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Expercom has restocked Apple's 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro, allowing shoppers a chance to get a few configurations at a discount. This version of the MacBook Pro was introduced at WWDC last month.

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

Starting with the 256GB model, Expercom has this 13-inch MacBook Pro for $1,234.05, down from $1,299.00. You can also get the 512GB 13-inch MacBook Pro for $1,424.05, down from $1,499.00.

Expercom also has a few custom configuration variants of the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro at a discount, with the option of boosting memory up to 16GB and 24GB options. Additionally, there's a high-end 2TB model on sale for $1,994.05, down from $2,099.00.

Expercom is the only retailer online to currently offer any markdown on these notebooks. Most of the MacBook Pro models are in stock and ready to ship within three to seven business days. Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.

Alongside iOS 15.6, iPadOS 15.6, macOS Monterey 12.5, and tvOS 15.6, Apple today released a new 15.6 update for the HomePod and the HomePod mini. The ‌HomePod‌ 15.6 update is the sixth major ‌HomePod‌ software update since version 15 was released, and it comes around two months after the launch of HomePod software 15.5.

Apple's release notes say ‌HomePod‌ software version 15.6 adds Siri voice recognition support in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese. The update also includes performance and stability improvements.

Software version 15.6 adds Siri voice recognition support in Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan), Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong), and Japanese (Japan). This update also includes performance and stability improvements.

‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌HomePod‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ software is installed automatically on the ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌HomePod‌‌‌‌‌‌ unless the feature is disabled‌‌‌‌, but the ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌HomePod‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ can also be manually updated in the Home app by following the instructions in our HomePod‌‌ update how to.

Apple today released tvOS 15.6, the sixth major update to the tvOS operating system that first launched in September 2021. tvOS 15.6 comes more than two months after the release of tvOS 15.5.

tvOS 15.6 can be downloaded over the air on the Apple TV through the Settings app by going to System > Software Update. ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ owners who have automatic software updates enabled will be upgraded to tvOS 15.6 automatically.

Apple's tvOS updates are typically minor in scale, focusing on bug fixes, performance updates, and small tweaks rather than major outward-facing changes. There were no new features discovered in tvOS 15.6 during the beta testing process.

Apple's release notes say tvOS 15.6 includes "general performance and stability improvements."

Apple's Beats brand this week is launching a new special-edition version of its Beats Studio Buds earphones in partnership with Twitch esports streamer and FaZe Clan co-owner Nick "NICKMERCS" Kolcheff. Beats previously partnered with FaZe Clan on special-edition Powerbeats Pro and Studio3 Wireless.

Designed to pay homage to the professional Twitch streamers' loyal community, each bud features the 'MFAM' logo and arrives in a Spartan-emblazoned case to reflect Kolcheff's Greek heritage. [...]

Kolcheff has a lengthy partnership with Beats, collaborating on two drops with FaZe Clan (the lifestyle and media platform rooted in gaming and youth culture, in which he takes part as a co-owner) as well as promoting the launches of Beats Fit Pro and Beats Studio Buds in several Twitch activations. This is the first official product release solely between Beats and Kolcheff.

The new NICKMERCS Beats Studio Buds are launching this Friday, July 22, and will be available exclusively from Best Buy for $149.99. Apple Music also has a training playlist curated by NICKMERCS.

As part of WWDC last month, Apple announced that iOS 16 will allow third-party accessories with U1 chip integration to interact with iPhone apps even when the app is running in the background, enabling new "hands-free user experiences."

In a press release today, chipmaker Qorvo said this new functionality will allow U1-enabled accessories to work in tandem with iOS 16 apps to trigger real-time actions based on your precise location, such as turning on lights or playing music when you enter a room, even if you aren't actively using the apps at the time.

Qorvo also announced that its Ultra Wideband chips are now certified by Apple's MFi Program, which should pave the way for MFi-certified U1-enabled accessories from third-party brands. Accessory makers can use Qorvo's chips to create accessories that are compatible with U1-equipped iPhone and Apple Watch models.

Apple's own accessories also offer precise, directionally-aware experiences. For example, users can hold a U1-equipped iPhone near a HomePod mini to "hand off" music playback, complete with visual, audible, and haptic effects. U1-enabled iPhones can also take advantage of the Precision Finding feature that makes it easier to locate an AirTag.

Built into iPhone 11 models and newer, Apple Watch Series 6 models and newer, the HomePod mini, and the AirTag, Apple's U1 chip uses Ultra Wideband technology for ultra-precise spatial awareness within close distances.

