Tech Talk

Apple is currently offering its corporate and retail employees 40% off select Link Bracelet and Milanese Loop bands for the Apple Watch. In the U.S., the Link Bracelet is available for $209 on Apple's online store for employees, down from $349 regularly. The Milanese Loop is available for $59, down from $99. Both bands were introduced alongside the original Apple Watch in 2015. Apple is also offering employees 50% off various Black Unity and Pride Edition bands, as well as the Sport Band in the Midnight color only. Apple offers employees special discounts on a rotating selection of products, so it is unclear whether this is another routine sale, or if the company plans to discontinue the Link Bracelet and Milanese Loop in the future and is clearing inventory. It has been rumored that at least one next-generation Apple Watch model will not be compatible with existing Apple Watch bands . The new Apple Watch lineup is expected to be announced in September alongside the iPhone

OWC has discounted the popular 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock down to $99.99, from its original price of $279.99. This is a match of the all-time low price on the accessory, which is set to expire on Monday, April 1. Besides this dock, you'll find a large collection of accessories on sale at this time on OWC, including USB-C hubs, external drives and enclosures, and internal memory upgrade kits for Mac. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with OWC. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. In regards to the 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock, this accessory features two Thunderbolt 3 ports, five USB Type-A ports, one USB Type-C port, one Mini DisplayPort port, one gigabit Ethernet port, one S/PDIF digital audio output port, and one 3.5mm stereo audio input/output port. There are also two memory card slots for microSD and SD cards. $180 OFF OWC 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock for $99.99 All of the devices liste

The iPhone 15 offers "lots of storage for lots of photos," or at least that's what Apple boasts in its latest ad . Whether that rings true for you depends on what you do with your iPhone, and which storage option you choose. But before you open your wallet, here are some things to consider. The entry-level storage tier for the iPhone 15 is 128GB. That's a notable increase from the 64GB baseline that persisted until the iPhone 13 in 2021. When you consider that 2018's iPhone X came with as little as 64GB, the base storage option for Apple's latest device might even begin to sound generous. However, this generational upward shift simply reflects the growing demand for more storage space as our digital habits broaden to encompass everything from high-resolution photography and multi-gigabyte triple-A games to extensive app libraries. With the iPhone 15's camera capabilities now including 48-megapixel photos and 4K video recording, the space required fo

When WWDC 2024 takes place in June, Apple will unveil the next-generation version of macOS, macOS 15 . While most of what we've heard about upcoming software has been focused on iOS, macOS and iOS often share many features, so we have some idea of what's coming to macOS as well. AI Features Apple is working to add a number of AI-centric features to its operating system updates, many of which are likely to be cross-platform. AI-generated Apple Music playlists. AI-assisted writing in Pages. AI-assisted slide deck creation in Keynote. AI code writing features in Xcode. Siri improvements and deeper integration with Shortcuts. ‌Siri‌ could benefit the most from AI improvements, and there are rumors suggesting the personal assistant will be better at natural conversation and user personalization, with the new functionality set to be available cross-device. Apple is specifically working on improved interaction between ‌Siri‌ and the Messages app, so ‌Siri‌ will

Amazon today launched the Amazon One app , which is designed to allow customers to scan their palms to make device-free purchases at Whole Foods, Panera Bread, and 150 third-party locations in stadiums, airports, fitness centers, and convenience stores. Prior to the launch of the app, signing up for Amazon One had to be done in a physical location with an Amazon One device. The app lets customers create a profile, take a photo of their palm, and add a payment method. Finishing sign-up will still require an initial interaction with an Amazon One machine. Amazon One can be used for payment, entry to venues, age verification, and loyalty rewards. The service uses generative AI to match a camera phone photo of a person's palm to near-infrared imagery from an Amazon One scanner. The AI system is able to pair palm and vein imagery to create a unique, numerical vector representation that is used for identity matching. Amazon says that it is 99.99 percent accurate. Palm images ta

A lawsuit targeting Apple's refusal to allow apps to support cryptocurrency transactions was today tossed out by a San Francisco judge, reports Reuters . The lawsuit, which was filed by Venmo and Cash App customers, claimed that Apple drove up the fees charged by Venmo and Cash App by not letting payment apps facilitate cryptocurrency transactions. The plaintiffs alleged that Apple curbed competition in the mobile peer-to-peer payment market with its App Store guidelines. No option for cryptocurrency has supposedly caused Venmo and Cash App to raise prices for transactions and services due to "no competitive check." A payment app that is based on decentralized cryptocurrency technology would let iPhone users "send payments to each other without any intermediary at all." According to the lawsuit, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, and other payment providers agreed to an ‌App Store‌ guideline that does not allow for cryptocurrency transactions, which constitutes an

Apple's AirTag 4-Pack has dropped to $74.99 today on Amazon, down from $99.00. This deal brings the AirTag 4-Pack back down to its all-time low price, which is a price that we haven't tracked since the holiday season. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. If you only need one AirTag, Amazon has the 1-Pack for $24.00 , which is a solid second-best price on the Bluetooth tracker. Delivery dates for the AirTag 4-Pack are estimated between this Saturday, March 30 and Tuesday, April 2, while the 1-Pack dates have stretched into mid-April. $24 OFF AirTag 4-Pack for $74.99 AirTag provides a way to keep track of your items in the iOS Find My app, allowing you to play a sound on the built-in speaker to find something locally or with precision finding when it's farther away. Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-r

iOS 17.4 brings support for 15W wireless charging with Qi2 to the iPhone 12, according to Macworld . Qi2 is a next-generation wireless charging technology designed by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) and based on MagSafe . ‌MagSafe‌ was first introduced on the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and offers speeds of up to 15W. Third-party wireless chargers without ‌MagSafe‌ certification have been limited to maximum speeds of 7.5W, but Qi2 can reach the full 15W. Last year, Apple enabled 15W speeds with Qi2 wireless chargers on the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 via iOS 17.2. The iPhone 15 lineup already supported Qi2 upon launch, leaving the ‌iPhone‌ 12 as the only ‌iPhone‌ model with ‌MagSafe‌ without the faster charging capability when using Qi2 accessories. Citing reader reports and its own tests, Macworld claims that the ‌iPhone‌ 12 is able to charge at 15W when using a Qi2 wireless charger after an update to iOS 17.4. When using a Qi2 charger, the device now displays the animation that only app

Apple's proposed launch schedule for its first foldable iPhone has been delayed until 2027 due to technical challenges, claims a report out of Korea. According to Alpha Biz (via DigiTimes ), Apple executives have adjusted the launch schedule for the foldable ‌iPhone‌ from the fourth quarter of 2026 to the first quarter of 2027 following issues with the acquisition of parts, including foldable displays that meet its high standards. Apple is still in the early stages of developing two foldable smartphones, according to The Information . The report said that the two ‌iPhone‌ prototypes fold widthwise like a clamshell. More recently, Samsung Securities claimed that Apple's first foldable ‌iPhone‌ will feature a 6-inch external display and an 8-inch main display. Meanwhile, Korean outlet The Elec last month reported that Apple is also considering launching a 7- to 8-inch device that could ultimately replace the 8.3-inch iPad mini . Despite the rumors, however, there is

Google today announced several changes that it is making to the Google Maps platform, including an AI update. Google Maps now provides better at-a-glance information on locations, with the details powered by Google AI. Maps shows photo highlights and reviews that summarize what people like about a location. A restaurant's food items can be identified using AI, and Google Maps will also provide cost, potential availability, and whether or not it caters to dietary restrictions. Google says that it will now be easier to discover helpful recommendation lists from top sites and the Google Maps community in select cities in the U.S. and Canada. To use the feature, search for a city and swipe to see curated lists of recommendations from people familiar with the city. There are also Trending, Top, and Gems lists that highlight popular locations to visit when traveling. The feature is available in 40 cities this week, with more coming in the future. To go along with the change to re

Apple's iPhone shipments in China dropped by 33% in February compared to the same month last year, according to governement figures (via Bloomberg ). A report from China's Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed that foreign brands shipped around 2.4 million smartphones last month. Given that Apple is the only overseas vendor with a meaningful market share, the company accounts for the vast majority of those shipments. The decline in February marks the third consecutive month of lower iPhone shipments. Apple in January shipped some 5.5 million units in China, which is around 39% fewer handsets than the same time last year. In December, the company suffered a 30% year-on-year decline in the country. Apple appears to be facing an uphill battle to reverse falling iPhone sales in China, with a 24% year-on-year decline in 2023 projected to deepen through 2024. Apple resellers in China have been increasingly dependent on discounts to shift ‌iPhone 15‌ stoc

Apple supplier BOE has taken the lead in becoming the OLED panel supplier for the fourth-generation iPhone SE, IT Home reports. Samsung Display, BOE, and Tianma have all been in discussions with Apple to supply the OLED panels, but today's report claims that Samung has withdrawn from negotiations due to pricing problems, despite having an existing iPhone 14 OLED inventory to draw from. Apple has reportedly been holding out for $25 per panel, but Samsung's final offer was $30, which is lower than the two Chinese manufacturers. That leaves BOE and Tianma as potential suppliers, however Tianma has not yet met Apple's stringent quality requirements, leaving BOE in pole position to win the majority of the orders, if not all of them. The panel prices for the iPhone SE 4 are said to be a lot lower than suppliers charge for the OLED displays used in the iPhone 15, since the panels for the SE will use legacy parts identical to those used in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14, so th

Phishing attacks taking advantage of what appears to be a bug in Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity . Multiple Apple users users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to get them to approve an Apple ID password change. An attacker is able to cause the target's iPhone , Apple Watch, or Mac to display system-level password change approval texts over and over again, with the hope that the person being targeted will mistakenly approve the request or get tired of the notifications and click on the accept button. If the request is approved, the attacker is able to change the ‌Apple ID‌ password and lock the Apple user out of their account. Because the password requests target the ‌Apple ID‌, they pop up on all of a user's devices. The notifications render all linked Apple products unable to b

Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18 , according to code reviewed by MacRumors . ‌Apple Maps‌ does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in ‌iOS 18‌. Apple has pushed an ‌iOS 18‌ file to its maps back-end labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed by the file except for the name, it does mention that this upcoming feature will be limited to the United States at launch. Custom routes would allow users to set what specific roads they want to travel down, whether for scenic purposes or for the familiarity of a route. Route options beyond the default have been a highly requested ‌Apple Maps‌ feature for several years now, and other services like Google Maps allow users to create custom routes on a computer and then view them on an iOS device. ‌iOS 18‌ will be introduced at the Worldwide Developers Confere

On March 21, the United States Justice Department sued Apple for antitrust violations , concluding a multi-year investigation into Apple's business practices. The U.S. government is also pursuing antitrust cases against Google, Amazon, and Meta, as part of an expansive look into the practices of major tech companies. Apple plans to "vigorously defend" against the DoJ's lawsuit, which seeks to fundamentally change the way that Apple operates. This will be a legal battle that spans multiple years, and we'll keep this guide updated with the latest news as the case progresses. DoJ's Claims The lawsuit that the DoJ filed against Apple is broad ranging, and rather than focusing on one or two issues, it aims to establish a long-running history of anti-competitive behavior. The DoJ tries to establish a pattern of business decisions that have suppressed competition, with the DoJ arguing that Apple has time and time again opted to "make its products worse fo

On March 21, the United States Justice Department sued Apple for antitrust violations , concluding a multi-year investigation into Apple's business practices. The U.S. government is also pursuing antitrust cases against Google, Amazon, and Meta, as part of an expansive look into the practices of major tech companies. Apple plans to "vigorously defend" against the DoJ's lawsuit, which seeks to fundamentally change the way that Apple operates. This will be a legal battle that spans multiple years, and we'll keep this guide updated with the latest news as the case progresses. DoJ's Claims The lawsuit that the DoJ filed against Apple is broad ranging, and rather than focusing on one or two issues, it aims to establish a long-running history of anti-competitive behavior. The DoJ tries to establish a pattern of business decisions that have suppressed competition, with the DoJ arguing that Apple has time and time again opted to "make its products worse fo

Apple's next-generation A18 Pro chip for iPhone 16 Pro models will feature a larger die size for boosted artificial intelligence performance, according to Jeff Pu, an investment analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain. In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities this week, Pu added that the A18 Pro chip will be equipped with a 6-core GPU, which would be equal to the A17 Pro chip in iPhone 15 Pro models. Generative AI iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for a range of iPhone features and apps, including Siri, Spotlight, Apple Music, Health, Messages, Numbers, Pages, Keynote, Shortcuts, and more. Apple has reportedly considered partnering with companies such as Google, OpenAI, and Baidu for at least some of these features. iPhone 16 Pro models are rumored to feature an upgraded Neural Engine with "significantly" more cores, which could result in some of iOS 18's generative

While the Apple Pencil is currently compatible with iPads only, a future version of the accessory may work with Apple's Vision Pro headset. Apple has internally tested a new Apple Pencil with visionOS support, according to a source familiar with the matter. This would allow the Apple Pencil to be used with drawing apps on the Vision Pro, such as Freeform and Pixelmator. No specific details are known about visionOS support, but one possibility is that users would be able to draw with the Apple Pencil on a desk or another flat surface, and the drawing would appear in visionOS. This would essentially turn a person's surroundings into a giant canvas, complete with pressure and tilt sensitivity. A new Apple Pencil is rumored to launch alongside new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in April , but we have not confirmed if it will support visionOS. Apple Pencil compatibility with the Vision Pro would also require updated software, but it is unclear which version might add support

The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as " Instant Digital ." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will remain on the top and simply be centered. Currently, the front-facing camera of both the iPad Air and ‌iPad Pro‌ resides on the top of the device, which means that the camera is positioned to the left when the device is being used in landscape, such as with a Magic Keyboard. Apple relocated the front-facing camera of the 10th-generation ‌ iPad ‌ to the side of the device to provide a better experience in landscape and the company has not launched a new ‌iPad‌ since then. In January, code discovered in iOS 17.4 suggested the next ‌iPad Pro‌'s TrueDepth camera array would be mov