Apple Rumored To Release Several Macs With M3 Processors In Late 2023

According to LeaksApplePro, Apple is prepared to release plenty of Macs equipped with an M3 processor in late 2023. According to the rumor, these models will include the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, 24-inch iMac, and Mac mini.

Following the release of the M2 earlier this year, Apple's M3 will be the third-generation chip for Apple Silicon processors. The M2 employs second-generation 5nm architecture and outperforms the first-generation M1 by 18%. The M3 will most likely use a 3nm (N3) architecture. According to Apple's manufacturing partner TSMC, the new N3 technology will provide 15% higher performance in terms of speed and performance while using 30% less power than the 5nm scale.

Apple will also release a new 27-inch iMac Pro in 2023, according to LeaksApplePro. Based on the rumor, it will have "a display that is very similar to the 27-inch LED micro display with ProMotion technology that will be introduced alongside the new Mac Pro, but of lower quality." According to reports, the new iMac Pro will be available with M2 Pro and M2 Max processors.

Apple Rumored To Still Be Working On A New M3-Equipped 24-Inch iMac

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writes in the newest issue of his Power On newsletter that Apple is still working on an iMac with a bigger display and a more powerful CPU. He also believes that an improved 24-inch variant with an M3 CPU will be available next year.

“I also still believe that Apple is working on a larger-screened iMac aimed at the professional market,” Gurman says. “I’d imagine this will use a variation of the M3 chip, likely an M3 Pro and M3 Max. That would match the chips inside of the MacBook Pro. I don’t think the combination of a Mac Studio or Mac mini plus an Apple Studio Display cuts it for many pro users who want more screen real estate.”

Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ Virtual Event Happening On March 8

 Apple has announced the "Peek Performance" March Keynote event for Tuesday, March 8, at 10 a.m. (Pacific). It will be a completely digital event. It will be available to view at apple.com.

You can expect a new iPhone SE, a new iPad Air (generation 5), and possibly a new Apple Silicon Mac. A revised 13-inch MacBook Pro and a new Mac mini, both with a new M2 chip. A 27-inch iMac with an M1 Pro or M1 Max processor is also rumored. 

The improved A14 Bionic CPU will be found in the 4.7-inch entry-level iPhone. The fifth-generation iPad Air will most likely be comparable to the sixth-generation iPad mini in terms of functionality. An A15 Bionic chip, 12-megapixel Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage capability, 5G for cellular versions, and Quad-LED True Tone light are among the features.

macOS Monterey Adds AirPlay To Mac, SharePlay And More

Apple has announced the next-generation macOS, code-named Monterey.

macOS Monterey comes with new ways for users to connect, get more done, and work more fluidly across their Apple devices. SharePlay, a new feature in FaceTime, lets users share experiences together, and Shared with You makes it easy to discover and enjoy content shared through Messages right in Photos, Safari, Apple Podcasts, Apple News, and the Apple TV app. A major update to Safari features a gorgeous streamlined tab bar and powerful tab organization with Tab Groups, Shortcuts comes to the Mac to automate everyday tasks, and Focus helps users stay on task and reduce distractions. Additionally, Universal Control and AirPlay to Mac are new Continuity features that offer more ways to work effortlessly across Apple devices. macOS Monterey will support the broadest lineup of Macs in history, including the latest iMac, MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, as well as Apple’s Intel-based Macs.

“macOS Monterey is packed with features that help Mac users get more done, connect with friends and family in amazing new ways, and work across Mac and iPad more seamlessly than ever before,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “We think our customers are going to love browsing the web with Safari’s new tab design, enjoying shared experiences with SharePlay in FaceTime, and using their Mac and other Apple devices together in new ways with Universal Control and AirPlay to Mac.”

GETTING MORE DONE WITH MAC

New tools in macOS Monterey are designed to help users get more done, stay focused, and collaborate:

• Already the world’s fastest browser, Safari now reimagines the browsing experience with a new tab design that lets users see more of the page as they scroll. A new tab bar takes on the color of the webpage and combines tabs, the tool bar, and the search field into a single compact design. Tab Groups offer a new way to easily save and manage tabs — great for planning trips, shopping, or storing the tabs users visit daily. Tab Groups also sync across Mac, iPhone, and iPad, so users can continue their project from anywhere and easily share tabs with friends and family.