More details are available on the Nearby Interactions with U1 page on Apple's developer website.

Apple's 64GB Wi-Fi iPad Air (2022) is down to $559.00 in three colors on Amazon, from $599.00. This deal has been applied automatically and does not require a coupon code of any kind.

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.

The 64GB Wi-Fi iPad Air is available in Pink, Purple, and Space Gray at this price; the other two colors are slightly higher at $569.99. Compared to previous sales, the $559.00 price tag is a second-best price on the 2022 iPad Air, and each model is in stock and ready to ship from Amazon today, with a delivery estimate of July 23.

Apple updated the iPad Air lineup this past March, with the M1 chip, new color options, Touch ID, and a 10.9-inch edge-to-edge display. Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.

Engineering and robotics student Ken Pillonel has sought to address some of AirPods' repairability issues with a 3D-printed replacement casing and switching the Lightning charging port for a USB-C port.

In his latest video, Pillonel highlighted that AirPods are not designed to be serviced or repaired since no hardware components can be accessed without damage to the device, effectively making it a disposable item. Repair specialists at iFixit gave Apple's first- and second-generation AirPods a repairability score of zero out of 10 because of this.

Pillonel sought to investigate a solution to give new life to unopenable AirPods charging cases, which face inevitable obsolescence due to their built-in battery. Pillonel created a 3D-printed replacement casing, which is now available for download, to allow technicians to purposefully damage the existing case to gain access to the internals and make repairs.

In the process of the modification, Pillonel also successfully swapped the charging case's Lightning port for a USB-C port. The reasoning for this is because replacement Lightning ports for AirPods cannot be purchased individually, meaning that they have to be obtained from other AirPods charging cases.

As a standard port, USB-C on AirPods increases the possibility of long-term repairability, Pillonel suggests. Pillonel is also responsible for similar modifications that added a USB-C port to the iPhone and a Lightning port to a Samsung Galaxy A51.

Pillonel's 3D printing files and PCB files for AirPods repairability are available for free on his website, and he is considering selling kits in the future depending on interest.

Impending EU legislation will force Apple to switch AirPods to USB-C by late 2024 and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple could make the change sometime after releasing the first iPhone models with a USB-C port next year. Apple launched the Self Service Repair program earlier this year in an effort to address criticisms around the repairability of its devices.

Apple today is releasing a detailed new report highlighting the ways its ecosystem of products and services are impacting human health, from helping users keep track of their own personal health to supporting medical research and care.

"We believe passionately that technology can play a role in improving health outcomes and encouraging people to live a healthier day, and we are excited about the many ways users are benefiting from our health and fitness features, and by the ways third-party developers, institutions, and organizations are using Apple technology to advance health and science," said Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer. "Our vision for the future is to continue to create science-based technology that equips people with even more information and acts as an intelligent guardian for their health, so they're no longer passengers on their own health journey. Instead, we want people to be firmly in the driver's seat with meaningful, actionable insights."

The 59-page document is split into two main sections, with the first one focused on empowering users with convenient access to their own health data while delivering health and fitness features to help maintain or improve their health. Apple outlines its commitment to privacy with secure storage of health data, the Apple Watch's role in health monitoring and as a health and fitness companion, and the HealthKit framework that opens up the ecosystem to third-party apps.

With the release of iOS 16 and watchOS 9 later this year, there will be even more health-related features available to users, including medication tracking, AFib History, and sleep stage tracking.

The second section of the report examines how Apple's health initiative integrates with the medical community, including features like ResearchKit and the Apple Research app. Other aspects include how Apple supports physician-patient relationships with technology and data and how it helps health organizations and insurance companies promote healthy lifestyles with Apple Watch.

The report concludes with an Extensions and Spotlights section that highlights a number of examples of developers and organizations that are leveraging Apple's health-related features and services to drive innovation.

Apple has expanded its smartphone market share in China on the back of strong iPhone 13 sales, despite a slowdown in the Chinese mobile market as a whole this year.

According to Strategy Analytics, 14 million smartphones were sold during the country's annual "6.18" online shopping festival in June, down 25% year on year. Chinese brands including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo all experienced substantial shipment drops, but iPhone sales remained relatively stable.

Apple outperformed its rivals, selling nearly 7 million iPhones during the festival, and the company was ranked top by revenue share across all major merchant platforms. "Apple solidified the leadership at the expense of Chinese brands," said the industry analyst firm.

