MacRumors

Logitech has launched a version of its Combo Touch Keyboard for Apple's 4th-generation iPad Air, offering a more affordable alternative to Apple's Magic Keyboard.

Priced at $199.99, which is $100 cheaper than the Magic Keyboard for the 10.9-inch ‌iPad Air‌, Logitech's Combo Touch Keyboard provides a full folio case with attached keyboard and touchpad.

Like the version already available for Apple's latest iPad Pro models, the keyboard is detachable and an integrated stand allows it to be used in various typing, viewing, sketching, and reading modes.

It connects to an ‌‌iPad Air‌‌ using the Smart Connector, so there's no need for pairing or charging a battery. It also features backlit keys, iPadOS shortcut keys, and space at the top for storing and charging an Apple Pencil (2nd generation), which attaches magnetically to the iPad.

Logitech's Combo Touch for the 4th-gen iPar Air comes in gray, and the company is also now offering a new "sand" color option for the iPad Pro (5th gen) version of the keyboard case.

The Logitech Combo Touch for the 4th-gen ‌iPad Air‌ and the new color for the ‌iPad Pro‌ version are available to pre-order from the Logitech website. Both products start shipping next month.

Apple subsidiary Claris today announced the release of FileMaker version 19.3 with several new features, including native support for Apple silicon, resulting in improved performance on Macs with the M1 chip.

An overview of new features from the announcement:

• Apple silicon: Claris FileMaker Pro and Claris FileMaker Server are the first low-code universal macOS binaries that ensure optimized performance on Apple silicon computers while still offering amazing speed on Intel-based Mac computers.
• Microsoft Edge for Windows: The latest Microsoft Edge WebView2 control replaces Internet Explorer 11 (IE11), which eliminates potential security concerns and ensures full FileMaker extensibility on Windows.
• Significant server enhancements: Introducing Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distribution worldwide; the return of an enhanced log viewer; and many more server fixes and under-the-hood functionality that boost performance, flexibility, stability, and security.

Popular note-taking app Notability was also updated today with native support for Apple silicon, resulting in up to 50% faster performance when running the app on an M1 Mac compared to an Intel-based Mac. Notability enables users to create hand-written digital notes with audio, which is handy for lectures and more.

Current users of Notability on the iPad can download the Mac version for free on the Mac App Store. New users can purchase Notability for $8.99, and use Notability across their Mac, iPad, and iPhone with a single purchase.

At least seven Apple suppliers have reportedly kicked off circuit board-related shipments for upcoming Apple products, and this notably includes third-generation AirPods, which are expected to be released later this year.

"Suppliers including Semco, LG Innotek, Kinsus, Unimicron, Nan Ya, Zhen Ding and AT&S have all kicked off their BT substrate shipments for Apple's next-generation products including the Apple Watch, AirPods and iPhone, which all adopt SiP modules," a paywalled DigiTimes report claimed today, citing industry sources.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu previously reported that the third-generation AirPods will be released later in 2021 with a similar design as the AirPods Pro, including shorter stems. This would mark the first update to the standard AirPods since March 2019, when the second-generation pair launched with the H1 chip for hands-free "Hey Siri" functionality and up to 50 percent more talk time than the original AirPods.

The second-generation AirPods are priced at $159 with a wired charging case and at $199 with a wireless charging case, and the third-generation AirPods would maintain a lower price than the AirPods Pro, which cost $249 regularly but are frequently on sale. It's likely that the third-generation AirPods will lack some higher-end features like active noise cancellation to maintain this lower price point.

As for the AirPods Pro, a second-generation pair with fitness tracking are rumored to launch next year, and they may have a more compact design similar to Apple's new Beats Studio Buds released earlier this month.

Apple today released a new version of the 1.0.276 firmware designed for AirTags, which is a revision to the update that was made available in June.

The new AirTags 1.0.276 firmware has a build number of 1A287b, while the old firmware had a build number of 1A276d. The 1.0.276 firmware that came out in June added anti-stalking security enhancements, and this new version likely just refines these features.

Because the firmware version has not changed, it is not possible to tell the new firmware from the old firmware in the Find My app, nor will it be apparent when the firmware of the AirTags has been updated.

There is no way to force an AirTag update, because it's something that's done over-the-air through a connected iPhone. To make sure the update happens, you can put your ‌AirTag‌ in range of your ‌iPhone‌, but you have to wait for the firmware to roll out to your device.

You can check your current ‌AirTag‌ firmware version through the Find My app.

Apple Watch Series 7 could feature a smaller "S7" chip, potentially providing more space for a larger battery or other components.

According to a paywalled preview of a DigiTimes report accessed by MacRumors, next-generation Apple Watch models will adopt double-sided System in Package (SiP) packaging from Taiwanese supplier ASE Technology.

