MacRumors

With the introduction of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Safari extensions that previously only worked on the Mac can also run on the iPhone and iPad. While the feature won't be widely available until the fall when the new updates roll out to the public, 1Password, a popular password management app, has already teased a functional Safari extension on iPadOS 15.

Shared by 1Password developer Andrew Beyer on Twitter, the in-development 1Password iPadOS 15 extension allows users to access their saved passwords quickly, create new passwords, edit existing accounts, and more.

The 1Password extension will also work on the ‌iPhone‌ running iOS 15. Similar to on macOS, Safari extensions on iOS and iPadOS 15 are easily accessible through the main toolbar. On iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, Safari received noteworthy updates, including major redesigns, enhanced security, and on iOS and iPadOS, the ability to pull down on a tab to refresh.

On iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, Safari will automatically upgrade web connections for sites to the HTTPS protocol, in the case they're loaded in HTTP.

The new feature largely went unnoticed during the WWDC keynote, but it is highlighted on the macOS Monterey and iOS/iPadOS 15 feature pages. Apple says that Safari now "automatically upgrades sites known to support HTTPS from insecure HTTP."

Safari on iOS 15, macOS Monterey, and iPadOS 15 all received major redesigns, including new Tab groups, synchronizable start pages, web extensions for iOS and iPadOS, and more. Learn more about iOS 15 and macOS Monterey in our dedicated roundups.

Adobe today announced the release of major updates across its Creative Cloud software suite. Most notably, its Illustrator, InDesign, and Lightroom Classic apps now run natively on Macs with the M1 chip, resulting in faster performance.

Creative Cloud apps are on average over 80% faster on an M1 Mac compared to an identically configured Intel-based Mac, according to Adobe.

Additional notable new features and workflow improvements in today's releases, per Adobe:

• Lightroom Ecosystem: New Premium Presets, collaborative editing capabilities, Super Resolution in Lightroom and Lightroom Classic (previously available in Adobe Camera Raw), and custom crop aspect ratios in Lightroom
• Powerful new retouching features in Photoshop Express, including skin smoothing, content aware healing, face aware liquify and caricature
• Custom brushes in Photoshop on iPad
• Rotate View in Illustrator on desktop
• New styling tools in Adobe XD: Inner Shadow, Outline Stroke, and Angular Gradient

Premiere Pro with native support for the M1 chip remains in beta, with a public release coming soon, according to Adobe.

Following WWDC, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi said that Apple will continue to protect its customers amid "innovation" in the world of privacy exploitation and that Apple believes it "can largely stay ahead" of the curve to protect users.

In an exclusive interview with Fast Company, Federighi talked about new announcements that Apple made during WWDC on Monday, including Private Relay for iCloud+. Many are attributing the feature to a VPN, but Federighi notes that VPNs require users to trust the VPN provider with their data, whereas Private Relay doesn't include the need for a third party to encrypt and redirect the internet traffic.

Why did Apple develop this technology rather than build a more conventional VPN into its operating systems? "Core to the nature of the internet is that the IP address is traditionally exposed between the requester and the host – and that has some privacy knock on effects that aren't always understandable to users and certainly aren't always desirable to users. And so that's a problem we wanted to solve," says Federighi. He notes an unprotected IP has led to vectors for abuse by bad actors. "VPNs are a technology that has sought to provide some of those protections, but they do involve putting a lot of trust in a single centralized entity: the VPN provider. And that's a lot of responsibility for that intermediary, and involves the user making a really difficult trust decision about exposing all of that information to a single entity."

Federighi further said that Apple wanted to remove the need for users to trust it, or another company, allowing them to enjoy the end-user experience without the privacy trade-off.

"We hope users believe in Apple as a trustworthy intermediary, but we didn't even want you to have to trust us [because] we don't have this ability to simultaneously source your IP and the destination where you're going to–and that's unlike VPNs. And so we wanted to provide many of the benefits that people are seeking when in the past they've decided to use a VPN, but not force that difficult and conceivably perilous privacy trade-off in terms of trusting it a single intermediary."

Speaking generally about Apple’s privacy values, and some resistance to them from companies like Facebook, Federighi said that Apple believes it can continue to lead the industry, and especially as the incentives for finding privacy "exploitations" are high.

