MacRumors

Qualcomm today shared benchmark results for the Snapdragon 888 SoC that will be used in flagship Android phones coming out in 2021, and it's not able to keep pace with the A14 chip in the iPhone 12 models, nor the A13 in the iPhone 11.

AnandTech compared Qualcomm's benchmarks to benchmarks of Apple's devices, with the iPhone winning out in Geekbench 5 and GFXBench tests.

The Snapdragon 888 chip earned a single-core score of 1,135 and a multi-core score of 3,794, while the iPhone 12 Pro with A14 chip earned a single-core score of 1,603 and a multi-core score of 4,187.

In the GFXBench test, which measures GPU performance, Samsung scored an 86 (in frames per second), compared to the iPhone 12 Pro's 102.24. Sustained performance is unknown as of yet and will depend on the chip's power consumption, but AnandTech believes the Snapdragon 888 could ultimately win out over the iPhone if power consumption is competitive.

While the Snapdragon 888 doesn't look like it'll match the peak performance scores of the A13 or A14 SoCs used in Apple's iPhones, sustained performance will depend quite a bit on the power consumption of the chip. If this lands in at between 4 and 4.5W, then the majority of flagship Android phones in 2021 will likely be able to sustain this peak performance figure and allow Qualcomm to regain the mobile performance crown from Apple. Otherwise if the chip has to significantly throttle, then 888 will probably fall short of retaking the crown. But even if that's the case, for Android users it shouldn't matter too much: the generational leap over 2020 phones would still be immense, and by far one of the largest GPU performance leaps Qualcomm has been able to achieve to date.

The Snapdragon 888 chip isn't quite performing at the level of the A13 or A14 chips from Apple, but it is a significant improvement over prior-generation Snapdragon chips used in current flagship Android smartphones. CPU performance is up 25 percent and GPU performance is up 35 percent.

AnandTech says that as these benchmarks were provided by Qualcomm and not independently obtained, we have to trust that Qualcomm's numbers are accurate, but the site expects the figures to be "accurate and reproduced in commercial devices."

For this week's giveaway, we've once again teamed up with Throwboy to offer MacRumors reader a chance to win a soft, squeezable version of a classic Apple product or design.

Throwboy makes a bunch of different plush pillow options priced at $30 to $40, and each one is carefully crafted to look like an Apple product of some kind, such as a classic Mac, an iPhone, or an iPod, plus there are also versions made to look like Mac icons, such as the well-known rainbow-colored spinning wheel of death.

The 1977 pillow, for example, is modeled after the Apple II, which was introduced by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak as the first personal computer aimed at a consumer market.

Throwboy designed the pillow version to look like the real version with embroidered display and keyboard on a soft, beige base that's ultra plushy and comfortable. There's a rainbow logo and carefully constructed details make it so there's no mistaking the pillow for an Apple design.

The 2001 pillow is meant to look like Apple's original iPod with screen and appropriate click wheel embroidery that's perfect for fans of Apple's iPod.

iPhone enthusiasts will like the 2007 pillow, which looks like the original iPhone with plush back front, silver back, and a now-retired Home button embroidered at the bottom.

The rainbow-colored Spinning Wheel Pillow will be immediately familiar to any Mac user because it mimics that well-known icon that pops up whenever your Mac freezes up when completing a task. Its six colors brighten up any room.

All of Throwboy's pillows are soft, huggable, and the perfect size to be used as a throw pillow on a couch or a chair. They also make great gifts for Apple fans.

We have 10 of Throwboy's pillows to give away to MacRumors readers, and each winner can choose from the 1977 Classic Mac pillow, the 2001 iPod pillow, the 2007 iPhone pillow, or the Spinning Wheel pillow.

To enter to win our giveaway, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (December 18) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on December 25. The winners will be chosen randomly on December 25 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

A set of schematics and programming instructions for a prototype version of the Apple II home computer recently sold for $630,272 from RR Auction, the company said today.