On its website, ASE Technology confirms that its double-sided technology allows for module miniaturization, paving the way for a smaller "S7" chip.

Apple Watch Series 7 models are expected to be released in September, in line with the past several generations of the device. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu previously reported that Apple has tested thinner display bezels and a new lamination technique that brings the display closer to the front cover. The next Apple Watch could also feature a new flat-edged design and a new green color option, according to leaker Jon Prosser.

Advanced health features like body temperature sensing and blood glucose monitoring have also been rumored for a future Apple Watch, but these features are considered unlikely to be ready for Series 7 models this year.

Apple is planning to launch an updated version in the first half of 2022, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a note to investors.

As he has said previously, the design of the new iPhone SE will be "roughly the same" as the existing SE, which is modeled after the ‌iPhone‌ 8.

Kuo says that the new 2022 ‌iPhone‌ SE will support 5G, and it will include processor updates. The device will be positioned as the "cheapest 5G iPhone ever." The most affordable ‌iPhone‌ with 5G right now is the iPhone 12 mini, so presumably the ‌iPhone‌ SE will be a good deal more affordable than the $699 price point of that device.

There have been rumors of an "‌iPhone‌ SE Plus" with a larger display and a Touch ID power button, which Kuo has also mentioned in the past, but there's no word of this bigger ‌iPhone‌ SE in Kuo's note and we haven't heard new details about it for some time, so it is not clear if it's been scrapped or is something that's coming at a later date.

Kuo also previously said that Apple is developing a new version of the ‌iPhone‌ 11 with a 6-inch LCD, Face ID support, and 5G, and it's possible thst this future device, which is said to be launching in 2023, will also be in the SE family.

There is no specific word on when we can expect the next-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE, but the first half of 2022 perhaps suggests a spring event.

Apple may include an under the screen Touch ID sensor for some models of the 2022 iPhones, according to credible Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In an investor note today obtained by MacRumors, Kuo says that Apple plans to have four models in the 2022 iPhone lineup. Kuo had previously stated that the iPhone 13, destined for this year, will be the last iPhone lineup to feature a 5.4-inch “mini” size. Kuo reaffirmed his belief today, stating that the 2022 iPhones will only feature a 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch size, with two models of each size.

The low-end 6.7-inch iPhone may cost less than $900 but could lack certain features such as an under the screen Touch ID sensor to compensate for costs. The current largest 6.7-inch iPhone, the iPhone 12 Pro Max, begins at $1,099.

Providing some details about the camera improvements coming to the 2022 iPhones, Kuo says the high-end 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch iPhones will feature an improved wide-angle camera with 48 megapixels.

In the same note, Kuo reiterated that in the first half of next year, Apple is still planning to launch an updated iPhone SE that will be the “cheapest 5G iPhone ever.” The update to the iPhone SE will feature a similar design as the current model, with improved performance.

American Airlines plans to roll out new iPhones and iPads to pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, and aircraft maintenance technicians over the next year, according to a company memo obtained by View from the Wing.

The airline started rolling out the iPhone 12 to its gate agents at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, allowing agents to offer service to customers wherever they are in a terminal, per the memo. If the test program is successful, the iPhone 12 will be rolled out to all of the airline's agents over the next year.

American Airlines maintenance technicians have started receiving the seventh-generation iPad, the memo added. Once that rollout is complete by the end of June, they will no longer need to carry two different tablets for different aircraft and activities.

American Airlines pilots will continue to use iPads. The airline recently added a real-time weather app and a new turbulence awareness app to the devices.

Starting in the first quarter of 2022, American Airlines flight attendants will receive an iPhone 12 for customer service and flight management purposes, according to the memo. The new iPhones will have a customized attachment that will accept multiple forms of payment for in-flight purchases, including contactless payments like Apple Pay.

(Thanks, MyHealthyApple!)

Apple earlier today published a detailed report outlining in blatant terms the negative impact that sideloading would have on the iPhone and iPad, specifically calling out the impacts it would have on user privacy and security. Now, the company is continuing its PR push, with an executive noting in an interview that users who wish to sideload apps already have that option thanks to other platforms.

Speaking to Fast Company, Apple's head of user privacy, Erik Neuenschwander, said that opening the doors to sideloading apps on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌, which would enable users to download apps from the web and other app marketplaces besides Apple's App Store, could lead users to be "tricked or duped" into "some dark alley."

The executive, who made an appearance at the company's developer conference last year, ultimately said that iOS is not the platform for users who wish to sideload apps, suggesting that those users might want to consider other platforms.

