Apple's BeatsX deal matches some other retailers, but Amazon and Best Buy each have better deals on the Powerbeats3 Wireless and Solo3 Wireless, with the products on sale for as low as $134.99 and $199.99 respectively.
Like AirPods, the BeatsX, Solo3 Wireless, and Powerbeats3 Wireless are equipped with Apple's W1 chip for instant pairing with an iPhone. They can then simultaneously connect to an Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac via iCloud.
All three headphones feature Fast Fuel. Five minutes of charging provides up to three hours of playback for the Solo3 Wireless, two hours of playback for the BeatsX, and an hour of playback for the Powerbeats3 Wireless.
Apple's special Beats prices are available in the United States only for a limited time.
Disclaimer: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and Best Buy and may get paid if you click one of the above links and make a purchase.
With DirecTV Now's latest offer, if you sign up for four months of the streaming TV service at an upfront cost of around $140, you'll get the 32GB Apple TV 4K at no cost. DirecTV Now starts at $35/month for the "Live a Little" package, which adds up to $140 for four months of service (without any additions like HBO or Showtime). Higher tiers increase to $50/month, $60/month, and $70/month with more channels added to each.
If you opt for the lowest tier, you can get Apple's latest Apple TV 4K device for just $140, which is $40 cheaper than its traditional price point of $180 at Apple and other retailers. If you take advantage of the savings and eventually decide you don't want to continue paying for DirecTV Now, you can cancel the service at any time on the company's website.
The sale is for new customers signing up to DirecTV Now, but existing subscribers can likely use another email and credit card combination to get the Apple TV 4K at no cost. The offer will last through the end of 2017, requires a credit card or PayPal payment, and will see the Apple TV 4K delivered in around three weeks from the order date.
Here's more of the fine print, which also mentions that DirecTV Now does not currently support 4K HDR content streaming:
4K Apple TV (32 GB): Must prepay first four months of service at full price. Non-refundable. Online orders will be shipped via FedEx ground to address provided at point of sale. Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. Offer limited to 1 per DIRECTV NOW account; 2 per household. Not combinable with select offers. 4k HD not avail. w/DIRECTV NOW.
To get started, visit DirecTV Now's website, click "Redeem and Stream," and within the sign-up process you'll encounter the "Special Offer" section with mention of the Apple TV 4K deal. When you're done, be sure to head over to our Deals Roundup and Black Friday Roundup to catch up on all of the latest sales as we head into Black Friday.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with DirecTV. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Update: DirecTV Now has sweetened the deal, so head over to our more recent post for the latest information.
Spotify updated its iOS app today with support for iPhone X, exactly two weeks since Apple's latest smartphone launched. The update removes the letterboxing of Spotify's interface on the iPhone X's 5.8-inch OLED display, which should come as welcome news to heavy users of the app, allowing them to see more of track lists and search results on the screen, and more artwork when browsing albums and playlists.
"Stranger Things Mode" before (left) and after Spotify iPhone X update
The music streaming service is unusually late to the game on this front, with many top App Store apps already having updated their interfaces for the iPhone's 1,125 × 2,436 resolution display, which results in roughly 20 percent additional vertical space for content compared to the 4.7-inch displays of the iPhone 6, 7, and 8.
Apple was naturally quick to publish human interface guidelines for developers coding iPhone X apps. The documentation explains the changes that need to be made to ensure apps make the most of the additional space. At the same time, the guidance warns developers away from encroaching on certain areas of the screen, including the rounded corners, sensor housing, and indicator for accessing the Home screen.
Spotify is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Apple is "leaning heavily" towards choosing Intel's 5G modems for its future iPhones, according to Fast Company. Apple engineers are said to be already working with Intel on upcoming 5G technology.
Apple's discussions with Qualcomm about 5G modems, meanwhile, have been described as "limited."
Citing a source with knowledge of Apple's plans, Fast Company says that while Qualcomm 5G modems will offer more specialized carrier features, many of those features will not be adopted by carriers, leading Apple to believe Intel's hardware will be sufficient for future devices.
