MacRumors

Apple and Amazon were today fined a total of more than 200 million euros ($225 million) by Italy's antitrust authority for alleged anti-competitive cooperation in the sale of Apple and Beats products, reports Reuters.

The fines are the culmination of an investigation that began last year over allegations that the two companies had been blocking the sale of Apple and Beats devices to resellers in order to stifle competition.

The Italian watchdog today said contractual provisions of a 2018 agreement between the two companies meant only selected resellers were allowed to sell the products on Amazon's Italian store, which was in violation of EU rules and affected competition on prices.

Amazon was fined 68.7 million euros ($77.3 million), while Apple received a fine of 134.5 million euros ($151.2 million). The watchdog also ordered the companies to end the restrictions to give retailers of genuine Apple and Beats products access to the Italian Amazon web store in a "non-discriminatory manner." Both Apple and Amazon said they plan to appeal against the fines.

"To ensure our customers purchase genuine products, we work closely with our reseller partners and have dedicated teams of experts around the world who work with law enforcement, customs and merchants to ensure only genuine Apple products are being sold," Apple said, denying any wrongdoing.

In a separate statement Amazon said it strongly disagreed with the decision of the Italian authority and that the proposed fine was "disproportionate and unjustified."

"We reject the suggestion that Amazon benefits by excluding sellers from our store, since our business model relies on their success. As a result of the agreement, Italian customers can find the latest Apple and Beats products on our store, benefiting from a catalogue that more than doubled, with better deals and faster shipping," Amazon said.

This isn't the first investigation into Apple by Italy's antitrust regulator. A previous probe looked into the company for iPhone battery slowdowns, which the antitrust watchdog said was a form of planned obsolescence and subsequently slapped Apple with a 10 million euro fine.

Apple today made the HomePod mini available to order in yellow, orange, and blue in Australia and New Zealand, several weeks after the new colors were released in the United States, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan.

The new yellow, orange, and blue models all have color-matched woven power cables, but there's still a white Apple sticker in the box, along with a 20W USB-C power adapter. There are no other changes to the HomePod mini beyond the new colors, and pricing remains $149 in Australia and $159 in New Zealand, including sales tax.

The new colors can be ordered on Apple.com or using the Apple Store app in both Australia and New Zealand with a 1-3 business days shipping estimate. Apple Store pickup is also an option in Australia, but there are no Apple Store locations in New Zealand.

Apple said the new colors would also be released in Austria, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the UK by the end of November, and indeed, several of Apple's regional online stores for these countries are already accepting orders, with delivery in France and the UK being offered as early as this Thursday and in-store pickup from Friday, for example.

(Thanks, Ben Winter!)

Tile, known for its range of Bluetooth-based tracking accessories that compete with the AirTag, is being acquired by location tracking service Life360, Tile announced today.

Tile will continue to be operated as a standalone brand under Tile CEO CJ Prober, but Tile says that when the acquisition is completed, it will be able to leverage Life360's 33 million smartphone users to grow Tile's Finding network by 10x. Tile's network is the equivalent of Apple's Find My network, leveraging nearby devices to locate lost items.

Life360 has what it calls a "family safety platform" that allows family members to keep tabs on one another with tracking software on smartphones. It's primarily used by parents to track their children and teenagers, and it has raised privacy concerns.

With the Tile acquisition, Life360 founder Chris Hulls says that Life360 will be able to provide an "all-encompassing solution" for locating people, pets, and things with cross-platform tracking and combined service for tracking items and people.

Individuals and families will be able to tap into Life360's flagship mobile app, a market leading app for families with features that range from communications to driving safety and location sharing. Additionally, people will be able to seamlessly leverage Tile's bluetooth-enabled finding devices trackers, which can equip nearly any item -- such as wallets, keys or remotes -- with location-based finding technology. Tile's technology is also embedded in over 50 different third-party devices, ranging from wireless earbuds and headphones to laptops to retainer cases to dog collars.

Life360's Tile acquisition deal is valued at $205 million and it is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

Last Friday, code suggested Google would soon roll out an update for Google Messages that would display iMessage Reactions from iPhone users as emoji on Android devices, and now that update has started rolling out.

According to 9to5Google, some Android users are beginning to see iMessage reactions in Google Messages as emoji that are linked to the relevant conversation.

