MacRumors

Apple imported staff uniforms from a company subject to U.S. sanctions over forced labor, according to a report from The Guardian.

The company in question, Changji Esquel Textile, is a subsidiary firm of Hong Kong garment group Esquel. Shipping records reveal Changji Esquel Textile is based in China's western Xinjiang region.

In July, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Esquel and 10 other Chinese companies for alleged human rights abuses, including forced labor. U.S. commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, said the sanctions were intended to prevent U.S. companies being implicated in "the Chinese Communist party's despicable offensive against defenseless Muslim minority populations."

Esquel has denied allegations of abuse, stating "We absolutely have not, do not, and will never use forced labor anywhere in our company," as it attempted to appeal about the sanctions. A 2019 international audit found there was no modern-day slavery at the company.

The report comes shortly after CEO Tim Cook told a congressional antitrust inquiry that Apple would not tolerate "abhorrent" forced labor or modern-day slavery in the company's supply chains.

"We wouldn't tolerate it. We would terminate a supplier relationship if it was found," Cook said, adding he would be enthusiastic to contribute to legislation on banning forced labor.

Until recently, the Esquel website listed Apple as a "major customer." One month before the sanctions were announced by the U.S. government, Changji Esquel Textile sent a shipment of knit shirts to Apple retail stores in California, according to shipping data provided by Panjiva. If this is the case, Apple used a company accused of human rights violations.

"Esquel is not a direct supplier to Apple but our suppliers do use cotton from their facilities in Guangzhou and Vietnam. We have confirmed no Apple supplier sources cotton from Xinjiang and there are no plans for future sourcing of cotton from the region," said a spokesperson for Apple.

The statement does not mention if Esquel or any Xinjiang-based textile company was previously a supplier to Apple. The Xinjiang region is particularly associated with forced-labor, according to The Guardian. In March, a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think-tank named Apple among 83 other major companies benefiting from the use of potentially abusive labor transfer programs in Xinjiang.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, New York City's transit agency MTA has encouraged Apple to accelerate the deployment of technology-based solutions to further protect users amid the global health crisis.

MTA Chairman Patrick Foye said riders have been seen removing their masks to unlock their iPhones using Face ID, despite a recent software update by Apple that makes it easier for masked users to enter their passcode instead.

"We understand Apple is working to address the issue and know that Apple has a range of technologies at its disposal as a global leader among tech companies," Foye wrote in the letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook. "We urge Apple to accelerate the deployment of new technologies and solutions that further protect customers in the era of COVID-19."

Foye said that the MTA would be willing to collaborate with Apple to promote a recent change in iOS 13.5 that allows a masked user to swipe up on the screen to immediately bring up the passcode interface when unlocking their iPhone. This could discourage people from taking off their mask briefly to unlock with Face ID, which does not work with masks.

The report notes that the MTA lost more than 90 percent of its subway ridership during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown in the New York area. Ridership is said to have slowly increased again, but still lags far behind pre-pandemic levels.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple has ranked third in the annual Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies for profit, and twelfth for revenue.

This year's Fortune Global 500 companies' operating income reached a record high of $33 trillion, close to the combined GDP of China and the United States. Together, this year's Fortune Global 500 companies employ 69.9 million people worldwide and are represented by 32 countries. Wal-Mart was again the world's largest company, for the seventh consecutive year.

Apple's revenue is reported as $260.174 billion, of which $55.256 billion is profit. Apple was only surpassed in profits by investment firm Berkshire Hathaway and oil company Saudi Aramco. Interestingly, Berkshire Hathaway has a 5.7% stake in Apple, which accounts for more than a fifth of its entire value.

In spite of a slight downturn for Apple in the last financial year, Fortune remains positive about Apple's ability to make money. iPhone continues to dominate sales, although subscriptions are rapidly becoming an important part of Apple's business model.

Mighty Apple dipped a smidge in 2019, down 2% to $260 billion in sales. The computer and phone maker's ability to make money cushioned the blow. Apple earned $55 billion. Three categories tell the story of Apple's sales doldrums. iPhone sales, 55% of Apple's total, fell 14%. Increases in sales of services like streaming and subscriptions, 18% of the total, grew 16%. And wearables (AirPods and Watches) and other non-phone accessories (iPods, HomePods, and Beats products) leapt 41%, but account for only 9% of the pie.

