Speaker company Ultimate Ears today announced the launch of the HYPERBOOM, its largest portable speaker creation to date, featuring 3X the loudness and 6.5X the bass of the MEGABOOM 3. According to Ultimate Ears, the 13-pound speaker boasts booming bass, wide dynamic range, richly detailed playback, and a battery that lasts for 24 hours before needing to be recharged. An Adaptive EQ feature is designed to allow the HYPERBOOM to adjust to the space that its in for the best sound profile indoors and outdoors. There are four input sources on the HYPERBOOM, including two Bluetooth, one 3.5mm auxiliary, and one optical audio so music can be played from phones, laptops, gaming consoles, and more, with an option to switch audio sources with the press of a button. The HYPERBOOM has an IPX4 water resistance rating, which means it can withstand splashes of water, and there's a USB charge-out port that can be used to charge an iPhone. A built-in One-Touch Music Control feature allows users to play, pause, and skip tracks right from the speaker, or launch playlists from popular music services like Apple Music, Spotify for Android, and Amazon Music. Ultimate Ears says that the speaker has been developed with a "technical fabric" engineered for sound and durability and a diamond-shaped design that features soft curved edges that fit in well in any room. The HYPERBOOM speaker will launch in early March on the Ultimate Ears website and it will be priced at

Apple has now reopened 29 of its 42 retail locations in China, according to Apple's store websites in the country that were reviewed by Bloomberg. Many of Apple's stores in China have been shut down for the last few weeks due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. Most locations that have been reopened continue to operate on shortened hours, with some open for less than eight hours a day. Additional stores are expected to reopen as soon as this week, but there is no word on when all Apple Stores in China will be operational. Apple last week said that its March quarter revenue will fall short of expectations because of constrained iPhone supplies worldwide and lower customer demand for Apple products in China caused by store closures. The shuttered stores and limited hours have significantly reduced customer traffic, and though Apple's supplier factories in areas outside of the Hubei province have reopened, ramp up to full production on devices has been slower than expected. According to a second report from Bloomberg, Apple's ‌iPhone‌ sales started dropping in January as the coronavirus spread. Numbers supplied by a UBS research note that includes official Chinese data suggests ‌iPhone‌ sales fell 28 percent compared to the prior month, which is a larger than normal decline for that time of the year. February sales numbers are expected to be "far worse" due to supply and demand issues related to the outbreak. Apple has said it is continuing to monitor the coronavirus situation and will provide additional information during its next quarterly earnings call in

People lead busy lives, and keeping track of everything that needs to be done in a day can be tough, which is why there are an endless number of to-do and productivity apps on the App Store. Apple offers a built-in Reminders app and a built-in Notes app, both of which can be useful, but most people who need a robust task tracking solution will want to look to a third-party app. In our latest YouTube video, we rounded up some of our favorite to-do options with a range of capabilities. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Notion (Free) Notion is an all-in-one productivity app that's perfect if you need an app that combines note taking and wiki creation with to-do list making. It has a simple color coordinated design, but it can actually be used to create neatly organized notes and lists with a hierarchy as complex or as simple as you need it to be. Notion is cross platform so it works on Mac and iOS, plus it has robust search tools, supports real-time collaboration, offers easy editing and list rearranging, and works offline. The app is free to use, but unlocking the full range of capabilities, including unlimited "Blocks" of data and more than 5MB in file uploads costs $4 per month. TeuxDeux ($2.99/Month) Despite the cringeworthy name, TeuxDeux is a solid to-do app if you need something that's simple, straightforward, and free from confusing bells and whistles. It is the most barebones of the to-do apps that we've tried out, and it's an ideal choice if you want a design that's close to writing down tasks on a piece of paper.

