Best Apple Deals of the Week: Samsung's Smart Monitor M8 and More Apple-Related Accessories Hit Record Low Prices

This week's major deals focused on third-party accessories from companies like Samsung, Anker, Nomad, Satechi, Twelve South, and more. In addition to these accessory sales, there were still plenty of Apple product discounts going on, including all-time low prices on MacBook Air, iPad, iPad Air, and more. Many of these still have Christmas delivery options as well. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Samsung What's the deal? Take up to $330 off Samsung's popular Smart Monitor M8 and many more deals Where can I get it? Samsung Where can I find the original deal? Right here $330 OFF Samsung Smart Monitor M8 for $399.99 This week Samsung began a new Discover Samsung winter savings event, which included major discounts across its line of TVs, monitors, computer storage, and more. The highlight of the sale is the Smart Monitor M8 for just $399.99 in select colors, down from $729.99. You can find even more products on sale in our post . Anker What's the deal? Save on Anker's best charging accessories Where can I get it? Amazon Where can I find the original deal? Right here Anker began a new discount event on Amazon this week, including major markdowns on cables, portable chargers, wall chargers, wireless chargers, and more. You can find the full list of accessories in our post on the sale , and be sure to note that many require you to clip an on-page coupon in order to see the sales. Anker's deals are also known to expire fast, so some of these accessories may no longer be discounted, but the majority are still on sale as of writing. Apple Accessories What's the deal? Take up to 25% off with our exclusive codes from Nomad, Twelve South, Satechi, and more Where can I get it? Nomad , Satechi , Pad & Quill , Twelve South , and 1Password Where can I find the original deal? Right here This year marked the return of our annual article in which we share a collection of exclusive discounts from popular third-party accessory companies. For 2022, this list includes Nomad, Pad & Quill, Twelve South, Satechi, and 1Password. You can find full details for each sale in our article . Nomad - Save 20% off sitewide with code MRHOLIDAY Satechi - Get 25% off sitewide with code MR25 Pad & Quill - Save an extra 15% off sitewide with code MR15 Twelve South - Save 20% off your order with code MacRumors20 1Password - Get 50% off first year of 1Password (new customers only) MacBook Air What's the deal? Take up to $199 off M1 and M2 MacBook Air Where can I get it? Amazon Where can I find the original deal? Right here $150 OFF M2 MacBook Air (256GB) for $1,049.00 $199 OFF M1 MacBook Air (256GB) for $799.99 The year's best prices are still around this week for both the M1 and M2 MacBook Air. If you're okay with an older model (or are shopping for someone who would be), the $799.99 price tag on the 2020 M1 MacBook Air is a great sale. The M2 MacBook Air at $1,049.00 is another solid discount for anyone shopping around for the newest model. iPads What's the deal? Take up to $99 off 2022 iPad and iPad Air Where can I get it? Amazon Where can I find the original deal? Right here $50 OFF 64GB Wi-Fi iPad for $399.00 $99 OFF 64GB Wi-Fi iPad Air for $499.99 The week began with a return of all-time low prices on both Apple's 2022 iPad and iPad Air, with up to $99 off these models. Prices start at $399.00 for the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad in select colors ($50 off), and increase to $499.99 for the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad Air in select colors ($99 off). Some of these are still in stock for Christmas delivery, so order soon if you're interested. Magic Keyboard What's the deal? Take $89 off Magic Keyboard for 11-inch iPad Pro and iPad Air Where can I get it? Amazon Where can I find the original deal? Right here $89 OFF 11-inch Magic Keyboard for $209.99 All-time low prices continued with a new record low deal on the Magic Keyboard for the 11-inch iPad Pro and iPad Air, on sale for $209.99 on Amazon, down from $299.00. Although this one is still on sale in both white and black colors, only black can be delivered before December 25. Apple TV 4K What's the deal? Take $9 off 128GB Apple TV 4K Where can I get it? Amazon Where can I find the original deal? Right here $9 OFF Apple TV 4K (128GB) for $139.99 Apple TV 4K discounts were very popular this holiday season, but now that we're nearing the middle of December, nearly all sales have ended. The major one still around is a $9 discount on the 2022 Apple TV 4K (128GB Wi-Fi + Ethernet) for $139.99, down from $149.00, an all-time low price. Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories. Related Roundup: Apple Deals This article, Best Apple Deals of the Week: Samsung's Smart Monitor M8 and More Apple-Related Accessories Hit Record Low Prices first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Best MagSafe and Magnetic Wireless Chargers for Apple iPhone 13 - CNET

Looking for a wireless MagSafe charger for your iPhone? Here are some options beyond Apple's own model.

Hands-On With the DaVinci Resolve Beta for iPad

Popular video editing app DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic Design is soon going to be available on the iPad , and a beta version of the app is being tested right now. We have access to the beta, and thought we'd take a deeper look at how DaVinci Resolve performs on the iPad for those who are interested. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. DaVinci Resolve for iPad was first announced in October 2022, and it is designed with multitouch technology and the Apple Pencil in mind. Performance is optimized for the Apple silicon iPad models, and we tested on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro . On the latest M2 iPad Pro models, Ultra HD ProRes rendering is 4x faster, but it also runs well on M1 iPads. The iPad version of DaVinci Resolve is basically a version of the DaVinci Resolve 18 software for the desktop, and while there are some minor interface differences, functionality is similar. The app is able to open and create standard DaVinci Resolve project files that can be used interchangeably with the desktop version of DaVinci Resolve. In our testing, DaVinci Resolve for iPad worked well for most workflows, and would be suitable for day to day use. There were no dropped frames, and the editing experience was solid. Color corrections, masking, and other effects that you might assume would not do well on the iPad were flawless, even when working with multiple 4K clips. Make sure to watch our video to see the app in action. Blackmagic Design is aiming to release DaVinci Resolve for the iPad before the end of the year, and you will need an Apple silicon iPad to use the software when it comes out. DaVinci Resolve for iPad will be free to download, but there will be a Studio version priced at $95. Tag: DaVinci Resolve This article, Hands-On With the DaVinci Resolve Beta for iPad first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Deals: Verizon's New Sale Might Be Your Last Chance to Get AirPods Pro 2 at $199.99 for Christmas

In addition to a deal on the first-generation AirPods Pro with MagSafe Charging Case, Verizon is now nearly matching the all-time low price on Apple's brand new AirPods Pro 2. You can get these for $199.99 , down from $249.00, which remains just about $2 away from the best price we ever tracked on the accessory. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Verizon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Although they were around $197 on Woot prior to Black Friday, that sale was very rare and disappeared quickly. The $199.99 price tag has been the most consistent deal on the AirPods Pro 2 all season, and as of today only Verizon is offering the sale with all other retailers having ended their promotions. $49 OFF AirPods Pro 2 for $199.99 Although it may return at other retailers, this could be the last chance to get the AirPods Pro 2 in stock and at a discount for Christmas delivery. Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week. Related Roundup: Apple Deals This article, Deals: Verizon's New Sale Might Be Your Last Chance to Get AirPods Pro 2 at $199.99 for Christmas first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Apple and Ericsson Reach Licensing Agreement to Settle Dispute Over Cellular Patents

Ericsson today announced it has reached a patent license agreement with Apple that will settle a long-running dispute between the two companies over patents related to cellular technology. The dispute dates back to early 2015 when the two companies sued each other over dozens of Ericsson patents related to cellular technology used in Apple products such as the iPhone and iPad . The companies reached a seven-year patent licensing agreement in late 2015 that appeared to put an end to the dispute, but it was revived in late 2021 and early 2022 as the 2015 agreement neared its end and the companies were unable to agree on terms for extending the agreement and incorporating additional patents related to newer 5G technology. With today's announcement, Ericsson and Apple have entered into a new multi-year agreement for cross-licensing cellular-related patents and additional patent rights. Christina Petersson, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson says: We are pleased to settle the litigations with Apple with this agreement, which is of strategic importance to our 5G licensing program. This will allow both companies to continue to focus on bringing the best technology to the global market. In addition to the patent licensing, the agreement also includes commitments from both companies to strengthen their existing collaborations, including in technology, interoperability and standards development. Tags: Ericsson , Patent Lawsuits This article, Apple and Ericsson Reach Licensing Agreement to Settle Dispute Over Cellular Patents first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

MacRumors Giveaway: Win an Apple Watch Series 8 and Nylon Band From Southern Straps

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Southern Straps to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win an Apple Watch Series 8 in aluminum and a matching nylon Southern Straps Apple Watch band . Southern Straps is a small business that makes a range of Apple Watch bands available in both leather and nylon materials. There are 18 watch band styles in total, all of which can be ordered with custom hardware in black, silver, and gold to match your Apple Watch. The bands from Southern Straps are available in sizes that work with all models of the Apple Watch, from the older 38mm Apple Watch to the new 49mm Apple Watch Ultra . The hand stitched leather bands come in either black or brown leather , while there's a whole selection of colors available in nylon. Leather bands are priced at $69, and nylon bands are priced at $49, plus there's a buy two get a third free deal. All of the nylon bands from Southern Straps are made from a single piece of nylon that is doubled over, heat sealed, and stitched for impressive durability. Southern Straps is so confident in the sturdiness of the nylon band that they offer a five year warranty for each one. Nylon bands are equipped with pegged spring bars so the hardware can be swapped out or upgraded for changes in watch material or watch sizing. The nylon bands are available in solid colors like green, sand, black, and there are also several multicolor striped options. Two colors like green and blue or black and grey are available, and there are even three-color options like blue, black, and orange. Southern Straps bands are ideal for everyday wear, from sports activities to work and play. All of the bands are hand made, and the company's goal is to ensure that only the best quality straps end up on customer wrists. We have one aluminum Apple Watch Series 8 (winner to pick size) and one nylon Southern Straps band up for grabs. To enter to win our giveaway, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter , subscribing to our YouTube channel , following us on Twitter , following us on Instagram , or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page . Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older, UK residents who are 18 years or older, and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter . All federal, state, provincial, and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section , as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected. Southern Straps Giveaway The contest will run from today (December 9) at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on December 16. The winner will be chosen randomly on December 16 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen. Tag: Giveaway This article, MacRumors Giveaway: Win an Apple Watch Series 8 and Nylon Band From Southern Straps first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Deals: First-Gen AirPods Pro With MagSafe Available for Low Price of $159.99 ($90 Off)

All-time low prices on Apple's AirPods lineup have been hard to come by in the wake of Black Friday, but on Verizon you can still get the best price we've ever tracked on the first-generation AirPods Pro with MagSafe Charging Case. This model is available for $159.99 , down from their original price of $249.99. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Verizon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. As with other Verizon sales, free two day shipping is available and you don't need to be a Verizon customer to get this deal. This price point on the AirPods Pro is a match of the all-time low price that we saw over Black Friday. $90 OFF AirPods Pro With MagSafe for $159.99 Stock for the 2021 AirPods Pro has been dwindling since the announcement of the second generation model, so Verizon's deal today makes for a great chance to get the previous generation model at its best price before it disappears again. This model of the AirPods Pro was introduced in 2021 with the MagSafe Charging Case, but otherwise the headphones themselves are the same as the 2019 AirPods Pro. Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories. Related Roundup: Apple Deals This article, Deals: First-Gen AirPods Pro With MagSafe Available for Low Price of $159.99 ($90 Off) first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Another round of leaked M2 Max benchmarks still doesnt tell us much

After the first leaked CPU benchmark scores for the M2 Max processor arrived last week, another set of scores is making the rounds today and theyrefine. Entirely reasonable, in fact. If you were to look at the performance jump from the M1 to the M2, and apply that same relative to the M1 Max, youd be in the ballpark. First posted by @VNchocoTaco on Twitter , the alleged Geekbench 5 scores for a Mac14,6 product (such naming is common with unreleased hardware) are 1,853 for single-core and 13,855 for multi-core. The newer scores are a bit better, with a single-core score of 2,027 and a multi-core score of 14,888. That compares to scores of about 1,746 and 12,154, respectively, for a MacBook Pro with the M1 Max in the Geekbench 5 database . The rumored Geekbench 5 scores of the M2 Max dont seem far out of line. Geekbench In other words, the M2 Max looks to be about 10-15 percent faster in single-core and 15-20 percent faster in multi-core CPU performance. The gap between the M1 and M2 is similar..generally around 8-9 percent for single-core and 16-18 percent for multi-core, depending on which particular M1-based product youre looking at. Early scores like these are often not quite up to the speed of the final product, as Apple continues to tweak firmware, drivers, and cooling to deliver the best performance. For example, the newer benchmarks show a chip with a clock speed of 3.68 GHz versus 3.54 GHz for the first numbers, which could account for the difference. The newer benchmarks may be from a Mac Studio while the previous set was from a MacBook Pro, or they could be different versions of the chip in testing. The benchmark results show 96GB of RAM, a 50 percent increase over the 64GB maximum amount of RAM available with the M1 Max. Again, not a crazy number, especially if Apple aims to provide more memory bandwidth by moving to a wider memory bus (the M1 Max already uses LPDDR5). If theres a surprise here, its the claimed 12-processor cores. The M1 and M2 have the same arrangement of 8 processor cores (four high-performance and four high-efficiency). The M1 Max has 10 cores (eight high-performance and two high-efficiency), and we would expect the M2 Max to have the same arrangement. Apple increased the core count on the M1 but only on the graphics side. The CPU still has the same eight cores (four high-performance, four high-efficiency). So two extra CPU cores would represent a change. But a move to 12 means either two additional high-performance cores, or more likely, hanging on to four high-efficiency cores. The multi-core score of under 14,000 is a little bit disappointing if there are two additional cores, but then again, its not uncommon for early leaked benchmarks to come in lower than final, fully optimized products. The M2 Max processor will likely debut in the 14-inch MacBook Pro IDG A lot more to come Even if this is accurate, it doesnt tell us all that much about the M2 Max. After all, the processor gains were the least interesting thing about the M2. It was the boost in GPU performance, bandwidth, and video processing was a bigger deal. We dont know what Apple intends to do in those areas with the M2 Pro, Max, and Ultra, or if it has any surprises in store like a big boost to the Neural Engine. And of course, this Geekbench score says nothing about power efficiency and battery life, which are critical areas for Apples future Macbook Pro laptops. In fact, a rumor this week has suggested that those are two key areas for improvement. So while we think this leaked benchmark is possibly true, and a reasonable guess if not, wed remind you that its an incomplete picture of what to expect from the M2 Max and the products in which it will be found. Mac

The 5 worst iPhones of all time

Apple has released a lot of iPhones since the line debuted in 2007. Though there have been a lot of successes, there are some flops. Here are the worst iPhones.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 Reportedly Receiving December 2022 Android Security Update: All Details

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold is reportedly receiving the December 2022 security patch in the US market. The latest update follows the roll out of Android-13 based One UI 5.0 and fixes over 90 vulnerabilities. The update is currently only available on the AT&T network, as per the report, with a wider release on other carriers expected in coming days.

HomePod Mini Available to Order in Finland, Norway, and Sweden

Apple is accepting orders for the HomePod mini in Finland , Norway , and Sweden on its online store. The smart speaker is available in space gray, white, blue, orange, and yellow and is estimated for delivery in 4-6 business days in each country. HomePod mini pricing is set at 109 in Finland, 1,249 kr in Norway, and 1,295 kr in Sweden, compared to $99 in the United States. Apple previously announced that the HomePod mini would be available in these countries starting December 13 and orders can be placed in advance. Apple said the HomePod mini will also be available in South Africa starting December 19 and in Denmark next year . Apple first released the HomePod mini in the U.S. and select other countries in November 2020. With Siri, the smart speaker can be used for listening to music, controlling HomeKit smart home accessories, setting a timer, and other tasks. Beyond new colors, the device has not received any hardware changes since launching two years ago. Related Roundup: HomePod mini Buyer's Guide: HomePod Mini (Neutral) Related Forum: HomePod, HomeKit, CarPlay, Home & Auto Technology This article, HomePod Mini Available to Order in Finland, Norway, and Sweden first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Redmi Note 12 5G Series India Launch Tipped for January 5: All Details

Redmi Note 12 5G, which was launched by the Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi in China in October, has been confirmed to be makings its way to India, with the company taking the device's official landing page live. However, the landing page does not reveal the exact date of launch, which according to Tipster Mukul Sharma could be January 5, 2023.

Itel Magic X Pro 4G With Dual-SIM, 12 Local Languages Support Launched In India: Price, Specifications

Itel has announced the launch of its latest budget friendly smartphone the Magic X Pro 4G in India. The device has been launched at a price point of Rs. 2,999 and comes with dual-SIM support and 4G VoLTE voice calling. The smartphone arrives in blue and black colour options and is available through online and offline retail partners.

Oppo Find N2, Find N2 Flip Promo Videos Offer a Glimpse at Design, Pre-Orders Open Ahead of Launch

Oppo has shared four promo videos of the upcoming Oppo Find N2 series. These foldable smartphones are set to launch in China on December 15 during the Inno Day 2022 event.

Mac Antivirus Deals: Cheap antivirus software to protect your Mac

Mac security software adds another layer of protection onto what Apple provides already with features that can help to protect your identity, passwords and financial details. These are the thing that criminals are after, and theyll often use cunning ways to extract them rather than spending time trying to break past Apples defences in macOS. Although some of the packages here are solely focused on macOS, others will also protect Android and Windows devices you might also own, and that makes the price of protection much cheaper per computer. Good security software should warn you before you click on a dangerous website, or open a phishing email with a dodgy attachment, which could trick you into handing over your bank details, passwords or other sensitive information. If you are in two minds about whether you need protection you might like to read Do Macs need antivirus software? Best antivirus for Mac Youll find the following Mac antivirus recommendations in our round up of the Best antivirus for Mac. Here are our top Mac antivirus recommendations: Intego Mac Internet Security X9 currently $24.99/20.99 a year for one Mac, get the deal here . Clario Antivirus 1.5 for Mac $50/50 a year (54% off the usual price of $107.88/107.88 a year), get the deal here . McAfee Total Protection currently five devices are $39.99 for one year in the US, and 39.99 a year for one years in the UK, get the US deal here / get the UK deal here . Norton 360 Deluxe currently $49.99/29.99 a year for five devices, get the deal here . Avast Premium Security currently $50.28/39.99 a year for one Mac, get the US deal here / get the UK deal here . Bitdefender Total Security currently 78%/38% off, $19.99 a year for five devices in the US, or 24.99 a year for three devices in the UK, get the US deal here / get the UK deal here . Best free antivirus for Mac There are a number of companies offering free antivirus software for Mac. You should always be cautious using a free antivirus and dont expect all the features of the paid for options. Avast Security for Mac offers a free option alongside the Premium plan. Get it here . Avira Free Antivirus for Mac is free and also includes a VPN. Get it here . AVG Antivirus For Mac free version offers basic features. Get it here . Bitdefender Virus Scanner for Mac is free to use. Get it here . Malwarebytes Antivirus for Mac has a free version as well as a paid version. Get it here . Sophos Home theres a free plan, plus you can get the full version for 30 days trial. Get it here. Best antivirus deals for Mac The above are our top recommendations, but you can save even more money than that. Check our the best deals weve seen below. Top 10 Antivirus Deals Intego Mac Internet Security X9 1 year, 1 Mac 1 From: Intego Was: $49.99/49.99 Now: $24.99/20.99 (50% / 58% off) View Deal Intego is our top pick for Mac antivirus. Its the fastest weve reviewed, and has an impressive clean-up rate. It comes with a brilliant firewall, too. Intego has just over 50% off right now. The RRP is usually $49.99/49.99 for one year/one Mac, but its $24.99/20.99 right now. Read our review: Intego Mac Internet Security X9 review (2021) Bitdefender Antivirus For Mac 1 Year, 3 Devices 2 From: Bitdefender Was: $59.99/39.99 Now: $39.99/24.99 (39% off) View Deal Bitdefender is one of our best picks for Mac and there is a great discount, so you can get it for $39.99/24.99 (usually $59.99/39.99). Thats a one year subscription for up to three devices. Get that UK deal here. The same deal in the US is here . Note that this is the price for the first year only. Its also worth checking out this deal on Amazon.com: you can pick up a great deal on Bitdefender Total Security. You can get two years cover of five devices for $30.99 (usually $149.99) or one year cover for five devices for $19.99. Get the deal here . Read our Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac review and our Bitdefender Total Security 2021 review. Norton 360 Deluxe 1 Year, 5 Devices 3 From: Norton Was: $104.99 / 84.99 Now: $49.99 / 29.99 ($55 / 55 off) View Deal Norton is one of our top antivirus picks, so its good news that you can get the first 12 months for only $49.99 / 29.99 which saves you $55 / 55. Do note that the renewal price is $104.99/84.99 per year after that. Alternatively, you could take out a two-year subscription (youll find this option on the same page) and get two years for $89.99/89.99 ($44.99/44.99 a year) which sounds like a worse deal, but dont forget youre getting a discount on both years, not just the first, so it is cheaper overall. Read our review: Norton 360 Deluxe review Trend Micro Antivirus For Mac 1 Year, 1 Device 4 From: Trend Micro Was: $39.95 / 49.95 Now: $29.95 / 19.95 (25% off US / 60% off UK) View Deal Trend Micros online protection is available with 60% off right now for one year in the UK, or 25% off in the US (where its already cheaper). Its usually $39.95/49.95 a year. The US deal is here . Read our review: Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac review Clario Antivirus 1.5 for Mac 5 From: Clario Was: $107.88 a year Now: $50 a year (54% off) View Deal Clario is offering its Mac antivirus software for $50 a year which is 54% off the usual price of $107.88 a year. The UK pricing is equivalent normally 107.88 a year, currently discounted to 50 a year. F-Secure Total 3 devices 6 From: F-Secure Was: $89.99/79.99 Now: $67.49/39.99 (25% off / 50% off) View Deal F-Secure is offering a great discount on F-Secure Total. Cover three devices for $67.49/49.99 (RRP:$89.99/ 79.99). You can also cover five devices for $82.40/59.99 (RRP $109.99/99.99). Get the US deal here Read our review: F-Secure Total review Panda Dome Essential 1 Year, 1 Device 7 From: Panda Security Was: $47.99/29.99 Now: $19.20/12 (60% off) View Deal Panda Dome Essentials includes top-rated antivirus protection, plus a VPN (albeit with only 150MB of data to use per day). For Black Friday, theres 60% off, and this applies not just on the Essential plan but also on Advanced, Complete and Premium. Avira Antivirus Pro 1 Year, 1 Device 8 From: Avira.com Was: $49.99/35.88 Now: $49.99/29.99 (17% off) View Deal Avira is well known for its free antivirus which is available for macOS as well as Windows. Its very effective, too and if you pay for the Pro version you get official support, more regular updates, plus email and web protection. Read our review: Avira Antivirus Pro review How to find a good antivirus deal It can be tricky to know where to start with antivirus. Protecting your tech from malware, ransomware and other cyber attacks is such an important thing to do, but most of the services available appear to be very similar to one another, so its hard to understand which are the most secure, and which are the best value. You can rest assured that we will only share deals here if we think theyre good enough to be worth buying. Everything we share here will be a great saving on a service we trust. We recommend taking a look at our article all about the best Mac antivirus to help you get a better understanding of which services we like most. Youll find that antivirus discounts can be huge, often at more than half price for your Mac or mobile devices. Do note that these are typically first-year deals, and at renewal youll pay the regular price. Anti Malware, Personal Software