Apple is estimated to currently have 137,000 employees, and recently reported record third fiscal quarter revenue of $59.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $11.25 billion.

Apple has ranked in the Fortune Global 500 top 20 since 2013. Last year, the company ranked one place higher for both revenue and profit. In May, Apple ranked fourth in the Fortune 500 list of America's largest companies. Apple has now ranked in the top five for seven consecutive years.

Apple's largest manufacturing partner Foxconn has begun its seasonal hiring spree to assist with iPhone 12 production, offering employees who recruit qualified applicants up to a 9,000 yuan bonus, according to Chinese media reports.

As usual, Foxconn needs as many hands on deck as possible at its factory in Zhengzhou, China to assist with mass production of the upcoming iPhones. Apple is widely expected to announce four ‌iPhone‌ 12 models this year, including a 5.4-inch model, two 6.1-inch models, and a 6.7-inch model, all with OLED displays and 5G connectivity.

While new iPhones usually begin shipping in late September, Apple recently indicated that supply will be available "a few weeks later" this year.

"In addition, as you know, last year, we started selling new iPhones in late September. This year, we project supply to be available a few weeks later," said Apple CFO Luca Maestri on the company's July 31 earnings call.

For everything we expect from the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup, read our in-depth roundup.

Apple is countersuing Stereophone inventor and audio manufacturer Koss over a patent lawsuit it recently filed in Waco, Texas, accusing Apple and several audio companies of violating patents relating to its wireless headphone technology.

In the Koss lawsuit, originally spotted by Patently Apple, AirPods and Beats wireless headphones are accused of violating five patents relating to wireless headphone technology that Koss essentially says it pioneered in the industry. The four patents describe wireless earphones that involve a transceiver circuit, enabling a device to stream audio from a digital audio player, computer, or wireless network.

Koss said Apple was aware of these patents and met several times to discuss using them, before deciding not to license any of the company's technology. Koss now wants an unspecified amount in compensation for the alleged infringements, "which by law cannot be less than a reasonable royalty, together with interests and costs."

In Apple's filing registered with the U.S. District Court for the Northern California on August 8, however, it claims Koss' allegations are "baseless." Moreover, it alleges that the lawsuit also breaks a written confidentiality agreement that Koss demanded and Apple ultimately agreed to in 2017.

According to the agreement, neither Apple nor Koss "would use or attempt to use any Communications [between the parties], or the existence thereof, in a litigation or any other administrative or court proceeding for any purpose."

According to the terms of the Confidentiality Agreement, while the agreement was in force, Apple could not advise a Court of Koss' threats to file baseless infringement claims or ask a Court to declare Apple's rights and resolve the legal uncertainty it faced. The Confidentiality Agreement also restricted how Apple could disclose and use the existence and contents of the discussions. But the agreement also protected Apple—Koss was not permitted to later use the fact that Apple had agreed to a discussion with Koss, or the contents of the discussion, against Apple in litigation.

In other words, having enticed Apple to participate in discussions, reveal information, and forego some of its legal options, Koss could not use Apple's participation against it as a "gotcha" to bring claims in a later litigation.

Apple now says this is precisely what Koss has done in bringing the lawsuit, thereby rendering it invalid. In addition to the alleged breach of contract, Apple also submitted documentary evidence that it says proves that it hasn't violated any of the patents cited by Koss in its original litigation.

Apart from Apple, other companies targeted by the Koss lawsuit include Bose, JLab, Plantronics, and Skullcandy, all of which allegedly violate Koss patents related to in-ear wireless headphones technology that is now used widely in the audio market.

TikTok plans to sue the Trump administration as soon as this week, challenging the president's recent executive order to ban the short-form video sharing platform from the United States.

According to a source who spoke to NPR, TikTok will file a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Southern California, where its American operations are based, as early as Tuesday.

NPR has learned that the lawsuit will argue that President Trump's far-reaching action is unconstitutional because it failed to give the company a chance to respond. It also alleges that the administration's national security justification for the order is baseless, according to the source.

