MacRumors

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Sonoma 14.4 update to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test the software ahead of its launch. The public beta comes a day after Apple released the developer beta.

macos sonoma 4
Beta testers can opt-in through the Software Update section of the System Settings app. Under Beta updates, simply toggle on the Sonoma Public Beta. Note that you must sign up to participate on Apple's beta testing website.

macOS Sonoma 14.4 introduces some of the features in the iOS 17.4 beta, such as new emoji characters. We don't know what Mac-specific features are included, but nothing new was found in the developer beta.

Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

Apple today released a visionOS 1.0.2 update for the Vision Pro headset, according to developer Nicolás Álvarez. The software comes a week after the release of the visionOS 1.0.1 update.

Apple Vision Pro with battery Feature Blue Magenta
There is no word on what is included in visionOS 1.0.2, and while the Vision Pro has yet to be released, review units are in the hands of members of the media, and they will be able to download and install this update.

visionOS 1.0.2 addresses a WebKit vulnerability that Apple says may have been actively exploited. The issue was also fixed in visionOS 1.0.1 for developers, but the fix is in visionOS 1.0.2 for those updating from visionOS 1.0.

It is worth noting that Vision Pro owners will have a day one update to install this software when they begin receiving their headsets on Friday.

The Vision Pro will ship with version one of the visionOS software, but we are expecting to see visionOS 2 with new features at WWDC in June.

Related Roundup: visionOS 2
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

Webex today announced the launch of its new Webex app that's designed for the Apple TV 4K. The app is designed to allow hybrid workers to join meetings from the biggest screen they have, which is often a television.

webex apple tv
Users are able to scan the QR code on the sign-in screen and log in to the Webex app on ‌Apple TV‌ in order to join a meeting. Participating in a chat will require wirelessly connecting an iPhone or iPad to the ‌Apple TV‌ 4K to use the iOS device as a microphone and video camera.

Apple has previously used the ‌iPhone‌/‌iPad‌ to ‌Apple TV‌ connection for FaceTime, but the functionality is available to third-party apps as well.

webex apple tv participants
Webex says that users can expect "crystal-clear audio and video," with the app offering a preview of video and microphone status ahead of when a meeting is joined. Calendar integration is available, and the Siri Remote can be used for browsing through meetings and accessing in-meeting controls such as the camera on the connected iOS device.

Up to 25 simultaneous attendees can be shown on one screen with the Webex app for the ‌Apple TV‌ 4K, and the app can be downloaded from the App Store on the device. To use Webex on a TV, users must have a second-generation ‌Apple TV‌ 4K or later and an iOS device with either iOS 17 or iPadOS 17.

Apple today added the Mid 2012 model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro to its obsolete products list worldwide, according to its website.

13 Inch MacBook Pro Mid 2012
Released in June 2012, this 13-inch MacBook Pro model was the last Mac with a built-in CD/DVD drive sold by Apple, and it remained for sale until October 2016 as a lower-priced option. Apple continues to sell an external SuperDrive for customers who need a CD/DVD drive, but a USB-C adapter is required to use it with modern MacBooks.

Apple considers a device to be "technologically obsolete" once more than seven years have passed since the company last distributed it for sale. Apple says MacBooks "may be eligible for an extended battery-only repair period for up to 10 years from when the product was last distributed for sale, subject to parts availability."

On the software side, Apple dropped support for the Mid 2012 model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with macOS Big Sur in 2020.

Apple discontinued the 13-inch MacBook Pro entirely last year.

Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Best Buy today has every model of the 5th generation iPad Air for up to $150 off, with multiple all-time low prices. These deals are available to all shoppers and do not require a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership.

iPad Air 150 Off FeatureNote: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Starting with the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad Air, you can get this tablet for $449.99, down from $599.99. Best Buy has every color on sale at this record low price, which we haven't tracked since the holidays.

Best Buy also has the 256GB Wi-Fi iPad Air on sale for $599.99, down from $749.99. You'll again find this model on sale in all colors, and it's another all-time low price.

Finally, there are cellular discounts as well during this sale, starting at $599.99 for the 64GB cellular iPad Air and rising to $749.99 for the 256GB cellular iPad Air. Both of these are again $150 discounts and all-time low prices on the iPad Air, and available in every color at Best Buy.


