BritBox, a streaming service offering shows from ITV, the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5, has launched in the United Kingdom (via BBC).
Priced at £5.99 a month, the joint-venture between ITV and the BBC is being pitched as an additional streaming service for viewers who want to view classic British television programs and films, rather than as a direct competitor to Netflix.
BritBox will mostly feature classic series like Cracker, Prime Suspect, Brideshead Revisited, Ashes to Ashes, with comedies including Absolutely Fabulous, Extras, Blackadder and Fawlty Towers. Some archive programs that have been on services like Netflix will now move to BritBox.
More than 600 classic episodes of Doctor Who will be available to stream by Christmas, while shows and movies from Channel 4 and Film4's back catalog will be available in 2020, and original shows from Comedy Central UK will also feature.
Other shows available on the service include Downton Abbey, Gavin & Stacey, Wolf Hall, Love Island and Broadchurch, but it will also include new shows, starting with the drama Lambs of God, which stars The Handmaid's Tale's Ann Dowd, The End of the F****** World's Jessica Barden, and Essie Davis from The White Princess as nuns living on a remote island.
However, some of ITV and the BBC's biggest hits of recent years, such as Killing Eve, Peaky Blinders, and Bodyguard, will not be on it at first, either due to deals with other streaming platforms or because they are still on the broadcasters' own catch-up platforms.
The Guardian reports that the streaming venture has been given a major boost through deals with BT, Channel 4, and mobile company EE.
One of the deals will make BritBox available to tens of millions of EE mobile customers across the U.K., while a wider deal with BT – which owns EE – will make Britbox available to the millions of customers who subscribe to its pay-TV service.
Meanwhile, Channel 4 will provide thousands of hours of TV and film content to BritBox as part of a three-year deal, meaning shows from all the U.K.'s main TV channels will be available on one catch-up platform for the first time.
BritBox enters a streaming market long-dominated by Netflix and Amazon Video, but now quickly flooding with rival services jostling for attention. Apple TV+ launched last week featuring $2 billion worth of original programming, while Disney+ is due to arrive on November 12 boasting 500 feature films and over 7,500 shows, including the entire Pixar library and a raft of original content.
BritBox is available in the U.K. via iOS and Android apps, Apple TV, web browsers, and "smart" Samsung TVs released in 2017 or later. BritBox launched in the U.S. two years ago with a different catalog of content and has attracted 650,000 subscribers.
Apple today announced a new employee benefit that's designed to ease the transition back to work for new parents, expanding on the 16 weeks of leave that parents are already provided with an additional four-week grace period.
Apple's head of retail and human resources shared details on the changes with Fast Company.
"What we find a lot of times is people are really excited to get back to work," says O'Brien, Apple's head of retail and human resources. "At the same time, [they] feel like they need to make sure things are really stable and successful at home. And that weighs heavy on people's minds, I think."
Apple's new policy will give parents a four-week period after returning from leave where they'll be paid like full-time employees but will have the flexibility to work part-time or set their own hours with a manager's oversight.
The updated transition period will be available to all new parents, including those who adopt or take in foster children (non-birth parents are allowed six weeks of paid leave rather than 16). Retail workers are also able to take advantage of the parental leave changes.
Along with the new transition period, Apple is expanding leave for adoptive parents by four weeks through a Paid Family Care benefit that lets parents take time off for family illness. Apple is also tripling its financial assistance for families that choose to adopt, providing up to $14,000 towards an adoption.
For all employees, Apple is improving its mental wellness benefits and will double the number of free counseling sessions available to employees per year along with providing telemedicine options.
According to O'Brien, Apple is hoping to make it easier for parents to ultimately return to work after a period of leave. "I think many times working parents feel like they need to deal with that quietly and make it seem perfectly seamless," O'Brien told Fast Company. "We all know life is complicated. So [we're] making it really clear that we're supporting them in that journey."
Following the release of iOS 13.2 on October 28, Apple today stopped signing iOS 13.1.3, which means downgrading to this version of iOS is no longer possible.
iOS 13.1.3 was a minor update released in mid-October with bug fixes for issues with Phone, Mail, Health, iCloud, and more.
Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date. Apple has also stopped signing iOS 13.1.2, which was another minor bug fix update.
iOS 13.2 is the current public version of iOS, and it brought support for AirPods Pro, included new emojis, added Deep Fusion for the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, and more.
Developers and public beta testers can also download iOS 13.3, an upcoming update that introduces Communication Limits for Screen Time.
"See" director Francis Lawrence, who also directed the "Hunger Games" movies, recently sat down for an interview with Business Insider where he shared some details on the filming of "See" and the research that went into the show.
According to Lawrence, rumors that "See" cost $240 million for two seasons were incorrect. "See" is "an expensive show," said Lawrence, but that budget "got blown out of proportion." It's nowhere near the scale of other big shows like "Game of Thrones."
When filming "See," Lawrence had a "think tank" with blind consultants, an evolutionary biologist, and a survivalist to brainstorm ideas. "See," for those unfamiliar with the show, is set in a post-apocalyptic timeline where most of the world was wiped out by a virus, and those who were left were rendered blind.
How long after civilization had vanished does the story take place and what would things look like and what would remain? We built out a blindness bootcamp with our consultants and [figured out] how that crosses over with our art and props department. What do the huts [in the village] look like? How are people navigating?
The actors in the show are made to look blind using special effects rather than contacts, as Lawrence said that it was impractical to use contacts for so many people due to the risk of cornea issues and the cost of hiring optometrists.
While much of the cast of "See" can see, some of the main tribe are low vision or blind. "See" aimed to find low vision or blind actors, and hopes to improve upon that in the second season.
Primarily the cast can see. Some of our main tribe, like Bree Klauser and Marilee Talkington, in the first couple episodes are both low-vis. Some of the actors in the Queen's court are blind. We tried to find as many blind and low-vis actors as we could. The goal would be to improve upon that in the next season.
Much of the show was filmed out in the wilderness and "pretty far from any cities," which made it difficult. The battle in episode one, for example, took four days to film because it involved a lot of people and a lot of stunts.
"See" has a rather surprising introductory scene introducing Queen Kane, who is the queen of the region, which Lawrence also commented on. When he saw that part of the script, he said, he "loved it."
The blindness idea fed into every [creative] choice we made. To connect spirituality with the senses and euphoria and pleasure in that way was really interesting. I also loved when I watched the episode the feeling of getting to the Queen and discovering a new facet of the world. Two-thirds of the way through the [first] episode, you kind of feel like you know the kind of show you're [watching]. Lou Reed is playing on a record player. It opens up the show tonally.
Lawrence's full interview, which goes into even more detail on filming, can be read over on Business Insider. "See," which stars Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard, is available on Apple TV+ now.
Apple today seeded the first public betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.3 updates to its public beta testing group, one day after seeding the first developer beta and a week after the release of iOS 13.2 with new emoji, Siri privacy controls, Deep Fusion, and more.
iOS and iPadOS 13.3 can be downloaded over the air after the proper profile has been installed from the public beta testing site.
iOS 13.3 brings Communication Limits for Screen Time, a feature that Apple promised would be coming in an iOS 13 update. Communication Limits allow parents to control who their children are able to contact both during downtime and during Screen Time.
The iOS 13.3 update also addresses a multitasking issue where iOS 13.2 users were seeing poor RAM management that caused apps like YouTube and Safari to reload more frequently than normal. After installing iOS 13.3, affected users are now seeing fewer refreshes when accessing these apps, doing another task, and then opening them again.
In the Keyboards section of the Settings app (under General), there's a new toggle that prevents Animoji and Memoji stickers from being displayed as an option on the Emoji Keyboard. Apple has also tweaked the Apple Watch app icon, changing the color of the Digital Crown from black to gray.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 13.3 update to its public beta testing group, one day after seeding the first beta to developers and one week after releasing the tvOS 13.2 update.
Public beta testers can download the new update by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta Updates" will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.
tvOS updates (aside from major releases) have historically been minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than major outward-facing changes.
