The promotion applies to the purchase of any cellular iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air, or iPad mini through January 15, 2021 in the United States. Those who have never subscribed to Apple News+ will receive six months of free access, while users that have already taken advantage of Apple's standard one-month trial will receive five months free.
For those not interested in purchasing an iPad, Best Buy is also offering a free four-month subscription to Apple News+ in the United States, with the only requirement being a free Best Buy account. This offer is available to first-time subscribers only, but previous trial users can still receive an additional three months of free access.
Apple News gained several new features alongside the release of iOS 13.6 and macOS 10.15.6 this week, including audio versions of select stories for News+ subscribers, a daily audio news briefing podcast hosted by Apple News editors, and curated local news collections starting in the San Francisco Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York City.
Verizon's plan to offer a free six months of Apple News+ was first reported by 9to5Mac and the promotion is now live.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Verizon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Facebook today announced that a new screen sharing feature is now available in the Messenger app on iOS and Android. The feature was first available on the web version of Facebook, and on desktop apps.
On iOS, you can share a live view of your iPhone screen with a friend or family member. When video calling someone, you can tap to expand the bottom menu and find the "Share Your Screen" option.
After it's selected, you can then navigate to your Photos app to share pictures, browse Instagram with a friend, shop online, and more.
Screen sharing can be used in a one-on-one call, in a group video call with up to eight people, or in a Messenger Rooms conversation with up to 16 people.
Facebook said the screen sharing feature is available across the globe starting today.
Apple Maps vehicles will be surveying select regions of Finland, Norway, and Sweden through August, collecting street-level imagery and data, according to a list of locations maintained on Apple's website.
The data collected will be used to improve Apple Maps and to expand its Look Around feature, which remains limited to large U.S. cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. Introduced in iOS 13, Look Around is similar to Google's Street View, providing a street-level view of a location with high-resolution 3D imagery that can be zoomed and panned.
One advantage of Look Around over Street View is smoother panning when moving around the map for a more immersive experience. As with Street View, Apple blurs faces and license plates in all of the 3D imagery that it makes available.
In areas where Look Around is available, a binoculars icon will appear in the top-right corner of Apple Maps. Tapping that icon opens a street-level view in a card overlay at the top of the screen, which can then be expanded to a full-screen view. Look Around also appears in the search results for a supported city, below the Flyover and Directions buttons.
Apple also removed the U.K. from its list of locations, perhaps signaling that data collection has finished in that country. In January, Apple said that its revamped Maps experience will start rolling out in Europe later this year.
Apple Maps vehicles have also surveyed parts of the United States, Canada, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Portugal, Croatia, Japan, Andorra, and Puerto Rico since data collection began in 2015. In some areas where streets are not easily accessible, Apple uses employees wearing a backpack system to collect data.
As part of its Community Education Initiative, Apple today announced it is partnering with an additional 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to bring coding and creativity opportunities to their campuses.
Apple says this initiative will introduce more students and adult learners to coding and app design through its free "Everyone Can Code" and "Everyone Can Create" curricula, helping to facilitate coding clubs, for-credit coding courses, community coding events, and workforce development opportunities for learners of all ages.
"Apple is committed to working alongside communities of color to advance educational equity," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. "We see this expansion of our Community Education Initiative and partnership with HBCUs as another step toward helping Black students realize their dreams and solve the problems of tomorrow."
The 10 new HBCUs include: Arkansas Baptist College, Central State University, Claflin University, Dillard University, Fisk University, Lawson State Community College, Morehouse College, Prairie View A&M University, Southern University at Shreveport, and Tougaloo College. Apple expects to double its number of HBCU partners by the end of this summer.
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.
Amazon today has the new 13-inch MacBook Pro (10th generation Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) for $1,849.99, down from $1,999.00. You'll need to add the MacBook Pro to your cart and head to the checkout screen to see the final discount, and you can get the notebook in both Silver and Space Gray at this price.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
This isn't quite the lowest price we've ever seen for this model of the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro, but it's a match of the current best price found online. You'll also find the same sale on B&H Photo, but stock has begun dwindling at the retailer this morning.
