MacRumors

Earlier this week, Japanese publication Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun reported that Sony will supply Apple with OLED microdisplays for its widely rumored AR/VR glasses, as spotted by Mac Otakara. The report has since been corroborated by display industry analyst Ross Young, who said multiple sources have informed him that Apple is indeed planning to use Sony's microdisplay technology for its head-mounted accessory.

According to FRAMOS, a supplier of embedded vision technologies, Sony's OLED microdisplays are small, cutting-edge displays with an ultra-fast response rate, ultra-high contrast, a wide color gamut for precise color reproduction, high luminance, low reflectance, and other benefits that would be ideal for Apple's glasses:

OLED (Organic LED) Microdisplays from SONY® Semiconductor Solutions are cutting-edge small video displays providing fast response, high-contrast image technology and precise color reproduction. The very thin displays bring greater visual impact to applications in AR/VR/MR, broadcasting, electronic view finders, industrial maintenance and medical. With large aperture and high luminance, a wide color spectrum, less reflectance and a high dynamic range they operate in extreme speed without showing any motion blur.

Sony's microdisplays also have integrated drivers for a thin and light design, and power-saving modes are available for longer battery life.

Young said the glasses will use a 0.5-inch display with a 1,280x960 resolution, and these specs appear to correspond with Sony's ECX337A component. According to Sony's website, this microdisplay in particular has a max brightness of 1,000 nits, an ultra-high contrast of 100,000:1, and an ultra-fast response rate of 0.01 ms or less.

The high contrast provided by Sony's microdisplays allows an additional information layer to appear seamlessly, and not as an overlay. "This information is simply added to the background for a 'real AR' experience," according to FRAMOS.

According to the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Apple plans to release its AR/VR glasses in 2021, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo does not expect a release until 2022 at the earliest. Young also believes that the glasses will be introduced in the first half of 2022. For a recap of all rumors to date, be sure to read our detailed Apple Glasses roundup.

The developers behind the Halide camera app today announced the launch of Halide Mark II, a new photography app that combines everything from Halide with the technology that was introduced in Spectre, an app for capturing long exposure photos, also from the makers of Halide.

Mark II is described as an "elegant, intuitive camera" that can be used by casual photographers while also providing advanced features needed by expert photographers.

The interface is built on a redesigned version of the Halide interface, and it looks as simple as Apple's own built-in camera app. It offers up easy access controls with just a few taps. A tap on the AF button, for example, disables autofocus and activates manual focus tools.

Halide's developers say the Mark II app was designed with "Intelligent Activation" that causes new tools and options to appear based on need when using one of the Halide camera features.

The design is meant to use every pixel of the iPhone, and as an example, the histogram or waveform are displayed up next to the notch, while the bottom of the ‌iPhone‌ offers up location tagging and the last camera shot. All camera controls are meant to be within easy thumb reach to improve usability. There's a new interface for reviewing photos, which has a more feature rich set of controls. More information is provided at a glance, and photo metadata is accessible.

The Mark II app is designed to work with Apple's ProRAW feature, and Halide is adding its own tools to make shooting RAW photos easier on all iPhones. Mark II is able to capture classic RAWs and computational photos using a new "Coverage" feature. With Coverage, Halide users can take photos that use all of the advanced photographic capabilities in the ‌iPhone‌ (Smart HDR 3 and Deep Fusion) while also making a RAW version available for those who want to do their own edits.

There's also an Instant Raw feature that uses machine learning to go through a 17-step process of developing a RAW file to get the best possible auto-edited result that enhances detail and color, ultimately providing something between a JPG and standard RAW file. According to the app's developers, Mark II is the first camera app that's able to visualize the full 14-bit RAW data in realtime, a feature it calls XDR Analysis. XDR Analysis offers a more accurate look at exposure and is enabled when the ISO or shutter speed are adjusted.

Along with these new RAW tools, Mark II offers new focus and exposure tools, including a visualization called Waveform. Waveform horizontally scans over an image and provides info on which channel colors are clipped.

To help users get the most out of Halide Mark II, the app features a 10-day learning course that highlights all of the app's available features and explains photographic concepts.

Halide Mark II can be downloaded from the App Store starting today. All existing Halide customers will get Mark II for free, along with a year of members' updates.

For new users, the app is priced at $36, but is on sale at launch for $30, and in the future, prices will be raised as new features are added. There's also an alternative membership option priced at $9.99 per year, which will go up to $11.99 after launch. Prior to making a purchase, there is a free 7-day trial available for users to test out the new features.

Update: While the Mark II update should be free for existing Halide users, there is currently a bug that is preventing those users from accessing the app. A bug fix update is coming as soon as Apple approves it, so existing users should hold off on updating for the time being if they can.

The Apple TV app will be coming to Sony's PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, according to an official blog post.

The ‌Apple TV‌ app will be located within the PS5's dedicated media space. It will also be compatible with Sony's new Media Remote for navigation and control.

Enjoy Apple TV+, Apple TV channels, new and popular movies, and personalized, curated recommendations on the Apple TV app. That means users can enjoy Apple Originals like Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, Ted Lasso, and The Morning Show through Apple TV+, subscribe to premium channels, and buy or rent movies and TV shows and access past purchases from Apple. The Apple TV app will also be available on PS4.

The ‌Apple TV‌ app is also coming to rival Xbox consoles this year. In an effort to proliferate its video streaming service, Apple has been making a concerted effort to make the ‌Apple TV‌ app available on other platforms, such as Sony and LG smart TVs, to aid the service's growth.

The ‌Apple TV‌ app is scheduled to arrive on PlayStations on the PS5's launch date of Thursday, November 12.

Apple's iPad Air is launching tomorrow, October 23, and pre-orders have been up since last Friday. Even though the new tablet isn't actually out yet, Amazon is already offering a discount: you can pre-order the 64GB Wi-Fi model for $559.00, down from $599.00.

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 sale price is only available in the green color, and it could disappear fast so if you're interested be sure to head to Amazon soon. If pre-ordered today, you can lock in the $40 discount price, and the iPad Air will ship once it's released.

The iPad Air was announced last month, and it has an edge-to-edge 10.9-inch display, Touch ID power button, a brand-new A14 Bionic chip, new color options, and more. 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.

A new report from Canalys has forecasted the global smart speaker market for next year, projecting that it will reach 163 million units, a growth of 21 percent.

Mainland China is expected to be the main market for smart speakers next year with a growth of 16 percent. The rest of the market is expected to grow by just three percent. In spite of this, 2021 is believed to be a much stronger year for smart speakers due to increased demand, as well as improved products and availability.

HomePod mini is presumed to pose a challenge to incumbent smart speakers, although Canalys Research Manager Jason Low says that the new device may yet face some challenges.

Apple still has much to prove to attract users, especially as the HomePod mini is up against other new US$99 devices, which are larger in size and with assistants perceived to be smarter. Apple must deliver its acclaimed premium user experience by leveraging its proprietary ecosystem of hardware, software and services. The HomePod mini would give its competitors a run for their money if the sound quality proves to be better despite its smaller size, and if the UWB and Intercom features work seamlessly for users.

It is also notable that Apple will be the only global platform vendor selling hardware and services within China.

"The US$99 (approximately CYN700) price segment is pretty much a no-mans-land in China, yet adequate to appeal to Apple’s user-base. Apple should take this opportunity to drive the uptake of its music and other services consumed at home," said Canalys Research Analyst Cynthia Chen.

The global smart speaker installed base is forecast to reach 640 million units by 2024, which Canalys says is "paving the way for the ambient computing paradigm shift."

Feral Interactive has today announced that a remastered edition of classic first-person shooter game "BioShock 2" is now available for macOS.

BioShock 2 is the second game in the cult-classic first-person shooter series. Mac gamers can now return to the fallen city of Rapture to rescue Little Sister Eleanor from its sinister inhabitants. Players can now appreciate the gleaming art-deco architecture of the underwater metropolis better than ever with all-new high-resolution textures and models.

Play as a fearsome Big Daddy and rescue your Little Sister, Eleanor, from the clutches of the frenzied Rapture Family, a collectivist cult conspiring to transform her into a genetically modified messiah. Wield gene-altering Plasmids against vicious Splicers and violently protective Big Sisters as you navigate Rapture’s dripping art-deco halls.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the original Bioshock in 2017, Feral Interactive released "BioShock Remastered" for macOS. The release of BioShock 2 Remastered also comes ten years after the release of the original BioShock 2 in 2010.

The studio is also responsible for publishing some of the most popular AAA games on the Mac App store, such as "Shadow of the Tomb Raider," "Alien: Isolation - The Collection," "Life is Strange 2," "Total War: Warhammer II," and more.