Apple provides little to no information on what's included in tvOS beta updates, so we may not discover any major changes after installing the software. There were no significant updates found in yesterday's tvOS 13.3 beta.
Apple today uploaded the latest trailer for its upcoming Apple TV+ series "Servant," which is a thriller created for the streaming service by M. Night Shyamalan.
Servant follows a Philadelphia couple who hire a nanny to look after their child following a tragedy, unknowingly setting a series of strange events into motion.
"Servant" will be the first major new series to land on Apple TV+ following its launch last week. Apple debuted "The Morning Show," "See," "For All Mankind," and "Dickinson" as the major shows to kick off the service on November 1.
While Apple plans to upload new episodes of its hour-long shows like "The Morning Show" every Friday until their season finales, "Servant" is premiering on a Thursday with 10 episodes that last for 30 minutes each. This will be similar to the way the 30-minute show "Dickinson" was released on November 1.
Head to the MacRumors Apple TV+ forum to join in discussions for all of the new shows that have launched, and will soon launch, on Apple's streaming service.
Apple today announced an update to its privacy website that touches on various new privacy benefits found in iOS 13, iPadOS 13, watchOS 6, and more. Apple's updated website includes white papers on how the company approaches privacy in Safari, Sign in with Apple, Location Services, and Photos, providing visitors with a deeper insight into the company's privacy mission.
The website reinforces Apple's four core privacy principles: minimizing the data collected from users, processing the data on the device when possible, transparency when collecting data and how it's used, and strong device encryption. You can visit the website for yourself at Apple.com/privacy, which is now highlighting iOS apps like Maps, Photos, and Messages, and how they each enhance iPhone users' privacy.
According to Apple, there are multiple recent privacy and security innovations that it has accomplished with its latest software updates:
Contacts: Any notes stored in the notes section of the Contacts app will not be shared with third party applications when they are granted access to the Contacts app.
Find My: Apple uses end-to-end encryption to communicate with other Apple devices nearby in order to find lost iPhones and Macs, ensuring that it doesn't know the location of the device or the identity of the device that discovered it.
Arcade: No advertising or third-party tracking is ever permitted.
Background tracking notifications: iPhone owners now get notifications when apps are using their location in the background, providing them with a chance to turn this feature off.
You can click on different tabs on the website to view the new white papers for services like Safari, Face ID, Location Services, and more. While the website itself remains a straightforward look at how Apple handles user data, each white paper offers a more nuanced dive into specific programs and services at Apple, and how the company is aiming to enhance privacy with every new update.
The site also includes a tab for its transparency reports, showcasing how Apple is committed to being transparent about responding to government requests for user data around the world. Here you can scroll through each region to see how often Apple has shared user data with the local government, beginning as far back as 2013 and stretching to 2018.
Apple today announced that its partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to roll out access to the Health Records feature for iPhone has launched, with veterans who receive care through the VA now able to access their information right in the Health app on iOS.
“Helping veterans gain a better understanding of their health is our chance to show our gratitude for their service,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “By working with the VA to offer Health Records on iPhone, we hope to help those who served have greater peace of mind that their health care is in good hands.”
Apple announced the initiative back in February, but it's taken a number of months to get everything in place to launch it to country's largest medical system covering over 9 million veterans at over 1,200 medical facilities.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday formally approved the $26 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. The approval was the last regulatory hurdle to creating a new mobile carrier.
The FCC filing means T-Mobile and Sprint will be allowed to join together as "New T-Mobile" to become a dominant third carrier in the United States alongside Verizon and AT&T. The Department of Justice approved the merger in July.
The finalized order came after a 3-2 vote along partisan lines, with both Democrats against it. FCC boss Ajit Pai said in a statement that the merger would be good for consumers and the U.S. as a whole:
"It would bring the benefits of the next generation of wireless technology to American consumers and advance American leadership in 5G. It would help millions in rural America benefit from high-speed 5G mobile broadband service... and it would promote competition."
However, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel was one of the dissenting voices, and argued that the consolidation of the two companies would likely follow the same path as previous mergers, leading to higher prices and poorer service for the majority of customers:
"We've all seen what happens when market concentration increases following a merger. A condensed airline industry brought us baggage fees and smaller seats, even as the price of fuel fell. A condensed pharmaceutical industry has led to a handful of drug companies raising the prices of lifesaving medications, taking advantage of those struggling with illness. There's no reason to think the mobile-phone industry will be different."
Together, the two companies have committed to building out a nationwide 5G network covering 97 percent of the U.S. population within three years and 99 percent within six years. T-Mobile and Sprint have also promised that they will not raise prices for three years following the completion of the merger.
In an attempt to ensure a competitive wireless carrier market, the FFC also wants to see Dish become the fourth nationwide facilities-based wireless carrier in the United States. Dish has announced that it plans to deploy a 5G broadband network capable of serving 70 percent of the U.S. population by June 2023.
A number of states have filed an antitrust lawsuit in U.S. federal court to block the proposed transaction, arguing that the merger is not in the public interest, just like AT&T's attempted acquisition of T-Mobile in 2011 and the attempted merger between Sprint and T-Mobile in 2014, both of which regulators blocked. The lawsuit filed by the bipartisan coalition of more than a dozen state attorneys general remains on the docket and must be resolved before the merger can go forward.
T-Mobile and Sprint anticipate that the merger will be permitted to close by the end of the year. If it does go ahead, it will combine two of the four major wireless carriers in the United States, giving the new company nearly 100 million customers.
Twitter has pushed out a point release for its official iPhone and iPad app after numerous reports of buggy auto-refresh behavior began appearing on social media.
A number of users who updated to version 8.1 of the app, released last week, said that their Twitter timeline was refreshing randomly and making them lose track of what they were reading.
It's unclear what's been causing the jumpy auto-scrolling behavior – presumably whatever changes were made to the auto-refresh function were supposed to happen invisibly and update the top of the timeline so that scrolling up to see new tweets would be seamless.
We know your timeline auto-scrolling on iOS is frustrating and we’re sorry for the inconvenience. We’re working on fixing this now. Thanks for sticking with us.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 4, 2019
Regardless, Twitter acknowledged the "frustrating" issue on Monday and asked users for patience while it looked into the problem.
This morning, the company released a fix to its iOS app in the form of version 8.1.5, so make sure you visit the App Store to update if you've been affected by the issue. Direct Link
Apple advertising partner Media Arts Lab has let go of approximately 50 employees, reports Bloomberg. Media Arts Lab is owned by TBWA\Chiat\Day and Apple is its only client.
Staff cuts were made in multiple divisions, but many of the employees who were let go worked in the strategy division that helped Apple create ads for its newest products.
In a statement to Bloomberg, a Media Arts Lab spokesperson said that the firm's relationship with Apple "has never been stronger."
"Yesterday was a difficult day, as we had to part with some of our talented colleagues," a Media Arts Lab spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. "Our relationship with Apple has never been stronger, but as the needs of our client continue to evolve, we must adapt and continue to evolve the composition of our teams."
Apple's VP of Marketing Communications Tor Myhren said that Apple asked Media Arts Lab to evolve its marketing approach as Apple evolves its own approach too.
Apple's confidence and trust in MAL as our singular ad agency is as strong as it's ever been. As we continue to evolve our marketing approach, we've asked MAL to do the same.
Media Arts Lab has worked with Apple for decades and has been responsible for some of Apple's most compelling ads, including the famous "1984" ad for the original Macintosh, the "Get a Mac" series with Justin Long, and the well-known silhouette ads used for the iPod and iTunes.
More recently, Media Arts Lab was responsible for the "Welcome Home" video for the HomePod starring FKA Twigs, Apple's 2019 "Shot on iPhone" tour featuring bands like Florence and the Machine, and the "Bounce" ad for the AirPods.
Apple started creating some of its ads in house approximately five years ago, but has also continued to work with outside ad agencies. Apple two years ago began focusing more heavily on digital and regional ad campaigns, which previously led to layoffs at TBWA\Media Arts Lab.
