Today we're tracking a new sale at OWC with notable discounts on Mac accessories including Thunderbolt docks, USB-C hubs, external drives and enclosures, internal memory upgrade kits for Mac, and more. Most products are in stock and ready to ship out today, and OWC offers free shipping on orders $149.00 and over.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with OWC. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Highlights of the sale include a collection of Thunderbolt docks for up to $100 off. These docks allow you to easily connect a wide array of peripherals to your Mac, including two 4K displays or one 5K display with the 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock.
All of the devices listed below are in new condition at OWC, although the retailer does provide various item condition options for anyone who might want to save money by purchasing open box items. Be sure to visit OWC's sale landing page to browse the full sale, which also features deals on cables, Mac accessories, keyboards, and headphones.
Apple is now deciding on the design of its first foldable device as work on the project ramps up, DigiTimes reports.
Citing Taiwanese supply chain sources in a paywalled report, DigiTimes claims that Apple has been developing its first foldable product for at least five years. Corroborating previous rumors, the publication claims that the foldable is set to be a "larger device" rather than an iPhone, instead embodying a tablet or notebook. Design efforts on the device are now said to be converging ahead of plans for mass production.
Since hinge mechanisms for foldable devices have become increasingly advanced in recent years, the main problem for Apple's foldable is said to be developing a panel that meets its quality demands. The report adds that Apple's rumored suspension of Samsung foldable display panel development and internal reorganization to move Vision Pro engineers to the foldable project are not contradictory moves, since the company is overwhelmingly prioritizing quality.
The report clarified that Apple has not suspended work on foldable devices, with the company allegedly now possessing multiple departments responsible for different foldable product lines. Apple's first foldable device will not launch until 2025 at the earliest.
WhatsApp has added new text formatting options to the chat platform, enabling users to message each other everything from grocery lists to step-by-step instructions in mid-conversation.
Following Wednesday's update, WhatsApp users can now use bulleted and numbered lists, block quotes, and inline code to communicate more effectively.
The new formatting options join the existing bold, italic, strikethrough, and monospaced formats that have been available to WhatsApp users for a while now.
How to Use New WhatsApp Text Formatting Options
Bulleted list: Start a new line with a - (dash) symbol, followed by a space.
Numbered list: Start a new line with 1 or 2 digits, followed by a period and a space.
Block quote: Start a new line with the > symbol, followed by a space.
Inline code: Wrap any code or text you want to highlight using the ` (backtick) symbol.
All of WhatsApp's text formatting options (Image: WhatsApp)
Last month, WhatsApp introduced a custom sticker creation tool for iPhone users running iOS 17 or later. In a future update, WhatsApp also plans to add passkey support, allowing iPhone users to sign in to the app with Face ID, Touch ID, or their device's passcode.
Apple today announced plans to introduce an Apple Immersive Video that features the best of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. Apple says that this will be the first-ever sports film captured in Apple Immersive Video, and it will be viewable on the Vision Pro headset.
According to Apple, the MLS Playoffs were recorded in 8K 3D with a 180-degree field of view and Spatial Audio.
Coming soon, all Apple Vision Pro users can experience the best of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs with the first-ever sports film captured in Apple Immersive Video. Viewers will feel every heart-pounding moment in 8K 3D with a 180-degree field of view and Spatial Audio that transports them to each match.
The MLS Apple Immersive Video will be coming in the near future, and its upcoming launch was included in an announcement about the kickoff of the 2024 MLS season.
MLS Season Pass subscribers can watch Inter Miami CF and Real Salt Lake tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with a special 90-minute version of MLS Countdown premiering at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
MLS Season Pass is priced at $14.99 per month during the season or $99. Apple TV+ subscribers can get a discounted price of $12.99 per month or $79 for the season.
PlayStation account owners will soon be able to start using a passkey as an alternative to a password when logging into a PlayStation account on the web, in an app, or on a PlayStation device.
Passkey integration is set to be introduced at some point today, and users will be able to log in and authenticate their accounts with Face ID, Touch ID, or a device passcode on an iPhone.
Passkeys are considered more convenient and secure than a traditional password, with sign-ins streamlined through biometric authentication. Passkeys are resistant to online attacks such as phishing because there's no password to steal and no one-time SMS code that can be intercepted.
Apple has supported passkeys since 2022, and passkeys are available on iOS 16 and later, iPadOS 16 and later, and macOS Ventura and later.
