Playlists are available for Disney favorites like Frozen, Disney classics like Mickey Mouse and Winnie-the-Pooh, Disney Channel and Disney Junior shows, Marvel and Star Wars films, the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, and more. There is also a curated playlist of songs played at Disney Parks, like the Magic Kingdom in Florida.
At launch, a Disney Halloween playlist is featured, and content will be updated regularly. The launch also includes a Disney Hits Radio special on the new Apple Music Hits radio station, hosted by Hollywood Records' artist Sofia Carson.
Microsoft's vice-president of gaming, Phil Spencer, has told employees that the company is still intending to bring Game Pass streaming to the iPhone and iPad, according to Business Insider.
Project xCloud was the working title of Microsoft's Game Pass cloud streaming service, which it says is its "vision for game-streaming technology that will complement our console hardware and give gamers more choices in how and where they play." The streaming service is bundled as part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription for $14.99 per month, with more than 100 games available.
Despite extensive testing via TestFlight on iOS, xCloud's launch on iOS was indefinitely postponed in August. Apple's App Store rules meant that Microsoft was unable to stream multiple games from the cloud via a single app, because Apple believes that its inability to review each game in the service's library is a potential security risk. Game Pass streaming would only be viable if each game was available as its own app under Apple's rules.
However, Microsoft seems to have renewed its intention to get Xbox cloud streaming on Apple devices using a workaround that would avoid the App Store. "We absolutely will end up on iOS," Spencer told Microsoft employees, according to Business Insider's sources.
Microsoft is reportedly targeting 2021 for the release of a "direct browser-based solution" to get around Apple's App Store restrictions and reach a considerably larger number of potential customers.
At the end of last month, Microsoft began publicly testing a new version of its Xbox app that lets Xbox users play games remotely on their iPhones and iPads using streaming over WiFi.
According to Prosser, three separate sources of his have now confirmed that "AirPods Studio will NOT be in the event." That prediction falls in line with Prosser's claim earlier this week the headphones won't reach mass production until October 20.
Prosser thinks AirPods Studio could instead be announced via press release at the end of the month. It's also worth noting that as of late September Apple stopped selling third-party audio accessories like speakers and headphones, suggesting a new HomePod "Mini" or AirPods Studio launch is imminent.
In addition, Prosser claims the image renders floating about are of the "luxury variant" and will retail for $599, while another "sport-like variant" will be made of cheaper materials for $350, which is notably the same pricing as the current Beats Studio in the Beats lineup.
In another tweet this morning, Prosser says he is being told that Apple has "pushed back the announcement and launch of Apple's AirTags to March 2021." "AirTags" are said to be the name of Apple's Tile-like Bluetooth tracking devices, designed to be attached to items like keys and wallets. These item trackers will let you keep an eye on your possessions right in the Find My app.
For what it's worth, Prosser believes Chinese leaker Kang's information regarding the iPhone 12 and rumored HomePod Mini is accurate, and Prosser may have amended his own claims about AirTags and AirPods Studio in light of their absence from Kang's hefty pre-Apple event leak dump.
Earlier today, Chinese leaker "Kang" shared allegedly accurate information for the products set to be announced at the upcoming Apple event on October 13, including details on the full iPhone 12 lineup.
According to the leaker's information, which was later modified with corrections for product availability timeframes, the 5.4-inch "iPhone 12 Mini" will be available to preorder on November 6 or 7, with a launch date of November 13 or 14.
Meanwhile, the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max will allegedly be available to preorder on November 13 or 14, with a launch date of November 20 or 21.
Bloombergbelieves that Apple will stagger the iPhone launches in 2020, while DigiTimes has previously suggested the two 6.1-inch iPhone 12 models could come out first in October, with the 6.7 and 5.4-inch models to follow. Leaker Jon Prosser today has also claimedDigiTimes was correct earlier in the year.
