MacRumors

Apple supplier BOE still can't catch a break in its production of OLED displays for iPhone 15 models. According to a new report by DigiTimes, the Chinese-based manufacturer is still struggling to expand panel supply due to yield issues.

Despite investing in panel research and development, BOE has continually struggled with yield rate problems, particularly for OLED panels for the iPhone 15 basic model. The panels were conditionally approved for mass production by Apple in March 2023, but in September the supplier failed to get formal approval and Apple ended up dropping the order.

BOE was supposed to be supplying OLED displays for both the standard ‌iPhone 15‌ and larger ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus, but that fell through when the manufacturer experienced problems with light leakage around the portion of the OLED display where the pill and hole cutouts secure the space necessary for the TrueDepth camera and Face ID, where the Dynamic Island is located.

• iPhone 15: What Dynamic Island Does and How to Use It

Initial speculations suggested that BOE might supply around 5 million iPhone 15 panels in 2023. However, due to delays and poor yield rates, the expected supply volume has been reduced to 2 to 3 million panels. What makes things worse for BOE is that the light leakage is harder to avoid on a larger panel. As a result, it is now considered very unlikely that BOE will get production approval for the iPhone 15 Plus panels in 2023. Its yield rate is still estimated to be around only 30%.

Currently, Samsung Display supplies panels for the entire iPhone 15 series and held a 91% market share in these kinds of panels from June to August 2023. If BOE cannot expand its supply, Samsung will reap the benefits once again.

Apple Podcasts today named "Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus" as its Show of the Year for 2023. The annual award recognizes a podcast for its exceptional quality, innovation, and influence within the podcasting industry.

"Wiser Than Me" debuted in April 2023 and has since garnered acclaim for its distinctive approach featuring interviews with notable women such as Jane Fonda and Carol Burnett. The podcast explores the themes of life experiences, wisdom, and societal impact.

"Wiser Than Me" held the number one position on the U.S. charts for a record 29 consecutive days. It also ranked fifth on Apple's Top New Shows for 2023 in the U.S. and was listed among the top 10 Most Followed and Most Shared Shows of the year. The podcast's initial episode was also notable, becoming the second Most Shared Episode on ‌Apple Podcasts‌ in the U.S. for 2023.

The selection for the Show of the Year is made by the ‌Apple Podcasts‌ editorial team, who evaluate the content based on its quality and impact, irrespective of its chart position or popularity. "Wiser Than Me" joins a list of previous recipients that include "Code Switch" by NPR (2020), "A Slight Change of Plans" by Pushkin Industries (2021), and "Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade" by Slate (2022).

"Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus" is available on ‌Apple Podcasts‌, with additional content available via a subscription to Lemonada Premium. "Wiser Than Me" has been renewed for a second season that is due to premiere in spring 2024.

Apple has asked the Indian government to exempt existing iPhones from new rules that require smartphones sold in the country to have a USB-C charging port, reports Reuters.

India wants to replicate an upcoming European Union rule that requires all smartphones to implement the USB-C charging standard. However, according to a new report, Apple has told India its local production targets will be hit if the country requires all iPhones to have USB-C charging ports.

In a closed-door Nov. 28 meeting chaired by India's IT ministry, Apple asked officials to exempt existing iPhone models from the rules, warning it will otherwise struggle to meet production targets set under India's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, according to the meeting minutes seen by Reuters.

Only the newest iPhone 15 models currently have the USB-C port. The problem for Apple is that many consumers in India prefer to buy older models like the iPhone 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 13, which Apple produces in India for local sales and exports as part of its adherence to the country's PLI scheme.

"If the regulation is implemented on earlier models of mobile phones, they (Apple) will not be able to meet the PLI targets," the minutes quoted Apple's regulatory and product compliance executives as saying while opposing the rules.

While the EU regulation comes into effect in December 2024, India has said it wants compliance by June 2025. According to the report, Apple told officials it can comply with that timeline if existing models are exempted from the rules, but will need 18 months beyond 2024 if they are not. India's IT ministry is said to have decided to review its request in light of the meeting and will reach a decision later.

