MacRumors

Belkin recently introduced the $99 Boost Charge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charger Stand with MagSafe, which joins the existing Belkin-branded 3-in-1 MagSafe Charger that came out earlier this year.

Belkin continues to be the only third-party accessory maker that offers Apple-approved MagSafe-compatible charging accessories that are able to charge Apple's iPhone 12 models at the maximum speeds, so there's not a lot of competition out there aside from Apple's own ‌MagSafe‌ Charger and ‌MagSafe‌ Duo.

Design wise, the 2-in-1 ‌MagSafe‌ Charger features a circular base with a chrome arm that houses a ‌MagSafe‌ charging puck that works with the iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max. The charger's base is made from a plastic material and comes in either black or white. It's not the most high quality charger that I've used, but I think it looks fine on a desk or table, blending in well without standing out.

The ‌MagSafe‌ charging puck is similar to Apple's own ‌MagSafe‌ Charger in design, with that same soft rubber feel, and underneath, the charger has silicone pads to keep it in place on a desk. At the bottom of the base, there's a built-in Qi-based wireless charger that's meant to be used for the AirPods. There's a small hollow where the AirPods or AirPods Pro fit, and positioning the AirPods case within this hollow ensures that it's in the proper position for charging.

Even though the Qi charger at the base is designed for AirPods, it also works with other iPhones and smartphones that support Qi-based charging. The hollow is bigger and wider than the hollow Belkin added for the 3-in-1 charger, but it still works for iPhones of all sizes. This base charger is limited to 5W though, so it's not going to charge anything at high speeds.

The main ‌MagSafe‌ charging puck is identical to Apple's charging options and it charges the iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max at 15W. The iPhone 12 mini maxes out at 12W, which the 2-in-1 charger also accommodates. The 2-in-1 charger is weighted a bit, but you do need to use a grab and twist gesture to undock an iPhone without lifting the charger itself. I've had no problems with this, and just giving that small twist when pulling up keeps it on my desk where it belongs.

With Apple's ‌MagSafe‌ chargers you need to make sure you have the appropriate power adapter, which is not included, but there's no guesswork involved with the Boost Charge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charger Stand because it comes with a power adapter.

The circular base of the Belkin 2-in-1 ‌MagSafe‌ Charger doesn't take up too much room on a desk (it's about 5.3 inches at its widest point), which I appreciate, and the upright ‌MagSafe‌ charging arm can be used in either portrait or landscape mode. The charging arm is angled slightly to put the iPhone in an ideal position for watching videos, taking FaceTime calls, or glancing over to see the time at night.

The 2-in-1 ‌MagSafe‌ Charger comes in either black or white, and there's a small LED light on the base that lights up when the Qi-based charger is in use so you know if charging is happening. There's no need for a light for the ‌MagSafe‌ charging puck because the iPhone connects magnetically and automatically gets oriented in the right position.

You can use the ‌MagSafe‌ charger with a naked iPhone or with a MagSafe-compatible case, but because it's magnetic, it does not work with non-MagSafe cases or with non-iPhone 12 models because they don't have the necessary built-in magnets.

In my testing, Belkin's 2-in-1 ‌MagSafe‌ Charger charged my iPhone 12 from dead to 62 percent in an hour while also charging the AirPods Pro at 5W, which is just about the same charging speed that I tend to get from a standard Apple ‌MagSafe‌ Charger. It should be noted, though, that charging with ‌MagSafe‌ is variable, both with this Belkin charger and Apple's standard charger.

In some tests I get around 60 percent battery life in an hour from dead, but in other tests, battery life can be closer to 70 percent, so your actual charging speeds may vary somewhat. What I can say, though, is that the Belkin charger seems to be charging right at the same speeds as a standard ‌MagSafe‌ Charger, even when charging another device too.

Bottom Line

Apple's standard ‌MagSafe‌ Charger is $39, which means the 2-in-1 ‌MagSafe‌ Charger from Belkin is $60 more expensive. Not everyone is going to want to pay that price, but for those who are fully investing in the ‌MagSafe‌ product lineup, it could be worth the cost.

