Volvo has released software updates for its EX90 and EX30 electric SUV models that enable support for Apple's Car Keys feature that's available on iPhones and Apple Watches.
Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or iPhone near a compatible vehicle's NFC reader.
A tap on the door handle is enough to initiate an unlock, and while Face ID authentication is a security option, Apple offers an Express Mode that eliminates the need to authenticate for a faster unlocking process. Volvo has setup instructions for Apple Car Keys on its website.
Apple introduced Car Keys in 2022, and car manufacturers like BMW, Rivian, Kia, Audi, and Hyundai have all implemented support for Car Keys. Apple maintains a full list of vehicles that support Car Keys on its CarPlay model availability webpage.
Apple today announced that Tap to Pay on iPhone is available in Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Hungary, providing a way for independent sellers, small businesses, and larger merchants in these countries to use an iPhone as a contactless payment terminal.
Tap to Pay first arrived in February 2022 in the US, and allows iPhones to accept payments via Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets. All transactions are encrypted, and Apple has no information about what is purchased or the person who made the purchase.
No additional hardware or credit card machine is required to use Tap to Pay on iPhone. The feature uses NFC technology to securely authenticate the contactless payments, plus the feature also supports PIN entry, which includes accessibility options.
The following payment services will support Tap to Pay on iPhone:
Tap to Pay on iPhone requires iPhone XS or newer models, and works for customers as any normal Apple Pay transaction would. Sellers just need to open up the app, register the sale, and present their iPhone to the buyer, who can then use an appropriate contactless payment method.
All four iPhone 17 models launching later this year will feature an upgraded 24-megapixel front-facing camera, according to analyst Jeff Pu.
In a research note today with investment firm GF Securities, Pu shared a chart in which he reiterated that the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with a 24-megapixel front camera. By comparison, all four iPhone 16 models are equipped with a 12-megapixel front camera.
Another analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, also claimed that at least one iPhone 17 model would be equipped with a 24-megapixel front camera, so this upgrade has been rumored by multiple sources. Kuo said it will "significantly improve the image quality."
With a higher 24-megapixel resolution, photos can maintain their quality even when cropped to a greater degree, providing more flexibility in post-processing.
Pu reiterated other iPhone 17 rumors, including an increased 12GB of RAM and a 48-megapixel Telephoto camera for the Pro and Pro Max models. He also expects the A19 and A19 Pro chips to use TSMC's newer third-generation 3nm process, known as N3P.
All four iPhone 17 models are expected to launch in September.
Apple debuted its custom-designed C1 modem in the iPhone 16e last month, as part of a multi-year plan to transition away from Qualcomm modems. And per the latest rumor, the C1 modem will continue to roll out later this year.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities today, analyst Jeff Pu said the ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" will be equipped with the C1 modem. Fellow analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was first to reveal that this was Apple's plan last year.
Pu believes Apple's second-generation C2 modem will debut in the iPhone 18 Pro models next year, which is also something that has already been rumored previously. Look for the C2 modem to be faster overall, and for it to gain mmWave support in the United States. Further power efficiency improvements are likely too.
iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to have Qualcomm modems still.
Apple's modem supply agreement with Qualcomm runs through March 2027, so the company still has time to transition to its own custom-designed modems. Apple develops chips several years before they ship, so it should come as no surprise that the company is reportedly already working on its next-generation C2 and C3 modems.
While the iPhone 17 series is still around six months away, a rumor pertaining to next year's iPhone 18 series has already surfaced.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities today, analyst Jeff Pu said the A20 chip for the iPhone 18 models will be manufactured with TSMC's third-generation 3nm process, known as N3P. That is the same process that is expected to be used for the A19 and A19 Pro chips coming in the iPhone 17 models, so the iPhone 18 models could have relatively small overall performance improvements compared to the previous generation.
Pu does expect the A20 chip to have one upgrade that he said will benefit Apple Intelligence capabilities. Specifically, he said the chip will use TSMC's so-called Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology, which would allow for tighter integration of the chip's processor, unified memory, and Neural Engine.
If this information is accurate, the first iPhone chip to use TSMC's 2nm technology would be the A21 chip in 2027 at the earliest.
Yesterday, analyst Jeff Pu said Apple's first two foldable devices will enter mass production in the second half of 2026. Today, he provided some additional details about these devices, which are expected to launch in 2026 or 2027.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities, Pu said the two devices will include a foldable iPhone with a 7.8-inch inner display, along with a larger foldable device with an 18.8-inch display. He described the larger foldable as a MacBook-iPad hybrid, and he believes that the device will likely run macOS, rather than iPadOS.
This is a very bold prediction, as it implies that the 18.8-inch foldable device could end up being a touch-screen Mac. In his Power On newsletter over the weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple's rumored design changes coming with iOS 19 and macOS 16 should set the stage for new hardware designs, including "foldable devices and touch-screen Macs." However, there have not been any rumors indicating that a touch-screen Mac will launch as early as next year, so some skepticism is warranted for the time being.
Pu does cite a recent report from The Wall Street Journal as the basis for some of his foldable information, so it is possible that his macOS prediction is simply based on that report having said that the 18.8-inch device is "intended to serve as a laptop." But, until we hear otherwise, we can dream about the intriguing possibility of a touch-screen Mac.
All four iPhone 17 models will feature an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities today, Pu said he believes that the Wi-Fi 7 chip's design was finalized in the first half of 2024. He expects the chip to debut in the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max later this year.
The entire iPhone 16 lineup already supports Wi-Fi 7, so the spec is not much of a surprise, but the fact that the chip will be designed by Apple is notable. Last month, Apple debuted its custom-designed C1 modem in the iPhone 16e, for cellular connectivity like 5G and LTE, and now the company is expected to make its own Wi-Fi chips too. By designing more of its own chips, Apple can reduce and eventually eliminate its reliance on external suppliers, including Qualcomm for modems and Broadcom for Wi-Fi chips.
Wi-Fi 7 allows for data transmission over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands simultaneously, with a supported router, resulting in faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 can provide peak speeds of over 40 Gbps, a 4× increase over Wi-Fi 6E, provided a device supports the maximum specifications.
All four iPhone 17 models should launch in around six months from now.
Over the years, there have been rumors suggesting that Apple eventually wants to make an iPhone without any ports, allowing for a completely wireless charging experience. An iPhone without ports has been speculated about, and Apple has even published patents for an all-glass iPhone with no ports or buttons.
Apple apparently considered making its dream a reality with the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, but ultimately decided not to do so. In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that one of Apple's ideas for the iPhone 17 Air was to design it without a USB-C port, which means it would only charge via MagSafe.
Apple did not end up going in that direction, because there were internal concerns that eliminating the USB-C port in the iPhone 17 Air would get the company in trouble with regulators in the European Union.
With the iPhone 15 lineup, Apple transitioned away from Lightning and adopted USB-C for iPhones because of an EU law that passed in 2022. The law requires technology companies to use a "common port," aka USB-C, for charging purposes. Technically, the law only applies in the European Union, but it was easier for Apple to make the change worldwide than to develop a special USB-C iPhone in Europe and continue using Lightning elsewhere.
Along with potentially angering the European regulators, getting rid of the charging port on an iPhone entirely would undoubtedly upset customers. When Apple eliminated the headphone jack from the iPhone 7, there was a lot of pushback from iPhone users, and other smartphone brands like Samsung spent plenty of time making fun of Apple's choice before ultimately following Apple's lead and removing headphone jacks from Android smartphones.
The iPhone 16 models now support MagSafe charging at up to 25W, and can fast charge with MagSafe and a 30W power adapter. Fast charging allows an iPhone to charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes, and the faster MagSafe charging puts wireless charging on par with fast charging over USB-C. With fast charging available with MagSafe, there wouldn't be a downside to eliminating the USB-C port in terms of speed, but there would be far less flexibility because USB-C chargers and cables have become so universal.
Though Apple isn't adopting a port-free design for the iPhone 17 Air, it's not an idea the company is abandoning. If the new super thin iPhone sells well, Apple will revisit portless iPhones and slim down the rest of the iPhone lineup, too.
The iOS 18.3.2 update that Apple released last week appears to have broken iCloud Mail for some users. There are multiple complaints on Reddit and the MacRumors forums from users who say that iCloud Mail is not able to push new iCloud emails to their iPhones after the iOS 18.3.2 update.
Affected users say that despite having the correct settings enabled, new iCloud emails are not showing up in their inboxes until a manual refresh. From a Reddit user:
I'm experiencing an issue with iCloud Mail on my iPhone after updating to iOS 18.3.2. New emails are not being pushed to my device, even though all the correct settings are enabled and it had been working fine on 18.3.1. Manually refreshing the Mail app does retrieve new emails, but they do not arrive automatically via push.
Given this issue appears to be tied to the iOS 18.3.2 update, I assume it's a bug. Is anyone else experiencing this issue?
Push is a feature that's available for some email services like iCloud Mail. It is meant to deliver incoming emails as soon as they arrive, so users see new messages right away. Other accounts use Fetch, which means that the iPhone checks the email server every so often for new emails. It appears neither Push nor Fetch is working for some iCloud Mail users, based on the complaints.
Push email from other providers like Microsoft appears to be working with no problem, so the issue is limited to iCloud Mail. Some users have also seen the same lack of Mail push with iOS 18.4. Given the number of users affected, Apple is likely aware of the issue, and hopefully a fix will be coming in the near future.
Snap, the company behind the Snapchat social network, has been quietly working on AR glasses for the last several months, and this week, the developer-only AR Spectacles were updated with some new features.
Developers can now build GPS-based experiences for things like creating interactive walking paths, getting directions, tracking fitness metrics, and playing games.
Snap also added updated hand tracking capabilities for grabbing items and improving typing with the AR keyboard, plus new features like leaderboard support and opening links to Lenses from message threads.
Snap's fifth-generation Spectacles came out last September, and like the prior-generation version, the Spectacles are more of a test product for developers than a consumer-focused device. Developers have to pay $99 per month to use the Spectacles, with a 12 month commitment, so it's about $1,200 to test them.
The Spectacles are heavy and bulky right now, and clearly too expensive for Snap to bring them to consumers. They are standalone AR glasses, though, similar to what Meta is working on. The Spectacles use Snap OS and the Snap Spatial Engine, allowing for augmented reality experiences or Lenses that overlay the real world.
When the Spectacles were announced, Snap said they were the result of a decade of research and development. The glasses have four cameras, two Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, and tiny micro-projectors, with a 45 minute runtime before charging is needed.
Apple was working on augmented reality smart glasses too, but canceled a version that was in development in January. Apple is presumably still working on an AR glasses project of some kind, but companies like Meta and Snap that already have hardware available in some capacity will likely beat Apple to a consumer product.
Making the change led to accusations that Apple was trying to hide the size of Apple Intelligence, and so with the fourth macOS 15.4 beta that came out today, Apple made Apple Intelligence's storage requirements easy to find once again.
To see Apple Intelligence storage space, you can go to System Settings > General > Storage and click the info button next to the macOS listing. That brings up a popup that shows the version of macOS installed and the storage space taken up by Apple Intelligence and it's the same way that System Settings works in the current release version of macOS Sequoia, 15.3.2.
It is possible that the missing Apple Intelligence storage feature in the earlier macOS 15.4 beta was a bug. Users who had System Integrity Protection (SIP) disabled were able to see the information without issue, and Apple appeared to have made the Apple Intelligence storage assets unavailable to anyone with SIP enabled.
For reference, SIP protects the Mac by preventing unauthorized code from being run, and it can only be turned off in Recovery Mode. Disabling SIP is typically only used by developers testing apps, and most users always have it on. Given that Apple returned the Apple Intelligence storage space listing to all users, it was perhaps something unintentional, though it remains unclear.
Apple says that Apple Intelligence can consume up to 7GB of storage space on a Mac, though it appears to be taking up more space on some Macs in macOS Sequoia 15.4. Apple Intelligence requires dedicated storage space because it downloads machine learning models and assets to Apple devices so that some functions can be run locally.
Disabling Apple Intelligence is the only way to keep the feature from using up space on a Mac.
Apple's new store at Crocker Park will be larger and more modern than its original store at the shopping center, which first opened in 2008. At many of Apple's newer stores, there is an Apple Pickup station where customers can collect online orders, along with a Genius Bar with counters set at varied heights for improved accessibility.
"Get ready," says Apple. "Great things are in store."
Powerful multi-port power banks are becoming increasingly popular to keep our ever-growing array of gadgets charged up, and Alogic's new Ark Pro power bank brings some nice versatility to the table.
I've spent a few weeks testing out the Ark Pro, and I've found that it packs a nice punch with 27,600 mAh of juice and a trio of USB ports and the ability to charge a laptop at up to 140 watts.
You'll find a lot of beefy power banks coming in at around this same mAh rating, and that's because 27,600 mAh translates to 99.36 Wh in this battery, which is just under the 100 Wh limit for carrying it on an airplane without needing to get approval from the airline. Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro similarly comes in just below this limit at 99.6 Wh, but due to inherent inefficiencies in energy transfer you won't be able to fully charge a completely depleted 16-inch MacBook Pro from empty with the Ark Pro. A 14-inch MacBook Pro with its 72.4 Wh battery will fare better, as will MacBook Air models that come in even lower.
In my testing, I was able to get around 70% of a full charge for a 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro out of a topped-off Ark Pro, which is pretty solid but also a sign of how much energy is lost from power banks in heat and other inefficiencies when charging up other devices.
My 2021 MacBook Pro requires a MagSafe connection for fast charging, and I was able to pull up to 125 watts or so from the Ark Pro over MagSafe for relatively speedy charging, though the wattage does vary significantly depending on the charge states and temperatures of both devices, with the Ark Pro regulating its output to help prevent overheating. Charging the laptop with a USB-C to USB-C cable topped out at around 84 watts, though you should be able to do better with newer MacBook Pro models that support fast charging directly over USB-C.
The Ark Pro features two USB-C ports and a USB-A port, providing some good flexibility to keep both modern and legacy devices charged up. You'll only be able to use one of the two USB-C ports if you want to charge at the maximum of 140 watts, though it can simultaneously charge another device through the USB-A port at up to 22.5 watts. If you use both USB-C ports, output will drop to 65 watts for each of them.
Passthrough charging is supported, so you can plug a USB-C cable from another power source such as a wall outlet into one of the USB-C ports on the Ark Pro and another cable from a second Ark Pro USB port to a device, and the power bank will handle both input and output power simultaneously.
One clever design feature of the Ark Pro is an included USB-C cable that doubles as a lanyard for the power bank. While other companies like Anker offer some smaller power banks with integrated cables that can also serve as lanyards, the Ark Pro's cable is entirely removable to provide more flexibility for various charging needs.
The cable includes a sliding clip that locks into a channel in the body of the power bank, with the clip and the USB-C connectors leveraging the weight of the power bank to stay in place. I was a bit skeptical of this setup at first, hesitant to risk carrying a fairly hefty power bank by only the cable secured in this way, but it's worked just fine in my testing.
Another handy feature that's been making its way into more and more power banks is a digital display, and the Ark Pro has a nice color one that helps you keep tabs on charging status for both input and output.
The display background turns green when the power bank is being recharged, and it displays the current battery level down to a hundredth of a percentage point, as well as the current input wattage for the USB port in use and an estimate of how long it will take to fully charge the power bank at the current rate.
When you're using the Ark Pro to charge other items, the display backgrounds turn blue and you can similarly see the current output wattage per port, updating several times per second depending on how rapidly the power draw is changing, as well as an estimate of how long the power bank will last given its current charge level and power draw.
Pressing the silver button below the display wakes up the display when nothing is connected, allowing you to quickly check the Ark Pro's power level. While charging with the display active, pressing the button again brings up some interesting statistics for the power bank including battery health (what percentage of the original capacity is currently the maximum charge level), the number of cycles the battery has gone through, the current battery temperature, the length of the current charging session, and more.
The button can be pressed again to access the one setting option for the Ark Pro, and that's whether the display remains active at all times during charging in either direction or if it turns off after 30 seconds. The 30-second setting will obviously preserve more battery life for actual charging, and you can always wake up the display with a press of the button to check on things, but at least during my testing for this review I left it on the Always setting so I could watch what was happening with the power bank more closely.
Given the nearly 100 Wh capacity of the Ark Pro, it definitely has some heft to it, weighing around 680 grams (1.5 pounds). It is fairly compact in its sleek aluminum shell, however, measuring 155 mm (6.1 in) by 65 mm (2.6 in) by 60 mm (2.4 in) without accounting for the USB-C cable lanyard. It's plenty small enough to toss in a backpack or bag, though it will definitely add some weight, and this definitely isn't something to carry around in a pocket unless we're talking about a large-pocketed coat or similar item.
All of this portable power doesn't necessarily come cheaply, with the Ark Pro regularly priced at $153.99. Alogic does run fairly frequent sales though, often with discounts in the 20% range, so keep an eye out for one of those opportunities if you're interested in buying.
Note: Alogic provided MacRumors with the Ark Pro power bank for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Alogic. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser that was first introduced in March 2016. Apple designed Safari Technology Preview to allow users to test features that are planned for future release versions of the Safari browser.
Safari Technology Preview 215 includes fixes and updates for CSS, Images, JavaScript, Networking, Scrolling, Text, Web API, and Web Extensions.
The current Safari Technology Preview release is compatible with machines running macOS Sonoma and macOS Sequoia, the newest version of macOS.
The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences or System Settings to anyone who has downloaded the browser from Apple’s website. Complete release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.
Apple’s aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while it is designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download and use.
On February 9, Apple started offering "extra credit" for Mac trade-ins in the U.S. and select other countries, but the offer is quite misleading.
Apple's website says the extra trade-in credit for Macs is available with the purchase of an eligible new Apple device through April 2, yet the values listed have already decreased before that date, which is something the average customer likely wouldn't realize.
As of February 9, the listed trade-in values had increased by between $10 and $50 in the U.S., but some of the values have already decreased since then.
Apple could choose to argue that the trade-in values would have dropped even lower had the "extra credit" boost not been in effect, but to us it still feels disappointing, if not disingenuous, for the company to have lowered some of the values prior to April 2.
The chart below provides an overview of the situation.
Model
Values as of Today
Values as of February 9
Values as of February 8
MacBook Pro
Up to $860
Up to $925
Up to $915
MacBook Air
Up to $410
Up to $435
Up to $425
MacBook
Up to $120
Up to $140
Up to $90
iMac
Up to $315
Up to $315
Up to $305
iMac Pro
Up to $435
Up to $455
Up to $405
Mac mini
Up to $325
Up to $375
Up to $365
Mac Studio
Up to $1,150
Up to $1,150
Up to $1,140
Mac Pro
Up to $710
Up to $720
Up to $670
So, if you are planning to trade in your Mac, know that the "extra" credit might actually mean even less credit than you would have received last month.
Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website or at an Apple Store, and the credit can be applied towards the purchase of a new Apple product, or placed on an Apple gift card for later use. Visit the trade-in page on Apple's website for more details.
Disney has introduced a new promotion on its streaming service this month, offering a bundle of Disney+ (with ads) and Hulu (with ads) for $2.99 per month for four months. This offer represents a savings of 72 percent on the Disney+/Hulu bundle, and after four months it will return to the traditional $10.99 per month price point.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Disney+. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
To get the deal, head to the promotion landing page on the Disney+ website and click on the Disney+/Hulu bundle option. This offer covers the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu streaming plans, and it's valid only for new and eligible returning subscribers.
After the end of the four month promotional pricing, the service will automatically renew at $10.99 per month, unless you cancel. Disney says that this offer will run through 11:59 p.m. PT on March 30, so you'll have only this month to take advantage of the deal.
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.
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Apple recently began selling a MagSafe-compatible wireless charging stand that can charge a combination of up to four iPhones and AirPods simultaneously.
Designed by Zens, the Quattro Wireless Charger Pro 4 is available exclusively on Apple's online store, with U.S. pricing set at $149.95.
The stand has two levels, which are each embedded with two MagSafe chargers that can provide up to 15W of power for wireless charging. That means the MagSafe chargers built into the stand are based on the first-generation MagSafe standard, as the second-generation MagSafe standard can reach speeds of up to 25W.
Zens says each iPhone charging on the stand can charge to 35% in 30 minutes.
This stand lacks Apple Watch charging pucks, but there is another with one.
The stand connects to a wall outlet with an included 65W power adapter and a power cord, with various plug adapters included for international use.
Apple today provided developers with the fourth beta of an upcoming macOS Sequoia 15.4 update for testing purposes. The new beta is available a week after Apple released the third beta.
Registered developers can opt-in to the macOS Sequoia beta through the Software Update section of the System Settings app. An Apple ID associated with an Apple Developer account is required to get the beta.
macOS Sequoia 15.4 brings Mail Categorization to the Mac for the first time, reorganizing the Mail app into dedicated categories like transactions, updates, promotions, and primary, a category that surfaces the most important emails first. The update brings a range of new emoji characters to the Mac.
For Apple News+ subscribers, there is a dedicated News+ Food section with recipes, articles about restaurants, and other related content. There's a new Sketch style in Image Playground, the option to create Memory Movies in the Photos app, and Apple Intelligence is expanding to new languages.
Apple plans to release macOS Sequoia 15.4 in early April.
The typical design of a newer Apple Store
