MacRumors

With the LTE-enabled Apple Watch Series 3 only available in a handful of countries at the current time, it might be tempting to purchase one in another country, but it won't work. Series 3 models appear to be limited to connectivity in their original country of purchase.

An Apple support representative who spoke to MacRumors reader Thomas said that an Apple Watch purchased in the U.S. online store will only work with the four carriers in the United States, perhaps due to hardware limitations.

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"If you purchased one (an Apple Watch S3 GPS + Cellular) through the US Apple Online Store, it'll only work for the 4 US carriers. It wouldn't work internationally unfortunately. I'm not entirely sure what type of error it would show if you took a US Watch to Germany, but it wouldn't be compatible with Telekom".

Additionally, Apple Watch Series 3 models do not support roaming outside of a provider's network coverage area, according to Apple's fine print, so roaming when traveling to another country is not supported.

Unlike iPhones, Apple Watch Series 3 models also support a limited number of LTE bands, another factor that contributes to no support between countries. In the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, for example, only bands 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26, and 41 are supported.

LTE Apple Watch models are currently only available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, the UK, and the United States. Apple says availability will expand to other countries next year.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Last night, pre-orders opened up for the new Apple Watch Series 3, which has a 70 percent faster dual-core processor, new Apple W2 chip, a barometric altimeter, and LTE capabilities on supported models. The base Apple Watch Series 3 models without LTE are now $329 (38mm) and $359 (42mm), rising from there for Stainless Steel and Ceramic.

If you aren't interested in the speedier processor or cellular capabilities, B&H Photo has a sale going on right now that offers discounts on select models of last year's Apple Watch Series 2. In the lists below, Series 2 prices (bold) are compared to current prices of similar Series 3 collections on Apple.com.

Series 2 Aluminum

deals apple watch series 2

Series 2 Stainless Steel

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If you're willing to buy refurbished, Best Buy has a few Series 2 models sold at a discount. Some of the notable mark downs include $94 off the 38mm Silver Aluminum Case & White Sport Band ($274.99), $99 off the same model in 42mm ($299.99), $129 off the 42mm Space Black Stainless Steel Case & Space Black Sport Band ($469.99), and $144 off the 38mm Stainless Steel Case & Milanese Loop ($504.99).

deals pad and quill beats
A few other discounts this week include $10 off any orders from Pad & Quill that exceed $50 with the promo code ThankYou10. Gazelle is automatically marking down all certified pre-owned MacBooks by $50 on its reseller storefront, but the offer only lasts until Sunday, September 17. There are a few Beats on sale at Best Buy, including BeatsX for $109.99, down from $149.99.

If you're looking for some new gaming apps, there have been a few sales this week on the iOS App Store. Here are the most recent:

Additionally, this week MacRumors has partnered with RAVPower to offer our readers an exclusive 20 percent off discount code on a 22,000mAh Power Bank for charging iPhones, iPads, the Apple Watch, and more. When ordering from Amazon, use promo code MacRumo1 to get it for just over $30.

Our Deals Roundup has even more information on the latest sales currently running for Apple products and accessories, so be sure to check back frequently for more updates. If you're preparing for the wireless charging features of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or iPhone X, our recent roundup of the best (and cheapest) Qi inductive chargers on the market should help out.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch 10, Apple Deals
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

tsmc logo newAt the Open Innovation Platform Ecosystem Forum in Santa Clara on Wednesday, chip foundry TSMC provided an update (via EE Times) on the progress of its forthcoming technology nodes, several of which would be candidates for upcoming Apple chips. Most notably, the company's first 7-nanometer process node has already had several tape-outs (finalized designs) and expects to reach volume capacity in 2018.

TSMC's 10 nm node, which first showed up in Apple's A10X chip in the iPad Pro, followed by the A11, has been fraught with issues (paid link) such as low chip yield and performance short of initial expectations. TSMC looks to change its fortune with the new 7 nm node, which would be suitable for the successor to the A11 chip given current timelines.

In addition to the 7 nm node, TSMC also shared information on the follow-up revision to this node, dubbed, N7+. Featuring the long-beleaguered Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV), the revision would promise 20 percent better density, around 10 percent higher speeds, or 15 percent lower power with other factors held constant.