The end game, multiple sources have said, is to build the Intel modem onto an integrated system-on-a-chip (SoC) that would also contain the CPU, GPU, and other iPhone components. The SoC would be co-designed by Intel and Apple and would be fabricated at an Intel facility.
Intel reportedly has "multiple thousands" of people working on 5G technology in an effort to catch up with Qualcomm and win the contract from Apple.
Intel this morning said that it had made "substantial advances" in its wireless product roadmap to accelerate the adoption of 5G. According to Intel, an end-to-end 5G call based on early 5G silicon has been completed successfully, which Intel says is a "key milestone in its development."
Intel expects its first 5G chips to roll out in 2019, ahead of the wide rollout of 5G networks. T-Mobile just today said that it is planning to roll out its fifth-generation network across the United States by 2020, and most of the carriers in the United States are already experimenting with limited trials.
5G is expected to deliver speeds that are 10 to 100 times faster than the average 4G connection, at a gigabit per second or higher, along with lower latency and other benefits.
Rumors that Apple is considering Intel's 5G technology are in line with previous reports that have suggested Apple is considering eliminating Qualcomm chips from its 2018 iPhones and iPads.
Apple and Qualcomm have been embroiled in a bitter legal battle since the beginning of the year, which has continued to escalate over the months. Apple believes Qualcomm charges unfair royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with," while Qualcomm claims its technology is "at the heart of every iPhone."
The Pixel Buds, Google's $159 headphones designed to compete with Apple's AirPods, finally launched this week so we thought we'd pit the two devices against one another to see how they measure up.
While the AirPods are widely loved and have received mostly positive reviews from customers and media sites, things aren't looking quite as rosy for the Pixel Buds. In a lot of ways, the Pixel Buds don't measure up to the AirPods, and in the video below, we compare design, features, sound quality, comfort, and other metrics.
Pixel Buds and AirPods both cost $159 and are Bluetooth earphones designed for the Google and Apple ecosystems, respectively, but when it comes to design, they're quite a bit different. The AirPods are entirely wire-free, but the Pixel Buds have an adjustable cord that connects the two earpieces together. Each is stored in a case that provides extra battery.
Both earphones support touch and tap gestures to do things like activate Siri or Google Assistant and control music playback, but each one has shortcomings. There's no volume control on the AirPods, meaning you need to use Siri or your connected device to adjust volume, and on the Pixel Buds, there's no gesture for switching tasks, so you need to use Google Assistant. By the way, when connected to an iPhone, Google Assistant functionality doesn't work.
AirPods have a nifty feature that stops music playback when an AirPod is removed from the ear, and there's no equivalent feature on the Pixel Buds. The Pixel Buds do have a unique translation feature, but as it turns out, it requires Google Translate on a smartphone and isn't too much different from just using your phone for translation purposes.
The W1 chip built into the AirPods allows them to be swapped seamlessly between Apple devices and is one of the best AirPods features, while the Pixel Buds aren't quite as convenient. On Android devices, you need to put the buds back in their case, hold the pair button, and then re-pair when you want to switch.
At their price point, both the AirPods and the Pixel Buds offer relatively decent sound, but we did feel that the AirPods were better in this regard. The Pixel Buds sounded somewhat muddled, especially when using Spotify.
Given some of the shortcomings of the Pixel Buds, the AirPods seem to have them beat, based on our own experience with the two products and a range of less than enthusiastic Pixel Bud reviews from media sites. And of course, as an Apple-centric site with employees that largely use iOS devices, MacRumors is partial to the AirPods.
We may prefer the AirPods to the Pixel Buds, but as with our comparison between the iPhone X and the Google Pixel 2 XL, choosing between the AirPods and the Pixel Buds largely comes down to the ecosystem you're using. If you have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, the AirPods are the obvious choice.
If you don't have an iPhone or another Apple device, you're not going to get the benefits of the W1 chip, so it may be worth considering the Pixel Buds instead. And, of course, there's always the neither option -- there are hundreds of other Bluetooth headphones on the market.
Apple today shared a new "What's a computer" iPad Pro ad on its YouTube channel, highlighting the myriad things an iPad Pro can do along with new iPad features introduced in iOS 11.
The video, set to the song "Go" by Louis The Child," shows off the iPad's versatility as a computer replacement, following a teen as she chats with friends, takes and edits photos, writes a paper, draws with the Apple Pencil, reads comics, and more while on the go.
Features and accessories covered in the video include split-screen multitasking, the iOS 11 dock, the iPad's camera capabilities, the Apple Pencil, the Smart Keyboard, and photo markup
At the end of the spot, the teen's mom asks her "What are you doing on your computer?" And she responds, "What's a computer?"
Apple has shared multiple iPad Pro ads in the past, positioning the device as a computer replacement. Most recently, Apple published several short tutorial videos designed to show off all of the new features introduced on iPad in iOS 11
Denise Young Smith, Apple's current vice president of diversity and inclusion, plans to leave Apple at the end of this year, reports TechCrunch. Smith was promoted to her position in May of 2017, and prior to that, she was in human resources.
Smith, who has been with Apple for more than 20 years, reports directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Prior to Smith's promotion, Apple had a head of diversity and inclusion, but her role was an executive level role with more responsibility.
Christie Smith, who was with Deloitte for 17 years as a Client Advisory Principal, will be taking over the position. Smith's LinkedIn profile says she has 28 years of experience building and leading high performance teams with expertise in "talent management, analytics, inclusion & belonging, leadership, organizational design, performance management, coaching, change management and culture."
In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple said the company is thrilled to welcome Christie Smith to the team.
"We deeply believe that diversity drives innovation. We're thrilled to welcome an accomplished leader like Christie Smith to help us continue the progress we've made toward a more diverse workplace."
Smith will report to Apple's vice president of people Deirdre O'Brien, and has reportedly been speaking with Tim Cook since about a year ago. Apple has been looking for a replacement for Denise Young Smith for the last several months.
After departing Apple, Denise Young Smith will become an executive in residence at Cornell starting this January. She will work with students to "build an early career-stage awareness of inclusive leadership and diverse talent."
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues 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 today released iOS 11.1.2, the seventh official update to the iOS 11 operating system. iOS 11.1.2 comes just one week after Apple released iOS 11.1.1, an update that addressed a pesky and widespread autocorrect bug.
The iOS 11.1.2 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the update, go to Settings --> General --> Software Update.
The iOS 11.1.2 update addresses bugs and issues that have been discovered since the release of iOS 11.1.1. According to Apple's release notes, the update addresses a bug that caused some iPhone X displays to become temporarily unresponsive when exposed to cold temperatures.
iOS 11.1.2 includes bug fixes for your iPhone and iPad. This update: - Fixes an issue where the iPhone X screen becomes temporarily unresponsive to touch after a rapid temperature drop - Addresses an issue that could cause distortion in Live Photos and videos captured with iPhone X - Fixes an issue that could cause your device to restart after receiving a long notification in Arabic
iOS 11.1.2 comes as Apple works on the iOS 11.2 update, which introduces Apple Pay Cash, support for faster 7.5W wireless charging on iPhone X, 8, and 8 Plus, and several bug fixes and minor interface tweaks.
Apple today reminded developers to update their Apple Watch apps to take advantage of features introduced in watchOS 4 and Apple Watch Series 3, like increased performance, new background modes for navigation and audio recording, direct connections to Core Bluetooth, and more.
Apple also announced that starting on April 1, 2018, updates to watchOS 1 apps will no longer be accepted. All updates must be native apps built with the watchOS 2 SDK or later. Newly submitted watchOS apps should be built with the watchOS 4 SDK or later.
Apple first began requiring new apps to use the watchOS 2 SDK in June of 2016, and now that will also apply to app updates that are submitted. watchOS 1 apps that are not rebuilt using watchOS 2 SDKs or later will no longer be able to be updated after the April 2018 deadline.
Apps built with the native support features that were first introduced in watchOS 2 are able to run more quickly and operate more smoothly on the Apple Watch.
Apple Maps vehicles will begin surveying Croatia and Portugal for the first time in a few weeks from now, according to Apple's updated list of locations.
In Croatia, the Apple Maps vehicles will be in Split-Dalmatia County and Šibenik-Knin County beginning November 20. The vehicles will begin surveying the Alentejo region of Portugal starting December 4.
Since 2015, Apple has been driving vehicles around the world to collect data for Apple Maps. The vehicles have surveyed over 35 states in the United States, in addition to parts of France, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
Apple said it will blur faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication, suggesting that it could be working on adding a Street View feature to Apple Maps, similar to what Google Maps has offered for several years.
When Apple's fleet of vans first hit the streets, speculation arose about the vehicles serving as the basis of an Apple Car. But those rumors quieted down after the vans were later labeled with Apple Maps decals.
Some industry observers still believe the vans are at least partially related to Apple's autonomous driving project, but the evidence is inconclusive.
Facebook today announced the launch of a new "Facebook Creator" app and accompanying website, both of which are designed for people who want to create videos.
Facebook Creator sounds similar to the tools available on YouTube. It is described as a "one stop shop for creators of all kinds," allowing users to create original video, stream live video, and connect with their community on Facebook.
Creator is actually a rebranding of the existing Mentions app, which was something that was previously only available to verified public figures. With the revamp, the app is available to all users.
The app includes a Live Creative Kit, with tools that Facebook says are meant to make it easy to create live broadcasts with a personalized feel. There's an option to create and add intros and outros to live broadcasts, custom live stickers, graphic frames, and more.
With the Community Tab, video makers can connect with their fans and collaborators with a unified inbox that includes comments from Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.
A Camera & Stories section lets content creators add "fun camera effects and frames" to videos, and it also allows videos to be crossposted to other social networking platforms. Finally, an Insights option provides content creators with metrics to allow them to custom tailor their videos to meet fan demand.
The accompanying Facebook for Creators website includes tutorials to "make content shine," answers to creator-specific questions, and a community of creators to interact with.
Facebook Creator is launching globally today on iOS devices, and while the app is still showing up as Facebook Mentions, it should be updated soon. [Direct Link]
Dick's Sporting Goods has discounted the aluminum Apple Watch Nike+ Series 2 by about 33 percent today, marking a notably low price point for the second-generation device ahead of Black Friday. The deal is part of the retailer's holiday flash sale, with 38mm aluminum cases priced at $243.98 while 42mm aluminum cases are at $273.98. There were non-Nike+ models on sale, but most have now gone out of stock.
Visit Dick's Sporting Goods' website here to check out all of the models on sale, which as of writing include a few colorways of the Apple Watch Nike+ in 38mm and one version of the 42mm. The flash sale ends tonight at 10 p.m. ET, or while supplies last, so be sure to take advantage of the deal quickly if you're interested.
This is the latest price drop for Series 2 devices this fall, with the last major sale hitting Best Buy with 38mm cases at $270 and 42mm cases at $300 -- a deal that's still going on today. While Series 2 models lack the LTE capabilities and faster processing speeds of the latest Series 3 device, last year's edition is still a reliable investment and could be a cost-cutting gift alternative for those looking to save some money over the holidays.
In regards to upcoming Black Friday deals on the Series 2 models, we haven't yet heard anything specific, but there will likely be some discounts at the major resellers and retail locations. A notable discount for the Apple Watch Series 1 has been confirmed, however, with these devices starting as low as $179.99 at Target and Macy's on Black Friday. Visit our Black Friday Roundup for information on Apple Watch sales and more coming next week.
For other sales happening now ahead of the shopping holiday next week, head over to our full Deals Roundup.
Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 update to developers, less than one week after seeding the third beta and just over two weeks after releasing the macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 update.
The new macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.
It's not yet clear what improvements the second major update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it's likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.1.
No significant new features were discovered in the first three betas of macOS High Sierra 10.13.2, but we'll update this post should notable changes be found in the fourth beta.
The previous update, 10.13.1, introduced fixes for some serious security flaws and brought new emoji to the macOS operating system.
Update: Apple has also made the fourth macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 beta available for public beta testers.
Apple today sent out an Apple Pay email to customers, highlighting a Postmates deal. If you use Apple Pay to sign up for the Postmates Unlimited service, you can get free delivery through the end of the year on all orders over $20 without paying the $9.99 per month fee.
Postmates Unlimited is a subscription service that allows customers to get free delivery from any merchant in their city on orders over $20, essentially doing away with delivery fees. The Postmates Unlimited service costs $9.99 per month, though, and it does not do away with other service fees or the need to tip.
If you're a frequent Postmates customer, it's potentially worth the $9.99 per month because delivery fees can add up, especially from merchants that are not located nearby.
Customers will need to sign up for the deal by November 23 to get free shipments for the rest of 2017. Postmates previously offered a similar Unlimited trial, but the company says it has been extended for all customers using Apple Pay.
Special announcement: Just in time for the holidays, we've extended the Unlimited trial for customers using Apple Pay. Sign up before Nov 23rd and your subscription will be free for all of 2017. That means all orders over $20 have no delivery fee.
This appears to be one of the first Apple Pay emails Apple has sent out to customers. Apple also highlights several locations that accept Apple Pay, including Trader Joe's, Pizza Hut, and Crate & Barrel, along with the Jet, Etsy, and Macy's apps.
Riccio believes the iPhone X paves the way for the next 10 years of smartphones, given its radical redesign with a nearly edge to edge display, no home button, and advanced cameras for facial recognition and augmented reality.
"There were these extraordinarily complex problems that needed to be solved," said Ive. "Paying attention to what's happened historically actually helps give you some faith that you are going to find a solution."
That history includes, in part, Apple removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 last year, parting ways with the built-in disc drive on the MacBook Pro after 2012, and ditching the floppy drive on the iMac G3 in 1998.
"I actually think the path of holding onto features that have been effective, the path of holding onto those whatever the cost, is a path that leads to failure," said Ive. "And in the short term, it's the path that feels less risky and it's the path that feels more secure."
Ive acknowledged that it's not always easy for Apple to move past a feature or technology when it believes there's a "better way," and it's easy to see his point given the controversy that each change has generated.
Apple was criticized by a fair number of customers for removing the headphone jack on the iPhone last year, for example, and even competitors like Google and Samsung used it as an opportunity to poke fun at Apple.
After time, however, many customers usually learn to adapt. Google even removed the headphone jack on the Pixel 2 this year.
iPhone X is the most expensive iPhone ever, with a starting price of $999 in the United States, which Ive said is the "financial consequence" of "integrating the sheer amount of processing power into such a small device."
"Our goal is always to provide what we think is the best product possible, not always the lowest cost," added Riccio.
Despite being expensive, the iPhone X appears to be off to a successful start given sales estimates, and Apple's forecast for an all-time revenue record this quarter. Orders placed today are still backlogged by 2-3 weeks.
Apple's new flagship iPhone X is one of the best inventions of 2017, according to a new list of the top 25 inventions of the year published this morning by TIME magazine.
The smartphone, which launched on November 3, features some of the most radical design changes Apple has introduced in an iPhone since the first iteration of the device launched in 2007. It does away with the Home button, includes an entirely new user interface that embraces new gestures, brings impressive new camera technology, and introduces next-generation biometric authentication in the form of Face ID.
Apple Design Chief Jony Ive says Apple was "looking to the future" with the decision to remove the Home button, and that holding onto features, even those that have been effective, "is a path that leads to failure." As for cost, Ive says packing those features and impressive processing power into the iPhone X has "financial consequence."
