Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that relates to updating the haptic / Taptic engine enclosure so as to further protect it during a drop event that could cause the engine and its features to malfunction.

Apple's rumored AR/VR headset will be available in six colors, according to a sketchy rumor shared by Twitter account @billbil_kun, which accurately leaked a spec sheet for Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra before that device was announced earlier this year.

Apple headset concept by designer Marcus Kane

In a blog post today on French deals website Dealabs, spotted by iPhoneAddict, the anonymous leaker claimed that Apple's headset will be available in black, blue, gray, green, pink, and a sixth undisclosed color. They also claimed that the headset will have at least two...

In September 2021, Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple is Reportedly Designing Various Embedded Subsystems across all Operating Systems using RISC-V." Today we're learning that there could be a major tectonic shift in the industry away from the Arm architecture to RISC-V by major players such as Qualcomm, Samsung, Nvidia and others that could include Apple.

Amid rumors that this year's WWDC keynote could be one of the longest ever Apple events to introduce a series of new hardware products and major software updates, on the this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss everything we're expecting to see.

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During its WWDC keynote on Monday, Apple is likely to preview a series of major updates for its operating systems, including watchOS 10, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14. The company is also...

Apple's long-rumored AR/VR headset will enter mass production in October and launch by December, according to investment firm Morgan Stanley. Apple is still expected to unveil the headset at WWDC next week, and provide developers with tools to create apps for the device, which is expected to have its own App Store.

Apple headset concept by designer Marcus Kane

"While we expect Apple's AR/VR headset to be unveiled next week, our supply chain checks suggest mass production won't start until October '23, with general availability most likely ahead of the December holidays," said Erik Woodring, an Apple analyst at Morgan Stanley, in a research note obtained by MacRumors.

Apple's supply chain is preparing to assemble only 300,000 to 500,000 headsets in 2023, according to Woodring. As widely rumored, he believes the headset will have a starting price of around $3,000, and he expects gross margins...

Windows users will want to make sure that they are running the latest version of iTunes, iTunes 12.12.9, in order to gain protection from a recently uncovered security vulnerability.

Apple released iTunes 12.12.9 on May 23, and it fixes an issue that could allow malicious apps to gain elevated privileges to install malware on a Windows machine. While the vulnerability was addressed last week, Synopsys, the security company that discovered the problem, today shared some details on how it worked.

iTunes had a privileged folder with weak access control, allowing a malicious person to redirect the folder creation to the Windows system directory, which could then be used to obtain a higher-privileged system shell.The iTunes application creates a folder, SC Info, in the C:\ProgramData\Apple Computer\iTunes...

Apple is planning to expand on its Apple Store efforts, introducing a number of new retail locations worldwide and overhauling several stores in the United States, reports Bloomberg.

There are 15 new stores coming to the Asia-Pacific region, five stores coming to Europe and the Middle East, and four stores coming to the U.S. and Canada. Another 28 stores in Asia, Europe, and North America will be revamped or relocated, with Apple working on the updates through 2027.

Three of the Asia-Pacific stores will be in India, one will be in Malaysia, two will be in South Korea, and one will be at the Jing'an Temple Plaza in Shanghai, with Apple also planning to overhaul its Shinsaibashi store in Osaka, Japan. In Europe, Apple plans to upgrade its Paris Opéra location and open...

Apple today released the second beta of macOS Ventura 13.5 to its public beta testing group, allowing the general public to try out the software ahead of its official launch. The ‌macOS Ventura‌ 13.5 public beta comes a few days after Apple provided the second beta to developers.

Public beta testers can download the macOS 13.5 Ventura update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

There is no word as of yet on what's included in ‌macOS Ventura‌ 13.5, and no notable new features were found in the developer betas.

We're expecting to see Apple unveil macOS 14 in just two weeks at WWDC, and macOS 13.5 should be one of the last updates to Ventura that will tide users over until the public release of macOS 14 later this year.Related Roundup:...

Apple Card customers who have opted to create a high-yield Apple Savings account through Goldman Sachs have been experiencing issues attempting to withdraw their money, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Multiple customers who transferred thousands of dollars to the Apple Savings account have had to wait weeks for money transfers in some cases, and some customers have also had money disappear. Kevin Smyth from Minnesota, for example, attempted to transfer $10,000 from his Apple account to U.S. Bank in mid-May, but Goldman Sachs would not complete the transfer.

