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.
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.
Open an existing chat in WhatsApp or start a new one.
Tap the + icon, left of the text input field.
Tap Document ➝ Choose Photo or Video.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Apple today announced that it is hosting an event called "Taylor Swift's Eras: The Experience" in order to celebrate Taylor being named the 2023 Apple Music Artist of the Year. Apple at the time said Swift had reached a "new realm of superstardom" in 2023 thanks to the Eras tour and the release of 1989 (Taylor's Version).
Apple Music is inviting "Swifties" to attend Taylor Swift Era's: The Experience in New York City on December 8 and December 9. Apple says this will be a celebration of Taylor Swift as Apple Music's 2023 Artist of the Year. Fans will be able to journey through and interact with 10 set pieces that are representative of Swift's 10 eras.
Through a link provided by Apple, Taylor Swift fans in New York can sign up to get tickets to attend, but it says that Swift will not be in attendance. Entries are available through December 2 at 11:00 a.m., and more than 50,000 people appear to have gotten in the queue to sign up for tickets.
Apple says that requesting tickets early will not increase chances for success, indicating a lottery distribution system, and that only registrations received from the Greater New York City area are eligible for selection. New Yorkers will be assigned a set time slot to visit the experience and will need to arrive during that time. It will take approximately 40 minutes to go through the Taylor Swift Experience.
Tickets cannot be bought or sold, and ID checks will make sure that the person named on the ticket is the person entering the venue.
Confirmation emails for those selected to attend will be sent between December 5 and December 6, and a Ticketmaster account is required to register.
Anker's Black Friday/Cyber Week event is entering its final days this weekend, and it's still offering up to 60 percent off sitewide. There are also a few "mystery boxes" that can include hundreds of dollars in savings, if you're willing to risk not knowing what you're buying ahead of time. All of these sales will end on December 3.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Anker. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
At the bottom of the sale page, Anker also has a few blind boxes on sale, priced at $19.99 (up to $219.99 in value) and at $29.99 (up to $219.99 in value). These mystery boxes include one Anker accessory, but you won't know what you're getting until they arrive. All items in the $19.99 box are worth at least $29.99, and all items in the $29.99 box are worth at least $49.99, so no matter what you'll be getting a deal.
All mystery box items are non-returnable (with the exception of quality issues). These could net you a huge discount with a collection of solid stocking stuffers for the holidays, if you're willing to take the blind box risk.
Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.
CNBC today shared an in-depth report and video about Apple's chipmaking efforts. While much of the information may be familiar to Apple enthusiasts, the video provides a rare look inside one of Apple's chip testing labs in California, and it includes commentary from Apple's chipmaking head Johny Srouji and hardware engineering chief John Ternus.
The report recaps Apple's in-house chipmaking history, and it also touches on what's next for the company, although Apple predictably had little to say about its future plans. Read the report and watch the video to learn more.
Belkin in October came out with the BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Dock, which is designed to charge the iPhone and the Apple Watch at the same time. Though the name is similar to many of the existing chargers that Belkin offers, it actually features one of Belkin's most thoughtful and unique designs to date.
The charger is about palm sized, and it features a flat teardrop-shaped body with a pivoting MagSafe charger on top. The MagSafe charger can lay flat or it can be lifted up and angled to support StandBy on the iPhone. There are a few different angles that it can be set at (0 to 70 degrees), but flat or fully extended are the two most useful.
In the flat mode, you can charge an iPhone or any other Qi device like the AirPods because it's basically just a flat charging surface. When upright, you can only charge a MagSafe-compatible device. At the back, there's a flat Apple Watch charging puck. It's sized perfectly for any of the Apple Watch models, but also the AirPods, so you can charge the AirPods on the Apple Watch charging puck when charging an iPhone.
While this is a 2-in-1 charger, it's versatile and is going to charge up everything you'd want to charge with a similar 3-in-1 charger. I don't think most people charge the Apple Watch, iPhone, and the AirPods all at the same time regularly (at least I don't), which potentially makes this just as useful as a much bigger 3-in-1 charger.
The BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Dock comes in either sand (a light gray beige) or charcoal, and it's covered in a soft touch silicone material that looks nice on a desk or nightstand. The material is unfortunately a fuzz magnet, but that's the biggest complaint I have about it.
