It has been a big week for Apple TV+ news, with release dates announced for several upcoming series, a multi-year agreement with actress and producer Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and now a major award win.

At the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles tonight, actress Jennifer Aniston won an SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for her leading role as morning news anchor Alex Levy in the Apple TV+ series “The Morning Show.”

This is the first SAG Award that Aniston has won on an individual basis. Her last SAG Award came in 1996 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series alongside her “Friends” cast members. She beat out Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”), Olivia Colman (“The Crown”), Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”) and Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).

“The Morning Show” actors Steve Carell and Billy Crudup were also nominated for SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, but the category was won by Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”).

Last month, Aniston was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in “The Morning Show,” but she did not win.

This is the second major award win for Apple TV+. Last week, actor Billy Crudup won a 2020 Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Cory Ellison in “The Morning Show.”

“The Morning Show” was widely panned by critics upon the launch of Apple TV+, but they were only provided with the first three episodes to watch. The series has a strong audience score of 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and as more episodes came out in the series, some critics began to view the show more favorably too.

This article, “Jennifer Aniston Wins SAG Award for Outstanding Performance in Apple TV+ Series ‘The Morning Show’” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Apple today shared release dates for several of its upcoming Apple TV+ shows that are set to launch during the spring and summer of 2020, and offered first looks at some of the content.

“Amazing Stories,” a sci-fi anthology series executive produced by Steven Spielberg, is set to premiere on Friday, March 6. “Amazing Stories,” which is a reimagining of the original 1980s series, was one of the first shows that Apple picked up for ‌Apple TV‌+.

The show will focus on a new topic each episode, similar to “Black Mirror” and “Twilight Zone.” Apple says that each episode of the series will “transport the audience to worlds of wonder through the lens of today’s most imaginative filmmakers, directors and writers.”

Stars in “Amazing Stories” include Dylan O’Brien (“Maze Runner,” “Teen Wolf”), Victoria Pedretti (“You”), Josh Holloway (“Lost,” “Yellowstone”), Sasha Alexander (“Rizzoli & Isles,” “Shameless”) and Robert Forster (“Twin Peaks”).

“Central Park,” an animated ‌Apple TV‌+ series from “Bob’s Burgers” creator Loren Bouchard, will premiere on ‌Apple TV‌+ this summer. “Central Park” is described as an animated musical comedy that focuses on the Tillermans, a family that lives in and takes care of Central Park.

“Defending Jacob,” a series starring Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery, will debut on Friday, April 24. The show is a drama series that unfolds around a shocking crime in a small Massachusetts town, following a district attorney who is torn between his love for his son and his duty to uphold justice.

“Home Before Dark,” a series that focuses on the story of child journalist Hilde Lysiak, is set to premiere on Friday, April 3. The show follows a young girl who moves from Brooklyn to a small lakeside town where her father is from. Her pursuit of the truth leads her to unearth a cold case that everyone in town tried to bury. The show stars Brooklynn Prince, Jim Sturgess, Abby Miller, Kylie Rogers, Adrian Hough, and more.

Documentary series “Home,” which focuses on “the world’s most innovative homes,” will premiere on Friday, April 17. Apple says that each episode “unveils the boundary-pushing imagination of the visionaries who dared to dream and build them.”

Apple also announced a new series from the UK, “Trying,” which will launch on Friday, May 1. The show is described as a look at “growing up, settling down, and finding someone to love.” It will feature Rafe Spall and Esther Smith as Jason and Nikki, a couple who want a baby but can’t have one.

Recently announced docuseries “Dear…” that profiles famous people through letters written to them is set to debut on Friday, June 5. The show stars Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Spike Lee, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Yara Shahidi, Stevie Wonder, Aly Raisman, Misty Copeland, Big Bird, and more.

Apple today also announced the renewal of “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” for season 2 ahead of its upcoming debut on Friday, February 7.

All of the shows listed above will be available on ‌Apple TV‌+, which is priced at $4.99 per month or free for a year for those who recently purchased an iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod touch, or ‌Apple TV‌.

This article, “Apple Announces Release Dates for Several Upcoming Apple TV+ Shows” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Apple CEO Tim Cook has taken to Twitter this weekend to share a behind-the-scenes look at the making of new Apple TV+ show “Little America.”

The entire first season of the immigrant anthology series debuted on ‌Apple TV‌+ on Friday. The show was created by Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon, and Lee Eisenberg.

Each episode in the ‌Apple TV‌+ series is based on a real-life tale pulled from Epic Magazine, and in the video “Inside Little America,” Nanjiani and Gordon discuss what motivated them to bring the stories to the TV screen.

