MacRumors

Anker, known for its line of iPhone accessories, has a brand called "Soundcore" to sell audio accessories like earbuds. In our latest YouTube video, we checked out the new Soundcore Spirit Dot 2 wire-free earbuds, which are much more affordable than most other wire-free options at $79.

The Spirit Dot 2 earbuds look similar to many other wire-free earbuds on the market with a stemless design, silicone tips that fit in the ears, and small AirWings to keep them secure in the ears. Tips in five sizes ship with the Spirit Dot 2 to make sure everyone can find the best fit possible, with XS, S, M, L, and XL tips to choose from.

The fit is similar to the fit of headphones like the Samsung Galaxy Buds, Jabra Elite, Pixel Buds, and other wire-free earbuds with silicone tips and an in-ear design. When first inserting the earbuds into the ear, you may need to do some adjusting to get them situated properly for the best seal.

We've found that putting them in the ear and giving them a little twist gives us the most secure fit. Comfort is subjective and will vary for everyone based on ear size and shape, but we found the Spirit Dot 2 to be a bit more uncomfortable than competing products, causing ear fatigue to set in sooner.

For $79, the Spirit Dot 2 earbuds offer impressive sound, especially when it comes to bass levels. The earbuds are described as offering "thumping bass," a claim that seems to be accurate. In fact, there may be too much focus on the lows, overpowering the mids and highs at times and offering a somewhat unbalanced sound profile. Like fit, though, sound preference is subjective so some may prefer the heavy bass. Unfortunately there's no option in the Soundcore app for adjusting the sound.

The Spirit Dot 2 earbuds support gesture controls. Double tapping on the right earbud will play/pause the music, and double tapping on the left earbud will skip to the next track. A long press on either earbud can bring up Siri if you're using an ‌iPhone‌. Setup and pairing isn't as simple as something like the AirPods and will require standard Bluetooth device setup in the Settings app of an ‌iPhone‌.

On a single charge, the Spirit Dot 2 earbuds offer up to five and a half hours of playback time, and the included charging case adds 16 hours of additional playback. The little oblong case charges over USB-C, has LEDs that indicate charge level, and has a quick charge feature that provides an hour of playback time with a 10 minute charge.

Anker's Soundcore brand designed the Spirit Dot 2 earbuds to be water resistant, and they have an IPX7 water resistance rating. That's fairly high for earbuds, and means they're able to hold up to immersion in water up to a meter in depth for 30 minutes. The earbuds are advertised as having "SweatGuard technology" with an advanced sealing process and coating technology that protects them from moisture.

All in all, for $79, the Soundcore Spirit Dot 2 earbuds are an affordable wire-free earbud option. They're not as good as the AirPods or AirPods Pro when it comes to comfort or functionality like pairing and device swapping, but they sound decent and offer a ton of bass for those who prefer that kind of sound profile.

Update June 12: Anker's Spirit Dot 2 earphones are now available at Amazon.

Apple is working on a redesigned version of the Leather Loop band that could be as soon as next month, according to leaked information shared today on Reddit and by 9to5Mac.

The updated bands appear to have more distinct ridges that do not extend to the edge of the band and for some colors, accent edging in a different color. The photos shared on Reddit depict the bands in brown with two colors of accent edging, red, orange, black, and blue. Rather than fastening with a loop, the redesigned version uses magnets to close.

It's not clear why Apple would redesign the existing Leather Loop band, which has been available since the launch of the original Apple Watch in 2015. The new models could offer improved breathability, better water resistance, or both, and Apple could perhaps expand availability to smaller Apple Watch models.

Current Leather Loop bands only fit the 44mm Apple Watch, and the leaked images seem to depict two sizes. There's also a possibility that the Leather Loop bands will continue to exist and that these bands are something else, as they don't have a loop design.

The person who shared the images on Reddit says they're from a local shop in Vietnam that called the bands "experimental units for the next generation of Apple Watch." 9to5Mac says that it was also contacted by a tipster with similar images and that source said the new Apple Watch bands could be unveiled as soon as next month, perhaps during Apple's WWDC announcements and product releases.

Apple often refreshes Apple Watch band colors alongside major events, so it would not be unusual for new band colors and options to come out in the summer.

There's no word on when these bands will come out nor is it clear if these are actually Apple-designed bands or if they're a faked version, so we'll have to wait to see if Apple actually ends up releasing them.