An increasing number of iPhone users are reporting a persistent iOS 17 bug that causes the app switcher to suddenly appear when they are typing on the screen. If you have experienced this frustrating issue, you are not alone.

Apple Community forums and Reddit contain similar reports of people being kicked out of Messages, Notes, and other apps mid-sentence only to find themselves in another app because they were still tapping the screen when the app switcher suddenly appeared.

You can see it in action here. The bug can be hard to replicate, but it seems to happen to affected users when they have been typing on the virtual keyboard at pace for a while. The bug has been reported in all versions of iOS 17 up to and including the most recent iOS 17.1.2 update, and some users have returned their ‌iPhone‌ only for it to occur on the replacement device, suggesting that Apple is not sufficiently aware of the problem.

Until Apple deals with the issue, there is a temporary fix – or more accurately a workaround, since it involves turning off Reachability, a feature that some users will undoubtedly miss. Reachability is an optional feature that lowers the top half of the screen so it's within easy reach of your fingers. Here's how to disable it.

1. Open Settings on your ‌iPhone‌.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Under "Physical and Motor," select Touch.
4. Turn off the switch next to Reachability.

Disabling Reachability appears to stop the typing bug in its tracks for everyone affected, which suggests Apple has an unidentified sensitivity issue linked to the accessibility feature.

(Thanks, Anna!)

Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago.

In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform.

The move was supposed to be part of a long-term plan to merge Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp chat platforms into one underlying messaging infrastructure. The idea behind the plan was said to be to keep people within the Facebook ecosystem, and off of rival texting apps like Apple's iMessage.

However, according to an updated Instagram support page, beginning in mid-December the following cross-app communication features will no longer be available to Instagram users:

• You won't be able to start new conversations or calls with Facebook accounts from Instagram.
• Any existing chats on Instagram that you've had with Facebook accounts will become read-only, even if these Facebook accounts are removed from the chat. This means that you and others with Instagram accounts can't send new messages in these chats.
• Facebook accounts won't be able to view your Activity Status or whether you've seen a message.
• Any existing chats you've had with Facebook accounts won't move to your inbox on Facebook or Messenger.

When cross-app chat ends, Instagram users will need to start a new chat on Messenger or Facebook from their Facebook account to continue conversations with Facebook accounts.

Meta offered no reason for the change, but 9to5Google speculates that it could be part of a larger effort to comply with Europe's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The theory is that Meta could be preparing to introduce wider interoperability between Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, which would fulfill a key requirement of the DMA. Either that or it is simply scaling back Messenger once again – the company recently removed SMS/MMS support on Android and has shut down Messenger Lite.

Netflix has been "completely satisfied" with the pace of the password sharing crackdown it initiated in the United States earlier this year, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said today at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference (via Variety).

The streaming company first began eliminating password sharing in in several countries in Latin America in 2022, requiring those who wanted to share subscriptions with people outside of their direct household to pay an additional fee. Password sharing restrictions then expanded to Canada, New Zealand, and some European countries in February 2023, before coming to the U.S., UK, and other countries in May 2023. The tiered rollout gave Netflix time to assess customer reaction. "It was good to take it slow," said Sarandos at today's event. "That's why we didn't do it in one fell swoop."

Netflix allowed password sharing to proliferate for more than a decade before deciding to crack down on it. The change came because in the first quarter of 2022, Netflix lost subscribers for the first time in 10 years and saw a sharp drop in revenue. To boost revenue, Netflix put a stop to password sharing, raised prices, and launched an ad-supported tier.

According to Netflix, an estimated 222 million paying households were sharing with an additional 100 million households that were not being monetized.

Following the password sharing crackdown, Netflix said that it saw strong subscriber growth in countries where password sharing was restricted. Netflix in Q2 2023 added six million subscribers, including more than a million in the U.S. and Canada. Revenue increased in every region where paid sharing was rolled out, and signups ultimately exceeded cancelations. In the third quarter of 2023, Netflix gained 8.8 million new subscribers, up from 2.4 million new subscribers in Q3 2022, plus revenue increased by $64 million.

