MacRumors

With the iPhone 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro launching in the middle of a global pandemic, Apple is coming up with ways for people to purchase their new devices safely and without unnecessary exposure to the virus.

Apple has been allowing ‌iPhone‌ 12 orders to be placed for in store pickup, and in some locations, is implementing a bank teller-like Express system that allows for minimal exposure to other people. To deal with people lining up outside of stores to get an ‌iPhone‌, Apple may use a reservation system.

Apple told Business Insider that if a long line forms outside of a store that's open, queued customers will be provided with a reservation slot and told to return at a different time to make their device purchase. Those who plan to line up in front of an Apple Store can expect to be provided with a reservation spot rather than being allowed to stand in a long line.

Some stores are also not going to allow for walk-in purchases at all, such as the Union Square store in San Francisco, California. An employee at that store said that customers must make an advanced reservation to purchase an ‌iPhone‌ 12 on launch day, though it's not clear if that means a pre-order or a reservation on launch day.

Though Apple seems to be discouraging people from lining up in front of stores, at least one person claims to have seen a line. MacRumors reader BlueMoose said that there were 11 people sitting outside of his local ‌Apple Store‌ as of 10:30 a.m. waiting for the ‌iPhone‌ 12 launch on Friday.

I want to commend those 11 people sitting in front of my local Apple Store waiting for tomorrow... it's people like them who made Apple successful.

I spoke to the 2nd guy in line. (the first one in line was sleeping... at 12 noon, but he's been there since last night) He wanted to experience what it's like to do something silly... can't argue with that. I overheard an Apple Store employee telling them(at least those 11) that they'll be fine when the doors open tomorrow, as long as they are flexible on the colors of the iPhone 12.

It's not clear how many people are planning to line up outside of Apple Stores around the world, but it seems there may be some stock for in-person purchases at some Apple retail locations. Apple is also planning on having customers come to pick up devices that were pre-ordered back on October 16, with reservations spread out across different time slots.

Have you seen lines outside your local Apple Stores? Let us know in the comments.

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 University dean and vice president Joel Podolny today wrote an in-depth article on Apple's organizational structure for Harvard Business Review.

Titled "How Apple is Organized for Innovation," Podolny's piece delves deep into Apple's structure and how that has helped it grow over the years. Starting back when Jobs took over the company when he returned to Apple 1997, Podolny explains how Jobs fired the managers of each individual business unit and converted Apple into "one functional organization," a setup that Apple continues to have to this day.

As was the case with Jobs before him, CEO Tim Cook occupies the only position on the organizational chart where the design, engineering, operations, marketing, and retail of any of Apple's main products meet. In effect, besides the CEO, the company operates with no conventional general managers: people who control an entire process from product development through sales and are judged according to a P&L statement.

Apple's structure dictates that the people who have the most expertise and experience in a given domain should have the decision rights for that domain, with the company relying on technical experts rather than managers to make key decisions.

Apple's financial structure, where executive bonuses are based on companywide financial success rather than departmental success, also allows for more freedom when it comes to product decisions because there's not specific financial pressure on a single release. "The finance team is not involved in the product road map meetings of engineering teams, and engineering teams are not involved in pricing decisions," writes Podolny.

All of Apple's managers, from senior vice president and down, are expected to have deep expertise in their area, immersion in detail of the work being done under their leadership, and willingness to collaborate and make collective decisions. "Leaders should know the details of their organization three levels down," is one of Apple's principles.

As Apple has grown, Apple CEO Tim Cook has needed to make adjustments to the structure as Apple enters into new markets and technologies.

The adjustments Tim Cook has implemented in recent years include dividing the hardware function into hardware engineering and hardware technologies; adding artificial intelligence and machine learning as a functional area; and moving human interface out of software to merge it with industrial design, creating an integrated design function.

Podolny's full piece goes into much more detail on how Apple's internal structure works, complete with many examples of Apple's successes. It can be read in full at Harvard Business Review.

GameClub, a subscription-based gaming service that revives classic iOS games, recently expanded into PC and console titles, promising to bring popular console and desktop games to mobile platforms.

Today, GameClub is debuting its first PC to mobile game, Chook & Sosig: Walk the Plank. Available on PC and Mac, this is the first time that Chook & Sosig has been expanded to iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

Chook & Sosig: Walk the Plank is a hand-drawn point-and-click adventure where titular characters Chook and Sosig play a tabletop game roleplaying as pirates alongside some friends. Players are tasked with seeking treasure, solving puzzles, and more.