You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.
The game combines a turn-based open war campaign and intense real-time tactical battles, and allows players to choose from four iconic races from the world of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It comes loaded with several DLC packs, including the Mortal Empires campaign, seven more playable Legendary Lords, and an extensively customizable battle mode called The Laboratory.
Note that the Mortal Empires campaign challenges players to conquer both the Old World of Warhammer I and the New World of Warhammer II, and requires the Mac App Store versions of both games. Further DLC packs are available as in-app purchases.
The game is officially supported on the following Macs
All 13-inch MacBook Pros released since 2016
All 15" MacBook Pros released since Late 2013 with a 2.3GHz processor or better
All 21.5" iMacs released since Late 2017
All 27" iMacs released since Late 2013 with a 2GB
graphics card or better
Late 2012 models with a 2GB Nvidia 680MX graphics card are also supported
Minimimum system requirements include 2GHz processor, 8GB RAM, 1.5GB of Graphics memory, macOS 10.14 or later and at least 52GB of disk space. Total War: Warhammer II is priced at $44.99 and is available on the Mac App Store from today.
Apple will release its first Arm-based 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air by the end of 2020, according to a new DigiTimes report today.
Taiwan's supply chain will begin shipping backlit units (BLUs) and other components for the next-generation MacBooks in the third quarter of the year, which could be interpreted as meaning anytime between now and September.
As Apple is set to release 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, powered by Apple Silicon, by the end of this year, total shipments of MacBook lineup are expected to reach 16-17 million units in 2020 compared to 14.5-15.5 million units shipped a year earlier, the sources estimated.
At WWDC in June, Apple officially announced that its Mac computers will be transitioned from Intel x86 to homegrown Apple Silicon chips. Apple said it plans to deliver the first Apple Silicon Mac by the end of the year and complete the transition in about two years.
DigiTimes' latest prediction pegs the launch of Apple Silicon Macs a little earlier than analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has said he expects an Arm-based MacBook Air either in the fourth quarter or in the first quarter of next year. Kuo also believes that an Arm-based 13-inch MacBook Pro will arrive by the end of the year.
Apple will reportedly rely heavily on TSMC for the Arm-based silicon destined for its Macs. The semiconductor foundry is expected to ramp up its wafer sales in the second half of 2021, according to a separate DigiTimes report today.
TSMC will fabricate Apple's custom chips for the Mac using 5nm process technology, with production still in small volume during the first half of 2021, the sources noted, but the output will expand substantially later next year.
ASMedia is said to be another supplier for Apple's Arm-based Macs, and will also see orders for the devices start contributing substantially to company revenue in the second half of 2021. ASMedia reportedly will provide USB controllers for the new Macs.
Today's report also claims that parts for a new "more affordable" 10.8-inch iPad with a "high performance chip" will start shipping in the latter half of this year. This prediction aligns a little more favorably with Kuo's latest thoughts on Apple's iPad roadmap.
Likewise, Kuo believes Apple is working on a new 10.8-inch iPad that's set to be released in the second half of 2020. However, it's unclear if Apple plans to introduce a larger iPad or if the increase in size will be implemented through a bezel reduction, and other rumors have suggested that this updated iPad could actually be an iPad Air, so we're waiting to see what Apple has in store for the low-cost iPad in the future.
According to a leaker that has provided accurate information about Apple's plans in the past, Apple's next-generation low-cost iPad will feature an A12 chip inside, an upgrade from the A10 Fusion chip in the seventh-generation model.
Apple's Twitter account has been breached by bitcoin scammers who have also hacked the Twitter accounts of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and more.
Apple users should be careful not to believe the fake tweet, which is a scam to collect bitcoin. Twitter has been deleting the fake tweets, but the scammers who have breached the accounts have been repeatedly posting them.
The tweet that was posted on the Apple Twitter account has since been deleted. Given the number of high profile accounts that have been breached, the hack may have originated from a Twitter security vulnerability.
