MacRumors

Apple's M1 Macs are out in the wild now, but ahead of the holidays, you might still be trying to figure out which one to pick up, either for yourself or as a gift for someone else. We've got all three of the new Macs available, so we thought we'd give MacRumors readers a hands-on overview of each machine in our latest YouTube video.

Price wise, the Mac mini is the cheapest of the bunch at $699, while the MacBook Air starts at $999 and the MacBook Pro starts at $1,299. With the ‌Mac mini‌ you do, of course, need to provide all of your own peripherals, including display, mouse, and keyboard at minimum.

If you already have those on hand, the ‌Mac mini‌ is potentially the way to go. For the notebooks, the ‌MacBook Air‌ is lighter, but there's not a huge amount of difference in size between the Air and the Pro.

The entry-level ‌MacBook Air‌ has a 7-core GPU while the entry-level ‌MacBook Pro‌ has an 8-core GPU, which is why the price is a bit higher. If you get the 512GB SSD with the ‌MacBook Air‌, you get upgraded to that 8-core GPU automatically.

There are some thermal differences between the ‌M1‌ Macs, but most people may not be able to distinguish between them when it comes to performance. The ‌Mac mini‌ has the most space for heat dissipation, while the ‌MacBook Pro‌ has a fan for better thermal management.

The ‌MacBook Air‌, meanwhile, has no fan. You may see some slightly better sustained performance when doing system intensive tasks on the Macs with better cooling, but there's not a whole ton of difference between them. In most benchmark tests, they're all just about the same, and they're all huge upgrades over their Intel counterparts. Watch our M1 MacBook Pro vs. 2020 MacBook Pro test below to see.

As for upgrades, there's not a lot available. You can bump up the SSD storage, which is a good idea if you plan to use onboard storage and want a machine that's going to have enough space for years to come, but you can also work with external SSDs if you opt for the 256GB minimum.

You can also upgrade the RAM on each ‌M1‌ Mac from 8GB to 16GB. If you have the extra $200, it's a good idea to do so for futureproofing and because you're never going to go wrong having extra RAM. This year's Macs have unified memory architecture which basically means all of the chip components can draw from the same memory pool, bringing some speed and efficiency improvements.

Apple is excellent at optimizing RAM usage and there's no exception here. You may not even need 16GB because in our testing, the ‌M1‌ Macs are super quick even with the built-in 8GB.

All of the ‌M1‌ Macs offer incredible performance at their price points, and in our testing, they've all outshone their Intel counterparts. macOS Big Sur runs great on the ‌M1‌ Macs, and apps built for Apple Silicon are fast and efficient. Even apps not built for ‌Apple Silicon‌ and running under the Rosetta 2 translation layer are close to as fast as they are on Intel machines.

If you rely on specific Windows apps and regularly use Boot Camp, the ‌M1‌ Macs are not for you. There is no way to run Windows on an ‌M1‌ Mac at this time. CrossOver does allow for some Windows apps to be used, but this solution may not be worth the effort for heavy Windows users.

Touch ID also seems to be quicker on the ‌M1‌ Macs in comparison to Intel Macs, and even small tasks like waking from sleep or switching resolutions are instantaneous. All of the Macs are close to whisper quiet. The ‌MacBook Air‌ makes no sound at all, while the ‌Mac mini‌ and the ‌MacBook Pro‌ rarely activate their fans even under intensive tasks.

Apple has made some serious battery life promises with the ‌M1‌ Macs, and the ‌MacBook Pro‌ can last for up to 20 hours. We've seen that impressive battery life in day to day usage. Intel Macs have never been able to hold up to editing a video with a decent amount of battery life to spare, but the ‌M1‌ Macs have no problem.

The ‌M1‌ Macs are amazing so far, but it's worth keeping in mind that these are first generation machines. Apple is upgrading the entire Mac lineup to ‌Apple Silicon‌ chips, a process expect to take two years. These are low-end Macs that have been refreshed, and there are some more exciting, higher-end Mac refreshes in the works which could be one reason to hold out on a purchase right now.

One other consideration is design. Apple did not update the design of the new Macs, and there are some design changes rumored to be in the works for the ‌MacBook Pro‌ at a minimum. A fresh design could also be worth the wait.

If you need an affordable Mac for everyday tasks, the ‌M1‌ Macs are a solid choice. The ‌Mac mini‌ is the one to get if you want a desktop, and if you need a notebook, the ‌MacBook Air‌ is going to work for most people. The ‌MacBook Pro‌ has an extra GPU core in the base model, a brighter display, and better speakers, which is a consideration. We have a full guide on the ‌MacBook Air‌ vs. the ‌MacBook Pro‌ if you're trying to choose between them.

Do you have an ‌M1‌ Mac or are you going to buy one? Are you holding out for next year's ‌Apple Silicon‌ offerings? Let us know in the comments.

All of the M1 Mac models use the same ‌M1‌ chip, so the upgrade options are limited to SSD storage space and RAM. We haven't seen many comparisons that demonstrate the difference between a machine with 8GB RAM and the upgraded 16GB RAM option, but Max Tech today shared a video highlighting the performance between an 8GB MacBook Pro and a 16GB ‌MacBook Pro‌.

The video includes a series of benchmark tests, ranging from Geekbench and Cinebench to RAW exporting tests. Geekbench and Cinebench benchmarks didn't demonstrate a difference in performance between the 8GB and 16GB models, but other tests designed to maximize RAM usage did show some differences.

A Max Tech Xcode benchmark that mimics compiling code saw the 16GB model score 122 compared to the 136 scored by the 8GB model, with the lower score being better.

The biggest difference was seen in an 8K RAW R3D to 4K export, which took the 8GB ‌MacBook Pro‌ 13 minutes and 57 seconds to complete, while the 16GB ‌MacBook Pro‌ was able to complete it in 5 minutes and 59 seconds, a time on par with the 2019 16-inch Core i9 ‌MacBook Pro‌ with 32GB RAM.

Small differences were also seen in a 4K export test and a Lightroom Classic RAW export test, but the results were quite close, coming down to 17 seconds in the Lightroom test. The 16GB model even beat out a $2,300 iMac.

Notably, during these benchmarking performance tests, Max Tech saw low performance temperatures that didn't often require the fans to kick in, which was a huge difference when comparing the ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌ models to Intel ‌MacBook Pro‌ models.

Max Tech's video is worth watching in full for those who are trying to decide between a machine with 8GB RAM and a machine with 16GB RAM. There appear to be some minor performance differences when it comes to benchmarks, especially with system intensive tasks, but in day to day usage, the 8GB model holds up well and most people may not need the 16GB upgrade.

Apple in September tweaked its App Store rules surrounding in-app purchase requirements for realtime experiences, and as a result, apps that offer virtual events for more than a single person must use in-app purchases.

Apple was originally requiring apps to comply starting in December 2020, but the deadline has now been pushed out until June 30, 2021.

As the world fights COVID-19, we recognize that adapting experiences from in-person to digital continues to be a top priority. Although apps are required to offer any paid online group event experiences (one-to-few and one-to-many realtime experiences) through in-app purchase in accordance with App Store Review guideline 3.1.1, we temporarily deferred this requirement with an original deadline of December 2020. To allow additional time for developing in-app purchase solutions, this deadline has been extended to June 30, 2021.

Apple's App Store rules allow apps that offer realtime person-to-person experiences between two individuals to use purchase methods other than in-app purchase, but this does not extend to group classes. So, for example, tutoring, medical consultations, real estate tours, and one-on-one fitness training sessions can be purchased within apps without having to rely on in-app purchase, but that doesn't apply to group events.