OWC's Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock is targeted at professional users and includes several features not commonly found on other docks such as an eSATA port and CFast and SD card readers. The dock also includes a 10 gigabit Ethernet port, three USB 3.1 ports, a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports to allow for daisy chaining, and a DisplayPort 1.2 port. There's also a locking power connection to help ensure the dock doesn't come unplugged if it's moved during use.
For pro users who need some of the more specialized features included in the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock, this might be a good option, as we've been impressed with the company's previous dock offerings. It does, however, only offer 60 watts of charging power, so if you've got a 15-inch MacBook Pro you likely want to use your regular power adapter and not rely on the dock to power your Mac.
The dock also includes a switch to turn off the internal fan if you need a quiet environment, although OWC warns this should only be done for short periods of time to limit the risk of overheating.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with OWC. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Apple introduced the first Apple silicon Macs back in 2020, marking the start of its transition away from Intel's chips. Apple's custom chips are Arm-based and are similar to the A-series chips used in iPhones and iPads, making them markedly different from the Intel chips that were used in earlier Macs. Apple finished its transition to Apple silicon after a three-year period in 2023 with the launch of an Apple silicon Mac Pro. At this point, none of Apple's Macs use Intel chips, and Intel chip technology has been entirely phased out.
This guide covers everything you need to know about Apple silicon chips.
Apple Silicon Mac Lineup
All of Apple's Macs use Apple silicon, and Apple is on its third generation M-series chips. The MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, Mac Studio, iMac, Mac Pro, and iPad Pro all use variants of the M2, M3, and M4 chips.
M-series chips feature Apple's "System on a Chip" design for the Mac, and it integrates several different components including the CPU, GPU, unified memory architecture (RAM), Neural Engine, Secure Enclave, SSD controller, image signal processor, encode/decode engines, Thunderbolt controller with USB 4 support, and more, all of which power the different features in the Mac.
Apple's current chip lineup includes the M4, M4 Pro, M4 Max, all of which are built on a 3-nanometer process and are upgrades to the M3 chips. The Ultra chip line has not yet been updated to the M4 Ultra, and some of Apple's Macs, like the Mac Pro and Mac Studio, still use the prior-generation chip variants.
M4 - Up to a 10-core CPU, up to a 10-core GPU
M4 Pro - 14-core CPU, up to a 20-core GPU
M4 Max - 16-core CPU, up to a 40-core GPU
M2 Ultra - 24-core CPU, up to a 76-core GPU.
In the case of the M3 Ultra, it is essentially two M3 Max chips that are linked together, which is why it has the specifications of a doubled prior-generation M2 Max chip. Apple uses the M4 in its entry-level Macs, including the iMac, Mac mini, and the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro. The M4 Pro is for the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro models and higher-end Mac mini models, while the M4 Max is designed for upgraded MacBook Pro models. The M2 Ultra is used in the Mac Pro and the Mac Studio, and it will be replaced with an M4 Ultra chip later in 2025.
All of the Apple silicon chips have unified memory that's shared between all chip components to eliminate swapping and improve performance, plus a 16-core Neural Engine and other add-ons like an image signal processor, Secure Enclave for secure booting and Touch ID, and more.
Why Apple Made the Switch
Apple adopted its own Apple silicon chips to make better Macs. Apple's chips bring a whole new level of performance with more powerful Macs that are also more energy-efficient. M-series Macs are much more powerful than Intel Macs ever were, and the battery life is much improved.
Apple Silicon Advantage
Apple has years of experience with power-efficient chip design thanks to its work on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, all of which use custom-designed chips developed by Apple engineers. Apple has made huge gains in processor performance over the years, and its chips are now more than powerful enough to be used in Macs.
Apple aimed to deliver the highest possible performance with the lowest power consumption, a goal that its expertise made it well-suited to achieve. Better performance and efficiency were Apple's main goals, but there are other reasons that the company decided to transition away from Intel, and that includes all of the custom technologies that are built into Apple silicon to further boost the Mac's capabilities and make it stand out from the competition.
