Apple today released macOS Ventura 13.5, the fifth major update to the macOS Ventura operating system that was released in October. macOS Ventura 13.5 comes a month after the launch of macOS Ventura 13.4, an update that brought minor features to the Apple News app and bug fixes.
The macOS Ventura 13.5 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings.
According to Apple's release notes, macOS Ventura 13.5 introduces important bug fixes and security updates. Apple recommends that all users install the software.
There are no notable feature changes or standout bug fixes in macOS Ventura 13.5, and work on the operating system is wrapping up. Apple is shifting its focus to macOS Sonoma, the next-generation version of macOS that's coming this fall.
Apple today released iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6, the sixth point updates to the iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 operating systems that first came out last September. The launch of iOS 16.6 comes over a month after the release of iOS 16.5, an update that brought minor changes to Apple News.
iOS 16.6 and iPadOS 16.6 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. It can take a few minutes for the updates to propagate to all users because of demand. Apple has also released an iOS 15.7.8 update for those who are not able to update to iOS 16.
According to Apple's release notes for the update, it includes unspecified bug fixes and security improvements. No new features were found during the beta testing period, and Apple's notes on the software provide no insight into what's included.
Apple's work on iOS 16 is winding down now that iOS 17 is available for beta testers and set to launch in September alongside new iPhones.
Apple today announced the release of Apple Vision Pro developer kits, with developers able to apply to receive a kit starting today. Developers will be provided with an Apple Vision Pro "loaner" that will allow them to develop and test apps.
Along with a Vision Pro, developers will get help with device setup and onboarding, check-ins with Apple experts for UI design and development guidance, and help with app refining. Each developer who receives a kit will be provided with two additional code-level support requests for troubleshooting code issues.
Apple says that Apple Vision Pro headsets are Apple-owned development devices, and will need to stay where they are shipped in a private, secure workspace that is accessible only by the developers who were approved to work with one. Apple plans to be in regular contact with developers using the kit, and the kit will need to be returned at Apple's request.
Developers can apply on Apple's website. Apple will collect details about each team's development skills and existing apps, with priority given to applicants creating an app that takes advantage of visionOS features and capabilities.
Apple today released watchOS 9.6, a minor bug fix update for the Apple Watch. watchOS 9.6 is a free software update that comes a month the launch of watchOS 9.5, an update that brought the new 2023 Pride watch face.
watchOS 9.6 can be downloaded for free through the Apple Watch app on the iPhone by opening it up and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the iPhone.
According to Apple, the update includes bug fixes and security improvements for Apple Watch owners, with no new specific features.
watchOS 9 will soon be replaced with watchOS 10, the next-generation version of watchOS that Apple is currently beta testing.
Apple today released tvOS 16.6, the sixth notable update to the tvOS 16 operating system that initially came out last September. Available for the Apple TV 4K and the Apple TV HD, tvOS 16.6 comes over a month after the launch of tvOS 16.5.
tvOS 16.6 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the Apple TV by going to System > Software Update. If you have automatic software updates turned on, you will be upgraded to tvOS 16.6 automatically.
There were no new tvOS 16 features discovered in the tvOS 16.6 update during the beta testing process, and it appears to focus on bug fixes and security improvements much like iOS 16.6, watchOS 9.6, and macOS Ventura 13.5. A HomePod software version 16.6 has also been released.
Today we're tracking a pair of deals on popular Apple accessories including the MagSafe Battery Pack and Apple Pencil 2. You'll find both of these sales on Amazon, with delivery estimated between July 25 and July 29 for most orders placed in the United States.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Starting with the MagSafe Battery Pack, this is available for $84.00, down from $99.00. We haven't tracked a decent deal on this accessory in a few months, making this a great opportunity for anyone who's been waiting for a markdown. Overall, this is a second-best price.
A man was saved by his iPhone 14's emergency features on Friday evening after he drove his car off a cliff and plummeted 400 feet into a canyon in the Mount Wilson area near Los Angeles, according to the local CBS affiliate.
The two iPhone 14 features that helped to save the man's life were Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via satellite. First, the iPhone automatically detected a severe car crash. Second, the device automatically sent a text message to an emergency relay center via satellite connection, since the crash site was outside of the range of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. The message included precise location information, and a local search and rescue team was able to find and rescue the man with use of a helicopter.
"He was 400 feet down in a canyon with virtually no way out," said Steve Goldsworthy, Rescue Operations Leader at Montrose Search and Rescue. "So, who knows when, or if, we would've located him." Another member of the search and rescue team said the man likely would have bled out had he not been rescued in a timely manner.
Crash Detection is enabled by default on all iPhone 14 models. In the U.S., Emergency SOS via satellite requires an iPhone 14 updated to iOS 16.1 or later.
Apple services chief Eddy Cue has effectively ruled out the company's rumored bid to obtain the broadcasting rights to the English Premier League for Apple TV+.
Apple has reportedly been interested in obtaining the rights to broadcast the Premier League as far back as 2012. Earlier this year, Bloomberg highlighted Apple's consideration of a bid for the rights to stream the Premier League, among other lower league matches run by the English Football League, for Apple TV+.
Eddy Cue has now effectively ruled out Apple's intention to make a bid on the basis that it would be unable to obtain global rights. The company sought a deal similar to its rights to broadcast Major League Soccer (MLS) worldwide for a period of ten years, an arrangement hailed as a "historic first for a major professional sports league." Speaking to The Daily Mail, Cue explained Apple's rationale:
I don't like the word exclusivity because that's important but not as important. The global rights are important to us. We're a global company, we have customers in every country in the world, a large number of customers, and it's not exciting for me to have something that you can have but you can't have.
Secondly, we're throwing a significant amount of engineering resources into the product. We think we're going to do some very innovative things with the product as we move forward. We've done some things like MLS 360 (providing live look-ins from every match), we've done the multi-viewing of games, which is again very difficult to do in other environments. And this is nothing.
I can't justify throwing what I think are the best engineers in the world on a small subset product. It has to be this kind of a partnership because our level of investment is significant. This isn't "hey, I've got an opening from 8pm to 10pm tonight and I'm going to put this game on." That's not the way we're doing it. We're all in on this as an investment point of view, so it doesn't work unless it's something significant.
Recent years have seen bidding wars play out for the rights to the Premier League between Sky Sports, BT Sport, and Amazon Prime Video, with Sky Sports often being the dominant player, although Amazon has been increasingly wielding its bidding power in recent years. Packaging terms ensure that no one broadcaster gains rights to all English Premier League matches, so any Apple deal for the Premier League's broadcasting rights would necessarily fall short of the exclusivity deal the company successfully negotiated with MLS. Asked if this meant that Apple was disinterested in the rights to UEFA or the Premier League, Cue said:
I never say no to anything without knowing more specific [information]. But, in general, are we going to sign something, any league, that is to a specific country or small a subset of countries? I highly doubt we would ever do that. I can't see a scenario in which we would want to invest and do that because we're not a typical distributor, we're not just trying to fill in some gaps that we have.
This [MLS deal] is our number one thing, and we want it to be a huge success. If we were going to do something else it wasn't because it would be number two, it's because it would be another number one around it and we would want it to be, so I think that's the difference that we have.
Apple has been pursuing sports content in an effort to attract new viewers to the Apple TV+ streaming service. The company has signed deals with Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer, which is currently available on Apple TV+ via an MLS Season Pass priced at $14.99 per month or $99 per season. Apple has also reportedly expressed interest in acquiring an NBA streaming package.
Apple TV+ is also the home of hit sports comedy drama "Ted Lasso," in which an American college football coach is hired to coach an English soccer team.
Apple has asked its suppliers to develop "bezelless" OLED display panels for future iPhone models, The Elec reports.
iPhone 15 Pro Max dummy model with thinner bezels compared to an iPhone 14 Pro Max, via Unbox Therapy.
Apple apparently asked Samsung and LG Display to develop the new OLED display panels, intending to implement them while maintaining the iPhone's current design, in contrast to the curved displays that some smartphone brands with ultra-slim bezels offer. Apple is reportedly reluctant to implement a display that curves over the side of the iPhone due to concerns about optical distortion and durability.
Apple purportedly wants the bezelless displays to facilitate improved thin film encapsulation (TFE) and under-panel camera (UPC) technology, as well as increase space for components like antennas while reducing interference. Retaining a design with a flat display reportedly enables these improvements, where they would otherwise currently be impossible with a curved display.