Apple does not actually use its official Apple Twitter account on the platform, reserving it for sending out reminders ahead of events and advertisements.
Update: Twitter says that it's looking into the security breach and will provide an update after implementing a fix.
We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 15, 2020
Update 2: Twitter appears to have disabled all tweets from verified accounts, so no one with a verified account is able to tweet at this time.
We’re continuing to limit the ability to Tweet, reset your password, and some other account functionalities while we look into this. Thanks for your patience.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 15, 2020
Update 3: Most verified Twitter accounts are now once again able to tweet. Twitter is still working on fully fixing the issue.
Most accounts should be able to Tweet again. As we continue working on a fix, this functionality may come and go. We're working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 16, 2020
Apple is expanding AppleCare+ monthly payment options to Canada, Australia, and Japan, allowing customers in these countries to pay for AppleCare+ for iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches on a monthly basis.
The online Apple Stores in Canada, Australia, and Japan aren't yet providing monthly payment options when checking out after new device purchases, but an AppleCare+ support document confirms the feature is rolling out.
In the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan, when you purchase AppleCare+ coverage for your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, you can choose to pay monthly or pay upfront for 24 months of coverage. (For Apple Watch Edition and Hermes, you can pay upfront for 36 months.) If you paid upfront, you can go to mysupport.apple.com to continue coverage* on a monthly basis after the 24 or 36 months is over.
Customers in Australia, Canada, and Japan can opt for monthly payments along with customers in the United States, where the monthly payment option rolled out in September 2019.
Monthly payment plans continue to renew each month until canceled, and AppleCare+ coverage on a monthly plan continues beyond the standard 24 or 36 month (for the Apple Watch Hermes) period as long as monthly payments are continued.
Customers who purchase AppleCare+ up front and pay the full price for a standard AppleCare+ plan can later upgrade to a monthly plan to continue AppleCare+ support beyond 24 months. Monthly payments for AppleCare+ vary based on device and country.
Apple's iOS 13.6 update, released today, appears to enable FaceTime in the United Arab Emirates, a country where the FaceTime app was previously unavailable for use.
According to MacMagazine and multiple Twitter users, the FaceTime feature is accessible after installing the iOS 13.6 update. Apple did not mention the update in the iOS 13.6 release notes, and support documents haven't been updated as of yet.
iOS 13.6 is out and it’s official... FACETIME IS AVAILABLE IN UAE. Now I can recieve my phone calls on all my devices 😭!
— Saif Alshehhi (@saif_a7med95) July 15, 2020
Local regulatory rules have blocked FaceTime in the UAE, but rumors over the course of the last few years have suggested that Apple was working with government officials to lift the ban on FaceTime.
All phones sold in the United Arab Emirates have FaceTime disabled by default, but installing iOS 13.6 should unlock the feature. There have also been multiple reports that FaceTime is available in the UAE on devices running iOS 14 as well.
FaceTime also used to be banned in Saudi Arabia but it became available in the iOS 11.3 update.
Update: MacMagazine, the site that originally reported the changes, now says that for FaceTime to work in the UAE, the iPhone needs to be set to another region. This indicates that FaceTime is not yet officially available in the United Arab Emirates.
Apple this week provided a Safari 14 beta to developers and some of its AppleSeed testers, a program that is separate from the public beta and is offered on an invite-only basis.
Safari 14 is the new version of Safari that's included with macOS Big Sur. It introduces customization options that let people choose wallpapers and start page options, plus it is faster and more power efficient.
The update includes a Privacy Report option that provides a rundown on how many trackers have been blocked from profiling you for cross-site tracking purposes, and there are built-in translation features.
Safari 14 monitors passwords saved in iCloud Keychain and alerts people about data breaches, and it includes support for using Extensions with select websites.
Developers who are have macOS Big Sur installed already have access to Safari 14, and Apple's experimental Safari Technology Preview browser also has Safari 14 features, but the release this week provides Safari 14 to developers who have not upgraded to Big Sur.