It's worth noting that Apple traditionally doesn't open iPhone pre-orders or launch products at weekends, and some of the initial dates in the two-day timeframes provided by Kang – November 7, November 14, and November 21 – fall on Saturdays. Depending on the time of day when preorders kick off, a Friday in the U.S. could already be Saturday in some parts of the world, although the actual launches typically occur on Fridays no matter the location.
Assuming therefore that Kang's dates are ballpark accurate, preorders for the "iPhone 12 mini" will commence on Friday, November 6 and the device will launch on Friday, November 13 – the same day that pre-orders for the iPhone 12 Pro Max would be expected to commence. Apple's largest ever handset would then launch one week later on Friday, November 20.
With likewise adjustments, pre-orders for the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models could begin on October 16, the Friday immediately following Apple's "Hi, Speed" event, and the first iPhone 12 shipments and an official launch could happen on Friday, October 23.
Of course, nothing is certain, but we'll know for sure when the iPhone 12 lineup is announced at Apple's event on Tuesday, October 13 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
A Chinese Weibo account going by the name "Kang" this morning posted allegedly accurate information for every product set to be announced at the upcoming Apple event on October 13, including details and launch dates for the full iPhone 12 lineup, and the rumored HomePod mini.
In addition, the original post also claims that Apple will announce a new magnetic iPhone case with "MagSafe" and two official Apple wireless chargers called "MagSafe Charger" and "MagSafe Duo Charger," one or both of which will have a 15-Watt power output.
The "MagSafe" brand name will resonate with readers who remember Apple's magnetically attached MagSafe power connector, which first appeared on MacBook Pro models in 2006 but despite its popularity was eventually discontinued across all Apple product lines between 2016 and 2019 and replaced with USB-C.
Back in August, images shared on Weibo that were said to be from the iPhone 12 depict a circular array of magnets in the body of the device. The leak was met with speculation that the magnets could be for alignment purposes should Apple release its own wireless charger.
EverythingApplePro, who shared the images on Twitter, also posted an image of an alleged iPhone 12 case with a similar array of magnets built in, which he suggested are "likely for perfect alignment with Apple's wireless chargers."
For months ahead of their unveiling, last year's iPhone 11 series was rumored to feature a Qi-based device-to-device charging feature, allowing for an Apple Watch, AirPods, and other accessories to charge on the back of the iPhones. The feature was expected to be similar to Wireless PowerShare on Samsung's Galaxy S10. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, however, the feature was abandoned because the charging efficiency did not meet Apple's requirements.
As it stands, Apple hasn't released any native wireless chargers for iPhone. The company canceled its much-anticipated AirPower charging mat last year due to quality concerns. Rumors persist that it continues to work on an AirPower-like charging mat, although faked images have been shared in support of this.
MagSafe power connector on MacBook Pro
Today's comprehensive leak appeared in Chinese and an image of the original post on Weibo has been tweeted by leaker Ice Universe, who has provided accurate information on unreleased Apple products in the past.
A Chinese Weibo account going by the name "Kang" this morning posted allegedly accurate information for every product set to be announced at the upcoming Apple event on October 13, including the rumored smaller form-factor HomePod speaker.
An image of the original post in Chinese has been tweeted by leaker Ice Universe, who has provided accurate information on unreleased Apple products in the past.
According to the leak, the the official name of the speaker is HomePod Mini, which will be priced at $99. The size of the speaker is said to be 3.3-inches high (the height of the original HomePod is 6.8-inches) and it is allegedly powered by an S5 processor, which is used in the Apple Watch Series 5 and Apple Watch SE.
The HomePod Mini is said to go on sale on November 16-17. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has suggested the new speaker could include two tweeters, rather than the current model's seven, in order to drive down costs.
A Chinese Weibo account going by the name "Kang" this morning posted allegedly accurate information for every product set to be announced at the upcoming Apple event on October 13, including details on the full iPhone 12 lineup.