Dan Riccio, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, says the iPhone X is "something we really wanted to do since day one."
Based on estimates for demand, the iPhone X is a hit with consumers. It's received largely positive reviews, and despite some bugs and hiccups with a small number of issues, its launch has been a success.
Facial detection features were first introduced as part of iOS 10 in the Core Image framework, and it was used on-device to detect faces in photos so people could view their images by person in the Photos app.
Implementing this technology was no small feat, says Apple, as it required "orders of magnitude more memory, much more disk storage, and more computational resources."
Apple's iCloud Photo Library is a cloud-based solution for photo and video storage. However, due to Apple's strong commitment to user privacy, we couldn't use iCloud servers for computer vision computations. Every photo and video sent to iCloud Photo Library is encrypted on the device before it is sent to cloud storage, and can only be decrypted by devices that are registered with the iCloud account. Therefore, to bring deep learning based computer vision solutions to our customers, we had to address directly the challenges of getting deep learning algorithms running on iPhone.
Apple's Machine Learning Journal entry describes how Apple overcame these challenges by leveraging GPU and CPU in iOS devices, developing memory optimizations for network interference, image loading, and caching, and implementing the network in a way that did not interfere with other tasks expected on iPhone.
The new entry is well worth reading if you're interested in the specific details behind how Apple overcame these challenges to successfully implemented the feature. The technical details are dense, but understandable, and it provides some interesting insight into how facial recognition works.
With its Machine Learning Journal, Apple aims to share the complex concepts behind its technology so the users of its products can get a look behind the curtain. It also serves as a way for Apple's engineers to participate in the AI community.
Vimeo today announced that support for high dynamic range (HDR) videos has officially arrived across the company's entire suite of apps for the iPhone X, 2017 iPad Pro models, and Apple TV 4K. Vimeo said this means it's "the only video-hosting platform available in HDR" on Apple's platforms right now. This might be a reference to YouTube, which has been notably absent from including 4K video on its Apple TV app due to each company supporting different HDR codecs.
For Vimeo, the company said that it's enabling HDR with 10-bit graphics and a BT.2020 wide color gamut by leveraging the next-generation High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard to keep file sizes at manageable levels. This will allow video makers and editors who shoot in HDR the ability to upload to Vimeo "in the highest color accuracy possible."
We now support 10-bit video, which means the image quality is strikingly clear and cleaner than ever before. The precision and nuance of 10-bit allows us to upgrade from 16 million colors to 1 billion colors.
With BT.2020 (or Rec.2020) support and wider color gamuts (WCG), your image will now represent over 75% of the color that the human eye can see. That’s a big change: most modern color gamuts in videos are limited to a 35% color range. But with BT.2020, we can truly depict your deepest reds, brightest greens, and darkest blacks like never before.
The new support also unlocks resolutions in up to 8K, according to Vimeo, which viewers can watch on devices that support output of these resolution levels (4K, 5K, 6K, and 8K), or download them for file sharing later. Because Vimeo is also a video marketplace where creators can sell videos, the company noted that 8K Ultra HD support isn't just about streaming video (since 8K displays are still nascent in the market), but also for selling, distributing, and submitting videos to festivals "in the best quality possible."
Viewers will be able to know when a video is available in HDR with an included "HDR" badge on the video page and player, which Vimeo automatically detects and displays. Like all HDR and high-resolution content, viewers will need a screen that supports HDR 10 and HEVC, so anyone with an iPhone X, a model of the latest iPad Pro from 2017, and Apple TV 4K will be able to watch this content on their devices.
Vimeo content in HDR will also include a separate standard definition version of the video, for users who don't have access to HDR-capable devices. Any device will be able to download HDR HEVC files so they can share and transfer the videos to other platforms, as well.
For more information on Vimeo's HDR support, check out the company's blog post here. Vimeo is available for free on the iOS App Store [Direct Link] and tvOS App Store.
Denise Young Smith, Apple's current vice president of diversity and inclusion, plans to leave Apple at the end of this year, reports 