Google Messages appears to be interpreting iMessage reactions just like reactions sent through the RCS protocol used for Google Messages rather than providing them in a text format.

Prior to the Google Messages update, if an ‌iPhone‌ user added a reaction like a heart or thumbs up to a message in the Messages app, it would look odd on an Android device while showing up appropriately on an ‌iPhone‌. Adding a heart icon to a message showed a little heart on ‌iPhone‌, for example, but on Android, it would show up as [Person] "Loved" and then the text of the original message.

The text-based system could lead to awkwardness, especially with Android users unaware of iMessage reactions. It also cluttered up the chat thread by unnecessarily repeating texts.

As shown in the screenshots above, the reaction messages are linked to the chat bubble, and they also use icons pulled from the ‌RCS‌ system. As 9to5Google points out, the little heart for "loving" an image on ‌iPhone‌ is replaced with a heart eyes emoji on Android, and the laugh iMessage Reaction is translated into a laughing face emoji.

Android devices will also display a "translated from ‌iPhone‌" icon so that Google Messages users understand where the reaction is coming from.

Microsoft has declined to make a version of Windows 11 available for Apple's M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max Macs that are built on an Arm architecture, and now we may know the reason - a secret exclusivity deal with Qualcomm.

According to XDA-Developers, Arm-based Windows has only been made available on devices with Qualcomm SoC's because of a previously unknown deal between the two companies.

Two people familiar with the deal told XDA that the deal is "set to expire soon" but there is no specific word on when it will end. When the agreement between Microsoft and Qualcomm does conclude, it will allow other chip vendors to create machines using Arm Windows, and it may perhaps free up Microsoft to make Arm Windows available on Apple silicon Macs.

Apple silicon Macs do not offer Boot Camp and there is no official Windows support at the current time, leaving ‌M1‌, ‌M1 Pro‌, and ‌M1 Max‌ owners with few options for accessing Windows on their devices. In September, Microsoft said that an Arm version of Windows 11 for Apple silicon Macs through virtualization or otherwise is not "a supported scenario," so there's a chance that it still won't happen.

Apple silicon Mac owners who need Windows access can use Parallels 16.5 or later to run Insider Preview builds of Windows 10 and 11 that have been created for Arm hardware, but there are often issues to deal with. Parallels continues to be the only solution because Microsoft has made no licensed retail version of Arm Windows available for Apple silicon Macs.

Update November 23: This deal is now also available at Amazon.

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Black Friday is officially in full swing this afternoon, with the launch of one of the first major discounts at Walmart. There you can get Apple's AirPods Pro with MagSafe Charging Case for just $159.00, down from $249.00.

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.

This deal is live as of 3 p.m. EST for Walmart+ subscribers only, and it will go live for all shoppers beginning tonight at 7 p.m. EST.

This deal is now the best price that we've ever tracked on the AirPods Pro with MagSafe, and it's beating most other retailers' prices by about $30. Given that Apple just refreshed the AirPods Pro with the MagSafe Charging Case in October, this is a very good deal for the AirPods Pro.

The only difference between the 2021 AirPods Pro with MagSafe Charging Case and the 2019 AirPods Pro is the addition of the MagSafe Charging Case. Otherwise, the headphones are the exact same as they were when released in 2019, but given that the price cut is already so steep on the 2021 model, it's best to opt for Walmart's deal.

We're keeping track of all this season's best deals in our Black Friday 2021 Roundup. You can also find more of our daily deals and other offers in our Deals Roundup.

We've been tracking early Black Friday deals in our dedicated Black Friday Roundup, and in an effort to prepare our readers for the big shopping event we're highlighting sales store-by-store in the lead-up to November 26.

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

Similar to Walmart and Target, Best Buy really kicked off Black Friday weeks ago. However, it's now shared the deals you can expect to see on Black Friday, so you should have a clearer view on what you can expect when shopping this week.

Best Buy's Black Friday Schedule

Like other stores, Best Buy's event is more of a week of sales rather than just one day. The retailer kicked things off on Sunday, November 21, and deals will come in and out all the way through Black Friday.

