MacRumors

Microsoft has made its Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone available for purchase, with prices for the device starting at $1,399.

The Surface Duo combines two 4:3 OLED displays that are connected side by side with a hinge. The two 5.6-inch displays result in a 3:2 8.1-inch overall tablet-style screen size.

The device can be held horizontally or vertically, with the same app utilizing the two screens or different apps displayed on either screen. Alternately, it can be stood up like a tent to watch movies on one screen in landscape mode. The 360-degree hinge means it can also be folded up into a more traditional form factor with a screen on either side, or closed up altogether like a book.

"Join a Microsoft Teams meeting and see participants on one screen while you present your PowerPoint slides on another. Open the Amazon Kindle app and read a book like a book. Position Surface Duo's screen like a tent and watch a video hands-free. Use Surface Duo in Compose mode to quickly respond to an email, or tilt it into portrait for a more immersive way to scroll through web pages or photos. Pair your Surface Duo with a supported Bluetooth controller to play games on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or with Surface Earbuds, coming Sept. 10 in Graphite Grey, to listen to your favorite playlist or podcast. Or easily take notes with the Surface Slim Pen, sold separately.

The Surface Duo is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor and has 6GB of DRAM, up to 256GB of storage, an 11-megapixel f/2.0 camera, Bluetooth 5.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, USB-C 3.1, and a 3,577mAh battery that Microsoft says provides "all-day battery life."

The device supports LTE on T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon networks, but there is no support for 5G. The Duo works with Microsoft's Surface pens (sold separately) and comes with a protective bumper cover.

The Surface Duo runs a heavily skinned version of Android, and any Android app will run on it without modification. Developers can optimize the layout of their apps to take advantage of the dual displays. Microsoft is also using specifically-designed algorithms to instruct apps to open on the correct display depending on the user's needs.

The Surface Duo was unveiled in October 2019, alongside the larger Surface Neo. The release date and specific details of the Surface Neo remain unknown, but it's expected to run Windows 10X, a new custom software based on Windows 10 that's designed for dual display devices.

Check out the video embedded above for MacRumors' first look at the two devices at Microsoft's October event.

Apple today seeded the fifth public beta of an upcoming watchOS 7 update to public beta testers, one week after seeding the fourth public beta and just a few days after seeding a new beta to developers.

The watchOS 7 update can be downloaded after installing the proper profile from Apple's Public Beta website. watchOS 7 should not be installed on a primary device as it is still an early beta and there could be bugs, plus there is no way to downgrade back to watchOS 6.

watchOS 7 is a major update that introduces a new Sleep Tracking feature for the Apple Watch, which is designed to measure how long you're asleep as you wear the Apple Watch while sleeping.

It comes along with a Wind Down feature that helps you establish a bedtime routine to make it easier to fall asleep at night, as well as a Sleep Mode that turns on Do Not Disturb and dims the Apple Watch display.

The Apple Watch can also wake you up with haptic vibrations, providing a weather report in the morning as well as info on battery life so you can get your day started.

Along with these sleep tracking features, the Apple Watch has automatic handwashing detection that listens for the sound of running water and handwashing motions and then starts a 20-second timer so you can make sure you're washing your hands for the appropriate amount of time.

A new watch Face Sharing feature lets you share watch faces with others and install new watch faces from the App Store, Messages, Mail, websites, and more.

There's a new Chronograph Pro face with tachymeter, updates to complications, and new workout options in the newly renamed Fitness app, which was previously the Activity app.

The Maps app now supports directions for cyclists, Siri provides spoken translations, and there's a Shortcuts app on the Apple Watch. For more on what's new in watcOS 7, make sure to check out our watchOS 7 roundup.

watchOS 7 is limited to the Apple Watch Series 3, Series 4, and Series 5 models, and is not compatible with the Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2.

Apple is rumored to be working on a subscription services bundle called "Apple One," which could see a launch in the near future, according to code found in the Android version of Apple Music by 9to5Google.

Signs of an "‌Apple One‌" bundle were found in the 3.4.0 beta of ‌Apple Music‌ for Android, confirming that ‌Apple Music‌ will be one component of the services bundle. From the Android app code:

Your Apple Music subscription will be included in Apple One starting %s. You will not be charged for both subscriptions.

You can manage your Apple One subscription using your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac.

There is wording that indicates customers who upgrade to ‌Apple One‌ will not be double charged for ‌Apple Music‌, and that the ‌Apple One‌ subscription will be able to be managed on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac.

No other information about the ‌Apple One‌ service was located in the Android version of ‌Apple Music‌, but the original rumor, from Bloomberg, suggested that the bundled service is set to launch in October, likely alongside the ‌iPhone‌.

Apple is actually planning for several ‌Apple One‌ bundle tiers. A basic package is expected to offer ‌Apple Music‌ and ‌Apple TV‌+, while a second tier will also include Apple Arcade. A third bundle tier will include all of the aforementioned services along with Apple News+.

There will also be a higher-end tier that includes ‌Apple Music‌, ‌Apple TV‌+, ‌Apple Arcade‌, ‌Apple News‌+, and iCloud storage, and there may also be a new fitness-oriented service that offers virtual fitness classes.

There is no word on bundle pricing yet, but the bundles are expected to offer savings over purchasing each subscription service separately. Bundle pricing could save customers from $2 to more than $5 a month depending on the bundle.

Samsung will reportedly provide foldable display samples for a potential future iPhone, following a request from Apple, according to leaker "Ice Universe," who has today shared the information on Weibo.

The "large number" of foldable displays will be samples for use in mobile phone devices, and Samsung will apparently supply the units to Apple for the duration of one year. The leaker also seemed to stress the immediacy of this development, perhaps implying that the order is about to commence.

Last year, it was reported that Samsung was shipping its foldable display technology to other companies, including Apple, in the hopes of receiving orders. The new leak may indicate that after testing initial samples last year, Apple is now trialling foldable devices more extensively. Some sources have proposed that a foldable ‌iPhone‌ could launch as soon as next year.

Samsung has historically been a key supplier to Apple, providing the OLED screens for iPhones. The company intends to dominate the foldable display market as a supplier, and was considering a move to step up production to 10 million units a year depending on demand.

Apple has been known to be working on foldable display technology for some time, filing multiple patents regarding the technology, and rumors have also floated around LG's potential involvement.

The repeated insinuation of Samsung's involvement and orders being placed by Apple offers a more concrete suggestion that work on a foldable ‌iPhone‌ is continuing at pace.

Neil Jhaveri, a former Apple engineer who worked on the company's default Mail app, has introduced a new Gmail client for macOS.

Available in beta, Mimestream is a native app written in Swift and designed with AppKit and SwiftUI for a clean, stock appearance. Jhaveri says the app is designed to be fast, lightweight, and use a minimal amount of disk space.

Mimestream uses the Gmail API rather than IMAP to support more Gmail-specific features, such as categorized inboxes, automatically synced aliases and signatures, full labels integration, and search operators. Jhaveri plans to add more features over time, including Google Drive support, server-side filter configuration, and G Suite directory autocomplete.

Mimestream's advantages over using the Gmail web interface include support for multiple Gmail accounts with a unified inbox, system-level notifications, system-level Dark Mode support, swipe gestures, tracking prevention, and more.

Jhaveri says Mimestream only makes direct connections to Gmail and does not use intermediary servers, adding that the app does not collect or sell users' emails.

Mimestream is free for a limited time while in beta and will eventually be a paid app distributed through the Mac App Store. macOS Catalina or later is required. Jhaveri says an iOS and iPadOS version of the app is planned for the future.

Following Apple's countersuit on Tuesday, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has now responded to Apple's new request for damages for breach of contract.

Sweeney says that Apple's claim that the legal dispute is "nothing more than a basic disagreement over money" is an indication that it has "lost sight of the tech industry's founding principles," although he does not explicitly state what these founding principles are. He also assumes that Apple is "posturing for the court."

