MacRumors

As noted on Reddit, Best Buy recently updated the terms of its My Best Buy rewards program to indicate that Apple and Beats products are no longer eligible to receive points unless they are purchased with a Best Buy credit card.

The new terms went into effect on October 21, 2019:

We have made changes to confirm that members are eligible to receive points for Apple and Beats products and Apple services only when purchases are made on standard credit with the My Best Buy Credit Card. Otherwise My Best Buy members will not be eligible to receive points for purchase of Apple and Beats products and Apple services.

My Best Buy program members may still receive special pricing on Apple and Beats products from time to time, according to the terms.

Swiss telco Salt, which includes an Apple TV 4K in its domestic broadband TV bundle, has today launched an "alternative" bespoke ‌Apple TV‌ remote control for users of its 250+ channel television service.

Costing just under 20 Swiss francs, the optional remote was reportedly developed in close collaboration with Apple, after a sizable section of Salt TV's customer base apparently complained about the poor usability of the Apple Remote that comes with every ‌Apple TV‌ 4K.

Thanks to Apple's input, the alternative remote doesn't require any pairing with ‌Apple TV‌ and works out of the box. It includes directional arrows in place of the Siri Remote's glass Touch surface, a power button in addition to a Menu button, along with separate volume and channel rockers and traditional media playback buttons.

There's no microphone button in evidence, presumably because ‌Siri‌ on ‌Apple TV‌ isn't officially available in Switzerland, and there's no numerical channel buttons because tvOS doesn't support the function. Otherwise, it resembles a standard TV remote that should be more amenable to Salt TV's users, who can also look forward to an updated Salt TV app interface on ‌Apple TV‌.

It's unclear if this is a one-off ‌Apple TV‌ hardware collaboration between Apple and a regional third-party, although having said that, Apple recently made Microsoft and Sony controllers compatible with tvOS and iOS, so maybe this indicates a new trend.

Either way, Apple has obviously listened to feedback and decided its ‌Siri‌ Remote isn't the most optimal design for enjoying multi-channel TV navigation after all.

• How to Control Apple TV Using Your Apple Watch
• How to Pair a DualShock 4 or Xbox Wireless Controller With iPhone and Apple TV

The alternative remote control for Salt TV can be set up to work with almost all standard TV sets, and is available to order on the Salt online store.

Procreate 5 for iPad got its official release today, introducing a completely rebuilt graphics engine and several notable new features.

Under the hood, the new Valkyrie graphics engine takes full advantage of Apple's Metal architecture and is designed to get maximum performance out of ‌iPad‌, utilizing new sophisticated shaders and running at 120fps on supported devices.

On the feature front, an all-new Animation Assist toolset aims to make the creation of animatics, looping GIFs and storyboards an easier process for newcomers and more streamlined for experts. Meanwhile, the same applies to custom brush creation thanks to the powerful new Brush Studio, which allows finer control over every aspect of how brushes look, react and behave.

Procreate 5's new Clone tool allows you to use any brush style to give a cloned area the look of that brush, or to lock the clone area in place to plaint with a multicolored brush based on your selection. The Color Panel can also now be detached and minimized into a new Mini Color Panel, for moving it out of areas that you want to work on.

Elsewhere, new Color Dynamics offer tactile control of hue, saturation, brightness and more to a brush, through the tilt or pressure of the Apple Pencil. There are also 18 individual sliders to allow for more control.

This version also includes new importable CMYK and RGB ICC profiles for print-based users, a new Photoshop Brush Import feature for using Photoshop brushes in the app, a new Color Harmony section in the Color Panel for easily picking complimentary colors, and a new 10-step Color History palette.

Lastly, the Procreate 5 interface has been refined and improved to make it more accessible and unobtrusive, while retaining the familiarity of previous versions.

Procreate 5 for ‌iPad‌ can be purchased on the App Store from today for a one-time payment of $10. [Direct Link]

After a relatively slow Thanksgiving and Black Friday holiday week, rumors came in fast and furious this week. Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was on a roll with several reports outlining expectations for new iPhones in 2020 and 2021 as well as Apple's plans to shift to Mini-LED displays, starting next year with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Other news included some issues with unexpected shutdowns on the 2019 entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro and speaker popping noises on the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, and a controversy over Location Services behavior on the iPhone 11 lineup. And finally, Jony Ive's departure from Apple was finally made official. Read on for details on all of these topics.

Apple May Launch 'Completely Wireless' iPhone Without Lightning Connector and 'iPhone SE 2 Plus' With Touch ID Power Button in 2021

The latest iPhone prediction comes from reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who expects Apple to release a so-called "iPhone SE 2 Plus" with a 4.7-inch to 5.5-inch display and a Touch ID power button — yes, the power button on the side — in the first half of 2021. The device would have a notch, but a smaller once since Face ID supposedly won't be an option.