In terms of size, the charger measures in at about 3 inches tall (flat) and 2.5 inches wide, so it's fairly compact and doesn't take up a lot of space. It is the smallest Belkin charger I have (and the smallest multi-device charger from any brand) thanks to the removal of a dedicated AirPods charging spot.
Belkin includes a color-matched braided 1.5m USB-C cable and a 30W power supply. The cable cannot be removed from the charger, which is a downside for me. I'd like to be able to swap in a shorter cable for desktop use, but I don't have that option. On the plus side, I appreciate the power adapter because not every multi-device charger on the market includes one.
The BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Dock will charge a MagSafe iPhone at up to 15W, and it will also fast charge compatible Apple Watch models. With the fast charger, I typically only charge my Apple Watch in short spurts throughout the day (I sleep with it on), and that's enough to keep the battery level up. That gives me a free spot for charging the AirPods when I need to.
I did test the charging speeds to make sure I was getting the speeds that Belkin advertised. The iPhone charged at MagSafe speeds as expected, and the Apple Watch Series 9 did indeed fast charge.
Weight wise, this comes in at about a pound, and the same grippy material that's on the body is on the bottom to keep it in place so it won't go anywhere when you add and remove devices.
This is a new charger so it's expensive and there are no sales yet, and the price is the major issue. It's as expensive as some 3-in-1 chargers, but arguably, the versatility makes it worth the cost.
Bottom Line
I have used a lot of Belkin chargers and a lot of wireless chargers in general, and I think this is my favorite to date. It supports all of the most recent iPhone and Apple Watch features (aka, StandBy and fast charging), it's small, and it can also charge the AirPods from either charging spot.
If you have all of the devices that this charger works with and can take advantage of the features like Apple Watch fast charging, it's worth checking out.
Importantly, these are the second-generation AirPods Pro with a Lightning/MagSafe charging case, originally released in November 2022. Apple updated the second-generation AirPods Pro with a USB-C/MagSafe charging case and a few other changes in September 2023, but those are not yet available on Apple's refurbished store.
Apple says all of its refurbished products undergo "full functionality testing" and are "put through a thorough cleaning process and inspection."
Keep in mind that there are often better deals available from third-party resellers. In the U.S., brand new second-generation AirPods Pro with a USB-C charging case were recently on sale for $189.99 on Amazon, although they are currently $237.99.
Philips Hue parent company Signify debuted a new version of the Hue Festavia string lights back in August, with plenty of availability now that the holidays are approaching. If you're up to date with Hue, you might know that the Festavia first came out last year, but the first version was available in limited quantities and was hard to get.
After the holidays, the Festavia lights seemed to disappear entirely until the new version came out in this year, and that's because this is a new model. The new Festavia lights and the old Festavia lights are similar in design, but there are tweaks to the sizes of the light strings, the price, weatherproofing, the design of the power supply, and a few other features.
Last year's Festavia lights were priced at $160 for 250 LEDs on a 65-foot strand, and this year, the same 65-foot strand with 250 LEDs is priced at $220. I don't know why the lights are priced higher, but there are two new size options, including a 500-LED 131-foot model and a 100-LED 26-foot model. The Hue website sells the two longer strands right now, but not the shorter version.
I tested the 250 LED model, which has the LEDs positioned about three inches apart on the strand. The lights themselves are flat at the top with a circular body, which is the same design that was used last year and the shape you'll also see in smart lights from brands like Twinkly. The cord connecting the LEDs is black, which is one of my complaints about the Hue lights.
Black does not blend in as well with a tree as green does when used on a typical Christmas tree, and I feel that it makes the cord stand out more than it should. It would be nice to have color options for the wires rather than being limited to black. Even in non-tree use, black stands out on white trim or white walls. Nanoleaf and Twinkly are using the same black cord for their lights, so maybe it's a color most people don't mind.
Last year's Festavia lights were designed to be used indoors, but this year's version has weatherproofing and can be used indoors or out. You can use these outside on your porch, outdoor trees, around windows, on eaves, and more, so you're not just limited to inside use. I wouldn't put lights this expensive outside, but I appreciate the versatility for those who do want to use them for outdoor landscaping purposes.