"It's based on pure speculation and conjecture," the source said. "The order has no findings of fact, just reiterates rhetoric about China that has been kicking around."

White House spokesman Judd Deere declined to comment on the potential lawsuit, and instead defended the executive order. "The Administration is committed to protecting the American people from all cyber related threats to critical infrastructure, public health and safety, and our economic and national security," he said.

Trump on Friday signed two executive orders that would officially ban any U.S. transactions with the Chinese companies that own TikTok and WeChat in 45 days, in an escalation of the ongoing technological cold war between the two countries.

TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, said it was "shocked" by the executive order and that it would respond in court, if necessary. In a statement, TikTok said, "The text of the decision makes it plain that there has been a reliance on unnamed 'reports' with no citations, fears that the app 'may be' used for misinformation campaigns with no substantiation of such fears, and concerns about the collection of data that is industry standard for thousands of mobile apps around the world."

Microsoft has publicly confirmed its intention to purchase TikTok in the United States within 45 days, and the company is currently in discussions with ByteDance. Twitter has also reportedly expressed interest in acquiring the service. A previous report suggesting Apple is interested in buying the app turned out to be inaccurate.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

This year's Apple Watch Series 6 is expected to feature an OLED screen like previous models, but a future model is likely to be the first Apple product to adopt MicroLED display technology, albeit not for another three to four years.

That's the main takeaway reading between the lines of comments made by the chairman of Epistar, Taiwan's top LED producer, which is reportedly working on a factory to manufacture MicroLED displays specifically for future Apple products.

From a DigiTimes' report filed on Monday:

Smartwatches will be the first major applications for micro LED with volume adoption likely to take place 3-4 years from now, according to Epistar chairman Lee Biing-jye.

Epistar has overcome many micro LED technological difficulties, such as mass transfer, and expects to achieve reliable production capability in 2-3 years, and introduce end-market applications in 3-4 years, Lee noted.

Apple is reportedly investing $330 million in the Taiwanese MicroLED factory to manufacture displays for future iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and other devices. MicroLEDs sized 20-50 microns are too small for PCB substrates that support minimum sizes of 50-100 microns, and therefore glass substrates are used.

Taiwanese LCD panel maker AU Optronics is understood to be supplying the glass substrates for the displays, while Epistar is said to be now focusing on improving yield rates for micro LED epitaxy and reducing cost for mass transfer.

There are several advantages of MicroLED screens over LCD and OLED displays, including being thinner and more energy efficient. For example, the power consumption of MicroLED screens is only one-tenth that of LCD displays, and the color saturation is close to OLED.

In addition, MicroLED can support a higher brightness, higher dynamic range, and wider color gamut, while also achieving a faster update rate, wider viewing angle, and lower power consumption.

Owing to the difficulties involved in developing MicroLED technology, early designs are expected to rely on mini-LEDs that are somewhere in between traditional LED and MicroLED technology. However, Apple still considers MicroLED technology to be the "top priority," according to a previous report.

Apple has six mini-LED products in the works that are set to debut in 2020 and 2021, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Apple is said to be debuting the technology in a 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ for launch later this year, followed by a 27-inch iMac Pro, a 14.1-inch MacBook Pro, a 16-inch ‌‌‌MacBook Pro‌‌‌, a 10.2.-inch iPad, and a 7.9-inch ‌‌‌‌iPad‌‌‌‌ mini.

Apple has reportedly been testing prototype ‌‌Apple Watch‌‌ models with MicroLED displays since 2017. While early rumors suggested an ‌‌Apple Watch‌‌ with a microLED display could launch as early as 2020, one leaker poured cold water on that prediction in May by claiming that this year's ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 6 will use the same OLED display as previous models.

There is precedent for new screen technologies showing up in the ‌Apple Watch‌ first. When it was introduced in 2014, the ‌Apple Watch‌ had an OLED screen. The technology then migrated to the ‌iPhone‌ X three years later.

In a worst-case scenario, Apple's annual global iPhone shipments could decline by 25–30% if it is forced to remove WeChat from its App Stores around the world, according to a new research note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo viewed by MacRumors. The removal could occur due to a recent executive order aiming to ban U.S. transactions with WeChat and its parent company Tencent.

