MacRumors

Popular videoconferencing app Zoom is due to be updated with native support for Apple Silicon Macs today.

A Zoom support document, spotted by 9to5Mac, contains release notes for an update scheduled to be released today. The most notable update is support for ‌Apple Silicon‌ processors, and Zoom will release a separate installer for the app on ‌Apple Silicon‌ Macs.

The update also includes enhanced cloud contact integration for chat and call features, enhanced nonverbal feedback and reactions, "raise hand" for host and co-host, poll report availability during live session, and more.

Although native support for ‌Apple Silicon‌ will undoubtedly please users with an M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or Mac mini, the Intel version of Zoom running under Rosetta 2 emulation performed surprisingly well.

Versions of Adobe Premiere Pro, Premiere Rush, and Audition that run natively on M1 Macs are now available for public beta testers.

According to an Adobe Support Community document, spotted by The 8-Bit, Adobe will launch native ‌M1‌ support for all features within Premiere Pro in phases, and many parts have not yet been ported.

The first phase, included in this public beta release of Premiere Pro, features core editing functions and workflows like color, graphics, and audio, as well as Productions and multicam. Adobe has also prioritized support for the most widely used codecs, such as H.264, HEVC, and ProRes.

Adobe says that beta testers will need to initially upgrade their project files to make them compatible with the new captions workflow, and it is advised that users create extra copies of projects to use within the beta version.

Beta testers should also be aware that Adobe has released a list of known issues in the beta. For example, tapping the Tool Selector on a MacBook Pro's Touch Bar can cause the app to crash, and estimated file sizes while exporting may show incorrect values by an "order of magnitude."

While Adobe completes its M1-native version of Premiere Pro, it urges most users to run the current release version of Premiere Pro using Rosetta 2 emulation on Macs with an ‌M1‌ chip.

Even when Adobe Premiere Pro is fully updated for Apple Silicon, it should be noted that third-party integrations such as panels, plugins, effects, and drivers will need to be updated by developers to run natively on ‌Apple Silicon‌ and may not work reliably under Rosetta 2 emulation.

In addition to Premiere Pro, Premiere Rush and Audition have also been updated to run natively on ‌M1‌ Macs for public beta testers.

In November, Adobe made the M1-native version of Photoshop available in beta. Adobe Lightroom CC was updated to run natively on Apple Silicon earlier this month. The company appears to be on track to update most of its apps to support ‌Apple Silicon‌ in 2021.

Apple has placed supplier Wistron on probation following unrest at its plant in southern India (via Reuters).

An audit conducted by Apple found that Wistron's Bangalore plant, which manufactures the iPhone SE, showed violations of its "Supplier Code of Conduct." According to Apple, Wistron failed to implement proper working hour management processes which "led to payment delays for some workers in October and November."

Workers contracted by Wistron, angry over unpaid wages, destroyed property, equipment, and stock on December 12, resulting in millions of dollars in losses and the forced closure of the plant. Wistron has now admitted that some workers had not been paid correctly or on time, pledged to restructure its teams, and said it has removed a senior executive overseeing its business in India.

The plant in Bangalore was reportedly set to hire up to 20,000 more workers to manufacture an additional iPhone model, but these plans have now been abandoned. Apple commented that it will not award Wistron any new business until it addressed how workers are treated. The company will, however, continue to monitor Wistron's progress on corrective action.

The Apple probation is expected to delay the company's manufacturing push into India, where it has pledged to invest one billion dollars as it seeks to diversify its global supply chains. The only remaining Apple suppliers with operations in India are Foxconn and Pegatron.

Elsewhere, another labor dispute broke out at an iPhone-manufacturing Pegatron plant in Shanghai, according to United Daily News. Thousands of temporary workers were reportedly unhappy with the announcement that they needed to transfer to Pegatron's Kunshan plant, resulting in "chaotic" mass gatherings as workers demanded reimbursement.

It is now believed that the events in Bangalore and Shanghai have put significantly more demand on Zhengzhou, which contains the largest iPhone assembly plant.

Update: A report from the Economic Times is now citing legal expertise suggesting that Apple may also be held responsible for the labor violations in Bangalore.