Sonnet today announced the upcoming launch of its Fusion Flex J3i internal drive mount for the 2019 Mac Pro, which lets users add up to three SATA storage drives to their machines.

Sonnet isn't the only company to launch an internal drive mount for the new ‌Mac Pro‌, and Apple itself sells Promise's Pegasus J2i system that lets you add two drives, but Sonnet says it's the first to let users add three drives right inside the ‌Mac Pro‌ and connected directly via SATA.

The Fusion Flex J3i offers two slots that can accept either 3.5-inch hard disk drives or 2.5-inch SSDs, and a third slot that accepts a 2.5-inch SSD, allowing for a total of 36TB of additional internal storage.

Storage installed via the Fusion Flex J3i won't be as fast as the main NVMe SSDs at the heart of the ‌Mac Pro‌ or PCIe-based storage upgrades, especially if you're using traditional hard disk drives, but if you're a user who wants to prioritize storage space and simplicity over drive speed, Sonnet's Fusion Flex J3i might be worth checking out.

The Fusion Flex J3i includes the mount, required power/data cable assemblies, and mounting brackets to fit 2.5-inch drives into the 3.5-inch drive slots, but the drives themselves are sold separately. It will be priced at $199.99 and launches on June 15.

The popular YouTube Kids app is now available on Apple TV, making it easier to access the platform's kid-friendly video content on bigger screens.

YouTube Kids uses a combination of automated filters, human review, and parent feedback to offer a safer environment for kids to watch videos. Parental controls offer additional customization, from allowing only parent-approved collections to be viewed and age-level ratings, to screen time limitations and video/channel blocking.

Even with the filtering and curation in place, YouTube has faced criticism for allowing some inappropriate content onto the YouTube Kids platform, and the company has pledged to improve its policies and procedures to be more strict. Early on, the service was also criticized for targeting children with advertising, with YouTube making some changes to help provide better distinction between ads and video content.

As noted by Engadget, YouTube Kids is compatible with both 4K and HD models of Apple TV, and it works with Siri.

Mac users in India now have the option of custom configuring their machines, offering significantly greater options as Apple seeks to increase its presence in the country, reports TechCrunch.

“This is a very huge deal,” said Preshit Deorukhkar, a Mumbai-based executive who closely tracks Apple development. “Previously, there was no real way to get a built-to-order or configure-to-order Mac in India. So you were stuck with the base models — say a Mac Mini or 13″ MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM. Now that the company is officially offering this, you get the computer you want and the standard warranty on it.”

Customers looking to purchase a built-to-order Mac in India may, however, have to wait a while to receive their orders, as TechCrunch says it is aiming to fulfill orders within four to five weeks.

Apple has been seeking to expand both sales and protection in India, which has so far been relatively untapped by the company. Sales of Apple products have long been limited to third-party resellers in India, but recently loosened restrictions have allowed Apple to move forward with plans to sell directly to customers. Apple is reportedly set to begin online sales in India later this year, and the company has been scouting for retail store locations in the country.

Apple's manufacturing partners currently have relatively small operations in the country, largely focused on older iPhones, but Apple is said to be very interested in expanding production.

The first app that takes advantage of the Exposure Notification API developed by Apple and Google has launched in Switzerland, according to a report from the BBC.

A team of app developers working on contact tracing app called SwissCovid have rolled out the app in a beta capacity for members of the Swiss army, hospital workers, and civil servants. After the app is tested and approved by MPs, it will see a wider public rollout, which could happen by mid-June.

Latvia also soon plans to introduce an app that uses the API, but other European countries are hesitant. The digital affairs ministers for Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal recently published a joint letter that criticizes the Apple/Google API for the restrictions put in place, mainly the decentralized device-to-device notification approach and the lack of location data collection.

"The use of digital technologies must be designed in such a way that we, as democratically elected governments, evaluate it and judge it acceptable to our citizens and in accordance with our European values," read the letter. "We believe that challenging this right by imposing technical standards represents a misstep and a missed opportunity for open collaboration between governments and the private sector."

Apple released the Exposure Notification API as part of iOS 13.5 last week. At the time, Apple said that several U.S. states and 22 countries had requested and received access to the API, with more expected to join.