BioShock 2 Remastered is available now from the Mac App Store or the Feral Store for $19.99, with the "Minerva's Den Remastered" DLC also available for $9.99.

Apple is reportedly rolling out a new tool to Apple service providers for testing AirPods, according to leaker known as "Fudge," who shared images of the tool on Twitter.

Apple appears to be seeking to reduce unnecessary AirPods services by more accurately diagnosing the cause of a fault. Instances of a dirt-blockage, which may be difficult to ascertain visually, can apparently be identified by the use of a simple new tool. This could cut-down on needless services in instances where a deep clean is all that is required.

A dedicated service-provider's iPhone is inserted into a tray, which can run an app to determine if AirPods are genuinely faulty or simply malfunctioning due to a build-up of dirt. The tool tests first and second-generation AirPods by directing them at an ‌iPhone‌'s microphone.

The original post states the diagnosis functions similarly to the "existing ‌iPhone‌ Audio test in principle."

It does not appear to be compatible with AirPods Pro, but it seems possible for Apple to develop a different holder for ‌AirPods Pro‌ to connect to the ‌iPhone‌ tray in the future.

In collaboration with Apple, Porsche is adding Apple Podcasts and Apple Music's time-synced lyrics to its all-electric Taycan.

Last year, Porsche added Apple Music integration to the Taycan, allowing users to access Apple's music streaming service via the car's infotainment system without a smartphone connection. Now, Porsche is adding ‌Apple Music‌ time-synced lyrics appear on the passenger-side display.

‌Apple Podcasts‌ is also coming to the Porsche Taycan, with support for Apple's entire catalog of podcasts and Top Charts for shows and episodes.

"A great podcast can make any drive more enjoyable," said Oliver Schusser, Apple's Vice President of Apple Music, Beats, and International Content. "With Apple Podcasts, drivers can effortlessly catch up on the latest news, hear incredible stories and enjoy the company of their favorite hosts. And with Apple Music, passengers can easily sing along to their favorite songs with time-synced Lyrics."

As was the case with ‌Apple Music‌, ‌Apple Podcasts‌ integration directly in a vehicle is the first of its kind. Porsche has also teased that more Apple features for the Taycan could be arriving in the future.

"The new Apple Music and Apple Podcast offerings expand the emotional driving experience with the Taycan with a seamlessly integrated digital feature for music lovers. There is more to come," said Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG.

‌Apple Podcasts‌ and ‌Apple Music‌'s time-synced lyrics are available to new Taycan customers now and the features will roll out to all owners in January 2021.

Apple has introduced the option to download iOS software updates using 5G cellular data on the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max, according to a support document published this week.

To download iOS updates over 5G, users will have to enable the "Allow More Data on 5G" mode in the Settings app under Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Data Mode. Apple says this mode also enables higher-quality video and FaceTime calls, and allows third-party apps to use more cellular data for enhanced experiences, when connected to 5G networks.

According to an internal Verizon document obtained by MacRumors, the ability to download iOS updates over cellular is limited to 5G iPhones with the "Allow More Data on 5G" mode enabled. On all previous-generation iPhones, and on iPhone 12 models that are connected to an LTE network, downloading iOS updates will still require a Wi-Fi connection.

Apple's support document also confirms that when using iPhone 12 models in Dual SIM mode, 5G is not supported on either line, except in China. Apple plans to enable 5G in Dual SIM mode in other countries later this year.

Apple's longtime head of design Jony Ive left the company back in mid-2019 to start his own company called LoveFrom, and one of Ive's first clients is Airbnb.

Airbnb today announced that it is working with Ive's LoveFrom company on a "special collaboration" that will include a multi-year relationship to "design the next generation of Airbnb products and services."

Today, I'm thrilled to announce that Jony and his partners at LoveFrom will be engaging in a special collaboration with me and the Airbnb team. We have made the decision to work together through a multi-year relationship to design the next generation of Airbnb products and services. Jony will also help us continue to develop our internal design team, which he believes to be one of the world's best. I know he is particularly excited about a relationship that will evolve to become a deep collaboration with our creative team.

I hope all of this speaks to the seriousness of our design-driven approach. We believe that working together will be an important and powerful creative partnership. We're both excited about the ideas we already have, as well as ideas that are currently beyond our imagination.

Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky says that he has long admired Ive's work, and that he and Ive have been friends for "many years," sharing a belief in the "value and importance of creativity and design."

