While details are slim, OnwardMobility claims that its BlackBerry will sport a "world-class design" with a focus on security and productivity for "enterprise professionals."

Chinese company TCL reached a similar agreement with BlackBerry to manufacture BlackBerry-branded devices in 2016. That partnership is set to expire at the end of August, paving the way for OnwardMobility to step in.

BlackBerry briefly experimented with an Android-based smartphone of its own in 2015, the Priv, which combined a 5.4-inch display with a physical QWERTY keyboard.

Apple plans to roll out an iPhone 12 made exclusively in India by middle of next year, according to Business Standard.

Apple supplier Wistron has apparently begun trial production of the ‌iPhone‌ 12 already at a new facility near Bengaluru. Wistron has reportedly set about hiring as many as 10,000 new staff for manufacturing facilities in India.

The ‌iPhone‌ 12 would be the seventh ‌iPhone‌ model to be manufactured in India, but the first high-end device to do so. Until recently, ‌iPhone‌ production in India was limited to lower-cost and older models, and production of the ‌iPhone‌ SE in India is expected to begin by the end of 2020. Business Standard's sources said that the new facility in Narasapura would be for the manufacture of the ‌iPhone‌ 12, and its existing plant in Bengaluru would be used to produce the ‌iPhone‌ SE.

Apple is aggressively stepping up its India-based manufacturing efforts as it seeks to move away from supply chain concentration in China. Apple suppliers Pegatron and Samsung are expected to set up production facilities in India, and Foxconn has announced that it plans to invest as much as $1 billion in India, having already established its first manufacturing plant in the country.

Initiatives such as the "production linked incentive" (PLI) scheme have made India-based production attractive to big tech companies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent "Made in India" initiative also requires 30 percent of products sold by foreign companies to be manufactured or produced within the country.

Increased production in India is believed to allow Apple to price iPhones more competitively in the country. India is also the world's second-largest smartphone market, but just one in four Indians are said to own a smartphone, providing Apple with the opportunity to sell iPhones to millions of new customers, while also diversifying its supply chains and moving away from its heavy reliance on China.

Apple's stock price is continuing to surge, and has risen over one percent today to push the company past $2 trillion in market capitalization by surpassing the $467.77 mark and briefly topping $468. Apple is the first U.S. company to achieve that milestone.

Just over two months ago, Apple became the first U.S. company to reach a market capitalization of $1.5 trillion, and Amazon and Microsoft have since also passed that mark. Apple was also the first to hit the $1 trillion mark just over two years ago.

Apple's share price has more than doubled since its low point just five months ago, and the company will be completing a four-for-one stock split at the end of this month. That will bring Apple's share price down to the $100 range, but with four times as many shares in circulation, it will not affect the company's overall market value.

Apple today shared the official trailer for "On the Rocks," an upcoming comedy film starring Rashida Jones, Bill Murray, and Marlon Wayans.

The film revolves around Laura, a young mother in New York faced with sudden doubts about her marriage. Laura teams up with her impulsive father Felix, who insists they investigate the situation, leading to an adventure across the city and a generational clash about how people see relationships differently from their parents.

"Acclaimed filmmaker Sofia Coppola brings a light touch to this blend of an exuberant love letter to New York, a generation-clash comedy about how we see relationships differently from our parents, and a funny celebration of the complications that bind modern families even as they tie us in crazy knots," says Apple.

"On the Rocks" hails from independent studio A24 and will debut on Apple TV+ in October.

Apple will launch the iPad Air 4 in March 2021 with an A14 processor, according to Chinese site MyDrivers.

According to "foreign sources," the report corroborates previous rumors that Apple will bring the ‌iPad Air‌ 4 much closer to the current iPad Pro in terms of design and features. The ‌iPad Air‌ 4 will reportedly have a smart connector on its rear to support the new Magic Keyboard. It is also apparently set to transition from the Lightning Connector to USB-C, and feature four stereo speakers.

The report alleges that the ‌iPad Air‌ 4 will be equipped with an 11-inch Liquid Retina display, and offer storage configurations of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. It is possible that this speculated 11-inch screen size is in fact 10.8-inches, as reported by supply chain analyst Ming Chi Kuo. In either case, the ‌iPad Air‌ 4 looks to have a larger screen size and significantly reduced bezels.

Currently, each of these features are reserved for the ‌iPad Pro‌ only. The ‌iPad Air‌ fills the mid-market gap between the high-end ‌iPad Pro‌ and the entry-level iPad, but the new device will supposedly begin at a higher starting price of $649, $150 more than the current ‌iPad Air‌ 3.

The report also claims that an updated ‌iPad Pro‌ could arrive as soon as next month, presumably alongside new iPhones at Apple's usual fall event. Rumors have however been mixed on when an updated ‌iPad Pro‌ sporting Mini-LED technology may arrive, with the earliest projections claiming this fall, and the latest claiming the first half of 2021.

Apple Pay has gained several new partners in Europe this month, including American Express in the Netherlands, ING in Italy, Santander in Portugal, and UBS in Switzerland, according to a recently updated list on Apple's website. Canadian carrier Rogers has also introduced Apple Pay support for its line of Mastercards.

