Sami Fathi

The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has ruled that Apple's plan to allow App Store dating apps to use third-party payment methods for in-app purchases does not sufficiently meet the requirements of a previous ruling. As a result, the ACM has hit Apple with an initial 5 million euro fine as a consequence, and fines will continue to be assessed at 5 million euros per week up to a...

China-based display maker BOE will supply Apple with OLED LTPO displays for the higher-end models of the iPhone 15 lineup in 2023, according to a new report from The Elec. Following unsuccessful attempts by the Chinese maker in 2020 to supply displays for the iPhone 12 series, BOE joined Apple's list of display makers to produce panels for the baseline 6.1-inch ‌iPhone‌ 13 earlier this year....

Apple will no longer include EarPods with every iPhone sold in France, starting on January 24, according to a notice posted by a French carrier (via iGeneration). Apple was previously required to include EarPods in the box with the ‌iPhone‌ due to a French law that required every smartphone sold in the country to come with a "handsfree kit," but the law has now been changed in favor of reducing the ...

Google has internally kickstarted the development of an augmented reality headset that will "blend computer graphics with a video feed of the real world" to deliver an immersive AR experience, with a launch tentatively set for 2024, according to a report from The Verge. The report describes the headset, codenamed Project Iris, as a "tightly kept secret" at Google with around 300 employees...

Apple patched two significant security vulnerabilities when it released iOS 15 that could have potentially exposed users' private Apple ID information and in-app search history to malicious third-party apps and allowed apps to override user Privacy preferences, Apple has revealed in a recent support document update. With most iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS updates, Apple provides a list of...

Apple is now requiring that customers in the United States verify that they're active students, teachers, or staff members at an educational institution in order to access education discounts on products. Previously, little verification was needed for customers to purchase products through Apple's education store in the United States. Apple's education stores offer models of the iPad and Mac ...

Apple today reduced the estimated maximum dollar amounts that customers can receive when trading in several different Android smartphones for an iPhone. Apple also adjusted trade-in values for certain iPad and Mac models. On its website, Apple displays the highest possible amount a customer can get when trading in a specific device for an Apple product, such as an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple ...

Microsoft today announced that it will purchase the game studio Activision Blizzard, the maker of hit games such as Call of Duty, Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, and more, for almost $70 billion. Microsoft says this purchase will help it "bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone, across every device." The seismic purchase for Microsoft will see several of Activision's games move to...

The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in the Netherlands plans to assess Apple's announced plans for allowing dating apps on the App Store in the country to use third-party payment methods, ensuring those plans "meet the requirements" of a previous ruling. Over the weekend, Apple announced that it would exclusively allow dating apps on the ‌App Store‌ in the Netherlands to use...

Today marks Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day, a federal holiday in the United States that pays respect to and honors the civil rights movement leader. As it's done in the past, Apple is commemorating the day with a full-page tribute on its website. On its home page, Apple remembers the civil rights leader with a photo of King and one of his quotes: "I believe that we can transform dark...

Continuing the tradition set with the iPhone 13 Pro, only the highest-end ‌iPhone‌ 14 models will feature Apple's ProMotion display technology, according to a respected display analyst. Ross Young, who on multiple occasions has detailed accurate information about Apple's future products, said in a tweet that ProMotion will not be expanded to the entire ‌iPhone‌ 14 lineup and will remain...

Apple will be among several U.S. tech giants to attend a meeting at the White House today to discuss cybersecurity and possible security threats posed by open-source software, Reuters reports. The meeting will be held by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and will focus on "concerns around the security of open-source software and how it can be improved." The meeting was prompted by ...

Following limited testing of native support, Dropbox's Mac app built for Apple silicon is now available to all beta testers. Earlier this month, Dropbox began testing native Apple silicon support with a handful of beta testers, promising to expand testing to all beta users before the end of the month. Now, all Dropbox users who have enabled "Early releases" in their account preferences will...

Major EU mobile operators are reportedly looking for Apple's iCloud Private Relay service to be outlawed because it allegedly infringes upon EU "digital sovereignty," according to a report from The Telegraph. ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay was a feature announced with iOS 15 that encrypts data so that neither Apple nor a third-party can see users' browsing activity in Safari. With ‌iCloud‌ Private Rely...

Jason Sudeikis has won a Golden Globe award for "Best Television Actor in a Musical or a Comedy" thanks to his performance in the hit Apple TV+ comedy series "Ted Lasso." "Ted Lasso" was also nominated for the "Best Television Series" award but was beaten by HBO Max comedy drama "Hacks." Other "Ted Lasso" actors including Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein were nominated for "Best...

The upcoming high-end iPhone 14 is expected to come with a pill-shaped cutout rather than the notch that's been present on the ‌iPhone‌ in some form since 2017. While we're still months away from the next ‌iPhone‌, we already have a solid idea of what a pill-shaped cutout would look like in practical use. A mockup on Twitter by developer Jeff Grossman shows, at least on the Home Screen, what a...

Facebook today announced a new "Privacy Center" section on its website on the desktop. This new area will offer users a "new place to learn more about our approach to privacy across our apps and technologies" and "provides helpful information about five common privacy topics," Meta announced today in a press release. The new Privacy Center, rolling out to a small pool of Facebook users in...

The second-generation AirPods Pro are widely expected to launch in the second half of this year. In preparation for the launch, Apple's suppliers are getting ready for shipments of the new high-end AirPods, according to a new report from DigiTimes. The new second-generation ‌AirPods Pro‌ are widely expected to feature a new design, improved audio, the ability to play back Apple Music lossless...

Dropbox has finally begun testing a native version of its Mac app with Apple silicon support, following widespread criticism from customers and users who initially thought it had no plans to take advantage of the latest Macs powered by Apple's custom processors. In October, official responses to comments on the Dropbox forums suggested Dropbox had no plans to add support for Apple silicon...

The Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple's annual five-day-long conference to announce updates to its major operating systems, services, and sometimes hardware, is five months away. At this year's conference, we expect Apple to announce iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, watchOS 9, and tvOS 16. iOS is Apple's most important operating system as it runs on the iPhone and shares many features with...