The beta is also the only way for developers running macOS Mojave to access Safari 14 features as Safari Technology Preview is now limited to macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur.
Apple is planning to release a public beta of macOS Big Sur to public beta testers in the near future, which will provide Safari 14 to an additional group of people. For now, developers running Big Sur will get Safari 14 automatically, and those running Catalina or Mojave can download it from the Apple Developer site. Invited AppleSeed members can also download Safari 14 for Catalina and Mojave.
Apple has inked a deal for "Palmer," an upcoming football movie that stars actor Justin Timberlake, with the movie now set to premiere on Apple TV+.
"Palmer" follows former football phenomenon Eddie Palmer (played by Timberlake) who returns to his hometown to get his life back on track after a stint in prison. Back at home, Palmer faces lingering conflicts from his past as he looks after a young boy who has been abandoned by his mother.
Along with Justin Timberlake, "Palmer" stars Juno Temple, June Squibb, Alisha Wainright, and new actor Ryder Allen.
There is no word on when "Palmer" will be coming to Apple TV+, but Apple has been picking up multiple films as of late to boost its Apple TV+ catalog.
"Greyhound," a WWII film starring Tom Hanks, premiered last Friday, and upcoming movies include "Snow Blind" with Jake Gyllenhaal, "Killers of the Flower Moon" with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro, "Emancipation" created by director Antoine Fuqua, "Sharper" with Julianne Moore, and "On the Rocks" with Bill Murray and Rashida Jones.
Audio stories include audio versions of the best stories from Apple News, a daily audio news briefing created by Apple News editors, and curated local news collections launching in five cities and regions.
Apple News editors plan to release about 20 audio stories per week across a wide range of interests, with the stories narrated by professional voice actors. Apple says we can expect pieces from Esquire, Essence, Fast Company, GQ, New York magazine, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, and newspapers that include The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.
Apple News audio stories are a feature limited to Apple News+ subscribers in the United States, but the daily audio news briefing, called Apple News Today, is free for all Apple News users.
Apple News Today will feature highlights of some of the "most fascinating stories in the news" and will be available Monday through Friday in the Apple News app in the United States and in Apple Podcasts.
Along with audio stories, Apple is adding new local and regional news outlets for readers, including The Charlotte Observer, the Miami Herald, and The News & Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina, plus a curated local news experience available in the Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
The curated news feature will include coverage of topics that are important to local communities like dining and restaurants, weather, news and politics, and more.
"Apple News showcases so much great journalism, and we're excited to help bring it to life in new ways with Apple News+ audio stories and a new daily news show, Apple News Today," said Lauren Kern, editor-in-chief of Apple News. "We also greatly value our many local news partners -- our new local news feature highlights their work for readers who live, and are interested, in those communities."
The new Apple News features are available today as part of the free iOS 13.6 update. Audio stories and Apple News Today can be accessed through the new "Audio" tab in the Apple News app. Apple News is free, while Apple News+ costs $9.99 per month after a one-month free trial. Just today, Best Buy began offering a four month free trial for those who are new subscribers and a three month free trial for those who subscribed before.
Apple today released iOS and iPadOS 13.6, major updates that come more than a month after the launch of iOS and iPadOS 13.5.1. iOS and iPadOS 13.6 introduce new Health, Apple News, and software update features.
The iOS and iPadOS 13.6 updates are available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the updates, go to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released an iOS 12.4.8 update for older devices unable to run iOS 13.
The software introduces a toggle for customizing updates, providing users with granular control over the downloading and installing of new iOS and iPadOS versions.
iOS users can decide if their iPhone or iPad should automatically download an iOS update when connected to WiFi, and when that update should be installed.
A Download iOS Updates toggle turns automatic downloads on or off, and an Install iOS Updates toggle lets users choose to install a software update overnight as a device charges. The new update feature will be a welcome change for iPhone and iPad users who prefer to stay on older versions of iOS and do not want their devices to update automatically.
iOS 13.6 also brings support for Car Key, a feature available in both iOS 13 and iOS 14. Car Key is designed to allow an iPhone or an Apple Watch to be used in lieu of a physical key to unlock an NFC-enabled vehicle.