An image of the original post in Chinese has been tweeted by leaker Ice Universe, who has provided accurate information on unreleased Apple products in the past. The following details in English rely on a machine translation of the original post:
According to the leak, all four iPhone 12 models will have OLED Super Retina XDR displays and a new hardened "Ceramic Shield" glass screen, and all are capable of shooting Dolby Vision video, offering higher dynamic range.
In addition, all phones will support 5G, but only the U.S. models of the iPhone 12 lineup will reportedly support the faster mmWave 5G band.
Other notable details in the leak include a "Smart Data Mode" for iPhone 12 models that switches between 4G and 5G depending on bandwidth needs to save power; iPhone 12 photography improvements for Deep Fusion and Night Mode; a "47 percent larger sensor" on the iPhone 12 Pro Max compared to the iPhone 12 Pro; and a special "Expansive" super wide angle capability for the Max model.
According to AppleTrack, the leak source "Kang" has a reliable track record, and has accurately predicted several of Apple's WWDC and September event announcements this year, including the iPhone SE price, the hand-washing feature for Apple Watch, and the price and features of the new iPad Air.
Svalt, known for making a line of cooling docks and stands for Apple's Macs, today launched two new dock options, the D1 Pro II and the D2 Pro II, which are aimed at professionals who work on their Macs in clamshell mode.
Svalt's cooling docks are meant to reclaim performance potential from heat limited closed-screen laptop workstations, with both of the new options offering active cooling and universal support for all of Apple's notebooks, including the most recent 16-inch model.
Both the D2 Pro II and the D1 Pro II use both active and passive cooling. There's a 1.8 pound aluminum heat sink to absorb heat along with 10 side vents that push cool air onto the laptop where the processor is located and to the sides of the enclosure.
The docks are powered by a 12-volt fan, with the D2 offering a programmable speed control that's able to adjust fan speed between 0 and 4200RPM over the course of the workday. There are also three auto modes to work with, including a Turbo mode for instant cooling. The D1 offers a single-speed fan at approximately 1700RPM.
With the D2 Pro II, Svalt claims that its low-workload testing with a 16-inch MacBook Pro indicated that GPU processor temperatures decreased by up to 67 percent to cut down on laptop fan usage and keep the system stable. Svalt says that high-workload testing suggested that the D2 Pro II was able to increase CPU processor power by up to 59 percent by reducing heat throttling.
Design wise, the aluminum D2 Pro II and D1 Pro II are compact with a leaning construction that supports a wide range of laptop thicknesses. There's a padded cradle for the laptop that also accommodates cables, and an optional laptop retention pad to lock it in place.
The D1 Pro II and the D2 Pro II can be purchased from the Svalt website as of today. The D1 Pro II is priced at $219, while the D2 Pro II is priced at $279.
Apple is phasing out UIWebView, which is used by developers for integrating web content into an app in a quick and secure manner. Apple is replacing UIWebView (and WebView) with WKWebView, an updated version, as UIWebView has been deprecated.
Apple originally told developers that app updates with UIWebView would no longer be accepted as of December 2020, but Apple is now providing additional time for developers to adopt WKWebView and has extended the deadline period. There's no new deadline in place at this time, with Apple planning to provide an update at a later time.
Along with the deadline extension, Apple today also informed developers that App Store server notifications are able to provide real-time updates on a subscriber's status, allowing for customized user experiences.
There's an option to be notified when a subscriber auto-renews and an option that lets you know when the App Store begins asking users to agree to a new subscription price, letting developers send reminders about a service's value.
Apple's dispute with "HEY" wasn't the first time the Cupertino company tried to force an email app into adding in-app purchases, according to ProtonMail CEO Andy Yen.
Yen told The Verge that back in 2018, ProtonMail was forced to add in-app purchases to its app, which had been in the App Store since 2016. ProtonMail at the time had a paid email service but did not offer it in the app, with the App Store version being available for free.
For the first two years we were in the App Store, that was fine, no issues there," he says. (They'd launched on iOS in 2016.) "But a common practice we see ... as you start getting significant uptake in uploads and downloads, they start looking at your situation more carefully, and then as any good Mafia extortion goes, they come to shake you down for some money.
