MacRumors

Speaking at Università Degli Studi di Napoli Federico II in Naples, Italy, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that not too long from today, people will wonder how they led a life without augmented reality, stressing the "profound" impact it will have on the not so distant future.

At the university, Cook was awarded an Honorary Degree in Innovation and International Management and also sat down for a Q&A session with students. Responding to a question from a student on what future technologies excite him the most, Cook pointed to artificial intelligence, calling it a "fundamental, horizontal technology that will touch everything in our lives," ranging from innovations in the Apple Watch to "many other things" Apple is working on.

Cook, more importantly, stressed his excitement for augmented reality. Cook suggested that augmented reality's impact on the world will be as profound as the internet itself, saying people will wonder how they led a life without it. As he was speaking on augmented reality, the live stream of the Q&A session abruptly cut, so Cook's full comment on the subject is not publicly known.

I'm super excited about augmented reality. Because I think that we've had a great conversation here today, but if we could augment that with something from the virtual world, it would have arguably been even better. So I think that if you, and this will happen clearly not too long from now, if you look back at a point in time, you know, zoom out to the future and look back, you'll wonder how you led your life without augmented reality. Just like today, we wonder, how did people like me grow up without the internet. And so I think it could be that profound, and it's not going to be profound overnight...

Cook has in the past expressed his personal excitement for augmented reality and has hinted that Apple is working on AR/VR products. The company's first AR/VR product, a high-end headset rumored to be called "Reality Pro," is expected to be announced as soon as January. The headset has been in development for several years and will be Apple's first major new product since the "One more thing" introduction of the Apple Watch in 2014.

"Reality Pro" is rumored to feature a lightweight design, two 4K micro-OLED displays, 15 optical modules, two main processors, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, eye tracking, and more. The headset will run the realityOS operating system, which was seemingly confirmed by App Store logs. The device is expected to cost somewhere around $3,000, with a more affordable option reportedly in the works.

Amazon has knocked the price of the new AirPods Pro 2 down to $239.98, from $249.00. We first saw this deal about two weeks ago and it disappeared after a few days, so if you're interested in the new wireless earbuds and want to save a bit of money, now's a good time to buy.

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

Although this is only a $9 discount on the AirPods Pro 2, this deal remains notable as it's the first price drop we've tracked on the device. Amazon has the headphones in stock and ready to ship, with a delivery date between October 1 and 4.

If you're looking for a cheaper pair of AirPods Pro and are okay with a model that's now a previous generation, the 2021 AirPods Pro are $179.98 on Amazon, down from $249.00. This is a second-best price on the AirPods Pro with MagSafe.

Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.

Adobe today debuted new versions of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, the company's affordable photo and video editing software aimed at casual users who want to enhance their photos and videos with easy to use editing tools.

There are new AI-powered features that are available across both Premiere and Photoshop. A new Moving Elements option, for example, is designed to let users add a moving element into a still photo in Photoshop Elements that can be saved as an MP4 or a GIF.

Peek-through Overlays have been added to create a depth illusion by framing the subject with vignettes of flowers, leaves, grass, and more, and there are new backgrounds, patterns, and skies that can be inserted into photos.

Guided edits, which walk users through different photo effects, can be searched using keyword tags, and there are new collage and slideshow templates for both Photoshop and Premiere Elements.

Premiere Elements includes a new Artistic effects feature that allows video clips to be transformed with styles that are inspired by famous works of art, plus there are more than 100 new audio tracks.

Adobe says that performance and stability improvements allow for a 35 percent faster installation, and 50 percent faster launch times. With full Apple silicon support for M1 Macs, the apps are able to launch up to 70 percent faster. App sizes have also been reduced by 48 percent.

Finally, Adobe is testing a new Photoshop and Premiere Elements web companion app, which is available in a beta capacity. The app allows content created in Photoshop and Premiere Elements to be accessed from anywhere, with options to create slideshows and collages. There's also an Android app, but Adobe has made no mention of an iOS app.

For more on the new features in Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, make sure to check out Adobe's website. The updates are available for purchase from Adobe for $99 each starting today, with bundle and upgrade pricing available.

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

Newly discovered references to the iPhone 14 Plus as "‌iPhone 14‌ Max" on Apple's website suggest this was the name originally intended for the low-end 6.7-inch device before the company changed its mind at short notice.

