Apple generates a lot of news, and it can be hard to keep up. If your mind was on other things this week, our roundup of Apple-related headlines will bring you up to date.

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The future of the Mac

Ming-Chi Kuo, a tech analyst with an enviable reputation for accuracy, has made predictions about the Mac line’s transition away from Intel processors and towards proprietary ARM-based chips. The first non-Intel Mac, he says, will be a 13in MacBook Pro due to go into production in the fourth quarter of 2020.

After that we’ll get an ARM-based 16in MacBook Pro and the long-rumoured 14in Pro; both devices will have “a completely new form factor design”.

Our US colleagues discuss the Mac’s future in the video below. Apple Silicon processors are only one aspect of the major changes heading to the platform.

Batterygate payout

The Batterygate saga seems to be approaching a conclusion, and US readers will be pleased and excited to hear that they can now apply for compensation – assuming they qualify. It’s only around $25 apiece, but Apple is still looking at a total bill of between $310 and $500 billion.

European iPhone owners who were affected by Batterygate must wait and see if anything similar will transpire over here. Last week we reported on European consumer groups’ demand for €60 per user, but we haven’t yet heard any developments on that front.

News in brief

Two fashion brands have pledged to cut ties with Chinese factories that a think tank report identified as using forced detainee labour, but Apple is among the 81 brands who have not. It’s time for the company to take a stand, argues David Price.

There’s been a development in Apple’s Irish tax dispute: the European Court of Justice now says the company does not have to pay a €13 billion retrospective tax bill. Oddly enough Ireland will be pleased to hear this, since it bizarrely did not want the money in the first place.

While we’re on the subject of European decrees, another announcement this week may have been less pleasing for Apple. A new EU directive requires greater transparency in the way companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon and Valve run their app platforms and may shift the balance of power.

We’re still waiting for the autumn’s big iOS 14 and Big Sur releases – which among the bigger new features will see the addition of 13 new emoji – but smaller point updates have plenty to offer in the meantime. macOS 10.15.6, iOS 13.6 and iPadOS 13.6 bring digital car keys, Health Symptoms, and performance and security improvements.

A new podcast named Apple News Today marks the company’s latest attempt to eat the media.

Apple has announced the date of its next quarterly report: 30 July. It will be interesting to hear how sales have been going through lockdown: this week it emerged that Mac sales have grown but analysts cannot agree on how much.

Tim Cook, whose basic salary is $3m, took home $133.7m in 2019. The only US CEO to make more was Elon Musk.

Apple is beginning to face the reality that it won’t properly move back into Apple Park until some time in 2021.

Bugs and problems

Apple has warned that covering the webcam on your MacBook (something that many people do for fear of being spied on) could damage the screen when the lid is closed. Something to watch out for.

The rumour mill

Having killed off iTunes for Mac – with its duties divided between Finder and the Music, TV and Podcast apps – Apple now appears to have its eye on iTunes for Windows. It’s hired developers to “build the next generation of media apps for Windows” and is expected to release a replacement for iTunes in the near future.

The iPhone 12 Pro will have 6GB of RAM, up from 4GB in the 11 Pro. The batteries, on the other hand, are now expected to be smaller. And if you’re still feeling sore about the whole ‘no headphones, no charger’ thing, you may consoled to hear that we now expect Apple to bundle a hardwearing new braided Lightning cable.

The rumoured Apple Glass AR headset has moved one step closer to reality. Foxconn has made several thousand test lenses for the project.

And that’s it for this week. Stay Appley!