Other than the new weatherproofing rating, the only other difference between the 2022 Festavia and the 2023 Festavia that I found was the design of the power supply. The 2023 version has a 30W plug that you can unscrew from the controller so you can use the Festavia outdoors with other outdoor power you might have.
With traditional holiday lights, you can connect two or more strands together to run off of the same power supply, but that is not an option here. Every strand has its own dedicated power supply and these are bulky, especially when used indoors. I put two strands on my tree, and it's a lot of cabling hefty power supplies to deal with. For a Christmas tree that's about seven feet tall, I can get away with one strand, but two strands covers the front and back more fully at a better density. I wish there was an option for a 65-foot strand with a higher LED density, because 65 feet is the right length for a standard tree, but a single strand doesn't feel like quite enough due to the spacing.
These are low voltage LEDs that don't get warm, so you can use them just about anywhere without worrying about a fire hazard. Since these are string lights meant for holiday decorating, there is a warning in the box that suggests you can only leave them up for 90 days. It's a warning that is required under the UL standard used for this type of light because of the testing parameters used for them. I have kept the prior-generation Festavia lights up for a much longer period of time without issue because I am not packing away such expensive lights for most of the year, but it's something to pay attention to.
Like all Hue lights, the Hue Festavia is controlled through the Hue app. It supports 16 million colors and multiple shades of white as it is a "White and Color Ambiance" product, plus it is a gradient light so the colors blend into one another. The Festavia lights can be used directly in the Hue app over Bluetooth, but it's a better experience if you have a Hue Bridge. A Bridge allows for control away from home, connectivity over Wi-Fi, and of course integration with other Hue products.
With the Hue app, there are a lot of options for color schemes. There are three total zones for each strand of lights, and you can set each one to a separate color on the color wheel to use the gradient effect. Scenes can be created and saved, and the lights work with all of the scenes in the Hue scene gallery for pre-set color arrangements.
There are six special effects available too, including candle, fireplace, sparkle, glisten, opal, and prism. Candle and fireplace are self-explanatory and aren't really designed for this kind of string light. Candle looks okay with just the flickering yellow lights, but fireplace is much oranger and looks out of place.
The other four options are perfect for the Festavia. Sparkle is a white/yellow light scheme that looks like slow twinkling lights. Glisten is similar to sparkle but with more "twinkle," and opal, which looks like its namesake, is by far my favorite. Opal uses soft, pastel lights that are just shy of white and it cycles through them for a soft, but colorful effect that looks something like the lighting equivalent of a nighttime winter snowfall. It's one of the most magical lighting effects I've seen from smart lights.
Prism is a slow rainbow gradient that's also quite striking, with the colors shifting so slowly that it's not at all distracting and is even hard to notice if you're not directly paying attention. It's a truly pretty gradient that doesn't overwhelm a room. Cameras have a hard time with string lights, so while I did my best to capture photos and videos, the Festavia looks better in real life. All of these lighting options work with both versions of the Hue Festavia, so there's nothing exclusive to the second-generation release. Opal and glisten are effects that are only compatible with the Festavia, while candle, fireplace, and prism work on some of the other Hue lights.
It is worth noting that the Festavia lights do not get as bright as the Twinkly smart lights, nor do they do the intricate patterns and rhythms that are available with other brands. I find the brightness of the Philips Hue lights to be optimal, and when I use Twinkly lights, I never have them above 50 percent brightness because they're too bright to look at.
Twinkly lights are what I'd want to use for a raucous ugly sweater type of party, while Hue lights are what I'd use for a holiday dinner party. Hue lights are more subtle and have a more elegant, cozy vibe that I think most people will prefer. A major exception is families with children, because the Twinkly app is arguably more fun. You can change each LED to a different color with Twinkly, and that's not possible with Hue. Hue also doesn't support different animation patterns and speeds, so you can't set the lights to do things like blink on and off.
