In other Apple news this week, iCloud+ subscribers in many countries will be seeing a price increase, while we took deeper dives into some of the major watchOS 10 changes and the new interactive widgets in macOS Sonoma, so read on for all the details on these stories and more!

Apple Product Roadmap 2023–24: Over 15 New Devices in Development

Apple is working on at least a dozen new devices set to launch between late 2023 and early 2024, according to an updated product roadmap shared by Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple is planning to launch two Apple Watch Series 9 models and a second-generation Apple Watch Ultra alongside the iPhone 15 lineup this fall. He also listed various M3 Macs in the pipeline and said that Apple has started early work on a larger iMac with over a 30-inch display.

Apple Reportedly Developing Larger iMac With Over 30-Inch Display

Apple is in the early stages of developing a new iMac with over a 30-inch display, according to Gurman. He said this iMac remains “further out,” suggesting that it might be at least a year or two away from launching.

Excluding refurbished models, the iMac is currently only available in a 24-inch size, as Apple discontinued the Intel-based 27-inch iMac and iMac Pro over the last few years. Despite occasional rumors about the iMac Pro making a comeback, there is still no larger iMac with Apple silicon available.

Apple Hikes iCloud+ Subscription Prices in Many Countries Around the World

Apple has increased the price of iCloud storage in many countries around the world, including the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others.

The price hikes apply to the 50GB, 200GB, and 2TB storage plans for iCloud. All paid ‌iCloud‌+ storage plans include additional features like ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay, Hide My Email, and Custom Email Domains.

watchOS 10: Top Five New Features

watchOS 10 is one of the biggest software updates ever for the Apple Watch. In a recent post and YouTube video, we highlighted five of the top new features introduced with watchOS 10, including the Smart Stack, which lets you scroll through widgets.

watchOS 10 will be released later this year for the Apple Watch Series 4 and newer, and the update is currently available in beta for users with an Apple developer account.

Here’s How Interactive Widgets Work in macOS Sonoma

In macOS Sonoma, Apple has changed the widgets landscape. No longer do widgets have to be hidden offscreen and largely forgotten in the Notifications Center panel. Now they live right on your desktop – and they’re interactive, too.

In a recent blog post, we explained how interactive widgets work in macOS Sonoma. The software update is currently in beta and will be released later this year.

iPhone 13 Pro vs. 15 Pro: What to Expect if You’ve Waited to Upgrade

While year-over-year iPhone upgrades are not always significant, new features begin to stack up over multiple generations. For this reason, the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro will be a notable upgrade for those who still have a two-year-old iPhone 13 Pro.

Here’s what to expect from the iPhone 15 Pro if you still have an iPhone 13 Pro. We have also shared comparisons to the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro.

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: 30-Inch iMac Rumor, iCloud+ Price Increase, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Chrome for iOS now uses AI to detect addresses on webpages and show a location directly on a mini version of the Google Maps app in Chrome, so there’s no need to swap apps to see map-related information about a search term.

Google Calendar events can be created directly in Chrome without needing to swap apps. Chrome users can press and hold on a detected date and choose the option to add it to Google Calendar. The Chrome app will automatically create and populate the calendar event with time, location, and description.

Google has expanded the translation functionality in Chrome, and it is now possible to highlight a specific passage and long press to get a translation right in the Chrome Browser.

With upcoming deeper Google Lens integration, Chrome users will be able to use the camera to search new pictures and pictures in the camera roll to identify plants, translate languages, and more. The Lens icon will show up in the Chrome on iOS address bar.

Chrome for the ‌iPhone‌ and the ‌iPad‌ can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

This article, "Chrome Browser for iOS Getting Improved Translation, Google Lens and Maps Features" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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“The Cinematic framework enables you to add professional-level editing and playback features to movies, recorded with the Camera app’s Cinematic mode, to your apps,” says Apple’s developer documentation. “These are the same features used in applications such as Final Cut Pro, Photos, and iMovie. For example, this enables your apps to change focus distance and aperture in movies, creating a bokeh effect, even after recording.”

