Apple Unveils Software Updates for iOS 16

The company also unveiled Safety Check, an ability for iPhone users to share personal data with others, like location, and revoke that access to escape an abusive relationship.

The presentation was the first time Apple has invited guests to its campus for a major event since 2019. In light of rising Covid-19 cases in the Bay Area, the company set up screens and chairs outside the cafeteria at the heart of its $5 billion campus, Apple Park. Attendees included developers, journalists and retail employees, a group that Apple is eager to improve relations with amid a rise in union organizing.

The software updates come amid a lull in the introduction of new products from a company that the co-founder Steve Jobs made synonymous with revolutionary new devices. Apple last unveiled a new product category, wearables, in 2014 when it introduced the Apple Watch.

In the years since, the company has focused on improving its existing products to spur new sales. Its introduction in 2020 of a custom processor for its Mac computers helped boost sales 23 percent last year as students and employees worked from home because of the pandemic.

On Monday, Apple looked to further the momentum of its Macs by updating its most popular computer, the MacBook Air. The new version sheds a decade-old design with a wedge-shaped case in favor of a slender, rectangular laptop. The computer comes in a multitude of colors, including silver, space gray, gold and dark blue. The company said the new model was 20 percent smaller than its predecessor and weighed 2.7 pounds.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/business/apple-ios-16-software-updates.html