• Shortcuts arrives on the Mac to help users automate everyday tasks and achieve peak productivity. Just like on iPhone and iPad, Shortcuts on Mac lets users quickly accomplish tasks with the apps they use the most. With a rich gallery of pre-built actions designed just for Mac, users can instantly share files, make animated GIFs, and more. Power users looking to take things further can use the Shortcuts Editor on Mac to customize shortcuts to match their workflows. Shortcuts is integrated throughout macOS, including the menu bar, Finder, Spotlight, and even hands-free with Siri — making it easy to run shortcuts no matter which app the user is in. Users can easily import existing Automator workflows into Shortcuts and be up and running right away.

• New features in Notes help users stay organized, collaborate, and create notes from anywhere. Quick Note is a new way for users to jot down notes on any app or website systemwide, making it easy to capture thoughts and ideas wherever inspiration strikes. Users can also add links from an app to their Quick Note to create context, even on a website in Safari or an address in Maps. As users work through projects in Notes with friends or colleagues, they can add mentions, see everyone’s edits in the new Activity View, and categorize their Notes with tags to quickly and easily find them in the new Tag Browser and in tag-based Smart Folders.

• With Focus, Mac users can stay in the moment by automatically filtering out notifications unrelated to their current activity. Users can signal their status to let others know when they are focusing and not available. When a user has Focus set on one device, it automatically sets across their other devices and can be customized based on their current activity — whether they are preparing for a presentation or wrapping up an assignment for school.

ALL-NEW WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED

macOS Monterey provides meaningful new ways to connect and enjoy time with friends, family, and colleagues:

• FaceTime now includes a suite of new audio and video features that make calls feel more natural and lifelike. With spatial audio, voices in a FaceTime call sound like they are coming from where the person is positioned on the screen, while Voice Isolation ensures the user’s voice is crystal clear and uses machine learning to eliminate background noise, and Wide Spectrum allows all the sound in the area to come through so participants can hear everything. Portrait mode taps into the Apple Neural Engine in the M1 chip to blur the user’s background for a stunning video effect, and a new Grid View shows participants in same-sized tiles.

• SharePlay is a powerful set of system features that enables users to have shared experiences while on a FaceTime call. Users can share their favorite music, TV shows, movies, projects, and more with friends and family in real time — kicking off a shared listening party, watching movies and shows, collaborating in apps through screen sharing, and more. With an API built for easy adoption, third-party developers can bring their own apps right into FaceTime.

• Shared with You makes it easy to locate and enjoy all the great content that’s shared through Messages, including photos, videos, articles, and more, right from a Shared with You tab within Photos, Safari, Apple Podcasts, Apple News, and the Apple TV app.

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ADDITIONAL NEW FEATURES OF MACOS MONTEREY

• With the new interactive globe in Maps and an amazing, immersive, and detailed city experience, users can enjoy new ways to navigate and explore the natural beauty of the Earth on the Mac’s large, gorgeous display.

• Live Text uses on-device machine learning to detect text in photos, including phone numbers, websites, addresses, and tracking numbers, so users can copy and paste, make a phone call, open a website, and easily find more information. Visual Lookup also uses machine learning to help users discover and learn about animals, art, landmarks, plants, and more in photos. These features work across macOS, including in apps like Photos, Messages, and Safari.

• iCloud+ combines everything users love about iCloud with new premium features, including Hide My Email, expanded HomeKit Secure Video support, and an innovative new internet privacy service, iCloud Private Relay, at no additional cost.

• AirPods Pro and AirPods Max deliver a theater-like experience with spatial audio on Macs with the M1 chip.

• Privacy features like Mail Privacy Protection let users choose whether emails can collect information about their Mail activity, and the Mac recording indicator now shows which app is accessing the Mac’s microphone.