I prefer Belkin's upright charging options to the standard Apple ‌MagSafe‌ Charger because they're just more convenient to use. It's easier to grab an iPhone off a desk from the charging arm than it is to grab one from the flat charger, and there's also space for charging AirPods or another device with the Qi charging base. All-in-one charging options save space and require fewer cables, which is a bonus.

In the future there may be more ‌MagSafe‌ charging options to choose from, but right now you're only going to get the fastest speeds from Apple-approved accessories like the ‌MagSafe‌ Charger and Belkin's options. You can get a much cheaper magnetic charger from a third-party company, but those cheaper chargers are limited to 7.5W rather than 15W and aren't worth it for those who want the faster ‌MagSafe‌ charging speeds.

How to Buy

The Belkin 2-in-1 ‌MagSafe‌ Charger can bepurchased from the Apple website for $99.95.

Apple is expected to release a redesigned iMac powered by Apple silicon later this year, and ahead of time, developer Dennis Oberhoff has discovered an unreleased ARM-based iMac in an Xcode crash log for his Mac app DaftCloud.

Oberhoff shared the Xcode crash log on Twitter and with 9to5Mac, which took a closer look at the log and believes that it is legitimate.

DaftCloud is a third-party macOS desktop app for music sharing website SoundCloud, and it is possible that an Apple engineer was using the app on an Apple silicon iMac prototype, but this is merely speculation. The log indicates that the iMac is running macOS 11.2.1, released in early February, but no further details can be discerned.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has previously reported that a redesigned iMac with an Apple silicon chip will be released later this year. Gurman said the new iMac's design will be inspired by Apple's high-end Pro Display XDR, with slimmer bezels around the display, no metal chin below the display, and a flat back.

Earlier this month, Apple announced that the iMac Pro is being discontinued, while 512GB and 1TB SSD upgrade options are currently unavailable for the 21.5-inch iMac.

Intel has called on the services of former "I'm a Mac" actor Justin Long in a series of new ads in which Apple's latest custom-made M1 processors are cast as inferior to newer laptops powered by Intel processors.

Well known for his role in Apple's popular "Get a Mac" TV ad campaign from the 2000s, Long stars in a series of ads called "Justin Gets Real" on Intel's YouTube channel, beginning each video by introducing himself as "... a Justin – just a real person doing a real comparison between Mac and PC."

In one ad, Long promotes the flexibility of Windows laptops, specifically the Lenovo Yoga 9i versus a MacBook Pro. In another video, Long meets a PC user gaming on the MSI Gaming Stealth 15M laptop, powered by a Intel Core i7. Long then asks for a Mac, before swiftly agreeing with the PC user that "no one games on a Mac."

Other ads include Long throwing shade on Intel's behalf towards Apple's lack of touchscreen Macs, the inability to plug more than one external display into ‌M1‌ Macs, and the variety of different options available for laptops powered by Intel.

Intel undertook a similar marketing campaign in February with a series of tweets highlighting the "shortcomings" of Apple's ‌M1‌ powered-Macs compared to Intel-powered computers. In November, Apple released its first Apple Silicon and is expected to fully transition its entire lineup away from Intel over the next couple of years.

This isn't the first time Long has featured in ad campaigns for Apple rivals. In 2017, the actor starred in a series of Huawei commercials promoting the company's Mate 9 smartphone.

Samsung is ringing the alarm bells, signaling that it may skip releasing a new Galaxy Note device this year due to the fallout from a global semiconductor shortage.

As Bloomberg reports, Samsung's co-CEO Koh Dong-jin said during an annual shareholder meeting that there's a "serious imbalance in supply and demand of chips in the IT sector globally." Specifically, D J Koh said the Galaxy Note is a high-end device in its lineup and that it may be difficult for Samsung to release a new Note and S series device in the same year.

