MacRumors

The Ultra Wideband functionality that's available in the Apple Watch Series 6, iPhone 11, and iPhone 12 models is now accessible in additional countries, including Argentina, Pakistan, Paraguay, and the Solomon Islands, according to Apple's updated support page.

Apple is not allowed to activate Ultra Wideband technology in some countries due to international regulatory requirements, and it must be disabled in those places. All of the above listed countries previously did not allow UWB technology.

Ultra Wideband continues to be disabled in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

The U1 chip in Apple devices is designed to provide much more precise positioning information than Bluetooth or WiFi, which is used for spatial awareness and more precise indoor mapping.

Ultra Wideband technology is required for the Precision Finding feature available for AirTags in the Find My app, and it is also used for Car Key functionality and more precise AirDropping between devices with a U1 chip.

The new MagSafe Battery Pack that Apple debuted this week is arriving to customers starting today and it's also now available for in-store pickup in many Apple retail locations around the world. We snagged one this morning and thought we'd take a look at it to let MacRumors readers know if it's worth the $99 asking price.

As the name suggests, the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ is designed to attach magnetically to the back of an iPhone 12 model. It's sized to take up much of the entire back of the iPhone 12 mini below the camera, and on other models, it's a bit smaller.

If you've only seen the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ through Apple's marketing photos, you might be surprised at the size. It's thicker than you might have thought, coming in at 11mm. For comparison's sake, an iPhone 12 is 7.4mm thick, so it's adding another iPhone in thickness and then some. As for weight, it's about 115 grams, or a quarter of a pound. An iPhone 12 weighs 164 grams, so it's not quite as heavy as an iPhone.

We thought the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ might be made of the same soft silicone material as Apple's previous battery cases when it was first announced, but it's not. It's constructed from a hard, white plastic. That's a plus because it's unlikely to get dirty and attract dust and lint, but it may show scuffs and scratches, and it's a bit slippery.

Right now, the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ only comes in white, and it's not clear if Apple will release other color options in the future. Attached to an iPhone, the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ stays in place thanks to a strong magnet. If you shake your phone, it's unaffected, but it slides right off if you push it to the side, so some caution will be needed sticking it in a pocket.

The ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ has a 11.13Wh battery capacity, which for most of the iPhone 12 models, will be a partial charge. The iPhone 12, for comparison, has a 10.78Wh battery, but wireless charging is not particularly efficient and there is power loss to deal with.

Charging performance can be impacted by a number of factors like ambient heat and whether or not the iPhone heats up when charging. Because of heat issues, the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ charges an iPhone at just 5W while on the go.

If you plug in the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ using a Lightning cable and a 20W+ power adapter, it can charge the iPhone at up to 15W while also charging itself, and this is the first Apple accessory to offer reverse wireless charging. You can plug a Lightning cable into an iPhone 12 model and attach the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ and charge the two devices that way, too.

There's no major benefit to doing this, unless you're plugged into a Mac or another device and getting power that way. It's a nice feature to have if you need it. It's worth noting that the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ has to be charged using a Lightning cable (or the iPhone) -- it does not support charging through a MagSafe Charger.

The ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ can be used to charge the AirPods and other Qi-based devices like older iPhones, just without the magnetic functionality. It does not charge the Apple Watch because the Apple Watch doesn't support Qi. You can use a case, but it needs to be a ‌MagSafe‌ case, and other accessories like the ‌MagSafe‌ Wallet need to be removed for the Battery Pack.

iOS 14.7 added support for the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌, and the update is required to use it. If you have iOS 15 installed, the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ is not yet supported and it does not work properly. The ‌MagSafe‌ charging animation pops up when attaching the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌, and you can see charge level using the Batteries widget.

All in all, this isn't a bad accessory if you have an iPhone 12 and want a no-hassle charging option, and it's especially useful for the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌, which has the shortest battery life of all the iPhones. That said, $99 is expensive, and you can get a much bigger battery pack for that price if you don't mind losing the wireless charging and the ‌MagSafe‌ functionality.

Do you have the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌? Let us know what you think of it in the comments.

Amid spiking cases in the ongoing health crisis, Apple has started urging its employees to wear masks in retail store locations once again, and is mandating it in some areas, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple stopped requiring fully vaccinated customers and employees to wear masks at Apple Store locations in June, but with the Delta variant spreading across the United States and impacting even those who have been vaccinated, Apple is being more cautious.

In Santa Clara County where Apple's headquarters are located, local health authorities have begun recommending that masks be worn in indoor public locations, but it is not a mandate. In Los Angeles County, masks are once again required, so Apple employees in this area will indeed be wearing masks.

All Apple stores worldwide are still open at this point in time, and it is not clear if there will be further shutdowns in any areas.

Apple had planned to have its corporate employees return to work in September, but yesterday said that those plans have been delayed until October at the earliest. Corporate employees will be given at least a month's notice before they have to return to work.

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.

DuckDuckGo today announced its brand new Email Protection feature that will allow users to save themselves from being tracked by trackers embedded into emails by forwarding them to a free and personalized DuckDuckGo email before being sent to their actual email.

DuckDuckGo's Email Protection comes as an alternative to Apple's Hide My Email part of iCloud+, allowing users to direct emails for apps, websites, and services to a random ‌‌iCloud‌‌ email address before being sent to their actual address. This process means that apps and services never directly see a user's actual email, only their random ‌‌iCloud‌‌ address.

Apple has also introduced a similar feature as part of iOS 15 and macOS Monterey that hides a user's IP address and loads all content within an email, including "hidden pixels" for tracking in the background, through proxy servers. DuckDuckGo says its feature differs since it just removes trackers from an email before it's sent to a user, compared to Apple's approach which it claims sends "erroneous" user data back to a tracker's servers.

One of the largest cornerstones of DuckDuckGo's offering, compared to Apple's Hide My Email, is its cross-platform compatibility. Apple's Hide My Email will only work on Apple devices. At the same time, thanks to DuckDuckGo's browser extension and apps available on other platforms, DuckDuckGo's Email Protection is available no matter where a user chooses to browse the internet.

Choose your Duck Email Address (you@duck.com) and start giving it out. We remove hidden trackers from incoming emails sent to this address, then forward them to your regular inbox for safer reading. This means if you use an email service like Gmail or Yahoo, it’s no problem! Emails sent to your Personal Duck Address will arrive there as usual so you can read your email like normal, in any app or on the web, worry-free.

DuckDuckGo is pledging that it never saves a user's email and that even when emails are sent to its servers to be cleansed from trackers, that information remains private. DuckDuckGo is offering the new feature to a private group of beta testers, and those interested can join the waitlist.

Google today updated its Chrome app for iOS devices to version 92, introducing a new feature that allows iPhone and iPad users to protect their Incognito tabs with Touch ID, Face ID, or a passcode.

Locked Incognito tabs will not be visible until authenticated after leaving the Chrome app and reopening it, which will prevent someone who gets ahold of your device from viewing your Chrome tabs. To enable this feature, you can go to Settings > Privacy > Lock Incognito tabs. Safari does not have a comparable feature for its Private tabs.

Along with protection for Incognito tabs, Google has also added a feature for taking a screenshot of an entire web page. When taking a screenshot, use the "Full Page" option at the top of the screenshot editor to capture the entire page.

There's also a new Discover design on the New Tab Page, and Settings, History, and Bookmarks have been redesigned. Chrome will now ask for confirmation if you want to close all tabs from the Tab Switcher to prevent accidents, and individual tabs can be shared, bookmarked, and added to a reading list from the Tab Switcher.

Chrome can be downloaded from the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Twitter today announced that it has started rolling out a redesigned version of its TweetDeck Twitter client, which it has been working on since earlier this year.

The new version of TweetDeck is rolling out to a "limited number of accounts" of randomly selected people in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

According to Twitter, the new design is meant to better align with the design of the Twitter websites and mobile apps, incorporating more Twitter.com functionality.

There's a design that is indeed more similar to the standard Twitter design, which may upset TweetDeck users who are accustomed to the multi-column view. TweetDeck is gaining features that were previously only available though the standard Twitter website, such as an Explore topic.

Following this limited test, Twitter will likely be bringing the TweetDeck redesign to a wider audience. Those who have been selected for the beta rollout will see an invitation within TweetDeck to opt in.

Apple today announced that two new games "Tetris Beat" and "Monster Hunter Stories" will be coming soon to Apple Arcade, while "Skate City" will be receiving a major update with a new Olympics-inspired Tokyo level later this week.

"Tetris Beat" will combine classic Tetris block-stacking gameplay with new music and innovative rhythm mechanics. The game tasks players with rotating and dropping Tetriminos to the beat, keeping to the rhythm to build their biggest combo chain and score big. For hardcore Tetris fans looking for the traditional gameplay experience, they can try out the Marathon mode, where they can also choose the soundtrack.

"Monster Hunter Stories" is a roleplaying game where players enter a world filled with large monsters that roam the land, and people everywhere make a living hunting them. However, there's a remote village that follows a different set of customs called the Monster Riders, who don't hunt but instead form bonds with monsters. Players can become Riders to befriend countless Monsties and embark on new adventures.

Last, Apple Arcade game "Skate City" is receiving its biggest update ever on July 23 with a new Tokyo level, just in time for the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics. The game hails from Snowman, makers of "Alto's Adventure" and "Alto's Odyssey."

Snowman says players will be able to skate through a diverse range of neighborhoods and famous skate spots to experience Tokyo's unique identity. Tokyo will include over 60 challenges in Free Skate and Challenge modes, along with new deck designs, updated clothes in the skate shop, and new original songs that expand on the popular soundtrack.

"Skateboarding's coming to the Olympics for the first time in history, which is a triumphant moment for the sport," said Ryan Cash, co-founder of Snowman. "We knew we had to be part of it in some small way."

Priced at $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year, Apple Arcade provides access to a catalog of around 200 games without ads or in-app purchases across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, with additional titles added periodically. Other recently updated games part of the service include "Agent Intercept" and "Game of Thrones: Tale of Crows."

Apple's new MagSafe Battery Pack for the iPhone 12 has started arriving to customers around the world, and as more people get their hands on the accessory, various tidbits have surfaced about its design and functionality.

Priced at $99 in the United States, the MagSafe Battery Pack attaches magnetically to the back of the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, or iPhone 12 Pro Max, providing additional hours of battery life. Designed with hard plastic, Apple says the battery pack is able to wirelessly charge the iPhone at up to 5W on the go, or at up to 15W when the battery pack is connected to a 20W or higher power adapter with a Lightning to USB-C cable.

MacRumors readers have indicated the MagSafe Battery Pack is 11mm thick and weighs around 114 to 115 grams. As noted by Tommy Boi on Twitter, an iPhone 12 mini with the MagSafe Battery Pack attached weighs around 250 grams, which is heavier than the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which weighs 228 grams on its own.

Steven Russell from Memphis, Tennessee confirmed the MagSafe Battery Pack cannot be charged with Apple's MagSafe Charger or other Qi-based wireless charging pads. However, when attached to an iPhone 12 that is charging via Lightning, the ‌iPhone‌ can deliver power to the battery pack. The reverse wireless charging feature requires a 20W or higher power adapter and you can track both charging statuses on the Lock screen.

Russell also demonstrated that the MagSafe Battery Pack can wirelessly charge AirPods, but as expected, it cannot charge an Apple Watch.

The MagSafe Battery Pack is supported by iPhone 12 models running iOS 14.7, which was released yesterday, but multiple MacRumors readers have indicated that the battery pack is not yet supported by the latest iOS 15 beta.

A basic teardown of the MagSafe Battery Pack surfaced on Chinese social media platform Weibo, as shared by DuanRui on Twitter:

The MagSafe Battery Pack can be ordered on Apple's online store in a white color and currently has a late July delivery estimate in the United States. Apple Store pickup is also available at selection locations starting today.

The sixth-generation iPad mini will feature an A15 chip and a Smart Connector, according to a report from 9to5Mac.

The next-generation ‌iPad mini‌ is reportedly codenamed "J310" and will feature a number of significant upgrades. The report claims that one of the key features of the new ‌iPad mini‌ will be the A15 chip, which is expected to debut in the iPhone 13 lineup later this year. The A15 is expected to be made with the same 5nm fabrication process as the A14 chip, and Apple is said to be working on a more powerful "A15X" variant for other iPad models set to launch at a later date.

As previously reported by the leaker Jon Prosser, the sixth-generation ‌iPad mini‌ will also have a USB-C port instead of the current model's Lightning port to open it up to a wider range of peripherals and accessories, bringing it in line with the iPad Pro and iPad Air.

The other major upgrade claimed to be arriving with the new ‌iPad mini‌ is a ‌Smart Connector‌, as previously shown on Jon Prosser's renders of the device that were purportedly based on leaked images. The report says that Apple is planning to release ‌Smart Connector‌ accessories for the new ‌iPad mini‌, but it is not clear what these may be.

Separately, the report also stated that the entry-level ‌iPad‌, reportedly codenamed "J181," is set to receive an update with the A13 chip from the iPhone 11 lineup. The current model features the A12 chip, meaning that the A13 could give the device a significant performance boost.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said that the new ‌iPad mini‌ is expected to launch this fall, and despite a range of inconsistent rumors around the device, most reports seem to have agreed on the device featuring a larger display in the region of 8.4-inches with slimmer bezels and an iPad Air-style redesign.

Adobe today announced it has updated its popular video editing app Premiere Pro with native support for Macs powered by the M1 chip, including the base 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, 24-inch iMac, and Mac mini.

Creative Cloud apps like Premiere Pro run over 80% faster on an M1 Mac compared to an identically configured Intel-based Mac on average, according to Adobe.

Adobe plans to extend native support for Apple silicon to its After Effects app with a public beta later this year, after updating its Illustrator, InDesign, and Lightroom Classic apps to run natively on M1 Macs early last month.

Premiere Pro has also received a new Speech to Text feature, offering an integrated and automated workflow for creating transcriptions and captions.

Adobe detailed more new Premiere Pro and After Effects features in a blog post.

Apple is looking to lease a large production campus in Los Angeles for Apple TV+, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Apple apparently told real-estate development executives about its intention to lease a Los Angeles production campus, presumably for ‌Apple TV‌+. The production hub could exceed half a million square feet in size since it needs to provide enough space to produce multiple TV shows and movies.

Many of the city's available spaces for production are said to be heavily booked for months in advance by studios that need a constant output of content, prompting companies to acquire space for themselves directly or lock-in locations with leases that reserve the space for several years at a time.

Mike Mosallam joined Apple in January this year as a lead production real-estate executive for Los Angeles, apparently looking to oversee the company's soundstage strategy. He previously worked as Netflix's director of production planning and studio leasing.

Apple is reportedly hoping to deepen its presence in Hollywood by opening the campus. The company currently leases individual soundstages to film for ‌Apple TV‌+ in Los Angeles and other areas around the world, but a dedicated campus could streamline the production process and reinforce Apple's commitment to compete with other video streaming services.

LG has agreed to sell Apple's iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches at its "LG Best Shops" in South Korea from August, according to a report by the local Herald Economic Daily.

The Apple products will go on sale at 400 LG stores across the country. As part of the agreement between the two parties, all Macs are excluded from the sales, since LG's laptop offerings overlap with Apple computers.

The news comes after initial stumbling blocks over the proposed deal appeared to make an agreement unlikely. According to the report, LG faced stiff resistance from the National Mobile Communication Distribution Association, which viewed the proposal as a direct violation of an earlier "win-win" competition agreement to do with the sale of mobile phones.

However, a "negotiable in case of change" clause in that agreement has been cited by the regulatory bodies to argue that it is too early to judge whether LG is in violation, given its changed position in the industry.

LG Electronics recently announced its withdrawal from the smartphone business, and when it completely withdraws from the mobile business at the end of this month, retail space previously used for marketing its handsets will be vacant. Apple meanwhile saw an opportunity to increase its retail presence in Korea, and the two companies began negotiations.

Korea's Distribution Association is reportedly awaiting LG's official statement on the matter while it renegotiates the win-win agreement once it starts selling Apple's products in its stores.

The newly-launched MagSafe Battery Pack for the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max is now available for in-store pickup at Apple Stores in a range of countries and regions around the world.

Spot checks show that customers in the U.S., Canada, UK, EU, Australia, Japan, and China can now place an order for a ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ on Apple's website or in the Apple Store app and arrange for in-store pickup at a local retail location. In-store pickup may be one of the only ways to get a ‌‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ immediately as mail orders are already facing moderate delays of around one to two weeks.

Priced at $99 in the United States, the ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ attaches magnetically to the back of the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, or ‌iPhone 12 Pro Max‌, providing additional hours of battery life. Apple says the battery pack is able to wirelessly charge the iPhone at up to 5W on the go, or at up to 15W when the battery pack is connected to a 20W or higher power adapter with a Lightning to USB-C cable.

Apple has opened orders for its Beats Studio Buds on the other side of the Atlantic, with the wireless earbuds now available in several European countries including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Additional retailers like Amazon and John Lewis are also selling them.

Launched in the U.S. and Canda last month, Beats Studio Buds feature a compact round design without any "stems" dropping below the ears. Like the AirPods Pro, the Beats Studio Buds feature active noise cancellation, and when you need to hear the world around you, you can switch to Transparency mode by pressing and holding the Beats logo button on either earbud.

While the Beats Studio Buds support one-touch pairing for both Apple and Android devices via Bluetooth, they don't include Apple's H1 or W1 chip, so they're missing some AirPods features like automatic switching between Apple devices.

Other key features of the Beats Studio Buds include up to five hours of listening time per charge with active noise cancellation turned on, hands-free "Hey Siri" support, IPX4-rated sweat and water resistance, Find My support, and a USB-C charging case.