Apple apparently told ProtonMail "out of the blue" that it was required to add an in-app purchase option to stay in the App Store. Similar to the situations with HEY and Wordpress earlier this year, ProtonMail had a mention of paid plans in the app, which prompted Apple to ask for the same subscription options to be offered via in-app purchase.
Yen says that ProtonMail complied in order to save its business, complaining that there's no way to get a "fair hearing" with Apple. ProtonMail was unable to update the app for a month-long period, and Apple threatened to remove the app from the store if the company did not comply.
They are judge, jury, and executioner on their platform, and you can take it or leave it. You can't get any sort of fair hearing to determine whether it's justifiable or not justifiable, anything they say goes.
When in-app purchases were implemented on iOS, ProtonMail raised the prices for a subscription through Apple by 26 percent to pay for the extra cost as it was unable to pay for the extra 30 percent margin.
Yen believes Apple's 30 percent fee harms privacy-centric apps because it's difficult for a paid app to compete with free apps like Gmail while also having to pay App Store frees.
Apple in September changed its App Store rules to avoid situations like the dispute with ProtonMail. Apps are now allowed to offer free standalone apps that are companions to paid web-based tools without an in-app purchase requirement, and there's also a new process that lets developers challenge App Store rules and decisions.
Following Apple's App Store rule change, Yen told The Verge that ProtonMail plans to remove its in-app purchase options, but he's wary of Apple's new rules and will test out the changes on another app, ProtonDrive, ahead of time. Apple in a statement to The Verge said that it "doesn't retaliate against developers" and instead "works with them to get their apps on the store."
ProtonMail is one of the participants in the "Coalition for App Fairness," a group advocating for "freedom of choice and fair competition across the app ecosystem." Members include other companies disgruntled with Apple's App Store practices, including Spotify, Epic Games, Tile, and Basecamp (the makers of HEY).
Apple is providing Apple TV+ subscribers with up to three free months of service that will last up to February 2021, according to Rene Ritchie. This free trial period will extend the year-long free trial periods of people who purchased a device beginning in September 2019 and signed up for access when Apple TV+ launched on November 1, 2019.
Those first Apple TV+ subscribers who had free access were set to have their trial periods expire at the end of October, but Apple is planning to extend that expiration date until February.
Those who signed up for the free year at launch will now be able to access Apple TV+ up until the end of February, based on subscription date. If you signed up on November 1, 2019, for example, your subscription will be extended until February 1, 2021. If you signed up on November 15, 2019, your subscription will be extended until February 15, 2021.
Subscribers who paid for an annual plan or a monthly plan will also be credited $4.99 for each month through February. 9to5Mac says that credits received by Apple TV+ subscribers who pay can be used on anything from the iTunes Store or App Store.
Apple TV+ adopters who signed up for their free year of service after a device purchase between November 2019 and January 2020 will benefit from the promotion that Apple is providing, with those subscriptions now expiring later than expected. Those who signed up for a free year after January 31, 2020 will not benefit because their free trials will already extend beyond the promotion limits. All paying subscribers will be receiving the $4.99 monthly credit.
It's not entirely clear why Apple has decided to extend the free trial offer, but it will be a welcome change for those who were expecting their Apple TV+ subscriptions to expire on November 1 and a nice bonus for those who pay for Apple TV+. The bonus months of subscription service will take some time to roll out and users may not immediately see changes to their plan expiration dates, but credits will be applied automatically with no action required on the part of the user.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced four years ago in March 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview release 114 includes bug fixes and performance improvements for Web Inspector, JavaScript, Date and Time Inputs, Web Audio, MediaRecorder, Paint Timing, WebGL, CSS, Web API, Lazy Loading, Media, WebRTC, Rendering, Text Rendering, Scrolling, Back-Forward Cache, and Storage Access API.
The current Safari Technology Preview release is the built on the new Safari 14 update included in macOS Big Sur with support for Safari Web Extensions imported from other browsers, tab previews, password breach notifications, web authentication with Touch ID, and more.