When Jony Ive left Apple, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the Cupertino company would continue to work with Ive's LoveFrom, with Apple serving as one of LoveFrom's "primary clients." At the time, Ive said that he was looking forward to working with Apple "for many years to come" and remaining "very involved."

Ive's company, LoveFrom, was created in partnership with Marc Newson, who Ive has worked with for many years. LoveFrom is a collective of designers, architects, engineers, artists, writers, and musicians.

When Ive left, his design duties were taken over by Evans Hankey and Alan Dye, who head up Industrial Design and Human Interface Design, respectively. Both report to Jeff Williams, Apple's Chief Operating Officer.

Apple is seeking tax breaks from the U.S. government for domestic chip production, which suggests Apple may be aiming to move more iPhone manufacturing to the United States.

According to Bloomberg, second and third-quarter lobbying disclosure reports indicate that Apple lobbied officials from the Treasury Department, Congress, and the White House on tax issues that included "tax credits for domestic semiconductor production."

Apple designs many of its own chips, including the A-series chips used in iPhones and iPads and the Apple Silicon chips that will be used in future Macs. Development of chips is done in-house in Cupertino, but production is outsourced to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

Apple's lobbying efforts indicate that it perhaps wants to move production to the U.S., where it would not have to deal with tariffs and trade tensions between the United States and China.

Apple's recent lobbying coincides with a push by the company and its partners to move some production away from China and even back to the U.S. in a few cases. There's also a broader effort by the U.S. semiconductor industry to get government support for increased domestic production.

Apple veteran and director of federal government affairs Tim Powderly is leading Apple's lobbying efforts, according to Bloomberg. Apple's prior policy exec, Cynthia Hogan, left the company in May after being selected as one of the members of Joe Biden's vice presidential selection committee.

Most Apple products are made overseas, but the 2013 Mac Pro was manufactured in Austin, Texas. The same Texas plant is also responsible for the final assembly of the new ‌Mac Pro‌ models, and Apple decided to use the plant after being provided with tariff exemptions.

Apple chip partner TSMC in May announced plans to open an advanced chip factory in Arizona, and once that plant is open, it is expected to produce 5-nanometer chips. Apple's most recent A-series devices use A14 chips built on a 5-nanometer process.

Apple in 2018 committed to spending $350 billion to boost the U.S. economy over the course of five years, and has contributed funds to U.S. companies that make ‌iPhone‌ components, including Corning and Finisar.

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 April 2019, Apple and Qualcomm announced an agreement to dismiss a long-running legal battle between the two companies worldwide, paving the way for Apple to use Qualcomm's 5G modems for its iPhone 12 lineup and beyond.

A teardown video shared earlier today revealed that Apple is using Qualcomm's Snapdragon X55 modem in iPhone 12 models, and beyond that, we have now uncovered Apple's roadmap for Qualcomm modems in future products.

As alerted to us by Danny Walsh on Twitter, page 71 of an Apple-Qualcomm settlement filing reveals that Apple intends to launch new products with the Snapdragon X60 modem between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022. Apple has also committed to using as-yet-unannounced X65 and X70 modems in products launched between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2024.

From the settlement document:

Apple intends to commercially launch (i) New Models of Apple Products during the time period between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021 (the "2020 Launch"), some of which use the SDX55 Qualcomm Chipset, (ii) New Models of Apple Products during the time period between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022 (the "2021 Launch"), some of which use the SDX60 Qualcomm Chipset, and (iii) New Models of Apple Products during the time period between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2024 (the "2022/23 Launch"), some of which use the SDX65 or SDX70 Qualcomm Chipsets (each a "Launch" and collectively the "Launches").

While these settlement details are over a year old, Apple's roadmap for Qualcomm modems in future products went largely under the radar.

Built on a 5nm process, the X60 modem packs higher power efficiency into a smaller footprint compared to the X55. Smartphones equipped with the X60 will also be able to aggregate data from both mmWave and sub-6GHz bands simultaneously to achieve an optimal combination of high-speed and low-latency network coverage.

When it introduced the X60 modem in February 2020, Qualcomm said that 5G smartphones featuring the chip would begin launching in 2021, so it is a prime candidate for inclusion in next year's iPhones as Apple's roadmap suggests.

Short form video streaming service Quibi is shutting down, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and The Information. Employees and investors were notified about the impending shutdown over phone calls that went out this afternoon.

Quibi, which launched in April, is similar to Netflix or Hulu but it provides video content in shorter 5 to 10 minute snippets for $4.99+ per month. Quibi envisioned its short form video being watched on smartphones, with the company pouring more than $1 billion into original content.