The market in China reflects a global trend: According to a recent Canalys report, worldwide smartphone shipments fell 9% year on year in the second quarter of 2022, and yet Apple achieved 17% market share, up by 3% year on year. While Samsung also increased its share to 21% by the same amount, Chinese vendors Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo all saw their share of the market drop to drop to 14%, 10% and 9%, respectively.

The data shows surprisingly resilient iPhone 13 demand in China despite the widespread supply chain issues and economic headwinds affecting the tech industry. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes iPhone 14 demand is expected to maintain Apple's momentum, particularly given Huawei's exit from the Chinese high-end 5G smartphone market, which Apple now dominates.

All in all, Apple's position in the Chinese market is looking like good news for the iPhone 14, which is expected to launch this September. The lineup is expected to include the 6.1-inch iPhone 14, 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Netflix in the second quarter of 2022 lost 1.3 million subscribers in the United States and Canada, according to new data shared today during the company's earnings call. Netflix had 73.28 million paid memberships during the quarter, down from 74.58 million in the first quarter of 2022.

With subscriber additions in some other areas, Netflix in total dropped 970,000 subscribers worldwide. That's more than the 200,000 customers that it lost in Q1 2022, but it is ultimately a win because Netflix was expecting to lose as many as 2 million subscribers.

Netflix has been raising its prices, which has resulted in some customers turning away from the service. In January, Netflix increased the prices for all of its plans. The basic standard definition plan went from $8.99 to $9.99, the Standard HD plan went from $13.99 to $15.49, and the 4K plan went from $17.99 to $19.99.

Despite the U.S. subscriber loss, revenue was up nine percent year over year, which Netflix says is the direct result of an increase in average revenue per membership. In the third quarter of 2022, Netflix is expecting to add one million subscribers.

Netflix blames its subscriber loss on connected TV adoption, account sharing, and competition, and to continue to improve revenue growth, the company says that it is focusing on evolving monetization.

A lower-priced ad-supported tier is in the works and is set to launch in early 2023, and the lower-cost plan could draw in some of the subscribers that have abandoned Netflix because of the rising costs. Netflix says that it is also working to monetize the 100 million+ households that are "currently enjoying, but not directly paying for, Netflix."

The company is aiming to find an "easy-to-use paid sharing offering" that can be rolled out in 2023. Right now, Netflix is experimenting with a $3 fee to add an additional household to a Netflix plan in Latin America.

With the M2 MacBook Air now available for purchase, repair site iFixit picked one up and decided to do one of its traditional teardowns on the machine to give us a look inside.

A prior teardown already revealed the biggest potential issue with the base model 256GB ‌M2‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ - a single storage chip, which is confirmed in iFixit's teardown. Rather than using two 128GB NAND storage chips like the prior-generation 256GB M1 ‌MacBook Air‌, the new machine has a single 256GB NAND flash chip.

The 256GB NAND flash chip in the ‌M2‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ demonstrates 30 to 50 percent slower SSD speeds in benchmark testing than the prior-generation ‌MacBook Air‌ with two 128GB NAND chips, but Apple has claimed that despite the benchmark results, overall real-world performance is "even faster."

Along with the 256GB NAND storage chip, iFixit's teardown revealed other logic board components that include the 64-bit 8-core ‌M2‌ chip, an Apple-designed Thunderbolt 3 driver, a USI Bluetooth and WiFi chip, and curiously, an accelerometer. There's no word yet on what the accelerometer might be for.

iFixit did not find a heat spreader, and the site is unclear on the passive cooling mechanism that Apple might be using for the ‌M2‌ ‌MacBook Air‌.

How does this thing cool down? Sure it has a lot of thermal paste and graphite tape, and yeah the M2 is efficient, but this shield is super thin, so it's not helping much, and the case is lighter than last year. Maybe the M2 Air is secretly an iPad, or maybe Apple is just letting it run hot.

Like the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, the ‌M2‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ features easy access adhesive pull tabs to secure the battery, making it simpler and quicker to remove. The ‌M2‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ includes a 52.6-watt‑hour battery, up from the 49.9-watt-hour battery offered in the ‌M1‌ version of the ‌MacBook Air‌.

All of the ports in the ‌MacBook Air‌ are modular and not glued down, but the SSD and the ‌M2‌ chip are soldered, as expected, and cannot be easily upgraded or replaced. iFixit's full teardown can be watched on YouTube, and includes additional details on the battery and the build of the ‌MacBook Air‌.

Every so often a new smartphone makes waves in the tech world because of an eye-catching design or innovative features, and this month, the Phone 1 from Nothing is starring in reviews and videos thanks to its LED-laden transparent design and affordable price point. We picked up a Nothing Phone 1 to see how it measures up to Apple's iPhones.

Since Nothing is a relatively new company, we'll give a little back story first. OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei founded Nothing in 2020, and in 2021, the company purchased Essential Products, the Andy Rubin-founded firm that manufactured the now-discontinued Android-based Essential Phone in 2017. From there, Nothing partnered with Swedish electronics company Teenage Engineering, known for its synthesizers, and the result is the Nothing Phone 1, introduced in March.

Priced starting at £399 ($475), the Nothing Phone 1 is more affordable than most of Apple's iPhones, and it is closest in price to the $429 iPhone SE and the $499 ‌iPhone‌ 11. Measuring in at 6.55 inches with an OLED display and a 120Hz refresh rate, the Phone 1 comes in black or white, and it has a series of LEDs at the back that form what the company says is a "glyph interface." The LED lights serve as visual notifications, letting you know who is calling or messaging.

The Nothing Phone 1 has an undeniably iPhone-like body with squared edges, camera placement, and antenna bands, but those LEDs set it apart. LEDs can be paired with different sounds for even more customization, and they're fun to play with, but there's no color, so you're limited to pattern recognition. You can set the LEDs up to display a different pattern for different apps and people, but then you need to learn each light pattern, which is easier said than done.

The LEDs also work alongside the 50-megapixel wide and ultra wide cameras that have features that include optical image stabilization, night mode, portrait mode, and macro shot support. At the front, there's a 16-megapixel selfie camera, and it has an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Inside, the Nothing Phone 1 has a Snapdragon 778G processor from Samsung, and the base model comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. Other features include an IP53 water resistance rating and a 4500mAh battery. The specs are fine, but won't match the performance of higher-end smartphones from Apple and Samsung.

The Nothing Phone 1 runs Nothing OS, a version of Android that promises no "bloatware." An Android-based phone is not going to be of interest to those who are deeply entrenched in the ‌iPhone‌ ecosystem, but all in all, the Phone 1 is one of the best mid-tier Android phones on the market. For those who are looking for a change or those who want something affordable with a rich feature set, the Nothing Phone 1 is competitive with its unique lighting system and higher-end components.

Make sure to watch our full video up above for a look at Nothing OS and to see the LEDs in action. What do you think of the Nothing Phone 1? Let us know in the comments.

Launched in 2017, the iPhone X was a major evolution of the iPhone. The device replaced the Home button and Touch ID with swipe-based navigation and Face ID, while introducing new features like an OLED display, Animoji, wireless charging, and more.

Even five years later, the iPhone X is still a capable smartphone. If you've been holding on to your iPhone X and are considering upgrading to the iPhone 14 Pro when it launches later this year, check out our list below for a recap of the many new features and changes to expect. The list includes major new features added to the iPhone XS, 11 Pro, 12 Pro, and 13 Pro, as well as rumored features for the iPhone 14 Pro.

Also be sure to check out our similar iPhone 11 Pro vs. 14 Pro and 12 Pro vs. 14 Pro comparisons.

iPhone X vs. iPhone 14 Pro:

• Over 2x as fast A16 chip: The A15 chip in the iPhone 13 Pro is already over 2x faster than the A11 chip in the iPhone X, according to Geekbench 5, and performance should improve even more with the A16 chip in the iPhone 14 Pro. Apple also uses a 16-core Neural Engine in the latest iPhones for faster machine learning compared to the three-core Neural Engine in the iPhone X.
• Larger display: iPhone X is equipped with a 5.8-inch display, while the 14 Pro is expected to have a 6.1-inch display.
• Much brighter display: Compared to the iPhone X, the 14 Pro's display will have at least 375 nits higher peak brightness for standard content.
• No more notch: Rumors suggest Apple will replace the notch with a pill-shaped cutout and a hole for Face ID and the front camera on the iPhone 14 Pro.
• Heavier: The iPhone X weighs 0.38 pounds, while the iPhone 13 Pro weighs 0.45 pounds.
• 3D Touch removed: On the iPhone 11 Pro and newer, Apple removed the 3D Touch feature that allowed you to press deeply on the screen to pop open menus or other "hidden" features. 3D Touch was replaced with Haptic Touch, which is more limited and relies on a press-and-hold gesture instead of a deep press.
• Faster Face ID: On the latest iPhones, Face ID is faster and supports more angles.
• ProMotion: Introduced on the iPhone 13 Pro, ProMotion allows for a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz for smoother appearing content and scrolling.
• Always-on display: Rumors suggest the iPhone 14 Pro will feature an always-on display mode that shows the time, date, and iOS 16's new Lock screen widgets.
• Ceramic Shield: Introduced on the iPhone 12 Pro, Apple said the Ceramic Shield front cover increased drop performance by 4x compared to previous models.
• Longer battery life: Already, the iPhone 13 Pro gets 22 hours of video playback vs. 13 hours for the iPhone X, and rumors suggest that iPhone 14 Pro models could feature even larger battery capacities.
• Triple-lens rear camera system: While the iPhone X has a dual-lens rear camera system, the iPhone 11 Pro and newer feature a triple-lens rear camera system with an added Ultra Wide lens for zoomed-out photos.
• 12-megapixel front camera: The front camera on the iPhone X is a 7-megapixel lens, while the iPhone 11 Pro and newer have a 12-megapixel front camera.
• Night mode: Introduced on the iPhone 11 Pro, Night mode allows for greatly improved low-light photography in the Camera app.
• Increased optical zoom: On the iPhone 13 Pro, you can zoom in up to 3x on photos without any blurriness, compared to up to 2x on the iPhone X.
• Numerous other camera improvements: iPhone X users upgrading to the 14 Pro will get a slew of other camera upgrades, including a rumored 48-megapixel Wide lens with support for 8K video recording, an upgraded front camera with autofocus, sensor-shift image stabilization, Smart HDR, brighter True Tone flash, Macro mode, Cinematic mode, ProRAW photos, ProRes videos, and more.
• Flat edges: While the iPhone X's stainless steel frame has round edges, Apple has switched to flat edges with the 12 Pro and newer.
• 5G and Gigabit LTE: While the iPhone X is limited to LTE Advanced, the iPhone 14 Pro will support 5G and Gigabit LTE for faster cellular data speeds.
• Dual SIM support: iPhone XS models and newer have both a physical nano-SIM card slot and a digital eSIM, allowing you to have multiple lines of service/phone numbers on a single iPhone. This feature is useful for having personal and business lines on a single iPhone, or for using pay-as-you-go data plans while traveling.
• Wi-Fi 6E: iPhone 14 models are rumored to support Wi-Fi 6E, which extends Wi-Fi into the 6 GHz band, in addition to the existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
• MagSafe: iPhone 12 and newer models feature MagSafe, a system that lets you magnetically attach accessories to the back of the iPhone, such as Apple's own MagSafe Charger, MagSafe Wallet, and MagSafe Battery Pack.
• Up to 2x faster wireless charging: iPhones with MagSafe can wirelessly charge at up to 15W speeds with Apple's MagSafe Charger, while wireless charging on the iPhone X is limited to up to 7.5W speeds.
• U1 chip: iPhone 11 Pro and newer models are equipped with Apple's U1 chip for spatial awareness functionality. For example, users can hold a U1-equipped iPhone near a HomePod mini to hand off music playback, or precisely track the location of an AirTag using the Precision Finding feature.
• Increased storage: iPhone X started with 64GB of storage, but the 14 Pro should have at least 128GB of base storage.
• LiDAR Scanner: Introduced on the iPhone 12 Pro, the LiDAR Scanner is situated next to the rear camera and offers faster augmented reality experiences and improves autofocus by 6x in low-light photos and videos, according to Apple.
• Power Reserve for Wallet app: On the iPhone XS and newer, a Power Reserve feature lets you use transit cards, state ID cards, student ID cards, home keys, car keys, and other items stored in the Wallet app with Express Mode turned on for a short period after an iPhone has run out of battery life.
• Improved water resistance: Apple says the iPhone X has IP67-rated water resistance up to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes, while the 12 Pro and newer have IP68-rated water resistance up to a depth of six meters for up to 30 minutes.

Apple will pay $50 million to settle a 2018 class-action lawsuit over the faulty butterfly keyboards that were used in MacBook machines between 2015 and 2019, reports Reuters. Customers in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington claimed that Apple knew about the faulty butterfly mechanism and concealed it while continuing to sell computers with the keyboard.

MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook models adopted the butterfly keyboard across 2015 and 2016, with Apple touting the thinness of the keyboard and the superior key feel and stability. Not too long after the keyboards started launching, customers learned that they were prone to failure.

Thousands of customers ran into issues with keys repeating, sticking, and otherwise failing when dust and other particulates got into the butterfly mechanism, resulting in a huge controversy over the butterfly technology.

Apple ultimately launched a keyboard repair program in June 2018, but it only covered MacBook, ‌MacBook Pro‌, and ‌MacBook Air‌ models for four years, and Apple would only replace butterfly keyboards with another butterfly keyboard, so some customers have run into repeat failures that are no longer covered. The lawsuit alleged that Apple's repair program was not sufficient.

Apple tried to iterate on the butterfly mechanism to make it more durable and there were three generations of the butterfly keyboard, but all of them experienced issues. Apple ultimately started replacing butterfly keyboards with scissor switch keyboards, and phased out the last butterfly keyboard in 2020, and now all Mac models that are available use the more reliable scissor switch mechanism that predates the butterfly keys.

The lawsuit covers only customers in the above-mentioned states, and lawyers are expecting maximum payouts of $395 to customers who replaced multiple keyboards, $125 to people who replaced one keyboard, and $50 to people who replaced key caps. The settlement is preliminary and will need to be approved by the judge overseeing the case.

In response to the Digital Markets Act receiving final approval from the Council of the European Union this week, Google today announced that it now allows developers of non-gaming apps to offer alternative billing systems to users in the European Economic Area (EEA), including countries in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

Google will reduce its commission by 3% for in-app purchases made through an alternative billing system in the EEA. Google says this policy means 99% of developers will be charged a fee of 12% when a customer completes a transaction through a third-party payment processor, compared to 15% through Google Play's billing system. Google said this reduced fee supports the company's investments in Google Play and Android.

Google said it expects to expand its alternative billing system program to developers of gaming apps for users in the EEA in advance of the Digital Markets Act's effective date, which is at least six months away, according to the European Council.

Google Play's billing system will continue to be required for all apps distributed through the store in all other countries, including the United States.

Developers must complete a declaration form to offer alternative billing systems in the EEA. Starting August 1, 2022, developers will be required to report to Google Play the amount of all paid transactions from the alternative billing system.

Developers interested in learning more about the program and signing up can visit this support document on Google's website. Google said additional program requirements and safety measures will be shared in the coming weeks.

Apple has yet to announce any plans to allow App Store apps to offer alternative billing systems to users throughout the EEA. To comply with regulations in the Netherlands, Apple allows dating apps to offer alternative billing systems in that country, with Apple reducing its commission by 3% for transactions. Last month, Apple also started allowing developers in South Korea to offer alternative billing systems to users in that country.

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.

Today we're tracking a deal on Apple's AirPods 3, available at both Amazon and B&H Photo. At these retailers, the headphones have dropped to $159.99, down from $179.00.

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.

On Amazon, shipping is delayed by about two weeks, and stock on the AirPods 3 has been fairly low ever since Prime Day. If you need the headphones faster, B&H Photo is offering free expedited shipping with delivery available for this week for most locations in the United States.

We've seen the AirPods 3 at a lower price previously this year, most recently during a brief sale for Prime Day, but that sale disappeared quickly and stock has been low ever since. Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

While some iPhone 14 components are facing supply chain issues, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes the issues will have a limited impact on upcoming mass production of iPhone 14 models, which are expected to be announced in September.

In a tweet, Kuo said other suppliers can help to make up for component shortages. For example, Kuo said Samsung Display and BOE can largely fill the initial supply gap caused by LG Display's issues with the appearance of iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max display panels. Kuo also said it should not take much time for LG Display to address the issue.

All in all, Kuo's commentary is good news for iPhone 14 availability later this year. The lineup is expected to include the 6.1-inch iPhone 14, 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max.

This month, Adobe is offering first-time subscribers of the Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps plan a 25 percent discount. With this sale, you'll pay $39.99 per month for the plan, down from $54.99 per month, and this price will last through your first year.

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.

You can also choose to pay for the entire year upfront at the price of $479.88 per year, down from $599.88 per year. After your first year ends, your subscription will automatically renew at the standard rate unless you change or cancel the subscription. This sale ends July 24.

When signing up for Creative Cloud All Apps, you gain access to more than 20 creative apps, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, InDesign, and Acrobat. You also get templates, cloud storage, and thousands of Adobe Fonts.

These programs can be subscribed to individually as well for a monthly fee, but the new offer is only for Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps. Adobe is not discounting individual services. Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.