"Note series is positioned as a high-end model in our business portfolio," he said. "It could be a burden to unveil two flagship models in a year, so it might be difficult to release Note model in 2H. The timing of Note model launch can be changed but we seek to release a Note model next year."

Reuters reported earlier this week that Qualcomm is struggling to keep up with processor demand from Samsung. The wider implications of the shortage are still unclear; however, delaying a device that is usually launched annually would be significant.

The shortage is not expected to impact Apple, as it manufactures its own chips in partnership with TSMC. Samsung will be holding a Galaxy Unpacked event next week, when it's expected to reveal a new "A" series device.

Apple will face a French antitrust probe into its upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature, following a complaint from advertisers in the country that the planned changes are anticompetitive.

Starting in iOS 14.5, Apple will require apps to get opt-in permission from users to collect their random advertising identifier, which advertisers use to deliver personalized ads and track how effective their campaigns were.

In light of the planned changes, a group of advertising companies and publishers filed a complaint in France last year alleging that the wording of Apple's permission prompt will lead most users to decline tracking of their device's advertising identifier, which could result in lost revenue.

On Wednesday, France's competition regulator rejected a plea from the group to block Apple's plan to restrict tracking of users' app usage, on the grounds that obtaining consent "doesn't appear to be abusive." Instead, the probe will scrutinize whether Apple is being consistent in applying the same rules to itself.

Via Bloomberg:

The investigation will "look closely" at whether Apple applied less stringent rules to itself than to other services as it makes privacy changes to curb online tracking in its forthcoming iOS 14 software update, the authority's chief, Isabelle de Silva told reporters at a Paris press conference on Wednesday. The case shows the need for fast antitrust action into technical issues, she said, promising a final ruling by early 2022 at the latest.

Apple's planned rollout of its new App Tracking Transparency feature has been controversial among advertisers from the off, with the upcoming feature drawing criticism from the likes of Facebook, which is concerned that many users will not consent to being tracked across apps for ad personalization purposes.

App Tracking Transparency is different from Apple's own personalized advertising system, which the regulator is likely to scrutinize as part of its probe. Apple's ads system doesn't track users across apps and doesn't identify users to target its ads. Instead, it relies on the anonymous grouping of users' shared characteristics such as apps downloaded, age, country or city of residence, and gender.

In a statement given to Bloomberg, Apple said it was "grateful" to the authority for "recognizing that app tracking transparency in iOS 14 is in the best interest of French iOS users," and said it looked forward to working with regulators on user privacy and competition.

Update: Apple issued the following statement to MacRumors in response to the French Competition Authority:

We're grateful to the French Competition Authority for recognizing that App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 is in the best interest of French iOS users. ATT will provide a powerful user privacy benefit by requiring developers to ask users' permission before sharing their data with other companies for the purposes of advertising, or with data brokers. We firmly believe that users' data belongs to them, and that they should control when that data is shared, and with whom. We look forward to further engagement with the FCA on this critical matter of user privacy and competition.

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.

Apple will not launch a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a mini-LED display until at least the second quarter of the year, which begins on April 1, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes.

From today's report:

Epistar has become the exclusive supplier of miniLED chips to be used in 12.9-inch miniLED-backlit iPad Pro, with nearly 50% of the corresponding production capacity booked up for the tablet and volume shipments to begin in the second quarter of 2021, the sources said.

Last week, DigiTimes reported that the new 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ could launch at the end of March, or early in the second quarter. The publication is now shifting, explicitly stating that mass shipments for the new iPad will begin in the second quarter. At the same time last week, speculation grew that Apple will hold an event on Tuesday, March 23.

That event, yet to be confirmed, is rumored to include the launch of AirTags, AirPods 3, and new ‌iPad Pro‌ models. If ‌DigiTimes‌ is to be believed, however, the new 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ with a mini-LED display will not launch until at least April.

Apple has several products in the pipeline with mini-LED displays. Compared to regular LCDs, mini-LED offers higher brightness, improved contrast ratio, and is expected to become the new standard amongst Apple's future products, including a 14-inch MacBook Pro.