Sweeney went on to refer to Epic's "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite" commercial, explaining that it was intended to show that Apple was now the "all-powerful corporation dictating the terms of users' access to their devices," displacing IBM, and that it is "using that position to exert control and extract money."

He then reiterated some of the rationale behind why ‌Epic Games‌ began the campaign against Apple's App Store policies, stating that "creators have rights." Sweeney concluded by strongly disputing that the entire disagreement was about money, instead saying it is a more fundamental fight for change.

‌Epic Games‌' developer account has now been terminated, and the company has filed for a preliminary injunction that would both allow Fortnite back on the ‌App Store‌ and restore access to its developer account. At the same time, ‌Epic Games‌ has refused to remove the direct payment option that is in direct violation of Apple's ‌‌App Store‌‌ policies‌. The preliminary injunction hearing will take place at the end of this month.

After being announced earlier this year at WWDC, Apple has now released enhanced sandbox testing to developers.

The feature will allow developers to test their in-app purchases for a wide range of scenarios, such as upgrades, downgrades, cancellations, introductory offers, and interrupted purchases.

The Apple sandbox environment lets you test in-app purchases on devices using product information set up in App Store Connect. You can now test upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations for subscriptions, as well as reset the introductory offer eligibility for a test account from Settings on devices running iOS 14 or later. You can also test your app's response to interrupted purchases on devices running iOS 14 or later. And App Store Connect users with the Developer role can now create and manage sandbox tester accounts.

The enhanced sandbox environment will afford developers far greater ability to test the implementation of their purchases using Apple's StoreKit framework in Xcode and iOS 14. Developers can now use a sandbox Apple ID to simulate all purchase situations exactly as their users will experience it.

Enhanced Sandbox Testing was first revealed at WWDC alongside other improvements to Xcode, "macOS Universal" apps, WebExtensions API support for Safari, and more transparent privacy information in the App Store.

Apple today opened its new Marina Bay Sands retail store in Singapore, and YouTube channel Superadrianme TV has produced a video walkthrough, embedded below, that gives viewers a real sense of what it's like to visit the stunning one-of-a-kind construction.

The video includes Apple's traditional clapping welcome for customers at an official store opening, the 45-meter-long underwater entrance tunnel from Basement 2 of The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, and the long escalator ride to reach the top.

It also shows off the domed main floor, including the central oculus at the apex of the structure and the surrounding louvered blinds, which illuminate the interior while keeping customers protected from the scorching rays of the midday sun.

The store includes not only the usual product display areas and gigantic video wall anchoring The Forum, but also Apple's first underwater Boardroom for business meetings, training, and private events.

Apple Marina Bay Sands is the company's third retail store in Singapore, and opening-day visits were by reservation only, with reservations made through the store web page.

Scotland is the latest country to implement Apple's and Google's Exposure Notification API in their COVID-19 contact tracing app, now available on the App Store.

The Protect Scotland app was developed by NHS Scotland and is based on the exposure notification technology that was jointly developed by Google and Apple. Some other countries that have implemented or are committed to implementing the API include Italy, Latvia, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Saudi Arabia.

Built into iOS 13.5 on the Apple side, the API allows iPhones and Android smartphones to interface with one another for contact tracing purposes. If and when you happen to be nearby someone who later tests positive for COVID-19, you can receive a notification and take the appropriate steps to self isolate and seek medical help if necessary.

Apple recently rolled out a new Exposure Notifications System that does not require an app to be downloaded for the feature to be turned on. After updating to iOS 13.7, a new ‌Exposure Notification‌ section appears in the Settings app where there's a toggle to "Turn on Exposure Notifications."

Activating Exposure Notifications lets you know if the feature is available in your country, state, or region through a contact tracing app. In areas that are participating in the Exposure Notifications Express program, users can turn on Exposure Notifications without the need to download an app.

Apple and Google have stressed the privacy of their Bluetooth-based solution, which must be enabled in the Settings app under Privacy > Health > COVID-19 Exposure Logging to function. Read our Exposure Notification guide for more details.

