Top Stories: iPhone 15 Pro and Headset Rumors, CES 2023, Dark Sky Shutdown, and More

2023 is here, and Apple rumors are already flying about this year's iPhone 15 lineup, the long-rumored mixed-reality headset and more.

top stories 7jan2023
This week is also the annual CES event in Las Vegas where all sorts of companies are showing off their latest products, while the first of the year saw Apple finally shut down the much-loved Dark Sky weather app it acquired back in 2020. Read on for all the details on these stories and more from the past week!

iPhone 15 Pro Models Rumored to Feature Titanium Frame, Taptic Buttons, Increased RAM, and More

Apple's next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will have several new features, including a titanium frame, solid-state buttons with haptic feedback, and more RAM, according to analyst Jeff Pu.

iPhone 15 Pro Blue Feature
The solid-state volume and power buttons would be similar to the Home button on the latest iPhone SE. Instead of physically moving, two new Taptic Engines would simulate the feeling of the buttons being pressed.

Apple's AR/VR Headset Said to Feature Digital Crown, Waist-Mounted Battery Pack, and More

Apple's mixed-reality headset will feature a physical dial for switching to a view of the real world, a waist-mounted battery pack, small motors to automatically adjust the internal lenses, and much more, according to a report this week from The Information.

apple mixed reality headset mockup feature orange
The headset is expected to be announced in 2023, with analyst Ming-Chi Kuo saying this week that Apple is likely to reveal it at a spring media event or at WWDC in June as continued development delays have pushed back mass production to late in the second quarter or into the third quarter of this year.

CES Video Roundup: Hyper Find My Backpack, Nanoleaf 4D TV Kit, Withings U-Scan, and More

MacRumors is at CES 2023 in Las Vegas this week for a hands-on look at all of the new Apple-related devices and accessories being announced.

CES 2023 Day 1 Thumbnail
We've shared video recaps of the first, second, and third days at CES 2023, offering a closer look at new products like Hyper's backpack and Ember's travel mug with support for Apple's Find My app, an iPhone-connected urine reader from Withings, and other interesting finds on the show floor.

Apple Shuts Down Popular Weather App 'Dark Sky'

As planned, Apple has shut down popular weather app Dark Sky. The app had already been removed from the App Store in September and it stopped functioning for existing users on January 1.

dark sky hand
Apple acquired Dark Sky in March 2020 and it has since incorporated many of the app's features into the preinstalled Weather app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Earlier this month, Apple shared a support document with information on how Dark Sky users can use the Weather app.

AMD Claims Its New Laptop Chip is 30% Faster Than M1 Pro

At CES this week, AMD claimed that its new Ryzen 9 7940HS chip for Windows laptops is up to 34% faster than Apple's M1 Pro chip available in the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.

amd event m1 pro
While it appears that Apple silicon competition is increasing, it is worth noting that Apple introduced the M1 Pro chip around 14 months ago and that AMD did not offer a comparison to Apple's faster M1 Max chip.

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!

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

socialwill Avatar
26 months ago
The Dark Sky shutdown still stings.

While Apple weather is better, I miss the ease of use and ability to see the global animation of weather several days into the future that Dark Sky had. Too bad they just could not leave the data source on.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FightTheFuture Avatar
26 months ago
The fun part of AMDs presentation was that the CES AV techs were running it on M1 MacBooks.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phenste Avatar
26 months ago
my brain might actually explode the next time I see one of the same two Apple headset “renders” that we’ve been seeing for almost two years

(if you think that’s an overstatement: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/04/apple-mixed-reality-headset-features-report/)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anthogag Avatar
26 months ago
Apple could change iPhone “Pro” to ”Ultra”. Too many other businesses are using “Pro”; it is now ridiculous.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JimmyHook Avatar
26 months ago

It matters to a certain point. It matters a lot if you're talking 4 hours versus 8. It hardly matters if you're talking 14 hours versus 16. I think it's pretty safe to say that most people charge their devices daily.

I'm not really up to speed on today's PC laptop specs, so I did a quick search and found this article ('https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/all-day-strong-longest-lasting-notebooks') on laptops with the best battery life. Apple's 13" M2 MacBook Pro comes in at 18:20 of battery life. The Dell Latitude comes in at 18:17. Yes, MacBooks have impressive battery life. And so do plenty of PCs these days.
The Dell Latitude “achieved” that by having a display with a paltry 1920 x 1080 resolution and only 150 nits. That’s pathetic. You won’t find a PC that can match brightness, resolution, and maintain that level of battery life.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JamesHolden Avatar
26 months ago

Where the M1 excels is efficiency: performance with low power. There are plenty of x86 chips that are more powerful than an M1, but they achieve this by using far more energy. I don’t see energy usage in AMD’s charts.
Because a lot of people don't care about energy usage. They are only interested in performance.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)