As spotted by the Dutch blog iCreate, in two instances on the company's website, Apple refers to the ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus as the "‌iPhone 14‌ Max." Firstly, in a support document that helps users identify their iPhone, the image of ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus models in five colors is named "iPhone-14-Max-colors."

Secondly, on a page that provides compliance and regulatory information for the company's products, Apple plainly lists "‌iPhone 14‌ Max" with the ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus model number, alongside the ‌iPhone 14‌, iPhone 14 Pro, and ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max.

The ‌iPhone 14‌ rumor cycle widely referenced the lineup's larger low-end model as the ‌iPhone 14‌ Max. It was not until a week before Apple's ‌iPhone‌ launch event that a leak suggested it would be called the ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus instead, re-using the "Plus" name for the first time since the ‌iPhone‌ 8.

The 6.1-inch ‌iPhone 14‌ and the 6.7-inch ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus share the same features and cameras, with the latter model featuring a larger screen and battery. Apple may have felt that the "Plus" name was better suited for a device that offered all the same features as the smaller variant but in a larger form. The ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus became available for pre-order earlier this month and will begin arriving to customers on Friday, October 7.

Microsoft is ending support for its SwiftKey predictive keyboard for iPhone and the app will be delisted from the App Store next week, the company confirmed on Wednesday.

Responding to a request from ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley for more information after a lack of updates to the app for over a year, director of product management at SwiftKey, Chris Wolfe, gave the following statement:

"As of October 5, support for SwiftKey iOS will end and it will be delisted from the Apple App Store. Microsoft will continue support for SwiftKey Android as well as the underlying technology that powers the Windows touch keyboard. For those customers who have SwiftKey installed on iOS, it will continue to work until it is manually uninstalled or a user gets a new device. Please visit Support.SwiftKey.com for more information."

Microsoft did not give a reason for its decision to kill off the app, but Foley speculates that it may be related to Apple's policies about granting developers access to certain parts of its software, since if it chooses not to, "there's no easy or good way to make a product which needs integration to work."

Microsoft acquired SwiftKey in 2016. At the time, Microsoft said the keyboard was used on more than 300 million Android and iOS devices. The app uses a natural language processing algorithm that helps users type faster by predicting what they will type next. Microsoft plans to continue to support SwiftKey on Android for the foreseeable future.

The Dark Sky weather app that's owned by Apple is no longer available for download in the U.S. App Store, suggesting that it has been removed ahead of schedule.

Apple acquired Dark Sky back in March 2020 and has since incorporated elements of the app into the Weather app available on the iPhone (and soon, the iPad).

Dark Sky remained available for purchase as a standalone weather app after the acquisition, but the app's developers earlier this year said that the Dark Sky iOS app would no longer be available after December 31, 2022.

The Dark Sky blog suggested that when the app became unavailable at the end of 2022, already purchased versions would cease providing weather data, but as of now the app still works. It is not entirely clear if the removal of Dark Sky is actually some kind of glitch or if Apple has simply pulled it early.

While the Dark Sky app is officially shutting down at the end of December, the Dark Sky API and website will function until March 21, 2023. Developers who use the Dark Sky API can transition over to Apple's WeatherKit API.

Apple today updated its investor relations page to announce that it will share earnings results for the fourth fiscal quarter (third calendar quarter) of 2022 on Thursday, October 27.

The fourth quarter earnings call will provide insight into sales of the new iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max models, as well as the new Apple Watches. Apple's iPhones went on sale a week earlier this year and will have a more significant impact on the company's fourth quarter earnings results than the iPhone 13 in Q4 2021.

Apple declined to issue guidance for the fourth quarter of 2022, as it has done for the last two years. In the year-ago quarter, Apple posted revenue of $83.4 billion and net quarterly profit of $20.6 billion.

The quarterly earnings statement will be released at 1:30 PM Pacific/4:30 PM Eastern, with a conference call to discuss the report taking place at 2:00 PM Pacific/5:00 PM Eastern. MacRumors will provide coverage of both the earnings release and conference call on October 27.

Apple has seen high demand for the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max, which could lead the company to further differentiate the next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Apple could add exclusive features to the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max in an effort to encourage more people to purchase the larger and more expensive device.

