MacRumors

Apple today released the seventh beta of OS X 10.11 El Capitan to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after releasing the sixth El Capitan beta and more than two months after unveiling the new operating system at its 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple has also re-seeded the fifth public beta of OS X El Capitan to public beta testers after accidentally releasing it yesterday and then pulling it.

The update, build number 15A263e for developers and 15A262e for public beta testers, is available through the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store and through the Apple Developer Center.

In recent weeks, Apple has been pushing rapid updates for OS X El Capitan, all of which have focused on under-the-hood performance improvements and bug fixes to optimize the operating system ahead of its public debut. Few design changes have been made in the most recent betas, but beta 7 includes some minor tweaks like a new Safari welcome screen, a new color for the El Capitan logo in "About This Mac," and a setting to disable the "Shake mouse pointer to locate" feature.

OS X El Capitan is designed to improve features introduced with OS X Yosemite, focusing on performance and user experience. A number of apps and processes on the Mac are much faster with El Capitan, and the introduction of Metal for Mac brings system-level graphics rendering that's 40 percent more efficient.

As for user experience, El Capitan includes a new systemwide San Francisco font, a revamped Mission Control feature, a new Split View feature for using two full-screen apps at once, deeper functionality for Spotlight, and several new features for Safari, including Pinned Sites for housing frequently visited websites and a universal mute button that quiets all tabs.

OS X 10.11 El Capitan is available to both registered developers and public beta testers. Apple plans to release El Capitan to the public in the fall.

Intel has shared new details about its faster, more power-efficient Skylake processors at IDF 2015 in San Francisco. PCWorld reports that Intel engineers have suggested the sixth-generation Core processors could launch in around "two weeks," setting the stage for a possible announcement of new chips appropriate for Macs at the IFA Berlin trade show on September 4-9.

Skylake processors will feature improved Iris Pro integrated graphics capable of driving up to three 4K monitors at 60Hz, whereas Haswell architecture could drive a single 4K monitor at 30Hz and Broadwell architecture could handle a single 4K monitor at 60Hz. Skylake will also have fixed-function support for 4K video processing in hardware and support for the latest APIs: DirectX 12, OpenCL 2 and OpenGL 4.4.

PC World:

That means Intel has dedicated transistors directly to the job of decoding and encoding 4K. In one demonstration showing playback of a 4K RAW video stream from a Canon video camera, playback was smooth using the Skylake graphics chip, while using just the CPU, it would constantly drop frames.

Skylake architecture is also more power efficient thanks to a new power-saving feature called Speed Shift, which allows the CPU to intelligently adjust its power state for extended battery life. Skylake CPUs are also more efficient overall and feature eDRAM+, which can cache information, for increased performance.

In June, Intel introduced Thunderbolt 3 with a USB Type-C connector and support for USB 3.1, DisplayPort 1.2 and PCI Express 3.0. The new spec, rumored to launch alongside Intel's next-generation Skylake chips, is capable of driving up to two 4K external displays at 60Hz or a single 5K display at 60Hz running off a single cable.

Last month, a leaked Intel slide deck revealed that Skylake processors will provide a 10%-20% CPU performance boost in single and multi-threaded applications, with lower power consumption, and 30% faster Intel HD integrated graphics performance on average compared to current-generation Broadwell processors. The improved energy efficiency will also result in up to 30% longer battery life.

Intel's Skylake processors appropriate for the MacBook Air were also leaked last week.

Earlier this week, we saw hints of Apple's work on iOS 9.1 in the MacRumors visitor logs, speculating Apple had begun work on the update as a way to test features on the much-rumored 12.9-inch "iPad Pro" or the iPad mini 4 ahead of production. As it turns out, we were correct.

This morning, analytics company AppSee found an "iPad6,8" with a resolution of 2,732 x 2,048 in its logs. We asked AppSee to check what version of iOS the iPad had installed on it, and as it turns out, it's running iOS 9.1, suggesting Apple's work on iOS 9.1 coincides with the development of the iPad Pro.

iOS 9.1 on the large-screened tablet in AppSee's logs suggests that's the operating system the iPad Pro will ship with, which rules out the possibility of a launch in September alongside the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus. Both iOS 9.1 and the iPad Pro will likely be unveiled at a separate event later in the year.

Rumors this morning have also suggested the iPad Pro will be entering mass production in September or October, pointing towards a late October or November launch date. It's possible Apple plans to stick to the same October iPad unveiling timeline it's used for the past several years, introducing the iPad Pro in mid-October and shipping it at the end of the month.

It is not clear what will be introduced in iOS 9.1, but the iPad Pro includes several features that could require a dedicated update, such as a pressure sensitive Force Touch display, a stylus, and a USB-C port that could support peripheral devices.

Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro will be the first major new addition to the iPad lineup since the iPad mini was unveiled in 2012. At 12.9 inches, it's significantly larger than the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2, and could bring a much-needed boost to Apple's flagging iPad sales.

Back in April, we first heard rumors about Apple planning to use 7000 Series aluminum alloys for the upcoming "iPhone 6s," taking advantage of some of the expertise gained in using the material for the Apple Watch Sport to make for a stronger iPhone body compared to the 6000 Series aluminum used on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. That device received significant "Bendgate" attention after some early users found the device bending slightly under pressure in their pockets.

Increasingly reliable reports of 7000 Series aluminum for the iPhone 6s followed by hands-on impressions of a "stronger body" and ultimately some measurements showing thickening of the shell's weak points have all pointed toward Apple making some changes to improve the strength and durability of the next iPhone.

MacRumors has recently received data on the elemental composition of the iPhone 6s shell, revealing that the aluminum alloy being used by Apple does indeed include roughly 5 percent zinc, which is in line with many 7000 Series alloys and not found in the iPhone 6 shell. A just-published video from Unbox Therapy is showing similar results, as well as test results showing a significantly stronger body more resistant to bending.

Interestingly, the data we received showed high iron levels of around 8 percent on average, although the iron composition varies significantly among test samples. Unbox Therapy, however, is not seeing particularly high levels of iron in its sample.

We've been told that some iron can be introduced into the shell during the milling process, which can account for some of the variability in measurements shared with MacRumors. The small quantities of iron at levels seen by Unbox Therapy can be used to enhance durability and make the material easier to work with during the casting process.

As shown in electron microscope images shared with MacRumors, the iPhone 6s shell is covered with a roughly 10-micron thick anodized aluminum oxide layer to help protect against corrosion. The anodization layer also enables Apple to introduce dyes for various color options.

Unbox Therapy also subjected the iPhone 6 and 6s shells to bending tests, finding that while the iPhone 6 shell began experiencing significant bending at roughly 30 pounds of pressure, the iPhone 6s shell withstood at least twice as much pressure before bending.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus at a media event on September 9. If tradition holds, the company would begin taking pre-orders a few days later and officially launch the new phone on Friday, September 18. The iPhone 6s should appear largely identical to the iPhone 6 but contain a number of hardware upgrades including Force Touch support, a new A9 chip with 2 GB of RAM, camera improvements, and more. A new rose gold or pink color option has also been rumored.

Mobile analytics firm AppSee reports that an iPad with model identifier "iPad6,8" and a resolution of 2,732×2,048 pixels -- likely the 12.9-inch "iPad Pro" -- has appeared within its analytics logs. The firm is also seeing the "iPhone8,1" and "iPhone8,2" in its logs, as others have, which are likely the model identifiers for the so-called "iPhone 6s" and "iPhone 6s Plus."

A few months ago, Taiwanese iOS developer Hiraku Wang shared iOS 9 beta code that suggested the 12.93-inch "iPad Pro" could have a 2,732×2,048 pixels resolution at 264 PPI based on Apple's @2x high-resolution modifier. Research firm DisplaySearch also reported in January that Apple had a tablet display with a resolution of 2,732×2,048 pixels and 265 PPI under development.

With new devices beginning to show up in analytics, it is likely that Apple is nearing the final stages of testing new iPhone and iPad models that are expected to be announced in the near future. Apple is rumored to hold a media event on September 9 to unveil the "iPhone 6s" and "iPhone 6s Plus," but it remains unclear if the "iPad Pro" will also be announced or held back until later in 2015 or early 2016.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issued a note to investors today that claims the "iPad Pro" will have a Force Touch-enabled stylus and enter mass production in September or October. Kuo expects that Force Touch will become a standard feature on all Apple products, similar to how Siri, Touch ID, Retina displays and other features were released on one device before expanding to others.

Apple's long-rumored 12.9-inch "iPad Pro" will enter mass production sometime in September or October, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The analyst also believes that the larger-screened iPad will come with a Force Touch-enabled stylus accessory for users to more easily navigate the increased surface area of the tablet.

Kuo believes manufacturer Cheng Uei will receive the exclusive assembly rights of the stylus. The analyst also points to recent market feedback of Force Touch on products like the Apple Watch and MacBook as reasons that the technology wouldn't exclusively drive big hardware sales, but Apple's commitment to the consistency of its devices will see Force Touch implemented on all of the company's products in the future.

Rumors about a first-party Apple-built stylus accessory began swirling earlier in the year, coming again from Kuo. Late last year, the first bit of news surrounding the iPad Pro pointed towards a 12.2-inch display, but subsequent stories have pushed the 12.9-inch rumor that's been heavily circulated ever since. Now, the latest rumors for the iPad Pro suggest the device is an unlikely candidate for next month's iPhone-centered media event, with a mid-to-late fall launch date somewhat lining up with Kuo's prediction today.

