Top Stories: iOS 15.6 Released, M2 MacBook Air Teardown, M2 Extreme Mac Pro?

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This week saw Apple news on both the software and hardware fronts, as the company released iOS 15.6, macOS 12.5, and related operating system updates while we also got our first good looks inside the brand-new M2 MacBook Air.

top stories 23jul2022
Other Apple news this week included the first major batch of Apple Arcade games leaving the service in the near future, while Jonathan Morrison joined us on this week's episode of "The MacRumors Show" podcast, so read on below for details on these stories and more!

Apple Releases iOS 15.6 With New Live Sports Features and More

Apple this week released iOS 15.6 with a handful of new features and bug fixes for the iPhone. In the TV app, for example, it is now possible to restart a live sports game that is already in progress.

iOS 15
We've put together a list of everything new in iOS 15.6, so be sure to check that out after updating your iPhone.

Apple has also released iPadOS 15.6 with a fix for an iPad mini 6 charging issue, macOS 12.5 with the same live sports enhancements, watchOS 8.7, tvOS 15.6, and HomePod software version 15.6 with support for Siri in two additional languages and more.

M2 MacBook Air Teardown Reveals Accelerometer, Battery Pull Tabs, and More

Following the launch of the new MacBook Air, both iFixit and YouTube channel Max Tech have completed a teardown of the notebook.

M2 MacBook Air Internals
iFixit discovered that the new MacBook Air is equipped with an accelerometer for reasons unclear, along with battery pull tabs and more.

Max Tech provided a look at the M2 chip, single NAND storage chip for the 256GB model, and some other logic board components.

'The MacRumors Show' Podcast: Jonathan Morrison Talks Spatial Audio

YouTube creator Jonathan Morrison joined us on the latest episode of "The MacRumors Show" podcast to take a deep dive into Apple's audio technologies, including Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos.

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Listen to "The MacRumors Show" via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Castro, or wherever you get your podcasts from. You can also watch a video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

M2 'Extreme' Chip Headed to New Mac Pro for Blazing Fast Performance

Apple is working on a new Mac Pro with an M2 "Extreme" chip, according to a recent report from well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.

mac pro mini feature
Gurman said the new Mac Pro will include ‌"M2‌ Ultra" and ‌"M2‌ Extreme" chip options. At present, the M1 Ultra in the Mac Studio is Apple's most powerful chip available, featuring a 20-core CPU and up to a 64-core GPU, along with a 32-core Neural Engine for machine learning.

iPhone X vs. iPhone 14 Pro: New Features to Expect if You've Waited to Upgrade

Launched in 2017, the iPhone X was a major evolution of the iPhone, with new features like Face ID, an OLED display, wireless charging, and more.

iPhone X vs iPhone 14 Pro Feature
If you've been holding on to your iPhone X and are considering upgrading to the iPhone 14 Pro later this year, check out our iPhone X vs. iPhone 14 Pro comparison for new features to expect.

Other comparisons: iPhone XS vs. 14 Pro, 11 Pro vs. 14 Pro, and 12 Pro vs. 14 Pro.

15 Games Leaving Apple Arcade Soon — Here's Why

Apple recently shared a list of 15 games that will be removed from Apple Arcade soon due to the upcoming expiry of some three-year deals that Apple signed with some game developers.

apple arcade orange feature
In a new support document, Apple clarified what happens when games are removed from Apple Arcade, including how long the games will remain playable, how a user's saved game progress will be affected, 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!

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Top Rated Comments

Realityck Avatar
Realityck
33 months ago

Apple has also released iPadOS 15.6 with a fix for an iPad mini 6 charging issue ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/20/ipados-15-6-fixes-ipad-mini-6-charging-issue/'), macOS 12.5 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/20/apple-releases-macos-12-5/') with the same live sports enhancements, watchOS 8.7 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/20/apple-releases-watchos-8-7/'), tvOS 15.6 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/20/apple-releases-tvos-15-6/'), and HomePod software version 15.6 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/20/apple-releases-homepod-15-6-software-with-siri-voice-recognition-in-additional-languages/') with support for Siri in two additional languages ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/07/21/homepod-swedish-norwegian-support/') and more.
For a lot of people these latest OS releases represent what will be best versions of what the last year provided.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
Realityck
33 months ago

I was actually just thinking this yesterday. I notice that dumb banner at the top of the screen when the phone is unlocking the watch has gone away again. Lots of little things seem to have been ironed out.

Kind of makes me want to skip 16 until about this time next year. Probably will at least wait until .1
Maybe .3 as that is how long it took Universal Control to be implemented. :D

Here's a listing of what got added since the WWDC 2021 OS's were released last Sept and later on. You can readily discern how much has been added/redesigned/changed. :)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212585

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212788

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212789

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211815

https://support.apple.com/guide/tv/whats-new-in-tvos-15-atvb457e13ae/tvos
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarAnalogy Avatar
CarAnalogy
33 months ago

Maybe .3 as that is how long it took Universal Control to be implemented. :D

Here's a listing of what got added since the WWDC 2021 OS's were released last Sept and later on. You can readily discern how much has been added/redesigned/changed. :)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212585

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212788

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212789

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211815

https://support.apple.com/guide/tv/whats-new-in-tvos-15-atvb457e13ae/tvos
For some reason the bottom of the iOS 15 updates page is in French. Despite the URL clearly saying en-us. It even links to fr and fr-ca pages. I had to switch to en-gb to get it in English. Weird.

And back on topic there were some major, major bugs not fixed until 15.1.1. Actually each release except for 15.5 had an immediate .1 release to fix a major bug.

Waiting for about 16.5 does actually seem to be a good idea. But who am I kidding, I'll be downloading the second it's available.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
Realityck
33 months ago

British gutter press ran a very unusual and out of place article the other day informing people that they need to upgrade to 15.6 “NOW” because 15.5 is basically hacked and has 39 critical vulnerabilities or some other such bluster. Highly suspicious story.
Leave it to the news to create clickbait, but its hasn't been hacked, only some real vulnerabilities addressed.
Apple’s release notes ('https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT213346') for iOS 15.6 lists 37 security fixes, some of which are pretty serious.
Examples

* CVE-2022-32788 - Impact: A remote user may be able to cause kernel code execution. Description: A buffer overflow was addressed with improved bounds checking.
* CVE-2022-32832 - Impact: An app with root privileges may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Description: The issue was addressed with improved memory handling.
* CVE-2022-32847 - Impact: A remote user may be able to cause unexpected system termination or corrupt kernel memory. Description: This issue was addressed with improved checks.
* CVE-2022-32849 - Impact: An app may be able to access sensitive user information. Description: An information disclosure issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code.
* CVE-2022-32857 - Impact: A user in a privileged network position can track a user’s activities. Description: This issue was addressed by using HTTPS when sending information over the network.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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