Then, in the second half of 2021, Kuo expects Apple to release a top-of-the-line iPhone without a Lightning connector in the second half of 2021. The device is said to offer a "completely wireless experience," so it sounds like no port whatsoever rather than a switch to USB-C.

Five New iPhones Expected in 2020, Including One 5.4-Inch, One 6.7-Inch, and Two 6.1-Inch Models

As part of his long list of predictions about upcoming iPhones, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo touched on the fall 2020 lineup, which he believes will include one 5.4-inch, one 6.7-inch, and two 6.1-inch models.

All four models are expected to have OLED displays and support 5G via Qualcomm, with sub-6G or mmWave compatibility varying by country.

Four new high-end iPhones in 2020 lines up with a recent prediction shared by JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee.

Earlier in 2020, Kuo expects Apple to release the widely rumored "iPhone SE 2" with a 4.7-inch LCD display and a traditional Touch ID home button. The device is expected to resemble the iPhone 8, but with a faster A13 chip and 3GB of RAM. Pricing is estimated to start at $399, and one new rumor claims the device could be called the iPhone 9.

16-Inch MacBook Pro and 12.9-Inch iPad Pro With Mini-LED Displays to Launch in Second Half of 2020

Ming-Chi Kuo had even more predictions to share this week beyond iPhones.

In a separate report, the well-known analyst claimed that Apple plans to release updated 12.9-inch iPad Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with Mini-LED displays in the second half of 2020.

Kuo has previously said that Mini-LED displays will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays used on the latest iPhones, including good wide color gamut performance, high contrast and dynamic range, and local dimming for truer blacks.

iPads and MacBooks currently use LCDs.

Apple Acknowledges Issue With Some 2019 13" MacBook Pro Models Unexpectedly Shutting Down

Apple this week posted a new support document outlining troubleshooting steps for users who may be experiencing problems with unexpected shutdowns on the entry-level 2019 13-inch MacBook Pro with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, which was introduced back in July.

There is a fairly lengthy thread in our discussion forums where some users experiencing the issue have gathered to try to diagnose and troubleshoot their machines.

Meanwhile, Apple is investigating an issue with speakers making popping noises on the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro. Apple says this is a software issue that will be addressed in upcoming software updates, so there's no need to exchange or repair machines exhibiting the issue.

New iPhones Access Location Info Even When Settings Are Disabled Due to Ultra Wideband, Toggle Coming in Future Software Update

Earlier this week, security researcher Brian Krebs found that Apple's new iPhone 11 Pro models access user location data even when all apps and system services on the iPhone are set to not request the data.

Apple has since responded, stating that this behavior is a result of the new U1 Ultra Wideband chip in the iPhone 11 models and not a privacy concern.

"Ultra wideband technology is an industry standard technology and is subject to international regulatory requirements that require it to be turned off in certain locations," said Apple in a statement. "iOS uses Location Services to help determine if ‌iPhone‌ is in these prohibited locations in order to disable ultra wideband and comply with regulations."

Jony Ive Leaves Apple

In June, Apple announced that Ma gref="https://www.macrumors.com/2019/06/27/jony-ive-leaving-apple/">Jony Ive would depart the company as an employee by the end of 2019 to form an independent design company named LoveFrom with his designer friend Marc Newson. Apple said it will remain one of Ive's primary clients.

Early on Thanksgiving Day, Apple removed Ive from its executive leadership page, suggesting that he has formally departed the company after nearly 30 years there.

Ive led Apple's design team since 1996 and he heavily influenced the look and feel of iconic products like the iMac and iPhone.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

In an internal document shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple has indicated that some customers may report that the camera button on the Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 11, ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro, or iPhone 11 Pro Max does not function correctly.

Before providing service, Apple has advised technicians to ensure the ‌iPhone‌ is updated to the latest iOS version, noting that the camera button will not function correctly unless the device is running iOS 13.2 or later.

Apple has also advised technicians to remind customers that a single quick press of the button will not launch the Camera app in order to avoid unintentional presses. The button must be pressed and held for the app to open. Holding the button for too long, however, will close the Camera app and return to the Lock screen.

All in all, Apple does not appear to be acknowledging an actual issue with the cases here, but rather helping to clear up some confusion.

Smart Battery Cases for the ‌iPhone‌ 11, ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro, and ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ launched late last month and are priced at $129 for all models. The cases are available in White and Black, and the Pro versions also come in Pink Sand.

Wireless CarPlay has yet to take off with car manufacturers, with BMW (as well its MINI brand) being the first major car manufacturer to support the feature several years ago. As we recently covered, Porsche is in the process rolling out wireless ‌CarPlay‌ to its lineup, but there's at least one other notable manufacturer adopting the technology, and that's VW's luxury brand Audi.