All realtime person-to-person experiences that are one-to-a-few or one-to-many events that involve more than two people have to implement in-app purchases. Apple made this rule change because so many services have been forced to go digital due to the ongoing health crisis.

Apps like ClassPass and Airbnb normally offer real world purchase options that are not subject to in-app purchases, but have instead been offering virtual experiences in recent months.

Since virtual experiences are subject to in-app purchase rules, Apple has been wanting to take a cut of sales from those apps, which ClassPass and Airbnb have resisted. As a result, Apple tweaked the rules to allow for person-to-person purchases that don't have a fee, while subjecting group events to the fee.

Apple has said that waiving commission for ClassPass, Airbnb, and similar apps would be unfair to other developers. "Apple maintains a clear, consistent set of guidelines that apply equally to everyone," Apple has said of the dispute.

Apps like ClassPass and Airbnb will now have until the end of June 2021 to comply with Apple's new requirements. Apple also recently announced a policy that allows app developers that earn under $1 million per year to pay 15 percent commission to Apple instead of 30 percent.

Apple shuts down App Store Connect for a week around the holidays each year in an effort to give ‌App Store‌ staff time off from work. This year, ‌App Store‌ Connect will be unavailable from December 23 to December 27.

With ‌App Store‌ Connect unavailable, Apple will not accept new apps or app updates, so all pricing changes and new app submissions need to be locked in before those dates for developers who want to offer discounts or new app content over the December holidays.

Developers usually offer sales and promotions ahead of when the ‌App Store‌ closes for the holidays, and those sales remain available until the ‌App Store‌ re-opens in late December.

Though ‌App Store‌ submissions will be unavailable, other ‌App Store‌ Connect tools will remain accessible to developers throughout the holiday period.

Korean website The Elec today claimed that Apple plans to release at least one iPad Pro model with a Mini-LED display in the first half of 2021, as has been widely rumored for many months, but the report added an interesting new twist.

Following the release of the first iPad Pro model with Mini-LED backlighting in the first half of 2021, The Elec claims that Apple plans to release new iPad Pro models featuring OLED displays in the second half of the year. Samsung and LG are already in the process of developing the OLED displays for the iPad Pro, according to the report.

Many of the rumors to date have claimed that Mini-LED backlighting may be limited to a new high-end 12.9-inch iPad Pro launching around March, so it is possible that the rest of the iPad Pro lineup will continue to use traditional LCDs until they are upgraded with OLED displays later in the year, but the roadmap is unclear at this point.

Mini-LED and OLED displays share many of the same benefits over traditional LCDs, including higher brightness, improved contrast ratio, and increased power efficiency. Apple already uses OLED technology for most recent iPhones and the Apple Watch.

Apple last refreshed the iPad Pro in March 2020, but it was a relatively minor update, with new features including an A12Z Bionic chip that is essentially an A12X chip with an extra GPU core enabled, an Ultra Wide camera, a LiDAR Scanner for enhanced augmented reality, and better sounding microphones. It was the first update to the iPad Pro since the device received a major redesign in October 2018.

Update: Noted display analyst Ross Young has disputed the claim with a simple "Nope."

We've been tracking early Black Friday deals in our dedicated Black Friday Roundup, and in an effort to prepare our readers for the big shopping event we're highlighting sales store-by-store in the lead-up to November 27.

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

Similar to Walmart, Target has been holding quite a few pre-Black Friday sales throughout November. Thanks to the release of its Black Friday circular recently, now we have a clear picture of all the deals you'll see if you choose to shop Target on Black Friday.

Target's Black Friday Schedule

Like other stores, Target's event is more of a week of sales rather than just one day. The retailer kicked things off on Sunday, November 22, and deals will come in and out all the way through Saturday, November 28. This means that essentially all of the deals listed in this post are already live.