Following its launch, Quibi saw a slow start, which Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg attributed to the pandemic. Katzenberg called Quibi's launch "not close to what we wanted," and the service ended up with an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 subscribers.

Quibi believed that it would garner approximately 7.4 million subscribers during its first year after launching, and it has so far come nowhere close to meeting that target.

Katzenberg approached several tech executives to see if Quibi might be able to be sold off, but no companies were interested. Katzenberg spoke with Facebook, Warner Media, and even Apple's software and services chief Eddy Cue, all of whom declined a purchase.

Companies were not interested in Quibi because of its unappealing licensing deals. Quibi's content is exclusive to Quibi for just two years, with creators then able to license it to other services, and after seven years, creators get back show ownership. Quibi is also facing a lawsuit from interactive video company Eko, with Eko claiming Quibi stole its horizontal/vertical video content technology.

Quibi also attempted to expand outside of its smartphone-only streaming format, offering apps on other platforms such as the Apple TV. An ‌Apple TV‌ app for Quibi launched yesterday, but the platform expansion has come too late to save the service.

Quibi had backers that included most major Hollywood studios, Alibaba, and Google, and The Information says it will shut down with $850 million in cash and several hundred million in debt. It is not clear how much money will be returned to shareholders, and investors in the company stand to lose money.

At least two customers who have purchased iPhone 12 cases have received defective cases that do not have speaker holes, which obscures the sound.

There have been two separate threads on Reddit from ‌iPhone‌ 12 customers who purchased a case and received one without speaker holes.

One customer was told by an Apple advisor that the case wasn't meant to have speaker holes, which is, of course, incorrect. One of the original posters uploaded a video showing the defective case from more angles.

There have been limited reports about cases with no speaker holes, but anyone who receives one should be able to get a replacement case from Apple by contacting Apple's support staff or visiting a retail store location.

The majority of the cases that are being sent out to customers do indeed have speaker holes by design, with the non-speaker hole cases representing a clear manufacturing defect.

Apple's iPhone 12 lineup appears to be equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X55 modem, which is in line with rumors that we heard about the new devices prior to their launch.

An iPhone 12 teardown video on Chinese social networking site Weibo gives a close look at the L-shaped logic board and the modem chip.

The X55 offers support for both 5G mmWave networks and 5G Sub-6GHz networks, along with 5G/4G spectrum sharing, and it is Qualcomm's second-generation 5G chip after the X50.

Reports in 2019 indicated Apple would use the X55 modem in its ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup, and at the time, the X55 was Qualcomm's fastest and newest 5G modem. Qualcomm in February 2020 introduced the X60 modem built on a 5-nanometer process, which is more power efficient than the 7-nanometer X55.

There was some speculation that Apple could adopt the X60 for the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup, but the X60 likely came out too late in the ‌iPhone‌ 12 development process to be considered for the new devices.

Next year's iPhones will likely use the Snapdragon X60 modem from Qualcomm, which is the third-generation 5G modem chip that Qualcomm has manufactured. It will bring notable performance improvements in terms of battery draw, component size, and connectivity speed because it offers carrier aggregation for combined mmWave and sub-6GHz networks.

Apple used Intel chips for the ‌iPhone‌ 11 lineup, but switched back to Qualcomm's technology for this year's lineup after it became clear that Intel would not be able to provide the 5G modem chip capabilities Apple needed for its devices. Apple settled a long-running legal battle with Qualcomm to get access to Qualcomm's chip technology.

Belkin today announced the launch of the Boost Charge Pro USB-C GaN Wall Charger 60W, which it says is the smallest GaN 60W solution on the market.

The new USB-C Boost Charge Pro 60W charger joins Belkin's lineup of other gallium nitride (GaN) power adapter options. GaN technology has become widespread over the last few years and allows for much smaller power adapters that take up less space than the standard silicon power adapters.

According to Belkin, the Boost Charge Pro 60W is 53 percent smaller than standard 60W laptop chargers and is able to work with USB-C Apple devices including MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iPad Pro. It can also fast charge an iPhone (including the new ‌iPhone‌ 12 models) when paired with a USB-C to Lightning cable.

The compact Boost Charge Pro 60W is equipped with overcurrent and overvoltage protection to keep devices safe while charging.

Belkin is selling the Boost Charge Pro USB-C PD GaN Wall Charger 60W for $50, and it can be ordered from the Belkin website.