Many companies have been implementing support for passkeys, including Twitter, Google, PayPal, Best Buy, Microsoft, and eBay.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced in March 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview 189 includes fixes and updates for CSS, HTML, SVG, Web API, Web Inspector, WebAuthn, WebGL, and WebRTC.
The current Safari Technology Preview release is compatible with machines running macOS Ventura and macOS Sonoma, the latest version of macOS that Apple released in September 2023.
The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences or System Settings to anyone who has downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.
Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Apple has frustrated another app developer with arbitrary enforcement of its App Store rules, with Insight Timer CEO Christopher Plowman this week taking to LinkedIn and speaking with TechCrunch to complain about a frustrating experience with the App Store review team.
Insight Timer is a meditation app that is subscription based. Customers pay $60 per year to access guided meditations, yoga classes, and other teacher-led courses. In addition to the subscription fee, Insight Timer accepts tips for teachers, which is what is at the heart of the dispute.
In 2022, Insight Timer started allowing app users to provide their teachers with digital donations or tips, and these donations were not initially subject to Apple's 30 percent fee on digital goods per Apple's App Store rules. Apple approved 47 Insight Timer updates that had the tipping functionality, but late last year, Apple's review team decided that these payments weren't considered tips, but digital goods purchases, which subjected them to the App Store in-app purchase fee.
App Store rule 3.2.1 vii says that apps can allow users to give a gift to another individual without using in-app purchase, so long as the gift is an optional choice and 100 percent of the funds go to the receiver of the gift. This was the case with Insight Timer, as it was not taking a cut of tips, but the individual to individual wording is what became murky, as well as an addendum to that rule that says a gift "connected to or associated at any point in time with receiving digital content" requires in-app purchases.
Apple took issue with Insight Timer accepting tips for live events and meditations, deciding that this money was for digital content. Plowman did not agree with Apple's assessment, and spent months negotiating. Apple did agree to allow tip links on teacher profile pages that are not subject to a 30 percent fee, but donations from live events and meditations are not considered tips. Apple's reasoning is that a one-to-one donation is a monetary gift, but a workshop or class with at least two people is digital content that's subject to a commission.
Plowman suggested that the meditation and yoga experiences are no more digital than renting an Airbnb or taking an Uber, and Apple does not collect fees from these kinds of purchases.
Just as homeowners don't pay 30% of their Airbnb income to Apple - imagine the outrage - teachers shouldn't have to pay Apple 30% of their donation income either. Many Insight Timer teachers are doctors, nurses and educators who return home from their day jobs to work in the evenings on Insight Timer for critical supplemental income. They give up their personal time recording audio replies to classroom questions, responding to user reviews, hosting live events, writing music, creating guided meditations and leading discussion groups. There's nothing 'digital' about these experiences no matter how much the definition is contorted. The more teachers work, the more they earn. The correlation is obvious and the term 'digital content' simply does not apply.
Of the $60 subscription fee that customers pay, Apple collects 15 to 30 percent. The remainder is split between Insight Timer and the teachers that participate on the platform, with each getting a 50 percent cut. Insight Timer earned $20 million in subscription revenue in 2023.
Apple required Insight Timer to comply with the App Store rules to submit further app updates, with a February deadline. Insight Timer complied this week, submitting an update that eliminates the tipping feature except on teacher profiles. Plowman says that while he is frustrated, he believes Apple is willing to listen and that the company can be convinced to change. He asks that people share his story, but in a constructive manner.
Update: Apple says that while it originally approved the tipping feature attached to a user profile, tipping for live events and digital content was not enabled until August 2023. It was at that point that the Insight Timer update was rejected. While working with Insight Timer, Apple approved 17 app updates, and Insight Timer was told in November 2023 that the issue had to be fixed by February 2024.
According to Apple, Insight Timer's latest update with the requested changes has been approved and no further action is required.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not want consumers to purchase or use smart watches or smart rings that claim to measure blood glucose levels using non-invasive methods. In a safety warning shared today, the FDA says that smart devices that claim to check blood sugar without piercing the skin can lead to errors in diabetes management, including taking too much or too little medication.
No smart watch or smart ring that is intended to measure or estimate blood glucose values non-invasively has been authorized, cleared, or approved by the FDA. These non-invasive devices are different from continuous glucose monitoring devices (CGMs) that relay data through a smart watch app.