GameClub is also working to port additional PC titles to iOS and Android devices this fall, including Tokyo 42 and Ancestors Legacy.

Priced at $4.99 per month, GameClub offers more than 100 games that can be played without additional in-app purchases or ads. Games can be shared with up to 12 family members across iOS and Android devices.

Apple today updated iOS video editing app iMovie to version 2.3, introducing a number of new features to the app. There's support for viewing, editing, and sharing High Dynamic Range videos from the Photos library. There's also an option to import and share 4K videos at 60 frames per second.

Titles can be customized using built-in fonts with easy tools for adjusting title style and capitalization, plus there are three new animated title options including dual-color chromatic.

A slider allows photo and video filter intensity to be adjusted as needed, and solid, gradient, and patterned backgrounds can be added to a movie.

- Customize any title by selecting from dozens of built-in fonts
- Adjust the color of any title by selecting from a grid or spectrum of presets, adjusting numerical sliders, or using the eyedropper in the viewer
- Quickly change a title's default style, capitalization and duration
- Pinch and drag to adjust the size and location of any title
- Choose from three new animated titles: Slide, Split and dual-color Chromatic
- Add solid, gradient, and patterned backgrounds to your movie
- Use the color picker to customize the colors of any background
- Drag the slider to change the intensity of any filter applied to your photos and videos
- Import and share 4K videos at 60 frames per second*
- View, edit, and share High Dynamic Range (HDR) videos from your Photos library**
- Tap the new options button at the top of the Share sheet to share a project or video file and choose properties including resolution, frame rate, and HDR**

* 4K at 60 frames per second requires iPod touch (7th generation), iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 7 or later, iPad (6th generation) or later, iPad mini (5th generation), iPad Air 3 or later, 10.5-inch iPad Pro or later

** Editing and sharing HDR video requires iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X or later, iPad mini (5th generation), iPad (7th generation) or later, iPad Air 3 or later, 10.5-inch iPad Pro or later

Apple has also updated GarageBand for iOS with an option to start new audio recordings from the Home Screen by touching and holding the GarageBand app icon, and maximum song length at the default tempo has been increased from 23 to 72 minutes. Apple also added a new "Keyboard Collection" sound pack that features more than 150 keyboard loops.

- New audio recordings can be quickly started from the Home screen by touching and holding the GarageBand app icon
- Maximum song length at default tempo has been increased from 23 to 72 minutes
- The ruler now offers an option to switch from musical bars and beats to minutes and seconds
- New downloadable "Keyboard Collection" sound pack includes over 150 keyboard loops and 50 instrument patches like pianos, organs, and electric pianos

GarageBand and iMovie are both apps that Apple provides to all of its customers for free.

Apple is planning to expand a new "Express" store format that will make it easier and safer for customers to purchase new Apple devices, including the iPhone 12 lineup, reports Reuters.

The Express store format features a wall built around the front of the main Apple Store with temporary sales counters that are protected by plexiglass, similar to a bank. There are shelves of accessories behind store employees, and customers can pick up items at stores after ordering online, or talk with Apple's staff for help.

Apple has been using curbside pickup in some areas where there are serious coronavirus outbreaks, but Apple's retail chief Deirdre O'Brien told Reuters that curbside pickup doesn't work well in shopping malls and downtown shopping centers where the "curb" is far from the store location.

For these situations, the Express format is preferred. Apple has been testing it at 20 stores in the United States and Europe, and is expanding it to 50 by the end of the month.

"It's a swifter way for us to serve customers," O'Brien said. "It allows us to maintain all the appropriate social distancing and maintain all of our health protocols within our stores."

There's no specific list on Apple's site with stores that have the Express setup, but one of the first stores to get the new setup was Apple Burlingame in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Throughout the pandemic, Apple has been closing and reopening stores as needed when cases in a particular area spike. Apple stores that are reopened have cleaning and social distancing policies in place and require customers to wear masks and get a temperature check before entering the store.

With the iPhone 12 launching on Friday and in just a few hours to Australia and New Zealand, hands-on videos, teardowns, reviews, and other iPhone-related content has been coming out. A new teardown video delves into both the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and the 12 Pro, confirming battery life for both models and giving us a closer look at their internals.

The video from Io Technology is in Chinese, but YouTube’s auto-translated subtitles are quite accurate.

Both the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro have close to identical L-shaped logic boards inside, with the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro featuring an extra LiDAR connector for the LiDAR Scanner. The two phones also share a battery, and this teardown puts to rest rumors about the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro's battery capacity.

The ‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro have the same 2,815mAh battery inside, which explains why they offer identical battery life. There was some confusion over the battery capacity because leaked specifications in July had suggested the two models had 2,775mAh battery, but Brazilian specifications mentioned a 2,815mAh battery for the ‌iPhone‌ 12, so there was a possibility that the Pro model had the 2,775mAh battery we had been expecting, but that's not the case.

We now know the official capacities for each new ‌iPhone‌ in the lineup:

• iPhone 12 mini - 2,227mAh
• iPhone 12 - 2,815mAh
• iPhone 12 Pro - 2,815mAh
• iPhone 12 Pro Max - 3,687mAh

All of these batteries are smaller than the batteries that were used in the ‌iPhone‌ 11 lineup, with Apple possibly having to cut down on battery size in order to make room for 5G components and new camera technology in the Pro models.

The side-by-side teardown of the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and 12 Pro offers a good look at the similarities and differences between the two models. Both have smaller Taptic Engines and many other identical internal components. Though not shown in this video, a teardown from yesterday confirmed that Apple's ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup is using Qualcomm's X55 modem.

Apple last week introduced a new $99 HomePod mini, which is a more affordable alternative to the full-size HomePod that's been around since 2017. The ‌HomePod mini‌ isn't shipping out until November, but on paper, it sounds great for those who have been eyeing a ‌HomePod‌ but haven't wanted to shell out $299.

In our latest YouTube video, we outlined the top five reasons why you might want to buy a ‌HomePod mini‌.

1. $99 Price

At $99, the ‌HomePod mini‌ is a lot more affordable than the $299 ‌HomePod‌, which was even more expensive ($349) when it first launched. Rumors have suggested that ‌HomePod‌ sales have been weak because of the high price of the device relative to smart speakers from other companies like Amazon and Google, so it was a no brainer for Apple to come up with a cheaper solution.

It's a lot easier to justify spending $99 on a home speaker than it is to spend $299, so the ‌HomePod mini‌ will likely be appealing to a wider consumer base than the original ‌HomePod‌. At $99, ‌HomePod‌ is a solid choice if you're looking for a decent speaker that also gives you Siri access and HomeKit control.

2. Intercom

With ‌HomePod mini‌ Apple introduced a new Intercom feature that lets you send messages to and from the ‌HomePod‌ and other Apple devices. So, if you put a ‌HomePod mini‌ in oft-used rooms of the house, you can communicate with other family members through the Intercom option.

Parents will be able to do things like call the kids to dinner or make sure they're getting ready for school, and at that $99 price tag, it's more affordable to buy a couple of ‌HomePod‌ minis to place throughout the house.

Intercom messages sent to ‌HomePod‌ are played out loud in the room in your actual voice, and you can send them from any device. You can also send Intercom messages on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and even CarPlay.

3. HomeKit

A ‌HomePod mini‌ is a great way to control HomeKit-connected devices by voice. It's pretty convenient to be able to just say something like "Hey ‌Siri‌, turn out the lights in the bedroom" at night to turn off the lights, and ‌HomePod mini‌ works with all HomeKit-connected devices.

It's an AirPlay 2 speaker so you can use it in scenes and automations for automatically playing music when desired, plus it serves as a Home Hub to allow you to access all your ‌HomeKit‌ devices when you're away from home.

4. Stereo Pairing

Two ‌HomePod‌ minis can work together as a stereo pair with left and right channels, serving as audio for an Apple TV or a home theater setup. When paired up, two ‌HomePod‌ minis can create a more immersive sound experience.

You can pair two full-size HomePods together too, but it's a lot cheaper to buy two ‌HomePod‌ minis than to buy two HomePods.

5. Handoff

With handoff functionality, you can bring an ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ close to your ‌HomePod mini‌ and then the music that's playing on your device will transfer right over to the ‌HomePod mini‌. You can also transfer from ‌HomePod mini‌ to ‌iPhone‌ when you're leaving the house.

There's a U1 chip that's in the ‌HomePod mini‌ (and not the ‌HomePod‌), and Apple says that this chip will enable a different transfer experience with haptic feedback and personalized listening suggestions.

Feedback and Launch Date

Have other reasons you're considering a ‌HomePod mini‌? Let us know in the comments below.

‌HomePod mini‌ will be available to pre-order on Friday, November 6, and it will start arriving to customers on Monday, November 16, the official ‌HomePod mini‌ launch date.

Two patent applications filed by Apple appear to depict the company's widely expected AirTags item trackers (via Patently Apple).

The filings, which include a large number of images, are titled "Mounting Base for a Wirelessly Locatable Tag" and "Fastener with a Constrained Retention Ring," and describe a wirelessly locatable tag that can be used to determine the absolute location of an object in a way that is more accurate than GPS. The patents also reveal a large number of potential AirTags features.

The filings outline "a tag used for tracking physical objects," that is "a small, conveniently shaped device that can be attached to objects," and features "a robust structural design that ensures reliable use through a variety of conditions and environments." They suggest that "the tag may be waterproof or at least splash-proof, and may be capable of withstanding impacts, drop events, or other general trauma resulting from normal use of the tag." It may also be able to provide haptic and audible outputs.

Images in the patent also depicted the potential design of the tag, which happen to closely mirror the rumored design with a metallic disk on the rear and a plastic shell over the top and sides. The speculated leather pouch with a keychain ring also appears to have been illustrated.

The location-tracking and directional capabilities of the tags are said to be extremely accurate, such that "a smartphone may be capable of determining the location of a tag to an accuracy within three feet, and even to within one foot or less." The patents explain how the overall network environment that includes the the tags, smartphones, computers, and other devices provides features, presumably via an ultra-wideband connection.

Beyond locating a misplaced object, the tags may also be used to trigger actions on other devices when they are within a certain proximity or orientation. The patent gives the example of a tag being "positioned in a lobby of a building so that when individuals enter the lobby, their smartphone may detect that it is within a threshold distance of that tag, which in turn causes a map of the building to automatically be displayed on the smartphone."

The patents also explain that the tags may operate in a variety of modes. In a "normal operational mode... the tag may conserve power and establish momentary or intermittent communications with one or more other devices... to confirm the location and may exchange some information about the state or location of the tag. In this way, the tag can essentially periodically update other devices." Interestingly, this communication could apparently function in a one-way system, with the tag recieving no information from other devices despite transmitting it.

"Lost mode" would occur "in response to an unexpected loss of communication between the tag and one or more other devices," allowing the tag to privately route encrypted transmissions through third-party devices to send information to the owner's device. In other words, a lost tag could be silently discovered when another person simply enters its vicinity, allowing the owner to see the tag's location. A different mode could use the same system to report the location and status of tags that have been left at home, for example, via a connection with other devices in the home.

The images also showed tags housed within a compact storage case, an Apple Watch Band, a cord or strap, and a circuit that can close or open. The patent also indicated that the tags could be charged by being mounted on a base, which may be similar to Apple's MagSafe charging cable.

Curiously, images also showed how tags could be positioned on a user's body to monitor posture, track full-body motion to control a game or avatar, or monitor body movements in a workout.

The tags may also be usable for augmented reality and AR gaming. For example, tags could be used as pieces for a game of AR chess since their location can be determineed with high accuracy. They could then be visually replaced in an augmented reality environment with computer-generated graphics.

While the patents do not prove that AirTags will have all of these features when they are announced, the length and breadth of the filings is striking. At minimum, they reinforce Apple's commitment to ultra-wideband technology. Nonetheless, the close correlation of these filings with various AirTags rumors is likely more than a coincidence.

For more information about AirTags, see our full roundup.

Earlier this week, Japanese publication Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun reported that Sony will supply Apple with OLED microdisplays for its widely rumored AR/VR glasses, as spotted by Mac Otakara. The report has since been corroborated by display industry analyst Ross Young, who said multiple sources have informed him that Apple is indeed planning to use Sony's microdisplay technology for its head-mounted accessory.

According to FRAMOS, a supplier of embedded vision technologies, Sony's OLED microdisplays are small, cutting-edge displays with an ultra-fast response rate, ultra-high contrast, a wide color gamut for precise color reproduction, high luminance, low reflectance, and other benefits that would be ideal for Apple's glasses:

OLED (Organic LED) Microdisplays from SONY® Semiconductor Solutions are cutting-edge small video displays providing fast response, high-contrast image technology and precise color reproduction. The very thin displays bring greater visual impact to applications in AR/VR/MR, broadcasting, electronic view finders, industrial maintenance and medical. With large aperture and high luminance, a wide color spectrum, less reflectance and a high dynamic range they operate in extreme speed without showing any motion blur.

Sony's microdisplays also have integrated drivers for a thin and light design, and power-saving modes are available for longer battery life.

Young said the glasses will use a 0.5-inch display with a 1,280x960 resolution, and these specs appear to correspond with Sony's ECX337A component. According to Sony's website, this microdisplay in particular has a max brightness of 1,000 nits, an ultra-high contrast of 100,000:1, and an ultra-fast response rate of 0.01 ms or less.

The high contrast provided by Sony's microdisplays allows an additional information layer to appear seamlessly, and not as an overlay. "This information is simply added to the background for a 'real AR' experience," according to FRAMOS.

According to the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Apple plans to release its AR/VR glasses in 2021, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo does not expect a release until 2022 at the earliest. Young also believes that the glasses will be introduced in the first half of 2022. For a recap of all rumors to date, be sure to read our detailed Apple Glasses roundup.

The developers behind the Halide camera app today announced the launch of Halide Mark II, a new photography app that combines everything from Halide with the technology that was introduced in Spectre, an app for capturing long exposure photos, also from the makers of Halide.

Mark II is described as an "elegant, intuitive camera" that can be used by casual photographers while also providing advanced features needed by expert photographers.

The interface is built on a redesigned version of the Halide interface, and it looks as simple as Apple's own built-in camera app. It offers up easy access controls with just a few taps. A tap on the AF button, for example, disables autofocus and activates manual focus tools.

Halide's developers say the Mark II app was designed with "Intelligent Activation" that causes new tools and options to appear based on need when using one of the Halide camera features.

The design is meant to use every pixel of the iPhone, and as an example, the histogram or waveform are displayed up next to the notch, while the bottom of the ‌iPhone‌ offers up location tagging and the last camera shot. All camera controls are meant to be within easy thumb reach to improve usability. There's a new interface for reviewing photos, which has a more feature rich set of controls. More information is provided at a glance, and photo metadata is accessible.

The Mark II app is designed to work with Apple's ProRAW feature, and Halide is adding its own tools to make shooting RAW photos easier on all iPhones. Mark II is able to capture classic RAWs and computational photos using a new "Coverage" feature. With Coverage, Halide users can take photos that use all of the advanced photographic capabilities in the ‌iPhone‌ (Smart HDR 3 and Deep Fusion) while also making a RAW version available for those who want to do their own edits.

There's also an Instant Raw feature that uses machine learning to go through a 17-step process of developing a RAW file to get the best possible auto-edited result that enhances detail and color, ultimately providing something between a JPG and standard RAW file. According to the app's developers, Mark II is the first camera app that's able to visualize the full 14-bit RAW data in realtime, a feature it calls XDR Analysis. XDR Analysis offers a more accurate look at exposure and is enabled when the ISO or shutter speed are adjusted.

Along with these new RAW tools, Mark II offers new focus and exposure tools, including a visualization called Waveform. Waveform horizontally scans over an image and provides info on which channel colors are clipped.

To help users get the most out of Halide Mark II, the app features a 10-day learning course that highlights all of the app's available features and explains photographic concepts.

Halide Mark II can be downloaded from the App Store starting today. All existing Halide customers will get Mark II for free, along with a year of members' updates.

For new users, the app is priced at $36, but is on sale at launch for $30, and in the future, prices will be raised as new features are added. There's also an alternative membership option priced at $9.99 per year, which will go up to $11.99 after launch. Prior to making a purchase, there is a free 7-day trial available for users to test out the new features.

Update: While the Mark II update should be free for existing Halide users, there is currently a bug that is preventing those users from accessing the app. A bug fix update is coming as soon as Apple approves it, so existing users should hold off on updating for the time being if they can.

The Apple TV app will be coming to Sony's PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, according to an official blog post.

The ‌Apple TV‌ app will be located within the PS5's dedicated media space. It will also be compatible with Sony's new Media Remote for navigation and control.

Enjoy Apple TV+, Apple TV channels, new and popular movies, and personalized, curated recommendations on the Apple TV app. That means users can enjoy Apple Originals like Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, Ted Lasso, and The Morning Show through Apple TV+, subscribe to premium channels, and buy or rent movies and TV shows and access past purchases from Apple. The Apple TV app will also be available on PS4.

The ‌Apple TV‌ app is also coming to rival Xbox consoles this year. In an effort to proliferate its video streaming service, Apple has been making a concerted effort to make the ‌Apple TV‌ app available on other platforms, such as Sony and LG smart TVs, to aid the service's growth.

The ‌Apple TV‌ app is scheduled to arrive on PlayStations on the PS5's launch date of Thursday, November 12.

Apple's iPad Air is launching tomorrow, October 23, and pre-orders have been up since last Friday. Even though the new tablet isn't actually out yet, Amazon is already offering a discount: you can pre-order the 64GB Wi-Fi model for $559.00, down from $599.00.

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

This sale price is only available in the green color, and it could disappear fast so if you're interested be sure to head to Amazon soon. If pre-ordered today, you can lock in the $40 discount price, and the iPad Air will ship once it's released.

The iPad Air was announced last month, and it has an edge-to-edge 10.9-inch display, Touch ID power button, a brand-new A14 Bionic chip, new color options, and more. For even more iPad deals, head to our full Best Deals guide for iPad. In that guide we track the best discounts online for iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro.

A new report from Canalys has forecasted the global smart speaker market for next year, projecting that it will reach 163 million units, a growth of 21 percent.

Mainland China is expected to be the main market for smart speakers next year with a growth of 16 percent. The rest of the market is expected to grow by just three percent. In spite of this, 2021 is believed to be a much stronger year for smart speakers due to increased demand, as well as improved products and availability.

HomePod mini is presumed to pose a challenge to incumbent smart speakers, although Canalys Research Manager Jason Low says that the new device may yet face some challenges.

Apple still has much to prove to attract users, especially as the HomePod mini is up against other new US$99 devices, which are larger in size and with assistants perceived to be smarter. Apple must deliver its acclaimed premium user experience by leveraging its proprietary ecosystem of hardware, software and services. The HomePod mini would give its competitors a run for their money if the sound quality proves to be better despite its smaller size, and if the UWB and Intercom features work seamlessly for users.

It is also notable that Apple will be the only global platform vendor selling hardware and services within China.

"The US$99 (approximately CYN700) price segment is pretty much a no-mans-land in China, yet adequate to appeal to Apple’s user-base. Apple should take this opportunity to drive the uptake of its music and other services consumed at home," said Canalys Research Analyst Cynthia Chen.

The global smart speaker installed base is forecast to reach 640 million units by 2024, which Canalys says is "paving the way for the ambient computing paradigm shift."

Feral Interactive has today announced that a remastered edition of classic first-person shooter game "BioShock 2" is now available for macOS.

BioShock 2 is the second game in the cult-classic first-person shooter series. Mac gamers can now return to the fallen city of Rapture to rescue Little Sister Eleanor from its sinister inhabitants. Players can now appreciate the gleaming art-deco architecture of the underwater metropolis better than ever with all-new high-resolution textures and models.

Play as a fearsome Big Daddy and rescue your Little Sister, Eleanor, from the clutches of the frenzied Rapture Family, a collectivist cult conspiring to transform her into a genetically modified messiah. Wield gene-altering Plasmids against vicious Splicers and violently protective Big Sisters as you navigate Rapture’s dripping art-deco halls.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the original Bioshock in 2017, Feral Interactive released "BioShock Remastered" for macOS. The release of BioShock 2 Remastered also comes ten years after the release of the original BioShock 2 in 2010.

The studio is also responsible for publishing some of the most popular AAA games on the Mac App store, such as "Shadow of the Tomb Raider," "Alien: Isolation - The Collection," "Life is Strange 2," "Total War: Warhammer II," and more.

BioShock 2 Remastered is available now from the Mac App Store or the Feral Store for $19.99, with the "Minerva's Den Remastered" DLC also available for $9.99.

Apple is reportedly rolling out a new tool to Apple service providers for testing AirPods, according to leaker known as "Fudge," who shared images of the tool on Twitter.

Apple appears to be seeking to reduce unnecessary AirPods services by more accurately diagnosing the cause of a fault. Instances of a dirt-blockage, which may be difficult to ascertain visually, can apparently be identified by the use of a simple new tool. This could cut-down on needless services in instances where a deep clean is all that is required.

A dedicated service-provider's iPhone is inserted into a tray, which can run an app to determine if AirPods are genuinely faulty or simply malfunctioning due to a build-up of dirt. The tool tests first and second-generation AirPods by directing them at an ‌iPhone‌'s microphone.

The original post states the diagnosis functions similarly to the "existing ‌iPhone‌ Audio test in principle."

It does not appear to be compatible with AirPods Pro, but it seems possible for Apple to develop a different holder for ‌AirPods Pro‌ to connect to the ‌iPhone‌ tray in the future.