Parallels today announced the release of Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac with dual support for OS X El Capitan, Windows 10 and always-on access to Microsoft's intelligent personal assistant Cortana. Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Business Edition and Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition were also released for business customers, developers, designers and power users.

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac is virtualization software that enables users to use OS X El Capitan and Windows 10 side by side without rebooting, including full support for Windows and Mac apps. The software includes a setup assistant for switching from PC to Mac, one-click optimization settings, Linux and Google Chrome support, advanced security features and more.

The latest version of Parallels Desktop also features Quick Look for Windows documents, Travel Mode for temporarily shutting down resource-intensive services to extend battery life, location services in Windows apps and easy upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. Performance improvements include up to 50% faster boot and shut down times, up to 15% longer battery life and up to 20% faster tasks.

Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac is $79.99 with a free 14-day trial available, while customers with Parallels Desktop 9 or newer can upgrade for $49.99. Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac Business Edition and Pro Edition both retail for $99.99 per year with faster 64GB virtual RAM / 16 vCPUs for each virtual machine and extended premium 24/7 phone and email support.

Apple will relocate iPod stock from the sales floor and back storage area to the accessory shelves and remove the iPad-based Smart Signs that sit next to many display devices starting on Wednesday, according to a new report from 9to5Mac. The changes are an effort by Apple to simplify the shopping experience in its retail stores.

Apple is preparing to make significant changes to its stores to simplify the experience by relocating iPod stock to accessory shelves and removing iPad-based Smart Signs, according to several Apple Retail managers briefed today on the plans. Apple will begin rolling out these notable changes overnight on Tuesday to stores in the United States so that customers who begin coming in on Wednesday see the refreshed look.

Apple's signature products, the iPad, Mac, iPhone, iPod and Apple Watch, have typically been stored in the back storage area of an Apple Store. A customer would have to talk to an Apple Store employee and tell them which model they would like to purchase and wait as their product was retrieved from the back. Apple's non-signature products, like Apple TV and Time Capsule, are available on the accessory shelves and are easily accessible by customers without having to consult with a retail employee.

Now, customers will be able to simply walk up and pull their iPod of choice off of the store shelves. The demotion of the iPod from the main floor to the shelves is likely reflective of the iPod's decreased sales, as the device has become an increasingly minor business for Apple. The Cupertino company has also decreased the iPod's presence on its website, removing the iPod section from the website's top banner.

Additionally, Apple is removing the iPad 2-based Smart Signs intended to educate customers about Apple products. Sources tell 9to5Mac that some customers would get confused using the Smart Signs, expecting them to be fully usable iPad demo units rather than simple ways to learn about a product. Instead, Apple will begin loading product information directly on the iPads, iPhones and Macs starting next week. With less clutter on the product tables, Apple plans to install more devices for customers to test on the sales floor.

The changes to the retail stores follow Apple's move to merge its website and online store, also creating a more simplified shopping experience for customers.

Apple doesn't allow developers to create custom watch faces for the Apple Watch, preferring to maintain control over the general look of the device, but that hasn't stopped iOS developer Hamza Sood from tinkering with the Apple Watch and getting a custom watch face uploaded onto the device.

In a tweet posted this afternoon, Sood shared a video of a custom animated watch face with multiple color options.

The watch face source code that was used to create the custom watch face has been made available on GitHub and will require watchOS 2. Earlier this summer, Sood also joined several other developers in efforts to hack watchOS 2 to run truly native apps like Canabalt and a Flappy Bird clone.

It is not clear if Apple has plans to allow third-party developers to create watch faces for the Apple Watch in the future, but it's possible that as watchOS and the Apple Watch mature, Apple will be less restrictive. For now, hacks like Sood's are the only way to get custom watch faces on the device.

Despite being announced just over two years ago, CarPlay is only now becoming a built-in option in select new 2015 and 2016 vehicles by Chevrolet, Honda, Volkswagen and other car manufacturers. The in-dash system enables drivers to use Siri for hands-free access to Maps, Phone, Messages, Music, Podcasts and third-party apps such as Spotify, Rdio, iHeartRadio and MLB At Bat.

With CarPlay starting to become a feature car buyers will be considering, Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal has published a timely review of CarPlay after testing the dashboard software inside a 2016 Corvette Stingray on a New York City road trip between midtown Manhattan and Rockaway Beach in Queens. Overall, she offered praise for CarPlay, but noted the service "isn’t a complete joyride" and lacks the useful functionality of some Google services.

Stern first noted a positive experience using Siri to control Apple Music and make requests:

But DJ Siri to the rescue! All week she has accurately taken my requests, playing them via Apple Music (but not Spotify or any other third-party apps). “Siri, Play ‘Little Red Corvette.’ ” “Siri, play me Madonna’s top songs.” “Siri, who sings this song?” She does it all—though I wouldn’t object if she were a tad faster.