In a press release today, Apple touted the significant progress it has made as part of its $4.7 billion Green Bond. Thanks to the bond, Apple has generated more than 1.2 gigawatts of clean power, removing an average of 921,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually.

In 2016, Apple issued its first bond of $1.5 billion towards the project, followed by $1 billion in 2017. In 2019, Apple invested $2.2 billion.

Last year, Apple funded more than 17 projects, resulting in the reduction of nearly 1 million metric tons of carbon emissions globally, equivalent to removing 200,000 cars from the road, according to Apple. Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives, says the company is dedicated to pursuing investments to promote clean energy.

We all have a responsibility to do everything we can to fight against the impacts of climate change, and our $4.7 billion investment of the proceeds from our Green Bond sales is an important driver in our efforts. Ultimately, clean power is good business.

In addition to its investment in clean power, Apple has also allocated $2.8 billion into researching and funding new projects that "support low carbon design and engineering, energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon mitigation, and carbon sequestration." The investments come on top of Apple's commitment last year to become fully carbon neutral across its entire business by 2030.

Apple in November launched the App Store Small Business Program, which drops App Store fees from 30 percent to 15 percent for all developers who earn less than $1 million from the ‌App Store‌, and it turns out the price drop isn't costing Apple much money.

According to estimates from app analytics company Sensor Tower shared by CNBC, had Apple's program been in place for all of 2020, Apple would have missed out on $595 million, or approximately 2.7 percent of the estimated $21.7 billion in ‌App Store‌ fees in 2020. The apps that earn the most money in the ‌App Store‌ are still subject to the full 30 percent fee and make up most of the money that Apple collects.

Google today also announced a similar price drop for developers, and starting on July 1, Google will collect 15 percent in Play Store fees from developers earning under $1 million. Google too stands to lose little money. Sensor Tower estimates that if Google's lowered fees had been available across 2020, Google would have missed out on $587 million, or about five percent of the $11.6 billion in Google Play fees for the year.

If the 15% fee schedule on revenue up to $1 million had been in place on Google Play in 2020, Google would have missed out on $587 million, or about 5% of Sensor Tower's estimate of $11.6 billion in Google Play fees for the year.

If Apple's program had been in place for 2020, Sensor Tower estimates that it would have missed out on $595 million, or about 2.7% of its estimated $21.7 billion in App Store fees in 2020.

Neither Apple nor Google share specific data on ‌App Store‌ sales, so Sensor Tower's data is based on estimates and is a rough calculation rather than an exact number. Apple lumps revenue collected from the ‌App Store‌ alongside other services, and Apple collected $54.76 billion in fiscal 2020.

All developers who earn less than $1 million from the ‌App Store‌ in a calendar year are eligible for reduced fees, which applies to approximately 98 percent of developers. Developers who exceed $1 million in sales will face the standard 30 percent fees. The fee reduction applies to app purchases, in-app purchases, and subscriptions.

Sensor Tower in January estimated that 2020 ‌App Store‌ spending hit $72 billion, with users spending the most on games and entertainment.

Apple has a dedicated team of experts that focus solely on ferreting out counterfeit products and stopping them from being sold. Apple shared the tidbit in a statement to Bloomberg on a piece about counterfeit iPhone chargers.

The safety of our customers is our first priority, and the risks associated with counterfeit products can be very serious. We have a dedicated team of experts constantly working with law enforcement, merchants, social media companies and e-commerce sites around the world to remove counterfeit products from the market. In the last year we have sought the removal of over 1 million listings for counterfeit and fake Apple products from online marketplaces, including Facebook and Instagram.

Apple in the last year had more than a million listings for fake Apple products removed from various online marketplaces like Facebook and Instagram.

Bloomberg's piece delves into fake chargers that have sometimes caused harm to users, with many of those chargers investigated sold on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media sites.

Chinese factories and illicit vendors sell knockoff Apple accessories at cheap prices, and those products are difficult to tell apart from real products. They're outwardly identical to the real thing in every way, but don't have the same safety standards.

