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According to Jon Prosser, who leaked the release date of the second-generation iPhone SE earlier this month, Apple will once again start the pricing of its iPhone lineup well below $1,000 this year. In a tweet Thursday, the Front Page Tech host claimed that the cheapest iPhone 12 will cost $649 when it launches this fall. Not only would this be $50 cheaper than the iPhone 11, but it would also be the first OLED iPhone to sell for less than $999.

Prosser’s source informs him that the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 will retail for $649, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 will be priced at $749, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro will sell for $999, and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max will cost $1,099. He says that he received this information from the same source that told him the launch date of the 2020 iPhone SE, which doesn’t necessarily mean that this leak is correct, but does give it some added credence.

Providing these prices are correct, the entry-level iPhone 12 would be cheaper than the cheapest iPhone 11, but it’s worth noting that the 6.1-inch OLED model — the one that supposedly costs $749 — will be the device that will take the place of the iPhone 11. So while there will be an even more affordable option on store shelves this fall, it will not be the direct follow-up to the iPhone 11, which had a 6.1-inch LCD display.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Apple’s pricing strategy for the iPhone 12 lineup. Last week, UBI Research analyst and industry insider Chung-Hoon Lee predicted that the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 would retail for between $600 and $700 due to the fact that Chinese display maker BOE would be able to offer a better price for the OLED screen. Every iPhone 12 model is expected to feature 5G support and an OLED display.

If Apple does end up releasing four iPhone models this fall at the price points listed above, it would have brought five new smartphones to market in 2020 ranging from $399 (iPhone SE) to $1,099 (iPhone 12 Pro Max). If Apple’s plan is to make phones for the widest possible range of consumers, this will be the closest the company has ever come to achieving that goal. Apple just has to hope the ongoing pandemic doesn’t screw it all up.

Reports have been going back for months regarding the timing of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 12 release. Several reports from reliable sources said that Apple’s release timing has been pushed back from its normal mid-September timeframe.

At the same time, conflicting reports from sources that are typically just as reliable have said Apple’s iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro phones would be released on time, though supply could be constrained at launch. The most recent news on the subject comes from The Wall Street Journal, and it’s not good. According to the paper’s sources, Apple has pushed back mass production of its upcoming new iPhone 12 models by one month. It’s unclear exactly how that might impact Apple’s iPhone 12 release date, but it’s certainly not what Apple fans wanted to hear. In light of everything that’s happening right now with the novel coronavirus pandemic, however, it certainly shouldn’t come as a surprise.

If you’re an Apple had who has been keeping your fingers crossed that the first redesigned iPhone lineup since 2017 would hit store shelves on time, this new report is likely to ruin your day. If it’s any consolation, however, we have plenty of reason to believe that the recent peek we took at Apple’s leaked iPhone 12 Pro design is indeed the real deal and Apple’s new iPhones will be just as stunning as the leaks have suggested.

For those who might have missed it, we gave our readers peek earlier this week at what we believed to be the most accurate and realistic representation yet of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 12 Pro. There are more than a dozen graphic designers known for creating renders of unreleased smartphones, but none are anywhere near as good as Jonas Daehnert. His renders are by far the most realistic ones out there, and he also tries to stick mainly to confirmed into and rumors from reliable sources in crafting his mockups.

Daehnert recently turned his attention to the iPhone 12 Pro, and we already shared the stunning results with you. Here’s a refresher:

As numerous rumors from solid sources that date all the way back to Ming-Chi Kuo’s reports last year, Apple’s new iPhone 12 series is expected to merge the display design and the large, square rear camera arrays with the flat metal edges from the iPhone 5. The notch on the display is expected to be a bit smaller than it is on the iPhone 11 and the camera array on the iPhone 12 Pro models will reportedly add a LIDAR sensor, and that’s exactly what Daehnert drew up.

If you’ve been following Apple rumors lately, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that there are some new faces who have been leaking iPhone 12 info. You also might not entirely trust them since they’re still in the process of building track records. That said, there is another source that suggests this is indeed what Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro will look like when it finally launches. What source is that you might ask? It’s Apple.

If you don’t recall, the illustrations above were pulled out of leaked iOS 14 code last month by developers who had access to the code. It was a huge leak but at the time, people noted that these were possibly just illustrations of a potential iPhone 12 design that hadn’t yet been finalized. At this point, given all the leaks and rumors we’ve seen all over the web from sources with solid track records, it’s more than safe at this point to say that the design has been finalized.

Google this week extended G Suite’s device management tools to Windows 10 PCs, adding them to the Android, iOS and Chrome endpoints already on the list.

Administrators can now use the G Suite console to secure G Suite accounts on Windows 10 systems using Google’s anti-hijacking and suspicious-login-detection technologies, and set those machines for single-sign on (SSO) so that G Suite account credentials double as Windows 10 log-in authentication.

The roll-out of the new console capabilities started April 27, with the rapid release and scheduled release tracks (the latter is the default) beginning simultaneously rather than staged, as usual.

Administrators must install the Google Credential Provider for Windows (GCPW) app on each Windows 10 PC for that device to be managed through the console. Among other things, GCPW links existing users’ Windows profiles with their G Suite accounts.

Set Windows update options, offer single sign-on

Google previewed the console-based management of Windows 10 devices starting in January, moving it out of the beta stage significantly faster than usual for the Mountain View, Calif. company.

Requirements on the Windows 10 PC mandate Pro, Enterprise or Business versions of the OS (that last is an expansion of Windows 10 Pro that comes with a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription). On the G Suite side, only customers subscribing to G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education or Cloud Identity Premium can use the non-identity functions newly added to the Admin console.

Once in place, administrators can choose to allow single-sign on for G Suite and other Google services, let users’ G Suite-credentials server as Windows 10 log-ons, protect accounts by calling on Google technologies to detect suspicious behavior and phishing attacks, and set a range of options on the PCs. The latter includes actions such as setting Windows update options, enable BitLocker’s full-disk encryption and remote wiping of devices.

The new functionality is separate from what Google called “fundamental device management” back in October, when it outlined how the default would be to enroll every system, whether personal computer or mobile, in endpoint management as soon as a user logs into G Suite through any browser.

That concept was designed to make every device visible from the G Suite Admin console so that IT could locate the ones whose operating systems need to be upgraded or could log out from an account if the hardware is lost or stolen.

On the same day Google announced Windows 10 management, the company also reported on a postponement of fundamental device management. “Due to COVID-19 related activity, full roll-out of fundamental device management has been delayed until later in 2020,” Google said here.

Some G Suite customers had been served the fundamental management option because deployment has been ongoing for the past six months.

The malware, known as xHelper, started appearing on devices early this year with infections concentrated in Russia. It has not appeared in the Play Store because Google’s automated systems would immediately flag it as suspicious. Once installed on a device, xHelper attempts to gain root access, which allows it to modify the system software and set up a backdoor through which it can install other applications. 

In February, Malwarebytes confirmed that xHelper could survive factory resets thanks to an undetectable file inside a hidden folder. The file would re-infect the device after each reset, but researchers couldn’t determine how the file got there. Now we know this is the result of a group effort between xHelper and a trojan called Triada that downloads after xHelper has a foothold. 

Once installed, Triada manipulates the system partition to add the re-infection framework. It also gives those files special status so they can’t be deleted even by other root functions. Researchers at Kaspersky Labs were even unable to mount the system partition in write mode to remove the malware because Triada modifies important OS libraries. 

Luckily, you don’t need to fret about getting this unkillable malware on your phone. As previously mentioned, it’s not spreading via Google Play. The only way to get infected is to sideload APK files from shady third-party websites. Plus, the rooting capabilities of xHelper and Triada only work on Android 6.0 and 7.0 (Marshmallow and Nougat). Newer versions of Android will block xHelper from making any changes to the OS and installing Triada. Ideally, you should always use devices that have current security update support.

The developers behind Gauss Surgical’s life-saving Apple Design Award winning Triton Sponge solution have turned their attention to COVID-19, introducing an iPhone-based testing solution that helps reduce risk and speed up the testing process.

