MacRumors

Apple plans to release new iPad Pro models with rear 3D sensing in the first half of 2020, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In a research note with TF International Securities, seen by MacRumors, Kuo said the iPad Pro models will gain 3D sensing through the rear-facing camera system. Apple is expected to use a time-of-flight system, which measures the time that it takes for light to bounce off of objects in a room to generate a 3D map.

The timeframe lines up with a recent report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who also said Apple plans to release iPad Pro models with rear 3D sensing as early as the first half of 2020. Gurman expects the iPad Pro models to feature dual rear cameras, up from a single lens, along with a new augmented reality sensor.

Kuo also reiterated that Apple plans to release a so-called "iPhone SE 2" in the first half of 2020 too. He has previously said the device will be released by the end of the first quarter with similar features as the iPhone 8, including a 4.7-inch display and Touch ID, but with a faster A13 chip and 3GB of RAM.

The low-cost iPhone will likely start around $399 with 64GB of storage, and come in Space Gray, Silver, and Red, according to Kuo.

Kuo has made both the iPad Pro and low-cost iPhone predictions in the past, so this really only serves as an update that the plans are still on track for early next year. Apple often holds a media event in March, and it is certainly possible the new iPad Pro and low-cost iPhone could be announced then.

It is worth noting that Kuo is likely just referring to the device as the "iPhone SE 2" as an easy way to refer to Apple working on a new low-cost iPhone. With its rumored 4.7-inch display, the device would certainly not resemble the original iPhone SE in terms of size, so it could end up having a different name.

Apple Music was today updated with a new feature called Replay, which is designed to allow ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers to take a look at the music that they listened to most in 2019.

Available on the web, in the Mac Music app, and the Music app on iOS devices, the Replay feature aggregates top songs of the year, while also providing playlists for past years too.

Playlists are available for every year that an ‌Apple Music‌ subscriber has had the service, dating back to 2015. Replay playlists can be added to the ‌Apple Music‌ Library so they can be streamed right alongside other playlists and shared with others.

According to TechCrunch, Replay will continue to be updated throughout the year, changing and evolving as a person's musical tastes and interests shift.

Apple plans to update the Replay playlist each Sunday with new songs and data insights to reflect each person's current listening activity.

‌Apple Music‌ has never offered an aggregated year-end playlist with song data, something that Spotify has provided for years with its Wrapped experience. Apple now has an equivalent feature, and one that is perhaps more useful given the fact that it's updated on an ongoing basis.

‌Apple Music‌ subscribers can access Apple Music Replay on the web and add the playlists to iOS or Mac devices. Replay should also be available in the iOS and Mac Music apps without the need to use the feature on the web, but it's still in the early stages of rolling out and not available on every platform yet.

Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller has spoken with CNET's Roger Cheng about the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, reflecting on the new Magic Keyboard, the Touch Bar, and many other aspects of the notebook.

When asked about the redesigned scissor keyboard on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Schiller acknowledged that the butterfly keyboards on recent MacBook Pro models have received a "mixed reaction" due in part to "some quality issues" that could result in sticky, repeating, or nonfunctional keys.

Schiller says Apple carefully considered customer feedback and found that many professional users wanted the MacBook Pro to have a similar keyboard as the standalone Magic Keyboard for the iMac:

As you know, a number of years ago we started a new keyboard technology with this butterfly keyboard and began it with MacBook. It had some things it did really well, like creating a much more stable key platform. It felt more firm and flat under your finger -- some people really like that, but other people weren't really happy with that. We got sort of a mixed reaction. We had some quality issues we had to work on. Over the years we've been refining that keyboard design, and we're now on the third generation, and a lot of people are much happier with that as we've advanced and advanced it.

As we started to investigate specifically what pro users most wanted, a lot of times they would say, "I want something like this Magic Keyboard, I love that keyboard."