• Sunday, November 21 - Online sales begin
• Wednesday, November 24 - MacBook Air deals begin
• Thursday, November 25 - Stores closed, online sales continue
• Friday, November 26 - Specific opening hours vary by location

Best Buy Black Friday - Deals Live Now

Best Buy's early Black Friday sale is focused on a variety of TV sets, including those from brands like Sony, Insignia, Samsung, Toshiba, LG, and more. There are also a few deals on sound bars to pair with a new TV setup, like Samsung's HW-Q65T 7.1ch Sound Bar with Dolby Atmos for $279.99 ($220 off).

• Insignia 58-inch LED 4K UHD Smart TV - $349.99, down from $579.99
• Samsung 50-inch LED 4K Smart TV - $459.99, down from $479.99
• Samsung 70-inch 4K Crystal UHD Smart TV - $599.99, down from $749.99
• Samsung 65-inch 8000 Series LED 4K UHD Smart TV - $699.99, down from $799.99
• Samsung 75-inch 4K UHD Smart TV - $849.99, down from $1,099.99
• Sony 55-inch OLED 4K UHD Smart TV - $1,399.99, down from $1,799.99

Best Buy is already offering solid deals on video games as well, many of which are reaching prices that we're expecting to see on Black Friday. Standouts in the sale include Deathloop for $29.99 ($30 off) and Guardians of the Galaxy for $29.99 ($30 off).

Best Buy is also currently offering deals on the AirPods lineup, but we recommend waiting for better deals later this week. For example, the retailer has the AirPods Pro for $189.99 ($60 off) right now, but Walmart is set to have these for $159.00 later today, a record low price.

If you shop more at Best Buy than Target, you can get a $15 Best Buy gift card when purchasing a $100 Apple Gift Card. This offer is the same as Target's deal, so it just comes down to which retailer you want a $15 gift card from.

Otherwise, the live sale is offering deals on Windows laptops, Google Nest smart home products, Amazon smart speakers, Beats headphones, Dyson vacuums, kitchen appliances, and much more. Best Buy says that there are thousands of deals live right now, so you can shop for more on the company's website.

On Sunday, November 21 Best Buy also opened up a handful of new discounts on its website and they're all now live, headlined by the Nintendo Switch with Mario Kart 8 Bundle for $299.99. With a free copy of Mario Kart 8 and three months of Nintendo Online, you're saving about $65.

Best Buy is also matching Target's offer on the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset. When purchasing the product, you'll get a $50 Best Buy e-gift card. Lastly, the new deals include $280 off KitchenAid Pro 5 Series stand mixers and $100 off Dyson's Cyclone V10 Animal Vacuum.

Best Buy Black Friday - Deals Starting 11/24

On Wednesday, November 24, just one deal is expected to appear on Best Buy's website, offering $150 off select models of the MacBook Air. We've seen these models get discounted by as much as $200, so while Best Buy may be offering solid markdowns we may see steeper discounts during the week.

Best Buy Black Friday - Deals Starting 11/25

Similar to Wednesday, on Thanksgiving day shoppers can expect one major deal added to Best Buy's week-long event. The retailer will be taking $50 off the Beats Studio Buds, dropping the new earphones to just $99.99.

We're keeping track of all this season's best deals in our Black Friday 2021 Roundup. You can also find more of our daily deals and other offers in our Deals Roundup.

Spotify users are growing impatient with the music streaming giant over its lack of HomePod support, pushing several customers to the brink of canceling their subscriptions entirely and moving to alternative platforms, such as Apple Music.

More than a year ago, at the 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced that it would be adding third-party music service support to ‌HomePod‌. A few months later, Apple highlighted some of the apps that would take advantage of the new feature, including Amazon Music, Pandora, and iHeartRadio. A notable exclusion from the list - Spotify.

Whether Spotify opted not to be part of the initial batch of third-party music providers with ‌‌HomePod‌‌ support or Apple didn’t ask remains unknown. Nonetheless, a feature request was posted to the Spotify Community forum a few weeks later, kindly requesting that Spotify add support for ‌HomePod‌.

At the time in June of 2020, and more recently, Spotify said it plans to implement AirPlay 2 support into its iOS app. While ‌AirPlay‌ 2 support would allow users to play their Spotify content through their ‌HomePod‌, it is not native ‌HomePod‌ support. Native ‌HomePod‌ support would allow users to use Siri to play Spotify content from their ‌HomePod‌ without opening the app and selecting the speaker manually.

Customers are not holding back their frustrations, with one user writing that Spotify is exhibiting "childish behavior," while another said, "this is a total joke - how can they still not be offering it… how many people have come here, seen this and then just canceled. Why does Spotify make it so hard to support them."

"This is absolutely pathetic Spotify," another user wrote. Users are poised to turn their frustrations into action, with many saying that they have activated ‌Apple Music‌'s three-month trial and will renew their subscription unless Spotify adopts ‌HomePod‌ support before the trial ends. "Month with no information about the integration...why should I pay for Spotify when other Services are more interested in integrations," another user wrote, with many others saying they've moved to ‌Apple Music‌ (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

How many comments are needed to bring attention to this? More than 100 pages? Being a software engineer myself, I understand that such integration shouldn't take THAT MUCH time. Come on, it's hard not to conclude that Spotify has intentionally decided not to implement it. They haven't even said a simple "yes, we're on it."

It doesn't seem like Spotify cares about their users considering the number of votes on this.

Spotify has labeled the idea a "Live Idea" but has not provided any updates on where it stands. Spotify spokespeople have also declined to respond to several emails by MacRumors over the last several months regarding ‌HomePod‌ support.

The reasoning behind Spotify's refusal to adopt ‌HomePod‌ support remains unknown. Spotify has in the past called Apple "anti-competitive," accusing the tech giant of making it harder for other services to compete with ‌Apple Music‌. However, when given a chance to join a level playing field with Apple's service, Spotify seems less interested.

Left Spotify, this was a dealbreaker for me - Nothing happened and they don't care about the consumer - waited for a year, but nothing happened. I got 6 months free subscription with my AirPods, so it was time to leave. It's Time to Play Fair Spotify, you can't complain about not being on the HomePod, and then when they let you in you don't even bother to support it.

While the ‌HomePod‌ remained a rather niche product at the time third-party support was announced, the product has slowly grown more mainstream thanks to the smaller $99 HomePod mini which just recently launched in new colors.

Apple is offering new customers a free three-month trial to ‌Apple Music‌, which does include native ‌HomePod‌ support. New ‌Apple Music‌ customers who own select AirPods and Beats model headphones can get six months of Apple Music for free. We'll update this article if Spotify provides new information concerning ‌HomePod‌ support.

Last week, Apple announced a new self-service repair program that will provide customers with access to Apple genuine parts, tools, and manuals for completing their own repairs of select devices, starting with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups and later Macs with M1 chips. Apple said the program will be available starting early next year in the United States and expand to additional countries throughout 2022.

In an internal memo obtained by MacRumors, Apple provided a few more details about the program, including that repair manuals will be made available on the Apple Support website, confirming the location of where customers will be able to review this information prior to ordering parts for a self-service repair.

Apple's memo also said that its online parts store will be operated by an unspecified third party. While no official reason was provided, it would certainly be logistically easier for Apple to outsource shipping and receiving of parts to and from customers. A similar system is already in place for Apple Authorized Service Providers.

When announcing the program last week, Apple said self-service repairs are intended for "individual technicians with the knowledge and experience to repair electronic devices," adding that the initial phase of the program will focus on common repairs, such as replacing an iPhone's display, battery, or camera.

Apple's self-service repair program announcement has received praise from supporters of the "Right to Repair" movement, but there are still some question marks. In its memo, Apple said more details will be shared as the program's launch approaches.

Apple recently announced that it will soon be opening a second retail store in the heart of Berlin. The store will be located on the popular Rosenthaler Strasse shopping street in Mitte, the historic center of Germany's capital city.

Apple has yet to share a specific opening date for the Rosenthaler Strasse store, which will accompany Apple's existing Kurfürstendamm store in Berlin.

Twitter account Storeteller has shared some photos of the Rosenthaler Strasse store, which is covered in a colorful facade ahead of its grand opening. Apple is also offering matching wallpapers for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac on its website.

Apple operates over 500 retail stores worldwide, including a newly relocated store at The Grove in Los Angeles and a new store in Istanbul, Turkey.

While Apple maintained its dominant share of smartwatch shipments in the third quarter of 2021, the company's shipments fell as Samsung made significant gains, according to Counterpoint Research.

Global smartwatch shipments in the third quarter of this year increased by 16 percent overall compared to the same time in 2020, but Apple Watch shipments declined by 10 percent. The drop may be explained by the Apple Watch Series 7 shipping later than usual due to delays, pushing sales of the latest model into the fourth quarter. Customers may also have been reluctant to buy the Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 6 in the third quarter with the expectation of new models arriving soon, suppressing Apple's shipments further.

Meanwhile, Samsung saw its highest number of quarterly smartwatch shipments to date, reclaiming its position as the second biggest smartwatch brand from Huawei. Counterpoint credits the launch of the Galaxy Watch 4 series, Wear OS's expanding app ecosystem, a broader range of models, and well-received features for the company's significantly increased shipments.

Wear OS also made comparatively large gains in terms of operating system market share. watchOS's presence continues to decline with a share of just 22 percent, sustaining a progressive decline since a peak market share of 40 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Data for the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, showing shipments of the Apple Watch Series 7, are likely to give a more accurate presentation of Samsung's growth in the smartwatch market.

Following in the wake of an AirPods Max deal earlier today, Amazon is now taking $24 off Apple's brand new AirPods 3. The wireless headphones are available for $154.99, down from $179.00. You'll see this price once you add the item to your cart and an automatic coupon is applied.

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 3 are the newest version of Apple's AirPods lineup, and they feature spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, adaptive EQ, a new design, sweat and water resistance, and up to six hours of listening time on one charge. The included MagSafe Charging Case also provides up to 30 hours of listening time.

We're keeping track of all this season's best deals in our Black Friday 2021 Roundup. You can also find more of our daily deals and other offers in our Deals Roundup.

Facebook, now rebranded to "Meta," is delaying plans to use end-to-end encryption for Messenger and Instagram messages until at least 2023, a year later than the previous deadline promised by the social media behemoth.

Writing in The Telegraph, Meta's head of global safety, Antigone Davis, said that the company is pushing back its deadline to roll out end-to-end encryption as the default for billions of Messenger and Instagram users until "sometime in 2023." Meta claims this delay is meant to give it extra time to coordinate with experts in the field of combating online abuse while also protecting user privacy.

We're taking our time to get this right and we don't plan to finish the global rollout of end-to-end encryption by default across all our messaging services until sometime in 2023. As a company that connects billions of people around the world and has built industry-leading technology, we're determined to protect people's private communications and keep people safe online.

Facebook had previously set in motion a plan to fully encrypt all messages in Messenger and Instagram in 2022, but following that announcement, government officials, institutions, and others raised concerns. Concerns amount to whether end-to-end encryption will make it harder for law enforcement to protect public and child safety.

Davis said that a balance can be and must be accomplished. "We believe people shouldn't have to choose between privacy and safety," Davis wrote, adding that Meta is "engaging with privacy and safety experts, civil society and governments to make sure we get this right."

Instagram, owned by Meta, has introduced features and changes to improve the platform for younger users, including automatically defaulting the accounts of users under the age of 18 to private. Meta is also relying on people's goodwill to combat possible abuse on its platform.

Third, we're actively encouraging people to report harmful messages to us and will prompt them to do so when we think there could be a problem. Once they do, we can view the reported message, investigate the content, offer support where appropriate, and take action where necessary. Where we find abuse, we make referrals to the authorities and respond swiftly to valid requests for data to support law enforcement investigations – as we always will.

Davis is defended the need for end-to-end encryption, citing recent cases with data requests from law enforcement showing that the majority of user information requested is non-encrypted in the first place. "While no systems are perfect, this shows that we can continue to stop criminals and support law enforcement," Davis wrote.

Meta already utilizes end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp, but that privilege is not extended by default to all Facebook Messenger and Instagram DM users. In August, Instagram said it would be testing "opt-in" end-to-end encryption chats for a limited number of adult users in certain countries. Signal, Telegram, and iMessage are all end-to-end encrypted with no need to "opt-in" to the most secure form of mobile communication.

Amazon today has Apple's AirPods Max available at $439.99 in Silver, Sky Blue, and Space Gray. All models are in stock and ready to ship out today.

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.

Although this sale isn't a record low price, it's just about $10 off from the previous lowest price on the AirPods Max and still one of the steepest discounts we've tracked all year.

Additionally, we're seeing a few solid deals on other AirPods models on Amazon, including the AirPods Pro with MagSafe for $169.99 ($79 off) and the AirPods 2 for $114.99 ($44 off). All models are in stock and sold directly from Amazon.

We're keeping track of all this season's best deals in our Black Friday 2021 Roundup. You can also find more of our daily deals and other offers in our Deals Roundup.

A rare wearable Macintosh accessory from 1988 called the "WristMac" today goes up for auction at ComicConnect.

The WristMac is an early example of wearable technology made by Ex Machina, Inc. and Seiko. While it was not made by Apple, the device served as a programmable wristwatch that could be connected to a Macintosh and store phone numbers, execute one-time and recurring alarms, and take notes that could be exported to a disk as a text file.

In 1991, NASA astronauts were issued with a WristMac to communicate with the Macintosh Portable and Apple Link software aboard the space shuttle "Atlantis."

The WristMac is a very rare item and as such there are no recent confirmed sales to accurately determine its expected selling price. ComicConnect CEO Stephen Fishler expects the WristMac listing to sell for anywhere between $1,000 and $100,000, with a final selling price likely to be in the region of $25,000 to $50,000.

The never-worn WristMac available in the auction still comes in its original box and includes its dock, registration card, reference manual, and WristMac 1.2 software floppy disk. Bidding begins today from $1, with the online auction running through to December 18.

Apple will be offering customers up to a $200 Apple Store gift card alongside purchases of eligible products as part of its annual four-day shopping event that begins on Black Friday, November 26, until Cyber Monday on November 29.

The promotion will be valid for all customers who purchase eligible products either at an ‌Apple Store‌, by phone at 1-800-MY-APPLE, or online. See the eligible product purchases listed below

• $50 for iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, and ‌iPhone‌ SE
• Up to $75 for second or third-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max
• $50 for Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 3
• $100 for 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro
• $100 for MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini
• $200 for 27-inch iMac
• $50 for Apple TV 4K and ‌Apple TV‌ HD
• Up to $50 for second-generation Apple Pencil, Smart Keyboard Folio, MagSafe Duo Charger, AirTag four pack, and Magic Keyboard
• Up to $50 for Beats Studio3 Wireless, Solo3 Wireless, and more

As apparent from the list, in line with previous years, Apple is excluding newer ‌iPhone‌, Apple Watch, and Mac models from its gift card promotion. Interestingly, Apple is offering double the gift card value specifically for purchases of the 27-inch ‌iMac‌ compared to other Mac models part of the promotion. Amid rumors of an imminent update early next year, Apple may be looking to clear out existing stock of its largest ‌iMac‌, using the higher gift card value as an incentive for customers.

As a reminder, ‌Apple Store‌ gift cards can be utilized for several purchases, including products, accessories, music, movies, TV shows, iCloud, and more. For the latest and greatest Black Friday deals, be sure to checkout our dedicated roundup.

The biggest news item this week was Apple's announcement of an upcoming Self Service Repair program that will allow users to obtain parts, tools, and manuals directly from Apple in a win for the Right to Repair movement.

That certainly wasn't the only news this week, with Apple also releasing iOS 15.1.1 for iPhone 12 and 13 users while continuing work on iOS 15.2 and other upcoming updates, and fresh rumors about the Apple's car and AR headset projects. Black Friday is also right around the corner, so read on for all of the details on our biggest stories of the week!

Apple Announces Self Service Repair Program, Starting With iPhone 12 and 13

Apple this week announced a new "Self Service Repair" program, allowing users to complete their own repairs via a new online store dedicated to parts and tools.

The Self Service Repair program will give customers who are comfortable with the idea of completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts, tools, and manuals, starting with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups in the U.S. in early 2022. The scheme will be introduced in phases, adding more repairs and supported devices over time.

The announcement is a win for the Right to Repair movement, and advocates like repair firm iFixit have lauded Apple for introducing the program, although some remain wary pending more details on costs and policies.

Apple Releases iOS 15.1.1 With Call Improvements for iPhone 12 and 13 Models

Apple this week released iOS 15.1.1, which improves call drop performance on iPhone 12 and 13 models. It appears to only be available for devices in the ‌iPhone 12‌ and iPhone 13 families, including Pro models, so users with other devices won't see the update.

Developers and public beta testers have also received a third round of betas for Apple's next major set of updates, including iOS 15.2. There are a number of new tweaks in the latest beta, such as the ability to search within Apple Music playlists and improvements for the new Macro camera mode settings introduced in the previous beta.

Apple Black Friday: Best Deals on iPhones, iPads, and Macs for 2021

We're less than a week away from Black Friday, and some retailers will be kicking off their major holiday sales even sooner, so keep a close eye on our Black Friday roundup where we're collecting the best deals we've seen so far.

We also have some spotlight coverage of major retailers like Walmart and Target, and we'll be sharing many more deals as we get closer to the big day.

Apple Working Toward Fully Autonomous Car With No Steering Wheel or Pedals, Aiming to Launch in 2025

Apple is picking up its work on an Apple-designed car and is aiming to create a fully autonomous vehicle, reports Bloomberg.

Apple is "refocusing" the project around full self-driving vehicles, a goal that other car manufacturers have not been able to achieve. The company is hoping to launch its first car in 2025, although even some insiders think that goal may be optimistic.

The report gave a boost to investors as Apple's stock popped immediately upon its publication, driving Apple shares to their first all-time high in over two months.

Apple AR Headset 'Approaching Liftoff' as Development Mirrors Period Before Apple Watch Launch

The long-rumored Apple augmented reality (AR) headset may be "approaching liftoff", with Morgan Stanley analysts noting that development appears to be mirroring what was seen just prior to the launch of the Apple Watch.

Apple has been applying for a number of patents across a variety of topics related to AR, and many expect Apple's entry to be a "game changer" for normalizing the technology.

Both Apple's AR headset and the iPhone 14 are expected to adopt Wi-Fi 6E, according to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The technology offers the fast speeds and low latency of Wi-Fi 6 but extended into the 6 GHz band for even better performance with less interference.

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!

With the launch of iOS 15.1, Apple introduced a new prompt for the Podcasts app that asks customers to rate it, and as it turns out, confusion over what's being rated has led to an artificially inflated App Store rating for the Podcasts app.

Prior to the October 25 launch of iOS 15.1, the Podcasts app had 1.8 stars and plenty of negative reviews from customers unhappy with the design of the app. Now that Apple is asking customers to rate the app, ‌App Store‌ ratings for the Podcast app have shot up to 4.7 stars, a stark difference.

Apple made no major changes to the Podcasts app so customers are not suddenly happier with its design and performance - instead, many people are leaving ratings for the podcasts themselves. As noted by Kosta Eleftheriou and highlighted today by The Verge, many of the reviews are for the podcasts that are available through the Podcasts app, and not for the app's functionality.

The top review in the ‌App Store‌ right now starts out with "Best Podcast Ever!", with the reviewer lauding the podcast they had been listening to at the time the review prompt popped up.

The rest of the reviews are a mix of one star comments about the design of the Podcasts app and positive reviews for podcast content.

With the review prompt, the Podcasts app is receiving thousands of reviews per day, and many of them are positive. Apple confirmed to The Verge that it is using a new prompt, the same one available to all developers. "With iOS 15.1 released last month, Apple Podcasts began prompting listeners to leave a rating and review just like most third-party apps -- using the standard Rating & Review prompt available to all developers," a spokesperson said.

As The Verge points out, Apple is breaking no rules using this prompt that is standard issue in third-party apps, but it's misleading for customers looking for an ideal podcast experience. The Podcasts app is the number one app that comes up when you search for "podcasts" even though unaltered ratings suggest that other podcast apps offer a better user interface.

Looking at the reviews of third-party podcast apps, the majority of the ratings are for the apps themselves, and customers do not seem to be accidentally offering reviews for podcast content as is happening with the Podcasts app. It is not clear if Apple plans to remove its confusing in-app rating prompt for the Podcasts app, but reviews for the Podcasts app certainly should not be trusted.

Customers have been increasingly unhappy with the Podcasts app since iOS 14.5, which is when Apple introduced a design change that brought with it multiple bugs ranging from problems with syncing to an issue causing huge numbers of podcast episodes to be re-downloaded at one time. There were a huge number of complaints, in fact, which led Apple to make some changes in iOS 14.6, but the app has continued to accumulate negative feedback.