Apple offers Cinematic mode in the Camera app on iPhone 13 models and newer. Inspired by professional Hollywood films, the feature allows users to record video with a shallow depth of field and automatic focus changes between subjects.

Cinematic mode uses a technique called “rack focus” to seamlessly shift the focus from one subject to another. It does this by locking the focus on the subject in a scene and blurring the background to achieve depth of field. If you subsequently move the camera to center on a new subject, or a new subject enters the scene, Cinematic mode automatically switches the focal point to this new subject and blurs out the background.

For more details, read How to Shoot Video in Cinematic Mode on iPhone 13 and iPhone 14.

This article, "iOS 17 Enables Cinematic Mode Video Editing in Third-Party Apps" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Card Monthly Installments is an interest-free financing option available for most Apple products purchased with the Apple Card on Apple.com and at Apple retail stores. Customers can view their monthly installments, remaining balance, and payment history in the Wallet app, and the balance can be paid off in full at any time.

Apple offers a 24-month installment term for iPhones, a 12-month term for Macs and iPads, and a six-month term for AirPods and Apple TVs. Other eligible products and accessories are outlined in a support document on Apple’s website.

(Thanks, Brandon Fawcett!)

This article, "Apple Card Monthly Installments Term for Apple Watch to Change From 24 Months to 12 Months" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Card Monthly Installments is an interest-free financing option available for most Apple products purchased with the Apple Card on Apple.com and at Apple retail stores. Customers can view their monthly installments, remaining balance, and payment history in the Wallet app, and the balance can be paid off in full at any time.

Apple offers a 24-month installment term for iPhones, a 12-month term for Macs and iPads, and a six-month term for AirPods and Apple TVs. Other eligible products and accessories are outlined in a support document on Apple’s website.

(Thanks, Brandon Fawcett!)

This article, "Apple Card Monthly Installments Term for Apple Watch to Change From 24 Months to 12 Months" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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• Tap – Tapping the thumb and the index finger together signals to the headset that you want to tap on a virtual element on the display that you’re looking at. Users have also described this as a pinch, and it is the equivalent to tapping on the screen of an iPhone.
• Double Tap – Tapping twice initiates a double tap gesture.
• Pinch and Hold – A pinch and a hold is similar to a tap and hold gesture, and it does things like highlighting text.
• Pinch and Drag – Pinching and dragging can be used to scroll and to move windows around. You can scroll horizontally or vertically, and if you move your hand faster, you’ll be able to scroll faster.
• Zoom – Zoom is one of two main two-handed gestures. You can pinch your fingers together and pull your hands apart to zoom in, and presumably zooming out will have a pushing sort of motion. Window sizes can also be adjusted by dragging at the corners.
• Rotate – Rotate is the other two-handed gesture and based on Apple’s chart, it will involve pinching the fingers together and rotating the hands to manipulate virtual objects.

Gestures will work in tandem with eye movements, and the many cameras in the Vision Pro will track where you are looking with great accuracy. Eye position will be a key factor in targeting what you want to interact with using hand gestures. As an example, looking at an app icon or on-screen element targets it and highlights it, and then you can follow up with a gesture.

Hand gestures do not need to be grand, and you can keep your hands in your lap. Apple is encouraging that, in fact, because it will keep your hands and arms from getting tired from being held in the air. You only need a tiny pinch gesture for the equivalent of a tap, because the cameras can track precise movements.

What you’re looking at will let you select and manipulate objects that are both close to you and far from you, and Apple does anticipate scenarios where you might want to use larger gestures to control objects that are right in front of you. You can reach out and use your fingertips to interact with an object. For example, if you have a Safari window right in front of you, you can reach your hand out and scroll from there rather than using your fingers in your lap.

In addition to gestures, the headset will support hand movements such as air typing, though it doesn’t seem like those who have received a demo have been able to try this feature as of yet. Gestures will work together, of course, and to do something like create a drawing, you’ll look at a spot on the canvas, select a brush with your hand, and use a gesture in the air to draw. If you look elsewhere, you’ll be able to move the cursor immediately to where you’re looking.

While these are the six main system gestures that Apple has described, developers can create custom gestures for their apps that will perform other actions. Developers will need to make sure custom gestures are distinct from the system gestures or common hand movements that people might use, and that the gestures can be repeated frequently without hand strain.

To supplement hand and eye gestures, Bluetooth keyboards, trackpads, mice, and game controllers can be connected to the headset, and there are also voice-based search and dictation tools.

Multiple people who have been able to try the Vision Pro have had the same word to describe the control system – intuitive. Apple’s designers seem to have created it to work similarly to multitouch gestures on the ‌iPhone‌ and the iPad, and so far, reactions have been positive.

MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera was able to try out the headset and he was impressed with the controls. You can see his full overview of his experience on our YouTube channel.

This article, "These Gestures Are How You Control Apple Vision Pro" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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• Tap – Tapping the thumb and the index finger together signals to the headset that you want to tap on a virtual element on the display that you’re looking at. Users have also described this as a pinch, and it is the equivalent to tapping on the screen of an iPhone.
• Double Tap – Tapping twice initiates a double tap gesture.
• Pinch and Hold – A pinch and a hold is similar to a tap and hold gesture, and it does things like highlighting text.
• Pinch and Drag – Pinching and dragging can be used to scroll and to move windows around. You can scroll horizontally or vertically, and if you move your hand faster, you’ll be able to scroll faster.
• Zoom – Zoom is one of two main two-handed gestures. You can pinch your fingers together and pull your hands apart to zoom in, and presumably zooming out will have a pushing sort of motion. Window sizes can also be adjusted by dragging at the corners.
• Rotate – Rotate is the other two-handed gesture and based on Apple’s chart, it will involve pinching the fingers together and rotating the hands to manipulate virtual objects.

Gestures will work in tandem with eye movements, and the many cameras in the Vision Pro will track where you are looking with great accuracy. Eye position will be a key factor in targeting what you want to interact with using hand gestures. As an example, looking at an app icon or on-screen element targets it and highlights it, and then you can follow up with a gesture.

Hand gestures do not need to be grand, and you can keep your hands in your lap. Apple is encouraging that, in fact, because it will keep your hands and arms from getting tired from being held in the air. You only need a tiny pinch gesture for the equivalent of a tap, because the cameras can track precise movements.

What you’re looking at will let you select and manipulate objects that are both close to you and far from you, and Apple does anticipate scenarios where you might want to use larger gestures to control objects that are right in front of you. You can reach out and use your fingertips to interact with an object. For example, if you have a Safari window right in front of you, you can reach your hand out and scroll from there rather than using your fingers in your lap.

In addition to gestures, the headset will support hand movements such as air typing, though it doesn’t seem like those who have received a demo have been able to try this feature as of yet. Gestures will work together, of course, and to do something like create a drawing, you’ll look at a spot on the canvas, select a brush with your hand, and use a gesture in the air to draw. If you look elsewhere, you’ll be able to move the cursor immediately to where you’re looking.

While these are the six main system gestures that Apple has described, developers can create custom gestures for their apps that will perform other actions. Developers will need to make sure custom gestures are distinct from the system gestures or common hand movements that people might use, and that the gestures can be repeated frequently without hand strain.

To supplement hand and eye gestures, Bluetooth keyboards, trackpads, mice, and game controllers can be connected to the headset, and there are also voice-based search and dictation tools.

Multiple people who have been able to try the Vision Pro have had the same word to describe the control system – intuitive. Apple’s designers seem to have created it to work similarly to multitouch gestures on the ‌iPhone‌ and the iPad, and so far, reactions have been positive.

MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera was able to try out the headset and he was impressed with the controls. You can see his full overview of his experience on our YouTube channel.

This article, "These Gestures Are How You Control Apple Vision Pro" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums