MacRumors

Apple in iOS 15 is making major changes to the FaceTime app, introducing a whole range of new features that turn ‌FaceTime‌ into the ultimate hub for interacting with friends, family, coworkers, and more.

Our ‌FaceTime‌ guide outlines everything that's new in the ‌FaceTime‌ app in ‌iOS 15‌ and iPadOS 15, and many of these features are also in macOS Monterey and can even be used in tvOS 15. We've also included detailed how tos and tutorials so you can dive right into ‌FaceTime‌ after upgrading.

SharePlay

SharePlay is ‌FaceTime‌'s biggest new feature, and it's basically a way for you to do more on ‌FaceTime‌ calls with your friends and family. You can watch TV together, listen to music, and share your screen.

Watch Movies and TV

When you're on a ‌FaceTime‌ call, you can choose to stream movies or TV shows and everyone on the call will see the same synced playback and controls. You can watch on the iPhone or iPad, or swap over to the Apple TV to watch on the big screen while you continue your call.

As you chat and watch, the volume will automatically adjust so that you can hear everyone talking without missing the show.

You can ‌FaceTime‌, watch content, and also do other things on your ‌iPhone‌ for the ultimate multitasking experience.

Listen to Music

If you play an Apple Music song while on a ‌FaceTime‌ call with friends, everyone can hear what's playing and can contribute to a shared music queue. The SharePlay music interface offers up synced playback controls, and everyone can see what's coming up next.

You can listen to music over your ‌iPhone‌, or send it over to the HomePod while remaining on the ‌FaceTime‌ call.

Share Your Screen

Apple has long allowed screen sharing over Messages on the Mac, and this year, that functionality is coming to the ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ too. You can share your ‌iPhone‌'s screen with everyone on the call, which is useful when you're planning a vacation, choosing a movie, browsing through a photo album, and more.

SharePlay Messages

If you're on a ‌FaceTime‌ call but want to send a quick link or image over to the group, you can access your group Messages chat right from the call.

Create a FaceTime Link

Apple changed how ‌FaceTime‌ works in ‌iOS 15‌, so you can create something more akin to a Zoom link, but for ‌FaceTime‌. You can make a ‌FaceTime‌ link that other people can tap to join your ‌FaceTime‌ call.

Links let you schedule ‌FaceTime‌ calls in advance and then share the links with others so everyone can join the meeting or group chat at the appropriate time. ‌FaceTime‌ integrates directly with the Apple Calendar app.

To create a link, just open up the ‌FaceTime‌ app and then tap the "Create Link" option next to "New ‌FaceTime‌." You can share the link in a text message, another messaging service, an email, or AirDrop it, and people can click it to join in.

FaceTime on PCs and Android Devices

Apple created ‌FaceTime‌ links because there's a new option to join ‌FaceTime‌ calls on the web, which means PC and Android users can participate in ‌FaceTime‌ for the first time.

An ‌iPhone‌, Mac, or ‌iPad‌ user needs to create a ‌FaceTime‌ link, but once created, anyone can tap it to join. To join from the web, Chrome or Edge browsers are required. ‌FaceTime‌ from the web works on-on-one or in Group ‌FaceTime‌ calls.

• iOS 15: How to Invite Android Users to a FaceTime Call

Spatial Audio

‌FaceTime‌ supports Spatial Audio in ‌iOS 15‌, so if you're chatting with multiple people and their pictures are in different spots on your screen, it sounds like their voices are coming from the right spot on your device.

Apple says that individual voices are meant to sound like they're coming from the direction in which each person is positioned on the screen, which is meant to make conversations flow more naturally.

Spatial Audio requires an ‌iPhone‌ with the A12 Bionic or later.

Grid View

‌FaceTime‌ in ‌iOS 15‌ has a new Grid View, which puts ‌FaceTime‌ on par with other videoconferencing apps. You can organize everyone into the same-size tiles, and the person speaking is automatically highlighted.

Portrait Mode

‌FaceTime‌'s Portrait Mode blurs out the background behind you and puts the focus on you. An A12 Bionic chip or later is required for this feature.

Microphone modes

There are two microphone modes in ‌iOS 15‌. Voice Isolation is designed to minimize background noises to focus on your voice, while Wide Spectrum makes sure the ambient noise is audible, something that's ideal for group calls.

• iOS 15: How to Block Background Noise in FaceTime With Voice Isolation

Mute Alerts

If you're on a ‌FaceTime‌ call and you start talking while muted, you'll see an alert on your ‌iPhone‌ that lets you know the mute button is on.

Zoom

While using the rear-facing camera on a ‌FaceTime‌ call, there's an option to zoom in on what's on the screen.

Guide Feedback

Have questions about ‌FaceTime‌ in ‌iOS 15‌, know of a feature we left out, or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.

Apple today announced it is offering an extended one-month free trial for the Paramount+ streaming service to new users who subscribe within the Apple TV app through June 30, as spotted by The Mac Observer. The offer is valid in the U.S. only.

Previously known as CBS All Access, Paramount+ provides access to TV shows and movies from ViacomCBS and its various subsidiaries, including CBS, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, and others. The streaming service typically offers a seven-day free trial to new users when subscribing directly.

Paramount+ is one of several "Apple TV channels," meaning that users can subscribe to and watch the streaming service in the Apple TV app. Users can also download the Paramount+ app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

Paramount+ costs $4.99 per month with ads, or $9.99 per month without ads.

Building on the success of the series, Apple TV+'s "Ted Lasso" is now officially selling merchandise related to the show, including mugs, t-shirts, jerseys, and more.

The new listings, spotted by 9to5Mac, including marketing from the team portrayed in the hit TV series named A.F.C. Richmond. "Fan Favorite" merchandise includes a $60 Richmond jersey, a $42 hooded sweatshirt, a $16 pint glass, a $15 mug with the "Be a Goldfish" quote, borrowed from one of the show's episodes, and more.

Some of the items such as an embroidered $34 "A.F.C. Richmond" hat and "Ted Lasso" engraved tumbler are listed as "Coming Soon." The new merch is available through The Warner Brothers Shop, where merchandise for other popular shows such as "The Games of Thrones," "Friends," "Tom and Jerry," and more can be found.

Update: "Ted Lasso" also received a Peabody Award today for excellence in storytelling. The award was presented virtually by Will Ferrell and was accepted by "Ted Lasso" star and executive producer Jason Sudeikis.

Despite previous attempts to put the situation at rest, some iCloud users continue to experience spam calendar invitations, causing their calendars to be filled with random events.

The situation received widespread coverage in 2016, where Apple said that it was "actively working to address this issue" by "identifying and blocking suspicious senders." Victims are targeted in various ways. The most common method is by receiving a normal iCloud calendar invitation through their calendar app.

Interacting with the invitation, including declining, accepting, or choosing "Maybe," lets the spammer know that the email is valid, so it can continue to be targeted.

Other users are targeted through web pop-ups on potentially malicious or adult websites. Apple has not publicly commented on what specific measures it has taken to solve the issue, but through a video posted by Apple Support, that has so far garnered more than 97,000 views, it has a solution.

The video advises that users, logically, unsubscribe from these spam calendars. The video doesn't offer any insight into what proactive measures users can take to not receive the invitations in the first place.

One measure that some users have found to be helpful is to redirect calendar invitations to their email, rather than an in-app calendar invitation. By redirecting invitations to their email, users can better manage and delete calendar invitations. For more detailed instructions, make sure to check out our how to.

As part of WWDC this month, Apple announced this year's winners of an Apple Design Award, which honors excellence in innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement in app and game design. Among the recipients in 2021 was CARROT Weather, a popular app known for its humorous weather forecasts.

CARROT Weather has since shared an unboxing video of its Apple Design Award with a similarly humorous tone, offering a closer look at the aluminum cube.

The quirky weather app was a winner in the "Interaction" category alongside Bird Alone. Apple said winners in this category "deliver intuitive interfaces and effortless controls that are perfectly tailored to their platform."

"CARROT Weather is known for its humorous forecasts and unique visuals," said Apple. "A recent design update has brought simplicity and elegance to its experience across all Apple platforms. From witty weather projections, to a robust set of customizable widgets and a collection of useful watch faces, this app comes packed with endless entertainment."

12 different apps received an Apple Design Award this year in total.

A Macintosh 128K fan has created a fun video that re-imagines the original Mac from 1984 in a modern-style advert.

The project comes from motion designer Thibaut Crepelle, who outlined the creative process behind the video in a Behance post.

I wanted to pursue my idea of creating modern motion design stuff for vintage products.
For this piece, since everything is a learning experiment, I wanted to tackle a bit of UI and "animated modeling."

Today, its cubic design, its cute launch icon are elements well established in the computer horizon, and I wanted to pay an homage to that classic piece of hardware.

The Macintosh 128K was introduced in the now-famous "1984" Super Bowl commercial directed by Ridley Scott, but Crepelle sought to match the vibrant, punchy Apple ads of today using a range of software and resources from Figma to replicate the classic Mac's UI and high-resolution animations that synchronized with the music.

Crepelle also included a number of easter eggs in the video, such as macOS Monterey's wallpaper and the gradient used on Apple's "One More Thing" Mac event graphics.

Users appear to be underwhelmed by Apple's upcoming iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 updates, according to the findings of a new survey by SellCell.

The survey asked 3,000 iPhone and iPad users, evenly split between men and women, aged 18 or over in the United States, what they thought of ‌iOS 15‌, ‌iPadOS 15‌, and the naming of the upcoming iPhone 13 lineup.

Over 50 percent of all of the survey's respondents said that the ‌iOS 15‌ and ‌iPadOS 15‌ updates are only "slightly" or "not at all" exciting. 28.1 percent rated the updates "somewhat" exciting, but as few as 19.3 percent are "extremely" or "very" excited about them.

Within ‌iOS 15‌ and ‌iPadOS 15‌, 23 percent of users said that the most exciting upgrade is ID cards in the Wallet app, 17.3 percent are most excited about enhanced Spotlight search, and 14.2 percent are most excited about new Find My features.

Very few respondents were enamored with many of ‌iOS 15‌ and ‌iPadOS 15‌'s new features. Less than one percent of respondents thought that iMessage's "Shared with You" feature, Health app upgrades including fall-risk metrics and data sharing, and improvements to Apple Maps with more transit details and AR walking directions were the best new features. Likewise, FaceTime app improvements with Spatial Audio, screen sharing, grid view, and portrait mode, the redesigned notifications system, and Focus statuses only attracted around five percent of respondents.

When asked what features respondents thought should have been added in ‌iOS 15‌ and ‌iPadOS 15‌, 32.3 percent said that there should have been interactive widgets, 21 percent said that there should have been always-on display features, 14.9 percent said that there should have been Pro apps such as Xcode or Final Cut Pro for the ‌iPad‌, and 13.2 percent said that there should have been better external display support for the ‌iPad‌.

Beyond the ‌iOS 15‌ and ‌iPadOS 15‌ updates, the survey also investigated triskaidekaphobia, a superstitious fear of the number 13, around the naming of the upcoming ‌iPhone 13‌. As many as one in five ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ users said that they would be actively put off by the "‌iPhone 13‌" moniker.

Respondents were also asked how they thought Apple should name its upcoming series of ‌iPhone‌ models. Interestingly, most responses indicated that the devices should not be called the "‌iPhone 13‌." 38 percent said that Apple should call its next smartphone series simply "‌iPhone‌ (2021)," 26 percent thought that the "‌iPhone 13‌" was the best name, and only 13 percent said that they would like to see the devices called the "‌iPhone‌ 12S."

Following widespread reports that the iPhone 12 mini has experienced poor sales performance, at least relative to other iPhone 12 models, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce today claimed that production of the device has already ended.

According to TrendForce, the iPhone 12 mini "reached End-of-Life ahead of time" during the second quarter of 2021, suggesting that Apple will focus on selling through its existing inventory of the device without producing any further units. Launched in October 2020, the iPhone 12 mini features a 5.4-inch display that caters to fans of smaller smartphones, with pricing starting at $699 in the United States.

While production has reportedly ceased, the iPhone 12 mini remains available on Apple.com without any notable shipping delays for now. The device is offered in six colors, including a purple option that went on sale in late April.

Apple is still expected to unveil an iPhone 13 mini later this year, but rumors suggest the 5.4-inch model will be discontinued in 2022.

Apple will likely unveil its next-generation "iPhone 12s" or "iPhone 13" lineup in around two and a half months from now, and ahead of time, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce has outlined its expectations for the devices.

A summary of TrendForce's expectations:

• Apple will unveil four new iPhones in September, including a mini model, a standard model, and two Pro models. September is the usual month for Apple to unveil new iPhones, but the iPhone 12 lineup was announced in October last year due to reported COVID-19-related production delays.
• The new iPhones will have a smaller notch above the display, but will otherwise have a similar outward design as iPhone 12 models.
• The devices will be powered by Apple's next-generation A15 chip manufactured based on TSMC's 5nm+ process.
• All four iPhones will be equipped with OLED displays, while the two Pro models will also feature a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother content.
• The new iPhones will have the same storage capacity options as their iPhone 12 counterparts. iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 models are available with 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB of storage, while 12 Pro models have a 512GB option.
• The rear camera system on all four iPhones will be equipped with sensor-shift image stabilization, a feature that is currently exclusive to the iPhone 12 Pro Max. For the new Pro models, the Ultra Wide lens will gain autofocus.
• The LiDAR Scanner will remain limited to the Pro models.

With the pandemic showing signs of easing in the United States and Europe, TrendForce forecasted that annual iPhone production for 2021 will grow by around 12.3% on a year-over-year basis to 223 million units. The research firm believes the "iPhone 12s" lineup will account for nearly 40% of that total production volume.

Amazon's annual Prime Day event has officially kicked off today, beginning 48 hours of discounts, offers, and tons of savings across Amazon's storefront. This includes everything from home electronics to clothing, jewelry, video games, movies, and much more.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

In this article, we're focusing entirely on Apple-related discounts that you can find today on Amazon. Right now, that includes savings on AirPods, AirPods Max, iPads, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and other devices.

Many retailers are challenging Amazon with summertime sale events of their own, so when prices are matching -- or beating -- Amazon Prime Day, we'll mark them below. Readers should also note that sometimes Prime Day sales are time sensitive, so purchase quickly if you're interested.

Amazon Prime Day sales require an Amazon Prime membership. Additionally, deals change fast during Prime Day, so the prices you see below may eventually change on Amazon.

AirPods Pro

The popular AirPods Pro are down to $189.99 during Prime Day, from an original price of $249.00.

AirPods

You'll also find discounts on the regular AirPods models. You can get the AirPods with Wired Charging Case for $99.99 ($59 off) and the AirPods with Wireless Charging Case for $149.99 ($49 off).

Apple Watch Series 6

There are a few popular ongoing deals for the Apple Watch Series 6 that are continuing into Prime Day, including the 44mm GPS model for $349.99, down from $429.00. This is a match of the lowest-ever price on this model.

iPad Air

Savings on the 2020 iPad Air include the 64GB Wi-Fi model for $519.99, down from $599.00; and the 256GB Wi-Fi model for $659.99, down from $749.00. Both of these discounts represent new all-time low prices on both models.

M1 MacBook Pro

Amazon has both models of the M1 MacBook Pro at a discount for Prime Day. The 256GB model is available for $1,099.99, down from $1,299.00 in both colors. This is the best price we've ever tracked for this model.

Secondly, the 512GB model is priced at $1,299.99, down from $1,499.00. This is a match of the previous record low price on this model and definitely worth checking out if you've had your eye on the latest MacBook Pro.

M1 MacBook Air

Both models of the M1 MacBook Air are also on sale today during Prime Day, starting with the 256GB model at $899.99, down from $999.00. The 512GB model is priced at $1,099.99, down from $1,249.00, which is a record low price for this model.

iMac

There are a few solid deals on the 2020 27-inch iMac during Prime Day. You can get the 3.1GHz 6-Core iMac with a 256GB SSD for $1,399.99, down from $1,799.00. Then there's the 3.3 GHz 6-Core iMac with a 512GB SSD for $1,599.99, down from $1,999.00.

Both of these devices are now at the lowest price they've ever been, and shoppers should note that you'll see these huge discounts after automatic coupons are applied on the checkout screen.

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.

Ahead of a July 23 premiere, Apple TV+ has shared the official trailer of "Ted Lasso" season 2.

The second season of the show has been widely anticipated and was teased by Apple CEO Tim Cook during the company's April event. For its first season, "Ted Lasso" has been nominated for and won multiple awards, including a Golden Globe for Jason Sudeikis, who plays the show's namesake main character.

The second season of the show, which consists of 12 episodes, premieres on ‌‌Apple TV+‌‌ on July 23. Season 2 of "The Morning Show," another hit series for the streaming platform, will debut on September 17.

Germany's Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, today initiated proceedings against Apple on the claims of anti-competitive behavior related to the App Store, its products, and other services, according to a press release.

The proceeding against Apple announced today will determine whether the Cupertino tech giant holds a "paramount significance across markets" and whether, through its ecosystem, Apple holds enough power to make it difficult for "other companies" to challenge it.

Andreas Mundt, president of Bundeskartellamt, issued the following statement on the initial proceedings:

We will now examine whether with its proprietary operating system iOS, Apple has created a digital ecosystem around its iPhone that extends across several markets. Apple produces tablets, computers and wearables and provides a host of device-related services. In addition to manufacturing various hardware products, the tech company also offers the ‌App Store‌, iCloud, AppleCare, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+ as well as other services as part of its services business. Besides assessing the company’s position in these areas, we will, among other aspects, examine its extensive integration across several market levels, the magnitude of its technological and financial resources and its access to data. A main focus of the investigations will be on the operation of the ‌App Store‌ as it enables Apple in many ways to influence the business activities of third parties.

The press release is short on specifics on what the outcome of its investigation may lead to; however, the office says that if it determines a company to be of importance across markets, it may prohibit that company from "engaging in anti-competitive practices."

The office says it has received "various complaints relating to potentially anti-competitive practices," particularly related to the recent rollout of ATT or the App Tracking Transparency framework. In April, nine industry associations representing companies like Facebook and publisher Axel Springer filed an antitrust complaint to the federal office, claiming that Apple's ATT framework will severely hurt publishers and their bottom lines, deeming it a threat to their business.

According to the press release, another complaint that the office received related to the pre-installation of Apple's own apps on its devices. The office directly references section 19a of the German Competition Act, which states "the abuse of a dominant position by one or several undertakings is prohibited" as a potential clause that Apple may be violating.

Russia recently took the first major step against Apple for the pre-installation of its own apps, requiring the company to show users a screen to download government-approved apps during initial device setup. Similar legislation being proposed in the U.S. Congress would require Apple to give users the ability to delete all pre-installed Apple apps, instead of a select handful that users may currently delete.

The Bundeskartellamt also lists ongoing disputes regarding Apple's in-app purchasing system, which gives the tech giant a 30% commission of all purchases made and the restriction that apps may only be distributed on Apple devices through the company's ‌App Store‌ and not other third-party app marketplaces.

Update: Apple has provided us with this statement in response to the investigation.

Apple is proud to be an engine for innovation and job creation, with more than 250,000 jobs supported by the iOS app economy in Germany. The ‌App Store‌'s economic growth and activity have given German developers of all sizes the same opportunity to share their passion and creativity with users around the world while creating a secure and trusted place for customers to download the apps they love with the privacy protections they expect. Germany is also home to Apple's largest engineering hub in Europe, and a new €1bn investment in our European Silicon Design Center in Munich. We look forward to discussing our approach with the FCO and having an open dialogue about any of their concerns.

Apple and other U.S. tech companies could be forced to open offices in Russia or face punitive measures, as part of a push by Russia to improve its internet "sovereignty."

Russian lawmakers passed legislation last week that requires foreign sites with more than half a million daily users in Russia to set up a local branch or Russian legal entity, reports Reuters:

Websites that do not comply would be marked as being non-compliant on search engines, they could be excluded from search engine results, and banned from advertising in Russia and for Russians, the parliament said on its website.

The bill's authors argue that the current lack of such a requirement allows foreign sites to formally remain outside of Russia's jurisdiction.

The legislation has passed its third and final reading in the country's lower house of parliament, and now needs to be approved by the upper house and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, which is widely expected to happen.

The latest move follows several actions by the Russian government that allow it to further tighten state control of online content in the country. In 2017, Russia banned VPNs and other software that enables users to gain anonymous access to websites.

Apple in 2019 complied with the country's law requiring data on citizens to be stored on local servers, and earlier this year it was forced to show iOS users in the country a list of suggested apps created by Russian developers when setting up a new device.

Russia has also targeted apps and services more directly if it considers them to be in breach of local digital laws. For example, Russia tried to ban encrypted messaging app Telegram after it refused to comply with requests that it hand over the encryption keys that would allow it to access users' data.

More recently, in March, Russia intentionally slowed down Twitter's internet traffic to punish it for not deleting what it considered to be "banned content."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

A wireless network naming bug has been discovered in iOS that effectively disables an iPhone's ability to connect to Wi-Fi.

Security researcher Carl Schou found that after joining a Wi-Fi network with the name "%p%s%s%s%s%n" his ‌iPhone‌'s Wi-Fi functionality was left "permanently disabled."

Changing a hotspot's SSID did nothing to correct the problem, with even a reboot failing to make a difference, according to BleepingComputer.

Other users who were able to replicate the issue have suggested the bug could be related to the initial use in the network name of the percentage sign, which leads to an input parsing issue whereby iOS mistakenly interprets the letters following the "%" as a string-format specifier.

In C and C-style languages, string format specifiers have a special meaning and are parsed by the language compiler as a variable name or a command instead of standard text.

Android phones don't seem to be affected by the same network, but iPhones hit by the problem need to have their network settings reset before a Wi-Fi hotspot can be connected again.

To perform the reset, open the Settings app, tap General -> Reset, then tap Reset Network Settings and confirm the request at the prompt.

The Fox Now app has removed support for the third-generation Apple TV, with the app now only compatible with fourth-generation and later models of Apple's set-top box.

Existing installs of Fox Now on third-gen Apple TVs no longer work, and the app has been removed from home screens, preventing users on the older hardware from accessing Fox live and on-demand content like TV shows and sports.

First spotted by Appleosophy, the change follows a Fox Now announcement in May that it would no longer support the third-gen box from June 17. Similar moves to drop third-gen support have been made by other streaming apps this year, including YouTube and CBS All Access.

While native third-gen ‌Apple TV‌ support has dropped, the Fox Now app is still available on iPhone and iPad, which means anyone with one of these iOS devices can still AirPlay Fox Now content to their ‌Apple TV‌ for watching, albeit indirectly.

The Apple news cycle started to move beyond WWDC this week, but that doesn't mean there still wasn't a lot to talk about, led by the official debut of the much-leaked Beats Studio Buds that might give us a hint of what to expect for the second-generation AirPods Pro.

With no hardware announcements at WWDC, we also took a look at when we might finally see the long-rumored redesigned MacBook Pro models, while Apple this week launched its annual Back to School promo in the U.S. and Canada. Other major news stories this week included Apple Watch rumors, YouTube starting to officially roll out picture-in-picture support on iOS, and more, so read on for all of the details!

Apple Announces Beats Studio Buds

Following a few months of rumors, Apple unveiled new Beats Studio Buds earbuds this week with a truly wireless design like the AirPods Pro, but at a lower price point and with some differences in features. Check out our hands-on review for a closer look at the Beats Studio Buds.

While news was quieter on the software front after last week's WWDC extravaganza, this week did mark the release of the third betas of iOS 14.7 and macOS 11.5, along with Apple Podcasts Subscriptions. And just in time for the summer months, Apple has some new iPhone 12 cases.

When Can We Expect the Redesigned MacBook Pros Now?

While there was some hope that Apple would announce a new MacBook Pro at WWDC last week, no new hardware was unveiled. (Here's everything that was announced at WWDC in just nine minutes.)

With Apple's annual developers conference now in the rearview mirror, we've outlined when to expect the new MacBook Pro models to arrive, and recapped key new features that have been rumored, including a major redesign.

YouTube Says iOS Picture-in-Picture Coming to All US Users

Ever since the launch of support for picture-in-picture (PiP) video in iOS 14, there have been calls for YouTube to support the feature to allow users to continue watching videos in a small window while multitasking in other apps.

After several fits and starts, YouTube now says that it is officially starting to roll out PiP support on iOS for YouTube Premium users, with a rollout to all iOS users in the United States to follow.

Apple Watch Series 7 Expected to Feature Thinner Screen Bezels and More

While we're likely still around three months away from Apple unveiling the Apple Watch Series 7, rumors have already started surfacing about key new features, including design changes such as thinner bezels around the display and possibly flat edges.

In a report this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu also outlined when we can expect more health sensors for measuring body temperature and monitoring blood glucose levels on future Apple Watch models.

Apple Launches 2021 Back to School Promotion Offering Free AirPods With Select Purchases

Apple this week launched its annual Back to School promotion for the upcoming school year in the U.S. and Canada, offering students free AirPods with the purchase of select new devices.

During checkout on Apple's online store, customers can upgrade the complimentary ‌AirPods‌ to include a wireless charging case for just $40 or upgrade to the AirPods Pro for $90. Check out the list of devices eligible for free AirPods.

iOS 15 Lets You Drag and Drop Images and Text Across Apps

One smaller but useful new feature introduced in iOS 15 is the ability to drag and drop images, text, files, and more across apps on an iPhone, and we've shared a demo of the feature in action.

The first beta of iOS 15 was seeded to developers last week, and the software update should be released for all compatible iPhones in September. Check out our iOS 15 roundup for an overview of key new features.

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