"I think the analogy with security is apt," Federighi says of the feline-and-rodent comparison. "The incentives for 'innovation' in the exploitation world are high, and so there is a lot of advancement in the art of tracking; a lot of advancement in the arts of security exploits. And so, in both areas, we think there's going to continue to be a cat and mouse game. We think we bring a lot of tools to that fight, and we can largely stay ahead of it and protect our customers. But it’s something we recognize as a battle we will be fighting for years to come."

The full interview which includes Federighi talking about how governments and the industry should treat privacy can be read on Fast Comapny.

AMD today announced new Radeon Pro W6000 series graphics cards suitable for workstations like the existing Intel-based Mac Pro.

Built on 7nm-based AMD RDNA 2 architecture, the new higher-end Radeon Pro W6800 graphics card delivers up to 79% faster graphics performance than the previous-generation Radeon Pro W5700, although this is based on a test system powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor rather than an Intel processor. The W6800 also features 32GB of high-speed GDDR6 memory with ECC support, and 128MB of AMD Infinity Cache.

AMD says the W6800 graphics card is available now from leading retailers for a suggested price of $2,249. For comparison, the W5700X graphics card is a $600 built-to-order upgrade option for the Mac Pro, which starts at $5,999 itself.

There's also a new mid-range W6600 graphics card that features 8GB of high-speed GDDR6 memory with ECC support, and 32MB of AMD Infinity Cache. AMD expects the W6600 to be available in the third quarter of 2021 for a suggested price of $649.

Last, there's a new Radeon Pro W6600M graphics option for workstation-class notebooks.

Apple on Monday revealed iOS 15 with redesigned notifications, major changes to FaceTime, and new tools that help users reduce distractions. Amongst the comprehensive set of tools for reducing distractions is the ability to disable app badge notifications for all apps on the Home Screen, resulting in a much cleaner ‌Home Screen‌ look.

App badge notifications can be disabled when users are in Do Not Disturb or "Focus" mode. Users running the iOS 15 beta can go to Settings -> Focus, and choose either Do Not Disturb or any of the other Focus modes listed. Then under Customization, tap Hide Notification Badges.

Now, when that Focus or Do Not Disturb mode is enabled, all apps will no longer show a notification badge on the ‌Home Screen‌. Users can, of course, disable notification badges on a per-app basis; however, this is a global option that impacts all apps on the ‌Home Screen‌.

Another customization feature is the ability to rearrange ‌Home Screen‌ pages. With iOS 14, Apple introduced the ability for users to disable individual ‌Home Screen‌ pages thanks to the introduction of App Library, but many users were disappointed to find that ‌Home Screen‌ pages cannot be rearranged. On iOS 15, Apple allows users to tap and hold on individual ‌Home Screen‌ pages and rearrange them. In addition, Apple also now allows users to delete a page completely rather than disable it.

Alongside iOS 15, Apple also introduced iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15. Catch up on all the WWDC announcements here.

Apple is in "early-stage talks" with two Chinese companies about the supply of batteries for a future Apple Car, according to a new Reuters report.

Apple is in early-stage talks with China's CATL and BYD about the supply of batteries for its planned electric vehicle, four people with knowledge of the matter said.

The discussions are subject to change and it is not clear if agreements with either CATL or BYD will be reached, said the people who declined to be named as the discussions are private.

One of Apple's conditions for battery suppliers is said to be the building of manufacturing facilities in the United States.

However, CATL, which is the world's biggest automotive battery maker and supplies several major car makers including Tesla, is reportedly "reluctant" to build a U.S. factory because of the ongoing political tensions between Beijing and Washington, in addition to the costs that would be involved.

According to Reuters' sources, Apple is in favor of using lithium iron phosphate batteries that are cheaper to produce because they use iron instead of nickel and cobalt, which are more expensive. However, it's not clear if discussions with CATL and BYD involved any of Apple's own technology or designs.

The last few months has seen a flurry of reports, some conflicting, about potential specifics on an ‌Apple Car‌.

Apple appears to be intensely researching all aspects of car engineering and manufacturing, but there are questions around what form Apple's vehicle project may take, with some reports suggesting Apple may be looking to leverage its software and chip design expertise to create a kind of next-generation vehicle platform for other manufacturers to use.

Bloomberg in January reported that Apple self-driving vehicle is still in early development and is still at least five years away, while reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the vehicle is unlikely to launch until 2025 at the earliest.

Apple has also reportedly lost "several" top managers from its internal Apple Car project, codenamed "Project Titan," causing a potential setback to the launch of a self-driving car.