While EUV has faced delays for over a decade at this point, it seems to finally be coming to fruition, and a 2019 volume availability update would allow Apple to update its chip process in subsequent years yet again. Apple had previously updated process nodes with every iPhone since the transition to 3GS before being forced to use TSMC's 16 nm node in consecutive years with the A9 and A10. Moving forward, that annual cadence is again in jeopardy as chip foundries deal with the realities of physics and minimum transistor geometry sizes.

TSMC also unveiled some low power and low leakage processes that are suitable for Apple's other custom designs, such as its line of wireless chips like the W1 and successor W2. TSMC is targeting availability next year of a 22 nm ultra low leakage node, which is suitable for analog and RF designs such as cellular basebands or Wi-Fi chips.

This will ultimately help Apple further lower power consumption on the Apple Watch and headphones featuring the W line of wireless chips. It is also likely to be adopted by Qualcomm for its line of modem products. The W1 and W2 manufacturing processes are not currently publicly known, but it is likely that one of TSMC's RF-focused processes powers the Apple chips.

Finally, TSMC announced a revision of its integrated fan-out packaging process (InFO) that is targeted at integrating high bandwidth memory (HBM) into the assembly, dubbed InFO-MS. HBM has generated a lot of interest from applications where very high sustained memory bandwidths are desired, such as consumer graphics cards.

HBM and similar standards such as Wide I/O promise not only to improve memory bandwidth, but also improve power consumption for a given bandwidth, making it a suitable evolution for mobile SoC designs. This type of memory interface has yet to appear in a mobile design, though it should be considered a near-term eventuality. Despite advances in mobile memory, it still lags behind desktop and laptop systems in total bandwidth, which can be important in some tasks such as graphics rendering.

Tags: A12, TSMC, W1, W2
Related Forum: iPhone

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with RAVPower to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a 22,000mAh Power Bank for charging iPhones, iPads, the Apple Watch, and more.

In addition to offering several Power Banks for us to give away, RAVPower has also provided MacRumors with an exclusive 20 percent off discount code on the power bank. When ordering from Amazon, use promo code MacRumo1 to get it for just over $30.

RAVPower is mainly known for a whole line of power banks that are known for being reliable, affordable, and fast.

ravpowerpowerbank
The 22,000mAh Power Bank features three 2.4A USB-A ports that are capable of charging three devices at the same time. At 2.4A, an iPhone will charge more quickly than with a standard 1A power adapter. There's a total current output of 5.8A, and RAVPower says its Power Bank detects the connected devices and adjusts output accordingly to provide adequate power to each one, and there's an "iSmart 2.0" feature that adjusts voltage to minimize charging time.

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RAVPower says that the Power Bank can be fully recharged in approximately 11 to 12 hours using a the 2.4A input. It comes with microUSB charging cables and a carry pouch, but to charge iOS devices, you'll need to supply your own cables.

Power banks are generally built for functionality over looks, and the RAVPower model is a simple black (or white) rectangular power bank that is about as tall as an iPhone 7 Plus and as wide as an iPhone 7. It measures in at 6.5 inches by 2.8 inches. It's not quite pocketable, but ideal for a purse or a backpack. Four LEDs on the front let you see power level at a glance.

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22,000mAh is enough to charge an iPhone 7 to full approximately eight times and an iPhone 7 Plus approximately four and a half times.

RAVPower normally charges $40 for the Power Bank, but we have six to give away to MacRumors readers. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (September 15) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on September 22. The winners will be chosen randomly on September 22 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Apple's new Apple Watch Series 3 models support LTE and UMTS connectivity, but on T-Mobile, LTE connection speeds won't be available. The carrier is limiting the Apple Watch to a maximum speed of 512kb/s, which is more like a 3G connection than an LTE connection.

The speed limitation is noted in T-Mobile's fine print, which says the maximum wearables speed is 512kb/s. It's also noted on the pre-order page when adding an Apple Watch Series 3 to your cart.

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At issue is T-Mobile's ONE plan, which limits both tethering and all wearable devices to 512kb/s. While most users are unlikely to be streaming video or doing other tasks that require high connectivity speeds on the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch is also unlikely to be a data hog, so it's unclear why T-Mobile has this limitation in place.

A T-Mobile representative told MacRumors reader Tony that its "High Speed Data with paired DIGITS" plan would provide 4G LTE data. DIGITS is priced at $25 per month without autopay, and $20 per month with Autopay.

No other major carrier in the United States, including Sprint, Verizon, or AT&T appears to be throttling Apple Watch speeds with their standard unlimited plans.

All four of the carriers are charging the same $10 per month fee to add an Apple Watch to an existing iPhone plan, and each one is offering a limited time promotion that waives monthly fees for the first three months.

The LTE Apple Watch Series 3 models became available for pre-order early this morning, with new devices slated to arrive on Friday, September 22, the official launch date for the device.

Update: T-Mobile CEO John Legere says T-Mobile has changed its policy. The company will now offer unlimited 4G LTE on the Apple Watch Series 3.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Virgin Mobile USA today announced that it will begin shipping iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus pre-orders on Friday, September 29, the same day the devices launch in 29 additional countries around the world.

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Virgin said its Inner Circle members will be able to pre-order the devices on Friday, September 22, but it's unclear if Apple will be accepting pre-orders on that date as well in the second wave of launch countries.

Apple began accepting iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus pre-orders at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time for major carriers AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, in addition to SIM-free models. Virgin's date is one week later, but for the iPhone X, it will accept pre-orders starting Friday, October 27, the same day as Apple.

The next countries include Andorra, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, India, Isle of Man, Israel, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

Apple's online store doesn't operate in all of those countries, but iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus should be available in limited quantities through authorized resellers and carrier partners where available.

Virgin operates on the Sprint network. Inner Circle members get unlimited talk, text, and data for $50 per month, with a few caveats: video quality is limited to up to 480p, music streams at up to 500 kbps, and games stream at up to 2 Mbps. Virgin promises 4G LTE speeds for "practically everything else."

Customers who use more than 23GB of data in a billing cycle will be de-prioritized during times and places where the network is constrained.

Until September 28, customers who buy a new iPhone, or bring their existing iPhone and transfer their phone number from another carrier, will receive one year of unlimited talk, text, and data for just $1 with AutoPay enabled. The device must be a CDMA model, and the same caveats mentioned above apply.

Update: Sprint subsidiary Boost Mobile has also announced that it will launch the iPhone 8 on September 29, although the carrier is accepting pre-registrations as of today.

Related Forum: iPhone

Johny Srouji, Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies at Apple, will speak at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh next week.

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The university's School of Computer Science today announced that Srouji will attend a distinguished industry lecture on Monday, September 18 at the Rashid Auditorium, where he will speak at 5:00 p.m. local time.

Carnegie Mellon didn't reveal what Srouji will be talking about, but at Apple, he leads the team responsible for custom silicon and hardware technologies like batteries, storage controllers, and application processors, including its new A11 Bionic chip in the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.

An excerpt from his executive profile on Apple's website:

Johny has built one of the world’s strongest and most innovative teams of silicon and technology engineers, overseeing breakthrough custom silicon and hardware technologies including batteries, application processors, storage controllers, sensors silicon, display silicon and other chipsets across Apple's entire product line.

Johny joined Apple in 2008 to lead development of the A4, the first Apple-designed system on a chip. Prior to Apple, Johny held senior positions at Intel and IBM in the area of processor development and design. He earned both a bachelor's and master's degree in Computer Science from Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology.

In a recent interview with Mashable, Srouji revealed that Apple began exploring and developing the core technologies in the A11 chip three years ago, when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launched with A8 chips.

The A11 Bionic is a six-core chip with two performance cores that are 25 percent faster, and four high-efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster, than the A10 chip in iPhone 7 models. Geekbench scores suggest the A11 Bionic is even on par with the performance of Apple's latest 13-inch MacBook Pro models.

(Thanks, Benedict Evans!)

While the iPhone X launches November 3, with pre-orders beginning October 27, reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple's high-end smartphone won't achieve complete supply-demand equilibrium until next year.

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In his latest research note with KGI Securities, obtained by MacRumors, Kuo said customer demand for the iPhone X won't be fully met until at least the first half of 2018 due to supply constraints.

We believe the fullscreen design and facial recognition features will drive replacement demand for the iPhone X. However, due to supply constraints, we expect market demand won't be fully met before 1H18. We revise down our forecast for 2017F iPhone X shipments from 45-50 million to around 40 million units, but we therefore revise up our 2018 iPhone X shipment estimate to 80-90 million units.

In fewer words, getting an iPhone X in your hands may prove especially challenging this holiday shopping season.

In addition to supply constraints, Kuo said the reason why iPhone X pre-orders won't begin for another six weeks is likely because Apple doesn't want to cannibalize sales of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus pre-orders began at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time today. The devices launch Friday, September 22.

Earlier this week, Kuo said Apple's iPhone X production was less than 10,000 units per day, but the yield may be increasing as Apple ramps up mass production. He anticipated the iPhone X will remain in "severe short supply for a while."

Kuo also anticipated that a gold iPhone X would encounter some production problems and initially be available only in "extremely low volume," or launch at a later date, but Apple said the iPhone X comes only in Silver and Space Gray.

In today's research note, he said the lack of a gold color echoes his production concerns, but he didn't elaborate if he still thinks the iPhone X will eventually be released in gold like the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

Related Forum: iPhone

Shortly after Apple's iPhone X event this week, the company's silicon chief Johny Srouji and marketing chief Phil Schiller sat down for an interview about its new A11 Bionic chip with Mashable's editor-at-large Lance Ulanoff.

a11 bionic iphone x
One interesting tidbit mentioned was that Apple began exploring and developing the core technologies in the A11 chip at least three years ago, when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launched with A8 chips.

Srouji told me that when Apple architects silicon, they start by looking three years out, which means the A11 Bionic was under development when Apple was shipping the iPhone 6 and its A8 chip. Back then we weren't even talking about AI and machine learning at a mobile level and, yet, Srouji said, "The neural engine embed, it’s a bet we made three years ahead."

Apple's three-year roadmap can change if new features are planned, like the Super Retina HD Display in iPhone X.

"The process is flexible to changes," said Srouji, who’s been with Apple since the first iPhone. If a team comes in with a request that wasn't part of the original plan, "We need to make that happen. We don't say, 'No, let me get back to my road map and, five years later, I'll give you something."

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Apple senior executives Phil Schiller, left, and Johny Srouji

In fact, Schiller praised Srouji's team for its ability to "move heaven and earth" when the roadmap suddenly changes.

"There have been some critical things in the past few years, where we've asked Johny's team to do something on a different schedule, on a different plan than they had in place for years, and they moved heaven and earth and done it, and it's remarkable to see."

A11 Bionic six-core chip has two performance cores that are 25 percent faster, and four high-efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster, than the A10 chip in iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Early benchmarks suggest the A11 Bionic is even on par with the performance of Apple's latest 13-inch MacBook Pro models.

The A11 chip is more efficient at multi-threaded tasks thanks to a second-generation performance controller that is able to access all six of the cores simultaneously if a particular task demands it.

Gaming might use more cores, said Srouji, but something as simple as predictive texting, where the system suggests the next word to type, can tap into the high-performance CPUs, as well.

The A11 chip also has an Apple-designed neural engine that handles facial recognition for Face ID and Animoji, and other machine learning algorithms. The dual-core engine recognizes people, places, and objects, and processes machine learning tasks at up to 600 billion operations per second, according to Apple.

“When you look at applications and software, there are certain algorithms that are better off using a functional programming model,” said Srouji.

This includes the iPhone X’s new face tracking and Face ID as well as the augmented-reality-related object detection. All of them use neural networks, machine learning or deep learning (which is part of machine learning). This kind of neural processing could run on a CPU or, preferably, a GPU. “But for these neural networking kinds of programming models, implementing custom silicon that’s targeted for that application, that will perform the exact same tasks, is much more energy efficient than a graphics engine,” said Srouji.

Apple's new iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X are all equipped with an A11 chip.

In related news, Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science has announced that Srouji will take part in a distinguished industry lecture on Monday, September 18 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. local time.

Full Interview: The Inside Story of the iPhone X 'Brain,' the A11 Bionic Chip

Related Forum: iPhone

safari iconIn the upcoming version of Safari 11 on macOS High Sierra, Apple will implement a new "Intelligent Tracking Prevention" feature that builds upon Safari's default blocking of third-party cookies. ITP will greatly limit advertiser reach by placing new safeguards into Safari that use machine learning to suppress cross-site tracking and purge ad retargeting data after 24 hours.

In response, six trade and marketing organizations have written an open letter to Apple asking for the Cupertino company to "rethink" its plan to launch Safari with these new "arbitrary" cookie standards (via AdWeek).

The organizations argue that the Internet's infrastructure depends on consistent standards for cookies, saying that Apple's new ruleset could "sabotage the economic model for the Internet."

On the consumer side of things, the organizations stated that the blocking of cookies in Apple's manner will result in ads that are "more generic" for users, while also being "less timely and useful." The signed organizations include: American Association of Advertising Agencies, American Advertising Federation, Association of National Advertisers, Data & Marketing Association, Interactive Advertising Bureau, and Network Advertising Initiative.

We are deeply concerned about the Safari 11 browser update that Apple plans to release, as it overrides and replaces existing user-controlled cookie preferences with Apple’s own set of opaque and arbitrary standards for cookie handling.

Apple’s unilateral and heavy-handed approach is bad for consumer choice and bad for the ad-supported online content and services consumers love. Blocking cookies in this manner will drive a wedge between brands and their customers, and it will make advertising more generic and less timely and useful. Put simply, machine-driven cookie choices do not represent user choice; they represent browser-manufacturer choice. As organizations devoted to innovation and growth in the consumer economy, we will actively oppose any actions like this by companies that harm consumers by distorting the digital advertising ecosystem and undermining its operations.

On Apple's WebKit site, the company explains that Intelligent Tracking Prevention is meant to ensure user trust is kept during the web browsing experience on Safari, because "the success of the web as a platform relies on user trust." Also coming in Safari on High Sierra is an autoplay blocking feature, which will prevent videos from automatically playing when you open up a web page. This morning, Google announced a similar feature is coming to Chrome in January 2018.

The new Safari will launch when macOS High Sierra becomes available for download on Monday, September 25.

Tag: Safari

Apple has updated its website to indicate that Emirates NBD, the largest bank in Dubai, will soon offer Apple Pay.

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Emirates NBD has confirmed Apple Pay is coming soon in a recent email to customers, including MacRumors reader Hafez. ‏


Last month, Apple announced that Apple Pay will expand to Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates by the end of the year.

The new page on Apple's regional website for the United Arab Emirates now lists Apple Pay as "coming soon" in the country, suggesting a launch is imminent. The page has yet to go live in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.

Other participating banks in the United Arab Emirates will include Mashreq Bank, Emirates Islamic Bank, Rakbank, Standard Chartered, and HSBC.

MasterCard and Visa credit and debit cards will be supported at launch.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, Apple TV 4K, and Apple Watch Series 3 models became available for pre-order at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time today, and many of the new products remain available for launch day delivery over five hours later.

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iPhone 8 is slated for September 22 delivery in every color and storage size on Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, for example, while only a few T-Mobile and SIM-free configurations have slipped to up to 3-4 week shipping estimates.

iPhone 8 Plus supplies are slightly more constrained, but even the larger smartphone remains estimated for September 22 delivery in several colors and storage sizes on Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint.

Supplies may vary by model, but based on shipping estimates, demand may be skewing towards T-Mobile or SIM-free models in Space Gray or Gold. Silver and Sprint appear to be least the popular color and carrier respectively at this point.

Quite a few models remain available for launch day delivery in other countries too, such as Australia, Canada, Spain, and Singapore.

Back in the United States, customers can still order an Apple TV 4K with 32GB storage with September 22 delivery. The 64GB model has slipped to a 2-3 week shipping estimate on Apple.com.

Apple Watch Series 3 is the most constrained new product of all. Shipping estimates for many case and band combinations with GPS + Cellular have slipped to up to 4-5 weeks in the United States and elsewhere. Quite a few Wi-Fi and GPS only versions, including some Nike+ models, remain available for launch day delivery.

iPhone X pre-orders begin Friday, October 27.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch 10, Apple TV

Chinese ride-hailing company Didi has added Apple Pay as a payment option to the full range of its personal mobility services (via TechCrunch).

Apple's mobile payment platform can now be used to fund Didi Express, Didi Luxe, Didi Premier, and ofo, a partner bicycle rental service embedded into the main Didi app.

屏幕快照 2017 09 15 下午2

Image via Technode

Support of the digital wallet adds another Apple feature to the Didi service, with customers already able to use Siri to hail a ride and book one from within the Maps app and on their Apple Watch.

In addition to Apple Pay support, the company is also adding an English language service for Didi Luxe to offer luxury limousine services through the ride-hailing platform. Didi Luxe operates in Beijing and is expected to arrive in Shanghai in the next few months.

Last year, Apple made a much-publicized $1 billion investment in Didi, earning it a place on the company's board, so the gradual inclusion of Apple services is to be expected.

The further support of Apple Pay also comes at a good time for Apple, which is seeking to boost use of the mobile payment platform in China and fend off popular rivals like Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay

Apple has quietly included support for playback of FLAC audio files on the 4K Apple TV, iPhone 8, and iPhone X, with compatibility also added retroactively to the iPhone 7 when iOS 11 gets its public release.

Support for the lossless compression codec now appears in the technical specifications on Apple's website for all of the above devices. However, as it stands, Apple's Music app does not currently support the format, so device owners who want to listen to the higher quality audio files will have to use the native Files app or a third-party app specifically made for FLAC playback, such as VLC or Plex.

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Apple's support for the FLAC codec doesn't officially extend to the iPhone 6s or iPhone SE, which may be because an A10 processor is a minimum requirement for hardware decoding and Apple is not satisfied with the power consumption tradeoffs of FLAC software decoding.

That said, Apple's latest iPad Pro range should also be capable of FLAC playback thanks to their high performance A10X Fusion chips, yet Apple hasn't updated its iPad Pro tech specs to indicate they will also support the standard.

It's possible that Apple is still testing FLAC support for its range of mobile devices, and may even have plans to offer the lossless compression standard as a download option in iTunes and playback in the Music app further down the line. However, it's worth noting that mobile users would only get the full benefits of FLAC by listening using Lightning-connected wired headphones, since a Bluetooth audio connection doesn't offer enough bandwidth to make the experience worthwhile.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Google Chrome Material Icon 450x450Google will follow Apple's lead by adding an autoplay blocking feature to its desktop web browser in an update set to arrive in January, the company announced on Thursday.

One of the most common irritations of web browsing is unexpected media playback, which can eat up data allowance, consume more power, and cause unwanted noise.

When Safari 11 is released as part of macOS High Sierra, Mac users will be able to control media playback settings on a per-site basis, ending the frustration of auto-playing media while browsing.

Starting in Chrome 64, Google's desktop browser will feature a customization option along the same lines. In a post on its Chromium blog, Google said that with the new settings, autoplay will only be allowed if the media on a website doesn't play sound, or if the user has frequently chosen to play media on the site before.

This will allow autoplay to occur when users want media to play, and respect users' wishes when they don't. These changes will also unify desktop and mobile web behavior, making web media development more predictable across platforms and browsers.

Since not all users have the same preferences for autoplaying media, Google said it would add a new user option in Chrome 63 to completely disable audio for individual sites that will persist between browsing sessions.

Based on the available evidence, Chrome's autoplay blocking options won't actually be as granular as Safari's, which will enable users to mute autoplaying media with sound, or block all autoplaying media completely, both for individual sites and globally.

According to Google's roadmap, Chrome's new autoplay policies will be rolled out by January 2018. macOS High Sierra – which includes Safari 11 – gets its public launch on September 25.

Tag: Chrome
Related Forum: macOS High Sierra

Pre-order supplies of the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are beginning to dwindle, with several new iPhone models now displaying shipping estimates beyond the September 22 launch date.

Space Gray T-Mobile and SIM free models in some capacities, for example, will not ship out for one to two weeks, and those shipping estimates could fall as people continue placing orders. T-Mobile stock in general seems to be selling out faster.

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Apple Watch Series 3 supplies appear to have been limited, with some models, like the 38 and 42mm stainless steel watches listing shipping estimates of two to three weeks. Several Sport models have sold out, with the 42mm Space Gray Aluminum with Dark Olive Sport Sport Loop, 42mm Gold Aluminum with Pink Sand Sport, and 38mm Silver Aluminum with Seashell Sport Loop all listing shipping dates a few weeks out.

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Apple started accepting pre-orders at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, September 15, and shipping estimates for the above mentioned products began slipping within about 20 minutes. Additional products could begin selling out soon, so it's best to place orders right away.

While pre-order supplies of some iPhone 8/8 Plus and Apple Watch Series 3 models are beginning to sell out, it may still be possible to get one of the new iPhones on launch day by visiting an Apple retail location on Friday, September 22. In fact, for some products with higher shipping estimates, in-store pickup is still available for launch day, but that could change quickly.

The iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus come in 64 and 256GB configurations with three color options: Gold, Silver, and Space Gray. In the United States, iPhone 8 pricing starts at $699, while iPhone 8 Plus pricing starts at $799. Apple Watch Series 3 pricing starts at $329 for non-LTE models and $399 for LTE models.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPhone

Apple is now accepting pre-orders for the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus through its online storefront and the Apple Store app.

Pre-orders are available in all first wave launch countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, the US and US Virgin Islands.

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All of the major U.S. carriers, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, are accepting pre-orders for the new devices. Major online retailers including Best Buy and Target are also accepting pre-orders starting today.

It's not clear if supplies of the two new devices will be constrained, so it's best to place orders as early as possible for launch day delivery. There were some rumors suggesting there could be supply issues, and those issues almost always impact Plus models.

Apple's iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus feature the same general design as the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, but use a True Tone display and new glass bodies to enable a Qi-compatible inductive wireless charging feature. Inside, there are upgraded internals with a new A11 Bionic chip, and improved rear cameras with a new Portrait Lighting feature in the 8 Plus.

Pricing on the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus begins at $699 and $799, respectively. Pricing for iPhone Upgrade Program customers starts at $34.50 for iPhone 8 and $39.50, and Apple today began offering pre-approvals for iPhone Upgrade Program users who want a streamlined ordering experience.

Apple is only offering the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in 64 and 256GB with three colors available: Silver, Gold, and Space Gray.

The earliest pre-orders will be delivered to customers starting on September 22, the official launch date of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

Related Forum: iPhone

Alongside the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus, the Apple Watch Series 3 and the Apple TV 4K are now available for pre-order from Apple's online storefront and through the Apple Store app.

First wave launch countries for the Apple Watch Series 3 include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK, the US and US Virgin Islands.

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The LTE Apple Watch Series 3 models are only available for purchase in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, the UK and the US, as those are the only countries where Apple Watch cellular service is supported at this time.

The new Apple Watch Hermès models are available for pre-order in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the UK and the US, while Apple Watch Nike+ pre-orders are being accepted in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Macau, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, the UK and the US.

Supplies of the Apple Watch Series 3 could potentially be limited, so customers interested in launch-day delivery should order as soon as possible. In addition to a new LTE option, the Apple Watch Series 3 features a faster processor, a new W2 wireless chip, and better battery life.

The earliest pre-orders placed today for the Apple Watch Series 3 LTE and non-LTE models and the Apple Watch Series 3 Hermès models will deliver on Friday, September 22, while Nike+ models will be available starting on October 5.

As for the new Apple TV 4K, which offers 4K HDR connectivity for the first time, Apple has not provided a specific list of countries where it will be available for pre-order so presumably it will be available in all countries where the fourth-generation Apple TV is sold. Apple TV 4K orders placed today will ship out on Friday, September 22.

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Apple Watch Series 3 pricing starts at $329 for the non-LTE model and $399 for the LTE model, with prices going up based on case material, size, and band. Apple TV 4K pricing starts at $179 for the 32GB model.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch 10, Apple TV