Another common request among professionals was to bring back a physical Esc key. Schiller said it was the "number one" complaint about the Touch Bar. To its credit, Apple listened and made the change:

There is a fairly large number of customers who use the Touch Bar and see great benefit in some of its features, but there were also some complaints. If I were to rank the complaints, No. 1 was customers who like a physical Escape key. It was just a hard adaptation for a lot of people.

We decided that rather than just remove the Touch Bar and lose the benefits some people get, we could instead add the Escape key. While we were doing that, we had already in the MacBook Air created a discrete Touch ID button. People really like that. So the decision was made to keep the Touch Bar, but also to create room on either side for the Escape key and Touch ID key. That is the best solution for the largest number of people we've dealt with who had complaints -- and kept something innovative that people were using with Touch Bar.

When asked if Apple ever plans to merge the Mac and iPad, Schiller insisted the devices will remain separate:

No, that's not our view. Because then you get this in-between thing, and in-between things are never as good as the individual things themselves. We believe the best personal computer is a Mac, and we want to keep going down that path. And we think the best tablet computing device is an iPad, and we'll go down that path.

Schiller also downplayed the possibility of a touchscreen Mac, as Apple always has.

At the very end of the interview, Schiller takes a shot at Google's Chromebooks in the classroom, describing them as "cheap testing tools" that do not allow kids to succeed. Naturally, Schiller said Apple thinks the iPad is the "ultimate tool" for a child to learn on and be the most engaged.

Chromebooks have gotten to the classroom because, frankly, they're cheap testing tools for required testing. If all you want to do is test kids, well, maybe a cheap notebook will do that. But they're not going to succeed.

The full interview contains several more questions and answers and is a worthwhile read.

Update: Schiller also sat down with YouTube tech reviewer Jonathan Morrison to discuss the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Notably, Schiller said that Apple is unlikely to bring an SD card slot back to the MacBook Pro. He also said the technology does not exist yet to bring all of the Pro Display XDR features to a MacBook-sized screen.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update to developers, one week after releasing the first beta and two weeks after the launch of the macOS Catalina 10.15.1 update.

The new macOS Catalina beta can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper software from the Developer Center.

There's no word yet on what improvements the second update to macOS Catalina will include, but it most likely focuses on performance improvements, security updates, and fixes for bugs that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS 10.15.1 update.

We didn't find any major new features in the first beta, but we'll update this article if any changes are found in the second beta.

macOS Catalina is a major update that eliminates iTunes in favor of new Music, Podcasts, and TV apps, nixes support for 32-bit apps, adds a new Find My app, brings a new Photos interface, and includes multiple privacy enhancements and other app refinements.

For full details on what's new in macOS Catalina, make sure to check out our macOS Catalina roundup.

Apple today announced its widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro with a larger display and slimmer bezels, a new Magic Keyboard with a scissor mechanism and physical Esc key, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 8TB of SSD storage, AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics options, upgraded speakers and microphones, and more.

Here are some other things to know about the new 16-inch MacBook Pro:

• In addition to a scissor mechanism keyboard with a physical Esc key, another much-requested feature that Apple has reintroduced is an inverse-T arrow key layout, last used on the 15-inch MacBook Pro in 2015.
  

• Display brightness appears to remain unchanged, with the same brightness of up to 500 nits as the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
  

• Unlike the iPhone 11, which has 802.11ax aka Wi-Fi 6, the 16-inch MacBook Pro sticks with 802.11ac for wireless networking.
  

• The front-facing webcam remains 720p.
  

• A higher-power 96W charger is included in the box and sold separately for $79. That's up from 87W for the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
  

• AppleCare+ remains the same $379 price as the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
  

• As noted by Daring Fireball's John Gruber, there is about 0.5mm more space between keys. He also notes that the Touch Bar has been moved slightly further above the top row of keys to help avoid accidental touches.
  

• Unsurprisingly, given its new scissor mechanism keyboard, TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino notes that the 16-inch MacBook Pro is not included in Apple's repair program for Macs with butterfly keyboards. Hopefully this means Apple is confident the keyboard is truly more reliable.