Apple Pay launched in 2014 in the United States and is now available in over 40 countries around the world. To add a card to Apple Pay, open the Wallet app on an iPhone and tap the plus sign in the top-right corner. Your card issuer will verify your information.

Apple will use lawyers from Gibson Dunn, the same firm that spearheaded the second Apple v. Samsung action, in its bid to fend off a private antitrust suit leveled by Epic Games, according to software patent and litigation expert Florian Mueller at FOSS Patents.

Last week, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store after ‌Epic Games‌ introduced a direct payment option in the app, defying ‌App Store‌ rules. In what appears to have been an orchestrated move, ‌Epic Games‌ promptly filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of anti-competitive actions. Gibson Dunn has been selected to stand as counsel for Apple before the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in the case.

The firm has represented Apple in high-profile litigation cases in the past, such as the second Apple v. Samsung case. Apple filed a lawsuit in February 2012 claiming that Samsung had violated five Apple patents. Samsung responded with a counterclaim, stating that two patents had been infringed on by Apple. Apple was awarded $539 million in damages as a result.

Interestingly, Gibson Dunn has also counseled against Apple in the Apple v. Qualcomm antitrust and contract litigation in the Southern District of California. The case saw Gibson Dunn attorneys counsel Apple's contract manufacturer when Apple refused to pay royalties on Qualcomm's intellectual property.

"The court is almost certainly going to ask why Epic can't just live and comply with the same app developer agreement it had been honoring for years, gladly making a billion-dollar amount, while this litigation is ongoing," Mueller speculated.

The first ‌Epic Games‌ v. Apple encounter in court is scheduled to take place on Monday in the form of a Zoom videoconference. ‌Epic Games‌ now faces the threat of its Apple Developer Program account being terminated on August 28 unless it resolves violations of Apple's Developer Program License Agreement.

Instagram is launching in-app QR codes worldwide via an update, according to The Verge.

Users will now be able to generate QR codes that are scannable from any third-party QR camera app. The feature will allow businesses to print and display a QR code that will direct customers to their Instagram account more easily, for example. QR codes in Instagram first launched last year in Japan, but the feature is now rolling out to all territories.

To use the new QR codes in Instagram, make sure you have the latest version of the app. Then, to generate your profile's QR code, go to the settings menu and simply tap "QR code." You can then save or share the image.

QR codes are replacing a similar system called Nametags, which were a kind of QR-like code that could only be scanned in the Instagram app. It is yet to be seen if Instagram's adoption of the open QR code standard will encourage other social media giants such as Facebook and Snapchat to follow suit.

Apple Oakridge Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, is set to close for up to four years as the mall undergoes major redevelopment, according to Retail Insider and 9to5Mac.

The current Apple Store will be replaced entirely and moved to an all-new redesigned space. The new retail location will be a flagship store with more than 10,000 square feet of space.

The Oakridge Centre is in the early stages of a major redevelopment effort that will require most tenants to vacate over the coming months. The area is being entirely redesigned and is adding apartments for more than 6,000 residents, a large outdoor community space, nearly one million square feet of new retail space, and a food hall.

Although the Oakridge Centre has become an active construction zone, the ‌Apple Store‌ currently remains open for shopping, pickup of online orders, and Genius support. British Columbia has five other Apple Stores for customers to choose from. The closest location to the Oakridge Centre is Apple Pacific Centre, which has also been publicly approved for refurbishment and transition to flagship status.

Apple appears to be significantly expanding its presence in British Columbia. In addition to the two replacement flagship stores, last year it was reported that Apple intends to open a major new office facility in Vancouver.

Multiple startup companies in Korea are calling for an investigation into Apple and Google's in-app purchase practices, reports The Korea Herald.

An alliance of app developers and small companies submitted a petition to the Korea Communications Commission earlier today, asking for an investigation into whether Apple and Google may be violating Korean laws on in-app purchases and anti-competitive behavior.

They explain that Apple has been forcing developers to use their specific in-app purchase system since 2011, through which Apple takes a 30 percent commission. Google demands game apps in Korea use its own in-app purchase module and adds an additional game-only commission.

"While the 30 percent commission rate is too high in itself, it is more problematic that they force a specific payment system for the app markets," said Choi Sung-jin, President of the Korea Startup Forum.

Sung-jin added that while large developers may be able to negotiate lower rates of commission with platform providers, it is out of reach to smaller developers and startups who cannot afford to do so. Moreover, they fear that setting about a negotiation could eventually lead to a hike in in-app purchase commissions.

Apple and Google made up 87.8 percent of the Korean app market in 2019, and the issue is effectively an antitrust dispute. The Korean offices of Apple and Google did not provide a comment.

Tech companies are coming under fire in antitrust complaints around the world, with investigations underway in the U.S., the EU, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Russia. Companies such as Microsoft, Spotify, Airbnb, and Epic Games have also joined calls for greater control over app store terms and rates of commission.