Kuo last week said that Apple asked manufacturing partners to ramp up production of the ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ models due to strong demand, and today, he noted that the ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max accounts for approximately 60 percent of the total order increase of the Pro models.

With the demand for the ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ models, Apple has asked its suppliers to shift from iPhone 14 production to ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ production. Apple's ‌iPhone 14‌ and ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus are reportedly seeing demand that is "obviously lackluster," according to Kuo.

The suggestion that Apple might aim to further differentiate the 6.1 and 6.7-inch ‌iPhone 15‌ models is somewhat in line with a recent rumor that we heard from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, suggesting that instead of an "‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max," we'll get an "‌iPhone 15‌ Ultra."

Gurman says that Apple could replace Pro Max branding with Ultra branding, and while he didn't mention additional features for the "Ultra" model, a name difference between the "Pro" and the "Ultra" could perhaps indicate that the larger ‌iPhone 15‌ would get features not available in the smaller Pro model.

As of right now, rumors indicate that the ‌iPhone 15‌ could see a design update with a swap to USB-C instead of Lightning and new periscope telephoto lens technology. Everything that we know about the ‌iPhone 15‌ so far can be found in our iPhone 15 roundup.

Apple today seeded the seventh beta of macOS Ventura to its public beta testing group, allowing non-developers to test the new ‌macOS Ventura‌ operating system ahead of its release. The seventh beta comes following the sixth public beta and it corresponds with ninth developer beta released earlier this week.

Public beta testers can download the macOS 13 Ventura update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

‌macOS Ventura‌ introduces Stage Manager, a new multi-tasking option for focusing on a task while having other apps waiting in the wings. Stage Manager puts your main app front and center, tucking your other apps to the side for quick access.

Continuity Camera allows you to use your iPhone as a webcam for your Mac, offering much better camera quality than the built-in Mac camera. Apple is building special stands to hold the ‌iPhone‌ with a Mac, and there are neat features like Desk View, which uses the Ultra Wide lens.

Handoff now works with FaceTime so you can answer calls on the Mac and then transfer them over to another device, and Messages is gaining undo, edit, and mark as unread features. SharePlay now works in Messages in addition to ‌FaceTime‌, and the Mail app has been overhauled. Search is more relevant, emails can be scheduled, and there's even an option to undo an email for up to 10 seconds after it's sent.

Apple brought the Weather and Clock apps to the Mac, redesigned System Preferences and renamed it System Settings, and added support for Shared Tab Groups. Passwords are being replaced with more secure Passkeys in iOS 16 and ‌macOS Ventura‌, and there are updates to Spotlight, Visual Lookup, Live Text, and more.

There are a ton of other features in ‌macOS Ventura‌, and we have a full rundown available in our dedicated macOS Ventura roundup.

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming iOS 16.1 update to public beta testers, with the beta coming one week after Apple seeded the second public beta. Apple has also seeded a new public beta of iPadOS 16.1.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's free beta testing program can download the ‌iOS 16.1 or iPadOS 16.1‌ betas over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website.

With the latest iPadOS 16.1 beta, Apple has expanded Stage Manager to the 2018 and 2020 iPad Pro models, no longer limiting it to the M1 ‌iPad Pro‌ and the ‌M1‌ iPad Air. Stage Manager is a new way of multitasking on the iPad, allowing for four apps to be open at once with resizable windows. With the expansion of Stage Manager, Apple removed the feature that allows it to work with external displays. The functionality will return in a later beta and this option will remain limited to the ‌M1‌ iPads.

Apple says that iOS 16.1 will introduce Live Activities, an interactive notification feature designed to let you keep an eye on things happening in real time. Live Activities will be available on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, but you won't see them in the beta because developers are still working on implementing support.

The update includes a Clean Energy Charging feature in the United States that causes the iPhone to selectively charge at times when lower carbon emission electricity is available, plus it lays the groundwork for Matter, a smart home standard that Apple plans to begin supporting this fall.

The second developer beta of iOS 16.1 tweaked the design of the battery status bar icon, adding a visual indication of charge level. It also changed the battery font, updated the Lock Screen charging indicator, and fixed a copy and paste bug.

