By news@appleinsider.com (Wesley Hilliard) The pivot from Apple Car set the stage for bigger investments in the smart home, and the initial products from that shift could be launching as soon as March according to a new rumor.Apple could release an iPad-like home hub with AI and smart home featuresApple has offered smart home options since 2014 with the launch of HomeKit. Beyond Siri integrations, HomePod, and few product category additions over the years, the company’s investment in the area hasn’t been as strong as some of its competitors.That could change as soon as March with the launch of a new smart display that isn’t an iPad, doesn’t have an App Store, and is voice-first. This device would be a precursor to the rumored display with a robotic arm that’s been rumored since Apple Car was abandoned. Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple’s decision to place the power button of the M4 Mac mini underneath has been questioned by users. In some cases, they’ve come up with their own “solutions” to the problem.Mac mini power buttonThe introduction of the M4 Mac mini was welcomed by critics, with the already small Mac made to be even smaller. Getting to that size meant there had to be a compromise, and that took the form of an awkward power button placement.Rather than at the rear, the button is instead underneath the corner of the Mac mini’s enclosure. It’s in a position that you have to lift or tilt the Mac mini to access it, which can be awkward for people with larger digits. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Marko Zivkovic) iOS 18.2 with access to ChatGPT integrations, Image Playground, and Genmoji could finally roll out to the general public on December 9 based on a notice recently posted by a UK carrier.iOS 18.2 could receive a full public release on December 9.On Monday, Apple released the third developer beta of iOS 18.2. Along with the various changes and quality-of-life improvements, the software also contains an update for carrier-specific settings.The third developer beta contains an update for devices using the British carrier EE. The carrier settings shipped with iOS 18.1 and the second developer beta of iOS 18.2 had the version number 59.5.1, while iOS 18.2 developer beta 3 increased the EE carrier settings version to 60.5.2. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) One day after most of the other developer betas get new builds, visionOS 2.2 turns up for testers using the Apple Vision Pro.The Apple Vision Pro runs visionOSOn Monday, Apple introduced the third round of developer betas for iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS SZequoia 15.2, it also brought out the second builds of tvOS 18.2 and watchOS 11.2 for testing.Missing from the group was visionOS 2.2, but it arrived one day later, on Tuesday. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple’s late 2024 update to its Mac and MacBook ranges has brought M4 to the product line. Here’s how to choose the best portable Mac for your budget for the 2024 holiday season.MacBook Air and MacBook ProApple’s fall product updates covered many areas, but for the Mac product category, it meant an update to M4. Following the introduction of the chip in the iPad Pro lineup earlier in the year, the MacBook Pro now uses the speedy chip.Even better, Apple didn’t stop at just M4, as it brought out M4 Pro and M4 Max variants as well. These additions offer a lot more performance options, and in the case of the M4 Max, more performance than an M2 Ultra in some benchmarks. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) A kill switch can help prevent your privacy from being breached when your encrypted VPN connection stops working. This is why your VPN needs it.An iPad disconnected from the InternetThe basic idea of a virtual private network (VPN) service is that your connection is more private. Using a secure encrypted VPN connection, your online actions are not able to be monitored by other web traffic.However, there are occasions where you may not have the protection of a VPN. Rather than the encrypted tunnel to a different server, you may suddenly find yourself directly accessing the internet without the VPN. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) It is easily possible to double the cost of a new M4 Mac mini by buying Apple storage — but if you know what you’re doing, you can buy external drives, and save hundreds of dollars by working off those. Here’s how.External drives are vastly cheaper than Apple’s storage upgrade pricesApple’s New Mac mini is a stunning bargain for its price and its performance — but maybe only in its base configuration. Once you start adding anything like more storage, you hit Apple’s excessive upgrade charges and the bargain diminishes, or even goes away entirely.It is true that Apple has made things better, both by increasing the amount of RAM that base model gets, and also by making 256GB the smallest amount of storage you can buy. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple Music Classical users will now find it easier to listen to their choice of music while driving, with it now being added to CarPlay.Apple Music ClassicalClassical music listeners can use both Apple Music and Apple Music Classical to discover and listen to compositions. However, only Apple Music has been enabled in CarPlay, so users have been forced to use the main app to access classical music behind the wheel.In a Tuesday update, Apple has made Apple Music Classical available to use in CarPlay. The integration means users can access their library, playlists, and other recommendations from the Apple Music Classical app itself in the CarPlay interface. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) The European Union has told Apple to stop geo-locking, where apps and services vary in different countries — entirely ignoring decades of laws and practices by other industries that have nothing to do with the App Store.EU wants the impossible with Apple’s App StoreGive the EU credit, it has implemented the kind of laws regarding Big Tech that other countries, including the US, are still only talking about. But in this case, its assumption that it can simply mandate how the rest of the entire world works is an excoriating overreach.The new demand is that Apple stop geo-locking, and specifically that EU users must be able to: Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) OWC’s new Thunderbolt 5 Hub aims to provide even more access to the fastest ports, by splitting one off into three more.OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub – Image credit: OWCIn 2021, OWC introduced the Thunderbolt Hub, a dock that provided three additional Thunderbolt 4 ports when it was plugged into a Mac’s Thunderbolt 4 connections. Three years later, it’s doing it again, but for the newest Mac models.The OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub is the same concept as before, with one Thunderbolt 5 cable connecting to the host Mac while providing three more Thunderbolt 5 ports to plug devices into. The hub also adds a single USB-A port to the equation too. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