Overall, this suggests that Apple is currently planning to offer the bezelless OLED display as soon as the iPhone 17 Pro in 2025, since this device is rumored to be the first to feature under-display Face ID technology, sitting alongside a hole-shaped cutout for the front-facing camera. Likewise, Apple is likely targeting a release date sometime before its own custom microLED display technology makes its way to the iPhone. Apple's first device with a custom microLED display is expected to be the 2025 Apple Watch Ultra, with various reports suggesting that the iPhone will be soon to follow in subsequent years.
Apple plans to reduce the iPhone's bezel over time until there is no bezel at all upon utilizing the next-generation OLED panels from Samsung and LG. This year's iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are expected to have the thinnest bezels of any smartphone to date at just 1.55mm.
This year's new Apple Watch Ultra will be lighter than the current model, according to a rumor posted on Chinese social media site Weibo.
The user, known as "Setsuna Digital" or "Instant Digital," claims that this year's new Apple Watch Ultra will have a reduced weight compared to its predecessor. The current model weighs 61.3 grams, substantially more than the 32 grams of the 41mm aluminum Apple Watch Series 8.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuorecently said that the second-generation Apple Watch Ultra will feature 3D-printed mechanical parts. The components could include the Digital Crown, Side Button, and Action Button, as these are the only mechanical parts of the Apple Watch Ultra. These titanium parts are currently CNC machined. It is unclear whether the 3D printing technology will assist Apple in reducing the weight of the Apple Watch Ultra, but it is expected to improve production time and reduce costs.
Setsuna Digital has provided accurate insights into Apple's plans in the past, such as their accurate claim that Apple would make the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus available in a new Yellow color option in the spring.
Apple is widely rumored to be planning to launch the second-generation Apple Watch Ultra alongside the Apple Watch Series 9 models later this year, but little is known about what upgrades the devices may feature other than a new chip based on the A15 Bionic.
Spotify is increasing its Premium plan to $10.99 per month, up from $9.99, the company has announced. The price hike applies to users in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and several other regions and territories.
"So that we can keep innovating, we are changing our Premium prices across a number of markets around the world," the company said in a post announcing the changes. "These updates will help us continue to deliver value to fans and artists on our platform."
In addition to increasing the Premium subscription price, the cost of the Duo plan is set to increase from $12.99 to $14.99, the Family plan will increase from $15.99 to $16.99, and the Student plan will increase from $4.99 to $5.99.
Spotify said existing subscribers in affected markets would receive an email explaining what this means for their account. Existing subscribers will get a one month grace period before the new pricing takes effect, according to a company FAQ.
The price increases aren't all that surprising given the recent subscription hikes of rival music streaming services. Apple Music prices increased in October, increasing for individuals by $1 a month to $10.99, or by $10 for the annual plan, which costs $109 a year. Apple Music for families also went up by $2 a month to $16.99. Apple raised the price of Apple Music due to increased licensing costs that provide more money to artists and songwriters, the company said at the time.
More recently, Amazon Music and YouTube Music Premium have also increased their prices, in both cases by adding $1 to their individual standard monthly subscription plans, which now stand at $10.99.
The Spotify price increases will be applied to the following countries: Andorra, Albania, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Croatia, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, San Marino, Thailand, Türkiye, United States, Kosovo.
Apple is "considering" raising the price for both Pro models in its upcoming iPhone 15 series, according to Bloomberg.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the report claims that despite a projected decline in the overall smartphone market, Apple plans to increase its overall revenue by raising the price of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
This isn't the first time we've heard suggestions that Apple could hike the price of its forthcoming Pro models. A rumor in May claimed that since the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will gain a number of features currently exclusive to the Pro models, such as Dynamic Island and the 48-megapixel camera, Apple sees even more of a need to separate the Pro and non-Pro devices in terms of pricing this year.
The price increase was also predicted in March by Jeff Pu, a tech analyst at Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max start at $999 and $1,099, meaning that any price increase would put both high-end iPhone models north of $1,000 for the first time.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 15 series in September, although supplies for the Pro models could be constrained. All four devices are rumored to feature a USB-C port, the Dynamic Island, and a slightly more curved frame, while several additional features and changes are rumored for the Pro models.