Kuo lays out optimistic and pessimistic scenarios depending on whether Apple is only required to remove WeChat from the App Store in the United States or if the ban would apply to the ‌App Store‌ in all countries.

WeChat is extremely popular with Chinese mobile device users, essentially operating as its own platform on top of iOS and Android for many users, but the app is also widely used around the world and has over 1.2 billion monthly active users. Kuo argues that a worldwide ban on WeChat in the ‌App Store‌ would be devastating as a result.

Since WeChat is very critical to Chinese users, integrating communications, payments, e-Commerce, social software, news reading, and productivity functions, we believe that the move will tank iPhone shipments in the Chinese market. We estimate that global iPhone shipments will decline by 25–30%. Global shipments of other Apple hardware products, including AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac, will decline by 15–25%.

Under his optimistic scenario in which WeChat is only removed from the U.S. ‌App Store‌, Kuo predicts global ‌iPhone‌ shipments would be impacted by 3–6% with other Apple products being affected by less than 3%.

Apple does not break down its ‌iPhone‌ shipments by region, but overall, Greater China accounted for a little over 15% of Apple's total revenue during the June quarter, making it a significant part of Apple's business.

Kuo recommends that investors reduce their stock holdings of companies in Apple's supply chain such as LG Innotek and Genius Electronic Optical due to the risks of a WeChat ban. It does, however, remain to be seen what will happen as the prohibitions laid out in the executive order do not take effect until September 20. As a result, there is still time for the order to be clarified, modified, or rescinded.

Update 1: 10:36 p.m. This article originally stated that the 30% decline was in reference to Apple's total ‌iPhone‌ shipments, but the research note is not completely clear as to whether it refers to global or Chinese shipments. Given the Chinese share of Apple's overall sales, it seems more likely to be referring to Chinese shipments.

Update 2: 1:21 a.m. Kuo has informed MacRumors that the 30% decline is in reference to worldwide shipments and has issued an English version of his report that makes this clear.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Amid an impending ban on U.S. operations of TikTok, Twitter has expressed interest in acquiring the service, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

The report explains that it is not immediately obvious why Twitter is interested in purchasing TikTok, given the cost of acquisition and the need for substantial restructuring. Twitter's comparatively small size would, however, likely please antitrust investigators.

Twitter has a market capitalization of around $30 billion, which is almost as much as the valuation of TikTok's available assets, and would need to raise substantial additional capital. Twitter is therefore thought to be unable to finance a large enough bid to displace Microsoft as the front-runner, particularly before the deadline to complete a sale set out by President Trump.

Private equity company Silver Lake, a major Twitter shareholder, is said to be interested in helping to fund a deal. Twitter declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal.

In spite of the talks, Microsoft is still believed to be the front-runner in negotiations to purchase TikTok. Twitter has apparently made the case that its bid would be preferable to Microsoft's since it would not face any pressure from China since it has no current business in that country, unlike Microsoft.

The discussions between TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance and Microsoft are supposed to complete no later than September 15, and negotiations are still preliminary. Microsoft has said that it will not provide a further update until there is a definitive outcome.

Twitter previously acquired the short-form video sharing app "Vine" in 2012, but eventually closed the service four years later. TikTok operates similarly to Vine, and comparisons are often drawn between the services.

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Friday that set about banning any U.S. transactions with Chinese tech companies, and expressed his will to ban TikTok if it was not acquired by a U.S. company. TikTok is now reportedly planning to sue the Trump administration as soon as Tuesday, in a direct challenge to the president's executive order.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

In this week's App Recap, we've highlighted utilities app "Decibel," health and fitness app "Liftin' Workout Tracker," and productivity app "Taskheat" as three apps that are worth checking out. We've also compiled a list of apps that received major updates this week.