The documents were written by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and included five pages of circuit schematics and notes on sheets of graphic paper, a 12-page handwritten programming instruction guide with 28 steps, and six photocopied pages that were headed "Bus Sources," "System Timing," "Display," "Sync Timing & Adr. Gen," and "Timing," featuring several annotations.

Wozniak added notations, circuit changes, and programming notes to these pages as he hand-wired the Apple II prototype, and he confirmed their veracity prior to the auction.

Accompanied by a signed letter of provenance from Wozniak: "These documents, circa 1975, are my original Apple II prototype schematics and programming instructions. They are precious. On these work-in-progress diagrams, you can even see my breadboarding technique, where I'd go over drawn connections in red as I soldered the wires in. At the time, I favored using a purple felt tip pen for writing, so it's interesting to see these notes decades on. The prototype was hand-wired while I was still an engineer at Hewlett-Packard's Advanced Product Division, where I was involved in the design of hand-held calculators."

Along with these notes, a functional Apple-1 computer was also sold off, fetching a price of $736,862. Apple-1 machines were the first computers created by Apple and were sold by Steve Jobs out of his parents' garage. There were only 175 Apple-1 computers created, and less of half of those are still in existence.

Other items sold at the auction include a "Battleship" keyboard signed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak that went for $74,535 and a Steve Jobs-signed Monsters, Inc cue sheet that went for $12,501.

The popularity of iPhone 12 models has led to soaring demand for Qualcomm's 5G modems and RF chips, helping to propel the chipmaker's revenues past that of rival Broadcom in the third quarter of 2020, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce.

Qualcomm reported $4.9 billion revenue in the third quarter, a 37.6% increase over the year-ago quarter, compared to $4.6 billion for Broadcom. TrendForce said Qualcomm's "remarkable performance" is partly attributed to re-entering Apple's supply chain earlier this year, after the two companies settled a lawsuit last year.

Apple's rekindled partnership with Qualcomm might not be for good, however, as Bloomberg recently reported that Apple has started developing its own cellular modem for future iPhones. The info was reportedly shared by Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji at a town hall meeting with Apple employees, and the move was expected after Apple purchased the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business last year.

In a research note shared with MacRumors today, Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis, Thomas O'Malley, Tim Long, and their associates provided some additional details about Apple's in-house modem, claiming that the chip will be "very much a high-end modem" with support for ultra-fast mmWave 5G, as with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X55 modem in iPhone 12 models.

"We believe that Apple has actually been working on this 5G modem for over a year and that this is very much a high-end modem, including support and chipsets for mmWave," the analysts said. "We do not believe they are [working] on any RF components beyond the mmWave."

mmWave is a set of 5G frequencies that promise ultra-fast speeds at short distances, making it best suited for dense urban areas. By comparison, sub-6GHz 5G is generally slower than mmWave, but the signals travel further, better serving suburban and rural areas. mmWave support on iPhone 12 models is limited to the United States.

As part of their settlement in 2019, Apple and Qualcomm announced that they had reached a multiyear chipset supply agreement, so it likely that it will be at least a few more years until Apple's in-house modem appears in devices.

Apple recently shared a manual [PDF] that outlines the steps that one should take to protect their devices and their data when personal safety is at risk. This is designed for people who need to protect themselves from being tracked by a former loved one, a stalker, or another malicious person.

There are a lot of location sharing and data sharing tools that are available in iOS, and those who aren't as familiar with how those services work will find detailed instructions on protecting their location, data, and more.

If you're concerned that someone is accessing information you did not share from your Apple device, this guide will also help you identify risks, and walk you through the steps to help make the technology you rely on as private and secure as you want it to be.

The document instructs users to update their software to the latest version of iOS, restore the device to factory settings, and protect a device with a passcode, passwords, Touch ID, and Face ID. It has steps for protecting an Apple ID with two-factor authentication and details on how to use built-in privacy tools to prevent apps from accessing data.

There are also walkthroughs on making sure location information isn't shared with people that it shouldn't be in the Find My app, and ensuring that iCloud data, photos, calendars, and more are protected and not shared.