If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

The Apple Vision Pro headset comes with an external battery pack with a capacity of 3,166 mAh, compared to the 3,274 mAh battery found in the iPhone 15 Pro, although the voltages are different so the measurement alone can't be considered equivalent. Reviewers have also reported that there are significant size and weight differences between the two.

vision pro battery pack
According to Daring Fireball's John Gruber, the Vision Pro battery is about the width and height of an iPhone 15 Pro, but thicker. Weight-wise, it is also heavier: About 325g, compared to 187g for an iPhone 15 Pro. "It's closer in thickness and weight to two iPhone 15's than it is to one," according to Gruber.

Marques Brownlee in his unboxing video also described the battery as "pretty heavy," and compared it to phones with larger capacity 5,000+ mAh batteries that feel "much lighter." We'll probably have to wait for a teardown to find out what the additional weight can be attributed to.

The external battery pack that comes with the Vision Pro is silver, has a proprietary connector for attaching to the headset, and a USB-C port for charging via the included 30W wall charger. The proprietary connector is connected to the Vision Pro by rotating it a quarter turn to lock it into place.

For those considering buying an additional $200 battery pack, one thing to bear in mind is that Vision Pro batteries are not hot-swappable: As Gruber notes, there is no built-in reserve battery in the headset, so when the power cable is disconnected, Vision Pro immediately powers off. A manual reboot is therefore required to switch batteries.

Apple says the Vision Pro provides up to two hours of battery life overall, and up to 2.5 hours for 2D video playback specifically. However, several reviewers claim to have gotten up to three hours out of a single charge in general use, with one reviewer saying they were able to watch a three-hour movie on a single charge.


In terms of battery life, it doesn't make sense to compare the Vision Pro to the iPhone 15 Pro, given that the former undoubtedly draws a lot more juice to power an array of much more sophisticated cameras, sensors, displays, speakers, and microphones.

Apple Vision Pro launches in the U.S. on Friday, February 2. Apple has said the Vision Pro will launch in additional countries later this year.

Article updated to remove phrasing that implied mAh measurement alone is equivalent without an indication of voltage. Apologies for the error.

Related Roundup: Apple Vision Pro
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

Apple has failed to properly comply with a court order that requires non-App Store purchasing options be made available to third-party developers, Epic Games has told a judge (via Bloomberg).

iOS App Store General Feature JoeBlue
The Supreme Court earlier this month declined to hear separate requests from both Apple and ‌‌Epic Games‌‌ in their three-year-long lawsuit against each other regarding App Store rules. As a result, Apple is able to continue to disallow third-party payment processing within apps, but it must allow developers to direct customers to a non-App Store purchasing option for digital goods.

Apple has since made changes to its U.S. App Store policies, and now allows apps to feature a single link to a developer website that leads to an in-app purchase alternative. However, Apple plans to continue to collect a 12 to 27 percent commission on content bought this way. The commission applies to transactions for digital goods and services that take place on a developers website within seven days after a user taps through an External Purchase Link to an external website.

Epic likely wishes to contest this aspect of the change in particular, as well as Apple's implementation of them. ‌Epic Games‌‌ CEO Tim Sweeney on January 16 took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize the‌ changes as soon as they were announced, and said that it would dispute Apple's "bad-faith compliance plan" in District Court.


According to Bloomberg, Epic said in a filing Tuesday that it "disputes Apple's compliance" with previously ordered changes and said it will explain the "non-compliance" in a forthcoming filing.

Meanwhile, Apple wants ‌Epic Games‌ to pay $73.4 million in legal fees after Apple won the antitrust case brought against it by the North Carolinian games maker. Apple bases the claim on Epic's original violation of its developer agreement, when its Fortnite game offered an in-app payment alternative on the ‌‌App Store‌‌. Epic previously accepted that it would owe damages if it lost its antitrust claims against Apple. Now that it has, Apple has issued the bill.

The first full-length reviews of the Apple Vision Pro were published today, revealing some new details about the headset before it launches in the U.S. on Friday.


To learn more, check out our roundup of Apple Vision Pro reviews and unboxing videos.

Battery Life

Apple says the Vision Pro provides up to two hours of battery life overall, and up to 2.5 hours for 2D video playback specifically. In his review, however, Brian Tong said he achieved nearly 2.5 hours of battery life for general usage, and separately was able to watch the three-hour movie Avengers: Endgame on a single charge.


Daring Fireball's John Gruber also said he has consistently got at least three hours of battery life on a full charge, but he did not list any specific use cases.

All in all, it seems that the Vision Pro may last up to 30 minutes longer per charge than Apple's advertised battery life claims, but results will vary.

Home Screen

According to Tong, third-party apps on visionOS are listed alphabetically starting on the second page of the Home Screen, and cannot be reordered like they can be on the iPhone and iPad. Apps cannot be placed into folders either.

Vision Pro Home Screen Brian Tong

Image Credit: Brian Tong

He also confirmed that websites cannot be added to the Home Screen via Safari, which is inconvenient given that some popular services like YouTube and Spotify will only be accessible via the web on the Vision Pro at launch.

Apple could add these options in future visionOS updates.

Personas and EyeSight

Since the Vision Pro covers your face during video calls, Apple allows you to create a digital version of yourself called a Persona.

Apple refers to a Persona as an "authentic spatial representation" of a person that shows facial expressions and hand movements in real time. The feature is still in beta, and it seems that Apple has a lot of room for improvement.

Vision Pro Personas

Image Credit: Brian Tong

The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern:

On FaceTimes with friends and family, the reviews were unanimous: "You look awful," my sister said. "It's like Botox from hell," remarked the always-kind Jason Gay. "Frightening," said my dad.

Calling other Vision Pro reviewers was slightly better because we all looked ridiculous. But everyone agreed I looked the worst. And this was after I remade my Persona numerous times, with professional lighting.

Poor Joanna! (She's still amazing, nothing can change that!)


The Verge's Nilay Patel:

I won't go into that much detail on Apple's deeply weird and extremely uncanny 3D persona system here […] You can see why Apple put the beta label on them; there's a long way to go before using a persona on a call isn't distracting at best and, at worst, extremely rude.

Personas extend to the Vision Pro's outer display, allowing others to view a digital recreation of your eyes. This feature is called EyeSight, and it has mostly been panned on social media since Vision Pro reviews were first published earlier today.

Mac Virtual Display

Many reviewers shared their thoughts on using the Vision Pro as an external display for a Mac.

vision pro mirrored mac screen
CNET's Scott Stein was impressed:

What if my desk was just floating monitors? What if I didn't need anything but a headset? Vision Pro gets close to that feeling when all the apps are open and the flow is going. I'm doing that now. I'm in my virtual floating computer as I write this. There are glitches, and sometimes the controls feel too floaty, but in its first form, I'm shocked at how good it already is.

However, he mentioned a caveat:

And while the Vision Pro's display is great as a monitor, staring into 3D space for a while puts my eyes into a different focus zone than actual reality. Taking the headset off to work on my laptop, my eyes need time to settle and refocus. I feel myself slipping into long sessions in Vision Pro, but my eyes want me to take breaks.

Tom's Guide's Mark Spoonauer:

One of the options in Control Center is the ability to connect with your Mac, but you can also bring your Mac desktop into the Vision Pro just by looking at it. I saw a Connect button floating above my MacBook Pro 14-inch, pinched my fingers together and saw my laptop's screen go blank, popping up on the wall in front of me instead.

You don't get multiple desktop views, but you do get a crystal clear 4K display that renders text crisply, and you can make that canvas positively huge so it dwarfs most of the best monitors. Your keyboard and mouse still work as they normally would with no latency. You can even use your keyboard in Vision Pro apps if you want. Yes, only Apple could do this, and I could see myself taking the Vision Pro on business trips and using it back at the hotel.

Stay tuned for additional details about the Vision Pro over the coming days.

Related Roundups: Apple Vision Pro, visionOS 2
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

Apple today stopped signing the iOS 17.2.1 update, preventing iPhone users from downgrading to that version of iOS going forward. iOS 17.2.1 is no longer being signed following the January 22 release of iOS 17.3, which introduced Stolen Device Protection for the ‌iPhone‌ and other changes.

iOS 17
It is not unusual that iOS 17.2.1 is no longer being signed. Apple routinely stops signing older versions of iOS after new releases in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date and to prevent users from downgrading to older, less secure versions of the ‌iPhone‌ operating system.

Along with iOS 17.2.1, Apple has stopped signing iPadOS 17.2 for the iPad, and the older 15.8 and 16.7.4 versions of iOS and iPadOS for devices unable to run iOS 17.

Apple is already testing iOS 17.4, a major update that is set to come out in March.

Some of Apple's iCloud services are down at the current time, with the iCloud.com website non-functional and ‌iCloud‌ Mail failing to load. There are multiple reports on Twitter and other social networks, and Apple's System Status page says that some ‌iCloud‌ Mail users may not be able to send, receive, or access their messages.

icloud down
Apple's System Status page also lists an issue with ‌iCloud‌ web apps, and says that some users are unable to log in to iCloud.com.