Apple is rumored to be working on a version of the Apple Watch that will be able to measure blood glucose non-invasively, but launch of such a device is still several years away. Apple has been exploring optical absorption spectroscopy using a laser to shine light under the skin to determine a person's blood glucose level, but as of 2023, Apple's work remained at a proof-of-concept stage.
As of right now, there are several low-cost smart watches and smart rings that claim to be able to monitor glucose levels without a skin prick or without integrating with a CGM device. The FDA says patients should avoid such devices, and doctors should warn patients about the risks of using unauthorized blood glucose measuring products.
Sellers of these smartwatches and smart rings claim their devices measure blood glucose levels without requiring people to prick their finger or pierce the skin. They claim to use non-invasive techniques. These smartwatches and smart rings do not directly test blood glucose levels.
These smartwatches and smart rings are manufactured by dozens of companies and sold under multiple brand names. This safety communication applies to any smartwatch or smart ring that claims to measure blood glucose without piercing the skin, regardless of manufacturer or brand.
The FDA says that it is working to ensure that manufacturers, distributors, and sellers do not illegally market unauthorized smart watches or smart rings that claim to measure blood glucose levels.
If Apple does end up releasing an Apple Watch that includes a sensor for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, Apple will need to get FDA approval before it is allowed to sell it in the U.S. Other companies like Samsung are working on similar technology, but there is no proven and approved non-invasive blood sugar monitoring method on the market as of right now.
Astropad is launching a new version of the Rock Paper Pencil kit that it came out with last summer, bringing some notable improvements that will allow for a better paper-like writing experience on the iPad.
Rock Paper Pencil combines a screen protector and a unique Apple Pencil tip so that writing on the iPad feels like writing on a piece of paper. The new version of Rock Paper Pencil has a NanoCling Screen Protector that attaches to an iPad using static cling rather than a magnetic edge like the prior version.
Astropad says that NanoCling is stronger than magnets, and it provides a thinner bezel and a flatter surface on the iPad. The NanoCling Screen Protector is 40 percent thinner than the magnetic version, so there are no gaps or ridges to contend with. The screen protector continues to be easily removable and reusable so you can take it off when you're not writing, and it is not adhesive so it leaves no residue.
The Pencil tip has also been redesigned to withstand heavy daily use. It has a wear-resistant copper alloy core and palladium coating, and it is able to hold up to more pressure. The Pencil tip has been slimmed down too, so it's equivalent to a standard 0.7mm ballpoint pen. The Rock Paper Pencil ships with two of the pencil tips and a protective storage sleeve for the screen protector.
Rock Paper Pencil can be purchased from the Astropad website for $40. It is compatible with the 11-inch iPad Pro and iPad Air, the third-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro and later, the seventh-generation 10.2-inch iPad and later, the 10.9-inch iPad, and the sixth-generation iPad mini.
Apple today released a new sports app for the iPhone that shows scores, stats, standings, upcoming games, betting odds, and more for a variety of leagues, such as the MLB, MLS, NBA, NHL, Premier League, and the NFL when its next season begins. For ongoing games, the app also displays real-time play-by-play information.
The app has a very basic interface with scoreboards, which you can personalize by following your favorite teams and leagues. Apple's services chief and noted sports enthusiast Eddy Cue said this simple design is intentional.
"We created Apple Sports to give sports fans what they want — an app that delivers incredibly fast access to scores and stats," said Cue, in Apple's press release announcing the app. "Apple Sports is available for free in the App Store, and makes it easy for users to stay up to date with their favorite teams and leagues."
"We're not trying to have you spend 30 minutes on the app," said Cue. "You can spend five seconds to go look at the score, or you might spend 30 seconds, or you might spend three minutes going play-by-play because it's the end of the game. It's all about that. It's getting you in, giving you what you need, and doing it really quickly."
The Apple Sports app does not yet support Live Activities for viewing scores at a glance on the Lock Screen, or in the Dynamic Island on newer iPhones, but the Apple TV app offers this functionality for select leagues.
It remains to be seen how much the app will evolve in the future. Apple has pushed into live sports streaming over the past few years, including MLS Season Pass and MLB's Friday Night Baseball, and it is easy to envision the app becoming the ultimate hub for sports-related content. But for now, at least, Apple wants to keep things simple.
Apple Sports is available for free on the App Store in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada.
Apple today released Apple Sports, a brand new app that's designed to be a dedicated hub for sports fans to find real-time statistics, scores, lineup details, live betting odds, and more. This is Apple's first new app in some time, so we thought we'd give it a quick evaluation.
The Apple Sports app has a straightforward design that puts each person's favorite leagues and teams front and center. It's updated for all the leagues that are in season right now, including MLS, NBA, NCAA basketball, NHL, Premier League, and more.
As of right now, NFL and college football aren't available, but Apple is planning to add support for those and MLB, WNBA, and NWSL when those seasons begin.
You can see all pertinent stats for your favorite teams, along with play-by-plays and schedules so you don't miss anything. You can only get this app on the iPhone, and right now, Live Activities don't seem to be working, though support might be coming in the future.
Apple Sports is available in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Apple's M2 Mac mini has a few notable discounts today on Amazon, with up to $109 off select versions of the computer. You can get the 256GB M2 Mac mini for $499.00, down from $599.00, and no coupon is required to see this deal.
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 512GB M2 Mac mini is available for $689.99 when you clip the on-page coupon, down from $799.00. Both of these are solid second-best prices on the Mac mini, and just about $10-$20 higher than the all-time low prices we've tracked in the past.
Apple updated this Mac mini back in January 2023, marking the first big update to the lineup since the introduction of the M1 models in 2020. The 2023 models feature Apple's M2 and M2 Pro chips, but no major external design changes. As of writing, we aren't tracking any deals on the M2 Pro Mac mini.
Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.
Apple today announced "Apple Sports," a new free app that provides real-time statistics, scores, and more.
Apple Sports features a personalized experience with a user's favorite leagues, tournaments, teams shown on an easy-to-read scoreboard. Users can navigate between scores and upcoming games, explore play-by-play information, team statistics, lineup details, and live betting odds, with relevant links to Apple News, the Apple TV app, and connected streaming services. The app is "designed for speed and simplicity," according to Apple. Apple's senior vice president of Services Eddy Cue said:
We created Apple Sports to give sports fans what they want — an app that delivers incredibly fast access to scores and stats. Apple Sports is available for free in the App Store, and makes it easy for users to stay up to date with their favorite teams and leagues.
Apple Sports will keep fans up to date on MLS, NBA, NCAA basketball, NHL, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Liga MX, Ligue 1, Premier League, and Serie A. Additional leagues, including MLB, NFL, NCAAF, NWSL, and WNBA, will become available in the app over time.
Apple Sports is now available for free in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
Apple today announced a new post-quantum cryptographic protocol for iMessage called PQ3. Apple says this "groundbreaking" and "state-of-the-art" protocol provides "extensive defenses against even highly sophisticated quantum attacks."
Apple believes the PQ3 protocol's protections "surpass those in all other widely deployed messaging apps," according to its blog post:
Today we are announcing the most significant cryptographic security upgrade in iMessage history with the introduction of PQ3, a groundbreaking post-quantum cryptographic protocol that advances the state of the art of end-to-end secure messaging. With compromise-resilient encryption and extensive defenses against even highly sophisticated quantum attacks, PQ3 is the first messaging protocol to reach what we call Level 3 security — providing protocol protections that surpass those in all other widely deployed messaging apps. To our knowledge, PQ3 has the strongest security properties of any at-scale messaging protocol in the world.
PQ3 will be gradually rolling out for supported iMessage conversations starting with iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, and watchOS 10.4 in March, and it is already in the latest beta versions of these updates, according to Apple. visionOS will not support the PQ3 protocol during the initial rollout, the company confirmed.
Apple says PQ3 will fully replace iMessage's existing cryptography protocol within all supported conversations later this year. All devices in an iMessage conversation must be updated to the above software versions or later to be eligible.
Post-Quantum Cryptography
iMessage already supports end-to-end encryption, but existing cryptographic protocols that are commonly used by messaging apps rely on mathematical problems that could potentially be solved by future quantum computers.
PQ3 is designed to protect users against "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later" attacks, in which malicious actors collect large amounts of encrypted data now and store it in hopes they will be able to decrypt it with a quantum computer in the future:
Although such quantum computers don't yet exist, extremely well-resourced attackers can already prepare for their possible arrival by taking advantage of the steep decrease in modern data storage costs. The premise is simple: such attackers can collect large amounts of today's encrypted data and file it all away for future reference. Even though they can't decrypt any of this data today, they can retain it until they acquire a quantum computer that can decrypt it in the future, an attack scenario known as Harvest Now, Decrypt Later.
Apple says PQ3 achieves what it calls "Level 3" security, meaning it secures "both the initial key establishment and the ongoing message exchange."
Apple's iPhone models dominated the top 10 best-selling smartphones in 2023, with only Samsung's mid-range devices making the list, according to Counterpoint Research's Global Monthly Handset Model Sales Tracker.
Apple took all top seven positions – a first for the company. iPhone 14 models made up the top three for the series to become the best-selling smartphone of 2023, with the US and China making up half of its sales. The model contributed 19% of the total iPhone sales for 2023.
The iPhone 13 came fourth largely thanks to popularity in Japan and India, while iPhone 15 models took the fifth, sixth, and seventh slots, with the iPhone 15 Pro Max the best-selling model in Apple's newest lineup, despite its relatively late launch in September last year. From the tracker report:
Apple's total sales remained flat in 2023 even as major competitors declined. This stability was partly due to a significant boost from emerging markets like India and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). In 2023, India became the fifth smartphone market to exceed 10 million iPhone unit sales in a single year, highlighting the market's growing importance for Apple. These factors contributed to the iPhone 15 series sales matching the performance of the iPhone 14 series in 2022.
Samsung's budget A series devices filled eighth, ninth, and tenth positions, thanks to their strong value proposition, but none of the Korean company's flagship premium Galaxy phones even made the list.
Counterpoint's research backs up previous data from market research firm IDC, which showed Apple overtook Samsung as the top global smartphone manufacturer in 2023, shipping more phones annually than Samsung for the first time.
Apple is planning to launch at least nine new devices with OLED displays across the iPad and MacBook product lines, according to an updated forecast from research firm Omdia that sets out the company's plans in detail.
As widely rumored, Apple's push to transition to OLED will apparently be jump-started by the release of new 11- and 13-inch iPad Pro models this year. The displays will feature 2,388 by 1,668 and 2,880 by 1,920 resolutions, respectively, Omdia claims. This would be a slight increase in height and a reduction in width for the larger model, while the smaller iPad Pro would retain the same resolution.
In 2026, Apple will launch 8.3-inch iPad mini and 10.8-inch iPad Air models with OLED displays, as well as 14.2-inch and 16.2-inch OLED MacBook Pro models designed to replace the current mini-LED units. The company is also reportedly working on 13.6-inch and 15.3-inch OLED MacBook Air models for launch no earlier than 2027. These machines will still lack ProMotion technology with a refresh rate of 60Hz like the current models.
In 2027 or later, Apple may introduce a 20.3-inch foldable OLED iPad Pro with ProMotion. This product is still said to be in the conceptual stage, but broadly lines up with other rumors about such a device. Overall, the report largely corroborates existing rumors about Apple's upcoming plans to transition almost all of its portable devices to OLED technology.
Two Maryland residents that tried to defraud Apple out of 5,000 iPhones worth millions of dollars were today found guilty of mail fraud. Chinese nationals Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue masterminded a scheme to get Apple to exchange genuine iPhones for counterfeit iPhones sent in for repair.
Between May 2017 and September 2019, Sun and Xue received shipments of inauthentic iPhones from Hong Kong, using spoofed serial numbers and/or IMEI numbers to return them to Apple retail stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers.
More than 5,000 total iPhones were submitted to Apple during that two year period.
The two have been found guilty of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and are facing a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Sentencing will take place on June 21, 2024.
The United States Supreme Court today said that it will not hear the VirnetX vs. Apple patent case, putting an end to a 14-year-long legal battle and ultimately saving Apple $502.8 million.
As noted by CNBC, with the Supreme Court not weighing in, a March 2023 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will stand, so Apple will not have to pay the damages that VirnetX won in 2020.
VirnetX won a successful jury trial against Apple in 2020 and Apple was found to have violated VirnetX patents with its iPhone VPN on demand feature. The two patents cited in the case were later invalidated in a separate ruling from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
After Apple appealed the initial 2020 ruling, it was able to point to the invalidation of the patents and get the initial award vacated by the federal appeals court. VirnetX attempted to escalate the patent invalidation case to the Supreme Court, but has been denied.
VirnetX is viewed as a patent holding company or "patent troll" that does not offer actual products or services. It generates revenue by suing technology companies that infringe on or license its patents.
While Apple will not have to pay the $503 million from this particular trial, Apple did have to shell out $440 million in 2019 for violating VirnetX's communications security patents with FaceTime and iMessage.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with OWC. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
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.
