Benjamin Mayo

The Apple Store is down ahead of Apple’s WWDC 2022 keynote later today, with a new placeholder page that reads ‘Developing news’. The ceremonial store-going-down dance usually indicates that Apple is preparing to announce new hardware products.

Of course, the main star of the show today will be on the operating system updates; we expect Apple to unveil major new features for iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, watchOS 9 and tvOS 16. Some new hardware announcements are also in the cards …

Apple authorized reseller B&H Photo has drummed up some speculation this morning about what new hardware we might see at the WWDC Apple keynote on Monday, alongside the usual iOS 16, macOS 13 and other software releases.

The reseller has set up placeholder product pages for an as-yet-unreleased M2 Mac mini (the M1 Mac mini debuted in October 2020) and a seemingly all-new ‘Mac mini tower‘ product, which may possibly be a reference to the new Apple Silicon Mac Pro …

European lawmakers are going to meet on June 7 as they look to finalize an agreement to enforce a single universal charging port law, which would see all mobile devices sold in the EU be required to offer USB-C ports for charging.

This idea has been circling in the minds of EU regulators for almost a decade, citing environmental e-waste benefits. The plans have previously drawn strong pushback from Apple, who intimated it would stifle innovation.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo pointed out on Twitter today that the public roadmap for TSMC’s silicon processes indicates that its 3-nanometer and 4-nanometer fabs will not be available for mass production until 2023.

This is another indication that the A16 chip coming with the iPhone 14 will continue to use a 5-nanometer fabrication process. This is on top of the fact that we believe that only higher-end models of the iPhone 14 will feature an A16 chip inside; the base models will continue to use the A15 chip.

Apple TV+ today premiered its new docuseries Prehistoric Planet. Prehistoric Planet combines big-budget CGI with the latest scientific knowledge about dinosaurs to bring a wholly new five-part series.

In the style of Planet Earth and similar nature documentaries, David Attenborough narrates the behavior of these stunning Cretaceous period species, as if they were actually being filmed.

Apple has apparently advanced its plans to expand manufacturing outside of China, telling contract manufacturer partners that it is aiming to diversify production. This is according to a report posted today by the Wall Street Journal.

Although some of Apple’s products are already produced in countries like Vietnam and India, the vast majority of Apple’s manufacturing takes place in China, at Foxconn and Pegatron facilities.

Display analyst Ross Young today tweeted that his latest supply chain analysis indicates that the rumored 27-inch external display with mini-LED has been delayed until October. He previously said it would arrive in June.

Young says the delay is due to the recent wave of COVID-induced lockdowns at the Quanta production plant. Production is reportedly being setting up at another facility.

According to a new report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple has recently demoed its upcoming AR/VR headset device to the Apple company board of directors. This is a good indicator that the project is at an ‘advanced stage’ and that a public product launch is imminent.

Bloomberg previously reported that a consumer launch for the headset is planned for 2023 but an early announcement of the device is likely. Today’s report also said that the development of the headset’s operating system has ramped up in recent months.

In April, a large group of Final Cut editors signed their name to an open letter asking Apple to do more to promote the use of Final Cut in the TV and film industry, in addition to closing long-running feature requests.

Today, Apple publicly responded. The letter reads: “the creative community has always been so important to us at Apple,” and the company pledged to address “your important feature requests.” Apple also said that is adding new training products, expanding workshops, and setting up a consultation panel of experts.

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is exploring the use of color paper displays by E Ink for its future products. Kuo says that this manufacturer’s technology is particularly well suited to enabling a low-power second screen experience for a foldable form factor device.

Of course, Apple does not currently make a foldable although there have been ongoing rumors that the company is considering designs for a foldable iPad.

Apple today shared the official trailer for the upcoming third season of alt-reality For All Mankind. Season three picks up ten years further on in the story, with NASA aiming to occupy the surface of Mars.

Apple’s flagship space drama debuted as part of the Apple TV+ launch in November 2019, and the show has continued to receive strong critical acclaim. For All Mankind season two was selected as the #1 show of last year, by Rolling Stone. Watch the trailer for the new season after the break …

In February, Apple announced a new system called to Tap to Pay on iPhone which allows an individual to take a contactless payment, only using their iPhone as the payment terminal. With the feature active, a customer simply has to tap their NFC iPhone or bank card on the top of the receiving device’s phone, to enact a contactless transaction.

The Apple Store is already trialling a rollout of this feature, at the Apple Park Visitor Center. Watch a video of Tap to Pay in action after the break …

Heading into 2022, Apple TV+ was preparing to fill its original film slate with a major blockbuster original film, ‘Emancipation’, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Will Smith.

However, as part of the ongoing fallout from Smith deciding to assault Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars, it now appears that the film’s release has been delayed to 2023 according to a report from Variety.

As expected, Apple today was hit with an official Statement of Objections from the EU competition commission over the dominance of Apple Pay.

The EU says that it has come to the preliminary view that Apple unfairly abused its dominant position in the ‘market for mobile wallets’ by restricting access to the NFC chip to third-parties, thereby elevating the adoption of Apple Pay.