San Francisco (AFP)

Your apps on your Mac: by the end of the year, it will be possible to use iPhone applications on the new computers in the range, Apple announced on Monday, in addition to a series of improvements always aiming for a symbiosis between its customers and its devices.

The electronics giant will now manufacture its own chips for its range of computers, without completely abandoning Intel, in order to bring together the ecosystems of iPhones, iPads and Macs.

This is the most notable news of the various innovations unveiled on Monday by the Californian firm at its annual developer conference, which is taking place online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tim Cook, the boss of Apple, presented the change as a "leap forward for the Mac".

The new chip should make the brand's computers more efficient while reducing their energy consumption.

The transition, orchestrated by "Apple Silicon", will take two years and the company will still release new models with Intel chips.

The new custom chip was inspired by the needs of other brand devices.

"It all started with the iPhone, which required capabilities that seemed impossible," said Johny Srouji, head of hardware technologies.

Developers will now have to adapt their applications. Apple assured that widely used software like Microsoft's (Word, Excel) or Adobe's was already ready and running on the new system.

- Several screens in the screen -

The American group also presented a myriad of design improvements and redesigns, at the heart of its brand image.

The latest version of its operating system, iOS 14, emphasizes simultaneity and prediction based on artificial intelligence.

Instead of a single application displayed on the screen, users will be able to watch a video while answering a text message, and a phone call or Siri voice assistant will no longer take up all the space.

The ergonomics are also reviewed, with groupings of applications and icons of different sizes, not to mention the ability of the smartphone to predict which one you are going to want to open.

Apple will also launch the "app clips", sort of mini apps that do not need to be installed and appear in other programs (to rent a bike for self-service or order food, for example) .

The Californian firm is also trying to get back into the race with Maps, which Google Maps has left behind for a long time.

The new version will be greatly improved, especially for cyclists (elevation, presence of stairs) or drivers of electric cars (adapted parking lots, stations to recharge the battery) in New York and San Francisco to start.

- "Approximate location" -

The brand's headphones and watch are becoming even more "intelligent". AirPods will be able to automatically switch from one sound source to another.

As for the Apple Watch, it will detect if its wearer is sleeping, if he moves his whole body well when he is dancing (and not just his arms), and if he is washing his hands during the regular time ( 20 seconds).

Despite the different options for its devices, sometimes worthy of spy gadgets, the group has again emphasized its skills in terms of privacy, compared to its neighbors in Silicon Valley, whose business model is based on advertising (Google and Facebook).

Users will soon be able to share only their "approximate location" to applications and a light will appear on the screen when the camera or microphone is activated.

Above all, programs will need to ask their permission before they can track them by collecting their data (for advertising purposes and anonymously, in theory).

And even before downloading, under the description of each application, the user will see what kinds of data they collect.

"It will be like labels with the nutritional values ​​of foods," said Craig Federighi, vice president of software at Apple.

© 2020 AFP