"Sideloading in this case is actually eliminating choice," he says. "Users who want that direct access to applications without any kind of review have sideloading today on other platforms. The iOS platform is the one where users understand that they can't be tricked or duped into some dark alley or side road where they're going to end up with a sideloaded app, even if they didn't intend to."

Currently, apps must go through Apple's rigorous ‌App Store‌ review process, but if sideloading was allowed, apps would be able to bypass the review process. Neuenschwander also said that sideloading apps would leave the user vulnerable to viruses, malware, and more.

"Today, we have our technical defenses, we have our policy defenses, and then we still have the user's own smarts," Neuenschwander says, referring to Apple's App Store processes. Sideloading would negate those defenses, he contends.

"Even users who intend—they've consciously thought themselves that they are only going to download apps from the App Store—well, the attackers know this, so they're going to try to convince that user that they're downloading an app from the App Store even when that's not happening," Neuenschwander says. "Really, you have to think very creatively, very expansively as an attacker would trying to go after so many users with such rich data on their device. And so users will be attacked regardless of whether or not they intend to navigate app stores other than Apple's."

Unlike the tightly controlled nature of the ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌, users are able to download and run apps from places other than the ‌App Store‌ on macOS. Neuenschwander attempted to draw a clear distinction between iOS and macOS, pointing out that the ‌iPhone‌ is a device that users have all the time, carrying personal information such as their location. He noted that the data on ‌iPhone‌ is "more enticing" to a potential attacker compared to information on the Mac.

"It's the device you carry around with you," Neuenschwander notes. "So it knows your location. And therefore somebody who could attack that would get pattern-of-life details about you. It has a microphone, and therefore that's a microphone that could be around you much more than your Mac's microphone is likely to be. So the kind of sensitive data [on the iPhone] is more enticing to an attacker."

Neuenschwander went on to explain the difference in usage between the ‌iPhone‌ and Mac. According to Neuenschwander, users on Mac tend to only download a few applications needed for their job and not explore other applications. On the contrary, ‌iPhone‌ users are downloading apps continuously, making sideloading more dangerous, according to the executive.

But that's not all. "The pattern of use of the Mac—just the style, how people use that platform—tends to be that they get a few applications that they use to do their job or their hobby, and then it kind of reaches a steady state," Neuenschwander explains. "But what we've all seen is that mobile platforms, including iPhone, are ones where users are downloading apps on a continuing basis. And that gives an attacker more opportunities to get in and get at that user. So the threat on the iOS side is much higher than the threat on the Mac side."

Craig Federighi, Apple's software chief overseeing the development of iOS and macOS, said during his testimony for the Epic Games trail that the level of malware on the Mac is at an unacceptable level, possibly warning that similar levels of malware could make its way to the ‌iPhone‌ if sideloading was enabled.

New alleged dummy models of the upcoming iPhone 13, shared by leaker Sonny Dickson on Twitter, depict a modified camera layout on the standard ‌iPhone‌ 13 and ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini, with two lenses in a diagonal arrangement rather than the vertical arrangement seen on the ‌iPhone‌ 12 models.

The dummy models generally line up with ‌iPhone‌ 13 schematics previously seen by MacRumors, which showed that the upcoming iPhones will feature a thicker overall design and a larger camera bump on the ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro to more closely match its larger sibling.

The larger and thicker camera bumps could be a result of the rumored inclusion of sensor-shift stabilization for the entire lineup. The highest-end Pro and Pro Max are also rumored to feature upgraded Ultra Wide cameras.

Unlike last year, Apple is expected to launch the new iPhones in September, in line with years prior to the global health crisis. Apple recently filed upcoming models of the iPhone into the EEC database, and Apple's suppliers are beginning to ramp up efforts to improve device production.

OneDrive users can now edit pictures after they've uploaded them to the cloud storage service, thanks to the addition of basic photo editing features announced this week by Microsoft.

Similar to tools found in Google Photos, the new features include standard cropping options with built-in presets for images to be used on social media, as well as flip and 90-degree and incremental rotate options for uploaded pictures.

There are some useful new light and color adjustments, too. Users can adjust brightness, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, and color saturation, with a before/after comparison option to check your edits.

When you make edits to photos on OneDrive, you'll get the option to save the changes as a new image or overwrite the original image. And if you accidentally overwrite your original, you can use version history to recover it. Photo editing in OneDrive is currently limited to JPEG and PNG formats.

The new image editing features are now rolling out to OneDrive for Web and OneDrive for Android, with Microsoft bringing them to OneDrive for iOS later this year.

Twitter on iOS now enables users to easily share tweets directly to Instagram through a Story, rather than having to screenshot and post tweets onto the platform.