Apple is asking suppliers to produce about 85 million units of the iPhone 15 this year, which is roughly in line with the year before, according Bloomberg's report.
Twitter has rebranded as "X" worldwide, under the direction of owner Elon Musk. An "interim" logo featuring a white X on a black background has replaced the original blue bird logo on the platform, signaling the billionaire's intention to transform the social media network into an "everything app" similar to China's WeChat.
Musk on Sunday changed his profile picture to the new logo and added to his bio "X.com," which redirects to a brief "X" splash screen on Twitter's homepage. In a tweet on Monday morning, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino said "X is here! Let's do this." Musk later shared an image of the new X branding projected onto the side of Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco.
Twitter's official legal entity name was registered as X Corp when the company was acquired in October 2022 by Musk, who has since been referring to it as "X" or "an accelerant to creating X," but the customer-facing avian branding had hitherto survived.
The social media platform has been called Twitter since its launch in March 2006, and its About page still says the blue bird logo is "our most recognizable asset" and "That's why we're so protective of it."
Regardless, Musk believes the replacement "should have been done a long time ago." His penchant for the letter X is evident elsewhere, for example in his SpaceX and X.Ai company names. X.com was also the name of the online bank Musk co-founded, before it merged with Confinity to eventually become PayPal.
According to Platformer's Zoe Schiffer, Musk sent an email last night to Twitter employees telling them the company would publicly become known as X, and that it was the last time he would email from a Twitter address.
In a Sunday tweet, Yaccarino suggested X would be powered by AI and offer users "unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities... X will connect us all in ways we're just beginning to imagine."
"Tweets" are to be replaced, according to Musk, and posts will be called "x's". As of writing, the service still appears as Twitter in the official app, but expect that to also change soon.
Apple retail store staff will soon be able to offer customers home delivery during the ordering process, rather than them having to carry purchased products home.
Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the EasyPay machines Apple salespeople use when processing in-store product purchases are set to include an option for home shipping for the first time.
Not only will the new option make it more convenient for shoppers buying bulky products like an iMac or Mac Pro, it also means that if an item is out of stock, the store can still book the sale and avoid situations where customers leave empty-handed to look elsewhere.
Currently, Apple store staff are only able to help customers order larger or out-of-stock products online via Apple's website using a shop floor demo Mac or iPad, or by going onto the web themselves using their EasyPay device.
Gurman believes the new option could be effective in reducing the physical space required for stock in future stores. He also suggests the move could aid Apple's retail sales strategy for its Vision Pro headset, which will be complicated by the many different custom combinations of head bands, light seals, and prescription lens inserts.
If any aspect of the customer's required Vision Pro setup is out of stock at the store, the missing part can be shipped directly to them, thereby avoiding a potential no-sale.
According to a memo sent to retail store staff, the new program is called EasyPay Online Ordering and will roll out in early August.
The Mac mini and high-end MacBook Pro will not be among the first wave of Macs to launch with the M3 chip later this year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that he believes "it's a sure thing that an M3 version of the Mac mini is eventually coming," but it is not imminent or far into development. As such, he claims that the machine is not expected to emerge until late 2024 at the earliest and will not be in the first series of M3 Macs to be released.
Likewise, new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models will not be among the first M3 Macs to debut in October later this year. These machines are expected to feature the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips and will "probably" launch by the middle of 2024 at the latest.
He also noted that the M2 Mac mini launched more than two years after the M1 version was introduced, suggesting that Apple does not see the Mac mini as a device that requires annual refreshes. This is contrasted by the high-end MacBook Pro, a far more popular device, with a refresh cycle of around every four or five quarters.
Last week, Gurman said the first Macs with an M3 chip could launch as early as October of this year. The first models with the M3 chip will likely be the 13-inch MacBook Pro, 13-inch MacBook Air, and 24-inch iMac. The M3 chip is widely expected to be fabricated using TSMC's 3nm process for significant performance and power efficiency improvements compared to the 5nm-based M2 chip in existing devices.
While it was a relatively quiet week for Apple news and rumors, we did learn that the first Macs with the as-yet-unannounced M3 chip could be just three months away from being unveiled, providing us all with something to look forward to.