Car Key needs to be implemented by car manufacturers to function, and BMW is one of Apple's first partners. BMW's Digital Key for iPhone feature will let iPhone owners tap to unlock their vehicles, start the car by placing the iPhone in the smartphone tray, place limitations on young drivers, and share keys with up to five other users.
Car Key will work in a wide range of BMW models, including the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, X5, X6, X7, X5M, X6M and Z4 if manufactured after July 1, 2020. An iPhone XR, XS, Apple Watch Series 5, or newer is required, as is the iOS 13.6 update.
In the Health app, there's a new "Symptoms" section that lets users add symptoms of various illnesses, choosing from options such as body and muscle aches, appetite changes, coughing, dizziness, headache, nausea, and more.
For the Apple News app, iOS 13.6 adds a feature that saves your place in an Apple News article when you start reading something and then exit out of the article or app, handy for long-form content.
Apple News in iOS 13.6 also includes new Apple News+ Audio feature where Apple will offer some news stories in an audio capacity, but this option was not activated during the beta.
Apple's full release notes for the update are available below:
iOS 13.6 adds support for digital car keys, introduces audio stories in Apple News+, and contains a new symptoms category in the Health app. This release also includes bug fixes and improvements.
Digital car keys - Unlock, lock, and start your compatible car with your iPhone - Securely remove digital keys from a lost device via iCloud - Share digital keys easily with iMessage - Driver-specific profiles so you can configure shared keys for full-access or restricted driving - Power reserve lets you unlock and start your car for up to five hours after iPhone runs out of battery
Apple News - Audio stories are professionally narrated versions of some of the best reads from Apple News+, selected and produced by the Apple News editors as part of your Apple News+ subscription - Apple News Today is a new, free audio briefing on the day's top stories from the Apple News editors, also available in the Podcasts app - A new Audio tab makes it easy to find Apple News Today and Apple
News+ audio stories - CarPlay allows you to listen to Apple News Today and Apple News+ audio stories while on the road - Local news in your Today feed provides extensive coverage of San Francisco, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Houston, and New York City - More stories available from local news providers with a subscription to Apple News+ - Your daily newsletter from Apple News can now be personalized with stories that reflect your interests
Health - New category for symptoms in the Health app, including symptoms logged from Cycle Tracking and ECG - Ability to log new symptoms, like fever, chills, sore throat or coughing, and share them with third-party apps
This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements. - Adds a new setting to choose if updates automatically download to your device when on Wi-Fi - Addresses an issue that could cause apps to become unresponsive when syncing data from iCloud Drive - Fixes an issue that could cause data roaming to appear to be disabled on eSIM even though it remained active - Fixes an issue thats causes some phone calls from Saskatchewan to appear as originating from the United States - Addresses an issue that could interrupt audio when making phone calls over Wi-Fi Calling - Fixes an issues that prevented some iPhone 6S and iPhone SE devices from registering for Wi-Fi Calling - Resolves an issue that could cause the software keyboard to appear unexpectedly when connected to certain third-party hardware keyboards - Fixes an issue that could cause Japanese hardware keyboards to be incorrectly mapped as a U.S. keyboard - Addresses stability issues when accessing Control Center when Assistive Touch was enabled - Provides a mechanism for administrators to specify domains to exclude from traffic carried by always-on VPN connections
iOS and iPadOS 13.6 could be one of the final updates to the iOS 13 operating system as Apple shifts its focus to iOS 14, which is available for developers and public beta testers and set to be released this fall.
Apple today released macOS Catalina 10.15.6, the sixth official update to the macOS Catalina operating system that was released in October 2019. macOS Catalina 10.15.6 comes over a month after the launch of macOS Catalina 10.15.5 with Battery Health Management features.
macOS Catalina 10.15.6 is a free update that can be downloaded from the Mac App Store using the Update feature in the System Preferences app.