You're supposed to put the Festavia lights on the tree in a certain way (there are instructions on the Hue website), wrapping them from the bottom up in rows that are spaced six inches apart and matching up gradients if you're using two strands. I used that method with the lights last year, but this year I broke the rules and hung my lights vertically. I'm a fan of the vertical look, but it would be nice if the Hue app had a feature like the Twinkly app that let you tell the lights where they were rather than having to hang them in a particular way. Side note, the internet told me to hang lights vertically to make them easier to remove from a tree, but I had to tuck them so far back to hide the black cord that I'm not sure vertical was beneficial.
If you have other Hue lights, you can integrate the Festavia with them. In the room where I have my tree, I have a hanging lamp with multiple Hue bulbs, so the tree and the bulbs can all be color coordinated. Festavia lights can also be included in an Entertainment Area to match lighting to TV content or music. You'll need a Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, a compatible Samsung TV, or a Spotify account to make this work.
The Hue Festavia lights work like any other Hue light in terms of control and automation. You can set up automations to turn them on and off, to change the colors at certain times, or to trigger with motion or other parameters. They can be controlled in the Hue app, in the Home app, and with Siri voice commands.
Bottom Line
The Philips Hue Festavia lights are ideal for people who already have Hue lights. If you're entrenched in the Hue ecosystem, you likely won't be too surprised at what Signify is charging for these. A 250-LED strand of standard holiday lights is around $20, and Twinkly charges about $150 for a similar smart version, so the Festavia lights definitely have a premium price tag.
There is no substitute for the aesthetic of the Festavia, the ease of use, or the integration with Hue bulbs, though. Other smart lights seem almost garish in comparison to the soft, ethereal look you can get from the Festavia. I have a mild obsession with lamps, string lights, light strips, and bulbs, so I have tried a lot of the options out there and with Hue, I have few complaints aside from the cost.
Hue products integrate seamlessly with HomeKit and the Zigbee Bridge means that everything just works. For context, I have more than 50 Hue lights (that I bought) because I've learned that Hue just doesn't give me trouble. I hate HomeKit troubleshooting because of the lack of transparency from Apple, so I pay more upfront to not have to spend 30 minutes trying to figure out why a light has disconnected itself from HomeKit and won't reconnect.
If you don't have Hue lights and don't plan to buy any, I don't think this is the best pick because you're missing out on the integration, but you'll still get the benefits of the Hue colors and scenes. Twinkly and Nanoleaf make for better one-off purchases, with Twinkly in particular offering fun effects and controls that children will enjoy.
While the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are still around 10 months away from launching, there are already several rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped new features and changes expected for the devices so far.
These are some of the key changes rumored for the iPhone 16 Pro models as of December 2023:
Larger displays: The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be equipped with larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch displays, respectively, according to Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants. The devices are expected to have taller aspect ratios as part of this change. By comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays, respectively.
"Capture" button: Apple is rumored to be planning a new "Capture button" for all iPhone 16 models. The button would be located below the power button, which would require the mmWave 5G antenna window to be relocated on U.S. models. The button's purpose is unknown, but it has been speculated that it could be a dedicated shutter or spatial video recording button for the camera. The button might have a solid-state design, but rumors are conflicting.
48-megapixel Ultra Wide lens: The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will feature an upgraded 48-megapixel Ultra Wide camera lens for higher-resolution photos with more detail when shooting in 0.5× mode, according to Jeff Pu, a tech analyst at Hong Kong investment firm Haitong International Securities.
Wi-Fi 7 support: The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will also support Wi-Fi 7, according to Pu. This would enable the devices to send and receive data over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands simultaneously, resulting in faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 is expected to offer peak data transfer speeds of over 40 Gbps, a 4× increase over Wi-Fi 6E.
5G Advanced: iPhone 16 Pro models will be equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X75 modem for faster and more power efficient 5G connectivity, according to Pu. The modem supports the "5G Advanced" standard, which has been described as "the next phase of 5G" and an "evolution towards 6G."
5× optical zoom for iPhone 16 Pro: The iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism Telephoto lens system with 5× optical zoom will expand to the regular iPhone 16 Pro, according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
More than 5× optical zoom for iPhone 16 Pro Max: It has been rumored that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will feature additional upgrades to the Telephoto lens that might allow for more than 5× optical zoom.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 16 Pro models in September 2024. Additional details about the devices should surface over the coming months, so be sure to keep tabs on our iPhone 16 Pro roundup for the latest information.
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