We'll update this article when the issue has been resolved and Apple's ‌iCloud‌ services are working.

Update: Apple says the issue has been resolved as of 4:38 p.m. Eastern Time.

Apple today introduced a new firmware update for AirPods Max. The new firmware is 6A324, up from the 6A300 firmware released in September.

airpods max cyber monday
Apple does not provide details on what features might be included in the refreshed firmware, so it is unclear what's new. The limited release notes for the update list only "bug fixes and other improvements."

Apple also does not offer instructions on how to upgrade AirPods software, but firmware is generally installed over-the-air while the ‌‌AirPods‌‌ are powered on and connected to an iOS device or a Mac.

You can check your ‌‌‌AirPods‌‌ Max‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ firmware by following these steps:

  • Connect your ‌‌‌‌‌‌AirPods to your iOS device.
  • Open the Settings app.
  • Tap General.
  • Tap About.
  • Tap ‌‌‌‌‌AirPods‌‌‌‌‌.
  • Look at the number next to "Firmware Version."

If we find anything notable in the firmware release, we'll update this article.

Related Roundup: AirPods Max
Buyer's Guide: AirPods Max (Buy Now)
Related Forum: AirPods

Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 updates to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test the software ahead of its release. The public iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 betas come a week after Apple released the betas for developers. Apple has also re-released the first beta of iOS 17.4 for developers with a new 21E5184k build number, which is the same build number used for the public beta.

iOS 17
Public beta testers can get the beta by opening up the Settings app, going to the Software Update section, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option, and toggling on the iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 Public Beta. Signing up on Apple's beta testing website is required.

The iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 betas introduce a whole slew of changes for users in the European Union, allowing for alternative app stores and alternative payment methods.

There are new options for choosing a default browser, NFC has been opened up to banks and other financial institutions, and browsers aren't mandated to use WebKit.

Along with these changes, the update also brings new emoji characters, Podcast transcripts, tweaks to Safari, hints of what we can expect from the next-generation CarPlay, and more.

Full details on what's included in iOS 17.4 beta 1 can be found in our features guide.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Apple Card has over 12 million users in the United States, with card holders earning more than $1 billion in Daily Cash rewards in 2023, Apple said today.

apple card feature2
Daily Cash is earned with every purchase on the ‌Apple Card‌. Apple provides 3% cash back for Apple purchases and items bought from select partners like T-Mobile, Ace Hardware, Panera Bread, Walgreens, and Uber. All Apple Pay purchases with ‌Apple Card‌ earn 2% cash back, and all other purchases earn 1% cash back.

Apple delivers Daily Cash rewards every day, and ‌Apple Card‌ holders can choose to have it added to the Apple Cash card or they can or opt in to having their cash deposited in the Apple Savings Account that launched last year.

Apple says that the "vast majority" of ‌Apple Card‌ users have opted in to having their Daily Cash auto-deposited into Savings, and nearly two-thirds of users deposit additional funds from a linked bank account. The ‌Apple Card‌ offers an APY of 4.50 percent at the current time, which is on par with the high-yield savings accounts from many competing financial institutions.

Almost 30 percent of ‌Apple Card‌ customers make two or more payments per month, and more than a million ‌Apple Card‌ users share their ‌Apple Card‌ with their Family Sharing Group. Close to 600,000 users have added spouses, partners, or another trusted adult to their ‌Apple Card‌. For those with low credit scores who are not initially approved for an ‌Apple Card‌, Apple has a "Path to ‌Apple Card‌ Program." According to Apple, 200,000 users have been approved for an ‌Apple Card‌ after enrolling and following the program's personal steps.

It has been almost five years since the ‌Apple Card‌ launched in 2019, and ‌Apple Pay‌ VP Jennifer Bailey said that new tools and features will be coming to ‌Apple Card‌ holders "in the year ahead and beyond."

"We designed Apple Card with users' financial health in mind, and it's rewarding to see our more than 12 million customers using its features to make healthier financial decisions," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. "We're proud of what we've been able to deliver to Apple Card customers in just five years. As we look at the year ahead and beyond, we're excited to continue to innovate and invest in Apple Card's award-winning experience, and provide users with more tools and features that help them lead healthier financial lives."

Though ‌Apple Card‌ is approaching its five-year launch anniversary, Apple has not managed to expand it to countries beyond the United States.

Apple's relationship with ‌Apple Card‌ provider Goldman Sachs has also soured, and reports suggest that Apple and Goldman Sachs plan to end their partnership in the next 12 to 15 months. Goldman Sachs is planning to cut back on its consumer business, and the partnership with Apple will be entirely dissolved.

Apple will need to find another partner for the ‌Apple Card‌, but has said that it is focused on providing the best experience for customers. Interruptions to the ‌Apple Card‌ service are not expected, and there's as of yet no word on the financial institution that Apple might partner with to replace Goldman Sachs. The failure of the agreement between Goldman Sachs and the upcoming shift are likely to delay any behind-the-scenes plans that Apple has had to expand the ‌Apple Card‌ beyond the United States.

iPhone 16 models launching later this year will not have any "significant design changes," according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

iPhone 16 Side 2 Feature
Kuo also said that Apple is unlikely to offer "more comprehensive" generative AI features until the iPhone 17 series launches next year at the earliest.

"It is expected that Apple will not launch new iPhone models with significant design changes and the more comprehensive/differentiated GenAI ecosystem/applications until 2025 at the earliest," wrote Kuo, in a blog post on Medium today.

Kuo believes foldable designs and generative AI features are two of the biggest trends for high-end smartphones right now, and he thinks iPhone shipments could decline in 2024 as a result of Apple not launching products focused on these areas yet.

One notable hardware change rumored for the iPhone 16 lineup is the addition of a so-called "capture" button for video-related actions. According to a recent report, the button will respond to pressure and touch. For example, the report said users will be able to zoom in and out in the Camera app by swiping left and right on the button, focus with a light press, and start a video recording with a more forceful press.

The higher-end iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models are also expected to feature larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, compared to 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Is a new button and a larger display significant or not? Ultimately, it's subjective.

Related Roundups: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro

Today we're tracking a couple of deals on iPhone accessories that you can find on Woot, including low prices on the MagSafe Charger and MagSafe Duo Charger. Additionally, Amazon has steep discounts on FineWoven and Silicone Cases for iPhone 15 models.

magsafe duo perspective featureNote: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Woot. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Both of the MagSafe Chargers in this sale are in brand new condition and come with a one year Apple manufacturer limited warranty. You'll find an estimated delivery between February 7 and February 12, although those dates may change depending on your location.

The highlight of the sale is the MagSafe Duo Charger for $79.99, down from $129.00. This beats the previous deal we tracked in January by about $20 and is a match for the best-ever price on the accessory. The MagSafe Duo Charger can simultaneously charge an iPhone via MagSafe and an Apple Watch.

Woot also has the MagSafe Charger for $29.99, down from $39.00. This is one of the first times in 2024 that we've tracked the charger down to nearly its all-time low price.

Of course, there are plenty of other deals in the Woot sale, including the Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock for $34.99 ($44 off) and the Siri Remote with Lightning port for $44.99 ($14 off). You'll also find USB-C cables, previous generation Apple Watches, iPhone cases, Apple Watch bands, and more at a discount.

Finally, over at Amazon there is also a large collection of FineWoven and Silicone Cases on sale for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. You can find these for as low as $21.70 right now on Amazon, and no coupon codes are required to get these deals.

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

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

The first reviews and unboxing videos for the Apple Vision Pro were shared today ahead of the mixed reality headset's launch in the U.S. on Friday.

Apple Vision Pro at Steve Jobs Theater
We have rounded up some of the videos below from well-known YouTube creators and reporters, including Marques Brownlee, Joanna Stern, and others.

Videos








Reviews

The Verge's Nilay Patel:

There are a lot of ideas in the Vision Pro, and they're all executed with the kind of thoughtful intention that few other companies can ever deliver at all, let alone on the first iteration. But the shocking thing is that Apple may have inadvertently revealed that some of these core ideas are actually dead ends — that they can't ever be executed well enough to become mainstream. This is the best video passthrough headset ever made, and that might mean camera-based mixed reality passthrough could just be a road to nowhere. This is the best hand- and eye-tracking ever, and it feels like the mouse, keyboard, and touchscreen are going to remain undefeated for years to come. There is so much technology in this thing that feels like magic when it works and frustrates you completely when it doesn't.

The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern:

Apple's headset has all the characteristics of a first-generation product: It's big and heavy, it's battery life sucks, there are few great apps and it can be buggy. And come on, have you seen what this thing thinks I look like?

Yet so much of what the Vision Pro can do feels sci-fi. I'm flicking apps all over my home office. I've got multiple virtual timers hovering over my stove. I'm watching holograms of my kid petting a llama. It's the best mixed-reality headset I've ever tried, way more advanced than its only real competition, the far cheaper Meta Quest Pro and Quest 3.