Apple has inked a deal for 200,000 square feet of office space near Madison Square Garden in New York, according to The New York Post. Apple will be moving in to the 11th through 14th floors of 11 Penn Plaza, based on the terms of the deal. Image via The New York Post The building, located in midtown Manhattan, is along Seventh Avenue between West West 31st and 32nd streets, and close to Madison Square Garden and the Penn Station railway hub. The space was formerly occupied by Macy's, with the Macy's headquarters relocating to Long Island City. Apple has only signed a five year deal with the option to extend the lease, which The New York Post takes as a sign Apple is perhaps still looking for a more permanent location. Apple already has 52,000 square feet of office space at 100 to 104 Fifth Avenue housing marketing employees and commercial software applications developers, and the building is said to be "bursting at the

Apple today shared two new "Technical Overview" white papers that take an extensive look into the technology and feature set of the Pro Display XDR and the Mac Pro. Available as PDFs, the ‌Mac Pro‌ overview and the Pro Display XDR overview (via 9to5Mac) walk through key features and components, with ultra detailed rundowns on every component. The ‌Mac Pro‌ overview highlights the lattice case, Intel Xeon W chip, GPUs, PCIe expansion slots, MPX module, I/O, T2 chip, SSD, and more. Apple explains the reason for design choices made for the ‌Mac Pro‌, does a deep dive into performance, and lists technical specifications. Much of this information has previously been shared in product pages and marketing info provided by Apple, but this is the single most comprehensive source for ‌Mac Pro‌ info. The Pro Display XDR white paper is similar, detailing display panel components, LED backlighting system, timing controller, display accuracy, reference modes, enclosure design mounting, and technical specifications. This information has also been previously shared by Apple for the most part, but again, the white paper is a useful place to see it all in one place. These are useful resources for those who are interested in learning more about the ‌Mac Pro‌ and the Pro Display XDR ahead of purchase, and can be found through these PDF links: Pro Display XDR and ‌Mac Pro‌.

Netflix today announced a new feature that will see the streaming service offering a series of top 10 lists that highlight the most popular content on the platform. There will be an overall top 10 list, a list for the top 10 most popular TV shows, and a list for the top 10 most popular movies. The latter two lists will be visible when visiting the TV show and movie tabs, respectively. The top 10 lists will be specific to each country where Netflix is available, and the lists will be updated every day. Netflix says that the positioning of the list will vary "depending on how relevant the shows and films are to you." Shows and films that are added to Netflix's top 10 lists will have a "Top 10" badge wherever they're located in the Netflix interface, so popular content will be visible whether people are browsing by genre, searching for specific shows, or selecting content from a personal list. Netflix has been testing top 10 lists in Mexico and the UK over the course of the last six months, and is now ready to roll them out

In celebration of International Women's Day, set to take place on March 8, Apple is hosting a series of "She Creates" workshops that will be held at Apple retail stores from March 1 to March 31. According to Apple, there will be hands-on sessions that "explore new perspectives" using iPad, iPhone, and Mac, along with opportunities to share ideas with others and learn from inspiring female creators. There will be sessions on creating AR experiences, learning product skills, and more, along with unique sessions at various Apple locations around the world. At Apple Union Square in San Francisco, for example, there will be a live performance by indie electronica artist Ah-Mer-Ah-Su on March 17, while Apple Fifth Avenue will feature a March 11 music session with drummer Madame Gandhi, Apple Antara will host a photo session with award winning photographer Yvonne Venegas, and Apple Covent Garden will host a drawing session with The Other Box, celebrating people of color and underrepresented backgrounds in creative industries. 9to5Mac compiled a list that features all of the retail locations that will host notable special events. Apple Williamsburg (Brooklyn) Apple Fifth Avenue (New York City) Apple Carnegie Library (Washington, D.C.) Apple Aventura (Miami) Apple Michigan Avenue (Chicago) Apple Union Square (San Francisco) Apple Third Street Promenade (Santa Monica) Apple Covent Garden (London) Apple Regent Street (London) Apple Champs-Élysées (Paris) Apple Piazza Liberty (Milan) Apple Antara (Mexico City) Apple Dubai Mall