She also gave high marks to CarPlay's messaging capabilities and Siri's accuracy at transcribing words:

Text-message integration is where CarPlay feels miles ahead of any competition from car makers or even Google. […] Siri was, surprisingly, better at helping me respond than Google’s built-in voice assistant. Siri accurately transcribed my words nearly every time. (She forgivably struggled a bit when I was driving with the roof down.)

On the contrary, Stern found Apple Maps to be inferior to Google Maps at providing routing based on traffic conditions:

When I got in the car to go to my friend’s baby naming, Apple Maps routed me through midtown Manhattan, showing a blissfully traffic-ignorant blue line all the way to the destination. Google Maps, however, knew that Park Avenue was closed. It routed me to the FDR Drive, on Manhattan’s east side. Ignoring Apple, and choosing Google’s route, I got there on time.

The review concluded that Apple's services are "stuck in the slow lane" compared to Google Maps and Google Now:

Siri also struggles when it comes to finding businesses. Sure, she can identify the closest gas stations, and she knows mega-retailers like Starbucks and Target. But when I told her to go to my favorite coffee shop in my New Jersey hometown, she found it… in Limerick, Ireland. Google knew what I was talking about right away.

Google Now might have even guessed I wanted to go there, even before I searched. Culling information from your email, calendar and Web searches, Google’s prediction-based assistant swings into action when you plug your Android phone into an Android Auto-equipped car. In addition to displaying core information like weather and reminders, it anticipates your next destination.

Nevertheless, Stern described CarPlay as the future of in-car technology and said that, if she were in the market for a car right now, she would add Apple's in-car software to her want list. The full-length review is a worthwhile read and provides a side-by-side comparison of CarPlay's maps, messaging, music, voice control and home screen features with Google's rival in-dash system Android Auto.

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of OS X El Capitan to public beta testers, two weeks after seeding the fourth beta and a month after providing the first OS X El Capitan beta to the public for testing purposes.

Today's beta has a build number of 15A262c. It is not clear what is included in the fifth public beta as Apple has not released a new seventh OS X El Capitan developer beta, breaking its pattern of seeding betas to developers ahead of public testers. Past betas have featured no outward-facing changes, so it's likely this beta also focuses on internal performance improvements and bug fixes to get the operating system ready for its public launch.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program and already have the public beta installed can update through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.

OS X El Capitan is expected to be released to the public in the fall after the beta testing process is complete.

What's new in public beta 5:

Safari welcome screen - When opening Safari for the first time after installing the new public beta, users are seeing a new Safari welcome screen that highlights features in Safari like pinned sites, sharing links, and Smart Search for finding favorite websites.

About This Mac - The About This Mac screen has been updated with a new OS X El Capitan logo that is in color. Previously, the logo was gray.

Shake to locate mouse - In the System Preferences, there's a new Accessibility setting that lets the "Shake mouse pointer to locate" feature be disabled. This feature makes the mouse pointer bigger so it's easier to locate on the screen.

Update: It appears Apple may have pulled the beta update as many MacRumors readers are no longer able to download it.

A new study by consumer research firm MusicWatch finds that 77% of iOS users in the United States are aware of Apple Music, with 11% currently using the streaming music service. Additionally, among those that signed up for Apple Music's three-month trial, 48% said they are no longer using the service and 61% reported they have turned off the auto-renewal subscription option in iTunes.

Apple Music has attracted more users from Spotify Premium than ad-supported services such as Spotify Free and Pandora:

More than one quarter (28 percent) of Spotify Premium customers also use Apple Music, but the draw from popular ad-supported services is more modest: Just 11 percent of Spotify Free users, and 6 percent of Pandora users, now use Apple’s offering.

“In terms of benchmarking Apple Music, 40 percent of iOS users are buying digital downloads from iTunes, suggesting trial of Apple Music could be higher,” said Russ Crupnick, managing partner of MusicWatch. “That’s the disadvantage of not being the first mover in a market where very good services currently exist.”

While nearly half of iOS users that have tried Apple Music are no longer using the service, with some maintaining their loyalty to Spotify, Pandora and other rivals, the study finds that 64% of current users said they were "extremely" or "very likely" to pay for an Apple Music subscription following the free trial period, which concludes on September 30 for those that signed up on launch day.

The research study also claims that 30% of Apple Music users listen to Beats 1, while 27% use Apple Music Connect. MusicWatch's data is based on an August 2015 survey of 5,000 U.S. consumers age 13 and older, and the results were weighted to the U.S. population. The research firm has been cited by publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Fortune.

Update: In a statement to The Verge regarding this survey, Apple said 79 percent of people who signed up for the Apple Music free trial are still using Apple Music.