Apollo, an app for COVID-19 testing and research

I spoke with Gauss CEO Siddarth Satish over the weekend. He discussed what he found during a day spent at a COVID-19 testing center.

He found the current testing process to be heavily paper-based, and observed that this exposes testers to potential risks as they interact closely with people during the tests – not least during the testing itself.

Given that the advice is to maintain two-meter distance from others and try to avoid spending too much time in proximity to others, he was concerned to find frontline testing staff could be spending as much as 15-minutes an hour closely interacting with others.

He felt the risk of contagion for all parties could be minimized by reducing the amount of contact time between tested and tester. Since then, Satish has pulled many late nights as he and his teams attempted to pull together a solution.

“We embarked on Apollo because we felt strongly that our expertise in clinical-grade digital decision-support tools enables us to build a valuable tool for screening and triage of COVID-19,” he said.

Satish teamed up with Evive.Care, a national database of COVID-19 test centers to develop the app, which includes Stanford Medicine’s Apollo COVID-19 Screening Survey (the Apollo Study). Gauss is among a large group of Stanford alumni, scientists, and physicians participating in the StartX Med COVID-19 Task Force.

How Apollo works

1. Features

Apollo integrates tools that work across the current testing process:

• Self-testing diagnostic checks based on CDC guidelines, which helps users  figure out if they are eligible for testing.
• A tool that locates your closest available testing center on a map.
• Tools for testers. Frontline health workers can scan the data through car windows.
• Tools for communication between tester and tested.

At its very simplest, Apollo is designed so a person can analyze their symptoms and if necessary, drive to their closest testing center.

2. Speeding up testing procedures

It is once a patient reaches testing that Apollo makes the biggest difference.

The self-diagnostic checks the potential patient has already transacted are made available via the app to the testing agent, reducing duplication of the same process. This data is made available in the form of a QR code (the “Apollo Pass”) on the screen of the patient’s iPhone, which is read by the equivalent app on the tester’s smartphone.

Cutting contact, speeding testing

The electronic procedure means patients can share their information while the car windows remain shut, minimizing contact time with the tester. It automates the manual, time-consuming paper-based process, which includes around four pages of questions.

The tester can review this information and then call the patient using smartphones to direct them to the test sample collection point.

Once the test is complete and patient sample collected, the tester adds the kit to Apollo and sends the sample to test. Results can be quickly shared once the procedure is complete.

While the iPhone can’t (yet) check for COVID-19 symptoms (though watch this space), the app optimizes existing testing procedures by eliminating paperwork, reducing the need for direct contact between patients and staff.

This also helps reduce use of precious PPE resources.

The app does not store personally identifying information and health workers must register with a hospital- or government-issued email address to use the app as a provider.

What is the Apollo Study?

Stanford Medicine’s Apollo Study is built into the Apollo app. It is designed to gather data in order to provide insight into the prevalence and characteristics of COVID-19.

The goal is to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on all aspects of life including symptoms and how the pandemic has affected individuals and their entire households.

“We want to learn how people are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the impact on their lives,” said Melissa Bondy, PhD, professor and chair of epidemiology and population health, who led the team developing the survey. “We don’t know how many will complete it, but we hope thousands will soon be filling it in.”

Up next: iPhone diagnosis?

Mobile devices are already becoming essential tools in the fight back against COVID-19. Apple and Google are working together to develop contact tracing tools to help in the battle against the disease. In some nations, members of the public seek and carry permission to go outdoors in locked down areas using their device. Today, news of the new Apollo app should help accelerate the testing process.

It won’t stop there.

I’m in no doubt at all that some of the finest minds in digital health are exploring the entire testing ecosystem in order to identify other ways in which mobile devices may help fight back against the pandemic.

In the short term, these will likely extend to making the entire process more efficient, while in the slightly longer term we can easily imagine use of AI, machine imaging and wearable technologies (such as an Apple Watch) to deliver early warning of potential diseases symptoms.

Data analytics will also come into play, working to identify at risk communities, supply chain risk, and more.

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