The new Safari Technology Preview update is available for macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur, the newest version of the Mac operating system that's set to be released this fall.
Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Apple today shared the first full trailer for animated film "Wolfwalkers," which is coming to Apple TV+ on Friday, December 11, and will be premiering in theaters "soon."
"Wolfwalkers" is an adventure movie about a young apprentice named Robyn who travels with her father to Ireland to wipe out a pack of wolves. When they arrive, Robyn meets a girl who can transform into a wolf at night and starts questioning her mission.
In a time of superstition and magic, a young apprentice hunter, Robyn Goodfellowe, journeys to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last wolf pack. While exploring the forbidden lands outside the city walls, Robyn befriends a free-spirited girl, Mebh, a member of a mysterious tribe rumored to have the ability to transform into wolves by night. As they search for Mebh's missing mother, Robyn uncovers a secret that draws her further into the enchanted world of the WOLFWALKERS and risks turning into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
Apple acquired the rights to "Wolfwalkers" in 2018, with the film coming from Cartoon Saloon. Cartoon Saloon has also created "The Secret of Kells" and "Song of the Sea," and like these films, "Wolfwalkers" is based on an Irish legend.
"Dickinson" with Hailee Steinfeld was one of the first shows to launch on Apple TV+ back in November 2019, and now it will be one of the first shows to get a second season.
Season two of the series is set to premiere on Friday, January 8. The first three episodes of the season will become available on that date with new episodes to come out each Friday after that.
In the show, Steinfeld plays famous American poet Emily Dickinson, and the show humorously explores the constraints of society, gender, and family from Dickinson's perspective. The second season will see Dickinson "pulled out of her literary life and thrust into the public eye."
Along with announcing the season two release date, Apple today confirmed that "Dickinson" is the first Apple TV+ show that has been renewed for a third season. All of Apple's launch shows, such as "For All Mankind," "The Morning Show," and "See" have been renewed for second seasons that will premiere in 2021.
Unlike the original, the Comply 2.0 ear tips are able to snap onto the AirPods Pro just like Apple's standard silicone tips, and they are also said to be engineered with improved foam-core adhesion. The memory foam creates a tight seal in the ear that blocks out more ambient noise for improved Active Noise Cancellation on AirPods Pro.
The ear tips fit into the AirPods Pro case, with no impact on charging, but the black foam does not match with the white case.
The new Comply 2.0 ear tips are available now in a three-pack for $24.99, with small, medium, large, and assorted sizes to choose from. A sizing guide is available on the website based on Apple's silicone tips.
A group of hackers has been awarded nearly $300,000 by Apple for discovering 55 vulnerabilities in the company's systems.
Sam Curry, Brett Buerhaus, Ben Sadeghipour, Samuel Erb, and Tanner Barnes spent three months hacking Apple platforms and services to discover a range of weaknesses. The 55 vulnerabilities the team discovered were of varying severity, with some being critical.
During our engagement, we found a variety of vulnerabilities in core portions of their infrastructure that would've allowed an attacker to fully compromise both customer and employee applications, launch a worm capable of automatically taking over a victim's iCloud account, retrieve source code for internal Apple projects, fully compromise an industrial control warehouse software used by Apple, and take over the sessions of Apple employees with the capability of accessing management tools and sensitive resources.
Apple apparently was swift to address the majority of the vulnerabilities, with some being resolved in as little as a few hours.
Overall, Apple was very responsive to our reports. The turn around for our more critical reports was only four hours between time of submission and time of remediation.
As part of Apple's Security Bounty Program, the group was able to receive considerable payments for some of their work. As of Sunday, October 4, they had received four payments totaling $51,500. This included $5,000 for disclosing the full name of iCloud users, $6,000 for finding IDOR vulnerabilities, $6,500 for access to internal corporate environments, and $34,000 for discovering system memory leaks containing customer data.