Apple's first Mac with a processor designed in house is set to be released during the first half of 2021, Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo said in a note to investors this morning that was obtained by MacRumors. There are no other details provided about the new Mac that's in the works, but the detail confirms multiple past rumors that have suggested Apple is working on custom Arm-based processors designed in-house that would allow it to transition away from Intel. Over the years, Apple's product releases have been stymied by Intel chip delays, and with its own chips, Apple will not be tied to Intel chip release cycles. Earlier information indicated Apple could begin using Arm-based chips as soon as 2020, but Kuo's note indicates a new Mac with an Apple-designed chip won't be released this year. Apple is said to be moving to Arm-based chips in an effort to make Macs, iPhones, and iPads work together and run the same apps. Apple's iPhones and iPads already use Arm-based chip technology, and there are custom Apple-created T2 chips in the iMac Pro and recent MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and Mac Pro models. Kuo's detail about an upcoming Mac with an Apple-designed chip is a tidbit mentioned briefly in a note that suggests 5-nanometer chip architecture will be the "core technology" in Apple's new products in the next 12 to 18 months.We expect that Apple's new products in 12-18 months will adopt processors made by 5nm process, including the new 2H20 5G iPhone, new 2H20 iPad equipped with mini LED, and new 1H21 Mac equipped with the own-design processor. We think

Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, and had he not passed away in 2011 at the age of 56, today would have marked his 65th birthday. Jobs founded Apple alongside Steve Wozniak in 1976, and he was at the forefront of the personal computer revolution with machines like the Apple 1, Apple II, and the original Macintosh with its now-iconic name. Jobs was ousted from Apple in 1985 after disagreements with then-CEO John Sculley, and after his departure, Apple struggled and was on the brink of failure. Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 after his company, NeXT, was acquired, and he proceeded to lead the company to the wild success that it enjoys today. Many of Apple's most important products were developed under Jobs' leadership, including the iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, the App Store, the MacBook, the iMac, and more. and his design philosophies and drive for perfection continue to shape Apple even nine years after his death. Apple CEO Tim Cook has often said that Jobs' DNA - his taste, his thinking, his dedication to hard work, and his lust for innovation - will "always be the foundation of Apple." There is not a single Apple product on the market that has not been influenced by Steve Jobs, and that even extends to many non-Apple products. Smartphones today look the way they do because Steve Jobs led the development of the all-screen no-keyboard ‌iPhone‌ in 2007. Millions of lives have been improved by Apple devices, and Apple's iPhones, iPads, and Macs are some of the most popular products on the planet. Apple has more than 1.5

Target's inventory system may be leaking details on upcoming Apple products that are set to be released in the near future. A listing for "Airpods (X Generation)" with a price tag of $399 popped up this morning, and there are also apparently new listings for "Apple TV Gen X," "Apple iPod Touch X Generation" and "Apple Watch Series X" bands. Target employees sent images of the listings to 9to5Mac. These are all placeholder names and could be representative of future products, though it's not clear if that's the case. We don't know what these listings are, why they're in Target's system, or if they're accurate, so the information should not be taken as concrete evidence of new devices. The ‌Apple TV‌ Gen X lists a price of $180, the Apple iPod Touch X Generation lists a price of $400, and the ‌Apple Watch‌ Series X band prices are listed at $50. There haven't been rumors of an upgraded iPod Touch, and the iPod touch last saw a refresh in May 2019, so it's not clear if the $399 ‌iPod touch‌ listing is correct. Pricing on the ‌iPod touch‌ starts at $199, and while it does go up to $399, that's for the high capacity model. We are expecting a new low-cost iPhone with a starting price point of $399, so there is a possibility that the ‌iPod touch‌ placeholder is for an ‌iPhone‌ and not an iPod. It could also be for a refreshed 256GB ‌iPod touch‌, or the price could be wrong entirely since it's a placeholder. We've seen multiple previous hints of a new ‌Apple TV‌ in the works in iOS 13 releases, with the device featuring an upgraded A12 Bionic chip. $179 is the price point of the

