Tech Talk

French company Focal is known for its range of high fidelity audio systems, and it recently came out with its first set of wireless headphones with Active Noise Cancellation, the Bathys . The Focal Bathys are priced at $800, and while they are closest in functionality to Apple's $549 AirPods Max , they're more premium than anything Apple offers. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been testing out the Focal Bathys to see how they measure up to the ‌AirPods Max‌ and whether they’re worth the premium price. As a spoiler, these headphones have some of the best sounding wireless audio available, but the Active Noise Cancellation is a little disappointing at this price point. Make sure to watch Dan's video for a full overview of the design, functionality, battery life, and sound quality of the headphones. This article, " Video: Testing Focal's High-End $800 Bathys Over-Ear Headphones " first a

Men's Journal 's Jacob Krol was recently invited to tour the Apple Fitness+ studio in Santa Monica, California, providing another behind-the-scenes look at the subscription-based workout service. Krol had the opportunity to speak with Jay Blahnik, Apple's VP of Fitness Technologies, and met many of the trainers involved in the workouts. The first Fitness+ studio tours were shared last year, and this one provides some more details. Krol said the studio is one large room with equipment spread across several workout and meditation areas, and videos are recorded with 13 robotic cameras and a few human-operated cameras under a dense lighting grid. The live productions are monitored by a crew in a control room to ensure everything is being filmed correctly. Apple said Fitness+ now offers over 4,000 workouts and meditations, with new ones added every week. The videos range from 5 to 45 minutes in length, and there are a dozen workout types available, with the latest additio

This week saw a good mix of Apple news and rumors including the release of iOS 16.5 and related software updates, as well as the Beats Studio Buds + earphones and an early announcement of upcoming accessibility features from Apple. On the rumor front, we heard a bit more about what we should expect to see with the iPhone 15 lineup and the M3 family of Mac and iPad chips coming later this year, but the biggest focus of attention in the lead-up to WWDC in a few weeks is the Apple headset, so read on for all the details on these stories and more! Apple Releases iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5 With Sports Tab in Apple News, Bug Fixes and More After almost two months of beta testing, Apple this week released iOS 16.5 to the public, bringing some sports-related enhancements to Apple News, a new Pride Celebration wallpaper, and several bug fixes. It's a relatively minor update as iOS 16 work winds down ahead of the iOS 17 introduction at WWDC next month, but we'll be seeing at le

Apple over the last several months has been working on relocating its first-ever Apple Store in a Fairfax, Virginia shopping mall, and today is the grand opening of the revamped and relocated Tysons Corner store . Several influencers and ‌Apple Store‌ enthusiasts were invited to see Tysons Corner ahead of its opening, and were walked through the new store features. Michael Steeber shared detailed images of the experience, highlighting the Genius Bar, a hardware flex space, an Apple Watch Studio, and more. Apple has moved away from physical Genius Bar sections in its stores in recent years, but Tysons Corner has a dedicated Genius Bar in the right corner, similar to the original store. As Steeber points out, this is the first actual Genius Bar that Apple has installed in a store since 2015, though the concept of the Genius Bar never went away. There is a flexible hardware space at Tysons Corner, which Steeber says is designed to spotlight Apple's latest hardware. Apple ha

Apple's mixed-reality headset will cost the company around $1,500 per unit to manufacture, according to a series of reports coming out of Asia (via XRDailyNews ). Apple headset concept by David Lewis and Marcus Kane The first report from Minsheng Electronics , providing a detailed breakdown of the cost of each component in the headset, showing a total cost of $1,400. Including shipping, the conservative estimate for the bill of materials (BOM) is around $1,600. The device's most expensive components are the microOLED displays, which come in at $280 to $320. The next most costly parts are the headset's 14 camera modules, costing $160. The device's two chips , presumably referring to the main M-series SoC and a separate dedicated image signal processor, are believed to cost $120 to $140. Assembly is expected to cost $110 to $120. The firm also expects 400,000 to 500,000 headsets to be manufactured toward the end of 2023, with Apple running a 15-day preparation cycl

French fashion designer Hermès has launched a new leather case and lanyard for the second-generation AirPods Pro , continuing its work for Apple devices (via WatchGeneration ). The new Hermès ‌AirPods Pro‌ case comes in Gold and Bleu Navy, as well as several two-tone color options: Vert Criquet/Vert Bambou, Mauve Sylvestre/Rose Azalée, and Bleu Lin/Étain. The ‌AirPods Pro‌'s pairing button is indicated by a hot stamped Clou de Selle on the back of the case. The leather is also sufficiently thin to enable wireless charging. The Hermès ‌AirPods Pro‌ case comes with a long adjustable leather strap, allowing the case to be worn as a necklace, crossbody, or bag accessory. The case is available now for $930. The Hermès Lanyard for the second-generation ‌AirPods Pro‌ comes in Bambou, Gold, Bleu Navy, Rose Azalée, and Bleu Lin and features a circular Clou de Selle made of palladium brass. The lanyard is available now for $335. The accessories feature Hermès's "Swift&q

Apple's augmented reality glasses device is still at least four years away from launch, Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman reports . In an extensive report detailing some of the challenges involved in developing Apple's mixed-reality headset , Gurman explained that the company's separate AR glasses product has been mired by similar issues. AR glasses were the product that CEO Tim Cook and former design chief Jonny Ive originally wanted to build before technical limitations reduced expectations to the current "ski-goggle" headset form factor with video pass-through. Apple apparently realized early in the headset's development that the long-term goal of building AR glasses with sufficient power was unfeasible. Engineers calculated that the glasses would have to provide the full performance of an iPhone with only a tenth of its power consumption to prevent it from getting too hot. Mike Rockwell, a former Dolby executive hired to spearhead the development of ex