The document includes steps on deleting unknown third-party apps and unknown configuration profiles that may be used maliciously for tracking purposes.

It wraps up with several checklists on how to determine if anyone else has access to a device or account, how to to stop sharing with people previously shared with, and how to make sure no one else can see a device's location.

Activity Awards is a new site that offers physical representations of the digital fitness awards that Apple provides when Apple Watch owners meet their goals.

Available in the form of magnets, the Activity Awards are designed to look like the in-app awards that can be earned through the Fitness app. Each magnet is modeled after a different award, with the Activity Awards site offering all kinds of options.

There are awards for meeting goals like 7 day move, exercise, and stand requirements, along with awards for special activity challenges such as the badge that Apple gave out in August for hiking, running, walking, or doing a wheelchair workout of a mile or more.

The magnets are priced from $10.99 to $13.99, and some of them are available in full color or a "black out" mode that's entirely in black and silver.

The magnets are made in the style of enamel pins and are bright, colorful, and well made. They feel like high-quality magnets, and have a built-in magnetic backing to attach them to refrigerators or other magnetic surfaces.

The Activity Awards have a good weight to them, and the magnetic strength is in line with what I would expect from a premium magnet (I stuck two of them together and it was near impossible to pry them apart).

I did notice some slightly sharp edges on a couple of the awards so I might not let kids play with them, but it doesn't matter too much on a magnetic surface. Some of the magnetic backs also seem to be cracked in half, and I'm not sure what that means for longevity. I also broke two of the magnetic backs in half by stacking them on top of one another to bring them from one room to another, so if you buy these, make sure not to do that.

All of the designs are close to spot on, and there's no mistaking the Activity Awards for the Apple Watch awards that are displayed in the Awards section of the Fitness app. You can't get all of the awards that Apple offers in magnet form yet, but I imagine Activity Awards is working on other options to include in the future.

Activity Awards is not affiliated with Apple and I don't know what Apple thinks about Apple Watch fitness-inspired awards being made available in a format that's making money for someone other than Apple, but the site's founder told me that the Activity Awards are not a 1:1 match to the Apple awards with font and Pantone colors changed for production, plus the design is flat.

The company does want to make it clear that the pins are not coming from Apple and are designed as supplementary and complementary to the Apple Watch.

Bottom Line

Every week, I read stories on the internet from people who have been motivated to get fit thanks to the Apple Watch, and working out and keeping up with a routine can be a lot of work. Having a physical representation of a workout achievement that's visible every day could be inspirational and a reminder of what's been accomplished.

I think the Activity Awards have the potential to be a nice gift for someone who has put a lot of effort into working out with the Apple Watch, or even a self gift for those who want to be reminded of what they can achieve.

Some of the designs, such as the Yoga Award and the Parks Award are also just objectively nice looking and have a nice, neutral design that Apple Watch owners might like to have on the fridge. Activity Awards does have some quality control issues to deal with, so keep that in mind if you plan to buy these. Treat the magnetic backings carefully, because they can break.

How to Buy

Activity Awards can be purchased from the Activity Awards website with prices ranging from $10.99 to $13.99. Sets are also available.

Note: Activity Awards provided MacRumors with Activity Award magnets for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Last month, Korean website The Elec reported that Apple plans to release new iPad Pro models featuring OLED displays in the second half of 2021, noting that Samsung and LG are already in the process of developing the displays.

However, following recent discussions with Apple suppliers, Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis, Thomas O'Malley, Tim Long, and their associates said that an iPad with an OLED display does not appear to be in the works for 2021. In a new research note, shared with MacRumors, the analysts said a launch is unlikely until 2022 at the earliest.

The timeframe offered by Barclays certainly sounds more reasonable, as many rumors suggest that Apple plans to release at least one iPad Pro model with Mini-LED backlighting in the first half of 2021, and it would seem rather quick for Apple to switch display technologies twice within the same year with the release of OLED models.

Apple already uses OLED displays for the iPhone X and newer and all Apple Watch models, with benefits over LCDs including higher brightness, improved contrast, increased power efficiency, wider viewing angles, and more.