Since no-one really knew much about their bug bounty program, we were pretty much going into unchartered territory with such a large time investment. Apple has had an interesting history working with security researchers, but it appears that their vulnerability disclosure program is a massive step in the right direction to working with hackers in securing assets and allowing those interested to find and report vulnerabilities.
With the permission of Apple's security team, the group has published an extensive report which details a range of vulnerabilities and methods of locating and exploiting weaknesses. They also hinted that additional bounties may be on the way.
Update October 9: At the time of publication, the group reported that it had received $51,500 in bounties from Apple for four of the vulnerability reports it submitted. The group now says it has received 32 payments from Apple totaling $288,500.
Adobe today released new versions of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, the company's affordable photo and video editing software aimed at more casual users who want to improve their photos and videos with easy to use editing tools.
For Photoshop Elements 2021, Adobe is introducing a "Moving Photos" feature that adds a bit of motion to still images, similar to Apple's Live Photos feature. You can use Moving Photos to create animated GIFs with 2D and 3D camera motion, with the feature powered by Adobe Sensei.
Adjust Face Tilt, another new feature, can automatically adjust the position of a person's face to make sure everybody in the shot is looking in the right direction. This feature joins other existing portrait editing features like those that can add a smile or cut down on redeye.
Customizable Quote Graphics can be added to images, with Photoshop Elements offering pre-set templates, animation options, and customization tools.
There are several new Guided Edits, a feature designed to walk users through the steps needed to achieve different photo effects and looks. Duotones lets users apply two colors to an image for a unique effect, while Perfect Landscapes provides the steps for replacing skies, removing haze, and erasing unwanted objects.
For Premiere Elements 2021, Adobe's video editing software, there's a new Select Object feature that can apply a special effect to just one section of a video, with that special effect tracking throughout the video playback.
GPU Accelerated Performance will let visual effects in elements be previewed without the need to render for faster editing, and cropping videos will take less time. Adobe is also adding 21 music tracks that can be added to videos, and there are new tools for backing up albums, keywords, tags, and more.
New Guided Edits include Double Exposure for playing a video within a photo and Animated Matte Overlays for applying different shapes and animation styles to full videos.
For more on what's new in Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, make sure to check out Adobe's website. The updates are available for purchase from Adobe for $99 each starting today, with bundle and upgrade pricing available.
Amazon and Tiger Direct today are discounting a variety of 2020 iPad Pro models, including both 11-inch and 12.9-inch devices. To start, you can get the 128GB Wi-Fi 11-inch iPad Pro for $749.99 at Amazon, down from $799.00.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Stock on this model is dwindling so be sure to pick it up soon if you're interested. You can lock in the sale price today, and the iPad Pro will begin shipping October 20. This is a match of the previous low price seen on this model.
Check out more 11-inch iPad Pro tablets on sale below:
256GB Wi-Fi - $849.99 at Amazon, down from $899.00 ($49 off)
512GB Wi-Fi - $1,039.00 at Tiger Direct, down from $1,099.00 ($60 off, lowest price)
1TB Wi-Fi - $1,229.99 at Tiger Direct, down from $1,299.00 ($70 off, lowest price)
For 12.9-inch models, there are a few solid ongoing deals at both Amazon and Tiger Direct. You can get the 128GB Wi-Fi 12.9-inch iPad Pro from 2020 for $949.00 at Amazon, down from $999.00.
Check out more 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablets on sale below:
256GB Wi-Fi - $1,039.00 at Amazon, down from $1,099.00 ($60 off, lowest price)
512GB Wi-Fi - $1,229.00 at Tiger Direct, down from $1,299.00 ($70 off, lowest price)
1TB Wi-Fi - $1,424.05 at Amazon (price seen at checkout), down from $1,499.00 ($74.95 off, lowest price)
256GB Cellular - $1,219.00 at Amazon, down from $1,249.00 ($30 off)
For even more iPad deals, head to our full Best Deals guide for iPad. In that guide we track the best discounts online for iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro.
Apple today 
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