Customer representatives suggested he contact U.S. Bank, but U.S. Bank said there was no incoming transaction. Later, he was told that Goldman Sachs had placed his account under a security...

Facebook parent company Meta today announced the Quest 3, its next-generation mixed reality headset launching later this year. The announcement comes just days ahead of WWDC, where Apple is expected to unveil its own long-awaited AR/VR headset.

Meta said the Quest 3 features a 40% slimmer and more comfortable design, a higher-resolution display, and up to twice the graphics performance as the Quest 2, released in 2020. The headset will start at $499.99 with 128GB of storage, and Meta will also be lowering the starting price of the Quest 2 back to $299.99 on June 4. The company plans to share more details about the Quest 3 during its Meta Connect event on September 27.

Apple's headset is rumored to cost around $3,000, so the Quest 3 could be significantly cheaper. Meta also said the Quest 3 has an all-in-one design, whereas Apple's headset will reportedly include an external battery pack...

Mark Zuckerberg just announced Meta Quest 3, their next-generation virtual and mixed reality headset, which is set to launch later this year.

Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that relates to eliminating the iPhone's notch and repositioning the TrueDepth camera system behind the iPhone's display. This is a future iPhone feature that most Apple fans can't wait to see unfold. A recent fan on Twitter wrote to me saying: "I've always dreamed of an iPhone with an edge - to - edge screen without the notch! I really hope that by 2027 this will happen!" Well, today an Apple patent goes to demonstrate that Apple's engineers are continuing to work on this feature that we all want to see come to the iPhone as soon as possible and hopefully well before 2027. 

Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that relates to computer systems that provide computer-generated experiences, including, but not limited to, electronic devices that provide virtual reality and mixed reality experiences via a display. In one strange example, Apple illustrates a future version of Apple Watch that will allow a user to take a Face ID image of themselves using the sensors on the back of the Apple Watch that could be used in mixed reality environments. The images captured by Apple Watch and Apple's XR Headset in the initial set-up stage is done to configure a 2D or 3D virtual representation, a (2D or 3D) avatar) of the user.

Swedish automaker Polestar today announced that it is releasing a software update to all existing Polestar 2 vehicles to add new Apple CarPlay features, including full-screen Apple Maps in the driver display.

Polestar appears to be the second automaker to support display of ‌Apple Maps‌ and navigation information projected from ‌CarPlay‌ in the drivers display. BMW was the first automaker to include the extended CarPlay feature in its Polestar 2 rival, the BMW i4, in 2021.

Some vehicles with Apple ‌CarPlay‌ already feature limited...

The 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference will take place the week of June 5 to June 9, and like the last three years, it will be an online event, although select developers and students will be invited to Apple Park. To kick things off, Apple holds a keynote event on the Monday to introduce new hardware and software, which is what makes it of interest to the general public.

During the keynote event on Monday, June 5, Apple is expected to unveil new versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. The company is also likely to reveal its long-awaited AR/VR mixed reality headset, as well as a new 15-inch MacBook Air, and possibly more besides.

You can watch the WWDC 2023 keynote event using one of the methods outlined below. The live stream is set to start at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time from ‌Apple...

Popular virtual reality rhythm game Beat Saber could be one title that Apple is planning to promote for its upcoming AR/VR headset, according to a tweet shared by Beat Games co-founder Jaroslav Beck.

Beck today shared a tweet about June 5th, saying that the date would be "🍿🕶️," which seems to hint that a version of Beat Saber for the Apple AR/VR headset could perhaps be part of Apple's presentation. Beat Saber for Apple's platform is just speculation at this point, but Beck does not regularly tweet about Apple, and would seemingly have no reason to comment on the event.

June 5th is going to be🍿🕶️

— Jaroslav Beck (@JaroslavBeck) May 30, 2023

Rumors have suggested that Apple is already working with...

Popular Reddit app Apollo might not be able to operate as is in the future due to planned API pricing that Reddit is implementing.

Apollo developer Christian Selig was today told that Reddit plans to charge $12,000 for 50 million API requests. Last month, Apollo made seven billion requests, which would mean Selig would need to pay $1.7 million per month or $20 million per year to Reddit to keep the app running.