Audi's latest "MMI touch response" infotainment system replaces nearly all center stack controls with a pair of touchscreens that offer haptic feedback when you touch on icons and other user interface elements. I've had a chance to test out a 2019 Audi A7 to see how the MMI touch response system works both on its own and in conjunction with ‌CarPlay‌, so read on for all of the details.

Audi MMI Touch Response

The A7's dual center display setup consists of an 8.8-inch upper screen that serves as a traditional infotainment display and an 8.6-inch lower screen that supports climate controls, a few other vehicle functions, and customizable shortcuts that allow for one-touch access to items on the main infotainment screen like favorite radio stations, destinations, and more.

On the Premium Plus trim and higher, the upper display is upgraded to a 10.1-inch widescreen display, which is what my test vehicle came equipped with. Regardless of screen size, both the top and bottom displays include the haptic feedback system that lets you know that your touch has been registered.

The haptic feedback system is an interesting innovation that will be familiar to iPhone users. On the MMI touch response system, it means you do have to press a bit harder on the screen than a simple touch, and I'd say the force required is roughly equivalent to a 3D Touch press on an ‌iPhone‌. It doesn't require a terribly hard press, but it's enough to help avoid stray taps.

The elimination of nearly all hardware knobs and buttons from the dashboard of the A7 undoubtedly makes for a cleaner look, and the haptic feedback helps the touchscreen system mimic physical controls to some degree, but it still means you'll likely need to glance at the screen to see what you're doing rather than being able to rely on tactile feel like you can with physical controls.

That said, the MMI system has a clean layout that features minimal color aside from the navigation system. The color that is used elsewhere in the MMI system is primarily for showing the state of virtual toggles, sparse highlights, or grouping home screen icons by function such as a strip of yellow for audio-related functions, green for phone-related functions, and blue for navigation.

With this much touchscreen covering the center stack, it's unsurprising that it suffers from a bit of glare, but it's not bad enough to really interfere with operation. It also attracts some fingerprints, so it's a good idea to wipe things clean once in a while.

Virtual Cockpit

As if two displays on the center stack weren't enough, my test A7 was also equipped with Audi's virtual cockpit, a customizable 12.3-inch display right in front of the driver.

With customization settings, you can put the built-in Audi navigation closer to your line-of-sight, and you can opt for either a small map window flanked by large digital speedometer and tachometer gauges or let an aerial perspective mapping view take over nearly the entire screen. It's an impressive view to help guide you on your route, but unfortunately ‌CarPlay‌ can't take advantage of this extra screen real estate.

CarPlay

With the widescreen setup on the higher trims of the A7, you'll get a widescreen version of ‌CarPlay‌ that shows a 5x2 grid of home screen icons rather than the more common 4x2 grid seen on most other systems.

Even with the widescreen ‌CarPlay‌, however, Audi's MMI system maintains both a strip of icons along the left side for quick access to native functions like radio and navigation, as well as its own narrow status bar along the top that shows information like the time, signal strength, driver profile, device battery level, and wireless charging status. The status bar also provides a small pull-down to let you access any notifications from the MMI system.

Wireless ‌CarPlay‌ is a great feature, as it means you can leave your phone in your pocket and still have ‌CarPlay‌ pop right up as soon as you start up the car. It's great for short trips where you're not too concerned about getting your phone charged up while driving. Using ‌CarPlay‌ can burn through battery a bit, so for longer trips you'll want to use either a wired connection or wireless charging (which I'll talk about a bit later) to help keep your phone from running down.

Setup for wireless ‌CarPlay‌ is extremely simple, using a Bluetooth pairing process to get things going. Once the pairing is established, the phone and infotainment system communicate over Wi-Fi, and I experienced no lag when interacting with ‌CarPlay‌ wirelessly on the MMI system.

‌CarPlay‌ on a widescreen display is fantastic for Maps and other navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze, as it gives you an expansive view of the area around your route even with the various informational overlays and icons showing on top of the map. Other apps see less benefit from the widescreen treatment, as many already have fairly sparse interfaces that are uncluttered even on smaller displays.

Unfortunately, the haptic feedback that's a key feature of the native MMI system doesn't work with ‌CarPlay‌, so when you're using ‌CarPlay‌ the system will respond to capacitive taps like any other touchscreen.

Wireless Charging

The A7 has a shallow storage compartment in the center console, and Audi offers a combination phone storage tray with wireless charger inside the compartment. The feature is part of a convenience package on the base Premium trim and comes standard on the higher-level Premium Plus and Prestige trims. Unlike wireless chargers in some other vehicles, the one in the A7 is a simple tray that accommodates a wide range of phone sizes and keeps your device hidden away. It does only charge at a maximum of 5 watts, so don't expect super fast battery charging from it.

