MacRumors

Apple today released new 3C39 firmware designed for the AirPods Max, marking the second firmware update the high-end over-ear headphones have received since their December launch.

The new 3C39 firmware replaces the 3C16 launch firmware that was available the day the ‌AirPods Max‌ launched.

Apple does not provide details on what's included in new firmware updates, so we don't know what bug fixes or improvements the new firmware might offer. There have been reports of battery life issues with the ‌AirPods Max‌, so it's possible that the firmware update addresses that problem.

There's no standard way to upgrade firmware on AirPods, AirPods Pro, or ‌AirPods Max‌, but connecting the ‌AirPods Max‌ to an iPhone or an iPad while connected to a power source may force the update.

You can check the firmware on your ‌AirPods Max‌ by following these steps:

• Connect your ‌AirPods Max‌‌ to your iOS device.
• Open the Settings app.
• Tap General.
• Tap About.
• Tap ‌‌‌‌AirPods‌‌‌‌.
• Look at the number next to "Firmware Version."

In the past, updates for the ‌AirPods Pro‌ and AirPods have included performance improvements, bug fixes, and feature tweaks, so if we find notable changes after installing the firmware updates, we'll update this article.

Disney+ has surpassed 100 million global paid subscribers, Disney announced today during a shareholders meeting. The streaming service has gained five million subscribers since Mid-February, which was the last time subscriber info was shared.

"The enormous success of Disney+ --which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers--has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content," said Disney CEO Bob Chapek.

Disney has set a target of 100+ new titles per year across Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, with Chapek calling the company's direct to consumer business a "top priority."

Disney+ reached the 100 million subscriber milestone 16 months after launch, exceeding all of the original subscriber targets that Disney set. When the service launched, Disney said that it hoped to hit 60 to 90 million subscribers by 2024, which it hit before the end of 2020.

Disney now believes that it will have 230 to 260 million subscribers worldwide by 2024, which will see Disney+ surpassing Netflix. In January, Netflix had more than 200 million subscribers worldwide.

While Disney+ launched at the same time as Apple TV+, Disney's streaming service has grown much more rapidly. By five months after launch, Disney+ already had over 50 million subscribers thanks to Disney's wealth of existing content and original shows like "The Mandalorian" and "WandaVision."

Apple has not provided details on ‌Apple TV‌+ subscribers so there's no direct comparison available, but Apple's subscriber numbers are not likely to be anywhere near Disney's as Apple still has many people who are on free trials, which have been extended multiple times. Apple is also reimbursing ‌Apple TV‌+ costs for subscribers at the current time and will do so until July.

Apple has been ramping up its selection of original movies and TV shows and has invested heavily in new content, but it will be years before ‌Apple TV‌+ has a catalog that can compete with other streaming services.

A security flaw in an app called "Call Recorder" exposed thousands of customer conversations, reports TechCrunch. The vulnerability was found by PingSafe AI researcher Anand Prakesh, and has since been patched.

The Call Recorder app is designed to allow iPhone users to record their incoming and outgoing phone calls, with those recordings stored in the cloud on Amazon Web Services.

Using a proxy tool like Burp Suite, Prakash was able to view and modify network traffic going in and out of the app, and when replacing his phone number with the phone number of another Call Recorder user, their recordings became available on his phone.

There were more than 130,000 audio recordings available, though the files could not be accessed or downloaded outside of the app. TechCrunch informed the developer about the security flaw and it was fixed in an update on Saturday.

A recent report from mobile security firm Zimperium suggested that thousands of iOS apps that use public cloud services like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure have improper setups that risk exposing user data.

6,608 iOS apps were found to be exposing users' personal information, passwords, and medical information. Zimperium CEO Shridhar Mittal said that cloud storage misconfigurations are a "disturbing trend."

"A lot of these apps have cloud storage that was not configured properly by the developer or whoever set things up and, because of that, data is visible to just about anyone. And most of us have some of these apps right now," he said.

No apps were named in the report because of the vulnerabilities involved, but some were major apps including a mobile wallet from a Fortune 500 company and a transportation app from a large city.

Apple will soon be making a significant change to its serial number format for future products that will see some key information stripped out.

In an internal AppleCare email this week, obtained by MacRumors, Apple said the new serial number format will consist of a randomized alphanumeric string of 8-14 characters that will no longer include manufacturing information or a configuration code. Apple said the serial number format transition is scheduled for "early 2021," and confirmed that IMEI numbers will not be affected by this change.

Any currently shipping Apple products will continue to use the current serial number format, while future products will use the new format, according to Apple. The new serial numbers will initially be 10 characters, the company indicated.

Apple's current serial number format has long allowed both customers and service providers to determine the date and location that a product was manufactured, with the first three characters representing the manufacturing location and the following two indicating the year and week of manufacture. The last four characters currently serve as a "configuration code," revealing a device's model, color, and storage capacity.

Apple initially planned to transition to the new serial number format in late 2020, but delayed.

T-Mobile is planning to automatically opt its customers into an advertising program that will see user web and mobile app usage shared with advertisers, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In a recent privacy policy update, T-Mobile and Sprint customers were informed that their web and mobile app data will be provided to advertisers starting on April 26 unless they specifically opt out. T-Mobile's program will allow advertisers to identify people who have specific interests that can be targeted with ads, such as sports or cooking.

The new advertising policy applies to T-Mobile and Sprint customers. Sprint previously had a similar data sharing partnership with advertisers, but it was only for customers who specifically opted in. The new data sharing program will be the default option, but it will not apply to business accounts or children's lines.

A T-Mobile spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that subscribers want more relevant ads that align with their interests. "We've heard many say they prefer more relevant ads so we're defaulting to this setting," said the spokesperson.

T-Mobile plans to mask user identities to prevent advertisers and other companies from knowing the specific websites they visit or apps they have installed with an encoded user or device ID, but Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer Aaron Mackey said that advertisers have ways to link data back to users. "This type of data is very personal and revealing, and it's trivial to link that deidentified info back to you," he said.

T-Mobile's data sharing changes come just as Apple will begin enforcing App Tracking Transparency, a feature that will require app developers to get express user permission before tracking users across apps and websites using the advertising identifier, or IDFA.

App Tracking Transparency is not relevant when it comes to carrier-level data tracking and sharing. Carrier data collection is not new, and AT&T and Verizon both have programs that share user data with advertisers.

AT&T opts wireless subscribers into an ad program that pools them based on inferred interests, with the company sharing more detailed information from customers who opt in. Verizon also pools subscriber data before sharing it with advertisers, plus there's a more extensive data sharing program for users who enroll in Verizon Selects.

T-Mobile customers can opt out of the advertising program through the T-Mobile app or the T-Mobile website. In the app, access the "MORE" tab, select Advertising & Analytics, and toggle off "Use my data to make ads more relevant to me."

On the website, choose "My Account," select "Profile, Privacy, and Notifications, then choose Advertising "& Analytics. From there, turn the opt-in toggle off. Sprint users can change the setting through the Sprint website. Select "Visit My Account," choose "Preferences" and then scroll down to "Manage advertising and analytics preferences." From here, turn off "Use my data to make ads more relevant to me."

AT&T customers can opt out of AT&T's ad program by visiting AT&T's opt out website, and Verizon account privacy controls can be accessed through the Verizon privacy website.

OTOY today announced that the Octane X GPU renderer is now available for free from the Mac App Store, bringing native Octane X Enterprise features to creative professionals running macOS Big Sur for the first time.

The software was built specifically for Apple's Macs, taking advantage of the Metal API and offering support for M1 Macs. Octane X has been in development for several years and it offers full pixel parity with OctaneRender.

Octane X is the world's first and fastest unbiased, spectrally-correct GPU production renderer for macOS, built from the ground up for maximum performance on Apple Metal and Apple Silicon, and empowering artist workflows across visual effects, motion graphics, gaming, design, concept art and architectural visualization.

Octane X is optimized for maximum rendering performance on AMD Polaris, Vega and Navi GPUs as well as Intel SkyLake GPUs on macOS Big Sur 11.1 and later.

This exclusive version of Octane X for the App Store features multi-GPU rendering, network rendering (through an additional Octane Enterprise Render Node license) and Apple M1 native GPU rendering support.

macOS Metal features include a rewritten mesh geometry optimized for AMD GPUs and near-perfect linear scaling of rendering speed with multiple GPU configurations.

Alongside the new app, OTOY is offering new Octane X Prime and Enterprise subscriptions, which are free for one year with access to the Octane X plug-in integrations across content creation tools like Cinema4D, SketchUp, Maya, Houdini, Blender, Modo, Nuke, Unreal Engine and Unity.

MacBook Pro, iMac Pro, and Mac Pro users have access to a year of Octane X Enterprise with RNDR, while other Macs have a year of access to Octane X Prime and Octane X DCC integrations.

Amazon maintains lists of its best selling products, and right now, the best-selling smartphone that's available from Amazon is an Amazon "Renewed" iPhone 8, which is priced starting at $178.

That's super cheap for an ‌iPhone‌, and cheaper than Apple's own refurbished price for the same device, so in our latest YouTube video, we picked up one of these Amazon Renewed iPhones to see if it's worth the savings.

Amazon's "Renewed" devices are all pre-owned and are not Apple certified, but Amazon says they've been professionally "inspected, tested, and cleaned" by Amazon-qualified suppliers. Note that the iPhones come from various third-party suppliers and are not necessarily provided direct by Amazon.

Amazon has two product grades: Renewed and Renewed Premium. Renewed is the cheapest option and starts at $170 for an ‌iPhone‌ 8 with 64GB storage, while Renewed Premium is a bit more expensive. It's worth noting that prices on Renewed and Renewed Premium devices do fluctuate, and sometimes the Premium versions go out of stock. Apple doesn't offer a new ‌iPhone‌ 8 anymore, but for comparison's sake, charges $339 for a Refurbished version.

Amazon says that its Renewed devices have no "visible cosmetic imperfections" when held at an arm's length and a battery capacity that exceeds 80 percent relative to a new device, while Renewed Premium versions are "certified to work and look like new," so we chose the Premium option to get as close as possible to new ‌iPhone‌ 8.

The ‌iPhone‌ 8 that we received from Amazon looks and feels like a new device, but it did ship with a non-factory charger and Lightning cable. There were a few hairline scratches on the screen that weren't super noticeable, but will likely annoy perfectionists.

After charging, the ‌iPhone‌ 8 worked as expected and had a 90 percent battery capacity. Over the course of a few days of usage, we ran into an issue with the speaker. At loud volumes, it sounds off with a noticeable crackling, which was not a problem with an original launch day ‌iPhone‌ 8 that we had on hand. The speaker issue did not impact call quality, so the phone was functional even with this problem.

If you're looking for an ‌iPhone‌ on the cheap, Amazon's Renewed devices are worth checking out, but don't expect total perfection. We ran into some minor problems, and if you check out the Amazon reviews, other users have also had more significant issues with the used and refurbished iPhones that they've purchased from Amazon.

Amazon offers a 90-day return policy for Renewed devices, while "Premium" versions come with a one-year customer satisfaction guarantee with an option to return the product, so if something is wrong with a device, you can send it back and get a refund.

Apple is interested in expanding the use of haptic feedback on MacBook devices, according to a newly granted patent filing.

The patent, filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and first spotted by Patently Apple, is titled "Laptop computing device with discrete haptic regions" and explains how a MacBook could provide significantly expanded haptic feedback across multiple areas.

Since the 2015 MacBook, Apple has included the Force Touch trackpad on all of its new laptops, such as the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Beyond the ability to detect how much pressure is placed on the trackpad, the Force Touch trackpad also delivers haptic feedback.

On MacBooks, haptic feedback is used to give the impression of a physical click, when the trackpad is actually static. In addition, it can offer useful contextual information in conjunction with on-screen content. For example, when moving a shape in a document or spreadsheet, haptic feedback is used to allow users to feel when it is in alignment with a margin or another object.

While haptics have thus far been reserved for the trackpad only on MacBooks, Apple is now actively researching how it can expand haptic feedback to more areas of the device.

Beyond simply making the technology more widespread on devices, Apple suggests that the utility of haptic feedback can be advanced by providing it in different areas to indicate a wider range of information. For example, haptic feedback could be distinctively provided on the left, middle, and right of a MacBook, and the feedback is said to be "imperceptible outside that region." Apple calls this system "spatially localized haptics."

Some spatially localized haptics may overlap, but each has its own individual haptic actuator. Apple suggests that these areas may also be capable of accepting touch input to trigger haptic feedback. Interestingly, the patent notes that "force sensors" may be used to detect pressure input, presumably like the current implementation under the Force Touch Trackpad.

The system involves haptics that are so widespread that "an input area may encompass part of an electronic device's housing and be large enough that a user may touch multiple portions of the input area simultaneously."

Apple's spatially localized haptics are also said to be much more distinctive than normal haptic feedback, allowing users to clearly "distinguish between haptic outputs" in different areas.

In terms of practical uses, the patent suggests that this system of spatially localized haptics could be used in response to the force of a user typing on a keyboard, offering an additional confirmation that an actuation force was registered. Alternately, the localized haptics may provide distinctive tactile outputs from either side of the palm rest, such as for a notification.

In much the same way that Apple uses different alert sounds on macOS to indicate different notifications, spatially localized haptics may offer a variety of tactile feedback for notifications. In some instances, "multiple haptic outputs may be provided simultaneously" to produce a different sensation and "alert a user to multiple notifications."

While patent filings cannot be taken as firm evidence of what Apple is intending to implement in its future products, they can offer an insightful look at the areas in which the company is directing its research and development. Unlike some patent filings which outline outlandish and abstract technologies that are very unlikely to come to market any time soon, this patent seems well within the realms of possibility, given that the technology already exists in millions of MacBook devices.

Announced at CES 2021, Belkin's new MagSafe compatible 2-in-1 wireless charger is now available to pre-order for $99.99.

The accessory features a ‌MagSafe‌ charger for the iPhone 12 series and a Qi wireless charging pad at the bottom of the base for devices such as AirPods. The main ‌MagSafe‌ charger charges ‌iPhone‌ 12 models at 15W, and the base charging pad charges at 5W. The ‌MagSafe‌ charger is magnetic, meaning the ‌iPhone‌ 12 series can be set in either portrait or landscape mode.

Additional features include an LED indicator at the base of the charger that indicates the charging status for AirPods. A white light means AirPods, or any other Qi-compatible device, is charging. An amber LED indicates the device is not positioned correctly on the pad and is not charging.

Belkin is offering the charger in either black or white, and it retails for $99.99. Belkin's website says that if customers pre-order today, estimated shipping will take place in late March.

Taiwanese touch panel maker GIS plans to expand its backend module capacity for new products at its factory in Chengdu, China, according to industry sources cited in a report today from supply chain publication DigiTimes.

One of the new products will likely be Apple's long-rumored 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display, which is slated to launch at the end of March or early in the second quarter, the industry sources said. The timeframe suggests that the device could be announced by Apple within the next few weeks, or in April at the latest.

A new 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display has been widely rumored for many months. The device would still have an LCD display, but with Mini-LED backlighting for higher brightness, improved contrast ratio, and other benefits. It's unclear if the 11-inch iPad Pro will be updated with a Mini-LED display too, as many rumors have only mentioned the 12.9-inch model, despite the fact the devices are usually updated together.

The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro is also expected to feature a faster A14X chip and support for 5G networks on models with cellular connectivity.

March is a common month for Apple to announce new or updated products. Apple last updated its iPad Pro lineup in March 2020 with a marginally improved A12Z Bionic chip, an Ultra Wide camera, a LiDAR Scanner, and better sounding microphones.

Chinese leaker "Kang" recently suggested that Apple plans to host an event on March 23, and while he has a strong track record so far, Apple could of course opt to announce the new iPad Pro with a press release. Other rumored products include Apple's long-awaited AirTags items trackers, a new Apple TV, new AirPods, and more Apple silicon Macs.

Last month, Twitter announced "Super Follow," a new business model that will allow creators to charge users for exclusive content on the platform. To make it work, Twitter will enable users to pay creators, influencers, and others a set monthly price to become a "Super Follower" via an in-app purchase on iOS and Android.

Apple's in-app purchasing system, which gives the tech giant a 30% commission for purchases made within apps, has become the center of recent controversy. Companies such as Epic Games claim that the commission is "unfair" and that 30% is too high. Most notably, ‌Epic Games‌ in August of last year broke App Store rules by implementing its own direct payment method for in-app purchases within Fortnite, resulting in the game's removal from the platform.

In an interview with The Verge, Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter's head of consumer product, offered a different tone towards Apple's hotly disputed in-app purchasing system. In what could be an indirect snub to the actions of ‌Epic Games‌, Beykpour said that Twitter is "not in the business of getting around platform rules."

The way I would think of this in the context of Super Follows where we’re building this layer that didn’t exist before — even if that $10 comes down to $7 because of a 30 percent fee, that’s still $7 more than you’ve been able to make on Twitter than before.

So don’t get me wrong, I would love for that to be $9 instead of $7, but at the end of the day, that’s not something that we have direct influence over on one platform. So it’s not a focus for us right now. Our focus is to build the best possible experience that is good enough that people aren’t going to think about the cut.

Beykpour's answer came in response to a series of questions in which The Verge's editor-in-chief, Nilay Patel, attempted to get a specific answer on Twitter's thoughts about Apple's "30% tax." While Beykpour dodged providing a definitive answer on Twitter's viewpoint on the commission, he did say that it takes a "lot of cost and effort" to build an ecosystem and platform such as the App Store to accept payment methods.

In the larger picture, however, Beykpour said Twitter has no "direct influence over on one platform" and that if Twitter implements "Super Follow" correctly, then "good things will happen." Twitter has not offered a timeframe for when "Super Follow" will launch, but it's promising to share more information in the coming months.

In 2019, Apple partnered with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to launch a Women's Health Study through its Research app on the iPhone and Apple Watch.

Apple today highlighted preliminary data from the study, offering insights on women and their menstrual symptoms. Among the first 10,000 participants to enroll in the study and respond to a demographics survey, the most frequently tracked symptoms were abdominal cramps, bloating, and tiredness, all of which were experienced by more than 60 percent of participants who logged symptoms, according to Apple's press release.

More than half of the participants who logged symptoms reported acne and headaches, based on the preliminary findings. Some less widely recognized symptoms, like diarrhea and sleep changes, were tracked by 37 percent of participants logging symptoms.

Apple said the preliminary data from the Women's Health Study "highlights how large-scale, longitudinal research on menstruation can help advance the science around women's health and destigmatize menstruation."

"These findings take us a step further in validating and destigmatizing period symptoms," said Dr. Sumbul Desai, Apple's vice president of Health. "Harvard Chan researchers are leaders in the field on this critically important subject, and we couldn't be more proud to support and help scale their efforts through the Research app."

Apple said the Women's Health Study aims to advance the understanding of menstrual cycles and how they relate to various health conditions, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), infertility, and menopausal transition. Participants must be at least 18 years old (at least 19 years old in Alabama and Nebraska and at least 21 years old in Puerto Rico) and have menstruated at least once in their life.

Apple will soon start flagship iPhone 12 production on Indian soil for local customers, the company said on Tuesday (via Punjab News Express).

"We are proud to be starting production of iPhone 12 in India for our local customers," Apple told the Indo-Asian News Service in a statement.

"Apple is dedicated to making the best products and services in the world to delight our customers," the company added.

Apple's market share in India increased from 2% to 4% in the quarter that ended in December, based on data collated by research firm Cybermedia.

Apple shipped more than 1.5 million ‌iPhone‌ units in India in the quarter, up 100% year-on-year, making Q4 2020 its best quarter in the country to date.

According to the data, Apple managed to double its market share thanks to improved sales of the ‌iPhone‌ 11, ‌iPhone‌ XR, ‌iPhone‌ 12, and the 2020 ‌iPhone‌ SE. Overall, Apple shipped more than 3.2 million ‌‌iPhone‌‌ units in India in 2020, up 60% year-on-year.

The results follow several recent moves by Apple in the country, including the launch of a regional online store in September 2020 and a Diwali promotion in October that offered free AirPods with every ‌‌iPhone‌ 11‌ purchase.

Apple has historically struggled to be competitive in what is the world's second largest smartphone market, in part due to the premium price tags of its ‌‌iPhone‌‌ models versus the low cost of rival handsets from the likes of Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo that have swamped the market.

However, Apple has taken advantage of the Indian government's Made in India initiative to increase its regional manufacturing base, which has allowed it to save import duty costs and pass on the savings to customers by reducing prices on older generation ‌‌iPhone‌‌ models.

Apple supplier Wistron recently began trial production of the ‌‌‌iPhone‌ 12‌‌ at a new facility near Bengaluru, with full production set to begin soon. The ‌‌‌iPhone‌ 12‌‌ will be the seventh ‌‌iPhone‌‌ model to be manufactured in India, but the first high-end device to do so.

Apple produced 77.6 million iPhones units in the fourth quarter of 2020, 69.8 million of which were iPhone 12 models, helping the company overtake Samsung to become the top global smartphone brand, according to TrendForce.

The analysts' latest report says Apple sold 10 million more phones than its biggest rival over the quarter, with Samsung selling 67 million phones, a quarter-on-quarter decline of 14%. By contrast, Apple recorded an 85% increase QoQ, driven in part by Apple's support for 5G across its latest smartphone lineup and its adoption of an aggressive pricing strategy.

Even though the share of high-end models in global smartphone sales shrank in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple was able to push through the headwinds and capture market share by introducing 5G models and adopting an aggressive pricing strategy. Apple produced 77.6 million units of iPhones in 4Q20, an 85% increase QoQ, thereby overtaking Samsung and ranking first amongst all smartphone brands. It should also be pointed out that iPhone 12 devices accounted for about 90% of the iPhone production in 4Q20.

TrendForce foresees higher than expected sales for all manufacturers in the first quarter of this year. "Historically, smartphone production tends to experience a QoQ drop of around 20% for the first quarter as demand collapses from the peak-season level of the fourth quarter of the preceding year," say its analysts. "However, the performance of the first quarter of this year is expected to defy seasonality."

To that end, sales of ‌iPhone‌ 12 devices are likely to remain strong in the first quarter of 2021, and total ‌iPhone‌ production are expected to reach 54 million units, with ‌iPhone‌ 12 models again accounting for about 80% of this figure.

Despite Samsung losing ground on Apple in the last quarter, TrendForce expects Samsung to top the global smartphone production ranking for the whole of 2021, thanks to its new flagship Galaxy S21 lineup and the adoption of promotional pricing to boost sales of its latest high-end devices.

However, the analysts believe Samsung's ability to retain the leadership position will prove increasingly challenging as it continues to lose market share to Chinese brands like Oppo and Xiaomi, which have risen rapidly over the past few years thanks to devices that boast better price-performance ratio compared to Samsung's offerings.

Today's report lines up with the latest data gathered by Gartner, which found that Apple overtook Samsung to become the largest smartphone vendor worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2020, a feat not achieved by Apple since 2016.

Apple's advertising system for monetizing its apps and services is the target of a new complaint in France that has been brought against it by a lobby group representing startups and venture capital firms (via Bloomberg).

Submitted on Tuesday by France Digitale to the country's National Data Protection Commission (CNIL), the complaint focuses on an Apple feature called Personalized Advertising, which shows ads in the App Store, Apple News, and the Stocks app, based on a user's data.

The group said it had acted because Apple's system doesn't ask for the user's permission to receive the targeted ads, which are enabled by default. Users are "insufficiently informed about the use and the processing of its personal data," the association wrote in the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg.

"Apple keeps the right to choose who is a 'partner' and who is a 'third party' in an arbitrary manner, a quality which may change over time, without the user being informed of such a change," France Digitale wrote, claiming the company is seeking to use data it collects and uses.

The complaint comes ahead of Apple's planned rollout of a new App Tracking Transparency feature, which will limit how much data that third-party advertising systems can gather about users. Following the release of iOS 14.5, all apps that access an iPhone's ad identifier or IDFA will need to ask a user's permission before tracking is allowed.

The upcoming feature has drawn criticism from Facebook and other advertisers who are concerned that many users will not consent to being tracked across apps for ad personalization purposes. However, App Tracking Transparency is different from Apple's own personalized advertising system, which doesn't track users across apps and doesn't identify users to target its ads. Instead, it relies on the anonymous grouping of users' shared characteristics such as apps downloaded, age, country or city of residence, and gender.

However, that hasn't stopped France Digitale from claiming that it still gives Apple an advantage over third-parties when it comes to ‌iPhone‌ app-based advertising. Apple responded to the complaint in a statement given to Bloomberg:

"The allegations in the complaint are patently false and will be seen for what they are, a poor attempt by those who track users to distract from their own actions and mislead regulators and policymakers. Transparency and control for the user are fundamental pillars of our privacy philosophy, which is why we've made App Tracking Transparency equally applicable to all developers including Apple. Privacy is built into the ads we sell on our platform with no tracking."

French Digitale's legal action follows another complaint against Apple that was filed with France's competition authority by advertising companies and publishers in October 2020.

That complaint argued that the enhanced privacy measures brought about by Apple's Apple Tracking Transparency would be anticompetitive. A ruling by the French watchdog is expected soon, and depending on the outcome, Apple could be forced to leave out its enhanced privacy feature in iOS 14.5 for users in the 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.

Apple's iPhones will adopt a "periscopic telephoto lens" in 2023, according to a research note shared this evening by well-respected TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Kuo did not elaborate, but we've heard several prior rumors about Apple's work on a periscope lens, which would allow for significant improvements in optical zoom capabilities. Kuo previously said that he expected Apple to adopt a periscope lens in 2022 iPhone models, but it appears he now believes that won't happen until 2023.

Existing smartphones have already adopted periscope lens technology. Huawei's P30 Pro allows for 5x optical zoom, and an ‌iPhone‌ with a periscope lens could have similar capabilities. Current iPhones max out at 2.5x optical zoom and 12x digital zoom, but better zoom capabilities could let Apple's iPhones compete with smartphones that have focused on zoom functionality. Samsung's latest smartphones, for example, have a 100x zoom feature that Apple 's current iPhones can't match.

In addition to the prediction about periscopic lens technology coming in 2023, Kuo shared details on both the 2021 and 2022 iPhones.

For the 2021 iPhones, Kuo believes that Apple will adopt a new Face ID transmitter that's made from a plastic material instead of glass, which is now possible thanks to improved coating technologies. It's not clear if this will have end-user benefits for ‌iPhone‌ owners or if it will simply mean a reduction in production cost for Apple.

In the past, it was widely believed that the reason the Tx lens had to adopt glass material was to avoid distortion due to the heat generated by VCSEL operation. Our latest survey indicates that the Face ID TX lens for the new 2H21 iPhone will be made of plastic instead of glass, thanks to improved coating technologies and that the Tx plastic lens suppliers are Largan and Genius, with Largan being the primary beneficiary of this material change due to its higher supply share.

High-end iPhones releasing in 2021 will also feature an upgraded ultra wide lens, with Apple upgrading from a 5-element lens to a 6-element lens, which Kuo says is made possible through "design and production advantages."

Kuo said that rear-facing camera improvements coming to high-end iPhones in 2022 will focus on the telephoto lens, with Apple upgrading from a 6-element lens to a 7-element lens for the ‌iPhone‌ 14.

‌iPhone‌ models coming in 2022 are also expected to adopt a new "unibody lens design," which Kuo says Apple will use to reduce the size of the front camera module.

To reduce the front camera module's size, we predict that the new iPhone will adopt a unibody lens design in 2H22 at the earliest. This design requires the lens and VCM [voice coil motor] to be assembled before shipping to CCM. Since Largan will start shipping iPhone VCM for new iPhones in 2H21, we believe that if Apple adopts the unibody lens design in the future, Largan, a new VCM supplier, can integrate lens design production advantages and benefit from this new trend.

Kuo previously said that he believes 2022 ‌iPhone‌ models will transition from a notch to a hole punch-style display that some Android smartphones have previously adopted. Apple is expected to use this design for high-end iPhones coming in 2022, but if production yields are high enough, all 2022 iPhones could use the same hole punch design.

Apple's upcoming mixed reality headset will feature a total of 15 optical camera modules, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said this evening in a research note obtained by MacRumors.

Eight of the 15 camera modules will be used for see-through augmented reality experiences, six modules will be used for "innovative biometrics," and one camera module will be used for environmental detection. Largan will supply many of the 15 camera lenses.

Kuo's prediction of the number of cameras expected in the mixed reality headset comes following a report yesterday that shared several details on the device, which Kuo believes will launch in 2022.

The headset will be "portable" with independent computing power and storage, but not "mobile" like an iPhone. Current prototypes weigh in at 200 to 300 grams, but the final weight may be reduced to 100 to 200 grams should Apple be able to solve technical problems.

Kuo believes that Apple's mixed reality headset will be significantly lighter than many VR devices on the market, and that it will provide an "immersive experience that is significantly better than existing VR products." Kuo expects the headset to be priced at around $1000, and it will feature high-end micro-OLED displays.

For more on what we're expecting from the AR/VR headset that Apple has in development, we have a full roundup with all of the rumors we've heard so far. The roundup also has details on the smart glasses that Apple is working on, which will be released after the headset.