In this week’s top stories: iOS 14 beta testing continues, iPhone 12 rumors, new details about Apple’s AR glasses, and more. Read on for all of this week’s biggest news.
Apple this week continued beta testing of iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS 11 Big Sur, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14. The company released the second developer betas of each update, bringing a variety of small but notable tweaks. You can watch our full video for all of the details on 50+ changes.
In addition to the new developer betas, Apple also kicked off public beta testing of iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and tvOS 14 this week. If you’re interested in signing up for Apple’s public beta testing program, you can do so via Apple’s website right here.
In addition to the user-facing changes in iOS 14, 9to5Mac was also able to find a new hidden feature for Apple Pay. References found in the iOS 14 code reveal that Apple is working on a new method for letting users make payments with Apple Pay by scanning a QR code or traditional barcode with the iPhone camera.
The opposite would also work, with users holding the iPhone in front of a scanner with a QR Code generated by the Wallet app. Apple did not discuss this feature at WWDC 2020, and it’s not finished yet, so we don’t know when Apple will make it available to users.
Elsewhere, Apple announced a major expansion of its Independent Repair Provider Program this week. The company announced that over 140 new repair businesses in the United States are joining the program, while businesses in Europe and Canada can also now sign up for the first time.
Last but not least, a new report from The Information this week said that Apple’s semitransparent lenses, one of the most important components for AR glasses, has passed the prototyping stage and moved into trial production. This is an important step for Apple’s work towards AR glasses, but the company is still belived to be at least 1-2 years away from mass production.
These and the rest of this week’s top stories below.
- Apple releases iOS 14 beta 2, first update since WWDC keynote
- Apple releasing iOS 14 public beta today with redesigned home screen, widgets, more
- Exclusive: Apple is working on QR Code payments for Apple Pay, iOS 14 code reveals
- What’s new in iOS 14 beta 2? New Calendar icon, Files widgets, more
- iOS 14 Diary: First impressions of iOS 14 on day one of the public beta
- iOS 14: What do the orange and green dots in the status bar mean?
- iOS 14 features real-time headphone audio level measurements, here’s how to enable it
- iOS 14 will let you change default email and browser apps, here’s how it could work
- How to install the iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 public beta
- iOS 14 includes new light and dark mode wallpapers, download here
- Apple releases iOS 13.6 GM to developers with Apple News Audio, CarKey support, more
- Significant Apple Music battery drain issues reported by some iOS 13.5.1 users
- iOS 14 Apple Music features new animated playlist artwork
- Leaker suggests iPhone 12 Pro models will have 6GB of RAM
- Latest iPhone 12 dummy hands-on video simulates iOS 14, offers side-by-side iPhone 4 comparison
- Rumor: Slim iPhone 12 packaging suggests no charging brick or EarPods?
- Nikkei corroborates lack of charger and earbuds in iPhone 12 box, OLED screens for all models
- Apple releases watchOS 7 beta 2 to developers ahead of public beta release
- Apple fitness exec details new ‘Dance’ workout in watchOS 7, how it works
- watchOS 7: When will Apple release it to the public and what to expect when it’s available
- Apple releases second developer beta of macOS 11 Big Sur with new interface and icons, more
- Report: 12.9-inch iPad Pro with mini LED in Q1 2021, followed by 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro
- Kuo: New Apple Silicon Macs will include redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro in 2021
- Designer says macOS 11 Big Sur icons about ‘fun and judicious expressiveness’
- ARM Mac graphics performance could be better than discrete GPUs
- Mac: How to install the macOS Big Sur beta
- Thunderbolt 4 won’t be faster than Thunderbolt 3, but will be better – Intel
- Apple confirms Apple Silicon Macs will support Thunderbolt connection
- COVID-19: Which Apple Stores have reopened?
- Apple recloses 11 more stores in Southern California, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee
- Apple readies massive replacement for its first store in China
- Apple Stores now offer reservations to shop with a Specialist
- Apple’s Independent Repair Provider Program expands, over 700 US locations now available for iPhone service
- H.266/VVC codec released as successor to H.265/HEVC, paving way for higher quality video capture in iOS
- LinkedIn sued after being caught reading users’ clipboards on iOS 14
- Alexa iPhone app can now operate hands-free — with a little help from Siri
- Tom Hanks says it’s a ‘heartbreak’ that his war movie Greyhound is on Apple TV+ [U]
- Report: Apple’s lenses for new AR headset/glasses move to trial production, slightly thicker than normal glasses
- Apple’s Tim Cook is the 2nd highest-paid US CEO in 2019
- Hands-on with 50+ new iOS 14 beta 2 changes and features [Video]
- Nikkei corroborates lack of charger and earbuds in iPhone 12 box, OLED screens for all models
- Hands-on: 85+ new macOS Big Sur changes and features [Video]
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from . 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
- 9to5Mac Daily: July 10, 2020 – iOS 14 public beta release, more
- 9to5Mac Daily: July 09, 2020 – 14-inch MacBook Pro rumors, Apple Silicon details
- 9to5Mac Daily: July 08, 2020 – iOS 14 beta 2 changes, Apple Pay QR Code support
- 9to5Mac Daily: July 07, 2020 – Tim Cook to testify, more iPhone 12 rumors
- 9to5Mac Daily: July 06, 2020 – iOS 14 Keychain features, iPhone 12 speculation
Zac Hall and Michael Potuck from 9to5Mac unpack the latest updates to watchOS 7 and Apple Watch in this special live edition of 9to5Mac Watch Time.
9to5Mac Watch Time is a podcast series hosted by Zac Hall. In this series, we talk to real people about how the Apple Watch is affecting their lives. 9to5Mac Watch Time is available on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, and your favorite podcast player through RSS.
This week Zac and Benjamin discuss the iOS 14 public beta, two weeks using macOS Big Sur and the latest OS updates, favorite under-the-radar features so far, and much more.
9to5Mac Happy Hour is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play Music, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
After a bit of speculation as to whether or not Apple will ship this year’s iPhone without a charger, John and Rambo go on a deep dive into SwiftUI state management, and discuss various approaches for sharing code between an app and an extension.
Stacktrace by is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
In this episode of the Apple @ Work podcast, Bradley is joined by Andrew von Nagy of Celona to discuss CBRS and private LTE for the Apple-focused enterprise.
Stacktrace by is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. .
Apple @ Work is a weekly series from Bradley Chambers covering Apple in education. Bradley has been managing Apple devices in an education environment since 2009. Through his experience deploying and managing hundreds of Macs and hundreds of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple’s products work at scale, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for students.
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- Making the Grade: MacBook Air is the ideal solution for K-12 deployments
- Apple @ Work: What are the best management options for Ubiquiti networks?
- Making the Grade: Augmented Reality apps to enhance at-home learning
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Author: Chance Miller.
Source: 9TO5Mac