These companies know these aren't really the devices we want. They're all working toward building virtual experiences into something that looks more like a pair of regular eyeglasses. Until then, they're just messing with our heads.

CNET's Scott Stein:

The very first thing I noticed about the Vision Pro in my first demo was how good the displays were. The 4K-resolution-per-eye, micro-OLED display tech Apple uses is basically the "retina" moment for VR and AR. It's vivid, richly colored, HDR and just stunning. Not only is it good enough for movies -- something Apple is touting constantly -- but it's better than any TV in my house.

Tom's Guide's Mark Spoonaeur:

As for endurance, the Vision Pro's battery is rated for 2 hours of general use and 2.5 hours of video playback. In my testing of on and off use over 2 hours, the Vision Pro was down to about 60% and then down to 40% after another couple hours.

If you want to use the Vision Pro continuously, you can always just plug in the battery using the included USB-C power adapter. Competing mixed reality headsets like the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest Pro have batteries built into the headset, which is more convenient, but they're also less powerful.

What's in the Box

Alongside the Vision Pro, the following accessories are included in the box:

  • Light Seal
  • Light Seal Cushion (Two Sizes)
  • Solo Knit Band
  • Dual Loop Band
  • Front Cover
  • Battery Pack
  • Vision Pro Polishing Cloth
  • 30W USB-C Power Adapter
  • USB‑C Charging Cable

Apple also released an optional Vision Pro travel case for $199. It features compartments for the external battery pack, ZEISS optical inserts, fabric front cover, and additional accessories. Apple says the case has a fabric exterior with a polycarbonate protective layer, a soft microfiber inner lining, and a retractable handle.

Brian Tong Apple Vision Pro Box and Travel Case
Apple said the Vision Pro will launch in additional countries later this year.

Related Roundups: Apple Vision Pro, visionOS 2
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

Apple today shared the "Replay 2024" playlist with Apple Music subscribers, allowing you to start tracking all of the songs you've been streaming so far this year. Just like the past few years, this playlist ranks a total of 100 songs based on how many times you've listened to them.

Apple Music Replay 24 Feature 1
"Replay 2024" will update every week with the newest order of your most-listened-to tracks. By the time 2024 ends, the playlist provides an overall look at your music history for the year.

Once you've listened to enough music to generate the playlist, you'll find it at the bottom of the Listen Now tab in ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. There's also a more detailed version of the data tracking feature on Apple Music for the web, including most streamed artists and albums, and statistics for detailed play counts and hours listened.

Apple has been making its yearly Replay playlists available since 2019. Spotify Wrapped has been dominating this area of the music streaming business for a few years now, mainly thanks to its easily shareable infographics that come out in early December. In addition to Replay playlists, in 2022 Apple introduced a "Highlight Reel" feature with more statistics about each users' listening history at the end of the year.

Head to the ‌‌‌Apple Music‌‌‌ app or Apple Music on the web to add the Replay 2024 playlist to your library. If you haven't listened to enough music yet in 2024, the playlist may not appear in your ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ app. Once you do listen to more music, you should see your Replay 2024 playlist appear as usual in the Listen Now tab.

(Thanks, Guille!)

Post-apocalyptic open world action game Death Stranding is today officially available on iPhones, iPads, and Macs powered by Apple silicon.

Death Stranding
Previously released on PlayStation 5 (2021) and PC (2022), the Director's Cut version for Mac was announced by legendary game creator Hideo Kojima at WWDC 2023 to showcase the potential gaming performance of Apple silicon. Apple subsequently teased an iPhone 15 Pro version at its "Wonderlust" iPhone event in September.

Gamers take on the role of Sam Bridges (played by Norman Reedus of The Walking Dead fame) as a courier tasked with delivering supplies to isolated colonies and reconnecting them via wireless network following a cataclysmic event known as the Death Stranding. Unfortunately for everyone, the event opens a doorway between the living and the dead, leading to grotesque creatures from the afterlife roaming a ravaged and desolate world.

MacRumors sister site TouchArcade has an updating review of the game, which supports ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max devices, as well as Macs running one of Apple's M-series chips.


Death Stranding Director's Cut is currently listed in the App Store at the promotional price of $19.99 (normal price $39.99). Note that this is a universal purchase giving players the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro, iPadOS, and macOS versions in a single purchase as well as support for cross-device progress syncing.