MacRumors

Apple is developing a hybrid work model for its retail employees that would sometimes allow them to work from home, reports Bloomberg.

It may sound unusual for a retail employee to work from home, but in this case, it means that workers would be able to take on at-home support shifts in addition to their in-store shifts.

A "Retail Flex" pilot program is set to debut, which will see at-home employees handling online sales, customer service, and technical support as Apple expects that many people will continue to prefer online shopping over in-person shopping.

Apple retail stores were closed for much of 2020 amid the ongoing health crisis, but all retail locations have now reopened and are operational. When the pilot program launches, workers will move between their store and remote roles depending on demand in stores vs. online shopping at different times during the year. Salaries will remain constant regardless of where an employee is working.

Participants in the Retail Flex program are being asked to participate for at least six months, with the initiative to ramp up from September to December when new devices are set to launch. Employees will be reimbursed for some internet expenses and will receive $100 to put toward office equipment.

For corporate employees, Apple is implementing a work schedule that will see them returning to the office for three days a week starting in September. Some employees petitioned Apple for a more remote friendly work environment that would allow them to work from home permanently, but Apple's retail and people lead Deirdre O'Brien clarified that Apple's in-person work schedule is non-negotiable as in-person work is "essential" to Apple product development and company culture.

Spotify today announced the launch of new beta version of its desktop app that's optimized for M1 Macs with native Apple silicon support.

According to Spotify, the beta software features compatibility improvements and optimizations for the Arm-based ‌M1‌ systems from Apple.

The beta software can be downloaded from Spotify's community site, and Spotify is seeking feedback on how the software runs. The company says that because this is a beta, there could be some unexpected behavior, and user feedback will be used to tweak and improve the usage experience.

Spotify users have been asking for a native version of the Spotify app for ‌M1‌ Macs since the machines first launched last year, so this will be welcome news for Spotify users who have an Apple silicon Mac.

(Thanks, Dion!)

Apple has made a macOS 12 Monterey beta available for its public beta testing group, letting public beta testers try out the software before it launches this fall.

The ‌macOS Monterey Public Beta is available to anyone with a compatible Mac and it does not require a developer account. This guide walks you through some simple steps on installing the beta software.

Before downloading the update, it's worth noting that Apple does not recommend installing the macOS Monterey Public Beta on your main Mac, so if you have a secondary machine, use that. This is beta software, and there are often bugs and issues that pop up that can prevent software from working properly or cause other problems.

It's also worth noting that there are some major design changes to Safari that take some adjusting to, so you may want to avoid committing to the beta usage experience until you've tried it out.

macOS Monterey Compatibility

macOS Monterey is compatible with many of the Macs that were able to run macOS Big Sur, but it drops support for some older MacBook Air and iMac models from 2013 and 2014. The Macs below can run the software.

• ‌iMac‌ - Late 2015 and later
• ‌iMac‌ Pro - 2017 and later
• ‌MacBook Air‌ - Early 2015 and later
• MacBook Pro - Early 2015 and later
• Mac Pro - Late 2013 and later
• Mac mini - Late 2014 and later
• MacBook - Early 2016 and later

Make a Time Machine Backup

Before you upgrade to the Monterey beta, you should make sure to make a backup using Apple's Time Machine backup feature with an external drive.

If you want to revert back to your previous setup after testing macOS Monterey or if you run into a bug and need to backtrack, you'll need to reinstall macOS Big Sur (or your prior OS) and a backup can be helpful for reverting.

Enroll in the Beta Software Program

Installing macOS Big Sur requires enrolling your Mac in Apple's free Apple Beta Software Program. Follow these steps to do so.

1. Visit the Apple Beta Software Program website in a browser on your Mac.
2. Click on the blue Sign up button or, if you're already a member, click sign in.
3. Enter your Apple ID and password and then a two-factor authentication code if verification is required.
4. Agree to the Apple Beta Software Program terms and conditions.
5. Once signed in and at the Guide for Public Betas page, scroll up to the top and click on "Enroll Your Devices" then click on "macOS."

Downloading and Installing the macOS Monterey Beta

After you've enrolled in the public beta testing program, you're able to download macOS Monterey.