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.

New puzzle game "A Monster's Expedition" has arrived on Apple Arcade. The title comes from Draknek, developers of "Cosmic Express," and offers players an "adorable" open-world adventure in which they must push over trees to create pathways and explore islands near and far.

The game includes hundreds of islands to visit – some right in front of you, others "well off the beaten track for true puzzle lovers." The game uses simple but deep mechanics providing several possibilities to discover and learn about "mythical humans" from the perspective of curious monsters.

"A Monster's Expedition" is suitable for players of the age of four and above, and can be played on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV through the ‌Apple Arcade‌ subscription gaming service.

Google in August announced the launch of a new Google Maps app that's designed for the Apple Watch, and at the time, Google said that it would be rolling out "in the coming weeks."

The Apple Watch app has gone live based on reports from Reddit users who downloaded the latest iPhone update and were able to install the Google Maps app on the Apple Watch.

The Google Maps app for Apple Watch mirrors the directions that have already been input on the ‌iPhone‌, and there is no option for getting directions directly on the Apple Watch. It is reliant on the iOS version of the app, but provides access to saved destinations such as work and home.

The app offers turn-by-turn directions along with ETAs so you know when you can expect to arrive to your destination. Multiple travel modes, including navigation with car, public transit, bike, or by foot are available, and there is a Google Maps complication that can be set up.

Google Maps can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Apple's design team has created a new kind of protective mask that's being distributed to retail and corporate employees, reports Bloomberg.

The mask is called the Apple Face Mask and it was developed in-house in Cupertino by the Engineering and Industrial Design teams at Apple. Last week, an Apple employee sent MacRumors an image of the mask design, which can be seen up above.

The Apple Face Mask features a three-layer design that filters both incoming and outgoing particles like many cloth masks, and it can be washed and reused up to five times. The mask has a design with a triangle shape to accommodate the nose without fogging glasses, a rounded section for the chin, and adjustable strings for the ears.

Apple told Bloomberg that it conducted "careful research and testing" to find appropriate materials to filter the air while not disrupting supplies of medical personal protective equipment.

Apple's employees will begin receiving Apple Face Masks over the course of the next two weeks. Apple also provides basic surgical masks to customers who visit its stores, but these are not Apple-designed masks.

Update: This article has been updated. The original article referenced a second mask, the ClearMask, but it turns out the second mask was not designed by Apple. Apple is, however, distributing the ClearMask to some of its retail employees because it shows the entire face so that people who are deaf and hard of hearing can understand what the wearer is saying. Apple is also working on its own transparent mask to be distributed to employees in the future.

Update 2: MacRumors has received additional photos of the Apple Face Mask.

Update 3:

Mark Gurman shares a series of unboxing photos of the Apple Mask:

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.

As rumors about Apple's AirTags ramp up, AirTag competitor Tile is planning to launch a new "Premium Protect" service that will provide up to $1,000 to reimburse customers who subscribe for their lost items.

Tile already has a premium plan that provides Smart Alerts when an item is left behind, free replacement batteries each year, and 30-day location history, but the $30 subscription service (per year) does not include item reimbursement.

As highlighted by Engadget, the Premium Protect service will cost $100 a year and will offer all of the same features as the premium service, but with the promise of up to $1,000 if Tile can't help users locate a lost item within seven days.

Premium Protect will cover Tile trackers as well as items that have built-in Tile tracking features like SkullCandy earbuds and the HP Elite Dragonfly laptop, with the warranty provided in partnership with warranty company Cover Genius.

Using the feature will require users to sign up, register the associated tile, and take a photo of the item that it is attached to. Tile says that Premium Protect is considered a service warranty on the Tile network rather than an insurance policy on the item.

If the Tile network is able to locate the item but it's unable to be safely retrieved, Tile will not provide reimbursement for the item. If the Tile network can't find the item at all, then it is eligible for replacement. According to Tile, the Tile network is able to find around 90 percent of items that are marked as lost.