Apps to Check Out

• Decibel: dB Sound Level Meter (iOS, Subscription) - Coupled with a simplistic and easy-to-navigate interface, Decibel features several unique features that make it a great way to monitor audio levels. Users have the ability to save and share noise measurements with location data and access a hearing test, noise dosimeter, spectrogram, and more. The app's hearing test, which is conducted using an audiogram, informs users about the condition of their hearing. Decibel is free to download and offers access to basic features like the dB meter, noise dosimeter, audio spectrum analyzer, and hearing testing. Users can access Decibel's full capabilities through either a subscription priced at $7.99 per month and $29.99 per year or a one-time purchase of $49.99.
• Liftin' Workout Tracker (iOS, Subscription) - Liftin', an app that lets users easily track workouts, features graphs and statistics that make it easy to visualize progress. Data from the app can be backed up to iCloud and shared with the iPhone's native Health app. Liftin' is free to download, but users are only able to track five workouts per month. To track an unlimited number of workouts, users can subscribe to Liftin' Unlimited, which is priced at $4.99 for the first year and then $14.99 per year thereafter. Due to the ongoing global health crisis, the app's developer is offering a free one year trial to new users for the rest of this month.
• Taskheat (iOS & Mac, One-Time Purchase) - Taskheat lets users visually manage tasks through a convenient flowchart or list. In addition to the ability to view tasks in an organized manner, users can color code tasks for use cases such as item groupings or priority level labels. The app will also conveniently send notifications when tasks are due in the near future. Taskheat is free to download, but a one-time purchase of $9.99 is required to access the app after the 14 day trial period. Taskheat takes advantage of Apple's universal purchases feature, so buying the app once will allow users to access it across all supported devices.

App Updates

• ActivityTracker Pedometer - ActivityTracker, an app that tracks steps, active calories, distance, and more, received an update this week with several new features. In addition to a fresh user interface, the app now has a Trends view that displays averages. The new Details view shows activity statistics over certain time periods. The update also introduces a new Today widget, a new Main and Settings view, an updated Apple Watch app, and more.
• Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides - Google this week announced several new features coming to its slew of productivity apps. Google will be bringing Smart Compose, a feature that helps users write documents faster and reduce the chance of spelling and grammatical errors, to mobile in the coming months. Additionally, Google is improving the user interface for comments and action items in the apps. All three apps will also be gaining a Dark Mode variant on iOS in the coming months.
• WhatsApp - WhatsApp this week announced it will be rolling out a new way for users to fact-check forwarded messages for misinformation. Messages that have been forwarded through a chain of five or more people will display a magnifying glass button alongside them in the chat thread, and tapping on the bottom will prompt users to select if they'd like to search the web to try and find a news result or other sources of information to support the received content.

Are you using a great new app we've missed? Let us know in the comments and we'll check it out for next week's App Recap. Are you a developer of a unique app you'd like us to consider? Send us a message through our tip line at the top of the page and we'll check it out.

A teardown video, shared by OWC, reveals the internal changes in the new 2020 27-inch iMac.

The 2020 27-inch ‌iMac‌ was announced earlier this week with 10th-generation Intel Core processors, AMD Radeon Pro 5000 series graphics, up to 128GB of RAM, up to 8TB of storage, a 1080p front-facing FaceTime camera, a True Tone display with a nano-texture glass option, higher fidelity speakers, and studio-quality microphones.

MacRumors forum user TwoH summarizes the changes:

- Camera is attached to the LCD, so have to take extra care to remove a third cable when opening up the iMac.
- Lack of mechanical HDD (and SATA connectors on logicboard) - but this was obvious.
- Extra microphone(s) stuck to the case, notably an extra cable made connecting into the logic board close to the backlight. Other connects around the same position as the 2017/19 models.
- Solder joints for the 4 & 8TB model iMacs.

The biggest change inside the 2020 27-inch ‌iMac‌ is the lack of mechanical hard drive, as all models now come with SSDs by default. OWC notes that the disassembly now seems faster for this reason. There are no longer any SATA connectors in the machine and a small SSD is soldered directly to the motherboard. Instead, there are new solder joints for an expansion board to hold additional SSDs in the 4TB and 8TB configurations. In the 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations, the expansion board is not present.

The lack of mechanical hard drive has left a large amount of unused free space within the machine. It is of note that Apple did not choose to implement the additional cooling present in ‌iMac‌ Pro in this space, likely due to cost.