• New accessibility features let anyone add alternative image descriptions right from Markup, and improved Full Keyboard Access and new cursor customization options provide more flexibility when navigating Mac.

Developer betas are available now, a public beta opens in July, and the new OS is expected to ship this fall.

New 24 Inch M1 iMac Up 56% Faster Than Previous High End 21.5 Inch iMac

 The new Geekbench benchmarks show that the 24-inch M1 iMac is up to 56% faster than the previous high-end 21.5-inch all-in-one. The M1 iMac boasts an average single-core score of 1724 and an average multi-core score of 7453, aggregated from three benchmarks that are currently available.

The previous-generation high-end 21.5-inch ‌iMac‌ earned a single-core score of 1109 and a multi-core score of 6014, so the ‌M1‌ ‌iMac‌ is 56 percent faster when it comes to single-core performance and 24 percent faster when it comes to multi-core performance.

MacBook Air Rumored To Come In Different Colors Like The iMac

The 2021 MacBook Air will come in different colors like the iMac (2021), according to Apple leaker Jon Prosser. This means they would be offered in green, yellow, blue, orange, pink, purple, and silver.

Currently, you can get the MacBook Air in space gray, gold, or silver. You can get the 13-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro in space grey or silver. 

Apple Brings The M1 To The iMac And Colors Are Back

 Apple announced a new 24-inch iMac featuring the  M1 chip. The entire front of the device is one piece of glass, so no seams interrupt the sleek lines. The colors are muted on the front — rather pastel, in fact — while bright and bold on the back. It has an impressive new 1080p camera, with pro-quality speakers and microphones to match.

Touch ID comes to the iMac for the first time with a wireless Magic Keyboard featuring a Touch ID button. Prices start at $1,299 and $1,249  for education with a 7-core GPU. It features an 8-core CPU, 8GB of unified memory, 256GB SSD, two Thunderbolt ports, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Mouse. Starting at $1,499 ($1,399 for education), an enhanced model features an 8-core CPU, 8GB of unified memory, 256GB SSD, two Thunderbolt ports, two additional USB 3 ports, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, Magic Mouse, and Ethernet.

Here’s some of the press release from Apple:

Apple today introduced an all-new iMac featuring a much more compact and remarkably thin design, enabled by the M1 chip. The new iMac offers powerful performance in a design that’s just 11.5 millimeters thin, with a striking side profile that practically disappears. Available in an array of vibrant colors to match a user’s personal style and brighten any space, iMac features a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display with 11.3 million pixels, 500 nits of brightness, and over a billion colors, delivering a brilliant and vivid viewing experience.The new iMac also includes a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, studio-quality mics, and a six-speaker sound system — the best camera and audio ever in a Mac. Also, Touch ID comes to iMac for the first time, making it easier than ever to securely log in, make purchases with Apple Pay, or switch user profiles with the touch of a finger. Combining the power and performance of M1 and macOS Big Sur, apps launch with blazing speed, everyday tasks feel incredibly fast and fluid, and demanding workloads like editing 4K video and working with huge images are faster than ever. The new iMac joins the incredible family of Mac models powered by M1, including MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, marking another step forward in Apple’s transition to Apple silicon. iMac is the most personal, powerful, capable, and fun it has ever been, and customers can order it beginning Friday, April 30. iMac will be available in the second half of May.“M1 is a gigantic leap forward for the Mac, and today we’re excited to introduce the all-new iMac, the first Mac designed around the breakthrough M1 chip,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With its striking design in seven stunning colors, its immersive 4.5K Retina display, the best camera, mics, and speakers ever in a Mac, and Touch ID, combined with the amazing performance of M1 and the power of macOS Big Sur, the new iMac takes everything people love about iMac to an entirely new level.”

Completely reinventing one of the world’s most iconic computers, the new iMac features a thinner and more compact design that is remarkable from every angle. Enabled by the system-on-chip architecture and amazing power efficiency of M1, the logic board and thermals are dramatically consolidated and reduced in size compared to the previous generation’s, allowing the side profile of iMac to practically disappear. The much more compact design reduces the volume of iMac by 50 percent,1 allowing it to take up less space and fit easily in even more places.

With an array of colors — green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver — the new iMac design personalizes and elevates any space unlike any other computer. iMac features softer colors and thinner borders on the front to allow users to focus on their content, while the back pops in bold, saturated color. To complete the simplified design, iMac comes with a new power connector that attaches magnetically and a beautifully woven 2-meter-long color-matched cable.

iMac has always been about its best-in-class display. The new iMac features an expansive 24-inch 4.5K Retina display2 with narrower borders and 11.3 million pixels. With a P3 wide color gamut and over a billion colors, plus 500 nits of brightness, images are vivid and more brilliant. This new display also features True Tone technology, which automatically adjusts the color temperature as the environment changes for a more natural viewing experience. In addition, the 4.5K Retina display on the new iMac has an industry-leading anti-reflective coating for greater comfort and readability.

With the power and performance of M1 and macOS Big Sur, the new iMac instantly wakes from sleep, everyday tasks feel faster and more fluid, and apps launch with amazing speed. In Safari, users can browse even faster and run hundreds of tabs at once, and in Photos, users can fly through edits to their images. With Apple Arcade, they can enjoy exclusive games while on the large iMac display, and users can also run a variety of iPhone and iPad apps right on their iMac without breaking their workflow. macOS also delivers powerful iCloud and Continuity features that enable users to work seamlessly across their iMac, iPhone, and other Apple devices.The new iMac offers the ultimate macOS Big Sur experience. Its refined design brings a new level of power and beauty to the Mac, and allows users to experience the spacious 24-inch 4.5K Retina display to the fullest. macOS Big Sur puts more controls at users’ fingertips and is packed with enhancements to key apps including Safari, Messages, and Maps.

The powerful 8-core CPU in M1 features the fastest CPU core in low-power silicon.3 And the 8-core GPU features the fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer.4 When combined with its high efficiency, unified memory architecture, and the 16-core Apple Neural Engine, the new iMac delivers powerful performance when compared to standard models of the 21.5-inch iMac, including:

• Up to 85 percent faster CPU performance, so users can export their favorite video project in iMovie faster than ever, easily work with massive 100-megapixel photos in Lightroom, and compile new apps in Xcode in a fraction of the time.

• Up to 2x faster GPU performance for certain apps like Affinity Photo and Photoshop, and up to 50 percent faster than the most powerful discrete graphics in the fastest 21.5-inch iMac, allowing users to render edits in real time or add complex filters to their photos in a snap.

• The ability to edit up to five streams of 4K footage, or one stream of 8K footage,5 without dropping a frame in Final Cut Pro.

• Up to 3x faster machine learning in apps that leverage the 16-core Neural Engine in M1.

iMac features a 1080p FaceTime HD camera — the best ever in a Mac — which delivers high-quality video and great performance in low light. iMac also takes advantage of the image signal processor in the M1 chip and the Neural Engine, enhancing camera image quality with better noise reduction, greater dynamic range, and improved auto exposure and white balance. So whether connecting with family or on a video call while working from home, users will always look their best.To complement the camera, the new iMac features a studio-quality three-microphone array for clearer calls and voice recordings, the best ever in a Mac. The mics are positioned to reduce feedback from the rest of the system, while directional beamforming allows them to better ignore background noise and focus on a user’s voice. As a result, conversations are more natural and recordings are crystal clear.The new iMac also features the best sound system ever in a Mac. It has two pairs of force-cancelling woofers placed side by side for an impressive bass response, while reducing unintended vibrations. Each pair is balanced with a high-performance tweeter. The result is a six-speaker sound system that produces amassive sound stage with strong, articulate bass and crystal-clear mids and highs. All of these speaker innovations, coupled with advanced algorithms, enable iMac to support spatial audio when playing video with Dolby Atmos. Together with its beautiful 4.5K Retina display, iMac transforms any space into an incredible movie-watching experience.

Customers can choose from three models of Magic Keyboard with gorgeous aluminum enclosures that are color-matched to iMac. And for the first time, Touch ID comes to iMac.7 Implemented wirelessly on Magic Keyboard, it uses a dedicated security component on the keyboard that communicates directly with Secure Enclave in M1, creating an encrypted channel to protect users’ fingerprint data from end to end. Whether unlocking their Mac or making a purchase with Apple Pay, users enjoy a fast, easy, and secure experience. Additionally, Touch ID works with Fast User Switching, so customers can change to a different user profile with just the press of a finger. Customers can also choose Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad, as well as the color-matched Magic Mouse and the industry-best Magic Trackpad.

Looks Like New M1 iMacs Are Coming Soon

 It looks like M1-based iMacs are coming soon. There are references to two new ‌iMac‌ models in macOS Big Sur 11.3 beta 5, identified as “iMac21,1” and “iMac21,2.” The new Macs use the code names J456 and J457, which were first revealed earlier this year by Bloomberg.

The updated all-in-one is expected to come in a 24-inch model and 32-inch version. Most predictions have the smaller version coming this spring, and the larger model arriving in summer/fall. 

The iMac Pro Is Officially Discounted By Apple

 The iMac Pro has been removed from Apple’s web pages and is no longer available to order from the online Apple Store. The iMac Pro was released on December 14, 2017. In Apple’s
desktop line-up, it was placed above the consumer range Mac mini and iMac and below the Mac Pro.

Some SSDs In M1 Macs Are Having Alarming Health Readings

Some M1 Mac users are reporting “extremely troublesome” health readings from their SSDs, reports iMore. The Total Bytes Written figures show the life spans of these hard drives could be up in the air.

SSDs can continue to operate once the TBW limit is reached, though there’s no guarantee as to how long it can last. “As such, Apple will no doubt be working on a fix for this in macOS, either to fix faulty readings or to rectify the behavior behind them,” says iMore.

The M1 Mac line-up includes the new Mac mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and 13-inch MacBook Air released in 2020.

2021 iMacs Rumored To Have “Biggest Visual Update To Any Apple Product This Year”

iMac fans have been hoped for a redesign for some time. Now Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says it will happen this year and will be “one of the biggest visual updates to any Apple product this year.”

Quoting unnamed “people familiar with the plans,” he says the new models will slim down the thick black borders around the screen and do away with the metal chin area in favor of a design similar to Apple’s Pro Display XDR monitor. They’ll have a flat back, moving away from the curved rear of the current all-in-one. Gurman doesn’t say when the revamped all-in-ones will ship, but it will likely be in the second half of the year. And they’ll sport the successor to Apple’s M1 chip.

Apple Has Big Plans For M1 Chips, New iMac And Mac Pro In 2021 And 2022

 Apple has big plans for a series of new M1 Mac processors for introduction as early as 2021. They’re aimed to outperform Intel’s fastest, reports Bloomberg. They’ll be used in updated MacBook Pros, iMacs, and a new Mac Pro.

If they live up to expectations, they’ll “significantly outpace the performance of the latest machines running Intel chips,” according to “people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the plans aren’t yet public.”

Bloomberg says that, for higher-end desktop computers, planned for later in 2021 and a new half-sized Mac Pro planned to launch by 2022, Apple is testing a chip design with as many as 32 high-performance cores. Also according to Bloomberg, Apple engineers are also developing more ambitious graphics processors. Today’s M1 processors are offered with a custom Apple graphics engine that comes in either 7- or 8-core variations. For its future high-end laptops and mid-range desktops, Apple is testing 16-core and 32-core graphics parts. For later in 2021 or 2022, Apple is purportedly working on pricier graphics upgrades with 64 and 128 dedicated cores aimed at its highest-end machines. Bloomberg says “those graphics chips would be several times faster than the current graphics modules Apple uses from Nvidia and AMD in its Intel-powered hardware.”

10th-Generation Intel Processors And More Come To The 27-Inch iMac

Apple has announced an substantial update to the 27-inch iMac. It features faster Intel processors up to 10 cores, double the memory capacity, next-generation AMD graphics, SSDs across the line with four times the storage capacity, a new nano-texture glass option for the Retina 5K display, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, higher fidelity speakers, and studio-quality mics.

The all-in-one has the latest 6 and 8-core 10th-generation Intel processors. For pros who need to push iMac even further, the 27-inch iMac has a 10-core processor option for the first time, with Turbo Boost speeds reaching 5.0GHz for up to 65 percent faster CPU performance. And when working with memory-intensive applications, iMac features double the memory capacity for up to 128GB.

Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac and iPad Product Marketing, says that when compared to the previous-generation 8-core 27-inch iMac, the new all-in-one delivers:

• Up to 65% more plug-ins in Logic Pro X;
• Up to 40% faster 8K ProRes transcode in Final Cut Pro X;
• Up to 35% faster rendering with Arnold in Autodesk Maya;
• Up to 25 percent faster build time in Xcode.

The 27-inch iMac has more powerful next-generation AMD graphics. Apple says it delivers up to 55% faster graphics performance from its Radeon Pro 5000 series graphics, featuring AMD’s latest RDNA architecture with faster, more power-efficient compute units. For customers using pro apps that can take advantage of large amounts of video memory for even greater performance, iMac features a graphics option with 16GB of memory for the first time — providing double the video memory capacity of the previous-generation 27-inch iMac.

Boger says that when compared to the previous-generation 27-inch iMac with Radeon Pro Vega 48 graphics, the new iMac delivers:

• Up to 55% faster rendering in Maxon Cinema 4D ProRender;
• Up to 50% faster demo fly-through in Unity Editor;
• Up to 45% faster performance in “Total War: Three Kingdoms”;
• Up to 30% faster timeline rendering in Final Cut Pro X.

The 27-inch iMac now comes standard with SSDs across the line, delivering performance up to 3.4GB/s for launching applications and opening large files. For users who need massive amounts of storage, the all-in-one also features an 8TB SSD option for the first time — four times the SSD capacity of the previous-generation 27-inch iMac.

The new iMac also includes the Apple T2 Security Chip, Apple’s own custom-designed, second-generation silicon. The storage controller in the T2 Security Chip provides on-the-fly data encryption for everything stored on the SSD. And the T2 chip also checks that software loaded during the boot process hasn’t been tampered with.

The new iMac offers a nano-texture glass option — first introduced on Pro Display XDR — for even better viewing under various lighting conditions, such as a bright room or indirect sunlight. Unlike typical matte finishes that have a coating added to the surface to scatter light, this industry-leading option is produced through an innovative process that etches the glass itself at the nanometer level, according to Boger. The result is extremely low reflectivity and less glare while maintaining stellar image quality and contrast, he adds.

The FaceTime HD camera now features 1080p resolution, while the Image Signal Processor in the T2 Security Chip brings tone mapping, exposure control, and face detection for a much higher quality camera experience. To complement the improved camera, the T2 Security Chip also works with the speakers to enable variable EQ for better balance, higher fidelity, and deeper bass. In addition, a new studio-quality microphone array enables users to capture high-quality audio for improved FaceTime calls, podcast recordings, Voice Memos, and more, right on their iMac.

Starting a $1,799 USD, the new 27-inch iMac is available to order today on apple.com and in the Apple Store app. It will begin arriving to customers and will be in select Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers starting this week. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options, and accessories are available online at apple.com/mac

Apple Plans Mac Trade-In Program At US And Canada Retail Stores

Apple plans to launch a trade-in program for Macs next week at its retail stores in the U.S and Canada, according to Bloomberg. Quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” the article adds that the tech giant informed retail employees that the new program will begin on June 15.

Previously, you could trade in a Mac via Apple’s website. And the company already offers trade-in programs at its stores for products such as the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

The new plan could help boost sales of Macs by giving customers a way to get credit toward a new model at the point of purchase. 

Apple Rumored To Announce New iMac At WWDC

According to Apple leaker Sonny Dickson, Apple will unveil a new iMac at WWDC next week. He says it will have “iPad Pro design language, with Pro Display like bezels. T2 chip, AMD Navi GPU, and no more fusion drive.”

The “iPad Pro design” language means the design will be similar to that of the Apple Pro Display XDR and thinner bezels.

The T2 chip which controls the security of a Mac by encrypting the disk. It won’t let a person erase the SSD until the Apple ID and password of the owner are known. The T2 chip also controls disk I/O and audio, offloading these from the CPU.

Fusion Drive is Apple’s name for its implementation of a hybrid drive. It combines a hard disk drive with a NAND flash storage (a solid-state drive of 24GB or more) and presents it as a single Core Storage managed logical volume with the space of both drives combined. If Dickson is correct, the Fusion Drive will be discontinued with the iMac offered with SSDs across the line-up.

Navi is the codename for AMD's recent GPU architecture. Also, Intel announced new "Comet Lake" processors in late April that would be suitable for the ‌iMac‌. In other words, no ARM-based all-in-one until at least next year.

Starting June 22, Apple will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June in a new online format “packed with content for consumers, press and developers alike.” 

New iMac And AirPods Are Rumored To Be Ready To Ship

Apple has new iMac and AirPods updates that are “ready to ship” with no release dates set, according to reliable leaker, Jon Prosser. “There’s still an iMac and AirPods ready to ship,” Prosser tweeted. “Theoretically, since they’re ready, they could drop at any time.”

Apple could release a 23-inch iMac by reducing the screen bezels while keeping the price the same as the current 21.5-inch model. Hopefully, Apple will add a couple of inches to the 27-inch iMac, as well. Prosser said he wasn't sure what model of AirPods Apple is planning to ship. 

Apple’s WWDC 2020 Is Coming In June And It’ll Be Online

Apple had announced that they will be host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June in a new online format “packed with content for consumers, press and developers alike.” The exact date has yet to be announced.

The online event will be an opportunity for millions of creative and innovative developers to get early access to the future of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS, and engage with Apple engineers as they work to build app experiences that enrich the lives of Apple customers around the globe, says Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a press release. 

“The current health situation has required that we create a new WWDC 2020 format that delivers a full program with an online keynote and sessions, offering a great learning experience for our entire developer community, all around the world,” he adds. "We will be sharing all of the details in the weeks ahead. 

“With all of the new products and technologies we’ve been working on, WWDC 2020 is going to be big,” adds Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “I look forward to our developers getting their hands on the new code and interacting in entirely new ways with the Apple engineers building the technologies and frameworks that will shape the future across all Apple platforms.”

Additional program information will be shared between now and June by email, in the Apple Developer app and on the Apple Developer website. Apple also announced it will commit $1 million to local San Jose organizations to offset associated revenue loss as a result of WWDC 2020’s new online format.

It’s Ok To Clean Your iPhone With Disinfectant Wipes

Apple has updated its website to inform iPhone, iPad and Mac users that it's okay to clean their devices with disinfectant wipes.

"Using a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, you may gently wipe the hard, nonporous surfaces of your Apple product, such as the display, keyboard, or other exterior surfaces," the company says. "Don't use bleach. Avoid getting moisture in any opening, and don't submerge your Apple product in any cleaning agents. Don't use on fabric or leather surfaces."

Apply a small amount of isopropyl alcohol to a soft microfiber cloth and then wipe down your device. Avoid spraying anything directly on your phone's display. You'll also want to avoid paper towels as they can cause small abrasions. After you’re done with your phone, wash your hands too. 

macOS Catalina Is Available To Download For Mac Devices

macOS Catalina is now available as a free software update for Macs introduced in mid-2012 or later. It adds support for the new Apple Arcade service, new Mac versions of Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV apps, a new feature called Sidecar, and more.

Three all-new apps — Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV— replace iTunes. The new Music app is fast and features over 50 million songs, playlists and music videos. Users will have access to their entire music library and new music can still be purchased from the iTunes Store. 