In the United States, there are no apps available that take advantage of ‌Exposure Notification‌ as of yet, but Alabama, South Carolina, and North Dakota all plan to use the API. The UK, Australia, multiple European states, and several U.S. states, such as Utah, have opted out of using the API.

The ‌Exposure Notification‌ feature in iOS 13.5 is deactivated by default and cannot be used without an app created by a public health authority. It is also privacy focused and collects no personally identifiable data or location information, with more details available in our Exposure Notification guide.

Apple today released macOS Catalina 10.15.5, the fifth update to the macOS Catalina operating system that was released in October 2019. macOS Catalina 10.15.5 comes two months after the launch of macOS Catalina 10.15.4, which introduced Screen Time Communication Limits.

macOS Catalina 10.15.5 is a free update that can be downloaded from the Mac App Store using the Update feature in the System Preferences app.

The macOS Catalina 10.15.5 update introduces a new Battery Health Management feature for Mac notebooks. Battery Health Management is meant to extend the overall lifespan of a Mac's battery by reducing the rate of chemical aging.

Battery Health Management analyzes the battery health of a laptop and its charging pattern, and in some cases, it will preserve battery longevity and health by not charging a MacBook to its full capacity. Keeping a MacBook charged at its full capacity at all times can reduce battery health.

When a Mac is used plugged in and the battery is kept full all the time, the Battery Health Management feature will kick in and stop short of a full charge.

Battery Health Management is an optional feature that can be disabled through the System Preferences app, with instructions available in our how to.

The macOS Catalina 10.15.5 update also addresses an issue that caused large data transfers to RAID volumes to freeze up the Finder app. With the update, large data transfers will no longer cause Finder to become unresponsive.

After installing macOS Catalina 10.15.4, some Mac users began experiencing occasional system crashes, primarily caused by large file transfers. The new update should successfully fix the problem. Apple's full release notes for macOS Catalina 10.15.5 are below.

macOS Catalina 10.15.5 introduces battery health management in the Energy Saver settings for notebooks, an option to control automatic prominence of video tiles on Group FaceTime calls, and controls to fine-tune the built-in calibration of your Pro Display XDR. The update also improves the stability, reliability, and security of your Mac.

Battery Health Management
- Battery health management to help maximize battery lifespan for Mac notebooks
- Energy Saver preference pane now displays battery condition and recommends if the battery needs to be serviced
- Option to disable battery health management
- For more information, please visit https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211094

FaceTime Prominence Preference
- Option to control automatic prominence on Group FaceTime calls so video tiles do not change size when a participant speaks

Calibration Fine-Tuning for Pro Display XDR
- Controls to fine-tune the built-in calibration of your Pro Display XDR by adjusting the white point and luminance for a precise match to your own display calibration target

This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements.
- Fixes an issue that may prevent Reminders from sending notifications for recurring reminders
- Addresses an issue that may prevent password entry on the login screen
- Fixes an issue where System Preferences would continue to show a notification badge even after installing an update
- Resolves an issue where the built-in camera may not be detected when trying to use it after using a video conferencing app
- Addresses an issue for Mac computers with the Apple T2 Security Chip where internal speakers may not appear as a sound output device in Sound preferences
- Fixes a stability issue with uploading and downloading media files from iCloud Photo Library while your Mac is asleep
- Resolves a stability issue when transferring large amounts of data to RAID volumes
- Fixes an issue where the Reduce Motion Accessibility preference did not reduce the speed of animations in a FaceTime group call

Belkin today announced that several of its new wireless charging accessories that first debuted at CES are now available for purchase on Amazon and from other third-party retailers.

The Soundform Elite Smart Speaker + Wireless Charger, priced at $300, combines wireless charging capabilities with speaker technology from Devialet. It looks a bit like a HomePod with the top cut off to provide a wireless charging spot for an iPhone, and it works with Google Assistant.

Belkin's Boost Charge 3-in-1 Wireless Charger, priced at $120, can charge an ‌iPhone‌, AirPods, and an Apple Watch all at once. It has a sleek, compact design with an upright charging platform for an ‌iPhone‌, a charging puck for the Apple Watch, and a space between the Apple Watch's band to charge the AirPods.

Available for $50, Belkin's Dual Wireless Charging Pads offer fast 7.5W charging for two iPhones at once through a single charging pad that has a dual-device design.