1. After selecting the macOS section on the beta website, scroll down to "Enroll your Mac" and click on "Download the macOS Public Beta Access Utility option."
2. If you get a popup asking if you want to allow downloads on "beta.apple.com" click on "Allow."
3. Unless you've changed where files download, the beta installer (macOSPublicBetaAccessUtility.dmg) will show up in your downloads folder. Locate it and double click on it to open it up.
4. Double click on the .pkg file inside to run the installer.
5. You may see a warning advising you to back up your Mac with Time Machine. Either stop here and back up, or, if you've already done so, Click OK and then click Continue.
6. Click Continue again and then click on Agree to accept Apple's software license agreement, then click on "Install." Enter your admin password if prompted.
7. Once the installer has completed the download, the System Preferences Software Update panel will open automatically and display the ‌macOS Monterey‌ Beta download. Click on Upgrade Now to download the public beta software when prompted. It will take some time to download the file, and when the download is complete, your Mac should restart.
8. After a restart, the macOS Monterey installer should launch automatically. If it does not, it can be found in the applications folder.
9. From here, click "Continue" and walk through the steps as instructed, agreeing to the terms and conditions and making sure you've performed a backup.
10. Select the drive that you want to install the public beta on. You can choose your main drive or a partition that you've created.
11. Click Install, enter your administrator password, and click OK, then click Restart or wait for your Mac to reboot automatically.

After your Mac restarts, the Monterey installation process will begin. It takes some time for the update to install, but when the installation is finished and your Mac boots up again, it will be running the Monterey public beta.

macOS Monterey introduces a long list of new features like Universal Control for using a mouse across multiple iPads and Macs and a new FaceTime experience with sharing features for watching movies and listening to music with friends. We have a full list of everything new in macOS Monterey in our dedicated roundup.

Apple today began accepting registrations for Apple Camp, a summer program for children that's held in Apple retail locations. Apple is hosting limited sessions in Apple Stores this year, a departure from last year when Apple Camp transitioned to an in-home experience.

Apple Camp is open to children aged 8 to 12, but sessions are highly limited and generally only available in major cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.

Right now, Apple is offering one session on the Clips app on iPad, which the company says will allow children to "make movie magic" with short videos. Signups are available on the Apple Camp section of the Today at Apple website.

Children who are not in an area where an Apple Camp session is being held can access a new at-home activity guide that's available to download. It offers a full calendar of activities like making a photo album of textures, creating a storybook starring toys, making a tourist map, making songs in GarageBand, and more.

Apple today seeded the first public beta of the macOS 12 Monterey beta to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test the new macOS Monterey software ahead of its public release.

Public beta testers can download the macOS 12 Monterey update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

macOS Monterey introduces quite a few major updates for the macOS operating system. Universal Control, for example, lets a single mouse, trackpad, and keyboard be used across multiple Mac or iPad devices, and it's now possible to AirPlay directly to a Mac from an iPhone, ‌iPad‌, or even another Mac.

Safari has an updated tab bar and support for Tab Groups to keep tons of tabs organized, and FaceTime now features support for spatial audio, Portrait Mode (M1 Macs only) and Voice Isolation for cutting out background noise. A SharePlay ‌FaceTime‌ feature lets Apple TV users watch TV, listen to music, and share their screens with one another.

Shared With You, another new feature, keeps track of the music, links, podcasts, news, and photos that people are sent in Messages, highlighting it in the relevant apps. Notes has a new Quick Note feature for jotting down thoughts, and the Shortcuts app is now available on the Mac.

A dedicated Focus mode helps people stay on task by cutting out background distractions based on what's going on, and there's an updated Maps app with a whole slew of new features. With Live Text, Macs can now detect text in photos or provide details on animals, art, landmarks, plants, and more in images.

Mail Privacy Protection hides IP and prevents tracking through invisible pixels, and iCloud Private Relay keeps Safari browsing protected. There are many other new features in ‌macOS Monterey‌, with a complete overview available in our macOS Monterey roundup.

The popular smart lighting brand Philips Hue is planning to launch considerably brighter bulbs and expand its filament range later this year, according to hueblog.com.

Most Philips Hue lights can only reach a maximum brightness of 806 lumens, but the company is planning to launch new standard-size bulbs that offer up to 1,100 lumens of brightness.

Philips Hue is also planning to offer a larger lamp with up to 1,600 lumens in Hue White, Hue White Ambiance, and Hue White and Color Ambiance versions. The larger size of this bulb is necessitated by the need for additional passive cooling measures as the LED produces more heat when emitting more light.