Another internal change is the additional microphone adhered to the bottom of the case, with the other microphone in the same position as previous years. The new 1080p webcam is attached to the LCD, so particular care has to be taken to remove a third cable when opening the machine.

OWC did point out solder joints and mount that may be where the 4TB and 8TB models have flash storage expansion board.

Beyond these minor changes, the internals are much the same as previous models, with the same power supply, cooling, socketed CPU, and headphone jack. Although the speakers are purportedly upgraded, they do not appear to be any visually different within the machine.

Due to the 2020 ‌iMac‌ sharing almost all of its internal components with previous models, it will likely be no more expensive or difficult to repair than previous models. Similarly, most parts from previous years should be compatible with this new model.

The only part of the 2020 ‌iMac‌ that is still readily upgradeable is the RAM, which is accessible via a small door on the back of the device.

Apple is taking legal action against the developers of the app "Prepear" due to its logo, according to iPhone in Canada.

Prepear is an app that helps users discover recipes, plan meals, make lists, and arrange grocery deliveries. The app is a spinoff of "Super Healthy Kids," and the founders claim that they are facing litigation from Apple. Apple reportedly takes issue with Prepear's logo, arguing that its attributes are too similar to its own logo.

The company said via a post on Instagram that Apple "has decided to oppose and go after our small business' trademark saying our pear logo is too close to their apple logo and supposedly hurts their brand". The post goes on to describe the action as "a big blow to us at Prepear," and sets out the intention to retain the original logo and "send a message to big tech companies that bullying small businesses has consequences."

The company has launched a Change.org petition in an attempt to persuade Apple to "drop its opposition of the Prepear Logo, and help stop big tech companies from abusing their position of power by going after small businesses like ours who are already struggling due to the affects of Covid-19."

Prepear says that it is a "very small business" with only five team members, and explains that legal costs from the dispute have already cost thousands of dollars and the layoff of a team member.

"Apple has opposed the trademark application for our small business, Prepear, demanding that we change our obviously pear shaped logo, used to represent our brand in the recipe management and meal planning business... Most small businesses cannot afford the tens of thousands of dollars it would cost to fight Apple," the petition claims. "It is a very terrifying experience to be legally attacked by one of the largest companies in the world, even when we have clearly done nothing wrong, and we understand why most companies just give in and change their logos."

The petition has currently reached almost 9,000 signatures, and the founders hope it will reach 10,000.

Prepear says that Apple "has opposed dozens of other trademark applications filed by small businesses with fruit related logos," even in cases where the logo or industry is dissimilar to Apple's. Logos have been the source of legal action by Apple in the past, such as the case against a Norwegian political party and a German cycling path.

Update: Image from the trademark opposition paperwork filed by Apple:

This week saw some big developments on both the hardware and software fronts, led by a significant update to the 27-inch iMac (but no redesign yet, unfortunately) and the launch of public beta testing for macOS Big Sur.

Check out our video above and read on below for more on these stories and more from the past week!

Apple Announces New 27-Inch iMac With 10th-Gen Processors, Up to 128GB RAM, 1080p Webcam, True Tone, and More

Apple this week announced a significant update for the 27-inch iMac, bringing updated Intel processors and AMD graphics, up to 128 GB of RAM, a better 1080p FaceTime camera, improved speakers and mics, a True Tone display, Apple's T2 chip, and a new $500 nano-texture matte display option. The update did not, however, include a much-anticipated redesign.

Initial media reviews indicate some impressive upgrades, particularly with the improved webcam, speakers, and mics in this time of working from home, while benchmarks show some nice improvements over the previous generation.

The 21.5-inch iMac saw only a minor change, with a 256 GB SSD becoming the default storage option in place of the previous 1 TB traditional hard drive. The smaller iMac is otherwise unchanged. The iMac Pro also saw a small bump with the base processor now being a 10-core Xeon W chip that was previously an $800 upgrade.

Apple Seeds First Public Beta of macOS Big Sur to Public Beta Testers

After initially announcing at WWDC that a public beta of macOS 11 Big Sur would be available in July, Apple this week released the first public beta a few days into August, opening it up to wider testing ahead of an official release in the fall.