When you add up every ambitious dreamer, every daring creator, every impatient striver searching for a better life, you get the story of America. Apple is committed to sharing stories like those in our new series, Little America — stories that matter. pic.twitter.com/9x2bTEad2v

— ‌Tim Cook‌ (@tim_cook) January 18, 2020

“Making a show about immigrants in this day and age, it’s going to be seen as political, but we really wanted these to be human stories,” says Nanjiani. “These are not stories with any kind of agenda.”

“A big thing that connects all the episodes is people trying to find a sense of home. Your geographical home is gone, and so you have to find home here. I think that’s why people will connect with this. Even if they may not look like these people, they’ll feel like these people.”

The series has received largely positive reviews from critics, who have called it the best ‌‌Apple TV‌‌+ show yet. “Little America” has already been renewed for season 2.

This article, “Tim Cook Shares Behind-the-Scenes Look at Apple TV+ Show ‘Little America’” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

It was a busy week of rumors as we hit the middle of January, with reports about updates to Face ID in the iPhone 12 lineup later this year, signs of a new Mac notebook coming soon, and word that Apple is working on an iPad Pro with 5G support.

Other big news this week included an analysis of changes to audio performance made in an AirPods Pro firmware update late last month.

New AirPods Pro Firmware: Worse Noise Canceling, Improved Frequency Response and Bass Accuracy

Last month, Apple released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro bumping the version number from 2B588 to 2C54. After the update, there were several anecdotal reports that the AirPods Pro noise cancelation may have been adversely affected.

Impacted users asked tech review site RTINGS.com to reevaluate its previous testing of the AirPods Pro with the new firmware to confirm if there are any changes, and the website did find a fairly significant drop in isolation performance.

The news is not all bad, however. In other areas of testing, the 2C54 firmware appears to improve performance in frequency response and bass accuracy. Nevertheless, Apple pulled the new version only days after its release, so it is presumably working on the issues described.

iPhone 12 Models Said to Have ‘Refreshed’ Face ID System, Lightning Connector Could Be Dropped in 2021

iPhone 12 models will feature a “refreshed” front-facing TrueDepth system, according to Barclays analysts, hinting at Face ID improvements.

The biggest change of all could come next year, as the analysts see potential for Apple to remove the Lightning connector from at least one iPhone model in 2021, echoing a prediction shared by Ming-Chi Kuo last month. This could result in EarPods being removed from the box, they said.

Earlier this month, Kuo said four 5G-enabled iPhones are on track to launch simultaneously in the fall, including models with sub-6GHz-only and sub-6GHz-plus-mmWave compatibility.

Apple Files Unreleased Mac in Database, Possibly 13-Inch MacBook Pro With Scissor Keyboard

Apple this week filed an unreleased Mac with a model identifier of A2289 in the Eurasian Economic Commission database, as spotted by MacRumors. The computer is described as a portable Mac running macOS Catalina.

As pure speculation, it is certainly possible that this listing could correspond with the rumored 13-inch MacBook Pro with a scissor keyboard, following in the footsteps of the 16-inch MacBook Pro last October. There is some hope that the 13-inch model will become a 14-inch model, but that remains uncertain.

Eurasian Economic Commission filings like these have foreshadowed the release of new Apple products on numerous occasions. They are legally required for any encrypted devices sold in Russia and a few other countries.

Evidence of a “Pro Mode” that boosts performance and overrides fan speed limits has also been discovered in the macOS Catalina 10.15.3 beta.

Apple Rumored to Be Developing 5G iPad Pro With mmWave Support

A pair of supply chain reports this week claim Apple is developing 5G-enabled iPads with mmWave support for release as early as fall 2020.

With an iPad Pro refresh already rumored for March 2020, timing is the biggest question mark. Major new features often come to the iPhone before the iPad, but a notable exception was the third-generation iPad receiving LTE support in March 2012, prior to the iPhone 5 in September 2012.

mmWave or millimeter wave is a set of 5G frequencies that promise ultra-fast speeds at short distances, making it best suited for dense urban areas. By comparison, sub-6GHz 5G is generally slower than mmWave, but the signals travel further, better serving suburban and rural areas.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we’ve covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

This article, “Top Stories: AirPods Pro Firmware Changes, Mystery MacBook Filing, 5G iPad Pro?” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Apple has inked a deal for a docuseries called “Dear…” that profiles famous people using an “inventive and cinematic approach” that involves letters written by people whose lives the celebrities have touched, Apple announced today.