• How to Make Sure Your Apple MagSafe Charger is Genuine

Andrea Stroppa, a security researcher who accidentally used a counterfeit product borrowed from a friend, launched an investigation with his colleagues from Ghost Data Team. Their study from February 8 to March 8 uncovered 163 wholesale sellers of counterfeit Apple products on Instagram, ranging from fake $25 AirPods Pro to a fake $5 MagSafe Charger.

When purchasing an Apple accessory, it's important to make sure you buy from a reputable retailer or from Apple's own site to avoid fakes, and accessories should never be purchased on sites like Instagram.

Apple today updated its Maps app to display nearby COVID-19 vaccine providers across the United States to make it easier for people to find an appropriate location to receive the vaccination when eligible.

Vaccine location listings include operating hours, address, phone number, and a link to the provider's website where Apple Maps users can get more information about available vaccines and book an appointment.

Apple has also introduced a Siri integration for vaccines. You can ask ‌Siri‌ "Where can I get a COVID vaccination?" to be directed to a nearby location.

VaccineFinder, a free online service from the Boston's Children Hospital is providing the data for the new ‌Apple Maps‌ feature, and the initial rollout includes more than 20,000 locations. Apple plans to add more sites in the coming weeks. Healthcare providers, labs, and other businesses can also submit information on COVID-19 testing or vaccination locations on Apple's Business Register Page, and once validated, the info may be displayed on ‌Apple Maps‌.

‌Apple Maps‌ also includes COVID-19 testing locations in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States, along with COVID-19 modules for businesses to share special hours and other information.

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 Florida teenager who was accused of being the "mastermind" behind a July 2020 Twitter hack that affected Apple has agreed to a plea deal that will see him spending three years in prison, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Graham Ivan Clark, alongside others, compromised the Twitter accounts of 130 prominent companies and individuals to solicit Bitcoin, scamming people out of more than $100,000. Apple's official account was accessed, as were the accounts of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and President Joe Biden.

Clark this week will plead guilty to state charges in exchange for three years in prison and three years probation. Because Clark was just 17 at the time of the attack, he will be sentenced as a "youthful offender" and could be eligible to serve some of his time in a military-style boot camp.

Under the terms of the plea deal, Clark is not allowed to use computers without permission and supervision from law enforcement.

Twitter did an internal investigation after the breach and found that hackers targeted employees in a "phone spear phishing attack," tricking them into thinking they were speaking to other Twitter employees to gain access to Twitter's internal tools.

Mason "Chaewon" Sheppard from the UK and Nima "Rolex" Fazeli have also been charged in the attack and are facing prison time.

With App Privacy labels now available for many of the top apps in the App Store, pCloud earlier this month took a look at the most "invasive" apps that collect the most data from users.

It will come as no surprise to many that Instagram and Facebook share the most data with third-party advertisers, collecting info on purchases, location, contact details, user content, search history, browsing history, and more.

Instagram collects 79 percent of personal data, while Facebook collects 57 percent. LinkedIn and Uber Eats were also serious offenders, collecting 50 percent of data. This study was done prior to when Google shared App Privacy labels for its Google Search and Chrome apps, but YouTube and YouTube Music were found to be collecting 43 percent of personal data to share with third parties.

eBay, TikTok, Duolingo, Deliveroo, and Trainline were all in the top 10 apps for data collection, with Reddit, Snapchat, Spotify, Pandora, ESPN, and CNN making the top 20.

Every time you search for a video on YouTube, 42% of your personal data is sent elsewhere. This data goes on to inform the types of adverts you'll see before and during videos, as well as being sold to brands who'll target you on other social media platforms. Instagram shares 79% of your data including browsing history and personal information with others online.

YouTube isn't the worst when it comes to selling your information on. That award goes to Instagram, which shares a staggering 79% of your data with other companies. Including everything from purchasing information, personal data, and browsing history. No wonder there's so much promoted content on your feed.

