MacRumors

Meross makes a range of HomeKit-compatible smart home devices for multiple regions around the world. The Meross Smart Power Strip and Smart Plug are some of the company's most popular products and both work with Apple HomeKit.

Meross's smart plugs are among the more affordable HomeKit-compatible devices on the market, and the company offers the option to buy them in cheaper multi-packs for your smart home setup. Meross also offers a smart power strip with four USB ports and ‌HomeKit‌ control for each individual plug on the strip.

Although my Meross devices were for UK power outlets, the company also sells its smart plug and smart power strip with the correct pins for the U.S., EU, Australia, and France.

Unboxing

Both devices were boxed and presented as well as you'd expect for a smart home device. Meross seems to have taken some packaging cues from Apple and used a very similar matte white cardboard to many Apple products.

Design and Build

The Meross smart plug is housed in a matte white plastic shell, with a large, flush button on the top. In spite of its lower price point, the Meross smart plug is actually smaller and slightly slimmer than other leading smart plugs such as those offered by Elgato Eve.

However, the plug feels hollow and much lighter than other smart plugs that I have used. While weight and feel in the hand is hardly important for a stationary smart home device, it is worth noting that this does make it feel somewhat cheap.

The smart power strip has a matte finish on the top, a beveled edge, and glossy plastic around the sides. Each plug is surrounded by a recess to highlight it. Although any power strip can scarcely be described as good-looking, the Meross power strip looks like a slightly more thoughtfully-designed item.

Rubberized feet on the bottom keep the strip in place when it is flat on the floor, but there are also four screw-holes if you want to wall-mount it, as is common for surge protectors and power strips.

The smart power strip feels markedly higher quality than the smart plug, even if it does also feel too hollow, but this is perhaps to be expected in light of its higher price tag. Neither is particularly impressive when it comes to design or build quality, but as items that users will generally want to keep out of sight, this is hardly very important.

Features

Both devices work over Wi-Fi, but unlike many other smart home devices, such as Philips Hue smart lighting, there is no need to use a central hub connected to the router.

Both devices make use of LEDs to indicate their status. The smart plug has a bright LED under the power button, which shows a green or orange Meross logo when illuminated, depending on whether it is powered on or connecting. However, the plastic is so thin on the smart plug that it leaks out much of the light elsewhere, which diminishes the look.

The smart power strip has many more LEDs than the smart plug: one for each of the power outlets, including the USB ports, and one on the power button. The light leak issue is virtually negligible on this device, and the small, bright LEDs are an excellent indicator of status. I can see exactly which outlets are switched on from across the room.

The power strip also has four 4.0A standard USB ports on its left-hand side, as well as the four main power outlets, for charging devices. I personally would have preferred USB-C ports and the ability to charge at faster speeds, but in addition to the other four power outlets, the USB ports are a good addition to the product and have already come in handy. The power strip seems ideal for adding an entire desk's worth of devices and chargers to ‌HomeKit‌.

The devices can be manually controlled by clicking their power button, just in case you do not have a controller device nearby or your Wi-Fi is down. The single button on the power strip activates or deactivates all of the outlets at once, and there is no manual option to control each outlet individually. Considering users will likely seldom use the manual controls, turning on and off all of the outlets at once seems fair in this instance.

When powered up, the plugs offer a loud click noise. While I appreciated the click to confirm that it was now powered, I can also see that this may be a nuisance to users who might want things to power on or off quietly, such as during the night.

Setup

Although Meross does have its own app, it is not necessary to use it at all if you pair the devices using ‌HomeKit‌. In theory, you need only open the Home app on your iPhone, tap Add Accessory, and scan the code on the device.

However, I had some major issues setting up both Meross devices. For reasons still unbeknownst to me, the devices repeatedly failed to connect with the Home app. After a lengthy back-and-forth with Meross support to troubleshoot the problem, I finally managed to get the devices working correctly with the Home app.

I was advised to set about a long list of complex and largely unintelligible troubleshooting operations, including toggling MAC address filtering on my router, using a different iPhone, and logging out of iCloud, among other steps. The only way I could successfully pair the devices, in the end, was by completely disabling my router's firewall and the 5GHz portion of the network. Although the devices are now working seamlessly, I must say that this was the most irksome, difficult, and invasive ‌HomeKit‌ pairing process that I have ever experienced. Someone with less technical know-how would have found this troubleshooting process, simply to get the devices paired, almost impossible.

HomeKit Support

Once the devices were finally paired, they provided a consistent and reliable connection to the Home app. Unlike some of the other ‌HomeKit‌ devices I use, the Meross offerings were unfailingly connected to my network. I have yet to experience a "no response" alert and they are seamlessly quick to react to commands.

Better still, I was pleased to see that the smart power strip offered individual control over each of its power outlets, including the USB ports. This allows for precise control over each of the outlets, and it is possible to rename and change the icon for each one in the Home app. Integration with this lesser-known Home app functionality is exactly what one would want from a smart home strip.

The Bottom Line

The fact that Meross's devices work without an individual app or a central hub makes the experience more seamless than many other ‌HomeKit‌ devices, and I cannot fault the consistency of the connection.

However, there is no doubt that the unorthodox, insecure, and demanding pairing process made it a frustrating and time-consuming experience. I do not believe it is a reasonable expectation of consumers to toggle dozens of setting on their phone, or worse still, their router, simply to pair a basic smart home device. Had I not been reviewing the devices, I likely would have given up before getting them to work. Sadly, I do not seem to be alone in experiencing these issues, according to a plethora of Amazon reviews.

That said, not everyone will have this bad experience, and the majority of reviewers on Amazon seem to be contented with their pairing process. Furthermore, Meross support was nothing if not inventive in presenting solutions to my issue. It's only a shame it took hours to troubleshoot the problems, which on balance, really does not seem worth it for these devices.

The Meross smart plug works as well as one would expect for what it is. For users setting about larger ‌HomeKit‌ setups, the ability to batch-purchase these outlets at a cost-effective price point may present an attractive option. The Meross smart power strip is a more impressive piece of kit. The individual control of the outlets through the Home app offers extraordinary versatility. Overall, providing you can get them working in the first place, the Meross smart plug and smart power strip make a valuable addition to any ‌HomeKit‌ setup.

How to Buy

In the U.S., the Meross smart plug can be purchased from Amazon in packs of two for $25, packs of three for $32.59, and packs of four for $39.99.

The Meross smart power strip is available on Amazon for $35.99 with three outlets or $40.99 with four outlets.

Note: Meross provided MacRumors with a smart power strip and smart plug for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Apple Music includes new animated album artwork in the latest beta versions of iOS 14.3 and macOS 11.1, indicating that the feature will likely come to subscribers of the streaming service next week.

‌Apple Music‌ gained animated playlist artwork with the release of iOS 14, but it looks like Apple is now extending the feature to select album covers in iOS 14.3, too.

Animated album art in ‌Apple Music‌ has been spotted by a Redditor on albums including "12 Questions" by Future Utopia, "Detroit 2" by Big Sean, and Pearl Jam's "Gigaton."

The animations are short and appear similar to live wallpapers on iOS, showcasing brief and colorful sequences that apparently loop infinitely.

As noted by 9to5Mac, on iPhone the animated artwork takes up half of the screen, but they're the same size as regular album artwork on iPad and Mac.

Apart from all being new releases, it's not clear what Apple's selection criteria is for adding the animations to albums, but more are likely to be introduced when iOS 14.3 is released to the public on Monday.

Apple's suppliers don't expect AirPods Max to boost their sales anything like AirPods earbuds because they believe the over-ear headphones market segment is too niche, according to a new report out today.

Taiwan-based Compeq and Unitech have been shipping rigid-flex boards for AirPods and are said to be supplying the printed circuit boards for AirPods Max too, according to DigiTimes.

However, industry sources said the PCB suppliers don't foresee a significant boost to their sales from AirPods Max, "reasoning that over-ear headphones are positioned as a niche segment with higher prices but smaller market scale compared to earbuds."

The sources cited Canalys statistics showing that the world's quarterly shipments of true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds came to around 45 million pairs in third-quarter 2019, compared to 20 million for over-ear headphones.

The report notes that JBL, Sony and Bose are "firmly in the leader group" in terms of market share for over-ear headphones. It's worth adding that all three offer headphones at a significantly lower price point than Apple is targeting with AirPods Max, which cost $549.

Indeed, the price has raised eyebrows and led some commentators to question Apple's market strategy for the headphones. Nevertheless, AirPods Max quickly sold out when they were unveiled on Tuesday, and are now backordered until March in all colors.

Disney+ will next year introduce a $1 price hike for subscribers in the United States, taking the monthly cost to $7.99 a month or $79.99 per year. The Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Plus, will also see a $1 increase to $13.99 a month. The price increases will come into effect on March 26, 2021.

The announcement follows Disney Investor Day, which saw the company unveil new franchises and content coming to the service, including 10 new Marvel series, 10 new Star Wars series, and several Disney Animation studios projects.

Streaming rival Netflix raised its prices in October, making its standard and premium plans more expensive. During the last Netflix earnings call, Netflix COO Greg Peters said that if Netflix is delivering more value for users, then there is "an opportunity to occasionally go back" and ask members "to pay a little bit more." Disney now looks to be using the same logic.

It remains unclear if the price increase will apply to Disney+ subscribers in other countries, but Netflix has upped prices in the U.S. before and then rolled out those price hikes to other countries shortly after.

Disney yesterday announced that its streaming service has hit 86.8 million subscribers, a milestone that it has reached 13 months after launching.

Ustwo Games, the studio that created the popular "Monument Valley" and "Assemble With Care" games for iPhone and iPad, today released "Alba: a Wildlife Adventure" on Apple Arcade.

Set on a sunny island brimming with fauna, the casual adventure game invites players to explore the game world as protagonist Alba, who turns activist and founds a wildlife protection league after discovering and helping a stranded dolphin on the beach.

Join Alba as she visits her grandparents on a Mediterranean island. She is ready for a peaceful summer of wildlife exploration with her friend Ines, but when she sees an animal in danger, she realizes she needs to do something about it!

This is truly a Mediterranean paradise if you ignore all the litter! From the idyllic beaches to the ancient castle overlooking the town a whole island is ready to be explored. With Ines and your grandfather - who is a total bird nerd - by your side, you can start the movement to save the island. Maybe even the world after that.

As Alba, players must speak to characters in the local town and convince them to volunteer for an organization that can save the island and its furry and feathered inhabitants.

Described as "a feel-good game about running around and doing good deeds," the title invites players to experience a "Mediterranean Summer filled with friendship, family and nature." It features handcrafted visuals throughout and a Spanish soundtrack by Lorena Alvarez.

"Alba: a Wildlife Adventure" is available on Steam for PC, and on ‌Apple Arcade‌ now for iOS, macOS, and tvOS. ‌Apple Arcade‌‌‌‌ is priced at $4.99 per month, and that price point allows the whole family to play games without ads or additional in-app purchases.

With Apple and several other vendors quoting shipping estimates for the new AirPods Max of well into 2021, those looking to get their hands on Apple's new $549 over-ear headphones sooner than that might want to check out Verizon.

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

Verizon is currently listing AirPods Max in silver and space gray as estimated to ship by December 18, although we've heard about some customers receiving order confirmations showing delivery on December 14, a day ahead of the official launch.

Other colors are in shorter supply, with Verizon estimating orders for AirPods Max in green will ship around January 8, while sky blue and pink are simply sold out.

Note that Verizon's timeframes are listed as estimates, so there's no guarantee that the carrier will meet those dates, but if you're looking for a purchase option before the holidays and don't think Apple retail stores will have stock next week, Verizon might be your best bet right now.

Update: Verizon is now out of stock of all colors.

The majority of Apple employees likely won't be returning to work at Apple's Cupertino campuses before June 2021, Apple CEO Tim Cook said today at a town hall meeting, details of which were shared by Bloomberg.

Cook said that while face-to-face collaboration is important, Apple's success amid the pandemic this year could potentially lead to the company being more flexible about remote work in the future. Still, Cook and Apple executives are eager for employees to return to Infinite Loop, Apple Park, and other offices worldwide.

"There's no replacement for face-to-face collaboration, but we have also learned a great deal about how we can get our work done outside of the office without sacrificing productivity or results," he told staff, according to people familiar with the comments. "All of these learnings are important. When we're on the other side of this pandemic, we will preserve everything that is great about Apple while incorporating the best of our transformations this year."

At the current time, Santa Clara County (where Apple's main campuses are located) has a stay at home order that requires companies to allow employees to work from home where applicable, and that will be in place through the end of the year. Cook in July said that he expected employees to return to work in early 2021, but the ongoing global health crisis has been evolving and Apple has had to modify its plans several times.

Other tech companies like Facebook and Google are also allowing employees to work from home until summer 2021, while some, like Twitter and Square, are allowing employees to work from home permanently. Many other smaller tech companies in the Bay Area have also gone entirely remote on a permanent basis due to the pandemic.

Cook also told employees that because of the challenges over the course of the last few months, many would get an additional paid holiday on January 4.

Apple is now developing its own cellular modem that will be used in future devices and that will eventually replace modem components sourced from Qualcomm, reports Bloomberg.

The information was shared by Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji at a town hall meeting with Apple employees.

"This year, we kicked off the development of our first internal cellular modem which will enable another key strategic transition," he said. "Long-term strategic investments like these are a critical part of enabling our products and making sure we have a rich pipeline of innovative technologies for our future."

Rumors in early 2019 suggested that Apple was planning to design a modem in-house, and mid-2019, Apple purchased the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business to accelerate its own development efforts. Apple took over Intel's modem-related intellectual property and hired 2,200 Intel employees.

At the time, Srouji said that the Intel team would join Apple's cellular technologies group, and that the acquisition would "expedite development on future products." Apple is ultimately aiming to reduce its reliance on Qualcomm, the company that currently supplies its modem chips.

Apple for several years was embroiled in a major patent dispute with Qualcomm, but when it became clear Apple would need Qualcomm's chip technology for the 5G iPhone 12 models released in 2020, Apple reached a settlement with Qualcomm and signed a multi-year licensing deal.

Apple has now built a team of hardware and software engineers that will develop the cellular modem, and it will join other wireless chips designed by Apple that include the W-series chips in the Apple Watch and the U1 ultrawide band chip in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models. Apple also makes its own A-series chips for iPhones and as of this year, has released Macs with Apple-designed processors.

There is no word on when Apple's modem chips will be ready, but the 2019 settlement between Apple and Qualcomm included a six-year licensing agreement.

Apple today shared a new support document explaining how to use the new MagSafe Duo Charger with iPhone 12 models and the Apple Watch, clarifying some details about the accessory following its release earlier this month.

Notably, the support document confirms that Apple's older 29W USB-C power adapter is not compatible with the MagSafe Duo, presumably because that adapter does not support the necessary 5V/3A or 9V/1.67A power ratings. As a result, when the MagSafe Duo is connected to the 29W adapter, it can only charge either an iPhone or Apple Watch, rather than both devices simultaneously.

Apple discontinued the 29W adapter in 2018, replacing it with a 30W version that is fully compatible with the MagSafe Duo.

The support document also notes that the MagSafe Duo's hinge area might wrinkle over time if kept in the folded, closed position, especially if the charger is left in a very hot environment, such as inside of a car on a hot day:

As with most soft materials, the covering of accessories might experience normal wear over time. The hinge area of your MagSafe Duo Charger might wrinkle over time if kept in the folded position. Leaving your MagSafe Duo Charger in a very hot environment (like the inside of a car on a hot day) in the folded position might lead to more visible, deeper wrinkles in that area. This doesn't affect the functional performance of the accessory.

As with the singular MagSafe Charger, the MagSafe Duo is limited to up to 12W of power delivery when used with the iPhone 12 mini. And when Lightning accessories such as Apple's EarPods are connected to any iPhone 12 model, charging with the MagSafe Duo is limited to 7.5W to comply with regulatory standards.

The rest of the document reiterates many details that Apple already shared about MagSafe charging, and is worth a glance for new MagSafe Duo owners.

Disney today announced that streaming service Disney+ has hit 86.8 million subscribers, a milestone that it has reached 13 months after launching. Disney+ has gained well over 10 million subscribers since November, when the service had 73.7 million subscribers.

Disney shared the new subscriber metric during Disney Investor Day, which is also expected to see the company unveil new franchises and content related to Marvel and Star Wars. Disney today also announced plans for a new bundle that will include Disney+ alongside the Hulu ad-free subscription service.

At launch, Disney projected that it would hit 60 to 90 million subscribers by 2024, a goal that the company has met and will soon exceed. Disney+ has been more successful than Apple TV+, which launched right around the same time, but Apple does not provide ‌Apple TV‌+ subscriber numbers so there's no direct comparison to make. If ‌Apple TV‌+ were hitting the subscriber numbers that Disney+ has reached, Apple executives likely would have mentioned it.

‌‌Apple TV‌+‌ has struggled to compete with Disney+ because Disney has an established catalog of content along with popular Star Wars and Marvel content. Apple has been working to build up new original TV shows and movies, but it still trails behind Disney.

The developers behind the Brave browser today announced some changes for the iOS version of Brave, which are being implemented to comply with Apple's App Store rules.

A new version of the Brave browser being released today for the iPhone and the iPad removes features that allowed people to earn rewards for browsing and to tip creators. Brave has a system that allows those using the browser to earn money for viewing ads, which can then be given to preferred content creators.

Brave Rewards is built on the Basic Attention Token (BAT) and is a new way to value attention, connecting users, content creators, and advertisers. Users are rewarded in BAT with 70% of the ad revenue share of the privacy-preserving ads they opt into viewing, and they can support content creators they love by rewarding them with BAT. There are currently over 985,000 Brave verified content creators.

With the release of iOS 14, Apple told Brave that the Brave Rewards system was not compliant with ‌App Store‌ guidelines 3.1.1 and 3.2.2. The 3.1.1 rule prevents apps from giving a tip to a person unless what's provided is purchased through in-app purchases, while the 3.2.2 rule prevents "tasks for cash." Brave's developers say that this guideline is aimed at preventing apps from asking users to give 5 star ratings in return for points, and that Apple has likened the opt-in viewing of Brave Ads as tasks for cash.

Though there is no path for earning rewards from viewing Brave ads on iOS going forward, Brave says that it hopes that users will continue to opt in as Brave still plans to provide creators with monthly donations.

Brave's developers are "disappointed" with the update, but say that Brave users can continue to enjoy the "same fast and privacy-preserving iOS browser they know." These changes will not apply to the desktop version of the app or the Android versions.

Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced four years ago in March 2016. Apple designed the ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.

‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release 117 includes bug fixes and performance improvements for Web Inspector, CSS, JavaScript, Web Assembly, Web API, Speech Recognition, WebRTC, Media, Web Animations, Scrolling, Scroll Nap, Private Click Measure, and Web Drivers.

The current ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release is the built on the new Safari 14 update included in macOS Big Sur with support for Safari Web Extensions imported from other browsers, tab previews, password breach notifications, web authentication with Touch ID, and more.

The new ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ update is available for both macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur, the newest version of the Mac operating system.

The ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ update is available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences to anyone who has downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.

Apple's aim with ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.

Apple's Fitness+ service is set to launch next Monday, and ahead of its debut, Apple's senior director of fitness technologies Jay Blahnik has been doing interviews to explain how it all works.