Apple Podcasts offers more than 700,000 shows in its catalog and the option to automatically be notified of new episodes as soon as they become available. The app also features new show categories, curated collections and search tools to allow users to search episodes by current events, people and even phrases.

The Apple TV app brings together different ways to find and watch movies and TV shows into one app, and features Apple TV channels, personalized recommendations and over 100,000 iTunes movies and TV shows to browse, buy or rent. Apple TV+, Apple’s original video subscription service, will also be available in the Apple TV app for Mac starting Nov. 1.

The new Sidecar feature extends a user’s Mac workspace by using iPad as a second display. With Sidecar, you can use an iPad display for tablet input to draw, sketch or write with Apple Pencil in any Apple or third-party Mac app that supports stylus input. Sidecar runs on a wired connection so users can charge their iPad as they work, or on a wireless connection for greater mobility, using everything from illustration apps and video editing apps to 3D apps, like Photoshop, Illustrator and ZBrush.

macOS Catalina introduces accessibility features such as Voice Control, which allows users to control their Mac entirely with their voice. It uses the latest version of Siri to transcribe spoken text and enable editing text via voice. New numbers and grids provide the tools to interact with virtually any app;  audio processing happens entirely on device. 

For users with impaired vision, Hover Text displays high-resolution text in a dedicated window when hovering over text and UI elements, and Zoom Display keeps one monitor tightly zoomed in while another at the standard resolution.

Also available with macOS Catalina is Mac Catalyst, a new technology that lets app developers build Mac versions of their shipping iPad apps. Titles such as Twitter, GoodNotes, TripIt from SAP, Post-it, Morpholio Board, Rosetta Stone, Jira, and Proloquo2Go are either available now or will be coming soon.

macOS Catalina brings Screen Time to Mac for the first time. It lets users schedule time away from their Mac, whileApp Limits allow control over how much time users spend with specific apps, websites and categories of apps. With iCloud, Screen Time combines all usage and syncs Downtime settings and App Limits across devices. And with Family Sharing, Screen Time gives parents visibility for their kids’ activities across all of their Apple devices.

There are Security improvements in Catalina. The operating system now runs on a dedicated, read-only system volume, which means it is completely separate from all other data. Apple says nothing can accidentally overwrite critical operating system files. 

Gatekeeper, Apple’s technology to ensure only trusted software runs on a Mac, now checks all apps for known security issues, while new data protections require all apps to get permission before accessing user documents. 

Every Mac with the Apple-designed T2 Security Chip now supports Activation Lock, just like on iPhone or iPad, so if a Mac is ever misplaced or stolen, only the owner can erase and reactivate it. Approve with Apple Watch also lets users approve specific security prompts by simply tapping the side button on their Apple Watch.

The new Find My app combines Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single app. It can help users locate a missing Mac even if it’s offline and sleeping by sending out Bluetooth signals that can be detected by Apple devices in use nearby, and then relaying the detected location of the Mac to iCloud so a user can can locate it in the Find My app.

Photos now features a beautiful new browsing experience that intelligently showcases the user’s best pictures. Safari has an updated start page that uses Siri Suggestions to elevate frequently visited sites, bookmarks, iCloud tabs, Reading List selections and links sent in Messages.

Mail in macOS Catalina adds the ability to block email from a specified sender, mute an overly active thread and unsubscribe from commercial mailing lists. Notes now has a brand new Gallery View, more powerful search tools and additional collaboration options.

Reminders has been redesigned with an all-new user interface that makes it easier to create, organize and track reminders. macOS Catalina can be downloaded at the Mac App Store.

Apple Cuts The Prices For SSD Upgrade Options For Macs

Apple has reduced the price of SSD upgrades for every Mac. For the 15-inch MacBook Pros, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB upgrades have been mostly sliced in half and are down to $200, $600, and $1,400 respectively. 

The MacBook Air no longer has a 1.5TB option. However, 512GB and 1TB upgrades now cost $200 and $400, respectively.

The desktop line has also seen SSD price cuts. For example, on a 27-inch iMac, the 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options are now, respectively, $100, $300, and $500.