Apple generates a lot of news, and it can be hard to keep up. If your mind was on other things this week, our roundup of Apple-related headlines will bring you up to date.
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New MacBook Pro: Lucky number 13
The rumours were right: Apple’s season of relentless product launches continued this week with the announcement of a new MacBook Pro 13in. It feels like there’s been approximately one new product a week since the start of lockdown. We miss the days when the company could organise a big event and announce everything at once.
The new Pro is a tasty device – and our colleagues at Tech Advisor are delighted to note that Apple’s five-year experiment with the butterfly-switch keyboard has come to an end – but some fans and pundits are disappointed that it’s the same screen size as before. Cheer up, everyone: the 14in MacBook Pro may still be out there.
WWDC 2020 dates revealed
Talking of big events, this week Apple released more details about its summer jamboree: WWDC 2020.
Yes, Dub Dub is happening this year (although it’s going to be online-only – weird, but safer) but we now know when: the opening keynote will be on 22 June.
COVID tracing
Apple continues to iterate on the important iOS 13.5 and iPadOS 13.5 updates that will make it possible for the authorities to track the progress of the coronavirus through our mobile devices. The company has released the fourth beta; the final public launch should be within a few weeks.
There are obvious societal benefits to this tracking, but it may raise concerns about health and location data falling into the wrong hands. With this in mind, we wrote a guide to the privacy implications of COVID tracing.
News roundup
Some quick headlines now:
Spotify’s boss acknowledges that Apple has made progress but argues that the company still has a long way to go before its platform has can be viewed as “open and fair”. Sounds like the beef is still on.
The AirPods Pro have received a third software update, after the second one led to complaints that the noise cancellation feature wasn’t working properly. (For what it’s worth the writer of this article hasn’t had any issues, and still has the second software.)
Vice this week reported on difficulties faced by Mac repairers and recyclers because of the T2 security chip. One source said “beautiful $3,000 MacBooks” are being destroyed because data cannot be wiped.
And Microsoft Office for iPad will get full mouse and cursor support in 2020. (On a related note, we’ve now published our review of the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. Our man described it as “undoubtedly the best keyboard you can get for the iPad Pro”, but had some reservations too.)
The rumour mill
Here’s a big one: Jon Prosser says a new Apple TV (with an A12X chip) “could drop any time”. Prosser is being annoyingly prophetic lately so the chances are he’s right – albeit fairly vague.
And from the same source (sorry about that, but the guy is absolutely bursting with credible Apple rumours at the moment), the iPhone 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max prices have been revealed. The surprising aspect of this is that the 12 Pro apparently won’t cost any more than the 11 Pro, despite including a larger screen, LiDAR and 5G.
The Apple Watch Series 6 will get sleep and anxiety monitoring, according to the latest report.
And Apple has patented a new input device called the ‘Apple Glove’, which could be used to control tech with hand movements. Usual caveat about patents: it may not lead anywhere, so view it as interesting rather than indicative.
Diversions and entertainments
Life for a lot of us is an unpleasant blend of boredom and fear right now. We’ve picked out some excellent iPad board games that could pass the time, and our roundup of the best Apple Arcade games is approaching completion: now would be a great time to take out a subscription.
And that’s it for the week. Stay Appley, everyone!
Author: David Price, Editor
David has loved the iPhone since covering the original 2007 launch; later his obsession expanded to include iPad and Apple Watch. He offers advice to owners (and prospective owners) of these devices.