Apple last refreshed the iPad Pro in March, 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, and better sounding microphones. Prior to that, the iPad Pro received a major redesign in October 2018, gaining slimmer bezels, Face ID, and a USB-C port instead of a Lightning connector.

Barclays analysts were the first to claim that Apple was planning to stop including a charger with iPhones. In the past, they also accurately revealed True Tone coming to the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, the removal of the headphone jack adapter with iPhone XS and iPhone XR models, and the removal of 3D Touch on all iPhone 11 models.

While we're still many months away from the next-generation "iPhone 13" lineup, Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis, Thomas O'Malley, Tim Long, and their associates have outlined a few expectations for the devices based on discussions with multiple Apple suppliers.

First and foremost, the analysts said iPhone 13 models may support Wi-Fi 6E, providing an opportunity for radio-frequency chipmaker Skyworks.

Wi-Fi 6E offers the features and capabilities of Wi-Fi 6, including higher performance, lower latency, and faster data rates, extended into the 6 GHz band. The additional spectrum will provide a lot more airspace beyond existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi, resulting in increased bandwidth and less interference for devices that support Wi-Fi 6E.

"The 6 GHz band will perhaps be the most disruptive boon for Wi-Fi users in the last 20 years," said Vijay Nagarajan, an executive at chipmaker Broadcom, in January. "This swath of spectrum, when coupled with Wi-Fi, will power new consumer experiences on smartphones, AR/VR devices and wearables we haven't even yet invented."

"Wi-Fi 6's growth into the 6 GHz spectrum is a game changer for two reasons – the availability of the additional channels and the ability to finally use 160Mhz for high bandwidth applications like AR and VR," said Cisco executive Jayanthi Srinivasan.

Earlier this year, the FCC adopted rules that make 1,200 MHz of spectrum in the 6 GHz band available for unlicensed use in the United States, paving the way for the introduction of devices supporting Wi-Fi 6E.

Both the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 lineups support the standard, non-6 GHz version of Wi-Fi 6, as does the second-generation iPhone SE.

The analysts also indicated that audio chipmaker Cirrus Logic will supply a new power conversion chip for at least some iPhone 13 models, although it is unclear if this move would have any obvious consumer-facing benefit.

As for the iPhone SE, the analysts believe Apple has no plans to refresh the device in the foreseeable future. The analysts said that while they had heard about a potential larger-screen iPhone SE, rumored to feature a 5.5-inch or 6.1-inch display, the device was not mentioned in any of their discussions with Apple suppliers. In April, well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the larger iPhone SE was delayed until the second half of 2021.

Barclays analysts were the first to claim that Apple was planning to stop including a charger with iPhones. In the past, they also accurately revealed True Tone coming to the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, the removal of the headphone jack adapter with iPhone XS and iPhone XR models, and the removal of 3D Touch on all iPhone 11 models.

Apple appears to have ended its tradition of making standalone updater versions of macOS available to all users, beginning with macOS Big Sur.

Apple offers its macOS updates through the Software Update pane in System Preferences, but it usually also lets users download the same updates as standalone installation packages, made available on Apple's downloads website.

However, as noted by Mr. Macintosh and shared by The Eclectic Light Company, Apple hasn't released a standalone updater for macOS 11.1 or 11.0.1, despite providing standalone packages for macOS Catalina and Mojave security updates on December 16.

Standalone packages are useful for administrators who want to update multiple Macs with the same 12GB download, especially given that delta and combo packages come in smaller sizes since they include only the files needed for that particular update.

According to Mr. Macintosh, however, Apple is advising users who need standalone updaters to contact them in an "official capacity," although it's not exactly clear what that means.

Apple hasn't confirmed that it has ended update packages for macOS, but the current lack of standalone installers for Big Sur doesn't look particularly good for users who rely on them.

That said, there is an alternative solution in the Sharing pane in System Preferences in the form of a Content Caching option, which enables one Mac to download updates and other Macs on the same network to download them directly from the local Mac.

Apple is offering TikTok users a four-month free trial of Apple Music to newcomers of the streaming service.

As spotted by ApplePost and Apple Terminal, the deal is available to new subscribers through the short-form video sharing app, and offers an additional month on top of Apple's normal three-month free trial for new subscribers.

The promotion runs through January 4, 2021, and the offer's requirements include an Apple ID with a registered payment method.

The offer is delivered in-app via a pop-up notification, but it's not clear what TikTok users are doing to prompt the alert, which also highlights the official TikTok playlists available on ‌Apple Music‌.

Last month, Apple offered a similar Apple Music promotion through the company's Shazam music identification app.

• How to Cancel an Apple Music Subscription

If after activating one of the trial offers you're not convinced, you can cancel your ‌Apple Music‌ subscription without losing your access to the service up until the trial ends.

When Apple unveiled AirPods Max last week, it revealed that they don't come with an on/off power button, but instead enter an "ultralow" power mode when inserted into the included Smart Case. That left a lot of questions about what happens to battery life when they're left out of the Smart Case and not being actively used. However, today Apple has provided some somewhat surprising answers to those questions, suggesting that the Smart Case isn't as essential to preserving battery life as many first thought.

According to Apple, when AirPods Max are taken off but not put in their Smart Case, they enter a "low power mode" after five minutes of being left stationary. If left untouched, they remain in this low power mode for three days, after which the headphones enter an "ultralow" power state that disables Bluetooth and their Find My location to help further retain their remaining charge. From Apple's AirPods Max support document, updated overnight:

If you set your AirPods Max down and leave them stationary for 5 minutes, they go into a low power mode to preserve battery charge. After 72 stationary hours out of the Smart Case, your AirPods Max go into a lower power mode that turns off Bluetooth and Find My to preserve battery charge further.

Apple has also clarified how AirPods Max behave when placed in their Smart Case, and it turns out that the same two distinct low power states are involved, but enabled at different times. The first "low power mode" is immediately activated upon insertion, but the "ultralow" power mode doesn't actually kick in until after 18 hours in the Smart Case.

If you put your AirPods Max in the Smart Case when you're not using them, they go into a low power mode immediately to preserve battery charge. After 18 hours in the Smart Case, your AirPods Max go into an ultralow power mode that turns off Bluetooth and Find My and maximizes battery life.

Based on this description of AirPods Max power-saving modes, it would appear that the headphones enter the same "low power mode" when put down and left alone for five minutes as they do when placed in the Smart Case. However, the same "ultralow" power mode that activates after AirPods Max have been left for 18 hours in the Smart Case takes a full 72 hours to kick in when they are left out of the case.

Before Apple provided the above information, tests conducted by MacRumors suggested that AirPods Max battery drains only slightly faster when left outside of the case – a difference that is likely down to the longer time it takes for the "ultralow" power mode to activate when the headphones aren't in the Smart Case.

Putting aside the seeming arbitrariness of these sleep mode activation times, the main takeaway is that in the short term at least, there's no real power-saving advantage to be had from putting AirPods Max in the Smart Case instead of just setting them down on a desk and not touching them. But if you don't plan to use them again for the next 18 hours, then that's when to put them into the Smart Case, otherwise the "ultralow" power mode will take three days to activate, by which time the battery drain is likely to be a lot more significant.

Given the confusion that has followed the power-saving features of AirPods Max, some users have speculated that Apple might be able to add a power-off functionality to the physical controls via a future software update. Is that something you would prefer over the current situation? Let us know in the comments.

iFixit today began disassembling Apple's new AirPods Max headphones for one of its traditional device teardowns, with the aim of determining whether the AirPods Max are repairable to any degree or an "e-waste disaster." The teardown is in progress and will be updated over the course of the next few days.

This is an early, partial disassembly that also includes a quick x-ray look inside the headphones. The x-ray view provides a glimpse at the battery cell in each ear cup, dual-ring speaker driver magnets, alignment magnets, brackets for microphones, and more.

iFixit did not find it easy to get into the AirPods Max and there was quite a bit of glue involved. There are two logic boards inside riddled with chips, which iFixit plans to identify later in more detail.

So far, there are no other details available on the AirPods Max as the teardown is ongoing, but iFixit says that it will be updated over the coming days and there's "lots more to come" including some surprises for headphone fans.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and software engineering chief Craig Federighi will be summoned to testify in the ongoing Apple vs. Epic legal battle, a judge said this week.

The court filing, first shared by iMore, says that Apple had already agreed to make Cook a "document custodian." Apple wanted a condition that would limit Cook's deposition to four hours, but the court says that the condition is not appropriate as Epic will not be able to assess necessary deposition length until the full range of documents in the case are made available.

Apple wanted to have Erik Neuenschwander serve as a second document custodian instead of Craig Federighi, but the court has ruled that Federighi should be the one to testify in the dispute.

Apple also must provide extensive documentation and data related to an App Store study conducted by Analysis Group that compared App Store fees with fees from other platforms. Apple had not been planning to share those documents under an attorney work product privilege as Apple is also using Analysis Group as an expert consultant, but the judge said Apple has to provide the information to Epic.

Epic has complained that it is skeptical Apple has produced all relevant employee communications, as some emails included hyperlinks to cloud-based documents and Epic has to ask Apple to provide each of the linked documents. Epic wanted Apple to provide all hyperlink documentation, but the court sided with Apple on this point and said that Apple does not need to identify all hyperlinked documents because of the burden of the work. Apple does, however, have to provide hyperlinked documents for a "reasonable number of emails."

The Apple vs. Epic dispute will continue on with smaller matters such as document requests over the course of the next several months as the two companies prepare for their July 2021 hearing where they will battle it out in court.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Big Sur 11.2 update to public beta testers, with the public beta coming one day after the software was provided to developers.

Public beta testers can download macOS Big Sur 11.2 from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

There's no word just yet on what's included in ‌macOS Big Sur‌ 11.2, but it likely includes performance improvements, security updates, and fixes for bugs that weren't able to be addressed in the release version of ‌‌macOS Big Sur. No new features or changes were found in the developer version.

Apple did not include a power button on the AirPods Max, so there's no definitive way to turn them off, but Apple says that putting the headphones inside the included Smart Case puts them into an ultra low power mode.

That's left a lot of questions about what happens to the AirPods Max when they're not inside the case yet not being actively used, so we've done some testing to attempt to figure out what's going on.

YouTuber Marques Brownlee (aka MKBHD) has said that the AirPods Max enter into a sleep mode after about two hours when just removed from the head and set down somewhere, and it does appear that the AirPods Max are staying actively connected to an iPhone for hours at a time.

At 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time yesterday morning, we connected the AirPods Max to an iPhone, played a song, and then took them off and set them down on a desk. At this time, the battery was at 63 percent.

At 10:00 a.m., the AirPods Max were still connected, and the same goes for 11:00 a.m. During this period, the AirPods Max dropped to about 62 percent right around 10:00, and then stayed at that level until 11:26 before dropping to 60 percent battery life.

At 12:00 p.m., three hours later, the AirPods Max remained connected to the iPhone over Bluetooth and did not disconnect or go to sleep. During this time, the iPhone was in use for various activities and also in a rest mode where it wasn't in active use. The AirPods Max were left alone and not touched.

Over a four hour period, the AirPods Max didn't disconnect and the battery life drained a total of three percent.

With a second set of AirPods Max and a different iPhone that was set aside and not used, we left them connected for more than two and a half hours and saw the same two percent drop in battery life. YouTuber Andru Edwards did a similar test and saw three percent battery drain over the course of 10 hours with the AirPods Max sitting out on a desk.

After monitoring the AirPods Max for a four hour period, we put them in the case at 1:00 p.m. When placed in the case, the AirPods Max immediately disconnected from the iPhone and it was no longer listed as connected in Bluetooth nor were battery levels listed.