Netflix subscribers are now only allowed to share accounts with people who live in the same household, with Netflix restricting access based on IP and other location data. "A Netflix account is meant to be shared by people who live together in one household," reads the Netflix website. "People who are not in your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix."

Along with removing password sharing, Netflix in October raised its prices in the United States. The Basic no-ads plan is now priced at $11.99 per month (a $2 increase), while the Premium plan is $22.99 per month (a $3 increase). Netflix did not change the price of its $6.99 ad-supported tier or its $15.49/month Standard plan.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek today announced that the company is laying off 17 percent of employees, which equates to more than 1,000 people. Spotify needs to cut costs in an effort to narrow the gap between its current operational costs and financial goal state.

Over the last two years, we've put significant emphasis on building Spotify into a truly great and sustainable business - one designed to achieve our goal of being the world's leading audio company and one that will consistently drive profitability and growth into the future. While we've made worthy strides, as I've shared many times, we still have work to do. Economic growth has slowed dramatically and capital has become more expensive. Spotify is not an exception to these realities.

This brings me to a decision that will mean a significant step change for our company. To align Spotify with our future goals and ensure we are right-sized for the challenges ahead, I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17% across the company.

According to Ek, Spotify took on too many employees in 2020 and 2021, and while that led to increased output and company growth, it also made Spotify less efficient and increased operating costs. Spotify has too many people "dedicated to supporting work" and "doing work around the work" rather than "contributing to opportunities with real impact."

Spotify employees that are impacted by layoffs will be notified by Tuesday, December 5. Severance will be based on tenure and local notice period requirements, with employees receiving an average of five months of severance.

Going forward, Ek says that Spotify must be "relentlessly resourceful" in how it operates because "being lean is not just an option but a necessity." The cuts will let the company "build an even stronger Spotify" in 2024.

In Q3 2023, Spotify brought in $3.6 billion, up from $3.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. Spotify also added 23 million monthly active users and six million paid subscribers, leading to its first profitable quarter in 2023. Profit was only at one percent, however.

Spotify is Apple Music's main competitor, and the company has long protested the fees that Apple collects through its App Store. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek this year has been urging lawmakers in the United Kingdom to adopt a bill that would regulate competition in digital markets and prevent Apple from offering a platform while also competing on that platform.

Apple and Spotify's most recent tiff happened in late 2022 when Apple rejected a Spotify app update that added audiobook support. Spotify attempted to direct customers to buy books online to listen to in the app, which Apple protested. Spotify was ultimately forced to remove all in-app information about how to purchase an audiobook from the Spotify website to get the app approved.

With Apple and Goldman Sachs set to put an end to their Apple Card agreement over the next 12 to 15 months, Chase Bank could be the ideal partner to step in and take over Goldman Sachs' role, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In his weekly PowerOn newsletter, Gurman on Sunday said that JPMorgan Chase & Co already works with Apple on several financial initiatives, which is why Chase "makes more sense" than other ‌Apple Card‌ partners that have been proposed, such as American Express.

Chase was an early Apple Pay partner, is one of the banks that holds Apple's $60 billion in cash, and works with Apple on an Ultimate Rewards program that provides discounts on Apple products to Chase customers. Right now, the ‌Apple Card‌ is on the Mastercard platform, which is also used by Chase, so Apple would not need to swap over to Visa or American Express.

When Apple was first seeking a partner for the ‌Apple Card‌, Chase, American Express, and Citigroup all declined to work with Apple because it was not clear at the time if the endeavor would work out, but now that ‌Apple Card‌ has millions of users, banks that weren't previously interested may want to reconsider.

If Apple does end up working with Chase, Gurman points out that the Apple Savings account might have to go or that Apple might have to find a different partner for it. Chase does not offer high-yield savings accounts that are on par with the 4.15 percent return rate that the Apple Savings account provides under Goldman Sachs.

There have been rumors for months that Goldman Sachs wanted to get out of consumer banking and thus out of its partnership with Apple. The Wall Street Journal last week confirmed that Apple will let Goldman Sachs out of its deal, with Apple planning to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months.

The ‌Wall Street Journal‌ suggested that Apple could work with Synchrony Financial on the ‌Apple Card‌, and prior rumors have said that Goldman Sachs approached American Express about taking over the partnership. It is not yet clear if Apple is already in talks with another bank, nor what the company's next steps will be. ‌Apple Card‌ service will continue on as normal as Apple works to find a new partner, and Apple has promised to continue to provide "the best tools and services" for ‌Apple Card‌ customers.

Steve Jobs memorabilia and remnants from Apple's early days tend to fetch high prices from collectors, and a check to RadioShack signed by Jobs is no exception. Up for auction this week, the check is expected to fetch more than $25,000.

The check, which is from Apple Computer Company, was filled out by Jobs on July 23, 1976. It is made out for $4.01 and signed "Steven Jobs." The address on the check is the answering service and mail drop off point that Steve Jobs used while Apple was being run out of his parents' garage.

A fascinating check related to one of the great unsung heroes of the early computer boom: RadioShack. The biggest tech innovations of the 20th century are all, in varying degrees, indebted to the Boston-based electronics store. Steve Wozniak, who spent hours roaming the aisles of RadioShack as a teenager, saved up enough money to purchase their pioneering TRS-80 Micro Computer System, which he used to build his notorious 'blue box,' an illegal device that could make free long-distance phone calls. The 'blue box' cemented the first business partnership between Wozniak and Jobs, a duo that managed to make and sell roughly 200 of the boxes for $150 each. Jobs later told his biographer that if it had not been for Wozniak's blue boxes, 'there wouldn't have been an Apple.' In other words: there wouldn't have been an Apple if it had not been for RadioShack.

When the check was written, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were working on the Apple-1 computer. 50 of the machines were manufactured and sold to The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, and approximately 200 Apple-1 computers were made in all.

At the time of writing, there have been 21 bids on the check, and the total is up to $22,444. The auction ends on December 6.

Verizon today announced a new partnership with Netflix and Max that will see the carrier offering a combined streaming bundle option to customers who subscribe to its "myPlan" offering.

The combined Netflix and Max plan will be available for $10, but there is a minor catch because the subscriptions are ad-supported. Standalone versions of the ad-supported Netflix and Max plans are priced at $6.99 and $9.99 per month respectively in the United States, so the bundle provides a savings of $7 per month.

For those potentially interested in the plan, it is worth noting that Netflix's ad-supported tier does restrict some content due to licensing restrictions. This mostly applies to TV shows and movies from Universal, including content that originally aired on NBC or USA. Netflix's deal with Universal prevents ads from being shown with the content. The Max ad-supported tier includes the same content available with the standard tiers.

Verizon's Max and Netflix subscription bundle is limited to myPlan subscribers. MyPlan came out last May, and is a customizable smartphone plan that unbundles unlimited cellular service from the "perks" that Verizon has offered to subscribers in the past. Verizon's older plans, for example, offered unlimited 5G access and included access to Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Disney+, and more.

MyPlan requires customers to pay $10/month for the perks that they want to add. The Netflix and Max bundle joins the Disney/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle, an Apple One Bundle, and a Walmart+ option.

There are three myPlan options from Verizon, including Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, and Unlimited Ultimate, which are priced at $65, $80, and $90 per month for a single line.

The Netflix and Max subscription option will be available starting on Thursday, December 7.

In recent weeks, many Apple Music subscribers have reported that the "Add Playlist Songs" setting is broken on the iPhone, iPad, and sometimes the Mac. After a user toggles off the setting, the bug can cause it to turn back on, resulting in any songs that a user adds to a playlist being added to their music library in an unwanted manner.

Users have complained about this issue on the Apple Support Community, Reddit, MacRumors Forums, and X. While the complaints have increased since iOS 17.1.2 was released last week, the bug appears to affect many other software versions, leading some users to speculate that there might be a server-side problem for Apple to fix.

The issue has frustrated users, as removing an unwanted song from the library also removes the song from all playlists, and there is no way to change this behavior. The bug can repeat itself over and over again, and there is no lasting solution right now.

The underlying cause of the issue is unclear. We've reached out to Apple for comment, and we will update this article if we receive a response.

Apple's work on implementing 6G cellular connectivity on its devices appears to be ramping up, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple is increasingly turning its attention to 6G, even amid its widely reported difficulties developing a custom 5G cellular modem.

In 2021, the first highly specific Apple job listings with reference to 6G emerged. Now, a further job position for a Modem Systems Software Architect has appeared on the company's website that seeks an individual to "coordinate the design and modeling of a 6G reference architecture." Gurman says the listing is part of the company's growing push to hire engineers to develop 6G cellular technologies.

Carriers are already working on next-generation 6G networking. In late 2020, Apple joined the Next G Alliance, an industry group set up by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) that seeks to "advance North American mobile technology leadership in 6G and beyond over the next decade, while building on the long-term evolution of 5G."

Some analysts say the technology could enable speeds more than 100 times faster than 5G, but the extent of its enhanced performance in the real world is yet to be seen. 6G is not expected to emerge on consumer devices until around 2030.

DoorDash recently started rolling out Live Activities support for its iPhone app, allowing users to track their food delivery order at a glance on the Lock Screen, and in the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models and all iPhone 15 models.

DoorDash began working on Live Activities support a few months ago, and the feature started rolling out over the past few weeks, but it does not yet appear to be available for all users. The most convenient aspect of the feature is the ability to view an order's real-time ETA directly in the Dynamic Island on newer iPhones.

DoorDash competitor Uber Eats rolled out Live Activities support in May.

Other popular apps that support Live Activities include the NBA and MLB apps for basketball and baseball games, Flighty for flight tracking, Citymapper for public transit, ParkMobile for parking, and CARROT Weather for weather forecasts.

Apple's 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro is available for multiple all-time low prices today at Best Buy, starting at $1,399.00 for the M3 512GB model, down from $1,599.00. The prices in this article reflect final deal prices applied for My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total members.

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.

If you don't have a membership, you can still purchase the notebook at a solid second-best price, which Amazon is matching. For the 512GB 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro, that means you can get it on Amazon for $1,449.00 in both Space Gray and Silver.

Secondly, Best Buy has the 1TB 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro for $1,549.00, down from $1,799.00. This one is a new all-time low price at $250 off, and it's again only available for My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total members.

Similar to the 512GB model, Amazon has the 1TB 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro at a second-best price of $1,599.00 in both colors. This is also the same price that you'll find on Best Buy if you aren't a My Best Buy Plus or Total member.

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.

WhatsApp is rolling out a new option that lets users on iPhone share photos and video over the messaging platform in their original quality.

As spotted by WABetaInfo, the official changelog included with WhatsApp's 23.24.73 update on the App Store says that users can now "easily send original quality media as a file."

The update follows a recent feature addition that lets WhatsApp users send media in high resolution or "HD quality." While that was an improvement that addressed the service's low quality media sharing limitation, it still involves compression.

WhatsApp's latest feature avoids compression altogether by allowing photos and video to be shared as files, thereby preserving their original quality. WhatsApp's changelog adds that the new option is rolling out "over the coming weeks," so some users may not immediately see it on their device.

1. Open an existing chat in WhatsApp or start a new one.
2. Tap the + icon, left of the text input field.
3. Tap Document ➝ Choose Photo or Video.
4. Choose the media that you want to send, then confirm by tapping the blue arrow. Note the 2GB limit on the files that can be sent using the feature.

When the files are sent, previews of the media are not shown in the chat window, but the recipient can tap the files to view them. WhatsApp has also been testing the same feature for Android, although there isn't any further information about when it will become available.

Zoom has released an app for Apple TV 4K, allowing users to hold conference calls on their television and iPhone or iPad via Apple's Continuity Camera feature. First spotted by Sigmund Judge, the "Zoom - for Home TV" app quietly showed up in the tvOS App Store over the weekend.

When tvOS 17 was released in September, Apple introduced FaceTime on Apple TV, which takes advantage of Continuity Camera support to wirelessly connect to the user's iPhone or iPad, and leverage the device's camera and microphone to bring participants together on the TV.

Zoom uses Continuity Camera to achieve the same thing, allowing you to connect Apple TV to your iPhone, and then start and join Zoom meetings. The app supports HD video and audio, calendar integration, meeting invites via phone, email, or Zoom contacts, in-meeting chat, and the ability to be assigned to a breakout room.

• How to Use iPhone as a FaceTime Camera on Apple TV

Zoom users can log into their account in the Apple TV app using their Zoom credentials, or by visiting a pairing URL on their iPhone. Zoom on tvOS requires a second-generation Apple TV 4K or later to utilize Continuity Camera, as well as any iPhone or iPad model updated to iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 for camera and microphone functionality.

(Via AppleInsider.)

Apple employees are back to work following a Thanksgiving break, and that means this week saw a number of new operating system updates for both public release and beta testing.

This week also saw some misinformation about Apple's new NameDrop feature making the rounds, while Apple and Goldman Sachs appear to be on the verge of a break-up in their Apple Card and savings account partnership, so read on for all the details on these stories and more!

Apple Releases iOS 17.1.2 for iPhone With Security Fixes

Apple this week released iOS 17.1.2 for the iPhone XS and newer. The minor software update "provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users," according to Apple's release notes.

Apple also released a minor macOS 14.1.2 update for Macs with "important bug fixes and security updates."

There aren't any updates for the Apple Watch, Apple TV, or HomePod.

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Following iOS 17.1.2, Apple is expected to release a bigger iOS 17.2 update, which has been in beta testing for over a month now.

iOS 17.2 includes many new features and changes, including Apple's Journal app, support for spatial video recording on iPhone 15 Pro models, and more. There are even more changes in the latest beta, as outlined in our list of everything new in iOS 17.2 beta 4.

Misinformation Spreading About iOS 17's NameDrop Feature

Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to hold their iPhones or Apple Watches together to quickly exchange contact information.

While contact information is only shared with explicit user permission, some news outlets and police departments in the U.S. have been spreading fear and misinformation about how NameDrop works over the past few weeks.

Apple Reportedly Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Apple has allegedly informed Goldman Sachs that it wants to exit its contract with the investment banking firm in the next 12 to 15 months, according to a report this week from The Wall Street Journal.

Goldman Sachs is the financial partner behind the Apple Card credit card and companion savings account, which can both be managed in the Wallet app on the iPhone. Apple's future plans for these products remains unclear.

Apple Music Replay 2023 Experience Now Live

The full Apple Music Replay experience is now available for 2023, allowing subscribers to view their top artists, songs, albums, genres, playlists, and stations of the year. Similar to Spotify Wrapped, Apple Music Replay info can be shared on social media.

Apple Music Replay is mainly a web-based experience, accessible at replay.music.apple.com. There is also a playlist with your favorite songs of the year.

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared any additional details heading into the final month of the year.

The next-generation CarPlay experience will include deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more.

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.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Apple today shared a new iPhone 15 ad that focuses on some of the camera capabilities of the device, such as the option to snap an image and then adjust the focus during the editing process.

In the ad spot, a band is working on their album cover. One of the band members is using an iPhone to edit a picture of the trio in the group, and she uses the Portrait subject focus adjustment feature to focus on herself in the foreground, blurring out her bandmates in the background.

She hands the ‌iPhone‌ to her bandmate, who edits the image again to change the focus to himself, blurring the background and foreground and cutting her out of the image. The two bicker about which image to use before getting the opinion of the third band member, who taps to focus in on himself, blurring out the other two. In the end, that's the shot they go with.

"Turn your photos into portraits," reads the tagline of the video.

Standard images captured with the Wide camera on an ‌iPhone 15‌ or ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro model support focus editing. In the Edit interface, tapping on the aperture icon allows the amount of blur in the background to be adjusted with a slider. This feature is available even when the image was not originally captured in Portrait mode.

In a photo with multiple subjects, the focus of the photo can be changed by tapping on one of the people or objects in the image.