A new "Instagram Stories" option will appear for iOS users within the Twitter share sheet for a specific tweet. By pressing it, users are redirected to Instagram Stories with an unclickable sticker of that specific tweet. While the new method is useful for users, its limitation of not linking to the specific tweet makes the true cross-platform sharing experience a continued annoyance for users.

Amid the ongoing controversy over its tight control of app distribution on iOS, Apple today laid out its case arguing that allowing apps to be sideloaded on an iPhone would expose users to serious privacy and security risks. Sideloading refers to installing apps from a source outside of the official App Store, such as a website or third-party app store.

In a new document shared on its privacy website, Apple said the App Store plays an important role in keeping users safe, as the company reviews all apps and app updates submitted to ensure they are free of inappropriate content, privacy invasions, known malware, or other violations of the App Store Review Guidelines.

The document cites Nokia's 2020 Threat Intelligence Report that found Android devices to be infected with significantly more malware than iPhones, in part due to Android allowing apps to be sideloaded outside of the Google Play store:

A study found that devices that run on Android had 15 times more infections from malicious software than iPhone, with a key reason being that Android apps "can be downloaded from just about anywhere," while everyday iPhone users can only download apps from one source: the App Store.

Apple said allowing sideloading on the iPhone would "spur a flood of new investment into attacks" on the iOS platform:

Because of the large size of the iPhone user base and the sensitive data stored on their phones – photos, location data, health and financial information – allowing sideloading would spur a flood of new investment into attacks on the platform. Malicious actors would take advantage of the opportunity by devoting more resources to develop sophisticated attacks targeting iOS users, thereby expanding the set of weaponized exploits and attacks – often referred to as a "threat model" – that all users need to be safeguarded against. This increased risk of malware attacks puts all users at greater risk, even those who only download apps from the App Store.

Apple added that allowing sideloading would potentially force users to accept privacy and security risks, because some apps necessary for work, school, or other tasks may no longer be available on the App Store, and scammers could also trick users into thinking they are safely downloading apps from the App Store when that is not the case.

In the end, Apple said users would have to constantly be on the lookout for scams, never knowing who or what to trust, and as a result many users would download fewer apps from fewer developers. On the other hand, Apple described the App Store as a "trusted place," noting that its many layers of security provide users with an "unparalleled level of protection from malicious software," giving users peace of mind.

Apple's document comes just weeks after its high-profile trial with Fortnite creator Epic Games, which argued that third-party app stores should be allowed on iOS. During the trial, when asked why sideloading is allowed on the Mac, but not the iPhone, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi admitted that the Mac has imperfect security and said that the risks would be far greater on the iPhone due to its much larger customer base.

The full document can be read on Apple's website.

U.S. video streaming services including Apple TV+, Netflix, and Disney+ are likely to face tighter regulation in the U.K. as part of proposals being considered by the British government.

Ministers at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport today announced that they will consult on plans to bring streaming video platforms under British broadcasting laws in order to level the regulatory playing field with traditional broadcasters like the BBC, ITV, Sky and others.

Traditional broadcasters like the BBC and ITV must comply with regulator Ofcom's code, which covers issues including harm, offense, accuracy, and impartiality. If the rules of the code are broken, Ofcom can dole out fines and suspend licenses.

Currently the only streaming platform that must also adhere to the code is the BBC iPlayer, while the likes of Netflix and Amazon do not fall under its remit, because their headquarters are not located in the United Kingdom.

Some services use their own voluntary measures, such as Netflix's adoption of British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) age ratings on content. However, in a press release announcing the review, ministers say the time has come for the current status quo to change:

The current landscape makes for an inconsistent, ad-hoc and potentially harmful gap in regulation between video-on-demand services alongside a potential competitive disadvantage between UK broadcasters and their internationally-funded online counterparts.

It is also almost twenty years since the UK broadcast sector's regulatory framework was introduced in the Communications Act 2003, which was designed before the arrival of online companies such as Apple+, Amazon Prime and Netflix in their current form.

The government will also take forward existing commitments to legislate to strengthen public service broadcasters "prominence" online so that their video-on-demand content can easily be found and accessed on smart TVs and other platforms and devices.

According to the press release, the review will look at whether rules need strengthening to ensure that all streamers have appropriate content age ratings in place and whether they should be subject to standards on impartiality and accuracy for documentaries and news programming.

"Technology has transformed broadcasting but the rules protecting viewers and helping our traditional channels compete are from an analogue age," said Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, announcing the review. "The time has come to look at how we can unleash the potential of our public service broadcasters while also making sure viewers and listeners consuming content on new formats are served by a fair and well-functioning system."

The streaming service regulation review will be used to prepare a white paper, which could see traditional broadcasting laws transformed to account for the rise of streaming and on-demand services.

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