Vast swathes of the web are currently offline, including Reddit, Spotify, Twitch, gov.uk, Hulu, HBO Max, Quora, PayPal, Vimeo, Shopify, CNN, The Guardian, The New York Times, BBC News, Bloomberg, and Financial Times sites.

The outage is down to a glitch in content delivery network provider Fastly's servers. Fastly has confirmed it's investigating an outage on its status website. Having nothing to do with Fastly, none of Apple's services are currently impacted. MacRumors.com and the MacRumors forums continue to operate as normal.

Update: After identifying the issue, Fastly says it has implemented a fix that seems to be allowing most affected websites to recover from the outage.

At its WWDC keynote on Monday, Apple announced that iCloud is getting a premium subscription tier called "‌iCloud‌+," which includes tentpole privacy features like Private Relay and Hide My Email. Another feature included in ‌iCloud‌+ that wasn't discussed in the keynote is the ability to create a custom email domain name.

From Apple's iOS 15 features preview page, under the ‌iCloud‌+ section:

Custom email domain
Personalize your iCloud Mail address with a custom domain name, and invite family members to use the same domain with their iCloud Mail accounts.

In essence, what this means is that when ‌iCloud‌+ goes live, Apple will allow users to change their ‌iCloud‌ Mail address completely. For instance, the email address jonnyappleseed@icloud.com could be changed to jonny@appleseed.com, forgoing the icloud domain reference entirely for a more personalized or businesslike look.

Additionally, Apple will allow users to invite family members to use the same domain name with their own ‌iCloud‌ Mail accounts, although it's not currently clear if family members will need to be part of Family Sharing for this to work.

For users of Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and other email providers, this sort of email address personalization has been available for a long time, so Apple could eventually prise some customers away from the competition with this move. It remains to be seen whether custom email domains for ‌iCloud‌ Mail will have certain limitations that rivals don't set, though.

Apple alongside the second-generation Apple TV 4K debuted a redesigned version of the Siri Remote, which is now available to customers with new ‌‌Apple TV‌‌ orders and as a $60 standalone replacement for the original ‌‌Siri‌‌ Remote. In lockstep with the hardware change, iOS 15 also includes a redesigned ‌Apple TV‌ ‌Siri‌ Remote interface in the Control Center.

In iOS 14, the current Remote UI takes cues from the previous-generation ‌Siri‌ Remote, with Menu, ‌Siri‌, Play/Pause and Home buttons below a large gesture pad, mirroring the glass touch surface.

Likewise, the new UI in many ways resembles the redesigned new-generation ‌Siri‌ Remote, and now includes Back, Mute, Power, and channel buttons, while the iPhone's physical Side/Power button becomes the ‌Siri‌ button.

Despite these welcome changes in the iOS 15 beta, there are still some bugs that Apple needs to iron out to get the new ‌Siri‌ Remote working consistently, so it may not be wise to update to the iOS 15 public beta as soon as it becomes available in July just to start using it. iOS 15 will be officially released in the fall.

Apple is currently rolling out spatial audio and lossless audio for Apple Music, offering subscribers a more immersive and higher-quality audio experience. Later this year, however, Apple will also bring dynamic head tracking to songs in the Apple Music catalog.

From the FAQ section of a newly updated Apple support document:

Is spatial audio with dynamic head tracking available for music?

We are excited to announce that spatial audio with dynamic head tracking is coming to Apple Music in the fall. Dynamic head tracking creates an even more immersive experience for spatial audio. It brings music to life by delivering sound that dynamically adjusts as you turn your head. And you can experience spatial audio with dynamic head tracking on AirPods Pro and AirPods Max with a compatible iPhone or iPad.

When you consider Apple's current implementation of dynamic head tracking, it's not entirely clear how it will apply to music. In its existing form, dynamic head tracking can be experienced when watching video on iPhone and iPad with headphones that support spatial audio, but it's the video element that's key.

Spatial audio uses the gyroscope and accelerometer in the ‌headphones‌ and the iOS device to track the motion of your head and your ‌device's position, comparing the motion data, and then remapping the sound field so that it stays anchored to your device even as your head moves.

Apple Music videos with spatial audio enabled already support dynamic head tracking in this way, but given that there's no visual element involved when listening to audio tracks, Apple presumably has a different implementation in mind that will create more depth to the listening experience. Individual instruments and effects may remain locked in place in a virtual soundstage when you turn your head, evoking the experience of being in the audience at a live gig, for example.

