Apple just announced a digital-only event on Sept. 15 where it's expected to reveal its newest iPhones. Apple typically unveils its new iPhones during an event at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. in September, but this year it will host it online-only due to the ongoing spread of the coronavirus. From a report: It's possible Apple also announces the Apple Watch Series 6, a refresh to its iPad Air and other products at the event. The event starts at 10 a.m. PT. Apple didn't provide any additional details but will likely stream it online, as it usually does. Apple is expected to announce four new iPhones this year, including two "regular" iPhone 12 models and two iPhone 12 Pro models with new designs that include sharper edges around the corners. For reference, the new design will be similar to 2010's iPhone 4, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Screen sizes include a 5.4-inch model, two with 6.1-inch screens and a big model with a 6.7-inch display, according to Kuo, who also said that Apple won't include headphones or a charger in the box.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Apple has begun letting its iPhones carry out contact-tracing without the need for users to download an official Covid-19 app. As an alternative, owners are being invited to opt in to a scheme called Exposure Notifications Express (ENE). This keeps a 14-day log of other phones detected via Bluetooth and serves an alert if one or more of their users is later diagnosed to have the virus. The local public health authority will determine what the notification says. It might tell the user to download a more fully functional app for further guidance. However, it also gives officials the option of not developing an app of their own, in which case the user could be directed to go to a testing centre or to call a hotline for more information. IPhone owners who become ill without having received a warning message can still cause a cascade of alerts to be sent to others. But since they will not have an app to start the process, this will be done by tapping on a text message sent by the public health authority to their smartphone after a positive diagnosis. The facility is being rolled out as part of the latest update to Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 13.7, which has just been released. Android is expected to have a similar scheme that will launch later this month. "It will go by the same name, but rather than go down the app-less route, Google has opted to automatically create a basic coronavirus tracing app for public health authorities based on the criteria they provide," reports the BBC.

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Apple has gone carbon neutral. But in order to say the same for its flagship iPhone, it's going to need help from Taiwan. From a report: More than three-quarters of the emissions that come from making Apple's ubiquitous products come from outside suppliers, according to the company's Environmental Progress Report. That includes Taiwanese electronics giants like TSMC and Foxconn, which still get about 90% of their power from non-renewable sources, according to company reports. That's changing though. The firms are installing solar panels and buying power from offshore wind farms in line with Apple's target of having all of its products be carbon-neutral by 2030. It underscores how climate pressure is increasingly coming not only from activists, but from within company's own supply chains. "What Apple and other companies are trying to do is contribute to meeting Paris climate targets by decarbonizing their own footprints and making it a precondition for their partners and suppliers to use renewable energy," said Prakash Sharma, director for the energy transition practice at consultancy Wood Mackenzie Ltd. "It's gaining momentum because more and more companies are moving in that direction."

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