• Sunday, November 22 - Online sales begin
• Thursday, November 26 - Stores closed, online sales continue
• Friday, November 27 - Specific opening hours vary by location

Covid-19 Safety Efforts: Last month, Target initiated a number of new safety measures in preparation for holiday shopping. You can expect the usual ordinances when shopping at Target this season: you'll need to wear a face mask in any Target store, and if you don't want to enter the store you can opt to use the "Drive Up" grocery drop-off service.

Additionally, guests can take advantage of contactless self-checkout thanks to the Wallet feature in the Target app, and the retailer is even rolling out "MyCheckout" devices to let team members help guests check out anywhere in the store and avoid lines.

If you're preparing a big Target shopping trip, you can visit Target.com/line to see if there's a line outside your local store. If there is, you can reserve a spot in the line without needing to physically be there. When it's your turn to enter the store, Target sends out a text to your phone and you can start shopping.

Target Black Friday - Deals live now

Target has a few deals that are overlapping with other retailers, including discounts on the Nintendo Switch, Amazon's line of Fire TV devices, and a few Beats headphones. In terms of Apple sales, Target's ad is a bit anemic, but we are seeing offers on iPhone 12 models and Beats headphones. This includes a low price on the Powerbeats Pro at $159.99.

If you're shopping for AirPods, you'll be better heading to Walmart for AirPods Pro (beginning November 25) or Amazon for regular AirPods.

iPhone

Target is offering up to $250 in bill credits on the latest iPhones when you port in a line to AT&T and purchase the smartphone on an AT&T installment plan. This is only available for in-store pickup through November 28.

Additionally, you can get up to $700 off select Apple products when trading in and adding a new line or upgrading an existing line on an eligible smartphone plan. This offer is also only available in Target stores and not online.

New iPhones eligible for these offers include iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and iPhone 12 mini. Older iPhone models, like the iPhone 11 Pro Max, have other offers including a $300 Target gift card with qualified activation.

Audio

• AirPods with Charging Case - $129.99, down from $159.99
• Powerbeats Pro - $159.99, down from $249.00
• Beats Studio3 Wireless - $174.99, down from $349.99
• Bose SoundLink Color Wireless Speaker - $79.99, down from $129.99
• UE Wonderboom 2 - $49.99, down from $99.99

TVs

• Westinghouse 50-inch 4K UHD TV - $169.99, down from $309.99
• TCL 43-inch 4K UHD TV - $169.99, down from $199.99
• LG 55-inch 4K UHD Smart TV - $499.99, down from $699.99
• Sony 55-inch 4K UHD Smart TV - $549.99, down from $649.99 ($30 gift card with purhcase)

Smart Home

• Amazon Echo 4th Gen - $69.99, down from $99.99
• Amazon Echo Dot 4th Gen - $28.99, down from $49.99
• Eero Mesh Wi-Fi - $174.00, down rom $249.00
  

• Ring Video Doorbell 3 - $139.99, down from $199.99
• Google Nest Hub - $49.99, down from $89.99

Video Games

Like all of the other major retailers, Target is offering the Nintendo Switch bundle with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and three months of Nintendo Switch Online for $299.99. You can also shop for some deals on Switch games, including Luigi's Mansion 3, Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Super Mario Maker 2, and more for $39.99.

Other video game discounts include $29.99 games like The Last of Us Part 2, Just Dance 2021, Borderlands: Legendary Collection, Persona 5 Royal, and more. Other $39.99 games include Splatoon 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Watch Dogs: Legion, Crash Bandicoot 4, Yoshi's Crafted World, Mario Tennis Aces, and more.

Target also has discounts on Nintendo Switch Online memberships, including a 12-month family membership down to $19.99 from $34.99. For Microsoft, you can get the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (3 months) for $29.99, down from $44.99.

Miscellaneous

• $100 Apple Gift Card - Get a $20 Target gift card with purchase
• Amazon Fire TV Stick - $27.99, down from $39.99
• Amazon Fire TV Stick with 4K - $29.99, down from $49.99
• Anker 2-Port PowerPort Wall Charger - $27.29, down from $38.99
• Anker 10,400 mAh Power Bank - $26.99, down from $29.99
• Anker 15,600 mAh Power Bank - $35.99, down from $39.99
• And more electronics sales...

