MacRumors

Google Photos users on iPhone and iPad will soon be able to lock their most sensitive images in a special passcode-protected folder, thanks to a new feature coming to the iOS app (via The Verge).

Currently exclusive to Pixel phones, the privacy-oriented Locked Folder feature allows users to save photos and videos in the app within a separate space that requires a passcode or fingerprint to access.

Media saved in the folder remains hidden, meaning the sensitive photos don't show up as users scroll through their Google Photos or any other apps on their device. Google says the feature is coming to iOS "early next year."

Importantly, at least as it currently works on Pixel Phones, any cloud backups of items placed in the Locked Folder are automatically deleted from Google's servers.

Google touts its photo and video backup service as "a safe home for life's memories," thanks to the "world-class security" and encryption it uses "to protect the photos that you back up or share."

Despite those safeguards, last year Google was forced to contact some 100,000 users to inform them that some of their private videos backed up on its servers had been accidentally sent to strangers due to a "technical issue."

Apple still doesn't offer an equivalent feature is its native Photos app for iOS. It does include an option to hide certain photos from the main library in a "Hidden" folder which can be literally hidden in the Photos app, but even so, the album can still be seen when the image picker is used in third-party apps, so it's not completely invisible from prying eyes.

Some Mac users who upgraded to macOS Monterey this week are experiencing problems getting USB hubs and other USB-based devices to work properly with their machines, based on scattered online reports.

There have been several reports on Reddit, Apple's Developer Forums, and Apple's Support Communities about the issues. In some cases, users say the the USB 3.0 ports on their hub no longer work since upgrading to Monterey, while HDMI, USB-C, and other hub ports continue to work as expected.

In other user reports surfacing online, the USB hubs fail to work at all. Some of the problems even relate to Apple certified hubs. Reddit user Flyersny81 relates their experience:

My USB-C hub has issues with this update. The HDMI port connected to my second screen is working on the hub but none of the USB3 ports are working at all. I have tried different C ports on the MacMini and different hubs (I have 4). I also replicated this issue on my M1 MacBook Air after updating to Monterey. Here is the hub I am using. These hubs worked perfectly in Big Sur.

Had a call with Apple support and they said to try an Apple certified hub. I used this one I had floating around in my bag and both the HDMI and USB3 ports worked on it. I tried to daisy chain the Amazon hub to the Apple hub but that didn’t work either. Support told me that many people have been complaining about this issue and it will hopefully be fixed in the next patch to be pushed out.

In other cases, the USB hubs work except for the power delivery port. For some, it's the additional connectivity provided by external displays that no longer works, with the power delivery affected in particular. From Apple's Developer Forums:

PD (Power Delivery) over USB-C also stopped working on my MBP 2018 after updating to Monterey (12.0.1). I use a Philips 346P1CRH. Everything was working flawlessly with Big Sur.

- TommyWi

I have the same issue with my MBP M1 2020 connected with an external Monitor HP S340c. Power Delivery (PD) and Video-Connection not working (but Mouse and Keyboard is still supported/working).

- Tiggar

Same problem as everyone, bought 34" Philips 346P1CRH/00 and everything worked fine on BigSur... After updating to Monterey, the video and ethernet works, but power supply is cut off. I'm on an M1 Macbook Air. :/

- lenskdav

Essentially, Monterey has broken support for a WIDE number of USB Hubs. Some USB Hubs work but certain ports on the hub do not, some Hubs do not work at all.

For me, USB-C & HDMI work on the hub, but my USB 3.0 port will only power devices and there appears to be no data transfer.

This issue is absolutely a Monterey bug. My devices were working fine prior to upgrading, and I have been able to replicate the issue and narrow it down by testing against a device that does not have Monterey installed.

- macmjs1996

Many of the reports are from owners of M1-powered Macs, but not all. Some users have reported similar issues on Intel Macs. Based on user discussions, USB issues were reported in early beta versions of Monterey, suggesting this could be due to a legacy bug that Apple has still not patched.

As such, the problems appear to be evident in all versions of Monterey, including the latest 12.0.1 version. Suffice to say, anyone who has yet to upgrade to Monterey and relies on a USB hub is advised to hold off upgrading until Apple issues a fix.

Apple today seeded the first beta of macOS Monterey 12.1 to developers, and it turns out the update adds a missing Monterey feature -- SharePlay. According to Apple, SharePlay is enabled in the macOS Monterey 12.1 beta, so those who have the beta installed can do more with their friends and family members over FaceTime.

SharePlay was previously introduced in iOS 15.1, iPadOS 15.1, and tvOS 15.1, but it was missing from the macOS Monterey update that came out last week. At the time Monterey launched, Apple said that SharePlay would be added in a subsequent update.

With SharePlay, ‌FaceTime‌ users can listen to music, watch TV, watch movies, and even share their screen with the people they're chatting with.

SharePlay works with first-party Apple experiences like Apple TV, Apple Fitness+, and Apple Music in addition to enabling screen sharing between multiple people, but it is also compatible with third-party app experiences. Developers have already been building SharePlay experiences for iOS devices, and now they can build SharePlay features into Mac apps as well.

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has been working on a smart watch designed to compete with the Apple Watch since early this year, and now Bloomberg has obtained pictures of the device.

The smart watch has a design that's not too far off from the Apple Watch, but it is wider and rounder with more curved edges. There is a camera at the bottom of the display, along with a control button on the right side.

According to Bloomberg, the watch features a detachable wrist strap and a button at the top of the case. Prior rumors have suggested the watch will have a detachable display with two built-in cameras for taking pictures and videos to share to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

A camera on the front of the display will be used for video calls, while a secondary camera on the back can be used for capturing photos when the body is detached from the stainless steel watch frame.

The device will offer a cellular connection that does not require a smartphone, and wearers will be able to send messages with services like Messenger and WhatsApp. It is also expected to have built-in health tracking features like a heart rate monitor.

Meta, which operates social networking site Facebook, already sells Oculus virtual reality headsets and the Facebook Portal video calling devices, but the smart watch will be its first wearable. Meta is planning to launch the watch as early as 2022, but there is no solidified timeline for release as of yet and plans could still change. If the device does debut in 2022, it will compete with the upcoming Apple Watch Series 8.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was today asked about some of the regulatory issues that Apple is facing with the App Store, and he said that Apple is keeping its focus on privacy and security. Apple is facing potential regulatory changes that would force it to open up the iPhone to other app stores or alternate ways of loading apps on the iPhone.

The main thing we're focused on in the App Store is keeping our focus on privacy and security. These are the two major tenets that have produced a very trusted environment where consumers and developers come together. Consumers can trust the developers and the apps are who they say they are. Developers get a huge audience to sell their software to.

That's sort of number one on our list. Everything else is a distant second. What we're doing is working to explain the decisions that we've made that are key to keeping our privacy and security. Not having sideloading and alternate ways on the iPhone where we're opening up the iPhone to unreviewed apps that get by the privacy restrictions we put on the App Store.

Cook went on to say that Apple is "very focused in discussing privacy and security of the ‌App Store‌ with regulators and legislators."

Apple recently came out largely victorious in its antitrust lawsuit with Epic Games, with the judge in that case ruling that Apple does not have a monopoly. Apple was, however, told to allow developers to put links to outside websites and alternate payment options in their apps.

Apple was given a deadline in December to make this change, but Apple has appealed for more time and has asked to avoid making changes until the entire case has come to a conclusion.

Back in June, U.S. lawmakers introduced antitrust legislation that would require Apple to make sweeping changes to the App Store, which Apple will undoubtedly fight against.

During today's earnings call for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple is "working feverishly" to boost iPhone 13 supplies.

Cook said that Apple feels "very very good" about where demand is at for the iPhone 13, in terms of sales compared to the iPhone 12. Supplies are constrained, though, and Apple has not been able to meet demand.

Initial supplies of the iPhone 13 models sold out quickly after the new smartphones went on sale in September, and there are currently long wait times for most iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max devices.

Apple lost around $6 billion in revenue during the quarter due to supply issues that were caused by chip shortages and COVID-related manufacturing delays, and Apple expects that these supply problems will continue into next quarter.

Apple today reported services revenue of $18.27 billion in the fourth quarter of its 2021 fiscal year, which is an all-time quarterly revenue record. The company's services revenue was up around 25% from $14.54 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Apple's services category includes revenue generated from the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple Pay, Apple Card, Apple TV+, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, AppleCare+, iCloud, iTunes Store, licensing, and more.

Cook told CNBC that Apple has 745 million paid subscriptions, ranging from Apple Music subscriptions to in-app subscriptions through the App Store.

"That's up 160 million year on year, which is up five times in five years," said Cook. "So it's been quite the growth cycle."

Apple's financial chief Luca Maestri said the company set September quarter revenue records across each of its services, and he said Apple's active installed base of all devices reached a new all-time high across all of its geographic segments.

Maestri said Apple's services category brought in $68 billion revenue in the 2021 fiscal year, which is nearly triple the company's services revenue six years ago.

Earlier this week, Apple announced that Apple Fitness+ subscribers can now use SharePlay to start a group workout or meditation with their friends while on a FaceTime call. Apple Fitness+ is also expanding to 15 more countries on November 3.

Apple reported overall revenue of $83.4 billion for the quarter, which ran from late June through late September of this year.

Apple's revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021 came in under expectations, which Apple CEO Tim Cook said was caused by supply constraints on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

In an interview with CNBC, Cook said the supply issues cost Apple around $6 billion.

"We had a very strong performance despite larger than expected supply constraints, which we estimate to be around $6 billion," Cook told CNBC's Josh Lipton. "The supply constraints were driven by the industry wide chip shortages that have been talked about a lot, and COVID-related manufacturing disruptions in Southeast Asia."

For the last several months of the year, Apple has experienced long lead times on multiple products, including Macs and iPads. With the iPhone 13 launch, available models sold out quickly and Apple has been unable to keep up with demand, and the same goes for the Apple Watch Series 7.

Going forward, Cook said that he expects "solid year-over-year revenue growth" in the December quarter, but Apple will to continue facing supply problems. COVID related manufacturing problems have "improved greatly," but Cook says that chip shortages "linger on." According to Cook, older chips are the ones that are in short supply rather than newer A and M-series chips used in newer Apple devices.

Cook said that Apple primarily buys leading-edge nodes and is not having issues with those, but on legacy codes, there is competition from many different companies on supply. He said that he isn't sure when supply will improve as it is difficult to forecast when things will balance. Apple's operational team is working to cut down on cycle ties and improve yields to remedy the situation.

During the quarterly earnings call, Apple CFO Luca Maestri confirmed that the impact of supply constraints will be greater in the December quarter. iPad sales will drop year over year due to the supply constraints, but Apple expects revenue in all other categories will grow.

Apple today reported Mac revenue of $9.17 billion in the fourth quarter of its 2021 fiscal year, which is an all-time quarterly revenue record for Macs. Apple CEO Tim Cook said there was "strong demand" for the M1 MacBook Air in particular.

No new Macs were released during the quarter, with the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models not being released until after the quarter ended, but Mac sales have been strong due to a work-from-home environment and as a result of Apple's successful transition to its own custom-designed chips in Macs, starting with the M1 chip last year.

Apple's financial chief Luca Maestri said the company's last five quarters for Mac revenue have been its best five quarters ever for the category.

iPad revenue was $8.25 billion for the quarter, which was not a record, but up 21% from $6.79 billion in the year-ago quarter.

iPad sales were likely boosted by the launch of the redesigned sixth-generation iPad mini and the ninth-generation lower-cost iPad during the quarter, while iPads remain popular as many people continue to work, learn, and connect with others from home.

Maestri said iPad supply was significantly constrained during the September quarter and Apple expects iPad revenue to decline on a year-over-year basis in the December quarter as a result of continued supply constraints.

Apple reported overall revenue of $83.4 billion for the quarter, which ran from late June through late September of this year.

Apple today announced financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021, which corresponds to the third calendar quarter of the year.

For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $83.4 billion and net quarterly profit of $20.6 billion, or $1.24 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $64.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $12.7 billion, or $0.73 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Apple's revenue figure was a September quarter record and Mac and Services both set all-time records, but Apple's performance was only roughly in line with analyst expectations and was almost certainly held back by component shortages that have led to lengthy shipping estimates for many products.

Gross margin for the quarter was 42.2 percent, compared to 38.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. Apple also declared a quarterly dividend payment of $0.22 per share, payable on November 11 to shareholders of record as of November 8.

For the full fiscal year, Apple shattered company records with $365.8 billion in sales and $94.7 billion in net income, up from $274.5 billion in sales and $57.4 billion in net income for fiscal 2020.

“This year we launched our most powerful products ever, from M1-powered Macs to an iPhone 13 lineup that is setting a new standard for performance and empowering our customers to create and connect in new ways,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are infusing our values into everything we make — moving closer to our 2030 goal of being carbon neutral up and down our supply chain and across the lifecycle of our products, and ever advancing our mission to build a more equitable future.”

As has been the case for well over a year now, Apple is once again not issuing guidance for the current quarter ending in December.

Apple will provide live streaming of its fiscal Q4 2021 financial results conference call at 2:00 pm Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.

Conference call recap follows below...

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Facebook today held a live event to talk about the "metaverse," aka the virtual and augmented reality evolution of social technology in the future, and as part of the presentation, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new name for the company.

Going forward, Facebook the company will be known as "Meta," while Facebook will still be available as a social media product alongside WhatsApp and Instagram.

Zuckerberg said that the Facebook brand is too limited to represent what the company wants to do in the future. The new name and brand will represent Facebook's apps and its evolving work on augmented and virtual reality products. The name is meant to "reflect who we are and what we hope to build," Zuckerberg said. "Over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company."

"From now on, we're going to be metaverse first, not Facebook first," said Zuckerberg. "I hope that people come to know the Meta brand and the future that we stand for."

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.1 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new software coming just a couple days after the official release of macOS Monterey.

Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer Center and after the appropriate profile is installed, betas will be available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences.

According to Apple's release notes, the update enables support for graphics cards that integrate the AMD Radeon 6600XT GPU. There are no other new features mentioned aside from bug fixes. We'll update this article should we find anything else new after installing the beta.

Apple today seeded the first public betas of upcoming iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 updates, one day after providing the betas to developers.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS and ‌iPadOS 15.1‌ updates over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website.

iOS and iPadOS 15.2 introduce App Privacy Report, which is designed to allow users to see how often apps have accessed their sensitive info like location, photos, camera, microphone, and contacts across the last seven days.

It's also set up to show which apps have contacted other domains and how recently they've contacted them so you can keep an eye on what apps are doing behind the scenes.

App Privacy Report is available by opening up the Settings app, selecting the Privacy section, and choosing App Privacy Report. From there, you can toggle it on. After you use apps for some time, data will begin showing up in this spot.

Today's update adds updates to the Emergency SOS Auto Call feature. You can now press the side button rapidly multiple times to initiate, or hold down the side button and the volume button together. There's a longer eight-second countdown before a call is placed, which is up from the prior three-second countdown.

Apple has also tweaked the Notification Summary feature in the beta, giving summaries more of a card-style look, and there's code for the Communication Safety feature that Apple announced earlier this year. For more detail on everything new in the beta, make sure to check out our dedicated features article.

Throwboy, known for its range of pillows crafted to look like classic Apple devices, today announced its Iconic Pillow Collection 2, a new series of pillow designs.

Available on Kickstarter, the Iconic Collection 2 features five new pillows modeled after Apple devices that include the 1983 Apple Lisa, 1999 iBook G3, 2000 Power Mac G4 Cube, 2002 iMac G4, and 2003 Power Mac G5.

Throwboy said that the new designs are meant to celebrate some of the most "iconic, bold, swing-for-the-fences designs in computer history" that are still beloved by the tech community. Like Throwboy's other pillows, the new Iconic 2 pillows are made from a soft, plush material with intricate embroidery that makes them impossible to miss as Apple device clones.

The Iconic Pillow Collection 2 is priced starting at $27 for a single pillow, though that is a limited price that will go up when initial slots sell out. All five iconic pillows can be purchased starting at $135 to $195 with early bird backing options.

According to Throwboy, these pillows will ship out to customers in May 2022. The new collection will join the existing collection that includes pillows modeled after the iPod, iPhone, iMac G3, and more.

Update 9:45 a.m.: In a reply on Twitter, Dropbox founder and CEO Drew Houston apologized for the confusion sparked by the "not ideal" support responses and said that Dropbox is "certainly supporting Apple silicon" with a native Apple silicon build planned for release in the first half of next year. Original article below.

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Dropbox appears to have no plans to natively support Apple silicon Macs, almost a year after the first Macs with the M1 chip became available.

An official Dropbox support thread, shared by Mitchell Hashimoto on Twitter, reveals a fiasco around native support for Apple silicon Macs. Dropbox is seemingly insisting that a significant number of community members will have to vote for native Apple silicon support for it to be implemented. There are also multiple repetitious requests with different phrasing, fragmenting users' votes for support.

In July, responses from Dropbox staff on the thread explained that "this idea is going to need a bit more support before we share your suggestion with our team," and flagged Apple silicon support as in need of more votes. A month ago, Dropbox staff again replied to the thread requesting native Apple silicon support, saying that Dropbox will continue to be compatible with all devices that run supported versions of macOS using Apple's Rosetta translation layer.

Additional complaints in the thread claim that Dropbox with Rosetta hemorrhages MacBook battery life and uses a disproportionate amount of memory.

While Dropbox could still natively support Apple silicon Macs in the future, the way in which the issue has been delegated to two standoffish responses on a support thread appears to have caused outrage, with the thread brimming with irate replies and claims that users are planning to move to rival services.

Google Drive was recently updated with native support for Apple silicon, and other services such as Microsoft OneDrive and Box are already testing native Apple silicon support.

Verizon today is discounting the Apple Pencil 2 to $99.99, down from $129.00. This deal has been applied automatically and does not require a special promo code.

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

This sale is a match of one of the lowest prices that we've ever tracked for the Apple Pencil 2, and as of writing it's only available on Verizon. We very rarely see the Apple Pencil 2 dip below this sale price, so if you've been on the hunt for one at a discount, now's a great time to buy.

The Apple Pencil 2 is compatible with the following iPads: iPad mini (6th generation), iPad Air (4th generation), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (3rd, 4th, and 5th generations), and 11-inch iPad Pro (1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations).

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.

In a new support document, Apple has detailed how to measure and fine-tune the calibration of the display on the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

The new MacBook Pro models feature XDR displays with mini-LED backlighting and support for one billion colors, but certain workflows may require custom calibration:

Every MacBook Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display undergoes a state-of-the-art factory display calibration process on the assembly line to ensure the accuracy of the P3 wide color panel and the individual backlight LEDs. In addition, the factory calibration process enables sophisticated built-in algorithms to accurately reproduce a variety of color spaces used by media workflows today, including sRGB, BT.601, BT.709,​ and even P3-ST.2084 (HDR).

The factory display calibration process lets MacBook Pro users enjoy an exceptional viewing experience right out of the box. If your workflow requires custom calibration, you can measure your display, then fine-tune the calibration.

The process involves using a spectroradiometer and a set of QuickTime movie test patterns from Apple to evaluate the calibration of the display. The test patterns can be downloaded from the AVFoundation page on Apple's website under Related Resources > Color Test Patterns, with complete instructions available in Apple's support document.

In System Preferences > Displays, users can fine-tune the calibration of the MacBook Pro's display by providing the white point and luminance values measured by the spectroradiometer and the expected values for their target.

Apple's support document includes additional tips for measuring and fine-tuning the calibration.

Apple TV+ will be coming to Comcast devices, expanding the range of devices that Apple's streaming service is available on and expanding its audience to even more customers, Comcast's CEO announced today during the company's earnings call.

The news was broken by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, who said during the company's quarterly earnings call that Apple and Comcast have agreed on a deal that will see ‌Apple TV‌+ come to Comcast devices and Comcast's own Xfinity Stream app come to the ‌Apple TV‌.

With the ‌Apple TV‌+ app, Comcast devices will soon be capable of tapping into Apple's growing library of original shows and movies, such as the Emmy-award-winning "Ted Lasso" and "The Morning Show." When exactly the ‌Apple TV‌+ app will be available on Comcast devices remains unknown, and we'll update this article when we have more information.

Update: British TV provider Sky today announced that ‌Apple TV‌+ will be available on its Sky Glass and Sky Q devices later this year. Sky customers in the UK will also be able to access Sky Go on the ‌Apple TV‌ starting in mid-2022.