"According to the Contract Labor (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, the contractor is responsible for payment of wages and the principal employer is ultimately responsible for it," said legal experts speaking to Economic Times.

This means that Indian authorities are able to seek explanations from both Apple and Wistron, legally implicating Apple in the causes of the unrest.

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's long-rumored electric vehicle is running at least two years ahead of schedule and will be released in the third quarter of 2021, according to Taiwan's Economic Daily News, which cites unnamed executives at Taiwanese manufacturers.

The report claims that Taiwanese manufacturers are preparing to ramp up for production of "Apple Car" components as early as the second quarter of next year, adding that Apple has been secretly testing dozens of prototype vehicles on the road in California. Apple received a permit from California's DMV to test self-driving vehicles in 2017, and it was spotted using Lexus SUVs rigged with LiDAR equipment that year.

While many sources have claimed the Apple Car will be released between 2023 and 2025, including analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the report cites an unnamed director at a major Taiwanese manufacturer who said Apple is targeting a September 2021 launch.

While anything is possible, the earlier timeframe is questionable, especially due to the impact of the pandemic. Earlier this month, a DigiTimes report claimed that Apple was in "preliminary" negotiations with automotive electronics suppliers, suggesting that its vehicle project still remains in the fairly early stages. The report added that Apple's chipmaking partner TSMC is reportedly working with Apple on a "self-driving chip."

Over the years, reports have flip flopped on whether Apple is developing a full-fledged vehicle or working on artificial intelligence and autonomous driving technologies for vehicles in general. Apple's artificial intelligence chief John Giannandrea recently took over leadership of the project, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Given that automakers often announce all-new vehicles years in advance, one possibility is that the Apple Car will be previewed in late 2021, but not released. For now, though, the report should be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Economic Daily News has a mixed track record with Apple rumors. The publication accurately revealed that Apple would be releasing a repurposed iPhone 8 in March 2020, nearly a year before the second-generation iPhone SE was unveiled, and it also nailed down the 11-inch iPad Pro. On the contrary, the publication inaccurately reported that a high-end gaming Mac would debut at WWDC 2020 and that AirPods Pro would come in several colors.

Apple this weekend shut down all of its stores in California, including those in the San Francisco Bay Area, after beginning to shutter stores in Los Angeles on Friday.

All retail locations in California have a notice letting customers know that the stores are temporarily closed, though some are allowing for order pickups and genius bar appointments through December 22. There's no word on when the stores will reopen, but they will remain closed through the holidays.

Apple has shuttered stores in California as COVID cases in the state have continued to rise, and stores in other places around the world are also closed down right now. According to 9to5Mac, there are nearly 100 Apple Stores that are non-operational at this time.

Stores in Tennessee were closed this weekend, and stores that are located in the UK's Tier 4 restrictions are shutting down as of today. 18 stores in Germany and the Netherlands were closed last week, and stores in Mexico and Brazil are closing this weekend.

In most stores that are still open in the United States, Apple is operating in a limited "Express" capacity, allowing for pickups and genius bar appointments but not in-store shopping and browsing.

Apple began closing retail locations earlier this year and many of its stores were shut down for months in the spring. Apple began reopening stores in June, but said that stores could close again depending on local guidelines and conditions. 400 stores are still open.

In all stores, Apple is requiring face masks, limiting store occupancy, conducting temperature checks, implementing social distancing measures, and deep cleaning regularly.

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.

Some customers attempting to use the new Apple Fitness+ workout service on their Apple TVs have been encountering a "pairing canceled" error when attempting to connect, and Apple on Friday shared a solution.

It appears the issue occurs when an Apple TV hasn't been properly added to the Home app, with Apple instructing people to follow these steps to fix it:

1. On ‌Apple TV‌, go to Settings & AirPlay and HomeKit. You should see a red badge next to it.
2. Choose Finish Home Set Up.
3. Unlock your iPhone and hold it close to ‌Apple TV‌.
4. Follow the instructions on the ‌Apple TV‌ to add the Apple tV to the Home app.

Those who are having this issue but do not have a red badge or an option to add the ‌Apple TV‌ to the Home app should contact Apple Support.

Apple Watch owners using Fitness+ with the ‌Apple TV‌ have also been running into a problem that causes the Apple Watch to disconnect in the middle of a workout, but this appears to be a separate issue. It's not clear what's causing these disconnects, and there appears to be no reliable fix at this time.

LiDAR-equipped Apple Maps vehicles are surveying select regions of Israel, New Zealand, and Singapore through early 2021, collecting street-level imagery and data, according to a list of locations maintained on Apple's website.

Apple will use the data collected to improve its Maps app and expand its Look Around feature beyond the five countries where it is currently supported, including parts of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Japan. Introduced in iOS 13, Look Around is similar to Google's Street View, providing a street-level view of a location with high-resolution 3D imagery that can be zoomed and panned.

In areas where Look Around is available, a binoculars icon appears in the top-right corner of the Maps app. Tapping that icon opens a street-level view in a card overlay at the top of the screen, which can then be expanded to a full-screen view. Look Around also appears in the search results for a supported city, below the Flyover and Directions buttons.

Apple Maps‌ vehicles have also surveyed parts of Australia, Belgium, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Croatia, and select other countries since data collection began in 2015. In some areas where streets are not easily accessible, Apple employees collect data using portable systems, such as a backpack with LiDAR.

(Thanks, Assaf!)

Facebook's recent criticism directed at Apple over an upcoming tracking-related privacy measure is "laughable," according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organization that defends civil liberties in the digital world.

Facebook has claimed that Apple's new opt-in tracking policy will hurt small businesses who benefit from personalized advertising, but the EFF believes that Facebook's campaign against Apple is really about "what Facebook stands to lose if its users learn more about exactly what it and other data brokers are up to behind the scenes," noting that Facebook has "built a massive empire around the concept of tracking everything you do."

Starting early next year, developers of iPhone and iPad apps will need to request permission from users to track their activity across apps and websites owned by other companies for personalized advertising purposes. Specifically, users will be presented with a prompt to allow or deny tracking as necessary when opening apps on iOS 14 and iPadOS 14.

According to the EFF, a number of studies have shown that most of the money made from targeted advertising does not reach app developers, and instead goes to third-party data brokers like Facebook, Google, and lesser-known firms.

"Facebook touts itself in this case as protecting small businesses, and that couldn't be further from the truth," the EFF said. "Facebook has locked them into a situation in which they are forced to be sneaky and adverse to their own customers. The answer cannot be to defend that broken system at the cost of their own users' privacy and control."

Facebook has argued that Apple's move "isn't about privacy, it's about profit," claiming that Apple's new policy will leave many apps and websites with no choice but to start charging subscription fees or add more in-app purchase options to make ends meet, in turn increasing App Store revenue. Facebook said this scenario will make the internet "much more expensive" and reduce "high-quality free content."

"We disagree with Apple's approach and solution, yet we have no choice but to show Apple's prompt," Facebook said. "If we don't, they will block Facebook from the App Store, which would only further harm the people and businesses that rely on our services. We cannot take this risk on behalf of the millions of businesses who use our platform to grow."

In response to Facebook, Apple expressed that users deserve control and transparency. "We believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users," said Apple, adding that "users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites — and they should have the choice to allow that or not."

The EFF applauded Apple for its pro-privacy change, calling it a great step forward.

"When a company does the right thing for its users, EFF will stand with it, just as we will come down hard on companies that do the wrong thing," the organization concluded. "Here, Apple is right and Facebook is wrong."

Woot is continuing to offer a solid discount on Apple's AirPods Pro, which are available for $189.99, down from $249.00. While this sale isn't as good as the one we saw at Walmart and Amazon over Black Friday, Woot's deal remains the best price that we've tracked in December.

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

AirPods Pro are Apple's high-end Bluetooth headphones, offering active noise cancellation and many more features. The included charging case also supports Qi wireless charging, so you can recharge the headphones via any compatible Qi mat.

In another AirPods sale, you can get the AirPods with Wired Charging Case for $109.99 today on Amazon, down from $159.00, which is a match for the Black Friday sale on this model. You'll see this sale price after an automatic coupon worth $18.99 is applied at the checkout screen.

We track sales for every model of the AirPods in our Best AirPods Deals guide, so be sure to bookmark that page while you shop around for the wireless headphones.

Things remained extremely busy this week in the Apple world, even with the holidays quickly approaching. Apple pushed several new releases out the door on the hardware and software fronts this week, including AirPods Max, Fitness+, and other new features and improvements as part of iOS 14.3 and associated operating system updates.

We also got some rumors about the iPhone 13 and Apple TV, while Facebook and Apple remain engaged in an escalating dispute over Apple's upcoming move to require permission before companies can track users' online activity for personalized advertising purposes. Read on for details on all of these stories!

Hands-On With the AirPods Max

Apple's new AirPods Max over-ear headphones launched this week, and we've picked up a pair to see if their $549 price tag is worth it. We've also shared impressions from reviewers and customers.

AirPods Max feature a premium design, with a breathable mesh headband that connects to memory foam ear cups with stainless steel telescoping arms, and a large Digital Crown provides precise, tactile volume control. However, there is no power button, which will disappoint some users.

Sound quality and active noise cancellation are both impressive with the AirPods Max and competitive with over-ear headphones from competing brands like Sony and Bose. And with an Apple-designed H1 chip in each ear cup, the AirPods Max feature instant pairing and automatic switching for Apple devices, longer Bluetooth range, and more.

While the AirPods Max are quite heavy, the headphones have been fairly comfortable in our experience, at least over shorter periods of time. Some users have found the headphones to be heavier on their ears, rather than their head, as Apple says that it designed the headband to distribute weight and reduce on-head pressure.

Overall, the AirPods Max are certainly a quality pair of over-ear headphones, but the average person should definitely consider looking into highly-rated alternatives like Sony's WH-1000XM4 or Bose's Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 for hundreds of dollars less.

Apple Fitness+ Launches With Free Trial Available

Apple's new workout service Fitness+ is now available, providing Apple Watch users with studio-style, guided exercise videos in a range of categories, such as high-intensity interval training, yoga, dance, running, walking, cycling, strength, and more. Apple says new content will be added to the service each week.

Fitness+ requires an Apple Watch Series 3 or later, although workout videos can be watched on an iPhone or iPad without having an Apple Watch in close proximity once the service is set up. The videos can also be viewed on an Apple TV, but an Apple Watch is always required.

The headline feature of Fitness+ is that it integrates personal metrics such as heart rate from the Apple Watch to motivate users, animating them on the screen during key moments in the workout. All workout videos also offer modifications for beginners or those who prefer a slower pace.

Priced at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year, Fitness+ automatically appears as a new tab in the Fitness app on iPhones running iOS 14.3 or later, while iPad users can get the Fitness app from the App Store for iPadOS 14.3 or later. On the Apple TV, the Fitness app automatically appears once users upgrade to tvOS 14.3. At launch, the service is available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Fitness+ offers a free one-month trial to existing Apple Watch users, and an extended three-month trial is available to customers who purchased a new Apple Watch Series 3 or later after September 15, 2020.

iOS 14.3 Released — Here's Everything New!

Apple this week released iOS 14.3 and iPadOS 14.3 after a lengthy beta testing period, and there are several new features in the software updates.

In addition to Apple Fitness+ and AirPods Max support, other new features include support for Apple's new ProRAW image format, a dedicated TV+ tab in the TV app, a new pregnancy section in the Health app, privacy labels in the App Store, and more. And for iPad users, iPadOS 14.3 restores the ability to delete emails using the delete key on the Magic Keyboard.

Other software updates released this week include watchOS 7.2 with a new Cardio Fitness feature that measures VO₂ max, macOS 11.1, tvOS 14.3, and a 14.3 software update for the HomePod and HomePod mini.

iPhone 13 Pro Models Expected to Adopt LTPO Technology for 120Hz Display

Two out of four iPhone 13 models set to launch next year (presumably the Pro and Pro Max) will use OLED displays with low-power LTPO technology, paving the way for a long-rumored 120Hz refresh rate, according to a Korean supply chain report this week.

LTPO technology would result in a more power-efficient backplane, which is responsible for turning individual pixels on and off on the display. In turn, this could allow for a 120Hz refresh rate for more fluid scrolling and smoother motion without causing too much of a hit on battery life. Similar to recent Apple Watch models, LTPO could also enable iPhone 13 models to have an always-on display.

While some rumors had suggested that iPhone 12 Pro models would support a 120Hz refresh rate, display industry analyst Ross Young accurately claimed otherwise, noting that the feature will be added alongside LTPO in 2021. iPad Pro models have supported up to 120Hz since 2017.

New Apple TV Finally Expected Next Year

Apple finally plans to release a new Apple TV in 2021, according to the Nikkei Asian Review, over three years after last updating the streaming box.

The report did not reveal any potential features, but previous rumors have indicated that the next-generation Apple TV could be equipped with a variant of the A12 chip for faster performance, and possibly a gaming controller that would be beneficial for Apple Arcade. There may also be a new 128GB storage option, compared to a max of 64GB currently.

The current Apple TV 4K was released in September 2017 and looks virtually identical to the previous-generation Apple TV HD.

Apple Responds to Facebook's Anti-Tracking Criticism, Says Users Deserve Control and Transparency

Apple has responded to Facebook's criticism over an upcoming iOS 14 privacy measure — specifically a change that will require users to grant permission for their activity to be tracked for personalized advertising purposes starting early next year.

Apple emphasized that it welcomes in-app advertising and is not prohibiting tracking, but simply requiring apps to obtain explicit user consent in order to track users for personalized advertising purposes, providing users with more control and transparency.

"We believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users," said Apple, in a statement issued to MacRumors. "Users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites — and they should have the choice to allow that or not. App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 does not require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users and creating targeted advertising, it simply requires they give users a choice."

Facebook claimed that Apple's tracking change will have a "harmful impact on many small businesses that are struggling to stay afloat," adding that the new policy is "about profit, not privacy." Facebook said many apps and websites will have to start charging subscription fees or add more in-app purchase options to make ends meet, making the internet "much more expensive."

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Apple has teamed up with Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla to block a web browser root certificate that was being used by the Kazakhstan government to surveil its citizens.

The certificate allowed authorities to monitor people's online activity by intercepting and decrypting HTTPS traffic from residents in Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan.

Local ISPs were required to block foreign websites including Google and Twitter, unless users had the certificate installed, but Apple and the other browser makers on Friday acted in unison to ban the certificate, according to ZDNet.

Since the ban, Chrome, Edge, Mozilla, and Safari refuse to work with the certificate, and the browsers throw up error messages to users who installed it, telling them the certificate can't be used because it isn't trustworthy.

As ZDNet notes, this is the second time the four browser makers have banned a certificate issued by the Kazakh government for man-in-the-middle attacks. The first block came in August 2019, and acted to prevent a certificate used to intercept traffic for various Russian and English-speaking social media sites.

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.

At $550, the AirPods Max are quite a bit more expensive than noise cancelling headphones from other companies like Sony and Bose, many of which are highly rated. In our latest YouTube video, we compared the AirPods Max to the Sony WH-1000XM4s, the Bose NC Headphones 700, and the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless to see if they're worth the premium price tag.

All three of the competing headphones are available at $350 retail, but oftentimes, there are sales. With the Sony XM4's, for example, you can get them on sale for $280, which is a steal for the functionality. The Bose 700s are going for about $340 right now, and the Sennheisers are about $300.

When it comes to design, the AirPods Max look and feel like $550 headphones thanks to the aluminum cups and the mesh ear cushions, and while aesthetics are subjective, they're arguably the most unique of the bunch. The Bose 700's have a classy, futuristic look and the Sennheisers have more of a retro flair. The Sony headphones are the most basic, but are overall fine.

We think the AirPods Max are the best looking headphones of the bunch followed by the Bose and Sennheiser headphones with Sony coming in last, but it's also worth noting that the AirPods Max are heavy and are in fact the heaviest of the bunch.