Just got off a call with Reddit about the API and new pricing. Bad news unless I come up with 20 million dollars (not joking). Appreciate boosts.https://t.co/FliuNCinpZ

— Christian Selig (@ChristianSelig) May 31, 2023

The average Apollo user uses 344 requests per day, which...

Apple today seeded the second beta of macOS Ventura 13.5 to developers for testing purposes, with the beta introduced two weeks after the release of the first beta.

Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer Center and after the appropriate profile is installed, with the betas available through the Software Update mechanism in System Settings.

No notable features were found in the first beta of macOS 13.5, so it's not yet clear what's included in the update. iOS 16.6 lays the groundwork for iMessage Contact Key Verification, so if that feature ultimately launches in the iOS 16.6 update, iMessage Contact Key Verification will also be included in ‌macOS Ventura‌ 13.5 as it is a cross-platform setting.

With macOS 14 set to be unveiled at WWDC on June 5, Apple's work on macOS 13 will soon be wrapping...

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 9.6 update to developers for testing purposes, with the software update coming two weeks after the release of the first beta.

To install the watchOS 9.6 update, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center.

Once installed, ‌watchOS 9.6 can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software update. To update to new software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life, it has to be placed on the charger, and it will need to be in range of the ‌‌iPhone‌‌ it is paired with.

It is not yet known if there are new features in the watchOS 9.6 update, but we did not find anything in the first beta. This is expected to be one of the final updates to the...

The App Store was responsible for an estimated $1.1 trillion in developer billings and sales in 2022, according to an Apple-sponsored study conducted by economists from Analysis Group. Apple shared the results of the study today as part of an ongoing effort to highlight the benefits of the ‌App Store‌ and the successes of developers who use the Apple platform.

A total of $910 billion of the $1.1 trillion estimate comes from the sales of physical goods and services that happened outside of the ‌App Store‌, while $109 billion was from in-app advertising, and $104 billion was from digital goods and services. The estimate includes sales from businesses of all sizes, large and small, and for the physical goods and...

Apple's mixed-reality headset will reportedly be the most complicated hardware product ever made by the company, sporting an unusual design that has proven to be an unprecedented challenging to manufacture, The Information reports.

Apple headset concept by Marcus Kane

The headset apparently features an "unconventional curved design, thinness, and ultralight weight." Several renders seen by The Information "show a piece of curved glass with edges wrapped in a smooth aluminum frame that appears to be slightly thicker than an iPhone." The thin profile requires users who wear glasses to buy prescription lenses that magnetically clip into the headset.

Apple had to develop a first-of-its-kind "bent...

In January we reported that Apple signed contracts with Samsung and LG for OLED displays for 2024 iPads and MacBooks. Today we're learning that Samsung has signed their first round of contracts ...

Apple today added the Thunderbolt Display and the first-generation iPad Air to its obsolete products list, meaning the devices are no longer eligible for repairs or other hardware service at Apple Stores or Apple Authorized Service Providers.

Apple classifies a product as obsolete once more than seven years have passed since the company stopped distributing it for sale. Apple discontinues all hardware service for obsolete products, and service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products. Both the Thunderbolt Display and the original iPad Air were discontinued in 2016.

Introduced in 2011, the Thunderbolt Display featured a 27-inch screen with 1440p resolution, a 720p camera, three USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a Thunderbolt port. Priced at $999, the Thunderbolt Display was the last Apple-branded monitor until the Pro Display XDR launched in 2019.

The original iPad...

Apple is overtly teasing the start of "a new era" and the ability to "code new worlds" at WWDC this year, building anticipation around the widely expected announcement of its mixed-reality headset.

A tweet shared by Apple earlier today made the "new era" remark, seemingly leaning into the high expectations surrounding next week's WWDC keynote. The launch of a major new device and operating system, something that has not occurred since the debut of the original Apple Watch in September 2014, would certainly seem to justify the start of a new era for the company.

A new era begins. Join us for #WWDC23 on June 5 at 10 a.m. PT.

Tap the ❤️ and we’ll send you a reminder on event day....

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is kicking off next Monday, and starting later this week, developers who have been invited to attend in person will be catching flights to get to Cupertino, California.

Developer Ryan Jones today announced the launch of a useful flight tracking tool for those who are attending, which is available through the Flighty flight tracking app. WWDC attendees can add their flights to the Flighty WWDC 2023 website to see other developers who will be flying in from the same airports and who may be on the same flights.