Other top stories this week included the release of Apple's new Beats Studio Pro over-ear headphones, the possibility of iPhone 15 Pro models being in low supply at launch due to a display-related manufacturing issue, and more.
Apple's First M3-Powered Macs Likely to Launch in October
The M3 chip is widely expected to be fabricated with TSMC's 3nm process for significant performance and power efficiency improvements compared to the 5nm-based M2 chip in the existing 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Beats Studio Pro Debut With Improved Sound Quality, Spatial Audio, USB-C, and More
Key new features of the Beats Studio Pro compared to the Studio3 include a USB-C port for charging and audio, improved sound quality, longer battery life, a redesigned carrying case, and more. The headphones are priced at $349.99 and are available in four color options.
iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max Supplies Could Be Constrained at Launch Due to Display Manufacturing Issues
iOS 17 is currently available as a public beta (here's how to install it on your iPhone), and should be released to all users in September. The software update is compatible with the iPhone XS and newer.
Next AirPods Max Could Adopt These Five Features From Beats Studio Pro and AirPods Pro
While rumors about new AirPods Max have been slim so far, there are a handful of features that the over-ear headphones could adopt from the new Beats Studio Pro and the second-generation AirPods Pro.
Apple has lagged behind companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google in terms of generative AI systems like ChatGPT, but the company has said that it wants to be thoughtful and deliberate with how it implements AI.
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.
Apple's iOS 17 upgrade brings notable new communication features, adding functionality to the Phone app and the FaceTime app. The Phone app lets you customize what people see when you call them, while FaceTime gains video messages and the option to take FaceTime calls on the Apple TV.
This guide highlights everything new with the Phone and FaceTime apps in iOS 17.
Phone
Contact Posters
Apple started letting you choose the name and photo that you want to share with others in the Messages app, and now sharing extends to the Phone app. You can create a Contact Poster that other people see when they call you.
Contact Posters are created in the Contacts app by tapping on your own name, selecting the Contact Photo & Poster option, and tapping on the Edit button.
You can choose to share a photo, a Memoji, or just your initials, and this is what people will see when you call them. To go along with the photo, you can also customize font size, style, and color. Note that you cannot change your name from this interface - that needs to be done by changing your contact info.
There are several filters that can be applied to images, including black and white, duotone, and color wash in the color of your choice. You can edit the crop of the photo, and customize your Contact Poster independently of your shared Messages image.
Contact Posters can be shared with your contacts automatically, or you can be prompted to share with anyone who calls you so no one sees your custom imagery without your permission.
Contacts App
To account for Contact Posters, the design of the Contacts app has been tweaked. When you tap on a contact, you'll now see that their contact image, Memoji, or initials take up a much larger portion of the screen. This also counts for contacts where you've assigned an image.
You'll have an option to tap on the Contact Photo and Poster option underneath the person's name to choose to update to the latest info automatically when your contact changes something like their profile photo, or turn on manual updates so you're prompted for the update.
Live Voicemail
Live Voicemail is a new feature that allows the iPhone to transcribe a voicemail as it's being left, so you can pick up the phone if it turns out to be something important.
The voicemail is displayed right on your Lock Screen as the person on the other end speaks, which can help you avoid missed calls if it turns out an unknown number is a call from your doctor or another important person.
Live Voicemail can be somewhat confusing to people who are not familiar with the feature. Apple's default Live Voicemail wording tells people that "the person you're calling may pick up," which has led to instances where people have called iOS 17 users and waited for several minutes for the person with Live Voicemail to answer. It's essentially not clear that it's a standard voicemail sequence.
This can be avoided with a custom greeting recorded by opening up the Phone app, tapping on Voicemail, and then tapping on Greeting to make a new recording.
Live Voicemail can also be turned off in the Settings app by going to Phone > Live Voicemail and toggling it off.
Updated Call Log
A small but useful update to the call log lets you know if a missed call resulted in a voicemail. If so, you can tap that voicemail from the Recents interface.
Dual-SIM Upgrades
Those who use the Dual-SIM feature now have an option to create different ringtones for each SIM, and choose a SIM when calling back an unknown number. There's also an option to sort incoming messages based on SIM.