Comfort is also super subjective and is going to depend on each person's head shape, ears, and size. Most people have found the AirPods Max to be comfortable, but some find the weight to be unbearable. With their plastic design, the Sony headphones are the lightest of the bunch for those who want less weight.

We found the AirPods Max to be most comfortable, followed by the Sennheiser headphones, the Sony headphones, and then the Bose, which are also somewhat heavy and have smaller earcups. That said, it's all quite close.

When it comes to buttons, Apple did a good job with controls for the AirPods Max with the Digital Crown and toggle for activating ANC, but we'll never understand why there's no power button or the strange case choice. The AirPods Max case is not protective, it doesn't look good, and it's all around the worst case that comes with any of the headphones.

In terms of sound quality, the AirPods Max sound fantastic, but again, choosing one set of headphones over the other really comes down to preference. We thought the AirPods Max had the most balanced sound experience of the bunch. The Sennheiser headphones really did poorly compared to the others, but the Bose and Sony headphones both sounded great, though leaned toward being bass heavy. That said, all of the headphones except the AirPods Max have adjustable EQ settings so they can be tweaked to your liking.

This will come as no surprise, but when it comes to Active Noise Cancellation, the Sony XM4's and the AirPods Max win out. Sony has always been the best at noise cancellation, and the AirPods Max are truly competitive. All of these options have solid ANC capabilities, though, and it's a close call.

Our videographer, Dan, goes into much more detail on each of the different headphones, so make sure you watch the full video for a complete picture of the similarities and differences.

All of the headphones we've covered are excellent options, and choosing between them will depend on your budget and your personal tastes. We think for most people, the AirPods Max may not be worth that premium price tag because there are other great headphones that are much more affordable available, but the AirPods Max are certainly at the head of the pack and when it comes down to it, we prefer them over the competing options.

Apple is temporarily closing its retail locations in the Los Angeles area due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases in Southern California, reports Bloomberg. Update - Dec. 19: Apple has extended the closures to all stores in California indefinitely.

This is the first time in several months that stores in Los Angeles have been closed. Apple has several major retail locations in the area, including stores at The Grove and Beverly Center shopping centers. Two stores in Los Angeles are closed today, and 11 additional stores are closing on Saturday. There is no word on when the stores will re-open.

All of Southern California is under a stay at home order that went into effect earlier in December, but the order does not require non-essential retail stores to shut down. Instead, stores and malls are able to operate at a reduced capacity, so Apple is not required to shut down by the state, but is likely doing so to protect its employees.

Coronavirus cases are also surging in the San Francisco Bay Area where Apple's headquarters are located, but the company has not yet closed stores there. Most stores are, however, operating in a limited "Express" mode that allows for order pickups and genius bar appointments, but does not let people browse.

Apple began closing retail locations earlier this year and many of its stores were shut down for months in the spring. Apple began reopening stores in June, but said that stores could close again depending on local guidelines and conditions.

In all stores, Apple is requiring face masks, limiting store occupancy, conducting temperature checks, implementing social distancing measures, and deep cleaning regularly.

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.

Instagram is today rolling out support for the new ProRAW photos that are able to be captured with the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Instagram developer Tim Johnsen shared the news on Twitter, where he also said that ProRAW photos in the DNG format are not able to be edited on Instagram. Further details aren't available, but it seems that Instagram is converting the ProRAW file into JPG that's shown on Instagram.

Support is limited, but those who take ProRAW photos and edit them outside of Instagram will be able to share the resulting image directly on the social network without having to create a separate JPG. ProRAW images are large in size, coming in at around 25MB, so Instagram is compressing them.

ProRAW is an iPhone 12 Pro and ‌iPhone 12 Pro Max‌ feature that was enabled with the iOS 14.3 update. It takes advantage of the computational photographer features that Apple adds into its iPhone while also giving users control over white balance, noise reduction, sharpening, and more.

As photographer Austin Mann highlighted earlier this week, ProRAW is ideal in situations where Apple's general algorithms may struggle, such as mixed indoor lighting, extreme low light, and super high dynamic range images.

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.

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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.