Slickwraps, a company that develops skins for Apple devices like the iPhone and Mac, yesterday suffered a data breach that saw customer info like names and addresses leaked. News of the leak surfaced when hackers who got into the database sent out emails to Slickwraps' customer base of more than 370,000 users letting them know about Slickwraps' poor security. Prior to the breach, Slickwraps was warned of the vulnerabilities in its site (linked to the create a skin feature) multiple times by a security researcher who goes by Lynx on Twitter, who has now deleted all of his tweets. Lynx informed Slickwraps about the data breach on February 15, and attempted to get in touch with the company several times over the course of the last week, as outlined by an article shared on Medium that has now been suspended by Medium. Lynx had his emails ignored and was even blocked by Slickwraps on Twitter after attempting to inform the site of its security vulnerabilities. Lynx's interactions with Slickwraps were not exactly polite and he was dealing with customer support staff that were clearly confused about what was going on based on the now-removed Medium article, but Slickwraps blatantly ignored multiple warnings about its poor security before the data breach. Lynx says that he did not send out the emails that were delivered to Slickwraps customers yesterday and that it was a third-party data breach that happened after his article was published, but with his Medium post suspended and all of his tweets deleted, he may be in some hot water for the public way that he

Apple this morning shared a new video in its ongoing "Shot on iPhone series, this time focusing on the Valley of Fire State Park located in Overton, Nevada. Fifty miles from Las Vegas lie the remains of a monumental geological process sculpted by 200 million years of wind and water , an ocean of rock, a valley of fire.The video was captured in 4K using the ultra wide-angle camera of an iPhone 11 Pro. It highlights the different Valley of Fire rock formations in bright, vivid colors. Apple has shared many videos in its "Shot on ‌iPhone‌" series that is designed to show off the photographic and video taking capabilities of its iPhones. The last long form video was "Powder," and it focused on pro

Target's internal inventory system appears to include a listing for a product called "Apple Airpods (X Generation) priced at $399," according to multiple Target employees who got in touch with YouTuber Jon Prosser. Prosser speculates that the name could refer to Apple's over-ear headphones that are rumored to be in development, but the listing is not accompanied by an image and includes no other information other than the name and the prospective price. Notably, the spelling of "Airpods" is wrong, so Apple Airpods (X Generation) may just be a placeholder name for something coming in the future. The $399 price tag is $150 higher than Apple's most expensive AirPods, the AirPods Pro, so if the product is real, it is a higher-end headphone option in the ‌AirPods‌ line. There are three SKUs with the X Generation name, suggesting three prospective colors. Multiple Target employees have started reaching out to me about this 🤔 Showing up in their systems and on UPC scanners is this mysterious “Apple ‌AirPods‌ (X Generation)” listing, priced at $399. 👀Potentially Apple’s over-ear “StudioPods” headphones. Launch soon (March)? pic.twitter.com/NVcqH8As47— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) February 22, 2020 AppleInsider says that it spoke to multiple Target employees after learning of the listing, and while there was no information to be gleaned about the origin of the image, the employees said placeholders for new products with pricing information are common, but product names aren't always accurate. The employees suggested that products with a placeholder "ship within a month"

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Arlo to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win an Arlo Pro 2 Camera setup that includes two wire-free cameras and an audio doorbell. Arlo makes a range of different home security cameras at different price points and with different features. The Pro 2 camera is one of the Arlo cameras that is HomeKit-enabled and can be added to your HomeKit setup so that it can be viewed within the Home app. The two camera setup that comes with a doorbell is priced at $315 on Amazon, but there are also systems that include a single camera or up to six cameras for securing your entire home. The Arlo Pro 2 features 1080p HD resolution with a night vision feature that triggers in low light so you can see activity even in the dark. There's a 130 degree viewing angle so you can see most of what's happening in a room. Two-way audio is included so you can listen to the camera's audio and talk to the person on the other end through your iPhone, and there's a useful 100+ decibel smart security siren that can be activated from anywhere. Motion and sound detection are included so you can get notifications whenever the camera detects something unusual, and Arlo offers seven days of free cloud storage with upgrade options available. For those who prefer on-device storage, a USB drive can be connected to the base station. Arlo Pro 2 cameras are wire-free and battery powered, which means they can be placed anywhere, but there is an option to plug them in to unlock 24/7 continuous video recording, three second look back to see what

T-Mobile and Sprint are aiming to finish their merger by April 1 now that all legal issues have been resolved and regulatory approval has been granted, the two companies announced today. In a press release, Sprint and T-Mobile announced an amended business combination agreement that has been approved by the Boards of Directors of T-Mobile and Sprint. Under the terms of the amendment, T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom will get a slightly higher ownership stake in the new company.A separate arrangement entered into by SoftBank Group Corp. in connection with the amendment will result in an effective exchange ratio of approximately 11.00 Sprint shares for each T-Mobile share immediately following the closing of the merger, an increase from the originally agreed 9.75 shares. This is a result of SoftBank agreeing to surrender approximately 48.8 million T-Mobile shares acquired in the merger to New T-Mobile immediately following the closing of the transaction, making SoftBank's effective ratio 11.31 Sprint shares per T-Mobile share. Sprint shareholders other than SoftBank will continue to receive the original fixed exchange ratio of 0.10256 T-Mobile shares for each Sprint share, or the equivalent of approximately 9.75 Sprint shares for each T-Mobile share. Immediately following the closing, and after the surrender of shares by SoftBank, Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank are expected to hold approximately 43% and 24%, respectively, of the fully diluted New T-Mobile shares, with the remaining approximately 33% held by public shareholders.Mike Sievert, T-Mobile COO and

Apple is rumored to be working on a refreshed version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro following the launch of the new 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ in October, and the new 13-inch machines could adopt Intel's 10th-generation Ice Lake chips. Over the weekend, a Twitter leaker shared a 3D Mark Time Spy benchmark of a machine said to be an upcoming 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ equipped with Intel's 10th-generation i7-1068NG7 Ice Lake 2.3GHz chip with 4.1GHz turbo boost capabilities (via Wccftech). 2020 13" Macbook Pro > i7-1068NG7 2.3GHz base 4.1GHz boost 28W> 32GB of RAM> 2TB SSD pic.twitter.com/o4k6ymc6oJ— _rogame (@_rogame) February 15, 2020 The benchmarks compare the new 10th-generation chip to the 8th-generation 2.4GHz Core i5 chip in the high-end 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ from 2019 and suggest the new 13-inch machine Pro will be approximately 12 percent faster than the current 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ when it comes to CPU speeds, and close to 30 percent faster when it comes to GPU performance. Time Spy i5-8279U 4C/8T 2.4GHz base 4.1GHz boost + Iris Plus 655 with 128MB eDRAM 28W (2019 13" ‌MacBook Pro‌)vsi7-1068NG7 4C/8T 2.3GHz base 4.1GHz boost 28W (2020 13" ‌MacBook Pro‌) pic.twitter.com/Ogr4sfGGNa— _rogame (@_rogame) February 15, 2020 If Apple does release a 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ with the aforementioned Ice Lake chip, it will be the first Apple notebook equipped with a 10th-generation chip. Though not included in the leak, a 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ refresh in 2020 could also feature 10th-generation chips, though 16-inch machines are expected to use Comet Lake chips built on the 14++nm architecture

Apple is working on an updated version of the Powerbeats, which will serve as the successor to the Powerbeats 3 and will be sold alongside the Powerbeats Pro Signs of the Powerbeats 4 have been spotted in updates to iOS 13 multiple times, suggesting the earbuds could be launching in the near future. This guide includes details on everything that we know about the Powerbeats 4. Powerbeats 4 mockup What's the difference between Powerbeats 3 and Powerbeats 4? As can be seen in the Powerbeats 4 rendering that we've created above, the Powerbeats 4 have a more curved design than the Powerbeats 3, which makes them similar in design to the ‌Powerbeats Pro‌. The Powerbeats 4 also appear to have a wire that trails down from the bottom of the earhook, which is a departure from the Powerbeats 3 design that has the cord attached to the side of the earbuds opposite the earhook. ‌ ‌Powerbeats Pro‌‌ icon on left, new Powerbeats 4 icon in middle, Powerbeats 3 icon on right Other than the relocation of the cord, we also expect Powerbeats 4 to include new H1 chip technology for improved connectivity and "Hey Siri" and "Announce Messages with ‌Siri‌" support like all of the modern headphones Apple has released. What's the difference between the Powerbeats 4 and the ‌Powerbeats Pro‌? ‌Powerbeats Pro‌ are wire-free headphones, while Powerbeats 4 have a wire connecting the two earbuds together. ‌Powerbeats Pro‌ also come with a charging case that adds additional battery life, while Powerbeats 4 will not have a case. We expect the Powerbeats 4 will be close to identical to the

Apple today seeded the second public betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.4 updates to its public beta testing group, two weeks after seeding the first public betas and a day after releasing the second updates for developers. Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will be able to download the iOS/‌iPadOS‌ 13.4 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device. iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.4 bring useful and notable new features and changes. There's an updated Mail toolbar that separates the reply button from the delete button to make it harder to accidentally delete emails, there's a new "Shazam It" shortcut in the Shortcuts app for identifying songs, and some tweaks have been made to CarPlay controls for calls and third-party navigation apps. The update includes support for iCloud Folder Sharing, a long-awaited iOS 13 feature. ‌iCloud‌ Folder Sharing allows iCloud Drive files to be shared with other people, making the folders accessible to multiple users. There are a total of nine new Memoji/Animoji stickers that can be used wherever emoji can be used, there are new Settings options for the TV app, and Apple has made minor changes to Location Services to appease app developers who want to encourage customers to turn on the "Always" option for Location Services for apps that need it. Apple has added support for universal app purchases, which means developers can sell a single app across iOS, tvOS, and macOS. For apps that enable this feature, customers will be able to make one purchase and then download an app

Twitter this afternoon announced the launch of a new feature that's designed to link two tweets together in a more logical way. When composing a tweet, there's a new option to view previous tweets, which can be selected and linked via a "Continue Thread" option. To get to the Continue Thread interface, just pull downwards on the compose window on an iPhone or iPad and then tap on the Continue Thread option. Tap on the three dots and then choose an older tweet from the list to link the new tweet to the older tweet. Now you can add a Tweet to one you already Tweeted, faster! pic.twitter.com/j3ktAN6t5o— Twitter (@Twitter) February 19, 2020 The Continue Thread option makes it much simpler to associate a new tweet with an existing tweet for threads around a specific topic. Twitter is rolling out the new feature as of today, though it could take some time to propagate to all

The second beta of macOS Catalina 10.15.4 was released today, and the new update introduces support for time-synced lyrics in the Apple Music app. ‌Apple Music‌ for Mac previously provided access to lyrics, but they did not scroll in real-time to the music, which is a feature that's been available on iOS since iOS 13 was released. As noted by 9to5Mac, the time-synced lyric feature addition is mentioned in the ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.4 release notes. Lyrics in ‌Apple Music‌ for Mac can be accessed by playing a song and then clicking on the little speech bubble that's located at the top right of the app. Not all songs have lyrics or time-synced lyrics, but lyric information is available for most popular titles. Songs with time-synced lyrics will feature an interface that scrolls through the lyrics as they're sung. When real-time lyrics were introduced for ‌iOS 13‌ in September 2019, ‌Apple Music‌ lead Oliver Schusser said in an interview that Apple has a team of employees that listen to songs and transcribe the lyrics to ensure their accuracy for use in the time-synced lyrics feature rather than sourcing lyrics from a third-party