Other new features in iOS 16.1 include a deletable Wallet app, changes to the Lock Screen customizing interface, and more, with details available in our iOS 16.1 feature guide.

iOS 16 has a new Automatic Verification feature that can bypass CAPTCHA prompts by automatically and privately verifying a user's device and Apple ID account via iCloud. The feature is designed to eliminate the need to tap on images of traffic lights or decipher squiggly text to prove that you are a real human being and not a robot.

Automatic Verification is limited to websites and apps that support Private Access Tokens, but adoption of the feature should get a big boost thanks to Cloudflare, which today announced that it is making a free API called Turnstile available to any website looking to eliminate CAPTCHAs — even if the website is not a Cloudflare customer.

Cloudflare explained how the technology works in a blog post:

Private Access Tokens are built directly into Turnstile. While Turnstile has to look at some session data (like headers, user agent, and browser characteristics) to validate users without challenging them, Private Access Tokens allow us to minimize data collection by asking Apple to validate the device for us. In addition, Turnstile never looks for cookies (like a login cookie), or uses cookies to collect or store information of any kind. Cloudflare has a long track record of investing in user privacy, which we will continue with Turnstile.

Turnstile is available in beta starting today via the Cloudflare dashboard or a sign-up form. As websites begin to adopt Turnstile, the prevalence of annoying CAPTCHAs across websites and apps will decrease over time.

Automatic Verification is enabled by default on iPhones running iOS 16 and can be found in the Settings app under Apple ID → Password & Security → Automatic Verification. The feature is also supported on iPadOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura, which both remain in beta testing and will be released in October, according to Apple.

(Thanks, Scott Buscemi!)

Square today publicly launched support for Tap to Pay on iPhone to sellers across the U.S., enabling small merchants and independent retailers to use their ‌iPhone‌ as a payment terminal.

Tap to Pay on ‌iPhone‌ allows sellers to accept contactless payments directly using an ‌iPhone‌, with no additional hardware or dongles required. The public launch follows Square's Early Access Program for Tap to Pay on iPhone that began in June.

The feature is available in the Square Point of Sale app for iOS on the ‌iPhone‌ XS or newer. Sellers simply need to open the app, ring up the sale, and present their ‌iPhone‌ to the buyer, who can then tap a contactless payment method such as Apple Pay on the top of the ‌iPhone‌. Square shared several case studies highlighting how sellers are taking advantage of Tap to Pay on ‌iPhone‌.

Apple announced Tap to Pay on ‌iPhone‌ back in February. Beyond Square, Apple is working with several partners on Tap to Pay on ‌iPhone‌, including Stripe, GoDaddy, and Chase. Apple began testing the feature at the Apple Park Visitor Center in May and has since rolled it out to Apple retail stores.

In the latest iOS 16.1 beta, Apple has added a new toggle to the App Store's settings that allows apps to automatically begin downloading their in-app content after they're downloaded and before a user launches them for the first time.

"Automatically run apps in the background to download content before you first launch them," the description of the toggle says. With the new option enabled, after a user installs an app from the ‌App Store‌, it'll automatically begin running in the background to download their in-app content so that when the user opens the app for the first time, it's ready to go.

The new toggle was added in iOS 16.1 beta 3 and macOS Ventura beta 9. Also, in the latest ‌macOS Ventura‌ beta, Apple has a new dynamic version of its Ventura marketing wallpaper.

Repair website iFixit today shared a video teardown of Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro, providing a closer look at the internals of the new earbuds and charging case. The teardown confirms that AirPods Pro remain largely unrepairable.

Opening up the AirPods Pro and the charging case continues to result in unfixable damage, preventing battery replacements and other repairs.

"AirPods are the most popular earbuds in the world — they are also among the most unfixable," says iFixit, in the video's description. "With the AirPods Pro 2, the flagship line gets a boost, in all arenas, apparently, except the environment."

As previously reported, the video shows that the metal insert on the charging case for attaching a lanyard is welded to the Lightning connector inside the case, but iFixit did not explain why. CT scanning company Lumafield speculated that the lanyard insert might double as an antenna for the U1 chip, which enables Find My support.

All in all, there are not too many surprises with the internals of the new AirPods Pro and case, which both remain environmentally unfriendly. The new AirPods Pro launched last Friday and are priced at $249 in the United States.

Apple is looking to make its future generation AR/VR headsets more immersive by increasing the sharpness and quality of the displays used in the products, according to a report from The Elec.

According to the report, Apple is asking Samsung Display and LG Display to produce displays with 3500ppi (pixels-per-inch), an increase from the previous ask of 2800ppi, for the displays built into the headsets. Displays from LG Display and Samsung Display aren't expected to be used in Apple's first generation AR/VR product that's rumored to be announced in January 2023, but will be used in future models already under development.

The displays that will be used in Apple's headsets are rumored to be OLEDoS, a type of display technology that uses silicon instead of glass and is designed specifically for AR/VR products.

The report claims that the increase in display sharpness is part of Apple's efforts to "increase the immersion consumers feel" when using its headsets. Apple's first AR/VR headset, rumored to be called "Reality Pro," is expected to be a high-end product that serves as an entry for Apple into the competitive AR/VR space with a price tag north of $2,000.

Amazon today has a collection of sales on Apple's 2021 M1 iMac lineup, including a match of the all-time low price on the 8-core GPU/256GB SSD model. As of writing, only Amazon is offering these deals.

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

The focus of the discounts this time around is on the 8-core GPU/256GB SSD 24-inch iMac, available for $1,349.99 in four colors, down from $1,499.00. You'll need to add the iMac to your cart and head to checkout to see the deal price.

If you're looking for an entry-level model on sale, Amazon is offering the 7-core GPU/256GB 24-inch iMac for $1,199.00, down from $1,299.00. This one is only available in Blue and stock is dwindling fast on the model.

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.

Apple has reportedly refused to accept a price increase from its sole chip supplier, TSMC, according to Economic Daily News.

The report claims that Apple, the largest customer of TSMC, has rejected the supplier's plans to increase chip prices next year. TSMC has been planning to increase its prices by six to nine percent, depending on the fabrication process.

TSMC's chips were already around 20 percent more expensive compared to those from its direct rivals, but smaller foundries have ramped up their own prices in recent years due to higher material and logistics costs, and TSMC has committed to $100 billion in new investment over the next three years, motivating the company to increase its prices to maintain its premium and pass added costs on to clients.

TSMC was also reportedly keen to stop its clients from canceling orders and ordering more chips than needed in the hope of securing production line space and additional support from contract chipmakers, which has made it difficult for the company to understand real demand.

Following negotiations, Apple has apparently refused to accept further price increases. TSMC makes all of Apple's custom silicon chips, but Apple is estimated to make up more than one quarter of TSMC's entire revenue, meaning that the companies are fairly reliant upon each other. An improvement in the semiconductor industry's supply outlook despite inflation is believed to have hardened Apple's refusal to acquiesce to price hikes.

Like many of Apple's suppliers, TSMC has been wrestling with supply chain issues since 2020. Last year, it was speculated that Apple may have to raise device prices to account for substantial chip price rises.

Apple has removed from the App Store all iOS apps belonging to Russian technology conglomerate VK, a move Apple says is in response to the latest round of UK sanctions on Russian oligarchs.

"These apps are being distributed by developers majority-owned or majority-controlled by one or more parties sanctioned by the UK government," said Apple spokesperson Adam Dema in a statement given to The Verge. "In order to comply with these sanctions, Apple terminated the developer accounts associated with these apps, and the apps cannot be downloaded from any App Store, regardless of location. Users who have already downloaded these apps may continue to use them."

The UK government on Monday enacted a new package of sanctions affecting tens of executives at Gazprombank, a Russian bank with links to VK. The sanctions were in response to sham referenda recently staged by Russian authorities in occupied areas of Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Digital Affairs told state media outlet RT that it was looking into "the reasons for deleting VK applications and developer accounts, underlining the social significance and scale of use of the services provided by the Russian company." Meanwhile, VK told Russian news outlet Interfax that the apps may continue to work but that there could be issues with notifications and payments.

VK, or VKontakte, is a social media app created in 2006 by Pavel Durov, who also founded and still runs Telegram. Durov was dismissed as CEO of VK in April 2014 after he allegedly refused to hand over the personal details of users to the Russian Federal Security Service.

Apple's removal of the apps from its ‌App Store‌ means users no longer have access to the app for social media network VK, the fourth most popular website in Russia, as well as Mail.ru and VK Music. The apps were included in a list that Apple was legally obliged to show to new iPhone owners in Russia for download during initial setup, until Apple stopped selling its products in the country.

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