Amazon is hosting another Prime Day event this year, called Amazon Prime Big Deal Days and offering shoppers the first chance to save on holiday shopping from a major retailer. Similar to the first Prime Day, it will last for two days and you'll find a large selection of deals and offers across Amazon's storefront, covering savings on tech, clothing, video games, groceries, and much, much more.
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.
For our coverage, we're focusing entirely on Apple and Apple-related discounts that can be purchased during this 48-hour event on Amazon. As of today, this includes deals on AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, and MacBook Air. Visit our article on The Best Tech Accessories for related discounts.
As is typical for Prime Day deals, these markdowns are very time sensitive, so sales listed below may disappear fast, and new ones may appear even faster. With this in mind, we'll keep this article updated throughout the event, and keep an eye on the MacRumors front page as we'll be posting particularly great deals in separate articles this week.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Amazon Prime Big Deal Days requires you to have an Amazon Prime membership to take advantage of the discounts. Amazon Prime offers a one month free trial, and otherwise costs $14.99 per month or $139.00 per year.
AirPods
AirPods are always a hot item during holiday discount events, and Amazon is bringing this trend back for 2023 with solid markdowns on AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 2, and AirPods 3. The highlight this time around is the new AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C at $189.00, $60 off and their best price ever.
Most of the deals on the new Apple Watch Series 9 are smaller $10 discounts on Amazon right now, but there is one steep markdown on the 45mm GPS Apple Watch Series 9. You can get the Pink Aluminum model for $389.99, which is a $39 discount and a new all-time low price.
You can get the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for the new all-time low price of $749.00 during Prime Day, down from $799.00. This version of the wearable just launched in September and nearly every model is available at this record low price on Amazon.
Prime Day has the best deals of the year on the second generation Apple Watch SE, starting at just $199.00 for select 40mm GPS models, down from $249.00. You can get three models at this price, including Midnight Aluminum, Silver Aluminum, and Starlight Aluminum.
Apple's 10.2-inch iPad has hit multiple all-time low prices during Prime Day, starting at $249.00 for the 64GB Wi-Fi model, down from $329.00. You'll find every model on sale below, including Wi-Fi and cellular tablets.
Solid deals have emerged for the 2022 iPad Air as well, including the 64GB Wi-Fi model for $499.99 and the 256GB Wi-Fi model for $649.99. Both of these represent $99 discounts and all-time low prices on each tablet.
A few of Apple's iPad mini 6 tablets have dropped during Prime Day, starting at $399.99 for 64GB Wi-Fi and rising to $539.99 for 256GB Wi-Fi. These are both solid second-best prices on each tablet, and some of the first deals we've tracked in a few weeks.
One of the best MacBook discounts during this Prime Day is a $250 markdown on every model of the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air. Prices start at $1,049.00 for the 256GB model and increase to $1,249.00 for the 512GB model, both of which are matches for all-time low prices on this notebook.
Apple's 13-inch M1 MacBook Air is available for $749.99 during Prime Day, down from $999.00. This is a match of the all-time low price on the notebook.
Best Buy has Apple's 256GB 13.6-inch M2 MacBook Air for $899.00 in all four colors, down from $1,099.00. This is the best price we've ever seen on this model of the MacBook Air, and right now it's only available at Best Buy. You'll also find the 512GB on sale below.
We will continue to track Prime Day deals as the event continues, so be sure to keep an eye on our front page for more news. We'll also be regularly updating this article as prices have been fluctuating and several products have gone in and out of stock throughout the event. Remember that you can sign up for Amazon Prime for free for one month to take advantage of the deals.
Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days has ended, but a major discount is still available on a popular model of AirPods. You can get the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C/MagSafe Charging Case for $199.99, down from $249.00.
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.
Apple just launched these earbuds last month and their headlining new feature is the addition of a USB-C port on the MagSafe Charging Case, replacing the Lightning port. This price is now a solid second-best deal on the earbuds.
There are a few minor changes to the AirPods Pro 2 besides the addition of USB-C, including additional dust resistance and support for lossless audio with the Vision Pro headset. Apple doesn't sell the USB-C/MagSafe Charging Case separately, so if you want USB-C support you'll have to purchase a full new set of earbuds.
We will continue to track Prime Early Access deals as the event continues, so be sure to keep an eye on our front page for more news. Remember that you can sign up for Amazon Prime for free for one month to take advantage of the deals.
Update: On October 10, Amazon provided an even steeper discount on the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, so this article has been updated to reflect that new price. Update 2: On October 12, the price of the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C returned to $199.99, and this article reflects that change.
Apple is rumored to be launching a new seventh-generation iPad mini soon, but the new model will not feature a 120Hz ProMotion display, claims a leaker with alleged supply chain sources.
According to the Twitter account @Tech_Reve, the iPad mini 7 "still doesn't have 120Hz," with only the A-series processor expected to receive an upgrade.
Suggestions that Apple could conceivably adopt ProMotion for a next-generation iPad mini began to receive attention when the "jelly scrolling" phenomenon was identified shortly after the iPad mini 6 was released in September 2021.
"Jelly scrolling" refers to screen tearing, which can cause text or images on one side of the screen to appear to be tilted downwards because of a mismatch in refresh rates. It can cause one side of the display to look as if it's responding faster than the other side, a visual disturbance that's hard to miss once you notice it.
Apple says the phenomenon is normal behavior for LCD iPads. Since LCD screens refresh line by line, there is a tiny delay between when the lines at the top and lines at the bottom are refreshed. But while this may be normal behavior for LCD screens, it can appear more obvious when observed on the iPad mini's smaller screen.
Late last year, a rumor on Korean forums suggested Apple was testing a Samsung-supplied display for a future iPad mini that would allow for up to 120Hz refresh rates, but no such model has been forthcoming, and Apple's plans for the iPad mini are still unclear, and rumors of an update have only gathered pace over the last couple of months.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman earlier this year reported that an iPad mini update with a minor "spec bump" is not out of the question in 2024. More recently in August, the leaker known as "ShrimpApplePro" suggested a seventh-generation iPad mini was in the works at Apple, and said that they had seen evidence that at least one new iPad model is coming this year. A DigiTimes report last month said Apple plans to release a "small-sized iPad" in the fourth quarter, while 9to5Mac just last week said that its sources believe the iPad mini 7 is coming "soon."
If anything happens before the holidays, a chip upgrade may be the most likely feature of a new iPad mini. The sixth-generation iPad mini currently contains the A15 Bionic chip, while the new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro use the A16 and A17 Pro chip, respectively. A minor spec bump could also include upgrades to the front and rear cameras, potentially bringing features like Photonic Engine to the iPad for the first time.
EU antitrust regulators have asked Apple's users and rivals to rate the importance of Apple's iMessage and Microsoft's Bing versus competing services, reports Reuters.
According to people familiar with the matter, the European Commission sent out the questionnaires earlier this month, asking if there was anything specific to iMessage and Microsoft's Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Advertising that business users rely on and how they fit into the companies' ecosystems. The survey also asked for the number of users making use of the services.
The survey comes after Apple and Microsoft contested the EU regulator labeling them as "gatekeepers" ahead of the publication of the first list of services to be regulated by the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Apple last month argued that iMessage does not meet the number of users required for the DMA's rules to apply, and should not be obliged to comply with it.
The legislation introduces new rules that apply to services considered to be core platform services and forces them to open up their various services and platforms to other companies and developers. For example, Apple could be forced to allow third-party companies and rival apps like Meta's WhatsApp to integrate directly with iMessage.
Analysts estimate that iMessage has as many as one billion users around the world, but Apple has not disclosed any official numbers about the service for several years. Whether iMessage will be included on the EU's initial list of gatekeeper services will depend on how it defines the market in which it operates.
Apple is expected to add support for sideloading apps from outside the App Store on iPhones and iPads in Europe via an update to iOS 17 due to the DMA's requirements, which could ultimately force similar major changes to the way in which the App Store, FaceTime, and Siri work on Apple devices.
Survey respondents were given less than a week to provide feedback, and the Commission wants to complete its investigation "within five months," according to the report.
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.
Valve on Monday said it has no plans for a macOS version of the recently released game Counter-Strike 2, the follow-up title replacing the hugely popular FPS Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Valve confirmed its decision and gave its reasons in a newly published Steam support FAQ:
As technology advances, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue support for older hardware, including DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems. Similarly, we will no longer support macOS. Combined, these represented less than one percent of active CS:GO players.
Moving forward, Counter-Strike 2 will exclusively support 64-bit Windows and Linux.
Last month's release of Counter-Strike 2 forced a 26GB update for everyone with CS:GO, including Mac users, but after installation those on macOS soon discovered that the update makes the original game as well as the update unplayable because of the lack of support and no rollback option.
Valve now says Mac players will be eligible for a Prime Status Upgrade refund if most of their CS:GO playtime was on macOS and they played CS:GO on a Mac between the announcement of the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test (March 22, 2023) and the launch of Counter-Strike 2 (September 27, 2023), regardless of when they purchased their Prime Status Upgrade. Valve will offer the refunds until December 1, 2023.
Valve added that those who wish to continue playing CS:GO on macOS will be able to access a legacy version or "frozen build" of the game, which has all the features of CS:GO except for official matchmaking. Support for this version of CS:GO will end on January 1, 2024. After this date, the game will still be available, but certain functionality that relies on compatibility with the Game Coordinator (e.g., access to inventory) may degrade and/or fail, according to Valve.
Despite Valve's refund offer to Mac users, the news that a macOS version of Counter-Strike 2 is not in active development will come as a bitter blow to many players. Though CS:GO launched all the way back in 2012, it's still one of the most popular FPS games available today, with tens of millions of players logging in each month. So even if less than 1 percent of the user base is on Mac, that could still account for hundreds of thousands of players.
Regardless of numbers, one of the reasons Valve is reluctant to develop CS2 for Mac is that Apple devices do not provide native support for the Vulkan API that the game is based on. Vulkan was designed to succeed OpenGL and address some of the latter's shortcomings, and while there is an open-source library called MoltenVK that provides a Vulkan implementation on top of Apple's Metal graphics API, it still lacks some of Vulkan's advanced features.
The Vision Pro headset that Apple plans to release next year has displays that support up to a 100Hz refresh rate, according to code in the latest beta of visionOS.
Apple says that the Vision Pro headset runs at a 90Hz refresh rate most of the time, but in an online WWDC session, the company revealed that it is also able to switch to 96Hz to support video content filmed at 24 frames per second.
Code found by M1 Astra confirms that the actual maximum Vision Pro refresh rate is 100Hz, but 100Hz is a mode that only activates to "compensate for detected 50Hz flicker from artificial lighting."
Apple Vision Pro refresh rate revealed according to visionOS beta 4. There seems to be refresh rate modes, 100Hz, 96Hz, and 90Hz. "Adjusted to 100Hz to compensate for detected 50Hz flicker from artifical lighting." "Travel mode requires 90Hz at all times." More in the images. pic.twitter.com/KatDpjxIha
— M1 (@M1Astra) October 4, 2023
The headset will be able to switch between the 90Hz, 96Hz, and 100Hz modes, but for the most part, it will work at 90Hz. In "Travel Mode," which is a mode that can be set when the headset is used on the go such as on a flight, 90Hz is the maximum.
The two displays in the Vision Pro headset are custom micro-OLED screens with a total of 23 million pixels, more pixels than a 4K TV for each eye. The Vision Pro headset is set to come out next year.
Device insurance provider Allstate Protection Plans today shared the results of one of its annual device drop tests, and this time around, the company broke some of the most expensive smartphones on the market, including the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The drop and dunk tests included the $1,200 iPhone 15 Pro Max, the $1,200 Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the $1,799 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5, and the $1,799 Google Pixel Fold. These are the most expensive smartphone options from Apple, Google, and Samsung, and all of these phones are constructed from glass.
For these tests, Allstate dunked each smartphone in water for 30 minutes and then dropped them onto a sidewalk from six feet up using an apparatus to drop them from the same height and angle.
As all of these smartphones have decent water resistance ratings, they were working fine following the dunk test, but glass and concrete sidewalks don't mix well, so no smartphone fared well on the drop test.
In the front screen-down drop test, the iPhone 15 Pro Max shattered on the first drop and was unusable with shards of raised and loose glass. The same thing happened to the Galaxy S23.
The Z Fold5 and the Google Pixel Fold were able to withstand two screen-down drops with frame damage, screen dents, and scuffing, which Allstate attributes to the raised lip around the interior edge of each display. Screen down in this case refers to the "main" screen visible when the device is opened. When the two smartphones were dropped on their closed outer displays, they both shattered.
In back-down drop tests, the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra both shattered immediately. The iPhone 15 Pro Max remained functional, but two of the cameras were no longer working because of damage to the camera glass.
Allstate Protection Plans has been doing these tests for years now on each iPhone generation, and there hasn't been a lot of improvement despite Apple's glass upgrades. Apple is using a stronger back glass and a "Ceramic Shield" material for the front, but glass is glass and it continues to break.
Drop tests are variable and the results depend on the angle the smartphone happens to fall at, the material it hits, the speed of the drop, and more. While Allstate Protection Plans uses the same variables for its tests, there's always an element of unpredictability and these experiments don't reflect real-world results.
It should come as no surprise that it's best not to drop a smartphone made of glass onto concrete. Apple sells a range of iPhone cases for customers to choose from, plus it offers AppleCare+, covering two incidents of accidental damage each year for a $29 deductible. AppleCare+ is a good idea if you plan to go caseless.
Samsung today joined Google in attempting to convince Apple to adopt the Rich Communication Services or RCS messaging standard that Google has been pushing.
In a short ad that's a riff on Romeo and Juliet, Samsung features two smartphone interfaces texting each other. "Juliet" is the iPhone in the metaphor and her parents (aka Apple) won't allow for the adoption of RCS. "What did green ever do to them? We're bubbles too," laments the "Romeo" Android smartphone. "And literally everyone wants us to be together. Ugh," writes Juliet.
It's ultimately a bit of a confusing ad, but Samsung makes it clear with the title of the video: "Green bubbles and blue bubbles want to be together." Samsung also includes the "Help Apple #GetTheMessage" tagline and hashtag that Google has been using for its RCS campaign.
Google has been hounding Apple about adopting RCS for several years now using ads, billboards, websites, social media campaigns, and more, but Apple has refused.
RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is a communication protocol designed by and adopted by Google. Google has been pushing Apple to implement support for RCS, but Apple devices continue to support the older SMS protocol. Google claims that Apple is responsible for all the issues that Android and iPhone users have texting one another, including lack of encryption, broken group chats, pixelated pictures and videos, and the green bubbles.
Apple CEO Tim Cookin September 2022 said that RCS is not a priority for Apple and that it is not a feature that iPhone users are asking for.
Apple is considering bringing OLED displays to the iPad mini and iPad Air from 2026, according to a report from technology research firm Omdia.
In a detailed report forecasting Apple's iPad panel purchasing plans published earlier today, Omdia explains that 2024 will mark the beginning of a transition to OLED in its tablet lineup. The potential transition to OLED on Apple's two mid-range tablets is apparently part of its OLED strategy from 2026 onwards.
Apple has ostensibly not yet committed to bringing the more advanced display technology to its mid-range tablets, and may be planning to review how the market responds to the first iPad Pro models that feature OLED displays, which are expected to launch next year, before locking in new display panels for the iPad mini and iPad Air.
The report also corroborates details about the rumored iPad Pro models with OLED displays that are widely expected to launch next year, with the panels due to be supplied by LG and Samsung. Apple is said to currently be seeking more suppliers for OLED displays designed for the iPad.
The next-generation iPad Pro is expected to launch in 2024 and be the first major update to the product since 2018, introducing "fundamental changes" that include larger OLED displays, the M3 chip, and support for a completely redesigned Magic Keyboard accessory.
Omdia added that after the 11th-generation iPad launches, Apple may "gradually migrate from 10.2-inch iPads to 10.9-inch iPads," suggesting that the ninth-generation model will be discontinued.
Prime Day deals have hit the second generation Apple Watch SE today, starting at just $199.00 for select 40mm GPS models, down from $249.00. You can get three models at this price, including Midnight Aluminum, Silver Aluminum, and Starlight Aluminum.
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.
These are the lowest prices we've ever seen on Apple Watch SE. We're also tracking a sale on the 40mm GPS model at $249.00 ($30 off) and a few cellular devices. You can find all of these discounts in the lists below.
We will continue to track Prime Day deals as the event continues, so be sure to keep an eye on our front page for more news. Remember that you can sign up for Amazon Prime for free for one month to take advantage of the deals.
Update: Steeper discounts have hit the Apple Watch SE, and so we've updated this article with the new prices.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has explained why the company releases a new iPhone every year, what the device will be like in the future, what he is personally doing to reduce his carbon footprint, and more in a new interview with Brut.
The brief interview, shot at an Apple data center and solar power facility in Denmark, delves mainly into Cook's opinion on various environmental issues such as "greenwashing." Cook explained that Apple wants to contrast its secrecy about its products with openness about its environmental efforts because it wants to be copied by others. Cook added that Apple still has more work to do in terms of renewable power and use of recycled materials to reach its environmental goals.
When asked if "we really need a new iPhone every year," Cook answered:
I think having an iPhone every year for those people that want it is a great thing. And what we do is we allow people to trade in their phone. And so we then resell that phone if it's still working. And if it's not working, we've got ways of disassembling it and taking the materials to make a new iPhone out of.
The interviewer then asked what the iPhone will be like 20 or 30 years into the future:
I think it'll be carbon neutral. I think obviously it will be way ahead of where it currently is, but I wouldn't want to give you all of our secrets in that regard. I'll just say from an environmental point of view, it'll be carbon neutral.
When asked what Cook does personally to help the environment, he responded:
I do drive an electric car. I try to avoid plastics and plastic bottles. I recycle. I compost. All of these things I try to do, everything I do, I try my best to do something that has a lower carbon footprint.
See the full interview video over on Brut.'s website or TikTok.
Amazon's October "Prime Big Deal Days" sale event has now ended, but you can still get Apple's 15-inch MacBook Air for $250 off and at all-time low prices right now.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
The 256GB model is available for $1,049.00, down from $1,299.00. Amazon has all four colors available at this price, and you'll find an October 13 through October 16 shipping estimate for most options.
The 512GB model is available at $1,249.00 in all four colors, down from $1,499.00. Both sales represent a match for the best prices we've ever seen on this 2023 15-inch MacBook Air.
Early work on Apple's second-generation Vision Pro headset focuses on reducing the device's size and weight, as well as an improved experience for users who need prescription lenses, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple's Vision Products Group has moved onto next-generation headset models and is considering several options, including lower-end and more powerful versions. The work, which remains early, seeks to make the device lighter and slightly smaller to address complaints that the first-generation Vision Pro feels too heavy on the head.
Apple is also apparently exploring how to make a headset purchase simpler for those who wear glasses. The first-generation Vision Pro requires wearers of glasses to separately purchase Zeiss prescription lenses that snap on to the displays using magnets. The company reportedly made this decision to reduce the overall thickness of the headset, but the need to stock thousands of different lens combinations is reportedly proving difficult.
With the second-generation, Apple is considering shipping custom-built Vision Pro headsets with preinstalled prescription lenses directly from the factory. Gurman notes that this invokes a different set of problems with sharing a headset, reselling it, and when a user's optical prescription changes over time.
According to other reports, the second-generation Vision Pro headset is not expected to launch until around 2025 to 2027. The first-generation launches early next year.
Touchscreen Mac rumors are not new, but it turns out that neither are touchscreen Macs. In 1999, a company called Elo produced and sold touchscreen versions of the iMac G3 through Apple's Value Added Reseller program for use as kiosk machines, and YouTuber Michael MJD recently managed to get hold of one.
The "ready-to-go tabletop kiosks" featured Elo's own iTouch touch-on-tube interface, which used surface acoustic waves instead of an overlay to detect where users touched the screen. You can see a prototype Elo iMac in action in Michael MJD's video, which also covers the history of the machine as well as its technical specifications. Given the simplicity of the hardware modification, it's a pretty impressive feat.
Rumors of Apple developing its own touchscreen iMac date back to 2010, initially fueled by Apple patents for a touchscreen desktop computer and then reports of touch panels making their way through Apple's supply chain.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs appeared to put the kibosh on those rumors in 2010 when he said that "touch surfaces don't want to be vertical" due to arm fatigue associated with holding up a finger to the screen.
In the years that followed, Apple firmly established iPhone and iPad at its touchscreen products, with no change in its position on touchscreen for Macs. As recently as 2021, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus said the Mac was "totally optimized for indirect input" and said the company did not feel there was a good reason to change that.
Despite the years of resistance, however, Apple has reportedly started working on adding touchscreens to Macs. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, a new MacBook Pro with an OLED display could be the first touchscreen Mac in 2025.
After a few weeks of controversy over potential overheating in the new iPhone 15 Pro models, Apple this week released a software update to help address the issue, which the company says is not the result of the new titanium casing or other thermal design problems.
Apple is also continuing work on the next round of more significant software updates led by iOS 17.1, and we're keeping tabs on everything that's new. Notably, the latest watchOS 10.1 beta enables the Double Tap feature that was one of the main promotional selling points of the latest Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models, so read on for all the details on these stories and more!
Apple Releases iOS 17.0.3 With Fix for iPhone 15 Pro Overheating
Apple this week released iOS 17.0.3 with a fix for an issue that may cause the iPhone 15 Pro models to run warmer than expected. The software update also includes several enterprise-related bug fixes and important security updates, according to Apple.
Apple said the iPhone 15 Pro's titanium frame was not a contributing factor to the overheating, and it said the software update does not lower the A17 Pro chip's performance to address the issue.
iOS 17.1 Beta: All the New Features So Far
Apple this week made the second beta of iOS 17.1 available to developers and public beta testers, and there are some new features as usual.
Warning: BMW Wireless Charging May Break iPhone 15's Apple Pay Chip
If you have an iPhone 15 and drive a BMW, it might be best to avoid charging the device with the vehicle's wireless charging pad for now.
Over the past few weeks, some BMW owners have complained that their iPhone 15's NFC chip no longer works after charging the device with their vehicle's wireless charging pad. It's unclear if the issue has been resolved with iOS 17.0.3 or the iOS 17.1 beta.
Double Tap lets you tap your index finger and thumb together twice to perform common actions on the Apple Watch, such as stopping a timer, playing and pausing music, snoozing an alarm, answering and ending a phone call, and more, all without touching the screen.
Original Apple Watch is Now Obsolete, Including $17,000 Gold Model
All first-generation Apple Watch models released in 2015 have now been declared obsolete by Apple, meaning they are no longer eligible for repairs or other service at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Provider locations.
This includes the original 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition model which sold for up to $17,000 at launch. The solid-gold Apple Watch option was discontinued in 2016 and replaced with more reasonably priced but still premium-priced Apple Watch Edition models made with cermamic or titanium for future years.
How to Get the Most Out of the iPhone 15 Pro's Action Button
For example, Federico Viticci of MacStories came up with a way for two separate shortcuts to be assigned to the Action button. He calls this solution MultiButton, and we provide a closer look at it in our video.
MacRumors Newsletter
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.
With every new operating system release and new iPhone, there are complaints about issues with battery life, and this year is no exception. There are often periods of rapid battery drain following an update or release due to behind-the-scenes syncing, but sometimes problems can persist longer.
Battery life problems can be caused by new features Apple has implemented, bugs that need to be fixed, or simply an uptick in usage after an update. Whatever the cause, we've rounded up some suggestions on how you can maximize your iPhone's battery life in situations where every last minute is important.
Note that there aren't many suggestions that don't disable key features on the iPhone, so you need to balance battery drain with the feature set that you want enabled, turning things off and on as needed when better battery life is required. Not all of these tips are specific to iOS 17 and the iPhone 15 models, but these steps will absolutely help preserve battery on your new device.
1. Turn Off Live Activities
Live Activities let apps keep an ongoing notification on the Lock Screen or Dynamic Island, and in iOS 17, Live Activities are used more than ever before. Combined with the Always-On display of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models, Live Activities can noticeably drain the battery.
Live Activities can be disabled by following these steps:
This will prevent Live Activities from showing up on the Lock Screen, but you'll want to take this one step further. In the individual app sections in the Settings app, you can disable Live Activities on an app-by-app basis, or avoid using Live Activities features within apps.
You can't fully disable the Dynamic Island, but you can swipe left on any running animation to dismiss it.
2. Delete Lock Screen and Home Screen Widgets
In iOS 17, Apple further improved widgets, introducing interactivity. Widgets can now be used right on the Lock Screen, so you can do things like control smart home products or check off Reminders without opening an app.
If you're not using a particular widget often, it might be best to remove it to preserve battery life, though it is worth exploring whether using a widget is less battery intensive than opening up an app.
On the Lock Screen specifically, you can use an option that doesn't have widgets, which makes it easy to switch over. Specific Lock Screens can be linked to a Focus mode, so you can even set up something that removes widgets and nixes unimportant notifications.
Live Voicemail is a feature that lets you get a real-time readout of a voicemail that someone is leaving so you can answer the phone if it's something important. Since Live Voicemail shows up right on the Lock Screen, it's not doing your battery any favors.
If you want to disable it, you can do so by going to Settings > Phone > Live Voicemail and toggling it off.
4. Turn Off Proximity AirDrop Sharing
When you hold two iPhones running iOS 17 together, or an iPhone running iOS 17 and an Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1, the iPhone initiates a proximity-based AirDrop or contact transfer protocol. If you're continually triggering this, it can drain battery, so if you've got your iPhone near another iPhone and the AirDrop interface keeps popping up, you might want to turn it off.
To do so, go to Settings > General > AirDrop and toggle off "Bringing Devices Together."
5. Take Advantage of Offline Maps
In iOS 17, you can download Apple Maps for offline usage. It's useful for when you don't have a cellular connection, but it's also good to use even if you do. If you're traveling in an area where you have a somewhat spotty connection, downloading a map for that spot and then turning off cellular will preserve your battery life without impacting your ability to get around.
We have a dedicated how-to that walks you through downloading a map for offline usage, but it's as simple as searching for a location in Maps, tapping the download button, and then selecting the area of the map to download.
6. Disable Haptic Keyboard Feedback
Apple has a keyboard option that gives you haptic feedback when you tap the on-screen keys. It vibrates with each key tap for a more satisfying typing experience, but what you might not know is that it drains battery.
Apple said in a support document last year that keyboard haptics might affect battery life, so it's not something you want to use when you don't have battery to spare. It's not on by default, but if you've enabled it, you can turn it off by following these steps:
Open up the Settings app.
Tap on Sounds & Haptics.
Tap on Keyboard Feedback.
Toggle off Haptic.
7. Turn Off Always-On Display (iPhone 15 Pro)
As the name suggests, the Always-On display on the iPhone 15 Pro models leaves the time, your wallpaper, widgets, and Live Activities visible on the Lock Screen even when your iPhone is locked.
The display is using a 1Hz refresh rate to preserve battery, and Apple has neat tricks like turning off the display when a connected Apple Watch is no longer nearby (signaling that the iPhone owner is out of the room) or the iPhone is in a pocket, but Always-On display still drains battery faster than no Always-On display.
You can turn off the Always-On display by following these steps:
Open up the Settings app.
Tap on Display & Brightness.
Tap on Always On Display.
Toggle off Always On Display.
It's not really clear just how much battery life the Always-On display drains because it's going to vary from use case to use case, but even if it's only a few percent, it's worth turning off, especially if it's not a feature that you find useful.
8. Choose Non-Animated Wallpapers
Some of the fancy wallpapers that are available for the Lock Screen are animated, and an animated wallpaper will drain just a bit more battery than a static wallpaper. If you're optimizing and don't care much for the animations, choose something that's not going to update throughout the day.
The Weather wallpaper, for example, changes based on the conditions, and the Photo Shuffle option swaps through your selected photos during the day. The Astronomy wallpaper also changes based on current conditions.
9. Use Focus Modes
Using Apple's built-in Focus option can cut down on the number of notifications that you're receiving during the day, and fewer notifications means less opportunity for apps to wake up your display and cause battery drain.
Focus modes let you choose which apps and people can send you notifications and when, so during work hours you can make sure you're only getting work notifications, and during personal time, you can limit your work notifications. You can limit notifications when driving, when you're asleep, when you're working out, and in any other scenario you can think of. Focus filters even let you filter out select emails, messages, calendars, and more.
You'll still get all of your notifications when the Focus mode ends, but all in one alert rather than multiple. Turning off unwanted notifications from apps is still the best method for saving battery life, but Focus lets you keep your notifications while still cutting down on the number that you receive at any given time.
Apple made Focus modes are relatively easy to set up, but it still takes some work to get everything running, so we have a dedicated Focus guide. You can find all of the Focus features in the Focus section of the Settings app.
10. Use Scheduled Summary
It's also worth making sure that any app that sends non-important notifications is relegated to the Scheduled Summary, which saves up notifications and sends them to you once or twice a day.
You can toggle on Scheduled Summary for apps in the Notifications section of the Settings app, where you can specify which apps should have their notifications include in Scheduled Summary and when you want them delivered.
11. Limit When and How Often Apps Can Access Location
It's always good to check in on privacy and access settings to make sure apps and services aren't doing things you don't want them to be doing.
Limiting the apps that have access to your location and how often apps can access that data can save battery life.
Open up the Settings app.
Choose Privacy & Security.
Tap Location Services.
Review the list and edit settings by tapping on the name of each app in the list.
You have four possible choices for location settings for each app, though not all four choices will always be available for every app depending on what it does. You can select the following: Never, Ask Next Time Or When I Share, While Using the App, and Always.
Never will prevent an app from ever accessing your location, and unless there's a specific need for an app to know where you are, such as a mapping app, setting location access to Never is the best choice.
Ask Next Time Or When I Share will prompt an app to ask you with a pop-up the next time that it wants your location, so you can temporarily approve it. With this setting, location access is off until expressly allowed via the pop-up.
While Using the App allows the app to detect your location only when the app is open and being actively used. If you close the app or switch over to another app, location access ends.
Always allows an app to have access to your location at all times, regardless of whether it's open or closed. This will result in the most battery drain and should be limited to only the apps that you need the most.
A lot of apps will ask for location information that don't really need it to function (for example, a banking app might want location access to show nearby ATMs, which is also available through entering a zip code), so clearing the cruft will ensure no apps are accessing your location without express permission.
You can also turn off Location Services all together, but it's not ideal because it can impact crucial apps like Maps.
12. Limit Apps Using Bluetooth
Your iPhone lets you know when apps have requested Bluetooth access, and there are quite a few apps that want Bluetooth access for location tracking, scanning for Chromecast devices, or other not-so-useful reasons.
Checking on the apps using Bluetooth is worthwhile to make sure that you don't have a sneaky app connecting to Bluetooth sources without your permission and draining battery. To get to Bluetooth settings:
Open the Settings app.
Tap on Privacy & Security.
Tap Bluetooth.
Apps like Facebook, MAX, Hulu, and others don't need Bluetooth access for the most part, so toggle off any app that doesn't need a Bluetooth connection to function. If a feature in an app stops working, you can just turn it right back on.
Disabling Bluetooth entirely is also an option, but it's used for AirPods, Apple Watches, and other accessories, so turning it off isn't feasible for most people.
13. Use Low Power Mode
Using Low Power Mode liberally is an obvious choice for maintaining battery without having to hassle with a lot of settings, and you can toggle it on from Control Center, the Battery section of the Settings app, or using Siri. Low Power Mode cuts down on background activity, turns off your display after inactivity more quickly, limits display refresh rate, limits email fetch, cuts down on visual effects, and more.
Low Power Mode can be set to turn on at a certain battery percentage using Shortcuts, which is a handy way to have it automatically turn on when you need it.
14. Use Wi-Fi and Airplane Mode
When you can, it's best to connect to Wi-Fi to maximize battery life, and it's one of the battery preserving tips that Apple offers. At home or at work, make sure you connect to Wi-Fi rather than using cellular signal. Nothing drains a battery quite like a 5G connection, especially one that's unstable.
If you're in an area with no Wi-Fi and you know you have low cellular signal, turn on Airplane Mode or turn off your cellular connection so it's not draining your battery trying to connect. This of course only works when you don't need a cellular connection in the moment, but it can have a big impact and you probably can't do much with low signal anyway.
15. Manage Apps Draining Battery
Your iPhone tells you which apps are eating up the most battery so you can make sure nothing is secretly draining your battery without your knowledge. You can check your battery usage statistics by opening up the Settings app and tapping on the Battery section.
Battery usage charts let you see your battery level over the last 24 hours or for the last 10 days, plus you can see which apps have used the most battery life. If there's an app that you don't need that's draining an excessive amount of battery, delete it. If you do need the app, moderate how often you're using it and what permissions it has like location.
Note that with the iPhone 15 models, you can preserve your battery health with a new feature that prevents the iPhone from charging up past 80 percent. This isn't something you're going to want to enable if you're worried about battery life on a long day out, but if you keep it on while you're home, you can have a healthy battery for a longer period of time. Get to this setting by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging > Charging Optimization > 80% Limit.
16. Limit Background Activity
Almost all apps use background refresh to update even when they're not open, and limited background activity and background refresh is a longtime favorite option for cutting down on battery usage.
You can turn off Background App Refresh all together or choose which apps can refresh in the background.
Open the Settings app.
Select General.
Tap on Background App Refresh.
From there, you can tap on the Background App Refresh option to turn Background App Refresh off altogether or choose to have it activate only when connected to Wi-Fi, which doesn't drain battery as much as downloading over cellular.
You can also choose to turn Background App Refresh on just for your most used apps by tapping on the toggle next to each app in the list.
17. Turn Down Screen Brightness
This is a rather obvious suggestion, but the dimmer your display, the less battery you're using. If you're indoors, drop that brightness down as low as you can tolerate, and hold off on using your iPhone in the sun until you can find a shady spot if you really want to maximize battery.
The easiest way to drop brightness is to swipe down on the right side of the display to access Control Center and lower the brightness slider. It's also a good idea to make sure you have your display set to Auto-Lock after the shortest interval (30 seconds), which you can do by going to Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock.
18. Change Your Mail Settings
Along with turning off Background App Refresh, changing when and how often the Mail app checks for new emails can save you some battery.
Open up the Settings app.
Tap Mail.
Tap Accounts.
Tap "Fetch New Data" at the bottom.
You can turn off Push (which lets you know right away when a new email message is available) and adjust Fetch settings on a per account basis for accounts that don't support Push (like Gmail accounts).
Adjusting the Fetch settings to have longer intervals before checking for new messages can help save battery life, as can turning off Fetch all together in favor of manual checks that will download new messages only when the Mail app is opened.
You can choose the following settings: Automatically, Manually, Hourly, Every 30 Minutes, and Every 15 Minutes.
iPhone 15 Overheating
There has been a lot of talk of overheating issues with the iPhone 15 models, particularly the iPhone 15 Pro models. Apple released iOS 17.0.3 on October 4 to address a bug that could cause the iPhone 15 models to run hotter than expected, plus the company said that some apps like Instagram and Uber were causing processor strain that resulted in overheating. Apple has fixed the issue both with the update and by working with app developers to solve any efficiency problems.
If you're having issues with heat and battery life, make sure your iPhone is updated to iOS 17.0.3 by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
Conclusion
There are endless things to do to preserve battery life, and unfortunately, everything you use your phone for is going to drain battery, so it's all about finding what works for you, what you don't need, and where you can compromise to extend battery life.
Have a favorite battery saving tip we haven't listed here? Let us know in the comments below.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has Apple's most advanced camera system to date, with an updated 48-megapixel lens, improved Ultra Wide lens, and a new 5x Telephoto lens that offers the most optical zoom ever in an iPhone. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera this week took a deeper look at the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a specific focus on the camera features.
Apple's Main camera is always fantastic in good lighting conditions, but with the A17 Pro chip, the colors are even more accurate than before. HDR has been improved with Smart HDR 5, so skin tones are able to look more lifelike while other colors remain vivid. This is particularly noticeable in situations with bright backgrounds where you might see some washout with prior iPhone models.
Photos default to 24 megapixels instead of 12 megapixels, which means you're getting more detail and better quality with a still-reasonable file size, and with the A17 Pro, you can choose from different focal lengths, including 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm to better mimic what you can do with adjustable lens cameras.
Night mode is more impressive, and taking a Portrait image no longer requires swapping modes. With a person or pet in the photo (or if you tap to focus), depth information is automatically captured and you can choose to activate Portrait mode after the shot, which is super handy. It's much easier to just pop open the camera, snap a shot, and get exactly what you want.
The biggest change on the 15 Pro Max is the 5x optical zoom lens that replaces the 3x optical zoom lens. The 5x optical zoom is equivalent to a 120mm telephoto lens, which is a great focal length for portraits and a lens that can be used in ways that just didn't work with 3x zoom. The 5x lens is much more of a go-to option for just everyday shots, especially when people and pets are involved. It has excellent background blur that pairs well with the portrait feature.
For most people, video is about the same, but there are some bells and whistles for pros, including log color encoding when shooting ProRes video for better HDR and simpler post-production adjustments.
We'll have a much more in-depth look at the iPhone 15 Pro Max camera coming up, with a comparison to Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max, so make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors for that.
With the microscope, iFixit is able to provide a closer look at the iPhone's casing, adhesive, and display, showing off individual pixels. There are zoomed-in views of everything from the battery connector to the magnets inside the Taptic Engine.
Compared to the iPhone 14, the iPhone 15 is remarkably similar, which makes sense because the design has not changed. There is a larger 48-megapixel camera, though, which iFixit confirms is not, in fact, the same 48-megapixel camera that's in the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The quad pixel "buckets" in the iPhone 15's camera are around 22 percent smaller, which means that the camera is not able to perform as well in low lighting conditions as the camera in the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
iFixit's iPhone 15 teardown isn't revealing anything that we didn't already know, but it is a fun read thanks to the closer look at multiple components.
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