Dates are not shared, nor are flight numbers and airlines, but developers can add their names to see who else is coming to and from their local airports. The site also provides a look at interesting aggregate data, such as the number of countries developers are flying from, which airports, the distance traveled, and more.

A map view shows all of the incoming...

A new rumor claims that Apple's first XR Headset could offer up to 5,000 nits of brightness. Meta tries to hype up future Quest Pro prototypes that offer ...

The AR/VR headset that Apple plans to introduce at the Worldwide Developers Conference next week has long been rumored to feature 4K micro OLED displays with an 8K total resolution, but notable display analyst Ross Young today shared some additional specifications that give some insight into how the headset will work.

Concept render by Ian Zelbo

Each of the two displays will measure in at 1.41 inches diagonally, with Apple aiming for over 5000 nits of brightness and 4,000 pixels per inch. Unfortunately, AR/VR display specs used in headsets from competitors like Sony and Meta aren't generally advertised beyond resolution and pixels per inch, so it's difficult to make a direct comparison, but the information from Young does provide some context.

With ~5000 nits brightness or more, the AR/VR headset from Apple would support...

In Q1 2023 Apple's iPad was #1 in the U.S. by a wide margin while Macs suffered a huge decline

Apple planned to offer the MagSafe Charger in eight different color options around 2020, the prototype collector known as "Kosutami" claims.

MacRumors is told that Apple prototyped the ‌MagSafe‌ Charger in Space Gray, Starlight, Green, Pink, Purple, Yellow, Blue, and (PRODUCT)RED color options. The Yellow, Blue, and (PRODUCT)RED variants, in particular, were apparently highly saturated, deep shades.

The rubberized disc on the surface that makes contact with the iPhone and the cable was paired in a contrasting color to the shade of the aluminum exterior. For example, the Space Gray ‌MagSafe‌ Charger was matched with a black disc and cable. The prototypes seem to originate from the period in which the...

Just days ahead of WWDC, where Apple is expected to unveil its long-rumored AR/VR headset, developer Steve Troughton-Smith has managed to trick App Store Connect into showing the headset's rumored "xrOS" operating system name.

Apple headset concept by Marcus Kane

After analyzing some of Apple's open source code, Troughton-Smith attempted to submit an app crafted for the headset. App Store Connect rejected the app, but recognized it as an xrOS binary in an error message, despite Troughton-Smith never mentioning xrOS. This provides yet another indication that xrOS will be the public-facing name of the headset's operating system, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported.

The error message, which does not capitalize xrOS or iOS:...

Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 65 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. In this particular report we briefly cover two patents. The first Apple patent relates to Digital ID for Apple Wallet for a user's Driver's license+ and the second relates to sidewall displays on an iPhone that could be the foundation for haptic buttons coming to a future iPhone.

Ahead of Apple's keynote event at WWDC on Monday, June 5, the company's annual "AR experience" easter egg is now available.

Apple's imagery for WWDC 2023 has a bubble-like theme that emphasizes the colors of iridescent thin film interference. The AR experience shows an Apple logo-shaped bubble that animates clockwise with the date of June 5, 2023 in the center.

To view the AR experience, open up the Apple Events website on an iPhone or iPad and tap on "View the AR experience." From there, you can scan the area around you to see the logo in real time, or view it in "Object" mode to get a clearer picture of what it looks like without having to navigate your physical environment.

Apple's event...

Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially granted Apple a patent that relates to the 'Hover" feature for iPad Pro that could eventually expand to the iPhone and Macs.

Tired of toggling your iPhone's Orientation Lock for certain apps? Keep reading to learn how you can make iOS do it for you automatically.

In iOS, many apps display a different view when you rotate your iPhone from portrait to landscape orientation. Depending on the app and the way you use it, this behavior isn't always desirable, which is why Apple includes the Orientation Lock option in Control Center.

However, certain apps work more usefully with Orientation Lock disabled – think YouTube or the Photos app, where rotating your device to landscape orientation makes for a better fullscreen viewing experience.

If you tend to keep the lock on, you have to disable it in Control Center each time you open these kinds of apps to get the fullscreen experience. Then when you close the app, you have to remember to turn Orientation Lock back on, which isn't ideal. Fortunately, there is a simple personal automation you can create that will take over this process for...