Tile CEO CJ Prober told Engadget that Tile is system agnostic, which is a benefit that it offers over Apple's rumored AirTags. "Our customers aren't forced to choose a single platform and are advantaged by Tile being system-agnostic. We work with Android, Apple and other platforms people are already using and want to use to help find their lost stuff," he said.

Tile's Premium Protect service is going to launch in the fall, with current rumors also suggesting that Apple's AirTags could launch before the end of 2020, perhaps alongside the new iPhone 12 models.

Apple today seeded the eighth betas of upcoming iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the seventh betas and over two months after unveiling the new software at the WWDC keynote.

Registered developers can download the betas over the air after installing the proper profile from the Apple Developer Center.

iOS 14 introduces a redesigned Home Screen that supports widgets on iPhone for the first time, plus widgets have been redesigned and can now be customized in three sizes through the new widgets gallery.

An App Library shows all of the apps installed on an ‌iPhone‌ in one place, both in an icon view and in an alphabetical list. With all of the apps in the App Library, app icons and ‌Home Screen‌ pages can be hidden for a cleaner look.

Incoming phone calls and FaceTime calls no longer take up the entire ‌iPhone‌/iPad display, and Siri requests have also been minimized so summoning ‌Siri‌ doesn't monopolize the screen. ‌Siri‌ is smarter in iOS 14 and can send audio messages, and dictation can now run on device. A Picture in Picture mode allows users to watch videos or use ‌FaceTime‌ while using other apps.

App Clips lets users take advantage of some app features without needing to download a full app, useful for quick actions like purchasing a coffee, making a restaurant reservation, or renting a scooter, where downloading an entire app would be a hassle. App Clips can be scanned from QR codes, NFC tags, or Apple-designed App Clip Codes, plus they can be shared in Messages or accessed from Safari.

In the Messages app you can now pin important conversations, use @mentions in group chats, and take advantage of inline replies to keep multi-person conversations better organized. There are new Memoji options and group chats can be assigned icons with photos, emoji, or Memoji.

The Health app supports the Apple Watch's new Sleep Tracking feature and there's a Health Checklist for managing health settings, and in the Weather app, there's more info on precipitation and severe weather events.

Cycling directions are available in the Maps app with directions incorporating elevation, how busy a street is, and stairs, plus for those who own electric vehicles, there are options for routes with EV charging stops.

Digital Car Keys let an ‌iPhone‌ be used in lieu of a physical key, a feature that's coming soon to BMWs, and CarPlay now lets users set wallpapers.

A new translate app provides text and voice translations to and from 11 languages, and there are tons of new privacy protections. Developers need to get user permission before accessing devices on a local network, limiting access to photos, and providing apps with approximate locations instead of exact locations.

Safari has a Privacy Report that lets you know which websites have trackers, and there are new icons on the Home screen that let you know when an app is using a camera or microphone. Third-party browser and mail apps can be set as default for the first time, and Apple added new AirPods capabilities.

As for the ‌iPad‌, the Apple Pencil can now be used in any text field, with handwritten text converted automatically to typed text thanks to the new Scribble feature.

There are tons more features in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, so make sure to check out our iOS 14 roundup and our iPadOS 14 roundup for a full list of everything new. We also highlight all of the new feature tweaks and changes introduced with each beta iteration, and you can see the changes from beta 2, beta 3, and beta 4 in our beta 2, beta 3, beta 4, beta 5, beta 6, and beta 7 tidbits articles.

Beta 3 brought a new red Music icon, changes to the design of the Music Library in the Music app, a Clock widget, an updated Screen Time widget, while beta 4 added an Apple TV widget and improvements to search. Beta 5 introduced a larger Apple News widget option, a scrolling clock wheel for apps like Alarm Clock, an option to turn on Exposure Notifications, and a feature to better hide photo albums, while beta 6 added spatial audio settings and beta 7 added Dark Mode options for the rainbow wallpapers.

iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 are available to registered developers and public beta testers at this time. Beta testing for ‌iOS 14‌ will last for a couple of months, with the update set to be released in the fall alongside new iPhones.