No new features were found in macOS Catalina 10.15.6 during the beta testing period, but the update adds local Apple News stories in San Francisco, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Houston, and New York City, plus it introduces customization for the daily newsletter from Apple News.
Apple says the update also fixes an issue where certain USB mouse and trackpads could lose connection, which is a problem that was affecting USB 2.0 devices that were used with new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models.
macOS Catalina 10.15.6 introduces local news in your Today feed in Apple News and improves the security and reliability of your Mac.
Apple News - Local news in your Today feed provides extensive coverage of San Francisco, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Houston, and New York City - More stories available from local news providers with a subscription to Apple News+ - Your daily newsletter from Apple News can now be personalized with stories that reflect your interests
This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements. - Adds a new option to optimize video streaming on HDR-compatible Mac notebooks for improved battery life - Fixes an issue where the computer name may change after installing a software update - Resolves an issue where certain USB mouse and trackpads may lose connection
Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices. For more detailed information about this update, please visit: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT210642 For detailed information about the security content of this update, please visit: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222
macOS Catalina may 10.15.6 may be one of the final updates to the macOS Catalina operating system as Apple shifts its focus to macOS Big Sur, the newest version of macOS set to be released this fall.
Apple today released watchOS 6.2.8, the 10th update to the watchOS 6 operating system that runs on modern Apple Watch models. watchOS 6.2.8 comes a month after the launch of watchOS 6.2.6, a security update.
watchOS 6.2.8 can be downloaded for free through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the iPhone.
watchOS 6.2.8 introduces Car Key, a feature also available on the iPhone with iOS 13.6. Car Key is designed to allow an iPhone or an Apple Watch to be used in lieu of a physical key to unlock an NFC-enabled vehicle.
Car Key needs to be implemented by car manufacturers to function, and BMW is one of Apple's first partners. BMW's Digital Key for iPhone feature will let iPhone owners tap to unlock their vehicles, start the car by placing the iPhone in the smartphone tray, place limitations on young drivers, and share keys with up to five other users.
Car Key will work in a wide range of BMW models, including the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, X5, X6, X7, X5M, X6M and Z4 if manufactured after July 1st 2020. An Apple Watch Series 5 or newer is required, as is the watchOS 6.2.8 update.
No other new features were found during the watchOS 6.2.8 beta testing period, and according to Apple's release notes, the update also brings ECG support and irregular heart rate notifications to Bahrain, Brazil, and South Africa.
watchOS 6.2.8 includes new features and improvements: - Adds support for digital car keys for Apple Watch Series 5 - ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 or later now available in Bahrain, Brazil, and South Africa - Irregular heart rhythm notifications now available in Bahrain, Brazil, and South Africa
watchOS 6.2.8 will be one of the last updates to the watchOS 6 operating system that will be retired later this year in favor of watchOS 7, new software announced at WWDC.
Apple today released tvOS 13.4.8, the fifth update to the tvOS operating system that runs on the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models. tvOS 13.4.8 comes over a month after the launch of tvOS 13.4.5.
tvOS 13.4.8, a free update, can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the Apple TV by going to System > Software Update. Apple TV owners who have automatic software updates enabled will be upgraded to tvOS 13.4.8 automatically.
tvOS updates are almost always minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and small feature tweaks rather than major outward-facing changes.
There were no new features found during the beta testing period, so it's not know what's included in the update. Apple will share details on the tvOS 13.4.8 software release in its tvOS support document, but release notes often don't contain much more information than general performance and stability improvements.
Alongside of iOS and iPadOS 13.6, Apple today released new 13.4.8 software for the HomePod. According to Apple's release notes, the update brings no new features and instead focuses on "general improvements for stability and quality."
The new HomePod software comes two months after the release of the HomePod 13.4.5 software, which also included general improvements for stability and quality.
HomePod software is installed automatically on the HomePod, but the HomePod can also be manually updated by following the instructions in our HomePod update how to.
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