Apple was hit with a series of class actions on the issue of the MacBook's butterfly in 2018. The final approval was handed down last week.

Apple will begin accepting trade-ins of three new Mac models on June 5, the day of Apple's WWDC 2023 keynote event, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In a tweet shared earlier today, Gurman said that the Mac Studio, 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, and 13-inch ‌M2‌ MacBook Pro, will become eligible for trade-in with Apple on Monday, June 5. Gurman is expecting new Mac hardware to be unveiled during Apple's keynote on June 5, including an all-new 15-inch MacBook Air model. "Read into that as...

According to Law360, Google has just been hit with a $32.5 million penalty for infringing on a patent held by Sonos.

Apple Inc. is a leader in providing accessibility features. Earlier this month we posted a report titled "Apple previews software features for cognitive, speech and vision accessibility that are coming later this year." On May 17, Apple posted a press release titled "AssistiveWare ushers in next generation of augmentative and alternative communication technology." Late last week the European Union's Intellectual Property Office published a new Apple trademark filing for "SignChat" ...

Apple's "My Photo Stream" service is set to shut down on July 26, 2023, which means customers who are still using that feature will need to transition to using iCloud Photos prior to that date.

My Photo Stream is a free service that uploads the last 30 days of images (up to 1,000) to iCloud, making them accessible on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and PC. It predates ‌iCloud Photos‌ and has largely been replaced by the ‌iCloud Photos‌ service at this point.

Going forward, Apple plans to have all customers use ‌iCloud Photos‌ instead of My Photo Stream. New photo uploads to My Photo Stream will stop on June 26, 2023, and images will remain in ‌iCloud‌ as usual for 30 days until the...

MacRumors founder Arnold Kim joins us on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show to discuss some of the history of the website and the world of Apple news and rumors.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos

Arnold started MacRumors as a hobby while studying for his final year of medical school in 2000. It has since grown to become the most popular Apple news and rumor site on the internet, sporting round-the-clock news coverage, helpful tutorials and a buyer's guide, a discussion forum with over 1.1 million members, and much more.

Arnold tells us about the website's...

We're now just a few days away from Memorial Day on Monday, May 29, and numerous retailers have opened up major discounts on Apple-related products as we head into the long weekend. This includes sales from popular accessory companies like Twelve South, Mophie, Satechi, Belkin, and much more.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Anker

Anker's Memorial Day deal event is focusing on its portable power station accessories, with as much as $400 off these devices. You'll only find these deals on Anker's website, and each one has a unique coupon code that you can clip on their product pages to get the deals.

UP TO $400 OFFAnker Portable Power Station Sale

• PowerHouse 535 (512Wh/500W) - $449....

Due to the global economic downturn, high-priced smartwatches from Apple and Samsung took a bit of hit while low-end <$25 watches (not smart) rose in demand. However, the two type of devices shouldn't be in the same report. It terribly blurs the stats with a false reading of the market.

Google today announced that it is opening up access to Search Labs, allowing testers to try out its new Search Generative Experience. The AI-powered Search option is limited to those who have signed up to be a part of Google Labs, with Google letting in a small number of people who have joined the Google Labs Waitlist.

AI for search is a feature that Google announced during its I/O developer conference earlier in May.

Google says that AI Search is designed to "take some of the work out of searching," which can make it easier for users to understand new topics, uncover different viewpoints, and "get things done more easily."

Google suggests that AI search can break down complicated searches...

Apple has started preparations for the Worldwide Developers Conference that's coming in under two weeks, and today, the Apple Developer app was updated for those who are attending or planning to join sessions and labs.

The Apple Developer app outlines the 2023 session videos, 1-on-1 labs, Slack activities, and more. When iOS 17 and the other new software updates are introduced, the Developer app will include videos and sessions organized into specific topics, as well as scheduling for sessions and activities.Thank you for your feedback! New in this release:

- Explore all WWDC23 has to offer, including session videos, activities in Slack, 1-on-1 labs, and more.

- We've also fixed bugs and added various other enhancements.Apple's 2023 WWDC event is set to begin on June 5 with a 10:00 a.m. keynote that will see the company unveil ‌iOS 17‌, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, and more, including the long awaited...