We left the AirPods Max in the case to test battery drain while in Apple's advertised "ultra low power mode." From 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, the AirPods Max drained approximately one percent while in the case. The battery was at 60 percent when they went in the case at 1:00, and 59 percent when they came out of the case at 5:00.

An hour of music playback on the ‌AirPods Max‌ with Active Noise Cancellation engaged appears to drain somewhere around four to five percent battery. Andru Edwards saw 3 percent battery drain in 10 hours and leaving a set of AirPods Max out all night we saw a total of 8 percent battery drain, so the amount of listening time you're losing will vary.

So while the AirPods Max do need the case to go into a low power mode that's the equivalent of a sleep mode, leaving them out and connected to your devices isn't the biggest hit on battery if you don't want the hassle of putting them into the case and taking them out. If you want maximum battery life, though, you need to put them in the case.

We still don't have a definitive answer on when the AirPods Max "sleep" when out of the case because they never appeared to disconnect from the iPhone in our testing without the case, but we do now have a better idea of what happens when they're used without a case.

Parallels today began informing customers about the launch of a new Parallels Desktop 16 for M1 Mac Technical Preview Program, which is available today. The software cannot run an Intel x86-based OS, and requires an Arm-based operating system installation image.

Microsoft is offering a version of Arm-based Windows that's available through the Windows Insider program that will run on ‌M1‌ Macs through Parallels, but there is no publicly available version of of Arm Windows that can be purchased.

Those who have signed up for the Technical Preview Program are able to be the first to test Parallels for ‌M1‌ Macs. There are several limitations that users should be aware of.

- It is not possible to install or start an Intel x86 based operating system in a virtual machine.
- It is not possible to suspend and resume a virtual machine, including reverting to a "running state" snapshot.
- It is not possible to use the close button when a virtual machine is running; Shutdown virtual machine instead.
- ARM32 applications do not work in a virtual machine.

The current versions of Parallels are not able to run on ‌M1‌ Macs, but Parallels in November following the launch of the new Macs said that a version of Parallels compatible with Apple's chips was in active development.

At the time, Parallels said that the software designed for Macs was looking "very promising."

When Apple Silicon Mac was first announced during the keynote at WWDC on June 22 of this year, Apple demoed a Parallels Desktop for Mac prototype running a Linux virtual machine flawlessly on Apple Silicon. Since WWDC, our new version of Parallels Desktop which runs on Mac with Apple M1 chip has made tremendous progress. We switched Parallels Desktop to universal binary and optimized its virtualization code; and the version that we are eager to try on these new MacBook Air, Mac mini and MacBook Pro 13″ looks very promising. Parallels is also amazed by the news from Microsoft about adding support of x64 applications in Windows on ARM.

Parallels Desktop 16 was first released in August for Intel-based Macs, but has since been updated with a universal binary that's now ready for ‌M1‌ Macs. Parallels is available for a one-time fee of $99.99, but the Pro and Business editions require a $79.99 per year subscription.

Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4 updates to public beta testers, one day after providing the beta to developers.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS and iPadOS‌ 14.4 updates over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website on an iOS device.

Paired with the HomePod 14.4 beta that is only available to a limited number of testers, iOS 14.4 adds new HomePod mini functionality that takes advantage of the mini's U1 chip.

There are now visual, audio, and haptic effects when songs are transferred from a HomePod mini to a U1-enabled iPhone 11 or iPhone 12. When an iPhone is near the ‌HomePod mini‌ it begins a soft haptic touch rhythm that gets faster and faster as the ‌iPhone‌ gets closer until the interface to transfer a song between the ‌‌HomePod mini‌‌ and the ‌iPhone‌ opens.

This functionality will make handoff quicker and more reliable on a ‌‌HomePod mini‌‌ and an iPhone 11 or iPhone 12, all of which are equipped with U1 chips that let the devices better understand where they are in relation to one another.

There were no other new features or changes found in the first developer beta. The update likely focuses on bug fixes, security enhancements, and performance improvements that weren't able to be included in the prior update.