With over 1 billion monthly active users it's worrying that Instagram is a hub for sharing such a high amount of its unknowing users' data.

Apps that collect data for third-party use do so for targeting purposes, sharing the info across different apps and websites. Apps also collect data to market their own products, with Facebook and Instagram again collecting the most data in this category.

On the other end of the spectrum, apps that don't collect much data include Signal, Clubhouse, Netflix, Shazam, Etsy, Skype, and Telegram.

Starting with the launch of iOS 14.5, Apple will begin requiring apps that access a user's advertising identifier for cross-app and website tracking to get express permission before using it, which may help cut down on some of the third-party data sharing.

Prior to downloading an app, it's always worth checking out the App Privacy label to see just what data is being collected, primarily in "Data Used to Track You" and "Data Linked to You" sections, which include data collected for third-party advertising and for the developer's own advertising or marketing.

While rumors have been floating around about third-generation AirPods launching as early as this month, a reliable leaker has suggested this will not be the case after all.

In a cryptic-as-usual message posted on his Weibo page today (via 9to5Mac), L0vetodream said there are "no AirPods" in his "dream." In a tweet shortly afterwards, he then suggested that the second-generation AirPods will not be discontinued yet. This comes after well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the third-generation AirPods will enter mass production in the second half of 2021, meaning a launch could be months away.

At this point, it's unclear if Apple will even be holding its rumored March 23 event, as it was generally expected that Apple would have announced the event by today at around 9 a.m. Pacific Time. Of course, Apple could choose to announce the event at a different time, or it could introduce new products with press releases as it did last March.

Apple has a handful of products rumored to be in the pipeline, including its long-awaited AirTags item trackers, a new iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display, new iPad and iPad mini models, and a new Apple TV. A redesigned iMac with Apple silicon is also expected to launch this year, but it's unclear if the computer is ready yet. 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with Apple silicon are not expected until the second half of 2021.

Apple has a partnership with Oprah for "Oprah's Book Club," a follow along reading experience available in the Apple Books app and the Apple TV+ app.

Starting today, there's a new Oprah Siri integration that allows you to ask Siri what book Oprah is currently reading for her book club. In response, Oprah herself reads a synopsis of the book, which happens to be Marilynne Robinson's novel "Gilead" at the current time.

"Gilead" is narrated by a Congregationalist minister from Gilead, Iowa named John Ames. Ames reflects back on his life as he shares his experiences and what he's learned with his young son. Oprah is also recommending followup books "Home," "Lila," and "Jack."

After ‌Siri‌ provides an Oprah-read synopsis of the book, ‌Siri‌ directs users to the Apple Books app to get the book or to the "Oprah's Book Club" TV show in the ‌Apple TV‌ app.

Apple is partnering with the Redford Center for the second annual Redford Center Stories Challenge, a youth filmmaking challenge that seeks to amplify the voices of students and educators in the environmental justice movement (via Variety).

The 2021 Redford Center Stories Challenge encourages middle-school-aged youths to promote environmental justice themes through the medium of film. Using the Apple Clips app, students can complete mini-challenges to build confidence and storytelling skills. Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives said:

Young people are leading the movement to create urgency around the need for environmental action. We are thrilled to partner with the Redford Center to lift young people's voices and give them tools to create content that inspires real change and furthers justice around the world. For there is no justice without environmental justice.

Students' work will be recognized across a range of categories on Earth Day 2021, and there are more than $10,000 in prize packages available for schools, teachers, and students. Student prizes include the opportunity to make a short film with a professional filmmaker, youth-directed donations to student and educator-selected nonprofits, Apple gift cards, and more.

Judges for this year's Redford Center Stories Challenge include Jackson, Robert Redford, Sibylle Szaggars Redford, Dylan Redford, co-founder of Future Coalition Katie Eder, filmmaker Faith Briggs, and "Animal Planet" host Coyote Peterson. Submissions are open now to students until March 31, and winners will be announced on April 22.

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.