Tech Talk

Apple is focusing on bringing OLED displays to its iPad and MacBook lineups rather than offering its first foldable, Nikkei Asia reports. Apple is widely expected to bring OLED displays to the iPad Pro for the first time next year ahead of a wider expansion across the MacBook lineup. Nikkei today corroborated this information citing sources said to be to be familiar with the matter, adding that the first OLED MacBook model is under development for production in the second half of 2025. Nikkei claims that Apple is currently evaluating the potential of offering a foldable ‌iPad‌ after the transition to OLED is complete, but it is not a main focus and the company does not yet have a solid timeline for releasing such a device, mirroring a report from DigiTimes earlier this year. Reports from a multitude of reliable sources are fairly consistent that Apple plans to launch a foldable ‌iPad‌ before a foldable iPhone . In October, DigiTimes reported a range of details about App

Apple started testing the iOS 17.3 and iPadOS 17.3 betas in December, and while we are not expecting these updates to be as feature rich as iOS and iPadOS 17.2, there are some notable features that have been found so far. This guide aggregates everything that is coming in the iOS 17.3 update, and we'll update it throughout the beta testing period. Stolen Device Protection Earlier this year, there were news reports about a slate of iPhone thefts where the thief spied on a victim to learn the device passcode before stealing the phone, leading to drained bank accounts and an untraceable ‌iPhone‌. As a solution, Apple introduced Stolen Device Mode in iOS 17.3 to add extra security. If someone should obtain both your ‌iPhone‌ and your passcode, this feature prevents total catastrophe. With Stolen Device Mode enabled, accessing passwords in iCloud Keychain, turning off Lost Mode, erasing content, and making purchases in Safari requires biometric authentication with Face ID o

iMessage for Android app Beeper Mini is once again having connectivity issues, which it has attributed to Apple. Last night, Beeper Mini stopped working for some people, and the company confirmed that Apple was "deliberately blocking iMessages from being delivered" to approximately five percent of Beeper Mini users. At the time, Beeper Mini said that uninstalling and reinstalling Beeper Mini could serve as a workaround while a fix was developed. As of now, issues with the Beeper Cloud service have been resolved, but some Beeper Mini users are still having connectivity issues. On Twitter, Beeper's developers have been complaining about Apple's continued efforts to block the app, even though Apple made it clear that Beeper Mini was not going to be allowed. "It's super annoying that Apple is penalizing their own customers and Android users who just want secure and encrypted chats," says a message on the Beeper account . "We understand if you ch

Threads is now available to users in the European Union, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced. The move comes five months after the social media network launched in most markets around the world, but remained unavailable to EU-based users due to regulatory hurdles . "Today we're opening Threads to more countries in Europe," wrote Zuckerberg in a post on the platform . "Welcome everyone." In addition to creating a Threads profile for posting, users in the EU can also simply browse Threads without having an Instagram account, an option likely introduced to comply with legislation surrounding online services. The company's delay in launching the service in EU countries is believed to have been caused by the EU's Digital Markets Act, or DMA, which is intended to make the tech sector more open and balance competition. When Meta launched Threads in July , users signed up through their Instagram account, which allowed Threads to gain millions of users.

With the launch of iOS 17.2, Apple has outlined the Maps-related data that it is collecting in order to improve the augmented reality location function. In a new support document , Apple says that it is aiming to bolster the speed and accuracy of augmented reality features in the Maps app. When using augmented reality features in Maps, including immersive walking directions or the refine location option, Apple collects information on "feature points" that represent the shape and appearance of stationary objects like buildings. The data does not include photos or images, and the feature points collected are not readable by a person. According to Apple, Maps uses on-device machine learning to compare feature points to Apple Maps reference data that is sent to the iPhone . The camera filters out moving objects like people and vehicles, with Apple collecting just the feature points of stationary objects. The comparison between the feature points and the ‌Apple Maps‌ refer

With the iOS 17.3 update, Apple reintroduced the collaborative Apple Music playlist feature, allowing Apple Music users to build playlists with friends, family, and others who share their musical tastes. For context, Apple initially tested collaborative playlists in iOS 17.2 , but ended up pulling the feature from the fourth beta prior to when iOS 17.2 was released. Apple said on Monday that it would instead be launching in 2024 , and on Tuesday, collaborative playlists showed up in the iOS 17.3 beta. The new implementation allows all of the collaborators on a specific playlist to provide emoji reactions, similar to how tapback reactions work in Messages. To add an emoji reaction, play a collaborative playlist and then while a song is in progress, you can tap on the music player to see the emoji interface. There are standard emoji reactions to choose from like heart and thumbs up, but tapping on the "+" button allows you to choose from any of the available emoji opti

In iOS 17.2, Apple lets you customize the alert tone used by your iPhone for default notifications. This is good news for anyone who does not like the "Rebound" tone that Apple introduced in iOS 17 . In previous versions of iOS, Apple allowed users to choose a ring tone and a text tone, as well as custom alert sounds for email, calendar, and reminder alerts. Anything else that threw up notifications used a default sound, and there was no way to change it. With ‌iOS 17‌, Apple then changed the original default alert sound, from " Tri-tone " to " Rebound ." Many users disliked the change, with some arguing that the new sound is harder to hear . So the new ability in iOS 17.2 to change the default sound to whatever you like should come as welcome news. To change the tone - as well as the haptic vibration – of notifications from apps that use the default sound, follow these steps. Open the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌. Tap Sounds & Haptics. Se