In addition, Philips Hue is seeking to expand its filament range of bulbs by introducing new E27 filament shapes in the White Ambiance range, with a maximum brightness of 550 lumens. There will also be a brand new E14 Hue White filament bulb for the European market, which will become the smallest filament lamp in the range.

According to hueblog.com, the new products will be officially unveiled at the end of August or the beginning of September.

Elsewhere, the company is said to be exploring new Hue products with its Gradient lighting technology. This enables the output of several colors simultaneously and has so far only been available with its Gradient Lightstrip.

The popular software for virtualizing Windows on macOS, Parallels Desktop, has confirmed that support for the newly announced Windows 11 is in the works for Mac computers.

Last week, Microsoft unveiled Windows 11, the next major version of the Windows operating system. Obviously, Windows 11 won't be supported on Mac computers, but as is normal, some Mac users run virtualized desktops on their Mac with Windows.

As reported by iMore, Parallels has confirmed that it is waiting to dig into Windows 11, once all of its features, such as Teams integration and Android apps, are released and part of the Windows 11 Preview build before they starting working on Mac compatibility. As per the report:

"Since Windows 11 has just been announced recently, the Parallels Engineering team is waiting for the official Windows 11 Insider Preview build to start studying changes introduced in the new OS to deliver full compatibility in future Parallels Desktop updates," Nick Dobrovolskiy, SVP of Engineering and Support told iMore. Microsoft's first Insider preview build came out on Monday, but the rollout was a bumpy one and it doesn't include all of the new features that are coming to Windows 11 later this year such as Microsoft Teams integration or support for Android apps.

No specifics were given, but Parallels did say that it "will surely do everything that's possible to make it happen." On Intel-based Mac computers, users can natively run Windows using Boot Camp, as well as through virtualization. However, running Windows natively through Boot Camp is no longer possible on all Apple silicon Macs, leaving virtualization to be the only option.

The Chinese smartphone maker Oppo appears to be preparing "Oppo Card" as a rival to Apple Card, following similar moves by Apple competitors Google, Samsung, and Huawei.

According to Chinese trademark filings seen by DroidMaze, Oppo has filed to trademark "Oppo Card." The trademark is filed under international classifications, meaning that the company hopes to use the "Oppo Card" brand overseas.

Apple released the ‌Apple Card‌ in 2019 as a credit card that is linked to Apple Pay and built directly into the Wallet app. Apple is partnering with Goldman Sachs for the card, which is optimized for ‌‌Apple Pay‌‌ but will still work like a traditional credit card for all of your transactions. ‌Apple Card‌ also offers a number of features such as Daily Cash, spending tracking, purchase notifications, an engraved titanium physical card, and more.

Following the launch of ‌Apple Card‌, leaked images showed that Google was developing its own physical and virtual debit card in partnership with banks in the United States, featuring the ability to add or remove funds from the card after connecting a bank account.

Last year, Samsung launched "Samsung Pay Card" in the captive market of the UK, where ‌Apple Card‌ is currently unavailable, with a comparable offering of cashback, instant spend notifications, and software integration. Huawei has also launched "Huawei Card," featuring a very similar model to ‌Apple Card‌ with a physical and virtual card, cashback, and other perks.

Given the increasing number of smart card options from major tech companies, it is likely that Oppo Card will seek to compete with cashback and software integrations, but little else is known about the finance product at this early stage.

Instagram will start hosting full-screen videos as part of a major shakeup of the social platform, as the Facebook-owned company seeks to make itself more relevant in an era dominated by TikTok and YouTube.

That's the major take-home from a video shared on Wednesday by Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram. In the video posted to his Instagram and Twitter account, Mosseri said that the social platform no longer wants to be thought of as the "square photo-sharing app," and will instead lean more into entertainment and video.

Instagram is no stranger to video content, previously offered through things like IGTV, Reels, and Stories, but Mosseri said Instagram would be "embracing video more broadly" going forward, starting with "full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video," which sounds a lot like TikTok, whose popularity Mosseri concedes is something Instagram wants to emulate.

Instagram will also start testing recommendations over the next couple of months, showing users in their Feed what they may not be following yet. (The platform actually began testing in this department just this week, with the introduction of topics, which users can opt to see more or less of.)

Users should expect plenty of experimentation in this area "over the coming months," said Mosseri, and Instagram intends to be more public about what it's doing and why in the increasingly competitive social media space.

Apple's mini-LED suppliers for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro have entered the supply chain for its redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, which are on schedule to be unveiled in September, according to a new paywalled DigiTimes report.

Zhen Ding Technology and Tripod Technology have both entered the supply chain for Apple's upcoming mini LED-backlit MacBook series, and will be ramping up their shipments of backlight boards starting the third quarter, according to industry sources.

According to the report, Zhen Ding will complete its second-phase investment in capacity expansion for mini-LED boards in the third quarter to meet demand for the 14-inch and 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models, which are "set for launch in late third-quarter 2021," said sources who spoke to DigiTimes.

The third quarter runs from July through September, which would line up with a ‌MacBook Pro‌ announcement during or around Apple's annual iPhone event, which is on course this year to return to its traditional September schedule. A September ‌MacBook Pro‌ unveiling would be unusual for Apple, but not impossible, given the recent change of format for launches and announcements due to the global health crisis.

Tripod has reportedly cleared Apple's validations for equipment and capacity at its new plant in China's Xiantao, Hubei province and will be able to start production of mini-LED boards for the new ‌MacBook Pro‌ series in the third quarter as scheduled.

Both makers are optimistic that the higher unit prices and gross margins on the mini-LED shipments will contribute to their profitability in the second half of the year.

The upcoming ‌MacBook Pro‌ models will feature the most significant design overhaul to the ‌MacBook Pro‌ line that we've seen since 2016, and the updated machines will also address complaints that users have had with the ‌MacBook Pro‌ for years by bringing back older features that include MagSafe, more ports, and physical function keys.

The 14-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ that's in the works will replace the existing 13-inch version, while the 16-inch model will be a successor to the current 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌. The 14-inch model is expected to feature slimmed-down bezels, though the casing may also be slightly larger.

Both new models will have a flat-edged design that has been described as "similar to the ‌iPhone‌ 12" with no curved edges like current models, but in practice, the design changes may be smaller than expected. For all the details, check out the "What's Next" section of our dedicated MacBook Pro guide.

After months of rumors and speculation, Apple plans to announce its redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro featuring mini-LED displays, an all-new design, and a faster Apple silicon processor in September of this year, according to a report from DigiTimes.

According to the paywalled report, which revealed that Apple is planning a significant investment in bolstering mini-LED production, Apple plans to unveil its redesigned MacBook Pros in the late portion of the third quarter of this year. The third quarter runs July through September, and Apple has typically reserved product announcements during the summer for its annual iPhone event, which traditionally occurs in September.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently indicated that the next few weeks will be quiet as Apple is not planning any major announcement or product reveals until the launch of its new iPhones in the fall. That reporting would corroborate DigiTimes' claim of a late third-quarter launch, likely happening in September.

‌DigiTimes‌ further reports today that shipments of the new 14-inch and 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models will peak in October. Shipments peaking in October makes the likelihood of a September announcement even greater, given that suppliers of mini-LED displays continue to run dry. Like the M1-powered iPad Pro launch, Apple may announce the new MacBook Pros during an event in September but not yet begin shipping the device until later the next month.

The new MacBook Pros will feature the most radical redesign to the MacBook line in recent years. The new MacBook Pros are expected to feature a flat-edged design, more ports, including HDMI and an SD-card slot reader, a faster iteration of the M1 Apple silicon chip, and brighter and more vibrant displays thanks to the inclusion of mini-LED technology.

You can learn more about everything we know about the upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ using our guide.

Apple is taking a significant step to improve the production of mini-LED displays for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, by investing $200 million in purchasing new equipment for four brand new mini-LED assembly lines, according to a paywalled report from DigiTimes, seen by MacRumors.

According to the report, Apple will spend $200 million on procuring additional SMT or surface mounting-technology equipment to create four brand new assembly lines dedicated to mini-LED production for its upcoming MacBook Pros. The investment and purchase Apple hopes will provide an additional monthly SMT capacity of 700,000 to 800,000 mini-LED MacBook Pro devices.

The equipment that Apple is set to purchase will go to the company's main mini-LED module supplier, Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology. The report states that the equipment will be installed at TSMT'S plant in China, and citing a source, the report says that TSMT has confirmed it will be expanding capacity at its plant in Dongguan, southern China.

The new SMT machines to be purchased by Apple are likely to be installed at TSMT's plants in China, the sources said, adding that TSMT has just disclosed plans to enforce capacity expansions at its manufacturing complex in Dongguan, southern China.

Yesterday, a preview of the now published report from ‌DigiTimes‌ indicated that Apple is continuing to struggle with keeping up with mini-LED display demand for its 12.9-inch iPad Pro, announced this past April, and expected demand for its upcoming MacBook Pros. Apple is reportedly looking for additional mini-LED SMT suppliers, including existing supplier Radiant Opto-Electronics.

Last year, Apple announced that it would be directing 100 percent of eligible proceeds from (PRODUCT)RED purchases to the Global Fund's COVID-19 Response to "provide critical support to health systems most threatened by the outbreak" in sub-Saharan Africa until June 30, 2021. Now, the company has extended the period until December 30, 2021.

Apple began its partnership with (RED) in 2006 with the end goal of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The partnership includes several different projects, including Apple-supported grants and more than $250 million in donations to the Global Fund's HIV/AIDS programs through Apple's PRODUCT (RED) purchases.

Apple offers a number of (PRODUCT)RED products, including devices and accessories such as the (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, and (PRODUCT)RED Apple Watch Series 6. A number of cases, such as the company's leather and silicone MagSafe cases are also offered in (PRODUCT)RED. Until December 30, all eligible proceeds from these purchases will be directed to the Global Fund's COVID-19 response.

Continuing from its announcement last year, through December 7, Apple is also donating $1 for every purchase made with Apple Pay on apple.com, in the Apple Store app, or at an ‌Apple Store‌ to the Global Fund's COVID-19 Response. More information on Apple's work with (RED) can be found on Apple's website alongside (PRODUCT)RED products.

Throwboy, known for its line of pillows designed to look like classic Apple devices, has debuted a new series of throw blankets that are modeled after classic Apple operating systems.

The 80s OS blanket is designed to look like the Classic Mac OS with a menu bar that sports File, Edit, View, and Special options on a gray background, with a floppy disk icon and trash icon.

There's also a 90s version that shifts to a purple background to represent Mac OS 9, and a 2000s version modeled after the popular aqua design introduced in Mac OS X 10.

Each blanket is made from a minky fleece material and measures in at 50 inches by 60 inches, and these new OS blankets join Throwboy's existing blankets that are designed to look like the classic Finder icon and the Classic Macintosh. The OS Throw Blankets can be purchased from the Throwboy website for $46.99.

Microsoft earlier this week made its Xbox Cloud Gaming service available on iOS devices, which means iPhone and iPad users can play Xbox games using the Safari browser.

We decided to test out Xbox Cloud Gaming to see how it works at launch, and whether it's worth the $14.99 subscription price for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which is how you can get access to Xbox Cloud Gaming.

In a nutshell, whether it's worth trying out depends on what you want to play. In our experience, and based on other accounts from people who have tested the service, there's latency, sometimes bad and sometimes just sporadic. The lag doesn't make most games unplayable, but it does affect competitive online shooters.

Latency can depend on connection, so it's possible Xbox Cloud Gaming is fine if you have stellar internet speeds, but most reports so far suggest that it needs to be further refined for games where latency is a dealbreaker. We found we could adjust to the very slight delays for sports games and other titles, but with shooters, gameplay was hampered.

Given the latency issues, we wouldn't recommend the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription strictly for Xbox Cloud Gaming, but if it's something that you already have, it's a great bonus feature. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate provides access to more than 100 games on Xbox, PCs, and mobile devices, plus same day release access to Xbox Game Studios titles.

If you want to try out Xbox Cloud Gaming, you can pay $1 to get three months of access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. After that three-month period, the subscription is priced at $14.99 per month.

Apple now considers the 2015 version of the 12-inch MacBook to be vintage, and has added the machine to its vintage products list as of today.

The 12-inch MacBook, also known as the "Retina MacBook," was meant to be a smaller, lighter version of the MacBook Air, and it was equipped with an Intel Core M processor. It was the smallest Mac with a Retina display, and it also featured a fanless design.

Apple continued updating the 12-inch MacBook in 2016 and 2017, but ultimately discontinued it in 2019 in favor of the updated ‌MacBook Air‌ with Retina display as the two machines were quite similar. When it was available, the 12-inch MacBook was priced at $1,299.

For most vintage products, the designation means that they're no longer eligible for repairs at the Genius Bar or from Apple Authorized Service Providers, but Apple does offer extended repairs of select vintage products. Devices are considered vintage when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than five and less than seven years ago.