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, and our Black Friday Roundup for all of the latest offers happening this week.

Waze will soon integrate with Apple CarPlay's multiscreen dashboard, according to beta testers on the MacRumors forums.

Although it has not yet been officially announced, the feature already appears to be in beta testing, and according to The Verge, also comes alongside in-app lane guidance for the first time. Waze, which is owned by Google, refused to comment to The Verge on the app's integration with the ‌CarPlay‌ dashboard.

Previously, ‌CarPlay‌ required users to completely change between different app screens to see audio controls and other information while being directed to a destination. With the ‌CarPlay‌ dashboard, users can see a map, guidance information, and other contextual information such as currently playing audio or the calendar simultaneously in a split-screen view. The feature arrived with iOS 13, but only worked with Apple Maps originally. With iOS 13.4, Apple introduced the option for third-party apps to add support for the dashboard mode in their own maps apps.

Developers appear to have been slow to integrate the feature, however, with Google Maps only gaining support for it as recently as in August.

Apple assembly partner Pegatron's board of directors is said to have approved a proposal to spend $150 million to build a manufacturing plant in India.

The new facility is expected to begin production in the second half of next year or in early 2022, with more investments planned in the country over the next two years, reported India's Economic Times, citing unnamed executives.

Pegatron, Apple's second-largest iPhone assembler after Foxconn, registered its India subsidiary in July, and said that the global health crisis had made it hard for staff to visit India, which had resulted in delays. The facility would be the company's first to be established in the country, and would likely be involved in future ‌iPhone‌ assembly.

Pegatron has been cleared to take part in India's billion-dollar Production-Linked Incentive Scheme, which provides incentives on locally-produced smartphones. The Taipei-based assembler joins rival ‌iPhone‌ manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron, which are already signed up to the scheme.

Pegatron recently drew the ire of Apple after it was discovered that the ‌iPhone‌ supplier had been committing labor violations at a student workers' program at its Shanghai and Kunshan campuses in eastern China.

Apple put Pegatron on probation as a result of the violations, and while the supplier's current ‌‌iPhone‌‌ business is not expected to be affected, it could lose some ‌iPhone‌ 12 orders to rival Luxshare next year.

Apple has announced its annual four-day shopping event, offering customers up to a $150 Apple Store gift card with the purchase of select products between Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States.

The gift card values in the United States are as follows:

• $150 for 16-inch MacBook Pro
• $150 for 21.5-inch iMac
• $50 for 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌
• $50 for MacBook Air
• $50 for iPhone SE, ‌iPhone‌ 11, or ‌iPhone‌ XR
• $100 for iPad Pro
• $50 for iPad mini
• $100 for HomePod
• $50 for Apple TV 4K
• $50 for ‌Apple TV‌ HD
• $50 for Beats headphones or earphones
• $25 for Apple Watch Series 3
• $25 for AirPods Pro or AirPods (with or without Wireless Charging Case)

Like last year, Apple is excluding some of its latest products, including the ‌iPhone‌ 12 series, Apple Watch Series 4 and newer models, and the new iPad Air, as well as refurbished products, products purchased with an educational discount, and iPhones purchased via the ‌iPhone‌ Upgrade Program. Note that to buy AppleCare+ with one of the gift cards, the purchase has to be done in store. It can't be done online or over the phone.

Apple's four-day shopping event runs November 27 through November 30 on Apple.com, by phone at 1-800-MY-APPLE, and at Apple Stores. Apple's new gift cards can be used for products, accessories, apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, ‌iCloud‌, and more.

The offer will also be available in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and likely several other countries, with gift card amounts varying.