If you're interested in testing out macOS Big Sur, see our how-to for a walkthrough on the installation process, but be aware that Apple recommends users install it on a backup machine as there are still bugs and incompatible apps that could cause issues and nobody wants to deal with that on their main machines.

Microsoft's xCloud and Xbox Game Pass Not Coming to iOS Due to Apple's Restrictions

Microsoft's "Project xCloud" streaming game service that pairs with its Xbox Game Pass won't be available on iPhone and iPad when it launches this September, and Apple's App Store restrictions are to blame.

Xbox Game Pass and its accompanying xCloud streaming feature offer access to hundreds of games that can be streamed to mobile devices, and Apple says that because it can't review each game available through Game Pass, it can't be allowed on the ‌App Store‌.

Everything New in iOS 14 Beta 4: Apple TV Widget, Search Improvements, Exposure Notification API and More

Apple this week released new developer and public beta versions of iOS 14, and the company continues to make tweaks as we head toward a public release in the next couple of months. We summed up a bunch of changes in the latest betas, including a new Apple TV widget, support for Exposure Notification apps, and more.

In other iOS 14 news, we took a look at the enhancements coming to Safari including the new webpage translation feature, and a few early third-party widgets.

Phil Schiller Moving on to Become 'Apple Fellow,' Greg Joswiak Taking Over as Marketing SVP

Apple's longtime marketing chief Phil Schiller is looking to slow down a bit as he turns 60, with the company this week announcing that he will be stepping down as senior vice president of marketing and becoming an Apple Fellow.

Greg Joswiak will be taking on Schiller's role atop the marketing division, although Schiller will remain onboard to oversee the App Store and Apple events such as WWDC.

Samsung Launches Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy Z Fold 2, and Galaxy Buds to Compete With Apple's iPhones and AirPods Pro

Samsung this week held a virtual Galaxy Unpacked event where it unveiled its next-generation smartphones that will compete with Apple's 2020 iPhone lineup, as well as a new Galaxy Z Fold2 5G that improves significantly on Samsung's previous folding phone efforts.

New Galaxy Buds Live earbuds, a Galaxy Tab S7, and a Galaxy Watch 3 round out the new products as a full suite of competitors to Apple's major mobile products.

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.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Apple introduces improvements for almost all of the built-in apps with each new iteration of iOS, and iOS 14 is no exception. For Safari, Apple has added some useful new features like built-in translation and a Privacy Report that provides a rundown on all of the trackers that Safari is blocking.

This guide includes all of the new features and tweaks you'll find in Safari 14 for iPhone and iPad.

Speed and Performance Improvements

According to Apple, Safari in iOS 14 features a "blazing-fast JavaScript engine" that makes Safari up to 2x faster than Chrome on Android.

Built-In Translation

Safari in iOS 14 has a built-in translation option that can be used to translate websites to English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Russian, or Brazilian Portuguese, which goes along with the new Translate app that Apple added in the update.

Translating a webpage is as simple as visiting a webpage in a supported language and then tapping on the "aA" icon in the menu bar to bring up the translate option. Tap translate and the webpage is automatically translated into the language that your phone is set to.

Additional languages to translate to can be added in the Settings app of the ‌iPhone‌, as outlined in the how to below.

• iOS 14: How to Use Safari's Webpage Translation Feature
• How to Translate Text in Apple's Translate App

Password Monitoring and Compromised Password Alerts

Safari in iOS 14 is able to monitor saved passwords, watching for passwords that have been involved in a data breach.

To enable this feature, Safari uses cryptographic techniques to regularly check derivations of your passwords against a list of breached passwords in what Apple promises is a secure and private way. If a breach is discovered, Safari will let you know and will provide prompts for upgrading to Sign in with Apple if possible or automatically generating a new secure password.

You can see potential problems under the "Security Recommendations" heading in the Passwords section of the Settings app.

Privacy Report

Safari in iOS 14 (and macOS Big Sur) adds a Privacy Report feature that expands on Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention functionality. For the last several years, Apple has been working to prevent cross-site tracking, a feature that websites use to track your internet usage as you browse different sites for ad targeting, analytics, and more.