All of the wireless chargers listed above are available for purchase from Belkin and from Amazon as of today.

Apple's iPhone 11 was the most in-demand smartphone during the first quarter of 2020, even as the world weathered a global pandemic, according to new research shared today by research firm Omdia.

Apple shipped an estimated 19.5 million ‌iPhone‌ 11 models during the quarter, thanks to the more affordable price tag of the device along with its robust feature set.

"For more than five years--even amid shifting conditions in the wireless market and the global economy--one thing has remained consistent in the smartphone business: Apple has taken either the first or second rank in Omdia's global model shipment ranking," said Jusy Hong, director of smartphone research at Omdia. "Apple's success is the result of its strategy to offer relatively few models. This has allowed the company to focus its efforts on a small number of products that appeal to a broad selection of consumers and sell in extremely high volumes."

Samsung's Galaxy A51 was the second most popular smartphone with 6.8 million units shipped, followed by the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro, with 6.6 and 6.1 million units shipped, respectively.

Apple's ‌iPhone‌ XR, which was the best-selling smartphone in the year-ago quarter, took the fourth spot with 4.7 million units shipped. The ‌iPhone‌ XR was more popular than the ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro and Pro Max, though it's worth noting that those two smartphones were counted individually rather than together.

Apple shipped an estimated 4.2 million iPhone 11 Pro Max models and an estimated 3.8 million ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro models, for a combined total of 8 million smartphones shipped. Had those been counted as a combined total, the two models would have placed second in the shipment rankings.

Omdia is a research firm that was established following the merger of the research division of Informa Tech and the IHS Markit technology research portfolio.

Apple is planning to approximately 100 more retail stores in the United States this week in states that include California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and more.

Apple first began reopening stores in the United States on May 11, and right around 25 stores have opened up at the current time. Many of the Apple Stores that will be reopening starting tomorrow will be limited to store pickups and repairs.

In the Bay Area where Apple is located, for example, stores that include Apple Burlingame, Apple Corte Madera, Apple Hillsdale, and Apple Union Square, the flagship San Francisco location, are reopening, but only for pickups and repairs.

Customers will not be allowed in the store, as local guidelines state that non-essential stores with a sidewalk storefront are only able to provide curbside pickup of orders at this time. Stores located in malls are not able to open up as of yet, so retail locations like Valley Fair will remain closed. In other areas, though, stores will be able to reopen for customers.

Apple in a statement to 9to5Mac said that it is committed to reopening its stores "in a very thoughtful manner."

This week we'll return to serving customers in many US locations. For customer safety and convenience, most stores will offer curbside or storefront service only, where we provide online order pick-up and Genius Bar appointments. Others will be open for walk-in customers and we encourage everyone to check their local store webpage for more information about hours at their preferred location. Customers can also visit apple.com for support by phone or chat.

We are committed to reopening our stores in a very thoughtful manner with the health and safety of our customers and teams as our top priority, and we look forward to seeing our customers again soon.

Apple Store employees across the United States have been preparing for the store openings over the course of the last week, and were trained on new procedures for handling products and interacting with customers over the weekend.

9to5Mac has a full list of the stores that are set to reopen this week, and details on whether customers are able to enter the store or if the location is limited to pickups.

Arizona (In-store Service & Sales):

- Arrowhead (Glendale)
- Chandler Fashion Center (Chandler)
- La Encantada (Tucson)
- SanTan Village (Gilbert)
- Scottsdale Fashion Square (Scottsdale)
- Scottsdale Quarter (Scottsdale)

California (In-store Service & Sales):

- Carlsbad (Carlsbad)
- Fashion Valley (San Diego)
- North County (Escondido)
- Otay Ranch (Chula Vista)
- State Street (Santa Barbara)
- UTC (San Diego)

California (Storefront Service & Sales):

- 4th Street (Berkeley)
- Apple Park Visitor Center (Cupertino)
- Bay Street (Emeryville)
- Broadway Plaza (Walnut Creek)
- Burlingame (Burlingame)
- Chestnut Street (San Francisco)
- Corte Madera (Corte Madera)
- El Paseo Village (Palm Desert)
- Fashion Island (Newport Beach)
- Infinite Loop (Cupertino)
- Irvine Spectrum Center (Irvine)
- Los Gatos (Los Gatos)
- Palo Alto (Palo Alto)
- Promenade Temecula (Temecula)
- Stanford (Palo Alto)
- Union Square (San Francisco)
- Victoria Gardens (Rancho Cucamonga)