Apple is aiming to debut its first augmented reality (AR) headset in the second quarter of 2022, according to a new research note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seen by MacRumors.

Headset mockup based on a source with direct knowledge of the device (The Information)

We predict that Apple will launch AR HMD [head-mounted display] devices in 2Q22. The device will provide a video see-through AR experience, so the lens is also needed, and Genius is also a key supplier.

Apple has been rumored to be working on a pair of AR-related headsets, led by an initial "mixed-reality" device that has variously been rumored to be launching in 2021 or 2022. A sleeker pair of augmented reality glasses is rumored to follow, perhaps around 2025.

As recently as January, Kuo was predicting that Apple's initial AR headset would debut sometime in 2021, but by March he had pushed his prediction back to "mid-2022," more in line with today's report.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also indicated back in March that an announcement about the headset could come in the "next several months," but there has been no sign of such an announcement, and today's WWDC keynote would have been a prime opportunity.

Some of the uncertainty about timing may be related to a potentially lengthy gap between announcement and launch for the AR headset. As a new platform for Apple, the company may want to announce it a number of months ahead of any product launch to give developers time to prepare. Reports have, however, indicated that Apple's first AR headset will be a pricey, high-end device largely targeted at developers rather than the broader public.

Kuo's report today on Genius Electronic Optical also touches on iPhone 13 production, noting that it appears Genius will be the exclusive supplier of wide-angle and telephoto camera lenses for the upcoming ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup, at least through the end of this month. Apple's other supplier for these components, Largan, is said to have failed to meet Apple's requirements and has been asked to temporarily halt component shipments.

Genius is currently picking up the slack following Largan's misstep, and Kuo believes Genius will ultimately be responsible for 65–70% of shipments for these lens components, up from market consensus of a 40–50% share.

Following Apple's announcement during the WWDC keynote that Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio for Apple Music would be rolling out today, the feature now appears to be going live for some users.

For many users, restarting their device appears to trigger activation of the feature, but others have reported that a restart hasn't helped, so users may just need to be patient until it becomes available to them.

Once it's available, you'll see a new option in the Music section of the Settings app where you can choose whether Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is Off, Always On, or Automatic, with the Automatic option using Dolby Atmos content when your device is connected to output accessories like AirPods and compatible Beats that your device recognizes as supporting the feature. For other types of headphones, you may need to manually select the Always On option.

A separate section offers options for Lossless Audio, where you can turn the higher-quality audio files on and then choose from more granular options to specify what quality of music files your device should use when streaming over cellular, streaming over Wi-Fi, or downloading music.

In the Music app, you'll also be able to see which albums support Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio, thanks to new labels in the album details sections.

(Thanks, @JGobel!)

Today's WWDC keynote event saw Apple introduce iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15, all of which have exciting new features that will make the Apple ecosystem better than ever.

In addition to our video, we've also rounded up all of our coverage of Apple's announcements to give you a complete overview of everything new that's worth knowing about.

iOS 15

• Apple Announces iOS 15: First Look at New Features
• Apple Unveils New FaceTime Features Like Spatial Audio, SharePlay, Voice Isolation, and More
• iOS 15 Features Redesigned Notifications and New Notification Summary Sorted by Priority
• Apple Reveals Redesigned Weather iOS App With Dark Sky-Like Notifications and Full-Screen Maps
• You'll Be Able to Add Your Driver's License to Your iPhone in Select States Starting With iOS 15
• iOS 15 Compatible With All iPhones That Run iOS 14
• Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS and iPadOS 15 to Developers
• Apple Won't Make You Upgrade to iOS 15 and Will Continue to Provide Security Updates for iOS 14
• iOS 15 Includes Built-In Password Authenticator With Autofill, Replacing Google Authenticator and Authy
• Apple Temporarily Expands iCloud Storage in iOS 15 for Backing Up Data and Transferring to a New Device
• Apple Adds New Outfits, Glasses, Headwear and Accessibility Options to Memoji in iOS 15
• iOS 15 Brings FaceTime to PC and Android Users With New Option to Join on the Web
• iOS 15 Photos App Now Displays EXIF Metadata for Images
• New Separation Alerts in iOS 15 Let You Know If You Leave an AirTag or Apple Device Behind
• iOS 15 Find My App Lets You Find Devices That Are Turned Off or Erased
• HomeKit Secure Video Cameras Can Notify You When a Package Has Arrived Starting With iOS 15
• Apple Maps Lets You Set Leaving or Arrival Times When Getting Directions in iOS 15

iPadOS 15

• Apple Introduces iPadOS 15: First Look at New Features
• iPadOS 15 Features Widgets Anywhere on Home Screen and App Library
• iPadOS 15 Allows You to Build iPhone and iPad Apps on an iPad
• iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 Gain New App Store, Find My, Contacts, Sleep, Game Center and Mail Widgets
• iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey Introduce System-Wide Translation, Translate App Expands to iPad

macOS Monterey

• Apple Announces macOS Monterey With Shortcuts App, Updated Safari Browsing, 'Focus' Do Not Disturb Features, and More
• Safari Browser to Get UI Overhaul and New Features Including Tab Groups
• Shortcuts App Coming to Mac, Automator Will Remain Supported
• TestFlight Finally Coming to The Mac
• Apple Seeds First Beta of macOS 12 Monterey to Developers
• Here Are All the Macs Compatible With macOS Monterey
• Apple Brings Low Power Mode to Mac and iPad With macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15
• Apple Highlights New Privacy Features in iOS 15 and macOS Monterey, Including Microphone Indicator on Mac

watchOS 8

• Apple Reveals watchOS 8: First Look at New Features
• Apple Unveils New Health App Features Like Walking Steadiness, Trends, Lab Results, Health Sharing, and More
• Apple Watch Introducing New Tai Chi and Pilates Workout Types in watchOS 8
• Apple Bringing New Portrait Mode Photo Watch Face to watchOS 8
• Apple Seeds First Beta of watchOS 8 to Developers
• watchOS 8 Allows Users to Set Multiple Timers

tvOS 15

• Apple Announces Range of New Home Features for HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and Apple Watch
• HomePod Mini Launching in More Countries, Can Be Used as Apple TV Speaker Starting This Fall
• Apple Seeds First Beta of tvOS 15 to Developers

iCloud+

• Apple Announces iCloud+, Combines Paid Storage With Privacy Features Like Hide My Email

Other Stories

• WWDC 2021 Apple Event Live Keynote Coverage: iOS 15, macOS 12, and More
• Apple Music's New Spatial Audio Feature Launches Today
• Redesigned Apple Maps Expanding to Spain and Portugal Today, Italy and Australia Later This Year
• Public Betas of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, tvOS 15 and watchOS 8 Coming in July
• Apple Updates App Store Review Guidelines, Says Developers Can Now Appeal Over Perceived Unfair Treatment
• Apple Makes Screen Time API Available to Third-Party Developers
• iOS 15 'iCloud Private Relay' Feature Won't Be Available in China, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and More

Rewatch the Keynote

For those who do want to watch the full keynote, a replay is available in the Apple TV app, on Apple's Events website, and on YouTube.

Stay Tuned to MacRumors

Make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors this week because we're going to be sharing in-depth videos and articles highlighting all of the new features in the software updates that Apple introduced today.

We'll also be publishing roundups, guides, and how tos on everything that you need to know about the new software, and we'll have coverage of each new feature as we delve further into the updates.

Alongside iOS 15, Apple introduced an iCloud+ service that adds new features to its paid ‌iCloud‌ plans. One of these features is ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay, which is designed to encrypt all of the traffic leaving your device so no one can intercept it or read it.

Apple did not mention country limitations for the feature when announcing it, but Apple told Reuters that Private Relay will not be launching in China, Belarus, Colombia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and the Philippines,

According to Apple, regulatory reasons are preventing the Private Relay feature from launching in those countries.

Private Relay sends web traffic to a server that is maintained by Apple to strip the IP address. Once IP info has been removed, Apple sends the traffic to a second server maintained by a third-party company that assigns a temporary IP address and then sends the traffic to its destination, a process that prevents your IP address, location, and browsing activity from being used to create a profile about you.

Involving an outside party in the relay system is an intentional move that Apple says was designed to prevent anyone, including Apple, from knowing a user's identity and the website the user is visiting.

‌iCloud‌ Private Relay is available with any paid ‌iCloud‌ storage plan, and Apple has not changed pricing, so upgraded ‌iCloud‌ storage tiers start at $0.99. ‌iCloud‌+ also includes a new Hide My Email feature that lets you create unique, random email addresses that forward to your personal inbox, and it allows for ‌iCloud‌ Mail addresses to be personalized with a custom domain name.

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