The charger, known as the Audi phone box, also provides a cellular signal booster to help maintain a strong signal by leveraging an external antenna. It's all done seamlessly from the user perspective, so all you have to do is place your phone on the charger in the storage compartment.

Ports and Connectivity

Inside the center console storage compartment, you'll also find a pair of USB-A ports if you prefer to use a wired connection for ‌CarPlay‌ and charging. Both USB ports are capable of transmitting data.

On the rear of the center console is another pair of USB-A ports for the rear passengers, but these are charge-only ports that can't be used to deliver wired ‌CarPlay‌, for example.

Wrap-up

Wireless ‌CarPlay‌ remains primarily limited to luxury brands so far, and it would be great to see it trickle down into more mainstream vehicles sooner rather than later. With rumors of Apple launching its first "completely wireless" iPhone without a Lightning port as soon as 2021, it appears users are going to be increasingly looking for wireless ‌CarPlay‌ support.

While I still prefer to plug into a USB port to top off my phone's battery on longer trips, it's convenient on shorter trips to have ‌CarPlay‌ automatically pop up with my phone still in my pocket. And if I just want a little extra juice, the wireless charger can provide that without needing to deal with cables.

From a broader perspective, I'm less of a fan of Audi's touchscreen-heavy interface. Yes, it offers a very clean look for the dash, and the screens allow for some customizability and flexibility that you can't get from hardware buttons, but I still prefer to operate many functions by feel, and touchscreens make that difficult.

Still, Audi's MMI touch response is a powerful infotainment system, particularly on upgraded models that include a total of three large screens. ‌CarPlay‌ integrates well with the main center stack screen, offering a wide view of the ‌CarPlay‌ interface while still maintaining access to native functions. And if you're up for using the native navigation system, the beautiful virtual cockpit offers some great functionality.

All of this doesn't come cheaply, of course, with the base 2019 Audi A7 quattro starting at a sticker price of $68,000 and the recently launched 2020 model coming in $1,000 higher with a few additional standard features. My test vehicle was naturally specced out with plenty of extras, including the $8,300 Prestige package that added the larger 10.1-inch main screen, the virtual cockpit, premiums Bang & Olufson sound, the phone box with wireless charging and antenna boost, and much more.

Toss in a driver assistance package, upgraded seating and wheels, and a few more extras, and my tester came in at a bit over $85,000. That's obviously out of reach for a good many car buyers, but for those who can afford it there's a lot to like, and hopefully innovations similar to some of those found in the A7 will make their way into cheaper vehicles over time as technology tends to do.

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Speck to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a bundle of iPhone cases that includes a Presidio Stay Clear case, a Presidio Pro case, and a Presidio Grip case, which are available in multiple sizes to fit any of Apple's iPhones.

Speck's Presidio Stay Clear case, priced at $40, is a clear plastic case that's ideal if you want to let the design of the iPhone shine through, making it perfect for colorful iPhones like the ‌iPhone‌ 11 and the ‌iPhone‌ XR.

All of Speck's cases offer protection from drops and bumps, and the Presidio Stay Clear is no exception. It protects your ‌iPhone‌ from drops up to 13 feet and there's also Microban antimicrobial protection to cut down on germs. Ports remain accessible, and a lip around the case protects the display.

The Presidio Pro, also priced at $40, offers 13-foot drop protection and the same Microban antimicrobial protection as the Presidio Stay Clear, but with a soft-touch matte exterior that adds grip and is available in a range of colors, from black and gray to blue and pink.

Reinforced corners protect against serious drops, and a display lip makes sure the display doesn't get scratched when the ‌iPhone‌ is placed facedown. The Presidio Pro is slim, but features two layers of protection to add cushioning.

Available for $40, the Presidio Grip is Speck's grippiest case. It has a design that's similar to the Presidio Pro, but with raised rubber ridges along each sides that make it easier to hold.

The Presidio Grip is available in black, gray, pink, and shades of blue, and it offers the same 13-foot drop protection and antimicrobial properties as other Speck cases. It has the same dual-layer construction that protects against drops and bumps, and a raised lip to protect the display. All Speck cases, Presidio Grip included, allow Qi-based wireless charging to work.

We have five ‌iPhone‌ case bundles to give away to MacRumors readers, with winners able to get cases that fit the ‌iPhone‌ 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, X, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max. All of Speck's cases are available for 25 percent off through the holidays, so those who don't win can still get a lower price on a case.

To enter to win our giveaway, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (December 6) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on December 13. The winners will be chosen randomly on December 13 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.