California (Curbside Service & Sales):

- Brea Mall (Brea)
- Hillsdale (San Mateo)
- Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo)
- Santa Rosa Plaza (Santa Rosa)
- South Coast Plaza (Costa Mesa)
- The Oaks (Thousand Oaks)

Florida (In-store Service & Sales):

- Aventura (Aventura)
- Boca Raton (Boca Raton)
- Brickell City Centre (Miami)
- Coconut Point (Estero)
- Dadeland (Miami)
- Lincoln Road (Miami Beach)
- The Falls (Miami)
- The Galleria (Fort Lauderdale)
- The Gardens Mall (Palm Beach Gardens)
- Waterside Shops (Naples)
- Wellington Green (Wellington)

Georgia (In-store Service & Sales):

- Augusta (Augusta)

Georgia (Storefront Service & Sales):

- Avalon (Alpharetta)
- Cumberland Mall (Atlanta)
- Lenox Square (Atlanta)
- Mall of Georgia (Buford)
- Perimeter (Atlanta)

Indiana (Storefront Service & Sales):

- University Park Mall (Mishawaka)

Kansas (Storefront Service & Sales):

- Leawood (Leawood)

Kentucky (Storefront Service & Sales):

- FayetteMall (Lexington)
- Oxmoor (Louisville)

Michigan (Curbside Service & Sales):

- Briarwood (Ann Arbor)
- Eastwood Towne Center (Lansing)
- Partridge Creek (Clinton Township)
- Somerset (Troy)
- Twelve Oaks (Novi)

Missouri (Storefront Service & Sales):

- Country Club Plaza (Kansas City)
- Saint Louis Galleria (St. Louis)
- West County (St. Louis)

Nevada (In-store Service & Sales):

- Summerlin (Las Vegas)
- Summit Sierra (Reno)
- Town Square (Las Vegas)

New Mexico (Storefront Service & Sales):

- ABQ Uptown (Albuquerque)

New York (Curbside Service & Sales):

- Eastview (Victor)

Ohio (Storefront Service & Sales):

- Crocker Park (Westlake)
- Easton Town Center (Columbus)
- Eton (Woodmere)
- Kenwood Towne Centre (Cincinnati)
- Polaris Fashion Place (Columbus)
- Summit Mall (Akron)
- The Greene (Beavercreek)

Oregon (Storefront Service & Sales):

- Pioneer Place (Portland)

Pennsylvania (Storefront Service & Sales):

- Shadyside (Pittsburgh)

South Carolina (In-store Service & Sales):

- Haywood Mall (Greenville)

Tennessee (Storefront Service & Sales):

- Cool Springs Galleria (Franklin)
- West Town Mall (Knoxville)

Texas (In-store Service & Sales):

- Barton Creek (Austin)
- Baybrook (Friendswood)
- Domain Northside (Austin)
- First Colony Mall (Sugar Land)
- Highland Village (Houston)
- Houston Galleria (Houston)
- La Cantera (San Antonio)
- Memorial City (Houston)
- North Star (San Antonio)
- The Woodlands (The Woodlands)
- Willowbrook Mall (Houston)

Texas (Storefront Service & Sales):

- Cielo Vista Mall (El Paso)
- Knox Street (Dallas)
- NorthPark Center (Dallas)
- Galleria Dallas (Dallas)
- Southlake Town Square (Southlake)
- University Park Village (Fort Worth)

Utah (Storefront Service & Sales):

- City Creek Center (Salt Lake City)
- Fashion Place (Murray)
- Station Park (Farmington)

Virginia (In-store Service & Sales):

- Lynnhaven Mall (Virginia Beach)
- MacArthur Center (Norfolk)

Wisconsin (Storefront Service & Sales):

- Hilldale (Madison)

These store openings are in addition to the stores that reopened earlier this month. Apple has also opened 12 of its locations in Canada, and has reopened stores in South Korea, Australia, Austria, and Italy. Apple also plans to reopen stores in Japan and Sweden this week.

Once the new U.S. store openings are complete, Apple will have right around 130 stores operational in the country.