Deep integration between software and hardware has always made iPhones stand out from other smartphones, and the same is true for the Mac. Apple's custom chips provide best-in-class security with the Secure Enclave and high-performance graphics capabilities for pro apps and games, but the true performance gains remain to be seen.
Apple silicon chips are built with Neural Engines and Machine Learning Accelerators to make Macs ideal platforms for machine learning. Other technologies include a high-quality camera processor, performance controller, Secure Enclave and Touch ID, high-performance DRAM, unified memory, and cryptography acceleration.
Ditching Intel
Apple's pre-Apple silicon Macs used x86 chips from Intel, while its iPhones and some iPads used Arm-based chips. x86 chips and Arm chips like the M-series chips are built using different architectures, so the transition from x86 to Arm has took some effort.
Apple used Intel's chips in its Mac lineup starting in 2006 after transitioning away from PowerPC processors, which meant that Apple was subject to Intel's release timelines, chip delays, and security issues, which at times, negatively affected Apple's own device release plans.
Apple cited platform consolidation and performance advantages as reasons for ditching Intel chips. There were rumors about Apple designing its own Mac chips as far back as 2014, so the decision to stop using Intel chips was in the works for a long time.
Swapping to house-made chips allows Apple release updates on its own schedule and with more regular technology improvements, plus Apple is also able to differentiate its devices from competing products with tight integration between software and hardware, similar to its iOS platform and A-series chips.
Common iOS and Mac Architecture
With Apple designing its own chips for iOS devices and Macs, there is a common architecture across all Apple product lines, which makes it easier for developers to write and optimize software that runs on all Apple products.
In fact, apps designed for the iPhone and the iPad can run on Apple silicon natively, and compatible iOS apps can be downloaded from the Mac App Store on an M1 Mac.
Support for Intel Macs
Apple will continue to release software updates for Intel Macs for years after the transition to Apple silicon, so those who purchased Intel-based Macs will receive macOS updates throughout the life of their machines.
Running Intel Apps on Apple silicon
Most developers have created native apps, but users can run Intel apps even if those apps haven't been updated. For Intel-based apps, Apple uses Rosetta 2, a translation process that runs in the background and is invisible to the user. Rosetta 2 translates existing Intel apps so they work on Macs equipped with Apple silicon quickly, seamlessly, and without issues.
No Boot Camp
Windows does not operate in Boot Camp mode on Macs that run Apple silicon as Microsoft only licenses Windows 10 on Arm to OEMs and has no current plans make an Arm-based version of Windows freely available.
Apple has also said that it does not plan to support Boot Camp on its future Macs. "We're not direct booting an alternate operating system," Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi said. "Purely virtualization is the route." If, however, Microsoft releases an Arm-based version of Windows that consumers can purchase, things might change.
Apple silicon Macs and Thunderbolt Support
Apple is transitioning away from Intel's chips in its Mac and is instead opting to use Apple silicon chips, but Apple is continuing to support Intel's Thunderbolt USB-C standard. Apple's Macs continue to support Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5.
Current Apple Silicon Macs
Every Mac in Apple's lineup uses Apple silicon chip technology. Most use the M4 chip series, MacBook Air, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio haven't been updated and still use prior-generation chips.
13-inch MacBook Air - M3
15-inch MacBook Air - M3
14-inch MacBook Pro (entry-level) - M4
14-inch MacBook Pro - M4 Pro and M4 Max
16-inch MacBook Pro - M4 Pro and M4 Max
24-inch iMac - M4
Mac mini - M4 and M4 Pro
Mac Studio - M2 Max and M2 Ultra
Mac Pro - M2 Ultra
iPad Pro - M4
iPad Air - M2
Future Arm-Based Macs
Apple is working on next-generation M5 chip technology, and mass production is under way. The first devices with M5 chips could be introduced as soon as late 2025.
M5 chips will feature an enhanced Arm architecture and are being manufactured on a more advanced 3-nanometer process technology. The M5 will adopt TSMC's System on Integrated Chip (SoIC) technology, which should bring notable improvements to thermal management over the M4 chip options.