Best VPN Deals Find a cheap VPN for your Mac, iPhone or iPad

VPN services can give you online privacy, unblock regional content on streaming services like Netflix, and allow you access websites or streaming services that arent available in your region. They are an essential tool if you have a MacBook and connect to open Wi-Fi networks in cafes, hotels, airports and other places. We can help you find the cheapest VPN to suit your needs. Choosing which VPN service to subscribe to can be difficult and this is compounded by the fact that there are so many offers and discounts. Thats where we come in. All of the services youll find below are ones wed use ourselves and we do on a daily basis. All these deals save a significant amount compared to paying for each of these services on a rolling monthly subscription. VPN providers tend to offer year-round discounts. One of the best discounts is 90% off Ivacy. Its for a five-year subscription, but for an up-front payment of $60/52 ($1/80p month) thats one of the cheapest deals weve seen. Another deal to take a look at is for FastestVPNs Lifetime plan which with 95% off makes it an absolute bargain as you pay once and have access to the VPN for life. Its $20 (approx 15). Read How to use a VPN on a Mac for more information, and if you still arent sure why you need a VPN read: Should I use a VPN on my Mac/iPhone? Best VPNs for Mac Youll find these services in our round up of the best VPNs for Mac , and there are more deals available currently from all the major VPN providers, which youll find below along with expert buying advice. Here are our top recommendations for Mac VPNs: Best all-rounder: Surfshark (has 84% off a two year subscription) Most features: NordVPN (64% off NordVPN with free anti-malware protection) Most premium: ExpressVPN (has 49% off a one year subscription and 3 free months additional free) Most countries: PureVPN (has 89% off a five year subscription) Most servers: Private Internet Access (has 86% off a two year subscription and four months free) Most VPNs cost less than $5/5 per month, with some less than $3/3. There are even some free VPNs, but these are usually very limited and could be collecting data about you. Best VPN for Mac, iPad & iPhone deals Now read on to find the best deals right now. Just note that many of these discounts are taken from the normal monthly price, but you still have to pay up front for the subscription. Thats why we list both the full and monthly price. Also note that the usual monthly price will kick in a year or so after you start your subscription. Top 10 VPN Deals FastestVPN Lifetime plan 1 From: FastestVPN Was: $600 Now: $20 (95% off) View Deal Unlike most VPN deals which are subscriptions for a set number of years, FastestVPNs is for a lifetime subscription. We asked the company exactly what that meant and were told we will never terminate their accounts. And for just $20 around 15 thats unbeatable. Plus, youll get a years cloud storage thrown in 2TB with Internxt and a password manager. FastestVPN isnt the best VPN service around, and its not the fastest either. It has far fewer locations and servers than most. When we tested it , speeds were good over IKEv2, but terrible over OpenVPN, which is what you need to use to unblock services such Netflix and Disney+ in the US. Ivacy five-year VPN subscription 2 From: Ivacy Was: $597 / 517.20 Now: $60 / 52.08 (90% off) View Deal Ivacys deal is one of the best around, knocking a whopping 90% off the usual monthly price. Its a five-year subscription that works out at $1 per month, or 80p if youre in the UK. The up-front payment of $60 / 52.08 is a real bargain, as thats what most VPN services charge for two years, or even one year. Ivacy offers a great service which supports P2P downloads, unblocks streaming services (including Netflix and Disney+) and, like any VPN service, gives you security when using public Wi-Fi and privacy when browsing the web. You can use it on up to 10 devices at the same time, but even if you use it only on one or two, its still one the cheapest VPN deals around. PureVPN two-year subscription 3 From: PureVPN Was: $657 ($10.95/mo) Now: $74.95 ($1.24/mo) (89% off) View Deal PureVPNs deal is for a five-year subscription that will cost you $74.95 (around 62). Thats $1.24 per month, which is a great price. As with all the deals here (and with all VPN subscriptions longer than a month), you pay for the full subscription up front not per month. Surfshark two-year subscription 4 From: Surfshark Was: $310.80 / 324 Now: $53.28 / 52.76 (84% off) View Deal Surfshark is offering 84% off its usual monthly price if you opt for its two-year subscription. Its a good deal overall, even if the two free months arent actually free at all. The UK price above includes VAT, which is why its higher than the price youll initially see on Surfsharks website. Buyers in the US will also have to pay local taxes. However, Surfshark is a top VPN service, which doesnt put a limit on the number of devices you can connect to the service at the same time. Just note that it doesnt unblock BBC iPlayer. Private Internet Access two-year subscription 5 From: Private Internet Access Was: $454.10 / 389.61 Now: $56.94 / 43.94 (81% off) View Deal Private Internet Access is offering four free months on top of its two-year subscription. The monthly price shown on PIAs site counts those extra free months not as free but as paid, though your subscription will last for 28 months instead of 24. Its just a cheeky way of making the monthly price look cheaper than it really is. But its a good deal overall for this trusted service: its one of few VPN services that have made the source code for its apps public so it can be scrutinised.Read our full PIA review for more details. CyberGhost two-year subscription 6 From: CyberGhost Was: $337.74 / 313.63 Now: $56.94 / 49.92 (84% off) View Deal CyberGhost is a great VPN service and is currently offering a two-year subscription with four months free at the end . As with its rivals here, it uses those extra months in its calculations to make the monthly price seem cheaper. Look past this, and its a good deal for a good VPN service. Also beware: the renewal price remains the same , but only lasts for a year, making it more than twice as expensive, so be sure to cancel before it renews. CyberGhost is great for unblocking streaming services, so if thats what you want a VPN for, it should be a tempting deal. The UK price is also more competitive for Black Friday. Youll find CyberGhost in our roundup of the best VPN services . NordVPN two-year subscription 7 From: NordVPN Was: $223.83 / 177.93 Now: $99.63 / 100.12 (inc VAT) (55% off) View Deal NordVPNs deal gets you two years and three months access to this top VPN service. It is by no means the cheapest (its still cheaper than ExpressVPN though!) but because it is one of the best all-round VPN services out there, its arguably worth paying more for. However, if youre happy to compromise on features and speeds, you can get a similar length subscription from several other VPN services here for less than half the price NordVPN charges. Thats why NordVPNs deal features fairly low down our list. The reason Nord VPNs discount appears lower than its rivals is not because its more expensive, but because it bases its discount off the renewal price, not the one-month subscription price. Hidden24 two-year subscription 8 From: Hidden24 Was: $72/119.76 Now: $59.88/78.96 (20% / 44% off) View Deal Hidden24 is a VPN service with a difference: it doesnt require an app. It will suit anyone wanting a VPN for absolute privacy as it logs precisely nothing. Your device will need to support a VPN connection natively, but Windows, Android, iOS and macOS all do. Hidden24 is also a great option if you dont want to sign up for a long time: its around half the cost of its rivals if you just need a VPN for a month. Express VPN one-year subscription (3 months free) 9 From: ExpressVPN Was: $194.20/148.18 ($12.95/9.88 a month) Now: $99.95/76.27 ($8.33/6.35 a month for 12 months) (49% off) View Deal Get 49% off ExpressVPN, which is one of our favourite VPNs . When you click through to the deal, the monthly cost you see is the average cost when spread over 15 months. But if you consider the final three months to be free (as per the offer), the actual monthly cost for the first 12 months is the price you see above. Like others here which play a similar trick, its a sneaky way of making the price look lower, but as youll see in our review , this is still a great VPN service. How to find the best VPN deal for Mac VPN subscriptions typically work out cheaper if you commit for a year or longer, which saves a lot of money. Prices rarely exceed $6/6 per month with multi-year subscriptions and are often closer to $2/2 or even less. Many major VPN providers offer discounts through the year, and sometimes even offer permanent discounts. These discounts can look impressive at first. Its not uncommon to see a countdown timer telling you when the deal ends but these are almost always to induce FOMO the fear of missing out in order to persuade you to sign up immediately. Large discounts are par for the course with VPN services, especially when youre subscribing for several years. This makes it all the more important to look into the various providers and what each has to offer, before jumping into a long-term commitment. All VPNs weve tested offer cross-device coverage too, so you can use them on your Mac, iPhone, iPad and more. Weve separately rounded up the best iPhone VPNs and iPad VPNs . Anti Malware, Personal Software

Xiaomi 13 Pro Promo Video Teases Durable Build, Leica-Branded Rear Camera Setup

Xiaomi 13 Pro promo video has teased that this upcoming flagship smartphone will have a durable build. It also seems to get a Leica-branded rear camera setup. The promo video features the green colour variant of this handset, which appears to get a curved display.

iOS 16 Installed on Almost 70% of iPhones Nearly 100 Days After Launch

iOS 16 is installed on almost 70% of compatible devices as the update's 100-day launch anniversary approaches, according to third-party analytics website Mixpanel . iOS 16 was released to the public on September 12, 2022, and was initially doing better than last year's iOS 15 update regarding how quickly users were updating their iPhone to the newest version. Apple periodically shares adoption numbers for its latest operating system but has not yet done so for iOS 16. According to Mixpanel, iOS 16 is installed on 68.90% of devices, with iOS 15 at 24.82% and iPhones running older operating systems at around 7%. iOS 16 has had multiple updates since its release in September, addressing bugs being experienced by users previously causing some to be reluctant to update . Apple is expected to release iOS 16.2 this month , bringing multiple new features to iPhone users , including Apple Music Sing, Advanced Data Protection, new Lock Screen widgets, new options for the always-on display on the iPhone 14 Pro, and more. Related Roundups: iOS 16 , iPadOS 16 Tag: Mixpanel Related Forum: iOS 16 This article, iOS 16 Installed on Almost 70% of iPhones Nearly 100 Days After Launch first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Apple iPhone 14 review: the familiar iPhone I cant help but love

Tthe iPhone 14 may be 'just another iPhone,' but it doesn't stop the iPhone 14 from being damn good at most things it does.

Google Chrome Update With Passkey Support on Android, Windows, and Mac Released

Google Chrome 108 stable update is rolling out on Android, Windows 11, and macOS with passkey support. Passkeys were first announced by the search giant in October to provide users a safer way to sign in than traditional passwords, and two-factor authentication methods.

Why does Apples latest music feature have such high system requirements?

Apple Music has a new feature called Sing that sounds pretty great. An expansion of the time-synced lyrics feature available in Apple Music, it animates lyrics so you can sing along with precision and lets you adjust the vocal level of the song with a slider depending on how confident you are in your singing. Its a very slick feature but not everyone will get to use it due to surprisingly high-end system requirements. Other than being an Apple Music subscriber, youll need a device from the last few years. Here are the devices that support the new feature: iPhone iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max iPhone 14 Plus iPhone 14 iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max iPhone 13 iPhone 13 mini iPhone 12 Pro/Pro Max iPhone 12 iPhone 12 mini iPhone 11 Pro/Pro Max iPhone 11 iPhone SE (3rd generation and later) iPad iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5thgeneration and later) iPad Pro 11-inch (3rdgeneration and later) iPad Air (4thgeneration and later) iPad (9thgeneration and later) iPad mini (6thgeneration and later) Apple TV Apple TV 4K (2022) Based on that list, the Apple TV 4K from 2021, iPad Pro from 2020, and iPad Air from 2019 arent supported. Nor are any Macs. Based on the list, it appears the feature requires an A13 Bionic processor or newer and at least 4GB of RAM and the third-gen neural engine. That eliminates the 2nd-gen iPhone SE, which had an A13 processor but only 3GB of RAM. The Apple TV 4K that launched in 2021 only has an A12 chip. The strict requirements also seem to be related to the neural engine. Apple introduced the neural engine with the A11 chip with a dual-core design and the ability to process 600 billion operations per second. The A12 was a huge improvement with 8 cores and 5 trillion operations per second, while the A13 brought a third-gen engine with six times faster matrix multiplication that was 20 percent faster and consumed 15 percent less power than the A12 Bionic despite having the same 8-core design. To adjust the vocals in real time, Apple Music Sing likely requires some heavy lifting by the neural engine and requires the newer third-gen model. The feature will arrive as part of the iOS 16.2 and tvOS 16.2 updates that will likely hit devices next week. iPad, iPhone

Apple's Largest iPhone Supplier Investing $500 Million in India as Supply Chain Diversification Continues

Foxconn, Apple's largest supplier, has invested $500 million in India to bolster its production capabilities in the country as the Cupertino tech-giant and its partners ramp up efforts to diversify the supply chain, South China Morning Posts reports. The report cites documents filed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange which show that Foxconn has invested $500 million into its Indian subsidiary in hopes of increasing its production capacity in India. Foxconn already has an existing presence in the country, producing select iPhone models, including the iPhone 14 with reported plans to make other products, such as the iPad . The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Apple was making more aggressive plans to move its supply chain solely out of China and into other countries such as India and Vietnam. Apple warned last month that the supply of iPhone 14 Pro models would be heavily constrained due to ongoing disruption to Foxconn's iPhone production plants in China. Ahead of the holidays, the supply of Apple's highest-end iPhone models remains heavily limited , with the company's online store estimating a three-week wait for customers looking for the latest iPhone. Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the company's last earnings call that it's working hard to meet the demand for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Tags: Foxconn , India This article, Apple's Largest iPhone Supplier Investing $500 Million in India as Supply Chain Diversification Continues first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Asus Zenfone 9 Android 13 Update Rolling Out Now, Includes Design Changes and Improvements

Asus Zenfone 9 is the first Asus smartphone to start receiving the Android 13 update. The Taiwanese company recently shared its Android 13 update rollout map. The latest firmware update sees a number of changes that include design, interactivity, and feature tweaks and introductions that are based on Android 13.

Samsung Good Lock App Reportedly Rolling Out in These New Countries

Samsung is reportedly rolling out its Good Lock app with the recent release of One UI 5.0 in Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Finland, and Malaysia. The app comes with customization and personalization of system elements like the app icons, wallpapers, and more. Earlier, these modules were limited to certain regions only, but it seems to be available in more countries n...

'M2 Max' Geekbench Scores Surface Again Online Ahead of Release in 2023

Last month, Geekbench scores for an unannounced Mac running the upcoming M2 Max chip surfaced online, showing only minor performance increases compared to the M1 Max . Now, another set of scores claiming to be for the M2 Max chip has surfaced online, showing a more significant jump in performance. In the Geekbench scores last week , the M2 Max chip scored 1,853 in single-core and 13,855 in multi-core, representing only a minor jump compared to its predecessor. Now, in a new set of scores alleged for the M2 Max, the chip scored 2,027 in single-core and 14,888 in multi-core. For reference, the M1 Max chip achieves 1,755 in single-core and 12,334 in multi-core. The new Geekbench scores offer no further details over any upcoming Macs, which we expect first to be 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. The scores list the chip as running on a Mac with an identifier Mac14,6 with 96GB of memory and running macOS Ventura 13.2. The only difference between today's scores and last month's ones is that the updated scores show an M2 Max chip with a higher base frequency of 3.68 GHz compared to 3.54 GHz, which could explain the higher scores. Apple was initially expected to announce updated Macs with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips in November this year, but the company pushed plans until early 2023. Apple has multiple new Macs in the work, including an updated iMac and MacBook Pro. Related Roundups: Mac Studio , 14 & 16 MacBook Pro Tag: Apple Silicon Buyer's Guide: Mac Studio (Neutral) , 14 & 16 MacBook Pro (Don't Buy) Related Forums: Mac Studio , MacBook Pro This article, 'M2 Max' Geekbench Scores Surface Again Online Ahead of Release in 2023 first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

How to export video from a HomeKit Secure Video camera

HomeKit Secure Video lets you use cameras that build in software designed by Apple to talk securely with a HomeKit hub and transfer video to iCloud storage. This video is protected by strong encryption using keys stored on your devices: it cant be decrypted by Apple or other parties, only viewed from one of your devices. iCloud+ stores an unlimited number of clips for the last 10 days. After that, the video is permanently deleted. While you cant download an archive of a day or a rolling 10 days, you can export clips that you can save in your Photos library or share with others. After selecting a clip, find the Next button (upper right) to proceed, then select how to export or save the clip. The process is not designed well, relying on small cues. Heres how to export video: In the Home app in iOS, iPadOS, or macOS (10.15.1 Catalina or later), select your camera and either use the slider at the bottom or the date navigation at the top to find the clip you want to export. Tap or click the Share icon. (To see the Share icon, you may have to tap on an iPhone or iPad or hover over the Home app in macOS.) In the upper-right corner of the Home app, a small Next button appears. Its particularly tiny on a Macs display. Tap or click it. Choose a destination, such as Save Video (iOS/iPadOS) or Save to Photos (macOS). You can also send to Messages, Notes, or other apps. Select additional clips, tapping or clicking Next to save them. Tap or click Cancel to finish. Ask Mac 911 Weve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently, along with answers and links to columns: read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. If not, were always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours to mac911@macworld.com , including screen captures as appropriate and whether you want your full name used. Not every question will be answered, we dont reply to email, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice. Mac

Customize your layout with half off this handy Mac manager

Were all pretty used to the default home screen for our Mac. Power up and youve got all those apps and icons lined up waiting for a click. At first, it may have been comforting to see every single tool at your disposal all at a single glance , but then they start to accumulate. And as your screen starts to fill up, it begins to look more and more like what it is: A mess. Theres really no other term for it when you have to sift through icons you barely ever use. Thats why if you want to clean house, there might be no better helper than Spaces Pro especially now that its on sale for more than half off the original price. Spaces is a desktop manager that lets you sweep all those icons off to the side, organizing them into spaces where you can find the things you want more rapidly. And it doesnt only do this for your app icons. With Spaces, you can sort your favorite websites and system settings into categories. You can even insert deep links that prompt spaces to open when you launch a specific app. Do you want to separate your work apps from the ones you use for gaming or media? Theres no limit to the different workspace types you can set up. Want to see how Spaces Pro can change the way you work and play? Right now, a lifetime license to the service is available for $9 , a discount of 52% off the MSRP. Spaces Pro for Mac: Lifetime License $9 See Deal Prices subject to change. Utilities

Google Chrome Update Adds Memory Saver Mode for Improved RAM Management, New Performance Settings

Google Chrome will finally offer a solution for its RAM-hungry performance. The tech giant is adding a Memory Saver Mode and an Energy Saver mode to boost browser performance and extend device battery life. The two modes can be accessed in Chrome settings. The Memory Saver mode will snooze inactive open tabs to free up memory for other applications.

Samsung Galaxy A14 Spotted on Google Play Console, Key Specifications Tipped: Report

Samsung Galaxy A14 5G has reportedly been spotted on Google Play Console listing. The listing reportedly shows the smartphone to be driven by an Exynos 1330 SoC with two Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.4GHz and six A55 cores clocked at 2.0GHz. The report also tips that the phone gets a 6.8-inch full-HD+ LCD display.

Apples iCloud encryption update hasnt pleased everyone

Apple new iCloud encryption feature, which improves the security of users' remotely stored data, hasn't pleased everyone.

iQoo 11 Series India Launch Date Confirmed, BMW M Motorsport Variant Revealed: Details

iQoo 11 series, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer's flagship smartphone lineup that was unveiled in China on Thursday, will soon be launched in India. The company has confirmed that the phones will launch in India on January 10, 2023. A landing page for the iQoo 11 handset is also live on the company's website, featuring a poster of the iQoo 11 Legend Edition which ...

Im utterly confused (and worried) about the Pixel Folds odd design

Google's upcoming foldable phone has appeared in alleged renders. The design is familiar, but what's worrying is the aspect ration and the infamous Pixel Curse.

Get the M1 or M2 MacBook Air for up to $200 off in time for Christmas

If youre looking for Apples most portable and powerful laptop, look no further than the MacBook Air. Whether you want the classic M1 model or redesigned M2 one, both are fantastic machines with powerful chips and long battery life, and both are on sale right now: Amazon is selling the M1 MacBook Air for $800 and the M2 MacBook Air for $1,049 , a savings of $200 and $150 respectively and within a buck of the best price weve seen on either model. The M1 MacBook Air was updated in 2020 with Apples first M1 processor but is still a fantastic machine with a great display, keyboard, and battery life. The M2 model received a complete overhaul earlier this year with a new chip, updated display, and MacBook Pro-inspired redesign. We heartily recommend either model and if youre looking to get it as a Christmas gift, Amazon says it will arrive in time to put it under the tree. MacBook

The best iPhone deals right now: December 2022

This holiday season, retailers and carriers are offering promotions on the new iPhone 14 line. You can also score an excellent discount on previous models.

Best iPhone in 2022: Which Apple Phone Should You Buy? - CNET

Apple's iPhone lineup ranges from $429 to $1,599. Here are the best iPhone models to match your needs and budget.

Reddit Recap: how to see your Reddit 2022 year in review

2022's Reddit Recap is finally here for all Redditors to have the opportunity to take a look at their activity from the past year on the app.

Audible Free Trial: Get 2 premium audiobooks for free

Explore the full library of audio content with no longterm commitment with an Audible free trial, which gets you 30 days of access to the audiobook service.

Mint Mobile Free Trial: Get a week of free cellular service

The Mint Mobile free trial allows you to test drive its wireless network absolutely free. Find out more here.

Google Chrome for Mac Gains New Memory Saver and Energy Saver Modes

The Google Chrome app for Mac was today updated with new Memory Saver and Energy Saver modes, which are designed to give users more control over memory usage and battery life. Memory Saver mode frees up memory from tabs that are not being actively used, allowing for a smoother experience for tabs that are in use. Google says that this mode is particularly useful when doing other system intensive tasks like editing videos or playing games. Tabs that are inactive are reloaded when needed. With Energy Saver mode, Chrome will automatically limit battery draining tasks when the battery hits 20 percent. Background activity will be limited, as will visual effects for websites with animations and videos. Energy Saver and Memory Saver can be toggled on or off using the three-dot menu in Chrome, and important websites can be marked as exempt from Memory Saver. The new modes are rolling out with the latest release of the Chrome app for Mac (version 108), and will be available to all users around the world in the coming weeks. Tags: Google , Google Chrome This article, Google Chrome for Mac Gains New Memory Saver and Energy Saver Modes first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

How to find, block, and disable an unknown AirTag moving with you

The new AirTag from Apple is a compact tracking device that has an extremely long life and precise locating ability in the right circumstances. Unlike a GPS tracker, which requires cell service and may drain a battery quickly, an AirTag relies on the distributed Find My network of iPhones, iPads, and Macs that hundreds of millions of people around the world carry with them, and uses Bluetooth LE to signal that hardware. While there are a thousand positive and legitimate ways to use an AirTag, it can be abused when someone tracks you without your knowledge, which potentially exposes you to a dangerous situation. For example, the York regional police department in Canada recently announced that AirTags are being placed in hidden areas of target cars parked in public, and then tracked to the drivers residence, where the cars are stolen while parked in the driveway. In another incident, a woman claimed that she found an AirTag hidden in her wheel well after her iPhone alerted her to an AirTag moving with her. State governments in New York and Pennsylvania have issued warnings about the misuse of AirTags and similar tracking devices. Incidents like this are rare (York police said there have been five AirTag-involved thefts out of 2,000 in the region). Apple has put some safeguards in place so that an iPhone, iPad, and AirTag provide varying alerts and information if one is moving with you and the owner who paired the AirTag with their iPhone or iPad isnt nearby. There are tools built into the iPhone to find and disable AirTags as well as an Android app that will scan for AirTags nearby. AirTag Read our review MSRP: 1 pack $29 | 4 pack $99 Best Prices Today: $94.98 at Amazon | $99 at Apple | $128.17 at Newegg US You probably know already if youre a candidate for involuntary tracking: someone in your life (or formerly so) or a family member may show up at unexpected times in unexpected places when they have no reason to know youre there. They may comment in person, via email, or otherwise about your activities or whereabouts. Or youre in the middle of or long past a nasty break-up of a relationship or marriage, or have broken off contact with a parent or family members. Whatever the case, if youre in need of help, consult the National Domestic Violence Hotline or more specialized resources for victims of domestic abuse, stalking, and other violence listed by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence . Local law enforcement, the FBI, or national police in other countries also offer resources. Tracking your own devices Everyone whose devices participate in relaying secured, privacy-protecting location information about their devices and AirTags effectively opted into the Find My network. That makes everyone around you a potential participant in tracking an AirTag you dont know about. However, you can at least opt yourself out, though this removes your ability to track your own lost or stolen iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, or an AirTag through this extended network. Earlier versions of iOS and macOS dont include support for the Find My network. In iOS 13 or iPadOS 14 or later go toSettings > Account name > Find My > Find My iPhone/iPad , and disable Find My network. In macOS 10.15 Catalina or later, go to the Apple ID preference pane, select the iCloud link at left, click the Options button to the right of the Find My Mac item, and uncheck Offline Finding or Find My network (the text varies by macOS version). Disabling the Find My network prevents your devices from tracking AirTags or other Find My items and devices near you. If an item is nearby (like a lost set of keys), you can use the Find My app on an iPhone or iPad to play an audible sound on the AirTag so you can locate it. As part of macOS 13.1 , this feature also came to the Find My app on Macs. You can also use the U1 chip on newer iPhones to precisely locate an AirTag that may have fallen into a couch cushion or crevice. If youre traveling regularly through urban and suburban areas or on public transportation, other peoples devices will still pick up and relay location information about any AirTag thats with you. That includes something as innocuous as pulling over to a rest area on a highway, and someone 50 feet away has an iPhone, or even driving on a highway near other people who have iPhones or iPads connected to a cellular network. Bluetooth LEs range is surprisingly long. I found that an AirTag I temporarily placed in my car, parked two flights of stairs down from our ground floor and about 50 feet from the house still provided regular updates about its location via devices I ownednot to mention those of neighbors walking or driving by. Searching for an unknown AirTag Because AirTags dont register proximity except to the owner, the only way it can be used to gather information about you is if it travels with you. An AirTag in your home, office, or classroom wont reveal anything to someone trying to keep tabs. That reduces the surface area of unwanted surveillance because the AirTag has to be in your clothes, wallet, or purse, something else youre carrying, or in a vehicle youre in and using exclusively or at least regularly. If you havent seen an AirTag, consult Apples site . Theyre somewhat larger than an American quarter or a dollar/pound/single unit coin in many countries, and about three to four times thicker with a rounded white top. Theres no serial number printed on it or found within it, but I describe later using NFC how to obtain that number. Check pockets: In clothing, purses, luggage, messenger bags, and other items, unzip and feel for an AirTag thats been placed or sewn in. Examine a car: A car may have a number of locations that are unreachable or hard to check. Because an AirTag has as long as a years worth of power, someone might wrap it in cotton (to stifle the beep it may make; see below), slit a fabric seam, slip it in, and sew it back up. Parking your car away from homes and businesses and using a Bluetooth scanner can help you pinpoint if one is in your car. Even if someone doesnt have access to your home, work, school, or vehicle, and you dont receive mail at the address at which you liveyou might use a P.O. box or another persons addresssomeone could ship you an item with an AirTag in it, and when you take that home, they could have your location. If youre in that specific situation, you may need to examine all packages received elsewhere before bringing them home. Apples Find My app can be used to manually scan for AirTags near you using the Items That Can Track Me option in the Items tab as well as the Tracker Detect app on Android. Using a Bluetooth scanner Because AirTag regularly emits Bluetooth signals that Apple devices can pick up, you can use a simple Bluetooth tracker for iOS or iPadOS to scan the area around you and see if an AirTag is nearby. While these tracking apps cant identify AirTag as suchAirTag changes its Bluetooth ID regularly to avoid being trackable themselvesthe apps give you the lay of the landscape. That includes the names of Bluetooth devices that do label themselves in their broadcasts. BLE Scanner is a limited but free app that provides a list of Bluetooth devices your iPhone or iPad can detect, and offers a mapping feature that roughly sorts them by signal strength into distance away. This is particularly useful if youre checking out whether a car has a hidden AirTag; less so inside when there may be dozens of your own and neighbors devices close enough to register. Regular Bluetooth devices typically identify themselves generically (like my HP OfficeJet Pro 9010 series printer) or specifically, as with the sharing name of your Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs, FitBit trackers, and so on. Bluetooth BLE Device Finder (free to download, but $4.99 to unlock needed features) has the advantage of letting you drill down into Bluetooth technical details, which may give additional clues about which devices are legitimate and not. Bluetooth scanning apps can provide cues about unknown devices near you, which may include AirTags. If you can eliminate all known Bluetooth devices, including by powering down equipment that youre unsure of, and whats left has no associated name, it can be worth looking further by hand. Understanding alerts and notifications Apple provides alerts about AirTags that move with you in iOS/iPadOS 14.5. Apple has two kinds of alerts it offers to help let someone know that theres an AirTag near them that isnt associated with their iCloud account. These alerts happen after some period of time or while youre moving and the AirTag is moving with you. First, if you have an iPhone or iPad running iOS/iPadOS 14.5 or later, it tracks whether when youre moving from place to place a Bluetooth ID associated with an AirTag is, too. If so, youll get a notification that tells you theres an AirTag moving with you, and, when tapped, provides additional information. This includes how long its seen this AirTag, and the locations that your device has transmitted associated with the AirTag. Apple notes that the innocent case is that you borrowed an item from someone with an AirTag attached or inside it. You can tap to disable safety alerts for a day or, if youre in a Family Sharing group with the owner, indefinitely. You can also tap to make it play a sound, an action that occurs via Bluetooth. After reports of people disabling AirTag speakers, Apple recently announced that it will be adding a notification along with the sound on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch it is moving with. The alert will also give you options like playing a sound or using Precision Finding, if available. Apple also says it will adjust the tone sequence that plays when a user has an unknown AirTag traveling with them to make anunknown AirTag easier to find. In a 2022 firmware update version 1.0.301 , Apple tweaked the unwanted tracking sound to more easily locate an unknown AirTag. To check the firmware of your AirTag, look for the device in the Items tab. However, the Bluetooth ID produced by an AirTag, and by all Apple devices that participate in Find My crowdsourcing, changes on a regular basis to avoid becoming a reverse tracking item: if it were persistent, then someone could track your devices based on the anonymous Bluetooth ID. That means that your iPhone or iPad has to notice an AirTag moving with it over a relatively short period of time. Second, after what Apple calls an extended period of time away from its paired iPhone or iPad, which the company has disclosed elsewhere is three days, an AirTag makes a beep whenever its moved. If you hear an unexpected beep from something youre carrying or within your vehicle, then its time to engage in the hunt for an AirTag. The audio alert winds up being less useful than one might hope. If a stalker or other person engaged in surveillance can come within range of the AirTag at least every three days, and they know you dont have an iPhone or iPad thats running 14.5 or later, they can reset that counter. The beep thats made isnt ongoing or particularly loud, and it can be muffled without blocking the Bluetooth signal substantially. If you have an Android phone, you can also check for unknown AirTags moving with you using the Tracker Detect app. Its far less robust than Apples Find My app and needs to be run manually. How to get an AirTags serial number and disable it If you find an AirTag, you can safely determine more information about it without disclosing to the person who planted it that youve done so. The AirTag includes NFC, useful both for pairing the device initially and for letting any smartphone or tablet with an NFC reader pull up a URL from the device. That includes Android phones and other hardware, as it uses an industry standard for NFC encoding. On following the URL, youre taken to a page that contains the AirTags serial number. That page can also show a phone number set by the owner if they marked it lost. The owner isnt notified in any fashion about the page being loaded, and Apple preserves the owners privacy by providing no direct linkage at all. An NFC transmitter lets you pick up information about an AirTag you discover. However, in the case of unwanted tracking, the serial number may help if you pursue civil action, want to obtain a restraining order, or contact law enforcement. Because AirTag tracking requires device pairing, an iCloud account, and an iPhone or iPad thats logged into the account, anyone actively tracking you is also producing a trail of information stored on their phone, across the cellular network, and in other places. A found AirTag displays its serial number via the NFC link and Apple provides instructions on how to disable it. Apple uses end-to-end encryption to protect the location information sent from an arbitrary device to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, which has to use the Find My app to view it. But the information isnt secured in the same way on the device. Police and national investigators would be able to create a close association of logins and access, as well as prove that an AirTag was paired with a specific iPhone or iPad. This may deter abusers and others somewhat if theyre aware of how easily they can be tracked back. Once youve found the AirTag and obtained the information you want from it, you dont need a hammer or rock to disable it. Unlike most of Apples hardware, the AirTag has a removable battery. Simply use pressure to rotate its metal underside counter-clockwise (from upper right to upper left) to remove that plate, and then remove the battery. Mobile Phone Accessories

This Samsung tablet is $109 today, but it wont last long

Dreaming of a brand new Samsung tablet for Christmas? The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is just $109 today at Walmart.

Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are $74 off, with delivery by December 24

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are on sale from Walmart for about half their original price at $75, and if you buy now, you'll get them in time for Christmas.

Satechi Launches Duo Wireless Charger Power Stand

Satechi today announced the launch of a new Duo Wireless Charger Power Stand, which is capable of charging up to three devices at one time with a built-in 10,000mAh battery. Priced at $99.99, the Duo Wireless Charger Power Stand features a folding design with a magnetic charging base for the iPhone . The charging platform features Qi-based wireless charging, maxing out at 7.5W. There is also a platform for charging the AirPods, with 10W charging total possible. Satechi says that the stand has been designed for making hands-free calls, streaming videos, listening to music, and more while on the go. The dock can be placed flush with the base or upright for viewing in landscape or portrait modes. Along with the wireless charging platforms for iPhone and AirPods, there is also a USB-C port for charging one additional device. Because the stand is foldable, it can be tucked in a pocket or a backpack for charging anywhere. The Satechi Duo Wireless Charger Power Stand can be purchased from the Satechi website for $99.99, but there is a 25 percent off discount available with the promo code DUO25 through December 15. Tag: Satechi This article, Satechi Launches Duo Wireless Charger Power Stand first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

SK hynix Reveals DDR5 MCR DIMM, Up to DDR5-8000 Speeds for HPC

One of the world's biggest semiconductors and manufacturers of DRAM, SK hynix, has unveiled it has working samples of a new generation of memory modules designed for HPC and servers. Dubbed Multiplexer Combined Ranks (MCR) DIMMs, the technology allows high-end server DIMMs to operate at a minimum data rate of 8 Gbps, which is an 80% uptick in bandwidth compared to existing DDR5 memory products (4.8 Gbps). Typically, the most common way to ensure higher throughput performance on DIMMs isthrough ever increasing memory bus (and chip) clockspeeds. This strategy is not without its drawbacks, however, and aiming to find a more comprehensive way of doing this, SK hynix, in collaboration with both Intel and Renesas, has created the Multiplexer Combined Rank DDR5 DIMM. Combining Intel's previously-unannounced MCR technology for its server chips and Renesas's expertise in buffer technology, SK hynix claims that their DDR5 MCR DIMM has 66% more bandwidth than conventional DDR5 DIMMs, with an impressive 8 Gbps/pin (DDR5-8000) of bandwidth. SK hynix themselves claimthat the MCR DIMM will be 'at least' 80% faster than what's currently out there DDR5-wise, but it doesn't quantitate how it reaches this figure. The technology behind the MCR DIMM is interesting, as it enables simultaneous usage of two ranks instead of one, in essence ganging up two sets/ranks of memory chips in order to double the effective bandwidth. Unfortunately, the details beyond this are slim and unclear in particular, SK hynix claims that MCR allows transmission of 128 bytes of data to CPU at once, but looking at the supplied DIMM photo, there doesn't seem to be nearly enough pins to support a physically wider memory bus. More likely, SK hynix and Intel are serializing the memory operations for both ranks of memory inside a single DDR5 channel, allowing the two ranks to achieve a cumulative effective bandwidth of 8Gbps. This is supported by the use of the Renesas data buffer chip, which is shown to be on the DIMM in SK hynix's photos. Conceptually, this isn't too far removed from Load Reduced DIMMs (LRDIMMs), which employs a data buffer between the CPU and memory chips as well, though just how far is difficult to determine. More curious, perhaps, is that this design puts a great deal of faith into the ability of the physical memory bus and host controller (CPU) to be able to operate at DDR5-8000 (and higher) speeds. Normally the bottleneck in getting more memory bandwidth in server-grade systems is the memory bus to begin with having to operate at slower speeds to accommodate more memory so going a route that requires such a fast memory bus is definitely a different approach. In either case, the ability to run DIMMs at DDR5-8000 speeds in a server would be a significant boon to memory bandwidth and throughput, as that's often in short supply with today's many-core chips. As SK Hynix has partnered up with Intel via its MCR technology and using buffer technology from Renesas, MCR would seem to be an Intel-exclusive technology, at least to start with. As part of SK hynix's press release, Intel for its part stated that they look forward to bringing this technology to future Intel Xeon processors and supporting standardization and multigenerational development efforts across the industry. In the interim, this appears to be a technology still under active development, and SK hynix is not publishing anything about availability, compatibility, or pricing. While SK Hynix hasn't gone too much into how MCR DIMM is twice as fast as conventional DDR5 memory, this product is designed for the high-performance computing (HPC) and server industries, and it's unlikely we'll see MCR DIMMs in any form on consumer-based systems.We expect to learn more in the not-too-distant future. Source: SK Hynix

How to get old copies of macOS: download Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave and more

There are a few reasons why you might want to download and install old versions of macOS or Mac OS X. Perhaps you are relying on software you have discovered doesnt work properly in the latest version. Or maybe you just dont like the new version of macOS that you have installed. Another scenario is that you are a developer and you need to be running multiple versions of macOS and Mac OS X so that you can be sure that your software runs correctly on them. Either way, you have questions and we have answers. In this article we will cover how to get old versions of macOS including Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, El Capitan, Sierra, Yosemite and even old versions of Mac OS X. We explain how to get hold of the relevant installer files so that you can install the software on your Mac. We have a separate article that explains how to install old versions of macOS for when you get to that stage of the process. If you are looking for a way to revert to the previous version of macOS, we have a more specific article about downgrading from Monterey to Big Sur and other versions, although we do cover the method here too. We also have a guide to downgrading from the macOS beta. However, if you were hoping to run older versions of macOS on M1- or M2-series Macs thats not possible. You also might want to get the installer for a version of macOS in order to make a bootable installer for installing macOS on multiple Macs (we also look at that scenario separately). Where can I download old macOS? Before you can install an older version of macOS or Mac OS X you will need to get hold of the installer for the version of macOS you want to install. Luckily it is possible to gets hold of these files as long as you know where to go on the Mac App Store. We have the necessary links to the Mac App Store below. We will show you a way to get the following macOS installers: macOS Monterey macOS Big Sur macOS Catalina macOS Mojave macOS High Sierra macOS Sierra OS X El Capitan OS X Yosemite OS X Mavericks OS X Mountain Lion OS X Lion *Note that we have discovered that the links we give below will only work if you are surfing in Safari, so we suggest you switch to Apples browser before moving on. You should also close the Mac App Store app if you have that open or the link may not work* You wont be able to get the Mac OS X Snow Leopard download this way, but well look at that later. In fact, we tell you how to get copies of Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion too! We have a list of which Macs run which versions of macOS & Mac OS X . How to download macOS Monterey Apple only replaced Monterey with Ventura in October 2022, but if you dont want Ventura on your Mac you might be looking for Monterey. This is where you can get it: You can still download the installer for Monterey from the Mac App Store as long as you know where to find it searching the Mac App Store will not work. Click on this link to be taken to the macOS Monterey page on the Mac App Store. (Use Safari and make sure the Mac App Store app is closed first or it might not work). Follow these steps to download macOS Monterey (or any other version of macOS) from the Mac App Store: Click this link to open the Mac App Store on the Monterey page. Click on Get. Software Update will open with the words Finding Update. Eventually a message Are you sure you want to download macOS Monterey will appear. It might look like an update rather than the full version, but youll see from the size of the download (around 6GB) that this is the complete installer for Monterey. Once the installer has downloaded do not click Install. If you install it the installer will automatically be deleted (plus it wont install if you are already running Ventura). You should be able to find the Install macOS Monterey app in your Applications folder, youll need this for the next steps, which we outline here: How to downgrade macOS, install an older version on your Mac. Foundry How to download macOS Big Sur You can still download the installer for Big Sur from the Mac App Store as long as you know where to find it on the Mac App Store (since searching for it will not work). Click on this link which to open the Mac App Store on the Big Sur page. (Use Safari and make sure the Mac App Store app is closed first or it might not work). Follow these steps to download Big Sur (or any other version of macOS) from the Mac App Store: Click this link to open the Mac App Store on the Big Sur page. Click on Get. Software Update will open with the words Finding Update. Eventually a message Are you sure you want to download macOS Big Sur will appear. It might look like an update rather than the full version, but youll see from the size of the download (around 6GB) that this is the complete installer for Big Sur. Once the installer has downloaded do not click Install. If you install it the installer will automatically be deleted. You should be able to find the Install macOS Big Sur app in your Applications folder, youll need this for the next steps, which we outline here: How to downgrade macOS, install an older version on your Mac. How to download macOS Catalina You can also download the installer for Catalina from the Mac App Store as long as you know the magic link. Click on this link which will open the Mac App Store on the Catalina page. (Use Safari and make sure the Mac App Store app is closed first). As above, follow these steps to download Catalina (or any other version of macOS) from the Mac App Store: Click this link to open the Mac App Store on the Catalina page. Note that if you have a M1 or M2 Mac then you wont be able to run Catalina, so you will see a message that your Mac is not compatible with it. If you want to download it you will need to use an Intel Mac. Click on Get. Software Update will open with the words Finding Update. Eventually a message Are you sure you want to download macOS Catalina will appear. It might look like an update rather than the full version, but youll see from the size of the download (around 6GB) that this is the complete installer for Catalina. Once the installer has downloaded do not click Install. If you install it the installer will automatically be deleted. You should be able to find the Install macOS Catalina app in your Applications folder, youll need this for the next steps, which we outline here: How to downgrade macOS, install an older version on your Mac. How to download macOS Mojave It is also possible to access the Mojave installer via this link to the Mac App Store. Note that as above, for this link to work you need to be running Safari and you need to close the Mac App Store app first. If the Mac App Store app is open this redirect will not work. Click on this link to open the Mac App Store on the Mojave page. Follow the steps in the section above to download it. How to download High Sierra It is also possible to download High Sierra via this link . (Use Safari, close the Mac App Store app first). Follow the steps in the section above to download High Sierra. How to download Sierra, El Capitan or Yosemite Apple provides dmg files of these older macOS versions you need to download them in Safari. A disk image named InstallOS.dmg will download and once it does you need to locate the pkg installer inside the disk image. You can Sierra via this link. El Capitan can be downloaded from this link. Yosemite is available here . That Mac App Store link isnt working for me! Weve said above that in our experience usually the reason the above links dont work is if you are browsing in something other than Safari, or if you have already got the Mac App Store open. However, if you are still finding that the link isnt working you could try the alternative methods below. Another issue is if the link takes you to the correct page in the Mac App Store, but you see an Update not found error message when you try to download it. This is an issue we are aware of that others have encountered, although we havent. In that case we suggest you try to download the installer via that link using an older Mac. You may also encounter issues if you are trying to download an older version of macOS that your Mac cannot support. Usually when Apple introduces a new Mac it will not be able to run the version of macOS that shipped before the one installed on that Mac. The older macOS might not support certain components in that Mac, for example. Find out more about what version of macOS your Mac supports here: What version of macOS can my Mac run? Other ways to get old macOS versions If you are running an older version of macOS or someone you know is you should be able to easily find older versions of macOS and even Mac OS X in the Mac App Store. How easy they are to find will be determined by the version of macOS running on that Mac. Prior to macOS Mojaves arrival in 2018 the installers for the older macOS versions could be searched for or found via the Purchased tab (not that anyone has had to pay for a Mac OS X update for years). However, when Apple introduced Mojave the Mac App Store changed, and these installers can no longer be searched for or found in the purchased section of the store. (Although we do have redirect links in the section above to each of the relevant pages on the Mac App Store.) If you happen to have access to a Mac thats running an older version of macOS, log into the Mac App Store with your password and download the Mojave installer on that Mac. Alternatively ask a friend to download a copy of the installer from the Mac App Store for you. We run through this method in the section below. As above, once the installer has downloaded dont install it! If you do then the installer will be deleted. Youll find the installer in your Applications folder from which you can copy on to your Mac or create a bootable installer . Weve heard that it may be possible to download the installer via Terminal, however we were unable to get that method to work. You may also find updates to old version of macOS on Apples website here , however these are just point updates, rather than the full version, so it wont be much help if you are trying to get the full download. The one thing you really mustnt do is go to a torrent site and download a copy of the OS X you want. Just because Apple gives away its software for free, dont think its fine to just pick up a copy. Pirated copies of Apple software could have been adjusted to allow hackers access to the software and your Mac. How to download old Mac OS X versions If you have access to a Mac running OS X Yosemite or older it is possible to see old versions of Mac OS X in the Mac App Store. Yosemite, Mavericks and Mountain Lion can all be seen here. Its worth noting that youllonly see old versions of Mac OS X that youve downloaded under Purchased if you never downloaded it (or if it was never on the Mac App Store), that version will not be in your Purchased section. Another reason why the version of Mac OS X might be missing is if your machine shipped with that version installed. Well look at that scenario later. Here is how to get an older version of Mac OS X from the Mac App Store (this only works if youve downloaded it in the past and it wont work if you have already installed Mojave or later): Open the Mac App Store (choose Store > Sign In if you need to log in). Click Purchased. Scroll down to find the copy of OS X or macOS you want. Click Install. Clicking Install wont actually install the software, but it will download the installer application to your Applications folder. You wont be able to simply install this older version of the operating system directly onto a Mac running a newer version of OS X or macOS. We will explain how it can be installed on a Mac including one currently running an earlier operating system here: How to install old Mac OS X versions. Cant find Mac OS X in Purchased? If you know you have previously downloaded the version of macOSyou are after, but you arent seeing it in the Purchased section, there are a few things to try: Log out of the App Store then log in again. If its a possibility that you downloaded it while logged in to a different Apple ID (perhaps a work-related one), log in using that ID. Alternatively, find someone who has downloaded that version of the Mac operating system and ask them to download the installation file for you. If you never downloaded the version of Mac OS X then jump to step 3 and find a friendly person who did. Ask them to download the Mac OS X installer for you. Luckily the copy of OS X isnt locked to their account so it will install on any Mac. How to get OS X Lion, Mountain Lion Prior to June 2021 you could purchase OS X 10.7 Lion or Mountain Lion from Apple for $19.99/19.99 each Apple would send you a download code. Now Apple has stopped charging for the ageing operating system versions. Instead you can download the operating systems directly from the companys website. The operating systems can be downloaded from the following links: DMG for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion (4.72GB) DMG for Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (4.45GB) If its Mac OS X 10.7 Lion that you are after, its still available for $19.99/19.99 here US or here UK. Apple will send you a download code to use on the Mac App Store, so you will need to be running Snow Leopard to install it. If its OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion that you can still buy it for $19.99/19.99 here US or here UK . We have more information about getting the free installers for OS X Lion and Mountain Lion from Apple in Apple offers free downloads of OS X Lion and Mountain Lion . Whether your Mac will actually run these operating systems is another question we address here: Which versions of macOS can my Mac run? Note that only Macs that predate 2012 will run Lion. How to get OS X Snow Leopard If your Mac has a version of macOS installed that is older than Snow Leopard you wont have access to the Mac App Store. Since for a number of years after Snow Leopard arrived all versions of Mac OS X arrived via the Mac App Store, those who never installed Snow Leopard had a problem: without Snow Leopard they couldnt update. Until 2021 Apple still sold a boxed version of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard here for $19.99/19.99 (at its launch in 2009 it cost $25/25). If you purchased Snow Leopard this way you were sent a physical box containing an optical disc so you will need a CD/DVD drive to install it (which you will probably have if the Mac is that old). Apple has now removed the ability to buy Snow Leopard. However, this isnt a big problem because those people who were previously locked out of updates can now download the Lion or Mountain Lion update, as explained above. How to get OS X Leopard or earlier If the old version of the OS you are after predates Snow Leopard and you have a developer account you might be able to get it from developer.apple.com/downloads . If you search within the OS X category you should see downloads for all versions of OS X, at least from version 10.3 to 10.6. You may be able to access the Developer section of the website, but you will only be able to access certain software downloads if your Apple ID is associated with a paid Apple Developer Program. If you havent signed up as a Apple Developer, find out what that entails here . It costs $99/79 a year to join the Apple Developer Program and you have to sign a non disclosure agreement. You could also try looking on Amazon or eBay to see if anyone is selling old versions of the Mac operating system. Personal Software

Deals: Samsung's New Winter Sale Has Major Discounts on TVs, Monitors, and More

Samsung today began a new winter deals event , offering sales on TVs, tablets, monitors, memory, audio accessories, and more. The Discover Samsung event is set to run through December 15 and introduce new deals of the day every day of the sale. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Below we've collected a few of the highlights of the sale, particularly focusing on major discounts on Samsung TVs and monitors. The new sale continues Samsung's discount on the 32-inch Smart Monitor M8, available for $399.99 in select colors, down from $729.99, an all-time low price on the iMac-like monitor. SITEWIDE SALE Discover Samsung Event TVs 50-inch The Frame Smart TV - $899.99, down from $1,299.99 55-inch OLED 4K Smart TV - $1,449.99, down from $2,099.99 75-inch Neo QLED 4K Smart TV - $1,799.99, down from $2,599.99 85-inch QLED 4K Smart TV - $2,199.99, down from $3,299.99 Monitors 24-inch LED Monitor - $99.99, down from $179.99 32-inch Smart Monitor M5 - $199.99, down from $299.99 32-inch Smart Monitor M7 - $299.99, down from $399.99 32-inch Smart Monitor M8 - $399.99, down from $729.99 49-inch Odyssey G9 Gaming Monitor - $899.99, down from $1,499.99 55-inch Odyssey Ark 4K Curved Monitor - $2,499.99, down from $3,499.99 Storage 980 PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD 500GB - $49.99, down from $59.99 980 PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD 1TB - $89.99, down from $119.99 870 EVO SATA 2.5 SSD 1TB - $89.99, down from $119.99 870 QVO SATA III 2.5 SSD 2TB - $179.99, down from $199.99 Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup . Related Roundup: Apple Deals This article, Deals: Samsung's New Winter Sale Has Major Discounts on TVs, Monitors, and More first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

iOS 16.2 for iPhone Expected to Launch Next Week With These 12 New Features

iOS 16.2 is expected to be released next week following nearly two months of beta testing. With last-minute additions like Apple Music Sing and Advanced Data Protection, the software update now has over a dozen new features for the iPhone. Below, we've recapped many of the new features coming with iOS 16.2, including Apple's new whiteboard app Freeform, two new Lock Screen widgets, the ability to hide the wallpaper and notifications on the iPhone 14 Pro's always-on display, a new AirDrop setting, SharePlay support for Game Center, Live Activities enhancements, and more. Apple Music Sing Apple Music Sing is a new karaoke-like feature on the lyrics screen in the Apple Music app that lets you sing along to tens of millions of songs. The feature allows users to lower the volume of the vocals in a song and then take over as the singer. Apple Music Sing is compatible with devices equipped with an A13 chip or newer , including the iPhone 11 and newer, select iPads, and the latest Apple TV 4K. Advanced Data Protection iOS 16.2 introduces an optional Advanced Data Protection feature that, when enabled, expands end-to-end encryption to many additional iCloud data categories, including Messages backups, photos, notes, reminders, voice memos, and more. Advanced Data Protection is currently limited to U.S. users and will start rolling out to the rest of the world in early 2023, according to Apple. Freeform App iOS 16.2 includes Apple's new digital whiteboard app Freeform on the iPhone. The app provides an infinite canvas for you to draw on and insert sticky notes, text boxes, shapes, photos, videos, links, PDFs, and more. The app is also available on the iPad and the Mac, and you can collaborate with others in real time via FaceTime and iMessage. Freeform is more useful on the iPad given the device supports the Apple Pencil, but you can still use a capacitive stylus on the iPhone. Two New Lock Screen Widgets There are two new Lock Screen widgets for Sleep and Medications on iOS 16.2. With the Sleep widget, you can view your most recent sleep session and sleep stages, while the Medications widget can let you quickly access your medication schedule. New Always-On Display Options Starting with iOS 16.2, you can hide the wallpaper and notifications in always-on display mode on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. This results in the Lock Screen having a solid black, minimal appearance in always-on mode, similar to Android. The new Show Wallpaper and Show Notifications toggles are located in the Settings app under Display & Brightness Always On Display. Live Activities for Sports Scores via Apple TV App iOS 16.2 adds Live Activities support for sports scores via the Apple TV app. The feature allows iPhone users to view live scores of MLB, NBA, and Premier League games at a glance on the Lock Screen, and in the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models. During a Premier League match, for example, the Dynamic Island shows a live-updating scoreboard with the number of goals scored by each club. When long pressed, the Dynamic Island expands to show the time elapsed and play-by-play action. When an iPhone 14 Pro is locked, and on all other iPhone models, the score is shown in a Lock Screen banner. To use the feature with an iPhone running iOS 16.2, open the TV app and tap on the Follow button for a supported game. Apple says the feature is available for NBA and Premier League games for users in the U.S. and Canada, and for MLB games for users in the U.S., Canada, Australia, U.K., Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea. New AirDrop Setting iOS 16.2 replaces AirDrop's previous Everyone setting with a limited Everyone for 10 Minutes option to cut down on unwanted requests from strangers. AirDrop now automatically reverts to Contacts Only after 10 minutes. New Home App Architecture After updating to iOS 16.2 and opening the Home app, an update to the app is available with new underlying architecture . Apple says the new architecture improves the app's performance, efficiency, and reliability for controlling smart home accessories. This comes after the Home app gained support for Matter accessories in iOS 16.1. Other New Features SharePlay support in Game Center lets you play multiplayer games with the people you are on a FaceTime call with. iOS 16.2 enables support for 5G networks in India on the iPhone 12 and newer, starting with carriers Airtel and Reliance Jio. The built-in Weather app now features an Apple News section. Improved search in the Messages app allows you to find photos based on their content, like a dog, car, person, or text. There are a few other changes and optimizations in iOS 16.2, as outlined in the full release notes . Related Roundups: iOS 16 , iPadOS 16 Related Forum: iOS 16 This article, iOS 16.2 for iPhone Expected to Launch Next Week With These 12 New Features first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

The MSI MEG Ai1300P PCIE5 1300W PSU Review: The ATX 3.0 Era Has Begun

Just under a year since the specification was first announced, the ATX 3.0 era for power supplies is now underway. The updated version of the Intel-maintained specification introduced several notable changes to PC power supply designs, most notably the introduction of the 600 Watt-capable 12VHPWR connector and associated cabling. Altogether, ATX 3.0 is designed to lay the groundwork for future video cards (and other high-powered accelerators) by providing for a single-cable power connection that can better accommodate the high total and rapid shifts in power consumption a video card can undergo. The biggest change since the addition of the 12V 6-pin PCIe power connector in the late 00s, the ATX 3.0 era has come with some new opportunities, both for computing products and for computing problems. The use of adapters has, in short, not gone well for front-runner NVIDIA, with a small but serious number of incidents of 12VHPWR adapters melting down. Meanwhile on the power supply side of matters, this has been a not-unwelcome boon; not only are native ATX 3.0 power supplies the preferred way to go from a design standpoint, but the adapter problems have helped to underscore this advantage. So for the power supply vendors who are among the first to get their ATX 3.0 designs out the door, theres no shortage of demand for their latest and greatest wares, as well as a fresh opportunity to innovate and set themselves apart from the competition. In todays review, we are taking a look at our first ATX 3.0 power supply and indeed, among the worlds first: the MSI MEG Ai1300P PCIE5. A beefy, 1300W PSU that is designed to be fully compliant with the ATX 3.0 specification, the Ai1300P is a look at whats to come for the future of high-end PC PSUs, as the market slowly-but-inevitably incorporates ATX 3.0 compliance in order to feed ever more power-hungry video cards and other PCIe devices.

Deals: Amazon Introduces New Low Price on 128GB Apple TV 4K, Available for $139.99

Amazon today introduced a new all-time low price on the 2022 Apple TV 4K (128GB Wi-Fi + Ethernet), available for $139.99 , down from $149.00. The Apple TV 4K is in stock and has an estimated delivery date of December 12 - 14 for most residences in the United States. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. This is the lowest price we've ever tracked for this version of the Apple TV 4K, beating the previous low by about $5. The 64GB model is also on sale at a slight discount of $123.49 , down from $129.00. $9 OFF Apple TV 4K (128GB) for $139.99 If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week. Related Roundup: Apple Deals This article, Deals: Amazon Introduces New Low Price on 128GB Apple TV 4K, Available for $139.99 first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

The best Apple Studio Display deals

Apples Studio Display was released along with the Mac Studio in March 2022. While its seen as a display for that Mac, the Studio Display can work with any Mac. Its a lot more affordable than Apples Pro Display XDR , and its really the only 27-inch 5K display on the market. If youre in the market for a Studio Display, we can help you find a good deal. Our price trackers below show several retailers who are selling the Studio Display and the prices. Use these trackers to get the best deal. We also have the information you need to know about the Studio Display, in case youre still trying to decide if its the monitor for you. Heres everything you need to know about buying the new Studio Display. How much does the Apple Studio Display cost? The regular price for the Studio Display depends on two things: the type of glass and the type of stand. Here are the prices of each Studio Display configuration. Product Front glass Stand type Price Apple Studio Display standard tilt-only adjustable $1,599/1,499 Apple Studio Display standard VESA wall mount adapter $1,599/1,499 Apple Studio Display standard tilt and height-adjustable $1,999/1,899 Apple Studio Display nano-texture tilt-only adjustable $1,899/1,749 Apple Studio Display nano-texture VESA wall mount adapter $1,899/1,749 Apple Studio Display nano-texture tilt and height-adjustable $2,299/2,149 In the box, youll get a 1-meter Thunderbolt cable, and the nano-texture displays include Apples Polishing Cloth . The power cable is attached to the monitor. The Studio Display is designed to work with the new Mac Studio, but it can work with other Macs. Best deals on the Apple Studio Display Its rare to find deals on Apple displays, so if youre shopping specifically for an Apple display and a deal pops up, its time to take advantage. Amazon U.S. is currently offering a few deals on the Apple Studio Display. You can save $100 to $200 dollars, which is significant when you consider that these displays almost never go on sale. Here are links to the deals: U.S.: Amazon, Apple Pro Display XDR (Standard Glass) : $4,799 ($200 off, MSRP $4,999) Amazon, Apple Studio Display (Standard Glass, Tilt-Adjustable Stand) : $1,499 ($100 off, MSRP $1,599) Amazon, Apple Studio Display (Nano-Texture Glass, Tilt-Adjustable Stand) : $1,749 ($150 off, MSRP $1,899) In the U.K. KRCS, Apple Studio Display 27-inch 5K Standard Glass : 1,424.05 (74.95 off but currently out of stock) Retailer Price Adorama $1259.00 View Deal $1599 View Deal Apple US $1599 View Deal $1599.99 View Deal $1614.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices What else will I need to buy? Potentially, nothing. The Studio Display has three USB-C ports in the back and one Thunderbolt, so it can easily be connected to your existing accessories. While you will find Apples A13 Bionic chip under the hood of the Studio Display, this is mainly used for the audio and video features. Theres also no RAM, storage or operating system built-in, even if its designed to work with macOS. You can technically use the display with any PC or laptop. What are the glass options? The front of the Studio Display is covered in glass, and Apple offers two kinds: Standard and Nano-texture . The Nano-texture glass is a lot less reflective than the Standard glass. If youre sensitive to glare, or you do production work where lighting is critical, opt for the Nano-texturebut this option adds to the price of the display. What are the stand options? Apple offers three types of stands for the Studio Display: Tilt-adjustable stand : Allows for only the adjustment of the displays tilt. This comes standard with the Studio Display. Tilt- and height-adjustable stand : Can adjust the tilt and height. This stand costs extra. VESA mount adapter : Used to attach to a VESA-compatible arm, wall mount, or stand. Comes at no additional cost. Apple Studio Display Read our review MSRP: $1,599 (standard), 1,899 (nano-texture glass) Best Prices Today: $1259.00 at Adorama | $1599 at Apple | $1599 at Apple US Deals for the best monitors and displays for Mac These displays and monitors are featured in our test of the best monitors for Mac . If you see a deal on one of these we recommend that you buy it. You may also like to browse Amazons dedicated pages for display discounts. See: See all available monitor deals at Amazons U.S. Monitors store. See all available monitor deals at Amazons U.K. Monitors store . Acer K242HYL, MSRP $149.99 Retailer Price Adorama $109.99 View Deal Acer $149.99 View Deal $165.00 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Acer Nitro XV272, MSRP $399/399 Retailer Price $299.99 View Deal Acer $399.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Alienware AW3423DW, MSRP $1,299/1,099 Retailer Price $1299.99 View Deal Dell Home $1299.99 View Deal $1299.99 View Deal $1,391.21 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Alogic Clarity 27in UHD 4K Monitor, MSRP $799 / 700 Retailer Price Alogic $799.99 View Deal $855.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Asus ProArt PA279CV, MSRP $499 / 499 Retailer Price $449.99 View Deal $499 View Deal Microcenter $499 View Deal $499 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Dell U3223QE, MSRP $1,149.99 / 1,183.50 Retailer Price Adorama $839.00 View Deal Dell Home $859.99 View Deal $859.99 View Deal $883.50 View Deal $1008.24 View Deal $1149.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Gigabyte M27Q X, MSRP: $499.99 / 468.95 Retailer Price $359.99 View Deal $377.99 View Deal B&H $499.99 View Deal Gigabyte $499.99 View Deal $521.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Mac, Monitors

Everything You Need to Know About Apple's New iCloud Encryption Feature

As you may have heard, Apple this week announced it's expanding end-to-end encryption to additional types of data stored in iCloud with a feature called Advanced Data Protection, including device backups, photos, messages, and more. With the new change, even more types of data stored in iCloud will be fully end-to-end encrypted, a higher level of encryption standard. To help MacRumors readers better understand what the new feature is, how it works, and more, we've created this short post answering some of the most-asked questions about Advanced Data Protection. What does it do and why is it new? Before Advanced Data Protection, Apple only encrypted certain types of user data in iCloud, such as passwords and health data. By encrypting data, only a trusted user device can access that information. Other information stored in iCloud, however, such as your photos, messages, and device backups, were not fully end-to-end encrypted meaning if Apple wanted to, it could access your information. With Advanced Data Protection, that all changes. With Advanced Data Protection enabled for a specific iCloud account, the vast majority of data stored in the cloud will be end-to-end encrypted, meaning no one, not Apple, law enforcement, or governments can ever gain access to that information. Only a trusted device can decrypt that information. What data will be fully end-to-end encrypted? With Advanced Data Protection, users will have the following types of data end-to-end encrypted in iCloud alongside Health data and passwords. Device Backup Messages Backup iCloud Drive Photos Reminders Safari Bookmarks Siri Shortcuts Voice Memos Wallet Passes It's worth noting that iCloud Mail, Contacts, and Calendar will not be end-to-end encrypted as they all require the ability to connect to external sources, such as Gmail, Yahoo, etc. Is it enabled by default, and if not, how do I enable it? Advanced Data Protection will not be enabled by default for users. In a recent interview , Apple's senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi explained that Advanced Data Protection requires extra effort from the user to enable a recovery method. The extra process and responsibility that lies on the shoulders of users in case they forget their password or lose access to their account make it impractical to force every user to go through that process, Federighi explained. Nonetheless, even if not enabled by default, it's still easy to enable. When the feature rolls out to all US users by the end of this month, depending on when you activated your device, you'll be able to go into Settings, iCloud, and Advanced Data Protection, enable it and follow the on-screen prompts. Can I use it now? Not yet. Advanced Data Protection will roll out to all US users by the end of this month, and Apple says it will launch globally in early 2023. Specific dates for a global rollout are unknown. Is it free? Yes, it's free. Advanced Data Protection is an additional layer of protection offered to anyone with an iCloud account, at no extra charge. What has the reaction been? As expected, the reaction from users has been positive. With Advanced Data Protection, user data will stay more secure and private. Privacy groups have also praised the decision by Apple, calling it a victory for user privacy. On the flip side, governments don't seem especially thrilled about the new option given to users. This article, Everything You Need to Know About Apple's New iCloud Encryption Feature first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

My 1TB iPhone 14 Pro isnt overkill its the right version to buy

While some people may think that 128GB of storage is enough on an iPhone, that's not the case for everyone. Here's why you should go with 1TB instead.

Best Apple deals this month: Mac, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch, and more

The holiday shopping season is in full swing and you can save big on Apple gear. Whether youre looking to gift an Apple product or just pick one up for yourself, weve scoured the web for the best prices on everything from Macs to MacBooks, iPads to iPhones, Apple Watches to Apple TVs, and more. If you are wondering if Apple has sales, prepare to be disappointed. Apple rarely discounts its own productseven during its annual Black Friday shopping event , it traditionally elects to give out gift vouchers rather than reducing prices. It also offers year-round discounts to students , including a Back To School event where students can get up to $150 in gift cards. Theres also the Apple Refurbished Store where you can sometimes grab a bargain. But if you want a new Apple device right now, other stores often offer up Apple discounts worth grabbing. In this article, youll find real-time pricing at all major retailers for Apples current lineup, and weve also highlighted some of the top discounts each week. Plus, for even more deals, weve linked to our dedicated deals round-ups for each product category. Happy shopping! Foundry Best AirPods deals U.S. Amazon, AirPods Max: $450 ($99 off) Amazon, AirPods Pro (2nd gen) : $229 ($20 off) Amazon, AirPods (2nd gen) : $114.99 ($44 off) U.K. Costco, AirPods (3rd gen, MagSafe case): 174.99 (14.01 off) Costco, AirPods Pro (2nd gen): 234.99 (15 off) John Lewis, AirPods Pro (2nd gen): 229 (20 off, plus 2-year guarantee) Costco, AirPods Max: 489.99 (59.01 off) (See our dedicated round-up of the best AirPods deals ) Best prices on AirPods (3rd gen, 2021) today Retailer Price Adorama $99.00 View Deal $179.00 View Deal $179.00 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Best prices on AirPods Pro (2nd gen, 2022) today Retailer Price $229.00 View Deal Adorama $249.00 View Deal $249.00 View Deal $249.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry Best iPhone and accessory deals Specific iPhone deals are hard to come by apart from carrier offers for new signups and trade-ins, which were tracking in a separate article . We recommend checking Verizon , AT&T , and T-Mobiles sites if youre looking to change carriers or add a new line. Apple also offers trade-ins and carrier deals through its website. In the U.K., it is possible to find discounts on iPhone handsets, which you can buy unlocked. Laptops Direct, iPhone 14 Plus: 929 (20 offignore the surreal 193 saving claimed on the site) Amazon, iPhone 13 mini: 639 (10 off) Amazon, iPhone 13 mini (256GB): 729 (30 off) Amazon, iPhone 13 mini, 512GB, 806.91 (172.09 off) Amazon, iPhone 13 (128GB): 729 (20 off) Laptops Direct: iPhone 13 (128GB): 729 (20 off) Amazon, iPhone 13 (256GB): 829 (30 off) Argos, iPhone 12 mini: 528 (51 offbut bear in mind that its two years old) John Lewis, get a free Apple 20W USB-C Power Adapter when you buy selected iPhones (See our dedicated round-up of the best iPhone deals ) Best iPhone 14 prices today Retailer Price $799 View Deal $799.99 View Deal Visible $829 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Best iPhone 14 Plus prices today Retailer Price $899 View Deal $899.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Best iPhone 14 Pro prices today Retailer Price $999 View Deal Visible $999 View Deal $999.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Best iPhone 14 Pro Max prices today Retailer Price $1099 View Deal $1099.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Best iPhone 13 prices today Retailer Price $699.99 View Deal $829 View Deal $1040.99 View Deal $1,129.00 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Best iPhone SE prices today Retailer Price $329 View Deal $429.00 View Deal $429.00 View Deal $429.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Dominik Tomaszewski/IDG Best iPad deals U.S. Amazon has $50 off the iPad Pro 2022. Get it for $749 (MSRP $799). Amazon has $60 off the 11-inch iPad Pro, usually $1,099, get it for $1,039. Best Buy has the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad mini model for $399.99 (RRP $499). $100 off. Walmart has the $649 256GB WiFi Pad mini model for $617. $32 off. 64GB iPad Air (Wi-Fi Only): $499 ($100 off at Amazon) 256GB iPad Air (Wi-Fi O n ly): $649 ($100 off at Amazon) Amazon has the 2022 64GB Wi-Fi 10.9-inch iPad for $399, which is $50 off. Amazon has the 2022 256GB Wi-Fi 10.9-inch iPad for $549, which is $50 off. U.K. KRCS is discounting the iPad Pro models. They have the 899 entry-level 11in iPad Pro for 881.02. The savings are even bigger as you move up the range. AO.com has the 256GB 11-inch iPad Pro for 975, thats 44 off the usual 1,019 price. AO.com and John Lewis have the 512GB 11-inch iPad Pro for 1,195, thats 54 off the usual 1,249 price. Amazon has the 11-inch iPad Pro for 2,058.51. 90.50 off the usual price. There are savings on the cellular version too: Amazon has the 512GB cellular 11-inch iPad Pro for 1,249, usually 1,429 (180 off). Currys has the cellular 11-inch iPad Pro with 2TB for 2,149, which is 180 off the usual 2,329. Amazon has the 1,369 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 256GB SSD for 1,311.36 (8 off). Amazon also has the 2,499 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 2TB SSD for 2,393.77 (105 off). Amazon has the cellular 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 128GB SSD for 1,368.82, usually 1,429 (60 off). Currys has the iPad mini (64GB) for 459. Thats 20 off the old RRP of 479, or 110 off the new price. Currys also has the 256GB iPad mini for 579. Now 749 at Apple, was 619 at Apple. Amazon has the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad Air for 569 (now 669 at Apple, was previously 569 at Apple). Amazon and Currys have the 256GB iPad Air model for 719 (now 849 at Apple, was 719 at Apple. AO.com has 30 off the price of the 10.9in iPad! Get it for 469. AO.com also has 14 off the 10.9in iPad with 256GB SSD! Get it for 665. (See our dedicated round-up of the best iPad deals ) Best 2022 iPad (10th-gen) prices today Also, check out our dedicated article rounding up the best iPad 10.9-inch deals . Retailer Price $399.00 View Deal $449 View Deal $449 View Deal Adorama $449.00 View Deal $449.00 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best 2021 iPad (9th-gen) prices today Also, check out our dedicated article rounding up the best iPad 10.2-inch deals . Retailer Price Adorama $324.00 View Deal $329.00 View Deal $329.99 View Deal $344.95 View Deal $354.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best iPad Air prices today See our article rounding up the best iPad Air deals . Retailer Price $499.99 View Deal $589.95 View Deal $599 View Deal Adorama $599.00 View Deal $599.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best 2022 11-inch iPad Pro prices today We also have a dedicated roundup of the best deals on a 11in iPad Pro . Retailer Price $649.99 View Deal $749.00 View Deal Adorama $799.00 View Deal $1199 View Deal $1364.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best 2022 12.9-inch iPad Pro prices today We also have a dedicated roundup of the best deals on a 12in iPad Pro . Retailer Price $1,069.99 View Deal Adorama $1099.00 View Deal $1099.00 View Deal $1099 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Best iPad mini prices today Weve got a separate article rounding up the best iPad mini deals . Retailer Price Adorama $84.00 View Deal $469.00 View Deal $499.99 View Deal $649 View Deal $689.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Jason Cross/IDG Best Apple Watch deals U.S. Amazon, Apple Watch Ultra : $749 ($50 off) Amazon, Apple Watch Series 8, 41mm (GPS) : $379 ($20 off) Amazon, Apple Watch Series 8, 45mm (GPS) : $409($20 off) Amazon, Apple Watch Series 8, 41mm (Cellular) : $479 ($20 off) Amazon, Apple Watch Series 8, 45mm (Cellular) : $509 ($20 off) Amazon, Apple Watch SE (2nd gen, 40mm) : $229 ($20 off) Amazon, Apple Watch SE (2nd gen, 44mm) : $259 ($20 off) Walmart, Apple Watch SE (1st gen, 40mm) : $199 ($80 off) Walmart, Apple Watch SE (1st gen, 44mm) : $229 ($80 off) U.K. Amazon, Apple Watch Ultra : 819 (30 off) AO: Apple Watch Ultra: 823 (26 off) John Lewis, Apple Watch Ultra : 829 (20 off, plus two-year warranty) Amazon, Apple Watch Series 8: 399 (20 off) John Lewis, Apple Watch Series 8: 399 (20 off, plus two-year warranty) John Lewis, 2nd-gen (2022) Apple Watch SE: 249 (10 off, plus two-year warranty) Amazon, 2nd-gen (2022) Apple Watch SE: 249 (10 off) John Lewis, 2021 Apple Watch SE (44mm): 254 (15 off, plus two-year warranty) Amazon, Apple Watch Series 7: 299 (70 off) Currys, Apple Watch Series 7: 309 (60 off) Amazon, Apple Watch Series 7 (cellular): 389 (80 off) (See our dedicated round-up of the best Apple Watch deals ) Best Apple Watch Series 8 prices today Retailer Price $379.00 View Deal $379.99 View Deal $399 View Deal Adorama $399.00 View Deal $399.00 View Deal $486.86 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best Apple Watch Ultra prices today Retailer Price $449 View Deal $749.00 View Deal Adorama $799.00 View Deal $799.00 View Deal $799 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best Apple Watch SE 2022 prices today Retailer Price $229.00 View Deal $249 View Deal $249.00 View Deal $299.99 View Deal Adorama Not Available View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices IDG Best MacBook deals U.S. Amazon: M1 MacBook Air 256GB : $800 ($199 off) Amazon: M2 MacBook Air 256GB : $1,149 ($50 off) Amazon: M2 MacBook Air 512GB : $1,350 ($149 off) Amazon: 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro (256GB SSD) : $1,249 ($50 off) Amazon: 14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro (10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) : $1,999.99 ($499 off) Amazon: 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro (10core CPU, 16core GPU, 16GB RAM, 512TB SSD) : $2,199 ($300 off) Amazon: 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro (10core CPU, 16core GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) : $2,199 ($300 off) Amazon: 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro (10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) : $3,307.70 ($192 off) U.K. Amazon, M2 MacBook Air 256GB : 1,109 (140 off) Amazon, M2 MacBook Air 512GB : 1,379 (170 off) Amazon: M1 MacBook Air 256GB : 877.99 (121 off) eBuyer, M2 13-inch MacBook Pro 256GB : 1,192.98 (156 off) Amazon, M2 13-inch MacBook Pro 512GB : 1,389.84 (160 off) Laptops Direct, M1 Pro 14in MacBook Pro, 14-core GPU : 1,719.97 (179 off) AO.com, M1 Pro 14in MacBook Pro, 16-core GPU : 2,103 (296 off) Amazon, M1 Pro 16in MacBook Pro, 16-core GPU : 2,129 (270 off) AO.com, M1 Pro 16in MacBook Pro, 16-core GPU, 1TB: 2,345 (254 off) Laptops Direct, M1 Max 16in MacBook Pro, 32-core GPU : 2,969.97 (329 off) (See our dedicated round-up of the best MacBook deals ) Best 13-inch MacBook Pro prices today For more MacBook Pro deals check out our round-up of the best MacBook Pro deals . Retailer Price $1149.00 View Deal Adorama $1179.00 View Deal $1299 View Deal $1299 View Deal Not Available View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best 14-inch MacBook Pro prices today Retailer Price $1854.95 View Deal $1,934.93 View Deal B&H Photo and Video $1999 View Deal Adorama $2199.00 View Deal $2499 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best 16-inch MacBook Pro prices today Retailer Price Adorama $1749.00 View Deal $2,099.00 View Deal $2448 View Deal $2499 View Deal $2499.00 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best MacBook Air prices today For more MacBook Air deals check out our round-up of the best MacBook Air deals . Best M2 MacBook Air prices today Retailer Price $1149.99 View Deal $1199 View Deal Adorama $1199.00 View Deal $1199.00 View Deal Not Available View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best M1 MacBook Air prices today Retailer Price Adorama $749.00 View Deal $799.99 View Deal Costco $949.99 View Deal $999 View Deal $999.99 View Deal $999.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best Mac desktop deals U.S. B&H: M1 Mac mini (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) : $679 ($20 off) Amazon: M1 Mac mini (8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) : $849 ($50 off) Amazon: 24-inch M1 iMac (8core CPU, 7core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) : $1,149 ($150 off) Amazon: 24-inch M1 iMac (8core CPU, 8core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) : $1,349($150 off) Expercom: Mac Studio M1 Max (10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD) : $1,899 ($100 off) U.K. AO.com, M1 Mac mini, 256GB : 619 (80 off) Ao.com, M1 Mac mini, 512GB : 814 (85 off) Currys, 24-inch M1 iMac, 7-core GPU : 1,124 (125 off). AO.com has the same deal. Amazon, 24-inch M1 iMac, 8-core GPU : 1,275 (174 off). KCRS, Mac Studio M1 Max (10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD) : 1,899.05 (100 off) Best prices on Mac Studio today For more Mac Studio deals on all models check out our round-up of the best Mac Studio deals . Retailer Price Adorama $1799.00 View Deal $1999 View Deal $1999.99 View Deal $2531.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Best prices on Mac mini today For more Mac mini deals on both models check out our round-up of the best Mac mini deals . Retailer Price $649.99 View Deal $698.94 View Deal $699.99 View Deal $1099.00 View Deal Adorama Not Available View Deal -corePrice comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best prices on 24-inch iMac today See our dedicated round-up of the best iMac deals . Retailer Price $1299 View Deal $1299.99 View Deal $1,349.99 View Deal Costco $1449.99 View Deal Adorama Not Available View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Jason Cross/IDG Best Apple TV deals U.S. Amazon, 2021 Apple TV 4K (32GB) : $100 ($79 off) Amazon, 2021 Apple TV 4K (64GB) : $110 ($79 off) Amazon, 2022 Apple TV 4K (64GB) : $123.49 ($6.51 off) Amazon, 2022 Apple TV 4K (128GB) : $144.49 ($6.51 off) See our dedicated round-up of the best Apple TV deals Best Apple TV 4K prices today Retailer Price $123.49 View Deal Adorama $129.00 View Deal $129 View Deal $129.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Apple

The best AirPods deals this month

Apples AirPods wireless headphones offer an iconic look, exceptional convenience and strong audio quality. They come with a premium price tag, however, so its important to shop around for a good deal or find a bunch of tech experts wholl do this for you. Thats where we come in. In this article we round up the best AirPods discounts and bundle deals to help you save money. Weve got the best prices on the 3rd-gen AirPods that were released in October 2021, and for the new 2nd-gen AirPods Pro that launched in September 2022. You may also find deals on early-2019 second-generation AirPods and AirPods Max. Here are quick links to the best deals; youll find more detailed advice and price comparisons for each model further down. Best AirPods deals Apple sells two sets of basic AirPods: the new 3rd-gen model introduced in 2021 (MSRP $179 in the US, and RRP 189 in the UK), and the 2nd-gen model from 2019 ($129/139). The deals arent huge at the start of the month, but we expect to see some nice bargains on at least some AirPods models as Black Friday approaches near the end of November. U.S. Amazon, AirPods Max: $450 ($99 off) Amazon, AirPods Pro (2nd gen) : $229 ($20 off) Amazon, AirPods (2nd gen) : $114.99 ($44 off) U.K Costco, AirPods (3rd gen, MagSafe case): 174.99 (14.01 off) Costco, AirPods Pro (2nd gen): 234.99 (15 off) John Lewis, AirPods Pro (2nd gen): 229 (20 off, plus 2-year guarantee) Costco, AirPods Max: 489.99 (59.01 off) AirPods (3rd gen, 2021; MSRP $179/189) Apple finally updated the ultra-popular AirPods in October 2021, after a wait of more than two and a half years. The new models feature a more Pro-like design and a MagSafe-compatible charging case; they also have improved battery life and water resistance, and support for Spatial Audio. Get all the info you need in our AirPods 3 review . You can buy direct from Apple , but youll find the best prices elsewhere in the automated table below. For specific advice, read our guide on where to buy the AirPods 3 . Retailer Price Adorama $99.00 View Deal $179.00 View Deal $179.00 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide AirPods (2nd gen, 2019; MSRP $129/139) Note that this version of the AirPods comes with an old-fashioned charging case which needs to be plugged in, as opposed to the wireless charging case bundled with the 2021 AirPods and AirPods Pro. (You can buy a wireless charging case separately, however.) Check the automated table below for any deals that have popped up since we last updated this article. Retailer Price Adorama $24.00 View Deal $119.99 View Deal $129 View Deal $135.51 View Deal $147.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best AirPods Pro deals The AirPods Pro came out in 2019, but a new version was released in September 2022. There are some great deals to be had on the older models. The comparison tables below gather the lowest prices on the AirPods Pro 1st and 2nd gen, so you can be sure not to miss out on any appealing deals. AirPods Pro (2nd-gen, 2022; MSRP $249/249) Apple launched the second-generation AirPods Pro alongside the iPhone 14 at its Far Out event. You can already find a pretty good discount on these, our favorite AirPods. Retailer Price $229.00 View Deal Adorama $249.00 View Deal $249.00 View Deal $249 View Deal $249.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices AirPods Pro (1st-gen, 2019; was $249/239) Retailer Price Adorama $119.00 View Deal $174.99 View Deal $209.00 View Deal $219.99 View Deal $222 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best AirPods Max deals Right now, the AirPods Max are available to buy directly from Apple for $549/549. Find the latest prices in our automated table embedded below. For some time now, weve been seeing third-party retailers undercut Apple by a significant margin. AirPods Max (MSRP $549/549) Retailer Price $439.99 View Deal Adorama $469.00 View Deal $479.99 View Deal $549 View Deal Not Available View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices For an in-depth look at your options here, read Where to buy AirPods Max . How to get a good deal on AirPods Good AirPods deals are rare and tend not to last long. If you see one (and youre sure the supplier is legit: look it up on TrustPilot if youve not bought from there before), grab it. The recommend price of the AirPods Max is $549 / 549 / AU$899. For the AirPods Pro its $249 / 239 / AU$399. For the early-2019 AirPods its $129 / 119 / AU$219. You should never pay more than these prices: weve seen unscrupulous retailers claim the MSRP/RRP is higher and work out savings based on that. The 2016 AirPods were removed from sale as soon as the early-2019 models came out, so never officially got a price cut from their launch price of $159/159. But if you do plump for these much older models, you shouldnt be paying even $100. If you cant find a seriously good deal, go for newer ones instead. Remember to take delivery and postage fees into account when evaluating deals; we include it in our list of prices but most retailers wont add it until youre at the checkout. And watch out for deals that seem too good to be true, but turn out to have no stock. We see this a lot. Bundle deals The best way to get a good price on AirPods may be to bundle them with a phone, although this is mainly an option in the UK. Three offers a variety of bundles that includes the AirPods. Visit the companys accessories page to browse the best options for you. EE lets you add AirPods to your plan for 10 a month spread over 11 months plus a 10 upfront fee (if youll settle for the 2019 models), or 15 a month + 10 for the 2021 models. The AirPods Pro, including the new MagSafe case for 2021, are 22 a month but with no upfront fee. In each case youll need to click Apple, then your choice of AirPods model. Vodafone and O2 arent currently bundling the AirPods with their iPhone plans, although O2 sells the 2021 AirPods , the early-2019 AirPods and the AirPods Pro on their own. Whichever bundle you go for, remember to check if youre getting the AirPods Pro, the early-2019 AirPods (sometimes called the second-gen or AirPods 2) or the new 2021 AirPods (third-gen or AirPods 3). If youre getting the AirPods Pro, find out if they include the new MagSafe charging case. AirPods buying advice Wondering if a pair of AirPods is right for you? Lets discuss the pros and cons. First of all, there are five models, of which three are still on sale: The original 1st-gen AirPods (2016), long discontinued; The 2nd-gen AirPods (2019), which are similar but add Hey Siri; The 1st-gen AirPods Pro (2019), which add improved audio quality and active noise cancellation, plus a new design, and are now discontinued; The 3rd-gen AirPods (2021), which add MagSafe support, improved battery life and some elements of the Pro design; And the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro (2022), which feature further improved sound quality and noise cancellation. (Plus theres the AirPods Max from 2020, which are over-ear headphones and essentially a completely different product to the rest of the AirPods range. For this reason we will discuss the Max model separately.) All four non-Max models are wireless, sitting in your ears and in theory staying there through snugness of fit alone. The advantages of this are clearthey allow you to go running or work out without worrying about snagging the cablesbut they may fall out once you pick up the pace. Our experience, however, is that the AirPods are among the best earbuds around in this regard. The AirPods Pro offer a snugger fit than the others because they have a choice of flexible ear tips, and are actually able to tell you whether youve selected the right tip or not. Sound quality is decent but not exceptional on the original and early-2019 models; the AirPods Pro are a step above thanks in part to their better fit and implementation of active noise cancellation. (We havent tested the 2021 AirPods audio quality yet, but Apple as ever talks a good game.) What AirPods consistently do better than non-Apple headphones is co-ordinate with other Apple products, thanks to the W1 chip (in the 2016 model) and H1 chip (2019 and 2021) which makes pairing with an iPhone a breeze. Battery-wise, most non-Max AirPods will last around five hours, but thats not the end of the story: they come with a little charging case with its own larger battery, so you can pop them back in for a rapid top up. The case should offer another 24 hours (give or take) before itll require charging. The 2021 AirPods, however, offer more in this department, with claimed figures of six hours out of the case and 30 hours in total. Weve got some advice on getting better AirPods battery life . Apples 2019 AirPods can respond to Hey Siri commands, charge wirelessly if you opt for the Wireless Charging Case, and offer more talk time than the originals. Those features are kept in the 2021 models, with Spatial Audio and Adaptive EQ added to the mix. For more detailed advice and thoughts on the best alternatives to Apples three cheaper AirPods models, read our guides to the Best wireless headphones and, more specifically, the Best wireless earbuds . The AirPods Max are a lot more expensive and a totally different proposition. Audio quality is almost universally considered to be exceptional, but its debatable whether its exceptional enough to justify that premium price tag. And many reviewers have pointed out that the case is oddly designed, given that the one part of the headphones that it doesnt protectthe mesh headbandis the one thats most vulnerable to damage. The AirPods Max are an appealing prospect, but unlikely to be practical for most budgets. Apple, Home Audio

Moto G Play (2023) serves up a smooth screen and big battery for just $170

Motorola's latest phone, the Moto G Play (2023), will hit the stores next month. At $170, it offers perks like a 90Hz screen and a 5,000 mAh battery.

Moto X40 Launch Date Set for December 15: All You Need to Know

Moto X40 launch event has been confirmed to take place on December 15 which, by Motorola's official Weibo handle. Apart from confirming the date of the launch the post does not reveal any further specifications, or details around the upcoming flagship smartphone which is expected to succeed the Moto X30. The Moto X40 has however been tipped to arrive with Qualcomm's l...

Google Pixel Fold Design, Specs Leaked Ahead of Expected May 2023 Launch

New renders and design details for the long-rumored Google Pixel Fold have emerged online, including display sizes and overall dimensions, as well as an expected launch date in the spring. According to established leaker OnLeaks (via Howtoisolve ), previous rumors were correct to claim that the Google Pixel Fold will adopt a form factor similar to the Oppo Find N . Google's foldable is set to feature a 5.79-inch outer display with a center hole-punch camera cutout, with a 7.69-inch inner screen and a right-aligned selfie camera cutout embedded in a slightly thicker bezel. The Samsung-built OLED panels are said to feature an ultra-thin glass (UTG) cover, also supplied by Samsung. The display sizes are said to be housed in a rounded-edge chassis measuring approximately 158.7 x 139.7 x 5.7mm when unfolded, making it marginally wider than the Oppo Find N and approximately the same height, but with a slightly bulkier camera bump with an 8.3mm thickness. The camera bump on the back side of the screen, reminiscent of Google's latest Pixel phone, houses a triple-lens strip with flash and microphone, while the SIM tray is located at the bottom edge of the outer screen. The USB-C port sits directly opposite when folded. The volume buttons sit on the right edge alongside a fingerprint scanner-equipped power button. Previous rumors have suggested the Pixel Fold will be powered by Google's Tensor G2 chip processor and come with at least 12GB of RAM. The likelihood is that it will run Android 13. The starting price is expected to be $1,799, with black and silver color options available when the device launches in May 2023. Google's foldable has been a long time coming. Documents leaked in 2020 suggested Google planned to release a in-folding smartphone in late 2021, but that didn't happen. Google didn't even mention foldable devices at its recent I/O developer conference, leaving some Pixel fans wondering if the device had been canned. In 2019, when Google revealed it was developing technology that could be used in a foldable, it admitted in the same breath that it didn't see a clear use case yet. However, well-connected Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young has said the emergence of software innovations or a new chipset that Google wants to incorporate likely held back the device . Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold and Flip devices having made inroads into the nascent market, and Google is in catchup mode. Where that leaves Apple is unclear. The company's long-rumored foldable iPhone is unlikely to launch until 2025 or later, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo . Apple's first foldable device may even be a hybrid iPhone and iPad , or simply a foldable iPad. If or when its foldable comes, Apple's long game has allowed it to watch and learn. Early foldable devices had a long list of issues with screen quality and durability, which perhaps explains why Apple has yet to come out with a foldable device of its own. Tags: OnLeaks , Google Pixel This article, Google Pixel Fold Design, Specs Leaked Ahead of Expected May 2023 Launch first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Latest Amazon Fire 7 tablet is $45, with delivery by December 10

Want the latest Amazon Fire 7 tablet for $45? Grab it now from Best Buy and it'll be with you by December 10, in plenty of time for the holidays.

Pixel 7 Gets a Big Update With Free VPN and AI-Enhanced Call Audio

It's a big patch, but you can start downloading and installing it on your phone right now. The post Pixel 7 Gets a Big Update With Free VPN and AI-Enhanced Call Audio appeared first on ExtremeTech .

The best iMac, Mac mini, & Mac Studio deals

Weve searched the web for the best prices on the latest iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Studio models, and offer our top picks on what to buy right now. Plus, our price-comparison charts update in real-time, saving you the bother of hunting down the best prices at all major retailers. Before you start looking at deals, it makes sense to know what is the usual pricing for Macs so you dont get conned. For your reference, here are theregular prices for the Mac mini, iMac, and Mac Studio. How much do Macs cost? Model Price Specifications Mac mini $699/699 M1 with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Mac mini $899/899 M1 with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD Mac mini $1,099/1,099 3.0GHz Intel Core i5, UHD Graphics630, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD 24-inch iMac $1,299/1,249 M1 with 8-core CPU, 7-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD 24-inch iMac $1,499/1,249 M1 with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD 24-inch iMac $1,699/1,649 M1 with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD Mac Studio $1,999/1,999 M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD Mac Studio $3,999/3,999 M1 Ultra with 20-core CPU, 48-core GPU, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD Mac Deals From Apple Apple doesnt discount its Macs, but you might consider visiting Apples Refurbished and Clearance store . You can save some money off the regular price, and refurbished Macs are just as good as new with no cosmetic blemishes, a full one-year warranty, and free delivery and returns. If you are a veteran or a current member of the military, Apple has a special purchase program where you can get ten percent off all Apple products. Verification of your veteran or active military status is required using ID.me. The inventory of the Refurbished and Clearance Store ebbs and flows, so check back at a later date if you cant find what you want. Best Prices on Mac mini today U.S.: A few retailers have the Mac mini with a small markdown from the regular price. Heres whats on sale: Amazon: M1 Mac mini with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD : $879.93 ($19.07 off the regular price) B&H: M1 Mac mini (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) : $679 ($20 off) Amazon: M1 Mac mini (8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) : $849 ($50 off) U.K: AO.com, M1 Mac mini, 256GB : 619 (80 off) Ao.com, M1 Mac mini, 512GB : 814 (85 off) Note that some retailers routinely sell Intel-based Mac minis with big markdowns. While we recommend an M1-based Mac mini for the desktop, an Intel-based Mac mini makes a great media or file server on your network. Mac mini deals For more Mac mini deals on both models check out our round-up of the best Mac mini deals . Retailer Price $649.99 View Deal $698.94 View Deal $699.99 View Deal $1099.00 View Deal Adorama Not Available View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best Prices on 24-inch iMac today U.S.: Costco (membership not required): 8-Core CPU, 8-Core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD iMac for $1,449 , which is $50 off the regular price Amazon: iMac with an 8-core CPU, 7-core GPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD for $1,249.99 in blue , pink , or silver . Thats $49.01 off the regular price. Amazon: iMac with an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD for $1,449.99 in orange , pink , purple , or yellow . Thats $49.01 off the regular price. The green version is available for $1,477.94 , which is $21.06 lower. Amazon: iMac with an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD for $1,649.99 in green or pink . Thats $49.01 off the regular price. U.K. Currys, 24-inch M1 iMac, 7-core GPU : 1,124 (125 off). AO.com has the same deal. Amazon, 24-inch M1 iMac, 8-core GPU : 1,275 (174 off). iMac deals For more iMac deals on all models check out our round-up of the best iMac deals . Retailer Price $1299 View Deal $1299.99 View Deal $1,349.99 View Deal Costco $1449.99 View Deal Adorama Not Available View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide View more prices Best Prices on Mac Studio today US deals: Expercom: Mac Studio M1 Max (10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD) : $1,899 ($100 off) UK deals: KCRS, Mac Studio M1 Max (10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD) : 1,899.05 (100 off) For more Mac Studio deals on all models check out our round-up of the best Mac Studio deals . Mac Studio deals Retailer Price Adorama $1799.00 View Deal $1999 View Deal $1999.99 View Deal $2531.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Mac buying advice Many retailers carry Mac configurations that are different from the standard configurations. They may have more RAM, a higher-capacity SSD, ethernet, or some other optional feature. This will affect the price. When shopping, maybe sure you read the specifications carefully so you get the Mac with the specs that you want. Some retailers may sell older Intel-based Macs with deep discounts. Know that these Macs are older models and while they may be sold as new, theyre only new in the sense that they have never been used. If you have an Apple Card , use it with Apple Pay. You get 3 percent cash back on purchases made at the Apple Store, and 2 percent back on all other purchases made using Apple Pay. If you use the physical Apple Card, youll only get 1 percent back. More Apple deals Best Apple deals Best MacBook Pro deals Best MacBook Air deals Best iPhone deals Best iPad deals Best Apple Watch deals Best AirPods deals Best Apple TV deals iMac, Mac, Mac Mini

iOS 16.2 release days away with Apple Music Sing, Freeform app

With the full release of iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1 in the rearview mirror, Apple has moved on to testing the next release. With iOS and iPadOS 16.2, we can expect the new Freeform app along with continual improvements to Stage Manger on the iPad (like the return of external display support), along with other minor tweaks and fixes. Were still waiting on SharePlay gaming support and the Satellite Emergency SOS feature on the latest iPhones, too. Update 12/07/22: The release candidate of iOS 16.2 is now available to developers and public beta testers. If no major issues are found, this is the version that will be released to everyone next week. Whats new in iOS 16.2? Heres what we know is new in the latest iOS 16.2 beta. Well update this section as new features and changes are discovered. Apple Music Sing: A new Karaoke experience built into Apple Music. Read more about Apple Music Sing . iCloud Backup encryption: Several new privacy features are coming in iOS 16.2, including stronger iCloud encryption, security key support, and iMessage Contact Key Verification. 10-minute AirDrop limit: iOS 16.2 limits the everyone setting for AirDrop permissions to 10 minutes at a time. This change was first made in China and is now rolling out to the rest of the world. Older notifications visible by default: In iOS 16.2 beta 4, Apple changed the way Notification Center displays notifications. You used to have to swipe up to see older notifications, now they are shown by default. Always-on display options: For iPhone 14 Pro models there are two new toggles in Settings > Display & Brightness > Always On Display . One lets you disable the wallpaper when the always-on display is active, the other disables notifications. Sleep and medication widgets: The second beta added new lock screen widgets for sleep data and medications tracking from the Health app. Freeform app: The latest betas of iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS 13 add the new digital whiteboarding app Freeform, first unveiled at WWDC this fall. Freeform is a productivity app for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac that lets you collaborate with friends, family, and coworkers on a digital whiteboard sharing sketches, notes, files, web links, documents, photos, video, andaudio. New Home architecture: iOS 16.2 users have the opportunity to update their Home to a new architecture, which Apple promises is faster and more reliable. All Home hub devices like HomePod and Apple TV must be upgraded to 16.2 as well. More frequent Live Activities updates: While not yet active in the beta, 9to5Mac has seen code that suggests that Apple will give users the option to update Live Activities more frequently, at the cost of a bit of battery life. iOS 16.2 release notes Apples official release notes for iOS 16.2 are as follows: Freeform Freeform is a new app for working creatively with friends or colleagues on Mac, iPad and iPhone A flexible canvas lets you add files, images, stickies, and more Drawing tools let you sketch anywhere on the canvas with your finger Apple Music Sing A new way to sing along with millions of your favorite songs in Apple Music Fully adjustable vocals let you duet with the original artist, sing solo, or mix it up Newly enhanced beat-by-beat lyrics make it even easier to follow along with the music Advanced Data Protection for iCloud New option expands the total number of iCloud data categories protected using end-to-end encryption to 23 including iCloud Backup, Notes, and Photos protecting your information even in the case of a data breach in the cloud Lock Screen New settings allow you to hide wallpaper or notifications when Always-On display is enabled on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max Sleep widget lets you view your most recent sleep data Medications widget lets you view reminders and quickly access your schedule Game Center SharePlay support in Game Center for multiplayer games so you can play with the people you are on a FaceTime call with Activity Widget allows you to see what your friends are playing and achieving in games right from your Home Screen Apple TV Live Activities for Apple TV app let you follow your favorite teams with live scores right on your Lock Screen or in Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max Home Improved reliability and efficiency of communication between your smart home accessories and Apple devices This update also includes the following improvements and bug fixes: Improved search in Messages allows you to find photos based on their content, like a dog, car, person, or text Turn Off Hide IP Address setting enables iCloud Private Relay users to temporarily disable the service for a specific site in Safari News articles in Weather display information relevant to the weather in that location Participant Cursors in Notes allow you to see live indicators as others make updates in a shared note AirDrop now automatically reverts to Contacts Only after 10 minutes to prevent unwanted requests to receive content Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models Fixes an issue that causes some notes not to sync with iCloud after updates are made Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222 Whats new in iPadOS 16.2? Unless otherwise noted, iPadOS 16.2 will have the same new features as iOS 16.2 where applicable, in addition to the features listed below. Stage Manager external display support: Pulled before the initial iPadOS 16.1 release, external display support is back in iPadOS 16.2 for iPads that have the M1 or M2 chip. It allows iPad users to hook their tablet up to a secondary display with resolutions up to 6K using StageManager. When will iOS 16.2 be released? We expect iOS 16.2 will likely be released on December 13 or 14. How to install the iOS 16.2 Public beta This is the version of iOS 16.2 that most of us will be running ahead of launch, since the developer beta is, as the name suggests, for registered developers only. When the public beta of iOS 16 does come out, youll be able to install it using the following instructions. Click Sign Up on the Apple Beta page and register with your Apple ID. Log in to the Beta Software Program. Click Enroll your iOS device . (If you signed up for a previous versions beta last year you may need to uninstall the profile for that and then re-enroll for the new one.) Go to beta.apple.com/profile on your iOS device. Download and install the configuration profile. You may need to jump over to Settings to enable the profile. Go to General > VPN and Device Management and tap on the iOS 16 beta profile there. That will make the beta version available in theSettingsapp, under General > Software Update . How to install the iOS 16.2 Developer beta Each stage of iOS 16.2s development cycle will be rolled out to developers first, and then to public beta testers afterwards (typically within a day or so). If youre a developer and need to test your apps against the most up-to-date version of the OS possible, this is the version to run. First, check that your device is compatible. Have a quick read of which iPhones and iPads can get iOS 16? Youll need to be registered as an Apple developer. Joining the Apple Developer Program costs $99 a year. All set? Okay! Heres how to install the iOS 16.2 developer beta, in eight easy steps: In Safari on your iPhone or iPad, go to developer.apple.com and log in using your Apple ID. Go to the Downloads section (youll find it in the lefthand menu), scroll down to iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 beta and tap Install Profile , then Accept . Open the Settings app. You should see Profile Downloaded at the top of the main screentap this. If you cant see it, go to General > VPN and Device Management and tap on the iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 beta profile there. Tap Install in the top-right to install the iOS or iPadOS 16 beta profile. Read the developer consent form and (assuming youre happy with the terms) give your consent. Restart your iPhone. Now go toSettings> General > Software Update , where you should see the iOS or iPadOS 16 beta is available. Tap Download and Install . Wait for your iPhone to finish downloading the update, then tap Install when prompted. And if everything has worked the way it should, your iPhone will now be running the iOS 16 beta. Risks and precautions Note first of all that betas are test versions of upcoming software. They are by definition unfinished, and while they should include most or all of the features in the finished product, there will be cosmetic differences and, inevitably, some bugs and other issues that will need to be fixed during the development process. In other words, dont expect a perfect user experience. In particular, some existing apps (including ones that you may rely on) might not work perfectly with the new version. In extreme cases, you may even find that your device is bricked by the beta, and cannot be used until the next beta comes along. Its not uncommon for early beta software to exhibit problems like excessive battery drain as well. The closer we get to the final launch of iOS 16.2, the more polished and feature-complete we can expect the available betas to become. The counter to that, of course, is there will be less time left to wait for the official launch, so you wont be gaining as much by installing a beta. Assuming you decide to go ahead, we cant stress enough how important it is to back up your iPhone before you install a beta on your device, or better still, use a secondary device rather than your main iPhone or iPad. You wont lose everything if something goes wrong while the beta is installing, and youll be able to go back to the last version should you find that you dont like the new software after all, or that its too buggy. iOS

Get this Apple Watch for $199 with delivery by December 24

Grab the Apple Watch SE (1st Gen) for less at Walmart and bag yourself a fantastic holiday gift for yourself or a loved one

EU Sets Official Deadline For When iPhone Must Switch to USB-C

The European Union has set an official deadline for when all smartphones sold in its jurisdiction must have a USB-C port, including the iPhone . The EU officially approved the common charger law in October , but a specific date for when the law would come into force was unknown. Now, in a newly published directive , the EU says all smartphones must have USB-C by December 28, 2024. Other consumer products, such as tablets and gadgets, will also be required to switch to USB-C under the new law. Products that rely solely on wireless charging with no port will not have to include USB-C. Apple's vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak Joz, confirmed that Apple would have no choice but to adhere to the EU's new law. Joz didn't say when Apple would make the switch to USB-C and away from Lightning, but with the December 2024 deadline, Apple could wait until the iPhone 16 in September 2024 before transitioning to the newer port. Reports suggest that Apple is planning to make the switch to USB-C earlier than the fall of 2024 with the iPhone 15 in September 2023 . Other Apple products and accessories such as the AirPods and Mac keyboards, mouses, and trackpads are also expected to follow suit with USB-C shortly after . Tags: USB-C , European Union This article, EU Sets Official Deadline For When iPhone Must Switch to USB-C first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

iOS 16 superguide: Everything you need to know

After announcing its big yearly operating system update in its WWDC keynote on June 6, and following months of beta testing, Apple made iOS 16 available to be installed on iPhones on September 12, 2022, followed by iPadOS 16.1 on October 24. But while tons of new features have arrived, there is still more to come as Apple continues to work on iOS 16 with an iOS 16.2 update imminent. In this article, well tell you everything you need to know about iOS 16 and how its going to affect your iPhone and iPad experience. We reveal new features, and design changes, along with details of any issues and flaws people are encountering with the new software. Update 12/07: The release candidate of iOS 16.2 is out, suggesting the final version will be here very soon. iOS 16: Latest version The latest version of iOS 16 is iOS 16.1.2 , this includes improved crash detection, carrier upgrades and security updates. It came out on November 30. Prior to that release, iOS 16.1.1 included bug fixes and security updates. We hope that the updates addresses an issue some users have experienced with Wi-Fi connectivity, although Apple doesnt provide details of the bug fixes. Apple does provide information about the security updates, which it says could allow a remote user to cause unexpected app termination or arbitrary code execution. A similar issue is addressed in macOS Ventura . About a month after iOS 16.0 arrived, iOS 16.1 became available to download on October 24. iOS 16.1 includes iCloud Shared Photo Library, improvements to the battery percentage indicator which will now feature on more iPhones, the ability to remove the Wallet app, Clean Energy Charging options, the ability to customize the Lock screen or Home screen, and Matter support for smart home accessories. Prior to iOS 16.1 the most recent version of iOS 16 was iOS 16.0.3 which arrived on October 11. That was just a small update that included some iPhone 14-related fixes, addressed a problem with the slow launching Camera app, fixed a problem where incoming call and app notifications were not displayed, solved an issue with low microphone volume in CarPlay, and addressed the Mailjack bug in an important security fix. The Mailjack bug caused an endless loop of crashes when opening a message from an improperly formatted account. The previous iOS 16 update came on September 22. iOS 16.0.2 included a fix for a camera shaking problem iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max users had been experiencing, as well as a fix for a bug that a number of different iOS 16 users were experiencing: a new prompt to allow an app to paste from the clipboard was popping up with every attempt to paste, rather than just the first time. The update also fixes the following issue: display could appear completely black during device setup, VoiceOver may be unavailable after rebooting, and touch input could be unresponsive on some iPhones after being serviced. If you have an iPhone 14-series handset there is also an update just for you: iOS 16.0.1 (build number 20A371) addressed an issue with activation and migration during setup, according to Apples support document this issue is specific to iMessage and FaceTime. According to Apples release notes , the iOS 16.0.1. iOS 16.0.1 was an iPhone 14-specific update, other iPhones will not show that the update is available in Software Update. Should you update to iOS 16 now? We have a guide to help you answer that question. Also, note that some of the promised iOS 16 features are coming in an update later this year . Lewis Painter / Foundry iOS 16: Latest beta version next version of iOS 16 Apple issued the first beta of iOS 16.2 on October 25. The Release Candidate arrived on December 7. The final version is likely to be released week commencing December 12. iOS 16.2 includes: Apple Music Sing:A new Karaoke experience built into Apple Music. Read more about Apple Music Sing . New always-on display options for iPhone 14 Pro: Two new toggles are available in Settings > Display & Brightness > Always On Display. One can disable the wallpaper when the always-on display is active, the other disables notifications. A major home screen layout change thanks to a new Custom Accessibility Mode: This will provide a more streamlined iPhone experience with customizable features for users with accessibility needs. Older notifications visible by default: instead of having to swipe up to see old notifications. The new Freeform digital whiteboarding app: This will let users collaborate with friends, family, and coworkers on a digital whiteboard sharing sketches, notes, files, web links, documents, photos, video, and audio. New Home architecture that Apple claims is faster and more reliable. New Sleep and Medication widgets will allow you to track this information from the lock screen. It appears there will be frequent Live Activities updates, although this isnt yet in the beta. ( Via 9to5Mac). 10-minute AirDrop limit : iOS 16.2 limits the everyone setting for AirDrop permissions to 10 minutes at a time. Satellite SOS is supposed to be coming to the U.K and other locations in December, which would tie in with the expected December release of iOS 16.2. If you have an iPad then you will also get the following new feature with iPadOS 16.2: Stage Manager external display support: External display support for iPads that have the M1 or M2 chip will allow iPad users to hook their tablet up to a secondary display using Stage Manager. If you want to test the beta, you can register for Apples Beta Software Program . 9to5Mac iOS 16: Known and fixed issues Since the release of iOS 16 the following issues have been highlighted: An iOS 16 Mail bug was able to cause an endless loop of app crashes and lock users out of their Mail account. VPN Tracker found that an email from an address with double quotes (@macworld.com for example) will cause Mail on iOS 16 to repeatedly crash. FIXED in iOS 16.0.3 There were also reports from iPhone 14 users that the Camera app can be slow to open . FIXED IN iOS 16.0.3 Some users had a problem where incoming calls and app notifications were not displayed. FIXED IN iOS 16.0.3 There was an early issue with low microphone volume in CarPlay. FIXED IN iOS 16.0.3 Some users experienced an issue with excessive copy and paste alerts when moving text and images between apps. FIXED IN iOS 16.0.2 An issue affecting the iPhone 14 Pro camera caused the optical image stabilization sensor to fail to focus properly. FIXED IN iOS 16.0.2 A lot of users experienced problems connecting to Wi-Fi due to a bug. This was fixed in iOS 16.1.1. the big problem for some was being able to connect to Wi-Fi in order to install the update, but in our experience a reboot of the iPhone generally enabled it to connect to Wi-Fi again so that the update could be installed. Otherwise it is possible to install over a cellular connection. As is often the case with a new operating system update, some users have complained of battery drain and other common issues, these issues are usually short-lived and relate to the re-indexing of data. Towards the end of September 2022, Apple published a support document that turning on thenew iPhone keyboard vibrationfeature could cost battery life. Apple says, Turning on keyboard haptics might affect the battery life of your iPhone. It is hoped that iOS 16.2 will fix a problem with the Always On Display of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max: it will bring better controls so you can, for example, have a solid black screen rather than a darkened view of your usual wallpaper when the iPhone is off. iOS 16: How to get the latest version Read this to find out how to install iOS 16 or an update to the operating system: How to update iOS on your iPhone . The short version is: Open Settings. Tap General . Tap Software Update . Youll see the update available there, follow the prompts to install it. If you dont want to update straight away read: How to stop your iPhone from automatically updating to iOS 16 . When you visit the Software Update page on your iPhone you might see that iOS 15.7 is there to install and wonder where iOS 16 is. If you want iOS 16 you dont need to install IOS 15.7 first, you can scroll down below the information about iOS 15.7 and tap on upgrade to iOS 16. You dont have to install iOS 15.7, you can jump straight to iOS 16. Its often the case that the initial new version of iOS is soon followed by a point update so you can expect to see iOS 16.0.1 in a week or so to clean up some bugs and prepare for the new iPhone 14. We also expect 16.1 to arrive in October when the iPad receives its update. iOS 16: Compatibility Which Apple devices can install iOS 16? Any from the past five years: anyone with an iPhone 8 or later will be able to run iOS 16. With the iPad, iOS 16 is compatible with all PadPro models, iPadAir (3rdgeneration andlater), iPad (5thgeneration andlater), iPadmini (5thgeneration andlater). Thats the headline but bear in mind that older devices may not get the full iOS 16 experience or every feature in iPadOS 16 . Apple warns, for example, that the new Live Captions accessibility feature is available on iPhone 11 and later, while Door Detection and People Detection require the LiDAR scanner on the iPhone 12 Pro and later. This is a big change from last year. At WWDC 2021, Apple announced that iOS 15 would run on very old models, such as the iPhone 6s (2015) and first-generation SE (2016). Theyve both dropped off the supported list, and the iPhone 7 is gone too. If youve got one of these iPhones, it may be time to upgrade . iOS 16: Features iOS 16 is a substantial upgrade. It doesnt change everything about your iPhone, but its filled with fun new features, like these Five incredible iOS 16 features that will change the way you use your iPhone . Read on to find out more about the new features that will make your old iPhone feel fresh if you install it: New iOS 16 Features coming soon Some expected updates and new features didnt make it into the initial launch , but are set to appear later in the year. For example: Freeform app This new whiteboarding and collaboration app was unveiled as part of the iPadOS 16 demo at WWDC, but it was always a longer-term prospect: Freeform was a coming later this year thing from the very beginning. With iPadOS 16s launch pushed back , but it looks like Freeform will be released with iOS 16.2. Game Center Game Center is getting support for SharePlay, which will let you start playing a game right away while in a FaceTime call, launch date is still to be confirmed though. Features that arrived in iOS 16.1 These are the new features that arrived with the first major update to iOS 16. iCloud Shared Photo Library Apple has added a new way for family members and friends to share photos with each other called Shared Photo Library. It lets you and five people set up an album that you call control, with automated updates and sharing notifications. Learn more about how to set up a Shared Photo Library in our how-to article. Live Activities Live Activities is a new way of following sports games, Uber journey progress, workouts, and so on from the Lock Screen. You can think of them as notifications that persist and are dynamically updated by their associated apps. There are already numerous supported apps . Wallet The Wallet already had in-app ID verification: a handy option if you dont want to share personal details with someone, but do need to prove to them that you are over 21, for example. In 16.1 Wallet gained the ability to share digital keys via Messages, Mail, or WhatsApp. Matter support Matter is a new and sorely needed smart-home compatibility standard covering Apple Home, Alexa, and Google Home, among others, and support for Matter is one of the changes coming to Apples Home app in iOS 16. There is still work to be done by manufacturers to get everything coordinated, but all devices support the new standard as of iOS 16.1. Clean Energy Charging On launch day, Apple announced a new feature called Clean Energy Charging that aims to decrease the carbon footprint of the iPhone by optimizing charging times for when the grid is using cleaner energy sources. You can find the toggle to turn it on in the Battery Health & Charging settings. Features that arrived in iOS 16 Heres what was available at launch. Lock Screen In iOS 16 Lock Screen is customizable (changing colors and fonts, for example) and upgradable with widgets for keeping an eye on the weather, your Activity rings, or whatever other information you need easy access to. And, rather like the faces on the Apple Watch, it will be possible to create multiple Lock Screens, each with its own wallpaper and widgets, and easily switch between them. See: All the ways you can customize your Lock Screen in iOS 16 . We also look at how to keep your Lock Screen clean without missing a notification . New customization options arrived in iOS 16.1 so can now choose to customize the Home screen and Lock screen separately. Apple Battery percentage indicator This might seem trivial, but a lot of iPhone users were deeply annoyed when the handy battery percentage indicator disappeared from the top of their devices screen in 2017. (The notch on the iPhone X was the culprit, of course.) Those users will be pleased to hear that its the battery percentage indicator is coming back in iOS 16, albeit on certain devices only. Initially the iPhone 11, iPhone XR, and the iPhone 12 mini and 13 mini dont get this feature, but Apple addressed this in an update. We discuss how to show battery percentage in your iPhone status bar separately. IDG Notifications The way these appear has been tweaked: they now roll in from the bottom of the screen, which seems like a more logical way to present them. Focus Your choice of Lock Screen, widgets, and Notification settings can now be tied to Focus modes. Apple suggests a data-rich Lock Screen while youre using the Work Focus or a photo Lock Screen while youre using the Personal Focus. By swiping to a particular Lock Screen, you can trigger the related Focus mode. Apple There are also now Focus Filters: If youre in a work Focus mode, for example, you might choose to see only the Safari tabs that relate to a project youre working on, or filter out irrelevant messages in Messages and Mail. Dictation Dictation improvements mean that dictation should be better than ever. We explain how to use the new dictation features in iOS 16 separately. Improved Dictation supports using your voice and keyboard together to enter and edit text. Youll be able to automatically add commas, periods, and question marks as you dictate and add emoji with your voice. Audio support AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro (1st and 2nd generation) and AirPods Max will gain a new Personalized Spatial Audio feature that uses the TrueDepth camera on iPhone to create a personal profile for Spatial Audio that delivers a more precise and immersive listening experience. Haptic keyboard In iOS 16 iPhone keyboards will provide haptic feedback while you type. Keyboard haptics will use the Taptic Engine to produce a little tick feeling when you touch a key on the keyboard. To find out how to use the feature read: How to enable keyboard haptic feedback in iOS 16. Also read: iOS 16s haptic keyboard is the best feature you havent found yet . Live Text and Visual Look Up Live Text now applies to video as well as still images. Pause a video and the text will become live for copying or translating. Apple says Live Text is going to provide quicker access to translation and currency-conversion tools, too. The related Visual Look Up featurewhich was introduced in iOS 15 and uses AI to identify plants, animals, and landmarks in your photosalso gets an update. For a start, it can now recognize birds, insects, and statues as well. But separately, it can use that same AI to detect the edges of pictured objects and enable you to tap and hold to lift them out of a photo and into other apps such as Messages. Spot a cute dog in a photo? Snip it out and pop it in an iMessage so others can enjoy it too. See: How to instantly lift the subject out of nearly any image . Apple Siri A new Easy Shortcuts setup makes it possible to run shortcuts with Siri as soon as you download an app with no upfront setup. Youll can also send messages without Siri asking you to confirm before sending. A new ability to ask Hey Siri, what can I do here? helps users discover Siris capabilities in iOS and apps. And you can end calls by saying: Hey Siri, hang up. Search Search on the Home Screen will enable Spotlight to be accessed directly from the bottom of the Home Screen, making it easy to open apps, find contacts, or get information from the web. However, some people find the Home Screen Search button distracting, so we have this tutorial: How to remove the search button from your iPhones home screen . Changes to apps As usual, a number of changes will be coming to the included Apple apps, including: Messages There are three big changes in Messages. You can 1) edit, 2) unsend messages after theyre sent, and 3) mark any thread as Unread. Less momentously, there are lots of new visual elements for customizing your Memoji, including new hairstyles and headgear, nose shapes, and poses. Read How to edit and unsend text messages on your iPhone Mail New tools include scheduled sends and, very briefly, the ability to recall sent messages. Mail should detect and warn users of forgotten attachments, and there are new Remind Later and Follow Up features for nudging the user when either they or a recipient hasnt responded to an email. See: How to edit and unsend messages on iPhone . We also cover how to edit and unsend emails on Mac . Maps New multi-stop routing supports adding up to fifteen stops along your driving route in Maps. It is also possible to see low balances and replenish Transit Cards when you add transit cards to Wallet, all without leaving Maps. And transit fares show you how much your journey will cost in the San Francisco Bay Area, London, New York, and San Diego. Safari In Safari, Shared Tab Groups let you share a set of tabs with others and see the Tab Group update instantly as you work together. Tab Group start pages can be customized with different background images and favorites for each Tab Group. Pinned tabs in Tab Groups enable you to pin frequently visited websites for each Tab Group. Safari web page translation will add translation for web pages in Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese, Polish, Indonesian, and Dutch. FaceTime Handoff in FaceTime allows you to move FaceTime calls seamlessly from your iPhone to your iPad or Mac, and vice versa. Memoji Memoji gets more sticker poses, hairstyles, headwear, noses, and lip colors. Quick Note Quick Note adds support for taking a note in any app on your iPhone and adding links to create context and easily find content. Home A redesigned Home app makes it easier to navigate, organize, view, and control your smart home accessories. The Home tab will integrate all your accessories, rooms, and scenes into a single tab for a whole-house view, allowing you to see your entire home at a glance. There will be categories for lights, climate, security, speakers and TVs, and water let you quickly access all the relevant accessories organized by room, and displays more detailed status information. And a new camera view displays up to four cameras front and center in the Home tab, scroll to see any additional camera views in your home. Photos Duplicate detection in Photos identifies duplicate photos so you can quickly clean up your library. Plus the Foreground blur for portrait photos in Camera will blur objects in the foreground for a more realistic-looking depth-of-field effect (iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max). Translate Youll can now translate text around you using the camera in the Translate app. Reminders Pinned lists help you quickly navigate to your favorite lists. Apple Pay Apple announced two new ventures here: Apple Pay Later (a method of paying in four equal payments over six weeks, available initially in the US only) and Apple Pay Order Tracking (which provides receipts and order tracking information in Wallet for purchases made using Apple Pay). Health A new medications feature helps you track and manage your medications, vitamins, and supplements by creating a list, custom schedules and reminders, and then viewing logging over time Youll be able to add medications using your iPhone camera (iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and later). Interaction alerts will inform you if there is a critical interaction when you add a new medication. Cycle deviation notifications alert you if your logged menstrual cycles show a pattern of infrequent periods, irregular periods, prolonged periods, or persistent spotting. Youll be able to share information with loved ones and theyll be able to easily and securely share their health data with you. News My Sports enables you to easily follow your favorite teams and leagues and watch highlights right in the News app. Favorites will give you easy access to the channels and topics you read the most at the top of your Today feed. There is also a visually updated home page that will be easier to navigate, with topic feeds for local news locales, sports teams, and leagues. Security features As usual there are a number of changes that Apple is making to improve security and privacy, including: Passkey Passkeys offers support for an easier and safer signin method to replace passwords. Passkey syncing through iCloud Keychain makes your passkeys available across all your Apple devices while keeping them end-to-end encrypted. Family Sharing There is an improved child account setup to make it easier to create an account for a child with the right parental controls, including ageappropriate media restrictions. Youll be able to use Quick Start to easily set up a new iOS or iPadOS device for your child with your selected parental controls in place. Screen Time requests in Messages will make it even easier to approve or decline requests from your child. Plus Family Checklist will give you tips and suggestions like updating a childs parental control settings, turning on location sharing, or just reminding you to share your iCloud+ subscription with everyone. Safety Check This important privacy feature, designed to aid those experiencing domestic violence or similar issues, lets you monitor who youve granted access to your permissions, and revoke them easily. It can be used to reset system app privacy permissions, and to restrict Messages and FaceTime to the device youre currently using. Emergency reset lets users quickly take action to reset access across all people and apps, including disabling location sharing via Find My, resetting privacy permissions for apps, and more. Accessibility Door detection will locate a door, reads signs and symbols around it, and gives users instructions for how to open the door (iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro). Apple Watch mirroring will provide full control of the Apple Watch from iPhone and supports the use of Switch Control, Voice Control, or any other assistive features on the iPhone to get the most out of an Apple Watch. Live Captions (beta) automatically converts audio into text for users who are Deaf or hard of hearing to follow along more easily with calls and media content (iPhone 11 and later). Buddy controller helps users with cognitive disabilities get support from a caregiver or friend while playing a game, by combining inputs from multiple game controllers into one. VoiceOver will be available in over 20 new languages and locales, including Bangla (India), Bulgarian, Catalan, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Voice Control spelling mode gives you the option to dictate names, addresses, or other custom spellings. Miscellaneous changes and new features These are the highlights of iOS 16s new features set, but there are far more small tweaks that youll gradually discover after installing the OS in the fall. Some will only slightly massage your day-to-day experience, while others will hold hidden significance. A change in the way firmware information is presented, for example, may allow manual AirPods updates for the first time. Another new feature is the ability to verify your device and account in the background, without any need to deal with CAPTCHAs . For more updates along these lines, weve rounded up the smaller features and changes that will make a big difference in how you use your iPhone. If youd like a broader exploration of the new capabilities coming to your iPhone this year, read our guide to the top new iOS 16 features , and our thoughts on the iOS 16 features youll actually use . iOS

iQoo Neo 7 SE With MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC, 120W Fast Charging Launched in China: Price, Specifications

The iQoo Neo 7 SE has been launched in China on Thursday. The smartphone features a 6.78-inch, 120Hz AMOLED panel and runs on MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC. The Neo 7 has a triple rear camera setup and will come with Android 13-based Origin OS 3 out-of-the-box.

Why You Should Blur Your Home on Google Maps Right Now - CNET

Protect your privacy with this Google setting.

Global Smartphone Production Declined by 11 Percent in Q3 2022: Trendforce

Global smartphone production reportedly saw a decline in Q3 2022. The industry is said to have produced 289 million units from July to September which is a 0.9 percent quarter-on-quarter decline. The industry produced 307 million units in Q2 2022, marking a 11 percent decline on a year-on-year basis.

iQoo 11 Pro, iQoo 11 With E6 2K LTPO 4.0 Display, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC Launched: Price, Specifications

iQoo 11 Pro and iQoo 11 were launched in China on Thursday. They run on Android 13-based OriginOS 3 and are powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. Both smartphones feature triple rear cameras and are equipped with the Samsung E6 AMOLED display with 2K resolution and LTPO 4.0 technology.

After a year in limbo, Apple quietly kills its controversial CSAM photo-scanning feature

Last year, Apple announced plans to help combat child sexual abuse in several areas. As part of iOS 15.2 , Apple implemented a new parental control feature for Messages to help prevent children from seeing or sending sexual imagery, and boosted Siri and Search to provide resources targeted at children who may be victims. However, its most controversial feature which would scan your photos as they are being uploaded to iCloud to see if they match known child sexual abuse material (CSAM), was delayed. Though Apple went through major steps to make sure that users privacy would be protected and that outside actors (like government agencies) could not use the technology to make Apple scan for pictures of things like dissidents, it raised a lot of red flags in the privacy community. From the moment it was announced, people were concerned about the prospect of mass surveillance and allowing Apple to run a system that could be used to scan for On Wednesday, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal , Apples senior VP of software engineering Craig Federighi confirmed that the CSAM scanning feature has been scrapped. The other features have been in place in iOS since last year. Federighi said, Child sexual abuse can be headed off before it occurs. Thats where were putting our energy going forward. In a statement to Wired , Apple elaborated: We have further decided to not move forward with our previously proposed CSAM detection tool for iCloud Photos.Children can be protected withoutcompaniescombing through personal data, and we will continueworking with governments, child advocates, and other companies to help protect young people, preserve their right to privacy, and make the internet a safer place for children and for us all. Its possible that the system reached technical hurdles, too. Apple announced Wednesday that it will provide an option for end-to-end encryption on most iCloud data , including Photos, which could have made the CSAM scanning too difficult to properly implement. iOS

AVG AntiVirus for Mac review: Basic but solid protection for free

At a Glance Expert's Rating Pros Capable basic protection for a free product Quick and easy installation Clean and helpful dashboard Cons Occasional prompts to convince you to upgrade to the paid version Lacks the ransomware, phishing, and fake website protection built into the paid product Our Verdict AVG Antivirus for the Mac is a basic but effective free security program that will protect you from viruses, spyware, and malware. Though it lacks the advanced features of paid antivirus products, it handles the core tasks cleanly and seamlessly. Price When Reviewed Free. Paid upgrades available Best Prices Today: AVG AntiVirus for Mac Retailer Price AVG $0 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Though so many antivirus and security products charge annual subscriptions, there are still free options out there with little or no strings attached. The freebies typically offer more basic or limited protection, but that doesnt mean they arent worth using. One such product that fits the bill is AVG Antivirus for Mac . Designed to block viruses and spyware, AVG offers real-time and on-demand scanning to prevent malware from infecting your Mac. If you are happy to pay there are plenty of options see our Best Antivirus for Mac round up but, for a free program, AVG covers all the bases, blocking viruses and malware from websites, downloads, and email attachments. AVG can scan applications and files on your Mac for potential threats and automatically remove them. Running in the background, the programs Resident Shield tool checks out every file you open or save to make sure theres no hidden malware inside. An auto-update feature keeps AVG up to date with the latest virus definitions to combat any new threats lurking about. Installation Installing AVG Antivirus is quick and convenient. After its nestled on your Mac, the software alerts you to update certain options in System Preferences (known as System Settings in macOS Ventura) to enable the real-time and on-demand scanning. But the process itself is simple; just click a Fix all button, and the program takes you directly to the necessary screens and shows you exactly how to enable the right options. When youre done, AVG confirms that you now have basic protection. Features AVGs dashboard is clean and uncluttered, showing you the right amount of information. You can see that your computer, your web browsing, and your email are protected. Youre told if the virus definitions are up to date. And from the dashboard, you can run a manual live scan. The dashboard for AVG Antivirus is cleanly designed with just the information you need to ensure that the program is doing its job. Foundry The live scan first checks to make sure that your virus definitions are up to date. Then it scans your folders and files for viruses and malware and finally lets you know whether it discovered any malicious content. Running the scan on my Mac uncovered no malware but AVG did highlight three advanced issues, specifically two folders vulnerable to ransomware, my network not being monitored for threats, and my system being vulnerable to fake websites through DNS hijacking. Unfortunately, resolving any of the advanced issues would have necessitated an upgrade to the paid flavor of AVG, a prospect that costs $2.49 per month for a one-year subscription, $2.39 a month for a two-year subscription, or $2.29 a month for a three-year subscription, albeit with a generous 60-day trial offer. Free products typically try to convince you to upgrade to the paid edition, so I didnt mind the sales pitch. But just be aware that the smart scan will try to encourage you to upgrade each time you run it. The live on-demand scan didnt find any viruses on my Mac but did point out three advanced issues that would have required the paid version to resolve. Foundry From the dashboard, you can also check other features of the software to make sure theyre enabled. The real-time File Shield scans every file you copy or open on your computer. The Quarantine feature shows you any malicious files that have been blocked and isolated from the rest of your system. The Web Shield blocks unsafe files and downloads from the internet. And the Email Shield puts the kibosh on malicious email attachments. A menu accessible from the dashboard will take you to a Statistics screen that shows you how many scans have been run, how many files scanned, how many malicious files and email attachments blocked, how many websites checked for threats, and other details. A handy Statistics screen keeps you up to date on how the software is protecting you, both over the last 30 days and over its lifetime. Foundry Another menu choice takes you to the Preferences screen where you can configure the various features in AVG Antivirus. For example, youre able to make sure that automatic updates are enabled, that AVG starts when you sign into your Mac, and that youre notified when virus definitions are updated. Here, you can also control the behavior of the program, choosing whether infected files should automatically be quarantined, whether the on-demand scan should check Time Machine backups and archives, and which files you may want to add as exceptions so that theyre excluded from scanning. A Preferences section gives you full control over the core features and settings of the software. Foundry Performance AVG Antivirus proved capable and effective at stopping malware. The software easily caught the various EICAR test files I threw at it, including the eicar.com file, the eicar text file, and the eicar zip file. (But even here, the program initially tried to coax me to upgrade to the paid edition.) In a June 2022 review , AV-Test gave the software its top marks for malware detection and usability. A review from October 2022 by AV-Comparatives awarded AVG Antivirus for Mac a grade of 100% for malware protection. AVG Antivirus proved adept and detecting and blocking the EICAR test malware.. Foundry Verdict As a free security product, AVG Antivirus for Mac lacks the ransomware and phishing defenses and other advanced features found in paid products. But the program is cleanly designed, easy to use, and effective at thwarting malware. If you just need basic protection, you wont go wrong here. Mac, Productivity Software, Security

This simple trick made Safari my go-to Mac browser again

If youre like me, you constantly have a ton of tabs open. Articles to read later, sites you want to browse, research for a project, etc. And if you use Safari, youve likely nuked them all by accidentally pressing the wrong keystroke. Like in other Mac apps, pressing Command-Q will quit the entire app without warning. While other browsers have the option to warn before quitting so you can cancel the action, Safari doesnt. And whats worse, the keystroke is right next to the common Close Tab (Command-W), Save (Command-S), and Select All (Command-A) keystrokes. I cant tell you how many times Ive accidentally quit the app and lost all of my tabs when I really wanted to do something else. Its so infuriating that I had started to prefer using Chrome, which does warn you if you press the Command-Q button. But then I discovered a feature baked into macOS that changed everything: App Shortcuts. Its a feature that lets you change the system-defined shortcut in an app and made my Safari experience 100 times better. Heres how it works. 1. Go to System Settings (Ventura) or System Preferences (Monterey and earlier) Foundry Head over to System Settings (System Preferences in macOS Monterey and earlier) and click the Keyboard tab. 2. Create an App Shortcut Foundry Select Shortcuts and App Shortcuts and press the + symbol to add a new shortcut. 3. Name your shortcut Quit Safari Foundry Select Safari from the drop-down menu, name the command Quit Safari (without the quote marks; it needs to be exact) and choose a keystroke other than Command-Q. I used Shift-Command-Q to avoid any accidental triggers, but anything will work. Ive lost track of how many times I accidentally pressed Command-Q before I did this and would have surely added many more without it. Its a simple change that I should have thought of years agoand its made me love Safari again. MacOS

Nokia X10, Nokia X20 Reportedly Receiving Android 13 Stable Update: All Details

Nokia is reportedly rolling out the latest Android 13 update for two of its smartphones, the Nokia X10 and Nokia X20. The update is said to arrive with the latest firmware version, security patches and a handful of new features including themed app icons, photo picker, notification permission, new multimedia control and more. The latest update is a 2.34GB download, a...

Tecno Phantom X2, Phantom X2 Pro With MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC Launched: Price, Specifications

Tecno Phantom X2 and Phantom X2 Pro were launched at the company's Beyond the Extraordinary event held in Saudi Arabia. The handsets ship with MediaTeks newest Dimensity 9000 SoC, a 6.8-inch full-HD+ curved flexible AMOLED display with a 120HZ refresh rate, and a 5,160mAh battery. The phones are also expected to be sold in India soon.

Xiaomi 13 Series Launch Date Confirmed for December 11, Design Revealed in Official Renders

Xiaomi on Thursday confirmed the arrival of the Xiaomi 13 series in China. The new Xiaomi 13 series smartphones will be launched on December 11.

Cant make AirPlay work with multiple destinations? Heres why

Apples upgrade to its original AirPlay audio/video streaming protocol, AirPlay 2, lets you choose multiple audio destinations while listening to audio playback, like music or podcasts, or streaming video. However, some people have found theres a catch: when they use the AirPlay selection dialog in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or tvOS, they cannot select multiple devices. What gives? AirPlay 2 requires that all devices selected are also AirPlay 2 destinationsthey must be up-to-date and compatible. That set of devices is extremely large. Apple provides a list of AirPlay 2-certified receivers , speakers , and TVs . You might choose to route sound to TV speakers and a receiver, or a pair of HomePods in one room and remote speakers or even a MacBook Air in another. However, you may find you cant select another audio destination. The reason is due to compatibility: If you pick an original AirPlay-compatible output device, you cant pick AirPlay 2 destinations. If you select an AirPlay 2 destination, you cant select an original-flavor AirPlay audio output device. I see this on my home network, as I have a several-year-old Yamaha receiver that still works perfectly well but has non-upgradable AirPlay destination firmware built in. Id have to upgrade the receiver to take advantage. At left, AirPlay lets me select multiple destinations after picking my Mac mini, as recent versions of macOS allow AirPlay 2. At right, selecting the Yamaha Receiver allows only a single selection, as the receiver supports the original AirPlay only. This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Joey. Ask Mac 911 Weve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently, along with answers and links to columns: read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. If not, were always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours to mac911@macworld.com , including screen captures as appropriate and whether you want your full name used. Not every question will be answered, we dont reply to email, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice. iOS, MacOS

Apple Announced AirPods Max Two Years Ago Today

Apple's AirPods Max were announced two years ago today, marking the company's first push into the high-end over-ear headphones market under its own brand name. Rumors about Apple's work on a pair of high-end headphones, at the time believed to be called the AirPods Studio, heated up throughout 2020. They were announced abruptly via an unexpected press release on December 8, 2020 and went on sale the same day. Orders started arriving to customers one week later on Tuesday, December 15. The AirPods Max offer many popular AirPods features such as the H1 chip, easy pairing, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency, automatic switching, Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking, but in a premium over-ear design for the first time. They also offer a headband made of a flexible mesh canopy, replaceable magnetic earcups, a Digital Crown for volume control, a button for switching between ANC and Transparency, and a Smart Case for storage and to put the headphones into a low power state. Demand for the AirPods Max was high immediately after launch, with shipping estimates that stretched out several months . Initial reviews of AirPods Max were favorable , applauding the headphones for being more than enough to compete with other high-end headphones. While the recommended retail price remains at $549, the AirPods Max are often available with discounts up to around $100. The AirPods Max have also been subject to criticism since their launch, including for their price relative to rival sets of high-end over-ear headphones, the design of the Smart Case , condensation inside the earcups, poor battery life (something that was later fixed via a software update ), and, most recently, ANC strength being reduced over time . Ten Things AirPods Pro 2 Tell Us About AirPods Max 2 While the AirPods Max are now two years old, there is no sign of a new model despite a growing number of upgrades and features that could come to the headphones. In May 2021, Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman said that Apple was not actively working on second-generation AirPods Max , and talk of a color options refresh for the device seems to have diminished. The most recent mention of a second-generation model was Gurman's claim in October that the next version of AirPods Max will feature USB-C and launch y 2024. Related Roundup: AirPods Max Buyer's Guide: AirPods Max (Neutral) Related Forum: AirPods This article, Apple Announced AirPods Max Two Years Ago Today first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Realme 10 Pro 5G and 10 Pro+ 5G First Impressions: New 5G Champs?

The Realme 10 Pro series is finally here in India. The company has launched the Realme 10 Pro 5G with a Snapdragon 695 SoC and a 108MP dual-camera setup. The Realme 10 Pro+ 5G gets a flagship-grade curved AMOLED display, a 108MP triple-camera setup and 67W fast charging support. Here are our first impressions of both the phones.

Apple 2022 year in review

In this episode of the Macworld Podcast, well go over some of the highlights and lowlights for Apple in 2022. Its the year in review. This is episode 819 with Jason Cross , Michael Simon , and Roman Loyola . Listen to episode 819 on Apple Podcasts Listen to episode 819 on Spotify Subscribe to the Macworld Podcast You can subscribe to the Macworld Podcastor leave us a review! right here in the Podcasts app . The Macworld Podcast is also available on Spotify . Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/macworld To find previous episodes, visit Macworlds podcast page or our home on MegaPhone . Transcript of Macworld Podcast episode 819: Apple 2022 year in review RL:In this episode of the Macworld Podcast, well go over some of the highlights and lowlights for Apple in 2022.Its the year in review coming up. Stay tuned. RL: Welcome to the Macworld Podcast. Im Roman Loyola [RL] here with Jason Cross [JC]. JC: Good morning. RL: And Michael Simon [MS]. MS: Hello, sir. RL:Sosince its the end of the year and its also a slow news time of the year. MS: Apple released Apple Music Sing today.That was big news on Macworld.com. RL: But yeah, were going to take this opportunity todo the usual end-of-year topics and today were going to do the year in review. Overall, going through and trying to see what happened during the year, major announcements, I had thisfeeling beforehand, but it kind of reaffirmed to me that compared to the last couple of yearsit was kind of a regular, ho-hum year. MS: Particularly with the Mac, it started outreally strong. We got the Mac Studio, whichis the first new Mac in I dont know how many years, but a long time. And the redesignedMacBook Air, which was great. And then nothing. Like literally nothing. JC: Well, yeah. Studio Display, first monitor in a million years. MS: Yeah, right. So, all of that came in March and then July or June, July brought the MacBook Air redesign and the M2 chip. Then the whole second half of the year, it was like absolutely JC: Yeah, everyone expected MacBook Pros with the M2 Pro and Macs and Ultra and stuff. MS:Maybe a Mac Pro which they teased inMarchbut we didnt get it. JC: Yeah, and all that stuffs been apparently delayed till the spring at least, just supplyshortages and all that other stuff. I still think thats a pretty good Mac year. Firstall, the new Air is great. The M1 was already a good chip, but that old design really needed, improvement to giant bezels and stuff. So yeah, thats great. Thats my favorite Mac.Mac Studio was a giant surprise. Everybody knew a Mac Pro was coming at some point.And we were all thinking, oh, when theres going to be like a bigger iMac, like Applessilicon iMac and something added, and then out of nowhere, theyre like, surprise, like,super powerful, tiny, like small form factor PC. MS: That rumor, I remember it was like three or four days before the event started to kindof pick up the display and they didnt know at the time what it was going to be called, that it was a real powerful tiny Mac for your desktop. JC:Like two or three Mac mini stacked on top of each otherkind of thing.And its like, yeah, we had no idea.And I thought that was like a real kind of resurgencefor the Mac in a lot of ways,because certainly the M1 iMac, as it is now that 24-inch size M1 iMac and the Mac Mini, those dont really satisfy all the desktopusers. Then theres this wide gulf to the Mac Pro, this huge gap because they made the Mac Pro such a high-end, huge high-end machine. Yeah, it filled in that gap for it, really. MS: Yeah, the Mac Studio with an Ultra is, as it stands faster than the Mac Pro, thatll change onceit gets Apple silicon, but yeah, for two, three, $4,000, which is, thats a significant investment,but not out of reach for smaller creative type to development studios. You can get a real powerfulmachine. JC: Even just the one I have is the entry level, right? But for somebody who doesnt, need or want a laptop, they dont want to pay for a battery and a screen and all that other stuff.There was just nothing in that range. Its relatively affordable as Apple stuffgoes. Yeah, I thought a tremendous product. I thought the studio display was the one thathad me scratching my head. They put like a whole iPhone in it. Its got all this storage. MS: Touch display. Its like an iOS device. JC: Yeah. It has no power button or other physical controls of any kind. I understand the cameraandspeakersaspect, but its got all this storage it doesnt need and it doesnt have display stuff it should have. It has no HDR, high refresh rate. They made weird choiceswith that. MS: It kind of died out, but when the reviews came out, the camera was basically trashedand Apple kind of fixed it, but then people said they didnt and then we havent heardabout it since and I dont have one to know if its gotten any better, but I doubt it.Its just an inferior camera in an expensive display and you get 5K, but no one reallyneeds 5K.4K would have been fine, chop 300 bucks off.It is, youre right.Its a weird JC: And we do need HDR, right?We do needHDRand variable refresh rate would be nice for creatives, but we didnt get those.Yeah.So 4K HDR instead of 5K.Its the old eight-year-old iMac 27-inch panel.Its essentially that panel just with the brightness cranked up a little bit. Yeah, it seems like everything was a new, better version of something we had. MS: Yeah.Apple Watch Ultra falls absolutely into that category where theres a lot of new stuffthere.The design is different, the display is different, the action button is total but its stilljust kind of a variation on a theme, filling a niche that the Apple Watch might not havefelt. Good price, 800 bucks I thought. JC: I was shocked. MS: For what it is.Thats a solid price.They had it for a 730 over Black Friday which is I mean thats if it wasnt such abig watch, like if it was a 45mm, I might have considered it. Its too big for me.I just dont like that type of watch.It isnt for me.Even though I wouldnt regardless of how small it is, I dont use three quarters ofit.What I would really want is the battery life.My biggest barrier to using an Apple Watch every single day is the fact that I constantlyI had to take it off my wrist to charge it.The Apple Watch Ultra gives you 36 out of the box and then you can even push that to60.Thats acceptable.I have an SE1 that I really want to use every day and I just cant because I take it off,I put it on the charger and then I forget to put it back on for a day and a half.Happens all the time. JC: What other hardware was interesting this year?We got some, I think, like the M2 update to the iPads was uninteresting.The 10th gen iPad was, I thought, a disappointment, just becausethey introduced it, its the 10th gen iPad, but they introduced it like its a new in-between product.They kept the 9, they raised the price a lot, and then they had that complete wonkiness with the pencil support and stuff like that.I love where they put the camera and then everything else about that, Im like, no, it just feels greedy. MS: Well, its fine.Sothe 10th gen iPad is a fine product. Its not a $449 product is the problem if it was $399, if that was a regular $399, were looking at a complete effect.I wrote a deal today was on sale for $399 and at that price point, its way moreunderstandable. That $50 puts it from maybe to dont even consider it. JC: Yeah, and they could have gotten rid of the 9th gen.Its still cheaper but like that, they could still it would be cheap enough that theycould have gotten rid of the 9thgenand it would be clear.This thing where they keep the 9th gen around and they have the 10th gen and they both usethe old pencil and then theres theits just kind of a mess.I feel like just get the Air. MS: And the 9thgenis still a very popular product.SoI understand why they keep it around.Sodrop that price to $299 and make the new one $399.Youhave toprice it far enough away. $399 and $329.Sothe 9th gen I pay $329, if they price the 10th gen at $399 thats not enough. JC:I think the ninth gen iPads popular because its the cheapest one and people just want a thing.But they got to get rid of it. They got to get that out of the lineup. Theyre sticking aroundwith that stupid old design from a decade ago. Its got to go. I was excited that they could get it to go with a new design and then they made the new design too expensive and kept the old onearound. Im like, oh, what are you doing? MS: Thats what we were expecting. When weweheard rumors about the 10th gen iPad for a long time that it would kind ofbe aniPadbut not and this and the home button is moving and Im sorry, an iPad Air but not. We thoughtalright, maybe $349, maybe they raised it a little bit. Thats fantastic but then $449is like well, wait a minute, thats way too much. And Im sure at some point theyll tweakthatpricingbut I wouldnt recommend it to anybody. The mini at that price, the miniis $499, the Air is$599and I know thats $150 more but youre getting so much of abetter tablet for your money there. JC: And then if you want to use the Apple Pencil, youhave todo all these dongles and stuff. So yeah, so that was a swing and a miss for me.The new Apple TV, I think was fine.There was nothing wrong with the old one, but what I love about it is, I mean, itssmaller, it has no fan.You couldnt hear the fan in the old one or anything.Yeah, nobody knows because it barely moves. What I love about it is they did the right thing,which is they dropped the price and they dropped it a lot. The new one with twice the storage ofthe old one is cheaper. They did get rid of the ethernet port unless you buy the more expensiveone, but you canactually evenbuy the more expensive one for $20 less than the old cheap one. MS: Thetop of the lineApple TV 4K is the same price as the Apple TV HD from earlier thisyear which isthats a massive price cut.No one should have bought but Im sure people did because they didnt know.But now you can spend 150 bucks, get 128 gigs of storage which you dont need, an ethernetport which you might need, a Thread support and if you have a Samsung TV, HDR10 support.And a new processor. And theres a million things better about it than that Apple TV HD fromjust a couple months ago. So yeah, thats a rare home run for Apple in the pricing department. JC:To be clear, thats HDR10+. HDR10 is what everybodys got. MS: HDR10+, right. Yeah, thats Dolby Vision for Samsung TVs, basically. JC: Sort of, yeah. Its like less good Dolby Vision and they wont ever do Dolby Vision becausethey invested in this. MS: I have a Samsung TV and its annoying. JC: Yeah. And theres some stuff they didnt do. They should have had HDMI 2.1 and something.Its fine, whatever. For what it is, its fine. They still do need an Apple TV theyYou need a streaming device that is less than $100.All the competition is still way cheaper, but theyre moving in the right directionbig time here.When this thing is a year old and it goes on sale, its going to beYoure able to buy one for $20 or $30 off on sale.Its going to be a great deal.Yeah. MS: For $99 to $100, which is close already.Its on sale on Amazon generally like $125 which is only a few dollarslessbut you know,you knock 20 percent off that which it often goes on sale.The old one was on sale for $100.Thats what I bought.I bought the second gen for or third gen, whatever the one from last year was.Yeah, so it was 80 bucks for the 32 gig which is like thats just thats an impulse buythat you just dont get with Apple products very often.And you know, so I dont have the new chip.I dont have the HDR10 Plus support, but I got the new remote, which is fantastic.If you are even considering the Apple TV at all, the new remote is so much better.Its become my main remote now.Its that good. JC:Sothe other hardware, the other hardware sort of thing for me was the newAirPodsPro,I thought was very better than I thought it would be.Disappointing to me that they didnt really adjust the design at all.I think the whole touch controls on the stem is like bad design and awkward to use.Its like one of those things thats quote cool, but itsactually worseto use thanjust like a button or even just tapping. But they did a lot of nice little things withit and the sound quality is like a big boost. And the noise canceling is a big boost and, the battery life is a big boost and everything about it is considerably better. And theydidnt rocket the price up or anything like that. So yeah, I thought the newAirPodsPro was a successful update, lets call it. RL: Apple unveiled their self-repair program. JC:Oh yeah. RL: For the iPhone. MS: I wonder whos doing that.Its cool that they have it and they kind of have no choice but to have it, but itsan investment in time and money and everything else that just bring it to an Apple storeand get it fixed.My son over the weekend has he has an iPad Air and he dropped it and it shattered intoa million pieces the screen.And like the first thing I did was I checked Apple.It was literally the day.Like, Im not kidding. Had he dropped it on Monday, it wouldnt be covered. Like, it was Sunday was the end of his AppleCare.But I wonder, like, so if it was Monday, like, would I have gone through that whole rigamarole and gotten the screen and well, I dont think I even can for the iPad.But its a whole thing.Youhave torent stuff and get stuff and it screws and its aI think its a verysmall specific portion of the market thats going to care enough to do that at home.But its cool that its there. JC: The number of people or even percentage of people who are going to go through any ofthat is nothing.It might as well not exist.But its more important to me that part of doing this is also designing their productsto be repairable. If were going to have to offer a kit, then our next thing cant have so much glueand all this other stuff that we cant. I think thats more important. Then this is nice for those independent repair shops that they justhave tobuy official parts. They can get official tools. Theyre not just going with third party tools that maybe dont take the screen off properly.or whatever. They can get Apple stuff and for them, its an investment, but if this is theirbusiness, then its a no-brainer. Itsactually cheapfor them. I think its a step in the rightdirection just in terms of making these things easier to repair and keep longer instead of havingto trade them in. But I dont think anybodys going to do it themselves. I think this whole thing ofofthem doing it. Youll hear from every single one of them. Every single one of them is going,to contact us, tweet at us or whatever at this podcast. Every single person who woulddo it. I would do that. Well hear from all 20 of them.Theresa billion iPhone owners. MS: There are some videos.You know, right after it launched, like, you know, well-minded tech people who tried thisout and even they were like, this is hard. JC: You know, the iPhone this year was weird for me in that this is a little bit true everyyearbut it was more true this year.It felt like the Pro was the only new device. MS: Yeah. JC:The regular iPhone more than previous yearsfelt like he didnt get anything.Itactually didget slightly better cameras. It got like the previous years Pros cameras,but it didnt get hardly anything while the Pro got always on display and the Dynamic Island and,even newer cameras and that48 megapixelcamera. Theres no wonder the Pro model is the one thatsin demand. It got the new processor. The regular 14 got last years processor, but just the Pro version that has the extra GPU core. But everything about the 14 just felt like theleast they could do to change the number on it. And all the cool new stuff is in the Pro.Honestly, its stillreally good. The regular iPhone 14, its still good, just like it wouldhave been great to buy an iPhone 13. Its still areally goodphone. MS: Yeah, it got, you know, emergency SOS.Satellite was like the biggest feature, which the kind ofthinglike alright, I mean, I hope I never actually have to use that, but I guess its nice to have crash detection.The plus is the big one there.So last year, there was the mini, the last two years was a 13 and 12 and a 13 mini, 5.4 inches.And it was, you know, a small, really the only small phone on the market.And everyone thought like, okay, this is like, this is the niche that everybody wants and then nobody bought it.So now Apple went the other way, came out with a6.7 inchnon-pro iPhone 14.And it appears as though nobody wants that either, because I dont think thats selling very well either. Yeah, 900 bucks. JC: The other thing people liked about the Mini is it was by no means cheap, but it was cheaper.It was the cheapest new iPhone you could get, the cheapest like new model with the new stuff.and they replaced it with one thats more expensive. MS: Yeah, it was $699. The 13miniwhen it was new was $699.Now its $599 because they knocked a hundred bucks off.But yeah, so it starts at $899, which is a lot.And youre not getting much.Youre getting a bigger screen and youre getting better battery life.Thats it. Other than that, its the same as what the 14miniwould have been. JC: I think globally, its the right move to have small and big, to have regular and big insteadof regular and small. But what people really want, what globally sells so well are cheap big phones. So having the more expensive big phone is the wrong way. But maybe this isjust part of alonger termstrategy because they build these devices and the bodies and,the design form and everything and then they can kind of get used for a while. They keepselling them the next year sometimes. So maybe what well see is, two years from now, theyll still be selling a 14 plus, $300 cheaper and its going tobe like popular. MS: But theyhave to, four iPhone models is too many.They got to figure out what to do with that. JC: I dont necessarily think four is too many.I just think that the pricing doesnt work out well.I think a small and big regular to a small and big pro is a fine strategy.I just feel like theres a weird overlap.Instead of getting the 14 plus, you can get a regular pro and its not going to be a meaningfullydifferent spend for you, right? MS: Yeah.Way better camera dynamic island always on display, better chip.Its a laundry list of upgrades to that pro.So yeah, maybe youre right.Maybe if the plus was $799 or even $749 would really make it interesting.$250 less than the entry-level Pro or the base Pro, whatever. Yeah, something like that.But Apple doesnt generally do that.Apple TV Plus aside or Apple TV 4K aside, they dont generally go in the opposite direction.But maybe, they might have to. But maybe once they look at the sales, particularly this quarter, so theyre going to get trouncedbecause the whole production thing in China, they cannot make iPhone 14 Pros, they cant make them period, really. Shipping right now is late December, some places,early January. Theyre going to take a massive hit in that holiday quarter just because they cant get these things to people. JC: I think overall, I think the strategy, I dont think theyre goingto be hurt by nobody wants the plus because I think theyre just buying Pros instead and thentheir average sale price goes up this generation and theyll be happy with that. Yeah, so overall,I just feel like the Pro was areally goodphone. We were really surprised by the wholeDynamic Island thing because we all heard about the whole punch camera pill thing. We had no cluethe software side of that and how it worked and how they make a UI element out of it.Everybody was floored and it was great and its fantastic. Then the 14 was a big disappointmentbecause I was like, well, why would I get this over 13? MS: Yeah, its true.Right. Its really for like an iPhone 11 upgrader. Even 12, I would say. And hold on to the 15,because the 15 looks like were going to get USB-C, maybe the Dynamic Island on the non-Pros.So, I would hold off if you have a 12 or later. RL: Sort of to wrap up the hardwarethe middle of the year, the iPod touch was discontinued, which meant the iPod productline JC: The real news is that it is that there was up until that point, it was there.It was still existed. MS: Yeah, that was one of those things.didnt actively promote it, you had to likegoto the store, the apple.com store and findit. But its still, its a bit of a bummer that Apple never created like a handheld non-phone, Phone for kids or for not even kids, for anybody. Like, so you got to buy an iPhone which hasyou know, 5G, 4G, you got to hook it up and activate and all that stuff. The iPod waslike this perfect little like entry-level iPhone device that they just never reallydeveloped into what it could have been. It could have, should have been just a phonewithout cellular service, but they ignored it for years and then they updated it withsomething that no one really wanted. JC: It could have been every time they make a new iPhone SE, they make a non-cellular versionand thats priced like $150 cheaper and thats all it is. MS: I want like an iPhone 12 that I can give to my son and doesnt have well, I mean, nowhes getting older anyway but as like, you know, between the ages of like four and nine,like people would love those things.But the iPad touch just didnt get the attention or the promotion that I think that it deserved. RL: Should we move on to software and services? JC:We better. Well never finish this podcast. RL: Like we do every year, we got major OS releases, iOS 16,iPadOS16, macOS Ventura,WatchOS9.I always forget to mentionWatchOSin this whole OS roundup. MS: And I think we had this discussion every year.Like, I mean, I think at this point theyhave toupdate everything every year, but itsa lot.Its a lot to do on an annual date.Yeah. JC: Just to keep the services in apps and sync and stuff like that. Just one year, just skip,just makewatchOS, just skip the numbers and get it all to be the same. MS: They did that withtvOS. They skipped like eight versions, but with the watch they have it too. JC: Right, right. Yeah, just do it withwatchOS. Just stand up there on stage at WWDC and say like,you know, were just unifying this to make it clear for you. Nobody will have a problem with it. Its fine. Anyway,iPadOS16 was delayed/skipped. They started with 16.1. They just didnt releasethe 16releasebecause its biggest feature, Stage Manager, was busted. Sadly, when they released it,its still busted, but it was in bad shape and really couldnt have been released. It held off on that and macOS, but macOS is often later anyway. MS: Well, its weird that they separated iOS and iPad OS for the first time, but even weirderthat theystill keptthe numbering the same.So as Jason said, 16.1 was the first JC: Which I think is the right way to do it.It would be because it is that release.They just literally skipped shipping the 16.0 release and fine.They didnt have to the way they had to with the iPhones because the new iPhones need toship with iOS16and they didnt have new iPads to ship then. MS: We had universal control last year.And Apple delayed it by several months, even though it was working in the beta,they kept it back until they got it right, which is what Apple does. No one was surprised whenthey do stuff like that. This is very surprising. Whereas people who champion the iPad and championApple products are like, this is terrible. I cant use this. This is just JC: And theyre leaping to Twitter with all these screenshots and videos and stuffof like, look how broken this is, look how this totally fails and this is, you know,its the keyboard screwed up and all these like serious stuff. Not just like, oh, I dontlikeitbut its literally broken. MS: And Apple doesnt seem to be really kind of urgently fixing it either. Its like, welllook at it, dont worry. JC: Yeah, I think they just got a lot to do and theyre nevergonnaadmit theres a problem. Theres only ever improvements. Theres never a problem that needs fixing in Apple land.I think that might be part of it. It might be interesting next year. I also thinkiPadOS16 is a bit of a disappointment because the coolest stuff in iOS 16 isnt there. Itsjust like the widgets and app library from a couple of years back where the iPads behind,but like all the lock screen customization stuff. Thats like the biggest, most obvious cool thingin iOS 16 and its not there at all on the iPad. We did get cool stuff likeunsending,and editing messages and messages. Thats a big one. And some notificationschangesthat in iOS16, thats not, again, thats part of a new lock screen thing that you dont get.But stuff like the grabbing images and just like grabbing the image without the backgroundand taking the background out and all those cool things. You get those cool things. But the biggest thing, that home screen redesign and the things that go along with it like, live activities and stuff like that. Some of that, interestingly, didnt ship with thefirst release of iOS 16 as it usually does. I think iOS 16s best I think the starting block for iOS 16 is coming this month with 16.2 where its got the new home architectureand it has live activities and live activities areupdatedand more apps start to support it.Theres just a lot of tweaks that happen the first couple of months. RL:And then with Mac OS Ventura, probably the biggest feature we got is being able to use the iPhone as a webcam, expanding on the continuity camera features. JC: That is great. RL: Jason has been using it in our podcast recordings. MS: Its a stark difference when he turns it on and uses it. JC: It looks like all those Twitch streamers whos got their DSLR hooked up. R:Yeah, itsreally easyto do. Theres some nice interoperability thats happening between the Macin iPad and iPhone that Apples starting to do more of in Mac OS. JC: I feel bad for everybody getting a Sherlock like this, but this is exactly the interoperabilityand the ease of use of that interoperability. Thats the Apple promise. Thats the like,why you are okay with the walled garden is because itsreally nicein the garden andeverything works together. So, I love seeing that. Thats my favorite stuff in every macOS release is when these things work together better.I wish theyd update messages on Mac. RL: Thats a whole otherpodcast. JC: Thats a whole other podcast.I wish it was more like the iPhones messages. RL: How about with services?Is the big service thing that happened this past yearthe price increase to the subscriptions? JC:Yeah. MS: They didnt announce any new services.I mean, the price increase is substantial. It went from $5.99 to $7.99 for Apple TV+, a buck for Apple Music and $2 or $3 for thebundles like we get.I think its $2.$3?It might have been $3.But the Apple TV+ one is a big one and I get it. Their library is vastly bigger than it was when it launched at $4.99 and its somereallygoodstuff. Like if you look at end of year lists, like theres a bunch of shows that are on most of them that Apple TV makes. Its just notthe service that people think of subscribing to when they think of subscribing to a streaming service yet.Theyre still Netflix is still number one. Disney Plus is up there even Hulu.But Apple TV+, its getting to belike a legitimatelyreally goodservice.Definitely worth$7.99. Thats for sure. JC: Yeah. Its still also kind of the cheapest. Everybodys raising their prices. So, it isstill cheaper than Hulu and all these other things. And that combined with theyre doing all this stuff with MLB and soccer and theres talk about football, although that will probablycost them extra. They really are building out the service. MS: Soccerstarts next year, its $100 a season, and $80 a season if youre a subscriber,so you dont have to subscribe. I dont watch soccer but if it was a sport that I watched, I would jump on that because its every game is noblockoutsor anything, and youll have youll be able to watch it live and then replays and if its anything like baseball,although I will join the chorus of Twitter people that say that the broadcasters were horrendous.But the broadcast if you muted it was gorgeous. Yeah. And its a great presentation, and if its anything close to that for soccer, which I assume it will, that the cameras thatthey use, the angles that they get, the replays, itsreally good.And if youre a soccer fan, its going to be fantastic.I can almost assure you that itll be worth the money if youre a fan of Major LeagueSoccer.I have been watching the World Cup for the first time in forever and its fine.I just dont think I would watch enough of it. JC: And you dont get any of those,right?You dont get any of those leagues, you just get MLS. MS: Right.Major League Soccer which is the stepchild of soccer.Its just the North American League, right? JC: Which is not where soccer is most popular,but to their credit, MLS is growing a lot. They just passed NHL in popularity. MS: Not saying a ton, but its something. JC: Its the number four, right?Its getting there. MS: Its getting there, yeah. JC: Football, basketball, baseball, and it was hockey and now its soccer and its goingup quickly and this is probably going to help. Having more people have more access to allthe games and stuff. Theyll do free games and free weekends to try and get subscribers.But this includes things like playoffs and championships and all the stuff, like all thestuff. Itsreally impressive. MS: Its exclusive. Its unprecedented as far as I can tell for a major sports league to be exclusive to one network with everything like basketball.You can watch the playoffs on TNT and ESPN, baseball, its on Fox.And this is only Apple TV.Youre getting everything for 100 bucks on Apple TV. JC:We got Mike talking about sports now and its RL: Welcome to Sports Talk on Macworld! JC: Other Apple services. Yeah, so other Apple services. MS: Wait, there are others? JC: You know, iCloud is still disappointment. MS: Yeah, they still have an up to 5gigabyte. JC: They keep trying to find any way theycan notdo that to find free.But the starting paid volume should be higher. The five free should be at least10. But now theyll do things like, well, if you dont have it and you dont have enoughroom in your 5GB to do an update, well let you do the update only. Well give you enoughstorage just for the iPhone update youre trying to do over iCloud, just for the lengthof time to do the update and then you dont really have it. Its just kind ofannoying. Not VPN sort of.You know, private browsing stuff. Its not quite a VPN, but its to hide a lot of stuff frombrowsers. Its a good service, not a big deal, but these sort of privacy things are.Good stuff to have built into the OS. And what else? Apple Music had kind of a boring year. RL: Apple Music Sing! JC: Yeah, thats neat. MS: That feature just came out. JC: Well see what happens when that comes out. As we record this, it hasnt landed yet.Its a neat idea and its just in time for Christmas. MS: Yeah, its a cool idea.And the Apple Music Classic, we were talking about that this morning over Slack. That was supposedto come out last year. It was in August that they announced that they had bought, the name escapesme, so thats with a P, a classic music, yeah,Primafonic, a classic music service that they were going to bring into Apple Music and have it. JC: Yeah, they were going to have a dedicated classical experience.Sonobody really quite understoodif it was going to be a section in Apple Music or a separate app,but they havent done either.And that was last summer they bought them.Soits kind of weird. RL: Thats going to headline WWDC in June. MS: I mean, if youre into classical music,it sounds like a cool thing, but I dont know whats happened. JC: Apple Music Voice launched this year as a way just to be cheap. MS: Yeah. JC: Its a $5 a month thing.Imreally curioushow well thats doing sort of globally.In the U.S., everyones fine either not paying at all or paying $10 a month.Nobodys going to go $5 is the price Ive been waiting for.But over the whole world, I think it might matter more. MS: Maybe.Its a frustrating thing.You can only use Siri.If it was $5 with ads or something, then okay. JC: You can make playlists and do all the things.Yeah.Yeah. MS: Theres a lot that you cantdoand you have to use Siri, which lets be honest, isntalways that great at finding stuff.Itsreally justlike a way to upsell people to the full Apple Music, it seems.Bait and switch, so to speak.Yeah. JC:It feels like maybe a cheaper thing that they can eventually, when they have all these servicesthat give you free Apple Music, it can be Apple Music Voice.I think they give it to you for a long time. MS: Something like that works really well for like Amazon has something very, thats basicallytheir services that too, but youreyoureaccustomto using Alexa for thatstuff. This is not like you use I use the Apple Music app on my phone all the time.This Apple Music Voice, it takes that away. So, its an interesting thing andHomepodmini isntubiquitous enough to kind of supplement, I dont think. JC: To me, the best thing about it was thatsince its voice only, and you can ask for any track or artist or whatever, but they also made dozens of playlists to fit like moods and activities and stuff like that. Just dozensand dozens of them. Andthat benefitseveryone. Those are just there. If you have full app inmusic, you can search or you can use Siri or you can whatever.SoI just love the thing. We got awhole ton of like playlists, dynamic playlists for moods and activities and stuff. RL: We also saw in Apple Arcade, I guess, some game developer contracts expired.Sosome game developersdecided to stop becoming available on Apple Arcade. JC: Not many, but yeah, a few. RL: Not many, but a few, which I guess shows that for developers, Apple Arcade isnt for everybody,I guess.We dont know how much developers benefit from it, how much theyre making, I guess,in other words. JC: Yeah.I think it depends.I think the contracts are all a little different.It certainly doesnt seem to be a service that anyone talks about.It seems to be one of those things that nobody talks about subscribing or the new game thatson Apple Arcade or anything.It seems like a benefit of having Apple One.Theres some good stuff.Now that theyve changed their policy to be, were taking a lot of hits from the last fewyears usually after theyre a year or two old and just putting a plus by thenameso you know its a different version and putting it on Apple Arcade.Like Dead Cells Plus just came out.Dead Cells is a tremendous game.Like play with a gamepad, but that games awesome.Its been in the AppStoreand they just take the App Store versions, call it Ten Cells Plus and put it in Arcade.Like, since theyve beenstarting doingthat, theres been good stuff in there.Just not brand new. RL:But yeah, I wish Apple would promote it a little more and maybe induce something else with it.I dont know what, but it does kind of feel like it kind of gets overlooked a lot.And all we hear about are new games. Heres a new game. Jason updates it weekly. JC: Yeah, every Friday, heres the new Apple Arcade game. RL: Yeah. JC: Its not a big deal.Like nobodys going to be all talking about it online. MS: I dont know, SpongeBob Saladwaspretty cool. RL: I think that does it for this episode of the Macworld Podcast, episode819.Thanks to Jason Cross. JC: Thank you! RL: Thanks to Michael Simon. MS: Thank you, sir. RL:Thanks to the audience. Thank you for tuning in. You can subscribe to the Macworld Podcast in the Podcast app, on Spotify, or through any other podcast app. If you have any comments or questions,send us an email at podcast@macworld.com or contact us on Twitter(thats @macworld) or on the Macworld Facebook page.Join us in the next episode of the Macworld Podcast as we talk about the latest in theworld of Apple.See you next time. Apple, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iCloud, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Mac, MacOS, Streaming Media

Tackle your holiday shopping with a one-year Costco membership and a $30 Digital Costco Shop Card*

Planning on hosting a party this holiday season? Dont waste time running around town to multiple stores.With a Costco membership, you can pick up nearly everything you need to throw the best holiday party on the block, including gifts for that White Elephant exchange. For a limited time, you can get a one-year Costco Gold Star Membership and a $30 Digital Costco Shop Card* for $60 . Costco is a warehouse featuring a diverse mix ofgroceries, electronics , household items , kitchen essentials, and more. On its own, shopping at Costco is a great opportunity to shop in bulk, but when you add in the monthly savings books they send out, the potential for savings expands significantly. You arent limited to what you can find on the shelves. With Costco Services, you could also fill your prescriptions at your local Costco pharmacy, fill your cars tank at a Costco Gas Station, shop for glasses at Costco Optical, and find deals on your next vacation. You may be able to save on cruise tickets, a trip to Bora Bora , or even a rental car with your Costco membership, which you can use in brick-and-mortar locations or at Costco.com. Start shopping at Costco and see what savings await. Costco 1-Year Gold Star Membership + a $30 Digital Costco Shop Card $60 See Deal Prices subject to change. *To receive a Digital Costco Shop Card, you must provide a valid email address at the time of sign-up. If you elect not to provide a valid email address, a Digital Costco Shop Card will not be emailed. Valid only for nonmembers for their first year of membership. Limit one per household. Nontransferable and may not be combined with any other promotion. New members will receive their Digital Costco Shop Card by email within 2 weeks of sign-up. Costco Shop Cards are not redeemable for cash, except as required by law. A Costco membership is $60 a year. An Executive Membership is an additional $60 upgrade fee a year. Each membership includes one free Household Card. May be subject to sales tax. Costco accepts all Visa cards, as well as cash, checks, debit/ATM cards, EBT and Costco Shop Cards. Departments and product selection may vary. Shopping, Shopping Occasions

iPhone Repairs: French Environmental Campaign Group File Complaint Against Apple Over 'Wasteful Practices'

Apple is facing a complaint from a French environmental campaign group over the company's commercial practices related to the use of spare parts to repair its devices. The group has alleged that device malfunctions were found even when an identical or original part was used to repair the device, but not authorised by Apple's software.

Oppo Find N2 Series Launch Date Confirmed, Inno Day 2022 Event Set for December 14

Oppo will be hosting its annual tech event, Oppo Inno Day 2022, in December second week. The launch event will be livestreamed via Oppo's official channels. On the following day December 15 the company will unveil the Oppo Find N2 series in China.

15 odd and interesting gift ideas for hackers in 2022

From hobbyist hackers and programmers to professionals, they will love our picks for tech gifts for hackers this holiday season.

Twitter to Charge $11 Per Month for Twitter Blue on iPhone, $7 on Website

Twitter plans to charge $11 per month for a Twitter Blue subscription on the iPhone in order to account for the 30 percent cut that Apple takes from in-app purchases, reports The Information . On the web, Twitter Blue will be priced at $7 per month. Prior to when Twitter Blue was paused, Twitter was charging $7.99 for a subscription, but the pricing will change before it relaunches. According to The Information , some employees have been briefed on the new pricing, but Twitter CEO Elon Musk is known for making snap decisions, so it is still not yet clear if plans could change. The higher price point on the iPhone will allow Twitter to provide Apple with its 30 percent cut of in-app purchase proceeds without significantly cutting in to Twitter's bottom line. The pricing difference will likely encourage most customers to subscribe on the web, allowing Twitter to avoid in-app purchase fees. Other companies like Spotify have in the past charged higher prices on the iPhone than on the web, but this often leads to confusion for consumers who do not understand why the prices are different on a device to device basis. Apple does not have an issue with companies charging more for subscriptions in apps than on the web. The Twitter Blue pricing changes come after a short dispute between Twitter and Apple. Musk last week criticized Apple's App Store fees and claimed that Apple had hreatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but he later walked that statement back following a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook . Musk and Cook met at Apple Park , and afterward, Musk said they had a good conversation and that there had been a misunderstanding over Twitter being potentially removed from the App Store. Twitter is planning to relaunch Twitter Blue on Friday. Twitter Blue subscriptions were paused after Musk included a verification checkmark with Twitter Blue, allowing companies, celebrities, and other high-profile individuals to be impersonated by anyone with $8 to spend. Twitter Blue has not been available since November 11. With the relaunch, Twitter Blue is expected to include different badge colors for corporations, government accounts, and individuals, as well as restrictions on changing usernames and limits on signups for newer accounts. Tag: Twitter This article, Twitter to Charge $11 Per Month for Twitter Blue on iPhone, $7 on Website first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

MediaTeks new Dimensity 8200 brings flagship performance to cheaper phones

MediaTek's latest is the Dimensity 8200, an upper-midrange SoC based on the 4nm process that offers a tri-cluster CPU design with some impressive camera chops.

Apple Stops Signing iOS 16.1 and iOS 16.1.1 Following iOS 16.1.2 Launch

Following the launch of iOS 16.1.2 on November 30, Apple has stopped signing iOS 16.1.1 and iOS 16.1, two previously available versions of iOS.. With iOS 16.1 and iOS 16.1.1 no longer being signed, it is not possible to downgrade to those versions of iOS after upgrading to iOS 16.1.2. Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date, so it is not unusual that the updates are no longer being signed. iOS 16.1 was a major update that added support for iCloud Photo Library and Live Activities, while iOS 16.1.1 was a bug fix update . iOS 16.1.2 will soon be replaced with iOS 16.2 , a major update that is in testing and should launch next week . iOS 16.2 will introduce Advanced Data Protection for iCloud , the Freeform app, Apple Music Sing, and other new features. Related Roundups: iOS 16 , iPadOS 16 Related Forum: iOS 16 This article, Apple Stops Signing iOS 16.1 and iOS 16.1.1 Following iOS 16.1.2 Launch first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

What Apples iCloud encryption update really means and why you should care

You will soon be able to protect your sensitive iCloud data with end-to-end encryption. That's a huge upgrade and finally justifies Apple's tall privacy claims.

Hands-On With Apple Music Sing in iOS 16.2

With the iOS 16.2 release candidate that came out today, Apple added the new Apple Music Sing feature that was announced earlier this week. We thought we'd check out the new karaoke feature to see how it works. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple Music Sing is available on modern iPhones and iPads, as well as the newest Apple TV 4K. It's built in to the Apple Music app, and therefore limited to Apple Music subscribers. Note that you need to have a full Apple Music subscription, as it is not included with the more affordable voice-only plan. If you've used Apple Music's built-in follow along lyrics feature, you know how to use Apple Music Sing. The feature basically uses the lyric functionality, while also adding a toggle to turn down the vocals of a song to replace them with your own. Just pick a song, turn on the lyrics, and then use the little microphone icon to adjust the vocals. Apple Music Sing is not available for every song, and it's not entirely clear which songs Apple is limiting it to. Apple is going to provide playlists for Apple Music Sing, which will be filled with popular songs to sing along to. Apple Music Sing will be available to all users with the launch of iOS 16.2, and as we already have a release candidate, iOS 16.2 could come out as soon as next week. Apple Music Sing is available on the iPhone 11 and later, the third-generation 11-inch iPad Pro and later, the fifth-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro and later, the fourth-generation iPad Air and later, the ninth-generation iPad and later, the iPad mini and later, and the new third-generation Apple TV 4K. Related Roundups: iOS 16 , iPadOS 16 Related Forum: iOS 16 This article, Hands-On With Apple Music Sing in iOS 16.2 first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Apple will finally encrypt iCloud Backups as part of major security push

With our ever-increasing dependence on online services, security and privacy are a top priority, and Apple has implemented several features in its devices to maintain security. Apples efforts continue with Wednesdays announcement of three new security features to protect users online. Apples new features are: iMessage Contact Key Verification : A method for users to verify the identity of the people they are communicating with. Security Keys for Apple ID : The option to require a physical security key to sign in to an Apple ID account. Advanced Data Protection for iCloud : End-to-end encryption when accessing iCloud resources. In a press release , Apples Craig Federighi said, At Apple, we are unwavering in our commitment to provide our users with the best data security in the world. We constantly identify and mitigate emerging threats to their personal data on device and in the cloud. The new features will arrive as part of iOS 16.2 and macOS 13.1, which are likely to hit devices early next week. I sat down with Apple's Craig Federighi on Monday to talk about the new iCloud end-to-end encryption or what Apple calls https://t.co/X64rwl3JCN pic.twitter.com/TyuMHIOEDB Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) December 7, 2022 iMessage Contact Key Verification iMessage Contact Key Verification is a feature that users can turn on to inform the user when a conversation in Messages or FaceTime could possibly be monitored by an unseen intruder. An alert will appear when an exceptionally advanced adversary were able to breach the service and eavesdrop. Users will also be able to compare a Contact Verification Code in person, on FaceTime, or through another secure call. iMessage Contact Key Verification is in addition to the end-to-end encryption that Apple has always used with iMessage and FaceTime. Security Keys Security Keys is a supplement to the two-factor authentication used for Apple ID log-ins. Apples 2FA involves logging in with your username and password and then typing in a six-digit numerical code that is sent to your trusted devices. Security Keys will give users the option of using a third-party hardware security key for 2FA authentication. The key can be inserted into a port or use NFC wireless connectivity. Advanced Data Protection for iCloud With iCloud, 14 sensitive data categories use end-to-end encryption, including iCloud Keychain and Health. Advanced Data Protection for iCloud will expand that encryption coverage to 23 categories, which includes iCloud Backup, Notes, and Photos. If you sign up for Advanced Data Protection, the only iCloud features that are not covered are iCloud Mail, Contacts, and Calendar, which need to interoperate with Apples global systems. These features will be available in the U.S. as part of the full release of iOS 16.2 and macOS 13.1 arriving later this month. Apple says a global rollout is scheduled for early 2023. Cloud Security, iCloud

Apple Expected to Expand Emergency SOS via Satellite to the UK on December 13

Apple could expand the Emergency SOS via Satellite and Find My via satellite functionality to the United Kingdom as soon as next week, according to a source that spoke to MacRumors . Emergency services personnel in the country have been told that calls from the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature will be routed to local emergency services facilities starting on Tuesday, December 13. Emergency SOS via Satellite launched in the United States and Canada last month, and at the time, Apple said that it would expand to France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK in December. Apple did not provide a specific date, but the December 13 date we've heard from the UK source makes sense. It is not clear if the expansion will also include France, Germany, and Ireland, but it seems likely, and this could also be the day we see iOS 16.2 launch. Apple's Emergency SOS via Satellite feature is available to all iPhone 14 users running iOS 16.1 in supported countries and it is free to use for two years. It is designed to allow iPhone users to make emergency calls using satellite connectivity outdoors when no cellular or WiFi connection is available. Satellite connectivity can also be used to update a Find My location without WiFi or cellular connectivity through the Find My app. This article, Apple Expected to Expand Emergency SOS via Satellite to the UK on December 13 first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Pay Offering These Exclusive Holiday Discounts Until Next Week

Now through December 15, you can get exclusive holiday offers when you shop with Apple Pay in the United States. There are 12 participating brands, including Revolve, Le Creuset, HotelTonight, and more, with a full list outlined on Apple's website . The offers are available for qualifying purchases made with Apple Pay on participating apps and websites using devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple previously announced that customers who sign up for an Apple Card between December 1 and December 25 are eligible for an increased 5% Daily Cash on Apple products purchased with the card between those dates at Apple Stores and on Apple.com. Related Roundup: Apple Pay Tag: Apple Pay Promo Related Forum: Apple Music, Apple Pay/Card, iCloud, Fitness+ This article, Apple Pay Offering These Exclusive Holiday Discounts Until Next Week first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums