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Apple on Monday took a look at the tweaks to the software that powers more than 1 billion iPhones and launched two laptops that will be available for the first time with the next generation of a microprocessor designed by the company.
As usual, Apple spent most of the opening day of its annual developers conference launching later versions of software for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac computers rather than the sleek devices that have made it a tech trendsetter and the world’s most valuable company. .
The next operating system of the iPhone, called iOS 16, will refresh the look of the device’s lock screen and make mostly minor improvements to the existing software. Software updates have become increasingly important in recent years as iPhone owners are starting to keep their existing devices longer than they once did.
One of the most noticeable differences of iOS 16 will appear on the iPhone lock screen. The new software, which will be free to download this fall, will allow users to pin their favorite apps as small widgets on the lock screen.
The new software will also allow the lock screen to display live notifications, such as the status of an Uber ride set out to pick up passengers. In order to avoid clutter on the screen, other authorized notifications will come from the bottom of the screen instead of the current distribution from the top.
The iPhone’s messaging system will be revamped so that texts can be edited after they’re sent or even canceled altogether if the sender changes their mind. These options will only be available when both users use Apple’s messaging app to text.
Apple Pay, part of the iPhone’s digital wallet, is adding a new financing feature that is likely to become popular as rising inflation rates squeeze more household budgets. The option will allow consumers to incrementally increase the cost of any purchase made through Apple Pay at no additional cost over four installments completed over a six-week period. Similar funding is already being offered through digital services like Affirm, whose share price dropped more than 5% on Monday following the news about Apple Pay.
Many of the new features for Apple’s Macs and iPads are designed to make it easier to sync with iPhone for things like video calling. Other tools allow more apps to run side by side to perform multiple tasks on the same screen.
Helping people transition from one Apple device to another is one of the main reasons the company started producing Macs in late 2020 that work with the same type of chips that power the iPhone and iPad.
Now that Apple is putting the next generation of the Mac chip into its two most popular laptops, the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, the company says it will be available in stores at some point next month. The MacBook Air will sell for $1,200 and the MacBook Pro for $1,300.
The event was held at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.
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