To learn more about the Beats Studio Buds, make sure to read our in-depth hands-on review.

The U.K. government is today unveiling its plan to regulate tech giants, such as Apple, to ensure that the U.K's digital market, which includes platforms such as the App Store, is open for competition, and not dominated by any particular company.

In April, the U.K. created the DMU or Digital Markets Unit under the Competition and Markets Authority. With newly given powers, that new unit will now be able to designate big tech companies as "Strategic Market Status." Companies with the SMS status will be required to "follow new rules of acceptable behavior" that aim to boost competition and growth for the economy.

The Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will be given the power to designate tech firms that hold substantial and entrenched market power with 'Strategic Market Status' (SMS). This will require them to follow new rules of acceptable behaviour with competitors and customers in a move that will benefit the public and drive growth and innovation across the economy.

The DMU, launched in non-statutory form within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in April, will work alongside firms to inject stronger competition into the digital tech sector resulting in more innovation and fairer terms for UK businesses, including startups, news publishers and advertisers. It will bring better consumer choice and control, making it easier for people to take their business elsewhere.

While no companies are directly listed as being designated as "Strategic Market Status," the U.K. has been ramping up its investigations and concerns against Apple. The U.K. and others have been investigating Apple over concerns that it holds a dominant position in the markets that it operates in, a rhetoric Apple has pushed strongly against. Countries are also concerned about alleged anti-competitive behavior undertaken by Apple.

One of the largest concerns of governments, and the catalyst behind Apple's legal battle with game developer Epic Games, is the ‌App Store‌. Apple only allows users to download apps on iPhone and iPad from its ‌App Store‌ platform, which it controls. Apple must approve all apps that go onto the store, and there has been rising pressure for the company to allow users to "sideload" apps, giving users the freedom to download apps beyond the platform.

As part of the new proposal, the Digital Markets Unit may require that companies avoid restricting users to a specific or "default" service to prevent them from limiting competition. That new requirement would branch under a new "mandatory code of conduct" that tech companies would need to follow. If a company fails to follow the code, it could be subjected to fines or could be forced to overturn decisions.

The consultation seeks views on the objectives and powers of the DMU and details a new mandatory code of conduct, which will set out what is expected of firms for fair trading, open choices and trust and transparency. This could include tech platforms not pushing their customers into using default or mandatory associated services, or ensuring third party companies that depend on them aren;t blocked from doing business with competitors.

The code will be underpinned by robust investigation and enforcement powers. These may include imposing fines of a maximum of 10 per cent of a firm's turnover for the most serious breaches.

The DMU could also be given powers to suspend, block and reverse code-breaching behaviour by tech giants - for instance unfair changes in their algorithms or T&Cs - and order them to take specific actions to comply with the code.

One direct implication for Apple could be the DMU overturning decisions it makes regarding the ‌App Store‌. Apple has policies that govern the ‌App Store‌ and a development agreement that all developers must consent to before distributing apps on the platform. Under the proposal, the DMU could possibly overturn some of Apple's ‌App Store‌ decisions, such as what apps are rejected, or even the direct terms and conditions that developers must agree to.

The ‌App Store‌ and its governing policies came under the spotlight last August when ‌Epic Games‌, the makers behind the hit game Fortnite, breached Apple's ‌App Store‌ Guidelines by introducing an unauthorized payment method for in-app purchases. Some are concerned that Apple uses its ‌App Store‌ Guidelines as an unfair way to limit competition.

The U.K's Digital Secretary, Oliver Dowden, called the new measures a "champion" effort to give smaller companies a chance to compete in the digital market and to "make sure" that tech companies play by the rules.

So we will be giving our new Digital Markets Unit the powers it needs to champion competition and drive growth and innovation, with tough fines to make sure the biggest tech firms play by the rules.

Apple has been contacted for a response to the new proposal and we'll update this if we hear back.

Customers using cards with the Russian payment system "Mir" now have access to using their cards with Apple Pay, the Russian News Agency reports, citing a press release.

The Mir payment system is Russia's national payment system, with cards being accepted in 11 countries. The payment system has 270 banks as participants, with 150 banks issuing Mir cards. Apple Pay support came to Mir cardholders for customers of several banks, according to the agency.

Sberbank, VTB, Tinkoff Bank, Russian Agricultural Bank, Promsvyazbank, Pochta Bank, Center-Invest Bank, and Primsotsbank were the first banks to provide their Mir cards clients with Apple Pay, General Director of the payment system Vladimir Komlev said.

Apple Pay first launched in Russia in October of 2016 and has since expanded to more countries and supporting banks.