The first device to get an M5 chip could be the iPad Pro, with Apple expected to introduce new iPad Pro models in late 2025 or early 2026. The MacBook Pro is also a candidate, and rumors suggest it could get an M5 update in late 2025.
M5 versions of the MacBook Air could come in early 206, and the Apple Vision Pro is expected to get an M5 chip either in late 2025 or early 2026.
Apple today released the first beta of iOS 13.3 to developers, and based on early reports from those who have downloaded the new update, it fixes the frustrating multitasking bug that is impacting many iOS 13.2 users.
Last week, we shared details on a number of complaints from iPhone and iPad users running iOS 13.2 that were seeing poor RAM management on their devices.
The issue caused apps like YouTube and Safari to reload more frequently than normal, with the software "aggressively" shutting down background apps and tasks. From MacRumors forum member Rogifan, who describes the problem:
I was watching a video in YouTube on my iPhone 11 Pro. I pause the video to respond to a text message. I was in iMessage for less than one minute. When I returned to YouTube it reloaded the app and I lost the video I was watching. I noticed this a lot on my iPad Pro too. Apps and Safari tabs reloading a lot more frequently than they did in iOS 12. Very annoying.
In the iOS 13.3 beta, this issue may be fixed. Multiple MacRumors readers in our beta bug fixes and changes thread are reporting improvements in multitasking behavior. We've also seen similar reports from Twitter users who are already seeing fewer refreshes. From MacRumors reader The Carny:
Only had it installed for a few minutes so there's plenty of time for horrors to reveal themselves, but I've had no Safari tab refreshes so far. With the amount of app switching I've just done, that simply wouldn't have been the case on 13.2.
More testing will need to be conducted to make sure the issue is fully resolved, but based on multiple similar reports, it looks promising.
iOS 13.3 Beta seems like it fixes the apps reloading / RAM management issue. I have opened 32 apps and have not had one reload yet on iPhone 11 Pro Max
— Aaron Zollo (@zollotech) November 5, 2019
The iOS 13.3 beta is limited to developers at this time, but a public beta should be coming in the near future so non-developers can install the new software.
Apple today released an iOS 13.3 beta to developers for testing purposes, and the new update introduces Communication Limits for Screen Time, a feature Apple promised was coming to iOS 13 in a future update.
With Communication Limits, parents can control who their children are able to contact. Communication Limits apply to the Phone, FaceTime, and Messages apps, along with iCloud contacts.
There are settings to control communication during Screen Time, with options to allow just contacts or everyone to be contacted. There's also a toggle that either allows or disallows users to be added to a group chat when a contact or family member is in the group.
There's also a separate setting for communication limits during downtime, which is also able to be set to everyone or just specific contacts.
Finally, there's a toggle for allowing or disallowing contact editing, which can change some of the contact settings.
Regardless of Communication Limits settings, calls to emergency numbers are always allowed and will turn off communication limits for 24 hours when placed.
With the Communication Limits feature, parents will be able to better control who their children are contacting during different periods of the day, cutting off access to friends during school, for example.
There are other smaller tweaks in iOS 13.3, including an option to disable Memoji and Animoji stickers from showing up on the emoji keyboard and a change to the Apple Watch app that shifts the Digital Crown on the icon from black to gray.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 6.1.1 update to developers, one week after releasing the watchOS 6.1 update with support for AirPods Pro and the Series 1 and Series 2 Apple Watch models.
Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.
We don't yet know what features are included in the watchOS 6.1.1 beta, but once we install the update and figure out what's new, we'll update this article.
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 13.3 update to developers, one week after releasing the tvOS 13.2 update.
Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 13.3developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode.
tvOS updates (aside from major releases) have historically been minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than major outward-facing changes. Apple provides little to no information on what's included in tvOS beta updates, so we may not discover anything new after installing the software.
In tvOS 13.2, for example, Apple's only available information was that it included general performance and stability updates.
While we don't often know what's new in tvOS during the beta testing process, we let MacRumors readers know when new updates are available so those who are developers can download it upon release.
If we find anything new in the tvOS 13.3 beta, we'll update this article.
Following the 
Twitter has pushed out a point release for its official 