Apps designed for the Mac don't often receive as much coverage as apps designed for iPhones and iPads, which is why we have a series here at MacRumors that highlights interesting Mac apps worth checking out. This month's picks feature productivity and organization tools along with a couple of fun but useful apps.

• Panelicious (Free) - Panelicious lets you organize your files and apps into separate panels, so you can streamline different workflows and make groups of apps and files easier to access. So, for example, if you have a workflow for answering emails that includes an email app, a notes app, and a calendar, you can group those together and then pull up that panel to get right to what you need. Panels can be customized and hidden when they're not needed.
• Tuck ($6.99) - Tuck is an app that lets you dock app windows to the edge of your screen, popping them out when you move your cursor over into the area. Available as a menu bar app, Tuck lets you move windows to the Left, Right, Bottom, and Top of the Mac's screen, keeping apps organized but accessible. Tuck is $6.99, but there's an unlimited free trial available.
• MacDroid ($19.99 per year) - MacDroid is a useful app for those who have a Mac and an Android device. It allows photos, videos, music, folders, and more to be transferred between an Android phone or tablet and a Mac over a USB connection. There's a 7-day free trial, and after that, it costs $19.99 to use for a year.
• Poolside FM (Free) - Poolside FM is a fun little summer app that pairs summer playlists with a classic Mac design. It's a no-frills app from the popular Poolside.fm radio station, which is also available on the web.
• TextSniper ($5) - TextSniper is a simple app that lets you take a screenshot of unselectable text, converting it into typed text that you can use. You can take a screenshot of an image or a PDF that has text, and the app will recognize the text and copy it to the clipboard. The app lives in the menu bar so it's out of the way but on hand when needed.

Know of a must-have Mac app or game that we haven't highlighted yet? Let us know in the comments below and we might feature it in a future video. For more of our Mac app picks, check out our essential Mac apps archive.

Apple this week announced that it has expanded its Independent Repair Provider Program to include Mac repairs. Apple has since outlined further details about the initiative in an internal document obtained by MacRumors.

The internal document states the following:

• Qualifying repair shops can gain access to Apple genuine parts, tools, and training starting August 17
• The program covers all Mac models
• The program is limited to out-of-warranty Mac repairs
• Examples of components eligible for repair include the display, logic board, and top case, the latter of which includes the keyboard, trackpad, speakers, and battery
• Participating repair shops must have Apple-certified technicians perform the repairs
• Participating repair shops are not permitted to offer whole-unit replacements for Macs
• Participating repair shops cannot ship Macs to an Apple repair center

Apple first launched the program for out-of-warranty iPhone repairs in the United States last year and expanded it to Canada and Europe last month. Apple's website has more details, but it has yet to be updated to reflect the inclusion of Mac repairs.

Update: Apple has also repriced several Mac repair parts for technicians. While some parts are now lower in price, several have increased by up to hundreds of dollars, such as 13-inch MacBook Pro displays.

Apple today released the fifth developer betas of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 for testing purposes, updating and refining some of the new features that are included in the new software.

As the beta testing period goes on, changes get smaller and less notable, but we've highlighted the few new features that can be found in iOS 14 beta 5.

- Apple News Widget - The Apple News widget has a new option for a taller widget window that provides more space to display additional news stories. The size of the widget prevents it from being used on the Home Screen.

- Widget Privacy - For apps that use location, there's now a popup that asks if you want to allow widgets for those apps to also use your location data. Widgets can use location data for up to 15 minutes when activated, and the Location Services Privacy settings for apps now mention widgets.

- Alarm Clock Wheel - When setting an alarm in the Clock app, you can now use a finger to swipe through the clock wheel to set the time rather than having to type it in. It's much smaller than the wheel in iOS 13.6, and there's still an option to type a time.

- Exposure Notifications - The interface for Exposure Notifications has changed in iOS 14 beta 5. Tapping on "Turn on Exposure Notifications" brings up an option to choose a country, region, or state, and it will let you know if an Exposure Notification app is available for your area. This interface is different from the iOS 13.6 interface and the interface available in iOS 14 beta 4.

- Hidden Photo Albums - There's a new Hidden Album setting in photos that when turned on, causes the Hidden album in Photos to be hidden from the Albums list. The Hidden album remains available in the image picker.

- HomeKit Control Center - HomeKit favorites in Control Center now feature smaller tiles and smarter organization that provides access to more shortcuts at a tap.

- Widget Fixes - The Weather widget is fixed and updates at more appropriate intervals, and widgets are now blocked for Screen Time when a parent app is blocked.

- Battery Charge - In the Settings app under Battery, the Last Charge Level section has been tweaked a bit. Rather than displaying the last charge level over to the right of the interface, it's now displayed with the Last Charged wording to make it easier to see at a glance.

- Spatial Audio Video - In the iOS 14 beta 5 code, there's a visualization of how the spatial audio feature for the AirPods Pro works. It's not clear where this video will be shown (perhaps in setup) and though the video is available, spatial audio has not yet been enabled.

Know of any other changes in iOS 14 beta 5 that we didn't list here? Let us know in the comments and we'll add them.