FaceTime
Audio and Video Messages
When you FaceTime someone and they aren't able to answer, you can leave a video or audio message depending on the call method you used. If you were using FaceTime video, you can leave a video message, and if you were using FaceTime audio, you can leave an audio message.
After the missed call, you'll see a "Record Video" option, which will allow you to create a message. You'll see a preview of your video, and the option to re-record if it didn't turn out well. Once sent, the video message is in the FaceTime missed call log, where the person can watch the video and call you back.
Note that there is an option for people to save video messages to their Camera Roll, so keep that in mind when sending a video to someone.
FaceTime Reactions
The Messages app has had reactions that trigger with certain words for some time now, and in iOS 17, Apple is bringing reactions to FaceTime. Rather than being triggered by words, though, the reactions are triggered by gestures.
Gestures trigger on-screen effects like hearts, balloons, confetti, fireworks, and more, with the effects flooding the display over the FaceTime window.
Heart - Heart emoji
Thumbs up - Thumbs up emoji
Two thumbs up - Fireworks
Single thumbs down - Thumbs down emoji
Two thumbs down - Cloud
Peace sign with one hand - Balloons
Peace sign with two hands - Confetti
"Rock on" sign with two hands - Laser
While the reactions are triggered with gestures, you can also long press on your picture in FaceTime to bring up a list of options.
These reactions work by default in FaceTime, and third-party apps can adopt the effects as well.
FaceTime on Apple TV
With iOS 17 and tvOS 17, you can use FaceTime on the Apple TV. There's a new FaceTime app on tvOS 17, but to use it, you need an iPhone running iOS 17 or an iPad running iPadOS 17 to serve as the camera because the Apple TV doesn't have its own camera.
You can start a FaceTime call on the Apple TV or start one on the iPhone and hand it off to the Apple TV. It's basically the same as FaceTime on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, but with a much larger display. The iPhone will need to be placed near the TV for capturing your video, and the person you're FaceTiming with will be shown on the TV.
Center Stage is available to keep you in the frame as you move around, and you can handoff a call from the Apple TV to an iOS device if you need to move to another room, and vice versa.
Apple is gearing up to provide developers with resources to create apps and experiences for the Apple Vision Pro headset, and yesterday, the company pushed out new backend assets for the Vision Pro.
Code for updating the battery pack that powers the Vision Pro has been introduced, along with other visionOS assets needed for test versions of the device. Apple appears to have three different model numbers for Vision Pro batteries, including A2781, A2988, and A2697. It is not clear why there are three separate numbers when Apple has only announced two-hour battery life for the device, but there could be multiple battery packs in development or there could be additional battery options that will be used solely in Apple Stores for testing.
The code additions come ahead of when Apple plans to introduce development kits to select developers. Apple on its developer website says that it plans to introduce Apple Vision Pro developer kits and other developer tools starting in July, and there are less than two weeks left in the month.
Apple has just pushed live the backend for the Vision Pro battery to receive firmware updates along with a few other visionOS assets.
This comes as Apple is gearing up to send out Vision Pro developer kits sometime this month. pic.twitter.com/tNiyN0nB7E
— Aaron (@aaronp613) July 21, 2023
Developer kits will help developers bring their creations to life directly on Vision Pro, according to Apple, providing the tools to quickly build, iterate, and test apps. Developers will be able to apply to get a kit.
Apple last offered a developer kit ahead of the launch of Apple silicon chips in 2020. Apple provided developers with a Mac mini that had an A-series chip so that developers could transition from Intel to Apple silicon. The Mac mini machines were priced at $500, and the Apple Developer Kits will also likely require a payment from developers.
Along with Apple Vision Pro developer kits, Apple says that it will offer Apple Vision Pro compatibility evaluations for existing apps and opportunities for developers to visit a Vision Pro developer lab that provides demonstrations of visionOS, iPadOS, and iOS apps running on the headset. Labs will be available in Cupertino, London, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.
Apple previously released the first visionOS beta in June, and Unity earlier this week released beta versions of Vision Pro game development tools. Apple is partnering with Unity on the "PolySpatial" development platform for visionOS that will allow developers to create and port 3D experiences to the Vision Pro headset.
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