Intelligent Tracking Prevention is Apple's description for its set of tools that block cross-site trackers in Safari, and in iOS 14, Apple lists which sites are using trackers, how many trackers those sites have installed, and the most prevalent trackers you encounter while browsing the web.

Any website that uses ads for monetization or an ad network for that same purpose will have these trackers on it, as will any site that uses analytics services like Google Analytics for collecting data on user behavior for site and content improvements.

Safari on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ lists the number of trackers on each site that you visit, the number of trackers Safari has prevented, the number of websites you've visited that have trackers, and a list of the most frequently seen trackers such as Google's DoubleClick.net.

You can get to the Privacy Report section in Safari by tapping on the icon that's two As next to each other and choosing the "Privacy Report" option. Note that you must have cross-site tracking prevention enabled for Privacy Report to work, and Privacy Report will prompt you to enable the feature if it's not turned on already.

• iOS 14: How to Use the Privacy Report Feature in Safari

Picture in Picture

In Safari on ‌iPhone‌, if you're watching a video, you can now tap the Picture in Picture button to watch it in windowed mode, so you can continue browsing another website or doing something else on your ‌iPhone‌ while the video plays. We have more details on Picture in Picture in our Picture in Picture guide.

• How to Use iOS 14's Picture in Picture Mode to Watch YouTube Videos

Launching Websites From Search

If you type a URL like MacRumors.com in the pull down search interface on the ‌iPhone‌, you can hit the "Go" button to open the website directly without having to tap a link in the search results.

Simpler Sign in with Apple

Apple made new tools for developers to allow them to translate existing web accounts to Sign in with Apple, which will hopefully make new options available to ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, and Mac users who want to convert existing logins to Sign in with Apple, which is more secure.

Tracking Permission

Apps that want to track you across apps and websites to deliver personalized ads will now need to secure user permission to do so. Allow Tracking or Ask App Not to Track are two settings designed for apps, but the feature goes hand in hand with Privacy Report to keep apps from monitoring your app usage and website browsing habits.

iPadOS 14 - Scribble Support

With an ‌iPad‌ running iPadOS 14, you can use the new Scribble feature with Safari to handwrite URLs, Google searches, and more, with the handwritten text then translated to typed text. For more on Scribble, make sure to check out our guide.

Use Another Browser

Not a fan of Safari? In iOS 14 you can set a different browser like Google's Chrome as the default browser that will activate when you tap links.

Other Safari Tutorials

• How to Import Your Safari Bookmarks to Chrome
• How to Delete Cookies in Safari
• How to Clear Safari's Cache

Guide Feedback

Have questions about the new Safari features in iOS 14, know of a feature we left out, or or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here. If you want to know more about what's new in iOS 14, make sure to check out our iOS 14 roundup.

Apple regularly adds new games to its Apple Arcade gaming service, and this week's new title is "Game of Thrones: Tale of Crows," which is described as a real time idle game, where time passes even when you're not playing.

Notifications will let players know if something happens, and while playing, players will encounter unknown dangers, face enemies, and make allies all while making decisions that will ultimately shape the history of the Night's Watch.

In the shadow of the Wall, your watch begins. Eight thousand years before Jon Snow took the Black, the Night's Watch was formed to secure the Wall and defend the border of Westeros against the perils of the North, and all that lies beyond. Into these untamed wilds, sworn brothers and their allies set out on rangings to face the dangers that would threaten the realm. But the Wall is a blade that cuts both ways.

Guide the decisions of Lord Commanders through the seasons and mount expeditions beyond the Wall. As ravens travel to and from your expeditions in real time, their messages are delivered to you throughout your day. Respond with your command right away, or whenever you see fit.

Long is the history of the Night's Watch, and many are its stories forgotten. It's time the realm remembers them.

There are now more than 120 games available on Apple Arcade, with Apple adding new titles regularly. ‌Apple Arcade‌ is priced at $4.99 per month, and that price point allows the whole family to play games without ads or additional in-app purchases.

If you have an ‌Apple Arcade‌ subscription, Game of Thrones: Tale of Crows can be downloaded and played on the Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.