We'll update this list if we spot any other tidbits worth mentioning. Let us know if you spot any others in the comments section.

The new 16-inch MacBook Pro is available to order today through Apple.com and the Apple Store app in many countries. It will be available in Apple Stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers in the United States later this week and is "coming soon" to stores around the world, according to Apple.

Apple today introduced its widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro with a larger display and slimmer bezels, a new Magic Keyboard with a scissor mechanism and physical Esc key, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 8TB of SSD storage, AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics options, upgraded speakers and microphones, and more.

The new 16-inch MacBook Pro replaces the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which has been discontinued. It is possible the 15-inch model will appear in Apple's clearance store at some point, but it is not available at this time.

The new 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,399 in the United States, consistent with the former 15-inch MacBook Pro. A maxed-out 16-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.4GHz 8‑core Core i9 processor, 64GB of RAM, 8TB of SSD storage, and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics runs $6,099 on Apple's online store.

Read more about the 16-inch MacBook Pro here.

The new 16-inch MacBook Pro is available to order today through Apple.com and the Apple Store app in many countries. It will be available in Apple Stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers in the United States later this week and is "coming soon" to stores around the world, according to Apple.

Apple today announced and launched the long-awaited 16-inch MacBook Pro, which has now replaced the previous 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models in the line of Apple notebooks. Alongside the announcement, a handful of YouTubers and tech bloggers have begun sharing their first impressions of the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, after having used it for a few hours.

The two big updates to the new notebook include its bigger 16-inch Retina display, and the updated scissor switch keyboard that ditches the butterfly keyboard of the previous 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌. Essentially every first impression applauded Apple for the new keyboard, particularly in regards to the new physical Escape key (instead of a virtual one on the Touch Bar).

Below we've rounded up a few first impressions videos for the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌.

Marques Brownlee:

iJustine:

The Verge:

UrAvgConsumer:

Engadget:

Rene Ritchie:

CNET:

The 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ also features AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics options, GDDR6 video memory, a larger 100Wh battery for about an hour more battery than the previous generation, a redesigned six-speaker sound system, and upgraded microphones.

The new model starts at $2,399 in the United States and includes another $2,799 option, both of which can be individually configured with various internal upgrade options. For more information on the new 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, be sure to read our announcement post for the notebook.

Apple has officially announced that its long-awaited Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR will be available starting in December.

Apple also announced that the new ‌Mac Pro‌ will be available with up to 8TB of SSD storage, after originally promising up to 4TB.

The base model ‌Mac Pro‌ starts at $5,999 and features an 8-core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon processor, a Radeon Pro 580X GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. Additional technical specifications and configure-to-order options are available on Apple's website.

The high-throughput machine was originally announced in June, when Apple promised a "fall" release. Apple confirmed December today:

Today, Apple also announced that the all-new Mac Pro, the world's best pro desktop, and Apple Pro Display XDR, the world's best pro display, will be available in December. Designed for maximum performance, expansion and configurability, Mac Pro features workstation-class Xeon processors up to 28 cores, a high-performance memory system with a massive 1.5TB capacity, eight PCIe expansion slots and a graphics architecture featuring the world's most powerful graphics card. Pro Display XDR features a 32-inch Retina 6K display with P3 wide and 10-bit color, 1,600 nits of peak brightness, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a superwide viewing angle, all at a breakthrough price point.

Apple is also releasing the Pro Display XDR alongside the ‌Mac Pro‌ next month. The high-end monitor costs $4,999, or $5,999 for a version with a "nano-texture" matte coating. The stand costs $999 and a VESA mount costs $199.

Today's announcement was brief, and Apple stopped short of providing specific dates for ‌Mac Pro‌ and Pro Display XDR preorders and availability.

Apple today announced its much-rumored high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is the largest MacBook Pro that's been offered for sale since the discontinuation of the 17-inch MacBook Pro back in 2012.

