MacRumors

Happy New Year 2022! With calendars turning over to the new year, it's a great opportunity to look ahead at expectations for 2022 and there has been no shortage of rumors on that front already.

This week saw rumors about the iPhone 14 Pro, AirPods Pro 2, the next iPhone SE, and more, while we wrapped up 2021 and kicked off 2022 with the first two episodes of our new podcast, The MacRumors Show, so read on below for all of the details!

iPhone 14 Pro Rumored to Feature Pill-Shaped Camera Cutout With Face ID Under the Display

We've been hearing rumors for a while now that iPhone 14 Pro models won't have a notch, and this week, a leaker known as @dylandkt claimed that Face ID hardware will be moved under the display as a result.

Instead of a notch, the leaker claimed that iPhone 14 Pro models will feature a pill-shaped camera cutout at the top of the display, rather than a circular hole-punch cutout that was originally rumored. The above image is a mockup of what this new design could look like.

The MacRumors Show: Mark Gurman Talks Through Everything Apple is Expected to Announce in 2022

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman joined us this week on The MacRumors Show podcast to discuss everything we're expecting from Apple in 2022, providing insights into many upcoming announcements.

Gurman also shared his expectations for Apple in 2022 in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, including iPhone 14 Pro models without a notch, a redesigned MacBook Air with an M2 chip, a new iPad Pro with wireless charging, an AR/VR headset barring any further delays, and more.

Apple Testing Multiple Foldable iPhone Prototypes, But Has Some Concerns

Another rumor from leaker @dylandkt this week claimed that Apple is testing multiple foldable iPhone prototypes, but he said that Apple has concerns over the quality of foldable display technology and whether there is a long-term market for foldable smartphones.

Last year, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple planned to release a foldable iPhone with an 8-inch flexible OLED display as early as 2023, but 2024 is also a possibility.

2022 iPhone SE to Feature 5G, Major Update Coming in 2024

Apple is widely expected to release a third-generation iPhone SE in the first quarter of 2022. The device is expected to have the same external design as the current iPhone SE, with key new features being 5G support and a faster A15 chip.

According to leaker @dylandkt, Apple is planning a bigger update to the iPhone SE for 2024, with the device to have a similar design as the iPhone XR and iPhone 11.

Kuo: AirPods Pro 2 to Feature Lossless Support and Sound-Emitting Charging Case

Apple plans to release second-generation AirPods Pro in the fourth quarter of 2022, with upgrades including a new design, lossless audio support, and a charging case that can emit a sound in the event it is misplaced, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Like the third-generation AirPods released in October, it is also likely that the next AirPods Pro will have improved battery life and a water-resistant charging case.

Intel Says New Core i9 Processor for Laptops is Faster Than Apple's M1 Max Chip

Intel this week unveiled new 12th-generation Core processors for laptops, and as part of the announcement, it claimed that the new Core i9 is not only faster than Apple's M1 Max chip in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, but is the fastest mobile processor ever.

Of course, we'll have to wait to see how the 12th-generation Core processors perform in real-world testing for a true comparison with the M1 Max chip.

MacRumors Newsletter

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

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

Ever since Apple removed the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 in 2016, rumors have swirled that Apple eventually aims to ditch the Lightning port next for a completely portless design. Indeed, analysts originally predicted that the highest-end ‌‌iPhone‌‌ 13 would offer a "completely wireless experience." Of course, that didn't happen, but a portless iPhone 14 in 2022 looks just as unlikely, for the following reasons.

Apple's longtime goal has been to design an ‌‌iPhone‌‌ with no external ports or buttons for a clean, streamlined device, but significant hurdles still remain if it intends to provide a completely wireless charging and data transfer solution. As far as data is concerned, Apple would need to look beyond Bluetooth because of its bandwidth limitations and rely on a faster wireless protocol that allows iPhone data transfer at a speed that either matches or exceeds Lightning, otherwise the loss of the port would be seen as a backward step.

In fact, Apple has already developed such a protocol. MacRumors recently discovered that Apple Watch Series 7 models are equipped with a module that enables 60.5GHz wireless data transfer when placed on a proprietary magnetic dock with a corresponding 60.5GHz module. Apple probably doesn't advertise this capability because it's for internal use only. For example, Apple Store staff may use the dock to wirelessly restore an Apple Watch. It's unclear how fast its wireless data transfer is, but our understanding is that USB 2.0 speeds up to 480 Mbps might be possible. In other words, Lightning speed.

However, it's not just data transfer that would need to be achieved wirelessly. With no Lightning port, you wouldn't be able to physically connect your iPhone directly to a computer to reset an unresponsive iPhone through recovery mode. Unless Apple came up with an alternative at-home solution – a second iteration of MagSafe with high-speed data transfer capabilities, perhaps – the iPhone would have to go back to the Apple Store every time an over-air update or full device restore failed and borked the device, meaning more irritation and inconvenience for end users.

For argument's sake, let's say Apple introduced "MagSafe 2.0" alongside a portless iPhone 14 and solved these data/recovery issues. The existing MagSafe Charger provides up to 15W of peak power delivery (or 12W on the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini) and charges a compatible ‌iPhone‌ less than half as fast as a wired 20W USB-C charger, so any new version of MagSafe would have to ramp up the juice considerably in order to come close to existing cable speeds.

Admittedly, Apple could probably pull off this feat (assuming it has shaken off its AirPower woes). You only have to look at its rivals to see what's already possible. Both the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro support up to 21W and 23W wireless charging speeds, respectively, while the OnePlus 9 Pro boasts 50W wireless charging speeds thanks to its next-generation Warp charger, which is capable of charging a dead phone to full power in 43 minutes. That's faster than an iPhone plugged directly into a 20W charger. Xiaomi is another leader in the field – the 5000mAh battery in its Mi 11 Ultra phone can be charged from 0% to 100% inside 30 minutes, wirelessly.

Yet despite these speed gains in wireless charging, an oft-overlooked problem is its generally poor energy efficiency. In 2020, Eric Ravenscraft of Debugger found that wireless charging uses around 47% more power than wired charging for the same amount of power. Unless Apple surprised us with a new version of MagSafe boasting unprecedented energy efficiency, ditching the Lightning port would surely run counter to its much-touted environmental policy.

And that's not the only eco-problem Apple would be inviting upon itself by going portless. Speaking out in 2020 against EU deliberations on requiring a universal port across all mobile devices, Apple said that removing the Lightning port from the ‌iPhone‌ would "create an unprecedented amount of electronic waste." It's not hard to see how this line of argument could be turned against Apple if it launched a portless ‌iPhone‌ in 2022. It would make millions of existing Lightning cables, charging docks, and other adapters in the wild obsolete overnight and ready for the trash.

Of course, Apple could perhaps satisfy the European Commission by adopting USB-C, but that would just be swapping out one connector for another, committing the company to another cable standard for longer. Apple would effectively be kicking its vision of a portless iPhone further into the long grass. Indeed, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts Apple will retain the Lightning connector on the iPhone for the "foreseeable future," and has no intention of switching to USB-C, which has a lower water specification than Lightning. As Kuo rightly notes, such a move would also be detrimental to Apple's profitable MFi business, which is why he believes Apple is more likely to switch directly to a portless model rather than first change to USB-C.

Given these interlacing obstacles, in spite of some iPhone 14 rumors, we expect Apple's next smartphone‌ to continue to use Lightning ports with the option of ‌MagSafe,‌ until a more viable wireless charging solution comes along that allows for a portless ‌iPhone‌ design without the attendant disadvantages. So when could that be? Frankly, it's hard to say.

Back in 2016, Apple was rumored to be partnering with Energous to deliver a "true wireless charging" solution, but nothing has come from it so far. Apple is still believed to be researching new wireless charging technologies, and with the advent of ‌MagSafe‌, the company is clearly still interested in innovating new ways to power devices without the mess of cables. How long we'll have to wait for one that powers a portless iPhone remains unknown.

Sunday will mark the 15th anniversary of Steve Jobs introducing the original iPhone at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, and while the device revolutionized the smartphone industry, it's easy to forget how much the iPhone has improved since then.

To celebrate the upcoming occasion, we've put together a list of 15 features the original iPhone didn't have when it was first announced.

• App Store: The original iPhone came with preinstalled apps like Phone, Weather, Notes, Calendar, Photos, and Calculator, but there was no official way to install native third-party apps until the App Store launched in July 2008. Developers were able to offer web-based apps, but this was a subpar experience.
• Copy and Paste: It may seem hard to believe, but the ability to copy and paste text was not added to the iPhone until 2009.
• Front Camera: While selfies are now ubiquitous, there was no front camera on the original iPhone. In fact, there was no front camera until the iPhone 4 launched in 2010 with new FaceTime video calling.
• Video Recording: The original iPhone can only shoot photos, with video recording introduced on the iPhone 3GS in 2009.
• Flashlight: With no LED flash on the original iPhone, there was no built-in flashlight. When the App Store launched, some flashlight apps were released that displayed a white screen at max brightness to mimic a flashlight.
• Photo Messaging (MMS): The original iPhone supported text messaging via SMS, but there was no ability to send photos. MMS capabilities were introduced with iPhone OS 3.0 in 2009, but only for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.
  

• GPS: While the original iPhone came with a Google Maps app preinstalled, there were no turn-by-turn directions, as the device did not have a GPS. Apple introduced a built-in GPS with the iPhone 3G in 2008.
• Home Screen Wallpapers: It was not possible to set a custom Home Screen wallpaper on the iPhone until iOS 4 was released in 2010, and the software update did not support the original iPhone.
• Verizon Support: AT&T was the exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.S. until Verizon began supporting the device in 2011.
• Siri: Apple's voice-based digital assistant launched with the iPhone 4S in 2011.
• Touch ID or Face ID: While modern iPhones and iPads are equipped with biometric authentication systems like Face ID or Touch ID, the original iPhone could only be secured with a four-digit passcode. Touch ID arrived with the iPhone 5s in 2013, while Face ID debuted on the iPhone X in 2017.
• Lightning Connector: Like many iPods before it, the original iPhone was equipped with a 30-pin dock connector. Apple switched to the smaller Lightning connector with the release of the iPhone 5 in 2012.
• Retina Display: Introduced on the iPhone 4 in 2010, the Retina display featured four times as many pixels as the original iPhone and was the highest-resolution display for a smartphone ever at the time.
• Wireless Charging: The first iPhones to support wireless charging were the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X released in 2017.
• Water Resistance: Water did not play friendly with the original iPhone, but the latest models have IP68-rated water resistance.

Looking ahead, the iPhone 14 will get even more new features, so be sure to catch up on everything that we know so far.

CES 2022 is wrapping up today, and while it was a more muted event because of the ongoing pandemic that saw many exhibitors and attendees cancel, there were still plenty of new product announcements. In our latest YouTube video, we rounded up some of the best Apple-related accessories that we saw this year.

• Garmin Venu 2 Plus Smart Watch ($450) - Garmin's Venu 2 Plus Smart Watch is an Apple Watch alternative with a 43mm round display. It has all kinds of health tracking features to monitor heart rate, respiration, daily energy levels, stress, blood oxygen level, and sleep, plus the battery lasts for up to nine days. Garmin has also added a microphone so it supports texts and calls using Apple's Siri voice assistant.
• Withings Body Scan ($300) - Withings' latest smart scale packs in a whole host of health-related features. It tracks weight, but it also monitors segmental body composition, heart rate, vascular age, and nerve activity. With the built-in handle, it can also take a 6-lead ECG, which is more advanced than the single-lead ECG feature built into the Apple Watch.
• Targus Find My Backpack ($150) - Accessory maker Targus updated its Cypress Hero EcoSmart Backpack to add built-in tracking functionality that uses Apple's Find My app. The backpack can be added to the ‌Find My‌ app right alongside other devices and it can be tracked with the ‌Find My‌ Network so it's locatable even out of Bluetooth range.
• Hyper Swivel Dock for iMac ($200) - Hyper came out with a turntable dock designed for the 24-inch iMac. It features a 360-degree swivel mechanism that allows the screen to be rotated around as needed. It has a built-in SSD enclosure that supports up to 2TB storage, plus it offers an HDMI port, SD/microSD card slots, a USB-C port, and four USB-A ports.
• Eve Outdoor Cam ($250) - Eve's Outdoor Cam combines camera functionality with an outdoor spotlight, and it uses HomeKit Secure Video for iCloud-based storage, privacy, and motion detection. It works at night, has IP55 water and dust resistance, two-way communication, and a wide 157 degree field of view.
• Chipolo CARD Spot ($35) - The Chipolo CARD Spot is a Bluetooth device tracker meant to be used in a wallet. It's relatively thin at 2.4mm, and it has built-in ‌Find My‌ integration. It will allow you to make sure you don't leave your wallet behind or lose it, and if it does get lost you can locate it with Apple's ‌Find My‌ network even when it's not in Bluetooth range. The only downside is that there's no replaceable battery, but Chipolo has a replacement program.
• Satechi Pro Hub Max ($100) - Satechi built a USB-C hub that's designed to work with the latest MacBook Pro models. It plugs into the side using two USB-C ports, but it adds a 4K HDMI port for dual display functionality that supports up to 60Hz, a Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, micro/SD card readers, and an audio jack.
• Samsung Odyssey Ark - Samsung at CES introduced an absolutely massive curved display called the Arc. It measures in at 55 inches, offers a 4K 16:9 resolution and can be used in either portrait or landscape mode. This isn't coming until later in the year, so there's no price or firm release date.
• NexMonitor ($449) - The NexMonitor is a display with an off-center base that's meant to house a Mac mini. It also has a thick bezel at one side to accommodate an iPhone, so you can have all of your devices right at eye level. The 27-inch display is available with a 2K or 4K resolution and it has a USB-C port, HDMI port, a pair of USB-A ports, a USB-B port, an SD card reader, an Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

We'll have reviews and additional coverage of some of these products coming in the future, so make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors and our YouTube channel.

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Satechi to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a prize pack that includes several of Satechi's newest devices. The prize pack includes a 165W USB-C 4-Port PD GaN Charger, 2-in-1 Headphone Stand with Wireless Charger, 3-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charging Stand, and a $200 gift card so you can also choose some Satechi accessories yourself.

Satechi's 2-in-1 Headphone Stand With Wireless Charger was announced earlier this week, and as the name suggests, it pairs a Qi-based wireless charger with a stand for larger headphones like the AirPods Max. There's a soft padded base for charging an iPhone or AirPods, along with a hook for holding your headphones.

The wireless charging base charges at 7.5W, while an included USB-C port can be used to charge up your ‌AirPods Max‌ or other headphones. It does require a 20W power adapter, which is sold separately.

Just introduced today, the $120 165W GaN Charger has four USB-C ports included and it supports up to 165W for charging multiple devices at once. The maximum power for a single device is 100W, which is enough for all of Apple's MacBook models, but it's not going to charge the new 16-inch machines at top speed.

It supports multiple power configurations and will adjust the power distribution based on what's plugged in, so you can use it to charge iPads, Macs, iPhones, and other devices at the same time.

Satechi is including its $120 3-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charging Stand, which is designed for Apple's ‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 13 models. It features an upright magnetic charger for the ‌iPhone‌, a smaller platform at the bottom for charging AirPods, and an Apple Watch charging puck.

The stand is not MagSafe because Apple is still limiting official ‌MagSafe‌ hardware, so it charges an ‌iPhone‌ at up to 7.5W. The Apple Watch charging puck is also not compatible with the Apple Watch Series 7 fast charge feature, but it is still an ideal setup for overnight charging and in other situations where faster charging is not required.

Satechi also has all kinds of other accessories like hubs, adapters, keyboards, mice, chargers, desk stands, and more, all of which are designed with Apple's products in mind.

We have one Satechi prize pack to give away, which includes the three above mentioned accessories and a $200 Satechi gift card. To enter to win, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older, UK residents who are 18 years or older, and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. All federal, state, provincial, and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (January 7) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 14. The winner will be chosen randomly on January 14 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.

Satechi today announced the launch of a 165W USB-C GaN charger that's equipped with a total of four ports, making it an ideal desktop charging option for those with multiple USB-C devices.

The charger is using Gallium Nitride technology that's popular with modern power adapters because it allows for better power efficiency that results in smaller product designs. Satechi has built a power distribution algorithm into the charger so it adjusts the power provided to each port based on what's plugged in.

100W, 100W/60W, 60W/60W/45W or 100W/30W/30W, and 60W/45W/30W/30W splits are available, so if you're charging the maximum number of four devices at one time, you can only get up to 60W for the main device. 165W is available in total, but the maximum charging available is 100W. That should power all of Apple's laptops, though it won't provide the fastest available charging speeds for the M1 Pro/Max 16-inch MacBook Pro machines.

Satechi says that the charger includes CE and ETL certifications for safe charging for all connected devices. It is powered by a single power cord, and has a space gray aluminum finish that compliments many Apple products.

The 165W USB-C 4-Port PD GaN Charger is available from the Satechi website for $120. Until January 13, it can be purchased at a 20 percent discount using the code CES20.

Amazon today has a solid post-holiday deal on Apple's AirPods 2 with Wired Charging Case, priced at $109.99, down from $129.00. These are in stock and sold by Amazon, ready to ship out today with a delivery date between January 10 and January 12.

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 AirPods 2 were one of the more popular items on sale this past holiday season, dropping to as low as $90 in the best sale. We likely won't see a similar sale return any time soon, so if you missed out on those holiday deals Amazon's offer today is a good second-best price.

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

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Apple announcing the iMac G4. Unveiled on January 7, 2002, the iMac G4 featured a unique design with a flat-screen panel mounted on an adjustable arm and a hemisphere base housing the computer's internal components.

Nicknamed the Lamp or Sunflower, the iMac G4 was innovative for its time as an all-in-one computer with a flat screen that can be moved around freely.

"The new iMac ushers in the age of flat-screen computing for everyone. The CRT display is now officially dead," said Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs in a press release announcing the iMac G4. "And with its powerful G4 processor and SuperDrive, everyone can now affordably create and burn their own custom DVDs and CDs."

Key features of the iMac G4 included a 15-inch flat-screen LCD, 700 MHz or 800 MHz PowerPC G4 processor options, a SuperDrive built into the base for CD/DVDs, up to a 60GB hard drive, up to 1GB of RAM, two FireWire ports, and five USB ports. By the end of 2003, Apple had also released larger 17-inch and 20-inch display sizes.

In his 2002 review of the iMac G4 for Macworld, longtime Apple reporter Jason Snell described the computer as "nothing short of a triumph."

Facebook today announced a new "Privacy Center" section on its website on the desktop. This new area will offer users a "new place to learn more about our approach to privacy across our apps and technologies" and "provides helpful information about five common privacy topics," Meta announced today in a press release.

The new Privacy Center, rolling out to a small pool of Facebook users in the United States on the desktop, will offer five sections at launch with plans to expand over time.

The first section, Security, will offer easy access to common tools such as basic security settings and two-factor authentication. Sharing will provide quick access to settings over who can tag users in a post, post visibility, and more. Collection and Use will give users a quick glance at the type of data Meta collects about them and how it's used, respectively. The last section will provide settings regarding a user's ad preferences.

Meta says that Facebook's "Privacy Center" will continuously evolve and expand over time with "more modules and controls to help people understand our approach to privacy across our apps and technologies."

Today we're tracking a collection of discounts across Apple's M1 Mac lineup, including up to $100 off the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and iMac. These sales are all available on Amazon, with delivery dates averaging around mid-to-late January.

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.

Starting with the 256GB M1 Mac mini, this model is down to its lowest-ever price of $599.99, down from $699.00. This sale won't be reflected until you add the Mac mini to your cart and head to the checkout screen.

Secondly, Amazon has the 512GB M1 MacBook Air for $1,149.00, down from $1,249.00. At $100 off, this is a second-best price on this model of the MacBook Air, and it's only available in the Gold color option.

Lastly, Amazon is still offering the M1 iMac at $50 off in the Silver color this week. You can get the 7-core GPU/256GB 24-inch iMac for $1,249.00, down from $1,299.00, with an estimated delivery by January 19 for most places in the United States.

You can keep track of ongoing sales on Apple's iMac line by visiting our Best iMac Deals guide. There, we keep track of the best iMac offers from Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, and other retailers, so be sure to check back often if you're shopping for an iMac for the first time, or thinking of upgrading.

Apple today announced Collections and Time to Run for Apple Fitness+, as well as expanded Time to Walk and Artist Spotlight suites.

Collections are curated series of workouts and meditations from the Fitness+ library, providing users with a new way to get motivated, remain consistent, and make progress with their sessions. Fitness+ Collections include a suggested plan to help users make intentional training choices over a period of several days or weeks to reach their goals.

The following six Collections will be available at launch, providing a range of goals for users to strive to achieve:

• 30-Day Core Challenge
• Improve Your Posture with Pilates
• Perfect Your Yoga Balance Poses
• Run Your First 5K
• Strengthen Your Back, Stretch Your Hips
• Wind Down for a Better Bedtime

Time to Run is a new audio running experience, similar to Time to Walk, designed to help users become better and more consistent runners. Each episode of Time to Run is focused on a popular real-world running route in a notable or iconic location.

Fitness+ trainers, including Emily Fayette, Jamie-Ray Hartshorne, Sam Sanchez, and Scott Carvin, as well as Cory Wharton-Malcolm, a new running trainer on the team, will give users coaching tips and display relevant photos as they run, accompanied by energizing music. Each episode's Apple Music playlist has been curated to match the intensity, location, and coaching style of each run.

Time to Run will launch with three episodes: London, coached by Cory Wharton-Malcolm; Brooklyn, coached by Emily Fayette; and Miami Beach, coached by Sam Sanchez. In the following weeks, a new episode of Time to Run will be released every Monday.

Apple says that Time to Run can be experienced outside or inside on a treadmill, and for Apple Watch users who use a wheelchair, Time to Run becomes Time to Run or Push, providing the choice to start a run or an Outdoor Push Running Pace workout.

Apple Fitness+ Collections and Time to Run launch on January 10 for all Fitness+ subscribers. On the same day, Fitness+ will also debut the third season of Time to Walk, featuring guests such as Rebel Wilson, Bernice A. King, and Hasan Minhaj, as well as new Artist Spotlight workouts in the Fitness app, featuring music from Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Shakira, and the Beatles.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman was first to report that Apple was planning to launch a Time to Run feature back in August 2021.

Update, January 10th: "Time to Run" and Collections are now rolling out to Fitness+ subscribers in the Fitness app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch.

A recurring iOS bug that makes Apple's Messages app send read receipts despite the setting being disabled appears to be on the upswing again, based on reports from users running iOS 15.

In iOS, with read receipts enabled (Settings -> Messages -> Send Read Receipts), the "Delivered" text that a person sees under an iMessage they have sent you turns to "Read" when you've viewed it in the conversation thread, so they know you've seen the message even if you've not responded. The setting syncs across all Apple devices signed into the same Apple ID.

Over the last few years there have been sporadic reports that Messages doesn't always observe the user setting, but according to Macworld's Glenn Fleishman, the bug appears to be rearing its head again, only this time for a larger number of users running the latest version of iOS 15.

Some people have found that restarting their device resolves the problem, at least temporarily, but no permanent fix has been discovered, suggesting Apple needs to change something about the way the function works in a future update to its mobile operating system. We'll update this article if we learn more.

The second-generation AirPods Pro are widely expected to launch in the second half of this year. In preparation for the launch, Apple's suppliers are getting ready for shipments of the new high-end AirPods, according to a new report from DigiTimes.

The new second-generation ‌AirPods Pro‌ are widely expected to feature a new design, improved audio, the ability to play back Apple Music lossless audio, and more. The new ‌AirPods Pro‌ are scheduled to launch this year — specifically in the second half of 2022. Ahead of the release, today's report said that suppliers are beginning to prepare for shipments of the new wireless earphones.

The latest information about the new ‌AirPods Pro‌ comes from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who recently reported they would feature a redesigned charging case that can emit an audible noise for use with Find My. With ‌Find My‌ integration, only AirPods themselves emit a sound when pinged by a user. With the new ‌AirPods Pro‌, the case will have a speaker, allowing for a louder noise, making it easier to find.

MacRumors had previously received pictures depicting what a tipster claimed to be the case for the upcoming ‌AirPods Pro‌. Those pictures show speaker holes and possible accessory attachments in the case itself. MacRumors cannot verify the accuracy of the images, but they do fall in line with new information shared by credible analyst ‌Ming-Chi Kuo‌.

Alongside a new case, the new ‌AirPods Pro‌ will also support playback of lossless ‌Apple Music‌ audio. Due to limitations in Bluetooth bandwidth, none of Apple's existing AirPods models can playback lossless audio from ‌Apple Music‌. In a recent interview, an executive for the company admitted that the limitations of Bluetooth are hindering the potential of the AirPods experience and said the team wants "more bandwidth" than what Bluetooth alone can provide.

To catch up on everything we expect from the second-generation ‌AirPods Pro‌, be sure to check out our comprehensive guide.

Dropbox has finally begun testing a native version of its Mac app with Apple silicon support, following widespread criticism from customers and users who initially thought it had no plans to take advantage of the latest Macs powered by Apple's custom processors.

In October, official responses to comments on the Dropbox forums suggested Dropbox had no plans to add support for Apple silicon Macs to its Mac app, continuing to rely on Apple's Rosetta 2 technology to translate the Intel-based app on newer Mac machines. The forum thread received widespread criticism from irritated Mac users, eventually leading to the company's CEO stepping in to say that Dropbox would adopt native Apple silicon support in the first half of 2022.

Now, one week into the new year, Dropbox is seemingly fulfilling its promise. Dropbox has told MacRumors that it has begun testing native Apple silicon support with a small batch of its Mac user base and that it plans to offer all users who run the beta of its Mac app native Apple silicon support by the end of January.

Compared to apps specifically optimized and tested for Apple silicon, Intel-based apps on new Mac machines occasionally run slower, make little use of Apple silicon's performance gains and power efficiency, and may not function correctly. While Apple's Rosetta 2 technology works for most users, apps for Apple silicon typically run better, are more power-efficient, and more likely to provide a better user experience than Intel-based apps on newer Mac laptops and desktops.

Dropbox does not have the best reputation amongst Mac users for being friendly to system resources and is often criticized for being a memory hog and battery drain. On newer Macs, such as the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, Dropbox with native Apple silicon support should allay some of that criticism, as it should run smoother and be less demanding.

Dropbox's poor performance on Mac has pushed some users to move to third-party clients that support Dropbox syncing. With Dropbox planning to give all of its beta users access to its native Apple silicon app by the end of the month, an official rollout can be expected shortly after and well within the first half of 2022, as previously promised by the company's CEO.

Apple's former Director of Mac System Architecture Jeff Wilcox this week announced that he has left Apple to take on a new role at Intel. As noted on LinkedIn (via Tom's Hardware), Wilcox was part of Apple's M1 team and he had a key role in the transition from Intel chips to Apple silicon.

Wilcox's profile says that he "led the transition" for all Macs to Apple silicon, and prior to that, he developed the SoC and system architecture for the T2 coprocessor used in Intel Macs.

Director of the Mac System Architecture team that included all system architecture, signal integrity and power integrity for Mac systems. Led the transition for all Macs to Apple Silicon beginning with M1 chip, and developed the SoC and system architecture behind the T2 coprocessor before that.

When Wilcox announced his departure from Apple in December, he said that he was pursuing a new opportunity and that he was proud of what he had accomplished at Apple.

After an amazing eight years I have decided to leave Apple and pursue another opportunity. It has been an incredible ride and I could not be prouder of all we accomplished during my time there, culminating in the Apple Silicon transition with the M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max SOCs and systems. I will dearly miss all of my Apple colleagues and friends, but I am looking forward to the next journey which will start at the first of the year.

Wilcox spent eight years working at Apple, and as of this week, he is the Design Engineering Group CTO at Intel. Wilcox says that he will be responsible for the architecture of all SoCs for all Intel client segments. Prior to working for Apple, Wilcox was at Intel where he served as a principal engineer on PC chipsets, and prior to that, he worked at Magnum Semiconductor and Nvidia.

The Apple silicon team is led by Johny Srouji, Apple's vice president of hardware technologies, and it's not clear if Wilcox's departure will have much impact on the development of Apple silicon chips going forward. Apple is well into its Apple silicon transition and is expected to complete it in 2022 with the launch of new Mac Pro and iMac Pro machines that use Apple silicon chips.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in October said that he hopes to win back Apple's business in the future by creating "a better chip" than Apple can make. He also said that he is planning to ensure that Intel's products are "better than theirs," and that Intel has a more open and "vibrant" ecosystem. "I'm going to fight hard to win Tim's business in this area," he said.

Intel earlier this week introduced a new Core i9 processor designed for laptops, and the company has claimed that it is faster than Apple's M1 Max chip used in the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

Apple CEO Tim Cook's earnings totaled $98.7 million in base salary, stock, and other compensation, according to a statement that Apple filed with the SEC today.

Cook earned a $3 million base salary, and he was provided with stock award of $82,347,835. This stock award is RSUs that will vest over time, and it includes $44.8 million in performance-based stock awards and $37.5 million in time-based stock awards. None of this stock has vested as of yet.

Cook also had more than 5 million shares vest in 2021, netting him a total of $754 million. Because these were granted in earlier years, the $754 million does not count as part of his 2021 compensation package.

In addition to the $3 million salary and $82 million stock grant, Cook received $12 million as non-equity incentive plan compensation and $1,386,559 in "Other" compensation. Other compensation includes a $23,077 vacation payout, $630,630 in security expenses, and $712,488 in personal air travel. Apple requires Cook to use a private airplane for security reasons.

In 2020, Cook earned a total of $14.8 million, not counting stock awards that vested during that time period. Cook's net worth has climbed to more than $1 billion since 2020, and it may soon exceed that based on the stock awards he's recently been provided with.

Other Apple executives such as Luca Maestri, Kate Adams, Jeff Williams, and Deirdre O'Brien received compensation ranging from $26 million to $27 million.

Apple's annual shareholders meeting is set to take place Friday, March 4 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time, Apple said today in an SEC filing. Shareholders meetings are normally held in person at Apple Park, but this year's meeting, like last year's, will take place virtually and will be open to a greater number of shareholders because there are no space restrictions.

Those who want to attend, vote, and submit questions during the annual meeting can visit the shareholders website and enter a 16-digit code included in the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials provided to shareholders. Apple states online access will open approximately 15 minutes before the start of the meeting, but questions can be submitted in advance through March 3, 2022 at 8:59 p.m. Pacific.

Apple says that even those who are attending the meeting should vote in advance online, by mail, or by phone. Items of business will include re-electing the Board of Directors, ratifying Ernst & Young LLP as Apple's public accounting firm, approving executive compensation, approving the 2022 employee stock plan, and voting on shareholder proposals.

Shareholder meetings are not particularly interesting to the general public because Apple executives don't often share details about Apple products, but in the past, there have been limited comments on Apple services and software. Apple in 2021, for example, provided some vague statements on upcoming products, offered some color on how Apple chooses companies to acquire, and talked about navigating the pandemic.

The Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple's annual five-day-long conference to announce updates to its major operating systems, services, and sometimes hardware, is five months away. At this year's conference, we expect Apple to announce iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, watchOS 9, and tvOS 16.

iOS is Apple's most important operating system as it runs on the iPhone and shares many features with the iPad that runs iPadOS. Every year as WWDC gets closer, speculation brews over what new features and changes the next version of iOS will include. While it is one of several operating system updates that gets announced, it's undoubtedly the most anticipated one.

With iOS 15, Apple refined the experience by adding new system-wide features, such as Live Text and Translation. iOS 15 also expanded on Do Not Disturb with Focus modes and completely redid the notification experience. iOS 15 alongside macOS Monterey also introduced SharePlay to FaceTime, allowing friends and family to watch movies, listen to music, and play games together over a call.

A year prior, with iOS 14, Apple looked to further redesign the core iOS experience by introducing completely new widgets and placing widgets on the Home Screen. iOS 14 also introduced App Library, an automatic way for iOS to categorize users' apps. iOS 14 also brought with it a smaller Siri and call banner UI and new features to the Messages app, like pinned conversations.

Looking back two years, iOS 13 introduced dark mode to iOS. It was also the year Apple officially recognized the ‌iPad‌ as its unique platform and introduced iPadOS. iOS 13 also included updates to Maps, Photos, Reminders, CarPlay, AR, and more.

The current design of iOS was introduced with iOS 7, which was and has remained the most significant overall redesign of the iOS experience since its introduction. While Apple has continued to refine the design and the experience of its core apps, the design language has largely remained the same.

One fan-made concept that has garnered over a million views has envisioned iOS 16 redesigning the lock screen experience while also bringing Split Screen capabilities to the ‌iPhone‌. With iOS 16 around six months away, Apple's software teams are likely still firming up plans for the next update and often may look to the community for ideas and inspiration.

So, with that spirit, we want to hear from the MacRumors community on what new features and changes you'd like to see in iOS 16? Let us know down in the comments and keep up with everything we’re hearing about iOS 16 in our dedicated roundup!