As usual, there are better Black Friday deals on Apple products than what Apple offers itself, so be sure to check out our Black Friday roundup this week for all of the best discounts leading up to the big day. We'll also be highlighting various one-off deals throughout the week.

Twitter's new ephemeral tweets, or "fleets," have been hit by a bug that allows them to be accessed long after their supposed 24-hour expiration time, less than a week after the feature launched.

Fleets are short stories made up of photos or videos with overlaying text. Much like stories on Instagram or Facebook, fleets are located at the top of the Twitter timeline.

According to Techcrunch, the bug allowed fleets to be viewed and downloaded by other users without notifying their creator. Details of the bug were posted in a series of tweets over the weekend. Twitter soon acknowledged the issue and says a fix is on the way.

“We're aware of a bug accessible through a technical workaround where some Fleets media URLs may be accessible after 24 hours," a Twitter spokesperson told TechCrunch. "We are working on a fix that should be rolled out shortly."

The workaround refers to a developer app that could reportedly scrape fleets from public accounts through Twitter's API. However, once Twitter's fix is applied, URLs for fleets won't work whether they're active or expired.

Twitter says it doesn't delete fleets from its servers for up to 30 days, and it may retain fleets for longer if they violate its rules.

Apple appears to be rolling out its Safari webpage translation to more countries. According to iPhoneSoft, iOS users in France have reported gaining access to the feature, and tips sent to MacRumors suggest Mac users in Sweden are also seeing it show up for the first time.

Apple introduced Safari's machine translation earlier this year when it debuted iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur at WWDC in June.

The feature allows users to translate the language of websites viewed in Apple's native browser; it can translate Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

• iOS 14: How to Translate Webpages in Safari on iPhone

Based on the latest information, Apple appears to have remotely enabled the translate option for the two additional countries for users running iOS 14.2.1, and revised version of macOS 11.0.1 Big Sur‌.

Shortly after the launch of Apple's new M1 Macs, we saw reports that attempts to restore and reinstall macOS on those machines right away could result in an installation error that would leave your Mac non-functional.

Specifically, the error message would read: "An error occurred preparing the update. Failed to personalize the software update. Please try again."

Over the weekend, Apple posted detailed instructions for users experiencing this issue. Specifically it seems the issue arises if you erase/restore your Mac before upgrading to macOS Big Sur 11.0.1.

If you erased your Mac with Apple M1 chip before updating to macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, you might be unable to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery. A message might say “An error occurred while preparing the update. Failed to personalize the software update. Please try again.”

Use either of these solutions to reinstall macOS. You should then be able to use macOS Recovery as expected when reinstalling macOS in the future.

Apple suggests that you could create a bootable installer using another Mac. Otherwise, Apple details a more technical 17 step process using Terminal to restore your ‌M1‌ Mac to a functional state.

If you are still having trouble, Apple recommends contacting support, and you can also visit our ongoing forum thread where users are troubleshooting this specific issue.

Apple will drop support for the iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 6s Plus in next year's release of iOS 15, according to a rumor shared today by Israeli site The Verifier.

If the rumor is accurate, that would mean iOS 15 will be compatible with the following Apple devices:

• 2021 iPhone series
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max
• iPhone XR
• iPhone X
• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone SE (2020)
• iPod touch (7th generation)

The site said last year that iOS 14 would be the last version of iOS that the iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 6s Plus would be compatible with, which wouldn't be a surprise as Apple often provides software updates for approximately four or five years after the release of a new device.

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus originally launched in September 2015, followed by the iPhone SE in March 2016.

The Verifier doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to accurate leaks with both hits and misses, but it did accurately predict that iOS 14 would be compatible with all iPhones and iPod touch models able to run iOS 13.

There's no word on which iPads will be able to run iPadOS 15, but if iPadOS 15 is compatible with all iPads able to run iPadOS 14, it will work on the iPad Air 2, 3rd-gen iPad Air, iPad mini 4 and 5, 5th, 6th, and 7th-generation iPads, and all iPad Pro models.

In the last of its iPhone 12 series teardowns, iFixit has published its iPhone 12 Pro Max disassembly, which reveals some unique differences in the design of the internals, including the full extent of the larger camera system responsible for the improved low-light performance on Apple's largest ‌iPhone‌ to date.

On opening the ‌iPhone 12 Pro Max‌, the first obvious difference compared to the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro is the presence of an L-shaped battery, which Apple first used in the iPhone 11 Pro Max. That's in contrast to the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro's more rectangular-shaped battery, which rumors suggest Apple used to offset increased costs owing to 5G technology.

The battery in the ‌iPhone 12 Pro Max‌ is still the most capacious in the ‌iPhone‌ 12 series, providing 14.13Wh, compared to the 10.78Wh used in the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, but still short of the 15.04Wh battery used in the ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌.

Moving on, iFixit was most impressed camera package, which is a lot bigger than the one in the ‌iPhone‌ 12 because of Apple's sensor choice.

Sorry to break it to you, but size does matter—at least when it comes to camera sensors. To achieve their alleged 87% improvement in low-light performance, the 12 Pro Max uses the biggest sensor in an iPhone yet.

As the below x-ray of the camera package shows, the standard wide camera (bottom left in the group of three) has a 47% larger 12-megapixel sensor than the ‌iPhone‌ 12, which allows more light to enter, resulting in better photos.

The four magnets surrounding it also underline the presence of Apple's brand-new sensor-shift image stabilization system, which moves the sensor thousands of times a second to compensate for hand shake.

As iFixit notes, most smartphones use lens-based optical image stabilization (OIS) to smooth out jitters, so Apple either decided its own system was a better solution, or it couldn't adequately stabilize the larger version of its new f/1.6 lens.

Elsewhere, iFixit highlights the more compact design of the logic board compared to the ‌iPhone‌ 12, as well as the modular SIM card reader, which is "excellent for repair, if a little oddly placed," and rubber gaskets instead of adhesive to affix the speakers, which makes for a "much easier removal and replacement procedure than in years past."

The ‌‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro earned a repairability score of 6 out of 10, and the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Max gets the same, thanks to Apple's continued use of proprietary screws, the devices' increases in waterproofing that can complicate repairs, and the increased chance of breakage due to glass on the front and back of the two devices‌.

Universal Electronics has announced its own take on Apple's divisive Apple TV Remote that's "specifically developers and designed" for cable, satellite, and MVPD (multichannel video program distributor) customers, according to the company (via The Verge).

The UEI Remote uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity together with Infrared to provide universal control, and offers ‌Apple TV‌ users content search and control via Siri and a program guide button for live TV viewing functions, along with separate volume and channel rockers and traditional media playback buttons.

In addition to featuring Apple's MFi authentication chip for secure connectivity with ‌Apple TV‌, the remote also packs an accelerometer and ambient light sensor to automatically backlight the keys in low light environments when the remote is picked up or moved.

"We're excited that customers worldwide will soon be able to enjoy this new remote, designed specifically for the growing number of MVPDs offering Apple TV 4K to their subscribers," said Paul Arling, CEO, Universal Electronics Inc. “This remote offers convenient features to quickly access the EPG or channel surf live programming available through the MVPD's app on Apple TV 4K."

Third-party alternatives to Apple's deeply unpopular ‌Apple TV‌ Remote aren't new. Last year we saw Swiss telco Salt launch an alternative remote control for the ‌Apple TV‌ 4K set-top boxes that it includes in its domestic broadband TV bundle. Then, in July, Function101 launched a $30 variant for U.S. the consumer market (there's no ‌Siri‌ button included on that one though).

UEI's remote won't be available for consumers to buy when it launches early next year. Instead, it's being offered directly to cable companies that include an ‌Apple TV‌ 4K as part of a streaming video package.