The updated 16-inch MacBook Pro features a larger display with slimmer bezels than the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which it has replaced in Apple's notebook lineup. The display has a resolution of 3072x1920 pixels with up to 500 nits of brightness.

The notebook features an updated "Magic Keyboard" that does away with the unpopular butterfly mechanism, returning instead to a more reliable scissor mechanism with 1mm key travel, along with Intel's latest 9th-generation processors with up to 8 cores. It also has up to 64GB of RAM and up to 8TB of SSD storage.

Above the keyboard, the Touch Bar lives on, but the 16-inch MacBook Pro marks the return of a physical Esc key. In line with the latest MacBook Air, the Touch ID sensor has also been separated from the Touch Bar.

Other features include AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics options paired with GDDR6 video memory and an 8GB VRAM option, a larger 100Wh battery for longer battery life, a redesigned six-speaker sound system, and upgraded microphones.

Starting at $2,399 in the United States, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is available today through Apple.com and the Apple Store app. It will be in Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers in the United States later this week and is "coming soon" to stores around the world, according to Apple.

Following yesterday's report on Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro which could be announced as soon as Wednesday, Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman this morning shared some additional details about the upcoming machine via Twitter.

According to Gurman, the display on the new ‌MacBook Pro‌ is less than four percent larger than the current 15.4-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, suggesting to him that "it's really going to be about the higher resolution" rather than a significant material increase in screen real estate.

Gurman offers no clues as to the exact resolution, but reliable IHS Markit analyst Jeff Lin claimed in June that the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ would feature an LCD panel with a resolution of 3,072×1,920 pixels supplied by LG Display. For comparison, the 15-inch ‌‌MacBook Pro‌‌ has a resolution of 2,880×1,800 pixels.

In addition, Gurman says the new 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ will have "impressive speakers" and "noise cancelling microphones," which sounds like a reference to an improved ambient noise reduction feature enabling users to capture less background noise when using the built-in microphones, thereby improving dictation and FaceTime calls.

Otherwise, Gurman reiterates Apple's focus on providing users with a more reliable keyboard that uses a new scissor switch mechanism, which is "similar to the iMac external Magic Keyboard."

The new 16-inch machine, which will be the largest laptop Apple has offered for sale since the 17-inch ‌‌MacBook Pro‌‌ was discontinued, will replace the current 15-inch model and "cost about the same," Gurman revealed on Tuesday. The 15-inch ‌‌MacBook Pro‌ starts at $2,399.

Apple is said to have been holding private press briefings at its luxury loft mansion in New York City this week, likely providing media sites with review units for first impressions. Apple will surely announce the new 16-inch ‌‌MacBook Pro‌‌ via press release, as there are no more Apple events expected this year.

Apple's new high-end modular Mac Pro is set to be released in December, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

The launch timing of the ‌Mac Pro‌ was shared in a report on the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is set to come out as soon as tomorrow.

Apple unveiled the new 2019 ‌Mac Pro‌ in June at its Worldwide Developers Conference, but since then has not provided any details on its prospective release date.

A December launch would be in line with the launch of the 2013 ‌Mac Pro‌, which came out on December 18, and the 2017 iMac Pro, which came out on December 14.

The new ‌Mac Pro‌ is designed for Apple's pro user base with a heavy focus on upgradeability and expansion. It features a traditional PC shape, but with an Apple-esque stainless steel frame with a lattice pattern that maximizes airflow.

The ‌Mac Pro‌ uses workstation-class Xeon processors with up to 28 cores, and it supports up to 1.5TB of high-performance memory. Pricing on the new ‌Mac Pro‌ will start at $6,000.

Alongside the ‌Mac Pro‌, Apple will likely launch the Pro Display XDR, which is a 32-inch 6K display with a resolution of 6016 x 3384 and more than 20 million pixels. Pricing on the Pro Display XDR will start at $5,000.

While Bloomberg has disclosed a December launch month for the ‌Mac Pro‌, there's still no word on a specific date. Given past launch timelines, it could come on either the week of the 9th or the week of the 16th.