In an interview with Fast Company he spoke about how Apple Fitness+ is tailored to users of all levels, explaining details on how it will work for beginners.

Each Fitness+ video includes three different trainers on the screen at the same time, and at least one of these trainers will be doing a "modified" version of the workout that's simpler or less taxing. In a cycling workout, for example, one trainer might pedal more slowly, or in a yoga workout, one of the trainers might do simpler poses. In many cases, the alternate trainers you see in workout videos will be the leads of other kinds of workouts.

Apple has also added a series of 10 to 20 minute videos for those who are new to workouts and not ready for the standard workouts. These videos have a single instructor and provide instructions on equipment setup or how to do a particular exercise.

"One of the things we've heard that's been consistent is that working out is tough for people," Blahnik tells me. "If you're a beginner, it's tough because you don't know what to do, you don't know where to start, or maybe you're not in great shape and going to a gym or taking a class is actually way too much ... of a commitment when you're brand-new."

"It was clear to us from the very beginning that if we could do something to make working out a better experience for everybody, that felt like a really great thing to do for Apple Watch customers," Blahnik says.

The app is also designed to offer up suggestions for new workouts based on the workout types that people have completed. "We've done some really intelligent things to make it simple to get to your next best workout," said Blahnik.

The algorithm will suggest the workout types that people prefer, but it will also offer up recommendations for complementary exercises. For those who like to run or cycle, as an example, Fitness+ might suggest a HIIT workout or a yoga routine.

Fitness+ is set to launch on Monday, December 14. It's priced at $9.99 per month and also included in the $29.99 per month Apple One bundle. Apple is giving those who purchased an Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE, or Apple Watch Series 3 after September 15, 2020 a free three-month trial.

For more on Fitness+, make sure to check out our guide.

Apple is planning to retire its Music Memos app, which was first released in 2016 as an app designed to allow musicians and songwriters to capture song ideas on the fly. Since its launch, the app received few updates from Apple, and going forward, the app will receive no more updates.

According to an Apple Support document, Music Memos will no longer be available for download after March 1, 2021, but the app will still be available for use and can be downloaded from the App Store purchase history.

Still, Apple says that users should export Music Memos recordings to the Voice Memos library to ensure that they're saved, and the company is encouraging people to use Voice Memos over Music memos.

Apple today updated Music Memos to version 1.0.7, adding a new feature that allows Music Memos recordings to be exported to the Voice Memos library. Apple says that Voice Memos can be used to quickly capture ideas, and recordings can be taken further with GarageBand.

Exporting Music Memos to Voice Memos requires an iPhone with iOS 14 or an iPad with iPadOS 14, along with the latest versions of Voice Memos and Music Memos. Exported content will appear in Voice Memos in a folder titled "Music Memos."

Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to speak at the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit on Saturday, December 12, reports Reuters.

Co-hosted by the United Nations, the UK, and France, the summit is being held on the fifth anniversary of the international Paris climate agreement and ahead of U.N. talks next year in Glasgow, Scotland. From the Climate Summit website:

Leaders across government, business and civil society will gather for this online summit as the world deals with coronavirus. But the science is as urgent as ever and tells us that we need to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5C degrees. We know climate change will not wait. Action must be taken now, together, for our planet, so we can build back better.

The Summit will provide a meaningful platform for civil society, young people and Indigenous Peoples representatives, many of whom disproportionately experience the impacts of climate change. Climate change must also be tackled by entire systems and we therefore also want to provide a platform for businesses, cities and other non-state actors who are rallying together and collaborating to support governments and accelerate the systemic change required to reduce emissions and build resilience.

Cook will likely speak about Apple's environmental efforts. The Cupertino company recently pledged to make all of its products carbon neutral by 2030.

Apple's stores, offices, and data centers worldwide are already powered by 100% renewable electricity, and its operations, from commute to business travel, are carbon neutral. The company is aiming to transition its supply chain to 100 percent renewable energy as well to reach its carbon neutral goal by 2030.

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