The 10-episode series, which is set to debut in the spring, will feature Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Spike Lee, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Yara Shahidi, Stevie Wonder, Aly Raisman, Misty Copeland, Big Bird, and more.

Image Credit: Getty Images, via The Hollywood Reporter

The show was inspired by Apple’s “Dear Apple” marketing campaign, which saw Apple Watch users read letters sharing how the device has changed their lives. It was created by R.J. Cutler, known for “If I Stay, “The War Room,” “American High,” and “The September Issue.”

This article, “Apple Picks Up New Docuseries Featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Spike Lee, Oprah and More” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

The second beta of iOS 13.3.1, released earlier this month, includes a toggle for disabling the Ultra Wideband chip in the device.

Found by Twitter user Brandon Butch (via 9to5Mac), the toggle can be found by opening up the Settings app, selecting Privacy, choosing Location Services, selecting System Services, and then toggling off the “Networking & Wireless” option.

Disabling this feature warns that Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Ultra Wideband performance will be affected.

Apple added this toggle in the beta after it was discovered that the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max continue to track user location even when location services toggles are disabled.

Apple said that this was expected behavior due to the Ultra Wideband chip and that the iPhone was operating as designed explaining that location data needed to be used because there are international regulatory requirements that mandate the U1 chip be disabled in certain locations.

Ultra wideband technology is an industry standard technology and is subject to international regulatory requirements that require it to be turned off in certain locations. iOS uses Location Services to help determine if ‌‌iPhone‌‌ is in these prohibited locations in order to disable ultra wideband and comply with regulations.

The management of ultra wideband compliance and its use of location data is done entirely on the device and Apple is not collecting user location data.

Apple at the time promised to add a toggle to allow customers to disable the U1 chip entirely, and that toggle will be available to everyone after the release of iOS 13.3.1.

This article, “Latest iOS 13.3.1 Beta Includes Toggle for Disabling U1 Ultra Wideband Chip” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Amazon is no longer selling new versions of the Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5 models through its online store in the United States, with the listings disappearing earlier today.

There is no word on why Amazon has pulled ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 4 and Series 5 models, but these are the Apple Watches that feature ECG functionality. All models, capacities, and colors are missing from Amazon’s storefront.

Amazon is continuing to list refurbished ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 4 and Series 5 models from third party sellers, but there are no new models available nor models available direct from Amazon. Attempting to visit a page that previously had a Series 4 or Series 5 ‌Apple Watch‌ listed results in an error message.

The ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 3 and other Apple products like iPads and Macs continue to be available from Amazon, so this issue is limited to newer ‌Apple Watch‌ models. Should we learn more about why Amazon has pulled Series 4 and Series 5 ‌Apple Watch‌ listings, we’ll update this article.

Update: A few hours after removing all ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 4 and 5 listings, Amazon has returned the products to its online store.

This article, “Amazon Mysteriously Pulls All New Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5 Listings [Update: Listings Are Back]” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Asphalt 9: Legends, a game that was ported to the Mac using Apple’s Mac Catalyst tools, is now available for download from the Mac App Store.

The app was one of the titles that Apple promoted when macOS Catalina and Mac Catalyst technology were introduced at WWDC in June, but the app did not launch as expected when ‌macOS Catalina‌ became available.

At the time, Gameloft said that Asphalt 9: Legends had been slightly delayed in order to polish the experience, and after a wait of several months, the game has now launched.

Because this is a Mac Catalyst app, players who already have Asphalt 9: Legends on iPad or iPhone can pick up their game on the Mac and swap between devices when playing thanks to cross-platform saves.

The game supports Sign in with Apple for account creation (required to transfer between devices) and the content is the same as the content in Asphalt 9: Legends for iOS devices.

According to Gameloft, Asphalt 9: Legends will have content parity across devices going forward, so the Mac and iOS apps will be updated simultaneously.

Asphalt 9: Legends can be downloaded from the ‌Mac App Store‌ for free, though there are in-app purchases. [Direct Link]

This article, “Mac Catalyst App ‘Asphalt 9: Legends’ Now Available” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Apple is expanding its presence in Germany with plans to open a new office building in Munich, Germany, according to German news site Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Located in the “Karl” office building of the former Mahag site on Karlstrasse, the new office space is expected to house around 1,500 employees when it is completed in 2021.

A rendering of the Karl office building, designed by British architect David Chipperfield

Apple has rented the entire 30,000 square meter location, though declined to respond to questions about the upcoming office space.

Apple already operates the Bavarian Design Center in Munich, Germany, with 300 engineers that work on silicon chips and other technologies for Apple devices.

This article, “Apple Opening New Office in Munich, Germany” first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums