After a few weeks of controversy over potential overheating in the new iPhone 15 Pro models, Apple this week released a software update to help address the issue, which the company says is not the result of the new titanium casing or other thermal design problems.
Apple is also continuing work on the next round of more significant software updates led by iOS 17.1, and we're keeping tabs on everything that's new. Notably, the latest watchOS 10.1 beta enables the Double Tap feature that was one of the main promotional selling points of the latest Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models, so read on for all the details on these stories and more!
Apple Releases iOS 17.0.3 With Fix for iPhone 15 Pro Overheating
Apple this week released iOS 17.0.3 with a fix for an issue that may cause the iPhone 15 Pro models to run warmer than expected. The software update also includes several enterprise-related bug fixes and important security updates, according to Apple.
Apple said the iPhone 15 Pro's titanium frame was not a contributing factor to the overheating, and it said the software update does not lower the A17 Pro chip's performance to address the issue.
iOS 17.1 Beta: All the New Features So Far
Apple this week made the second beta of iOS 17.1 available to developers and public beta testers, and there are some new features as usual.
Warning: BMW Wireless Charging May Break iPhone 15's Apple Pay Chip
If you have an iPhone 15 and drive a BMW, it might be best to avoid charging the device with the vehicle's wireless charging pad for now.
Over the past few weeks, some BMW owners have complained that their iPhone 15's NFC chip no longer works after charging the device with their vehicle's wireless charging pad. It's unclear if the issue has been resolved with iOS 17.0.3 or the iOS 17.1 beta.
Double Tap lets you tap your index finger and thumb together twice to perform common actions on the Apple Watch, such as stopping a timer, playing and pausing music, snoozing an alarm, answering and ending a phone call, and more, all without touching the screen.
Original Apple Watch is Now Obsolete, Including $17,000 Gold Model
All first-generation Apple Watch models released in 2015 have now been declared obsolete by Apple, meaning they are no longer eligible for repairs or other service at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Provider locations.
This includes the original 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition model which sold for up to $17,000 at launch. The solid-gold Apple Watch option was discontinued in 2016 and replaced with more reasonably priced but still premium-priced Apple Watch Edition models made with cermamic or titanium for future years.
How to Get the Most Out of the iPhone 15 Pro's Action Button
For example, Federico Viticci of MacStories came up with a way for two separate shortcuts to be assigned to the Action button. He calls this solution MultiButton, and we provide a closer look at it in our video.
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.
With every new operating system release and new iPhone, there are complaints about issues with battery life, and this year is no exception. There are often periods of rapid battery drain following an update or release due to behind-the-scenes syncing, but sometimes problems can persist longer.
Battery life problems can be caused by new features Apple has implemented, bugs that need to be fixed, or simply an uptick in usage after an update. Whatever the cause, we've rounded up some suggestions on how you can maximize your iPhone's battery life in situations where every last minute is important.
Note that there aren't many suggestions that don't disable key features on the iPhone, so you need to balance battery drain with the feature set that you want enabled, turning things off and on as needed when better battery life is required. Not all of these tips are specific to iOS 17 and the iPhone 15 models, but these steps will absolutely help preserve battery on your new device.
1. Turn Off Live Activities
Live Activities let apps keep an ongoing notification on the Lock Screen or Dynamic Island, and in iOS 17, Live Activities are used more than ever before. Combined with the Always-On display of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models, Live Activities can noticeably drain the battery.
Live Activities can be disabled by following these steps:
This will prevent Live Activities from showing up on the Lock Screen, but you'll want to take this one step further. In the individual app sections in the Settings app, you can disable Live Activities on an app-by-app basis, or avoid using Live Activities features within apps.
You can't fully disable the Dynamic Island, but you can swipe left on any running animation to dismiss it.
2. Delete Lock Screen and Home Screen Widgets
In iOS 17, Apple further improved widgets, introducing interactivity. Widgets can now be used right on the Lock Screen, so you can do things like control smart home products or check off Reminders without opening an app.
If you're not using a particular widget often, it might be best to remove it to preserve battery life, though it is worth exploring whether using a widget is less battery intensive than opening up an app.
On the Lock Screen specifically, you can use an option that doesn't have widgets, which makes it easy to switch over. Specific Lock Screens can be linked to a Focus mode, so you can even set up something that removes widgets and nixes unimportant notifications.
Live Voicemail is a feature that lets you get a real-time readout of a voicemail that someone is leaving so you can answer the phone if it's something important. Since Live Voicemail shows up right on the Lock Screen, it's not doing your battery any favors.
If you want to disable it, you can do so by going to Settings > Phone > Live Voicemail and toggling it off.
4. Turn Off Proximity AirDrop Sharing
When you hold two iPhones running iOS 17 together, or an iPhone running iOS 17 and an Apple Watch running watchOS 10.1, the iPhone initiates a proximity-based AirDrop or contact transfer protocol. If you're continually triggering this, it can drain battery, so if you've got your iPhone near another iPhone and the AirDrop interface keeps popping up, you might want to turn it off.
To do so, go to Settings > General > AirDrop and toggle off "Bringing Devices Together."
5. Take Advantage of Offline Maps
In iOS 17, you can download Apple Maps for offline usage. It's useful for when you don't have a cellular connection, but it's also good to use even if you do. If you're traveling in an area where you have a somewhat spotty connection, downloading a map for that spot and then turning off cellular will preserve your battery life without impacting your ability to get around.
We have a dedicated how-to that walks you through downloading a map for offline usage, but it's as simple as searching for a location in Maps, tapping the download button, and then selecting the area of the map to download.
6. Disable Haptic Keyboard Feedback
Apple has a keyboard option that gives you haptic feedback when you tap the on-screen keys. It vibrates with each key tap for a more satisfying typing experience, but what you might not know is that it drains battery.
Apple said in a support document last year that keyboard haptics might affect battery life, so it's not something you want to use when you don't have battery to spare. It's not on by default, but if you've enabled it, you can turn it off by following these steps:
Open up the Settings app.
Tap on Sounds & Haptics.
Tap on Keyboard Feedback.
Toggle off Haptic.
7. Turn Off Always-On Display (iPhone 15 Pro)
As the name suggests, the Always-On display on the iPhone 15 Pro models leaves the time, your wallpaper, widgets, and Live Activities visible on the Lock Screen even when your iPhone is locked.
The display is using a 1Hz refresh rate to preserve battery, and Apple has neat tricks like turning off the display when a connected Apple Watch is no longer nearby (signaling that the iPhone owner is out of the room) or the iPhone is in a pocket, but Always-On display still drains battery faster than no Always-On display.
You can turn off the Always-On display by following these steps:
Open up the Settings app.
Tap on Display & Brightness.
Tap on Always On Display.
Toggle off Always On Display.
It's not really clear just how much battery life the Always-On display drains because it's going to vary from use case to use case, but even if it's only a few percent, it's worth turning off, especially if it's not a feature that you find useful.
8. Choose Non-Animated Wallpapers
Some of the fancy wallpapers that are available for the Lock Screen are animated, and an animated wallpaper will drain just a bit more battery than a static wallpaper. If you're optimizing and don't care much for the animations, choose something that's not going to update throughout the day.
The Weather wallpaper, for example, changes based on the conditions, and the Photo Shuffle option swaps through your selected photos during the day. The Astronomy wallpaper also changes based on current conditions.
9. Use Focus Modes
Using Apple's built-in Focus option can cut down on the number of notifications that you're receiving during the day, and fewer notifications means less opportunity for apps to wake up your display and cause battery drain.
Focus modes let you choose which apps and people can send you notifications and when, so during work hours you can make sure you're only getting work notifications, and during personal time, you can limit your work notifications. You can limit notifications when driving, when you're asleep, when you're working out, and in any other scenario you can think of. Focus filters even let you filter out select emails, messages, calendars, and more.
You'll still get all of your notifications when the Focus mode ends, but all in one alert rather than multiple. Turning off unwanted notifications from apps is still the best method for saving battery life, but Focus lets you keep your notifications while still cutting down on the number that you receive at any given time.
Apple made Focus modes are relatively easy to set up, but it still takes some work to get everything running, so we have a dedicated Focus guide. You can find all of the Focus features in the Focus section of the Settings app.
10. Use Scheduled Summary
It's also worth making sure that any app that sends non-important notifications is relegated to the Scheduled Summary, which saves up notifications and sends them to you once or twice a day.
You can toggle on Scheduled Summary for apps in the Notifications section of the Settings app, where you can specify which apps should have their notifications include in Scheduled Summary and when you want them delivered.
11. Limit When and How Often Apps Can Access Location
It's always good to check in on privacy and access settings to make sure apps and services aren't doing things you don't want them to be doing.
Limiting the apps that have access to your location and how often apps can access that data can save battery life.
Open up the Settings app.
Choose Privacy & Security.
Tap Location Services.
Review the list and edit settings by tapping on the name of each app in the list.
You have four possible choices for location settings for each app, though not all four choices will always be available for every app depending on what it does. You can select the following: Never, Ask Next Time Or When I Share, While Using the App, and Always.
Never will prevent an app from ever accessing your location, and unless there's a specific need for an app to know where you are, such as a mapping app, setting location access to Never is the best choice.
Ask Next Time Or When I Share will prompt an app to ask you with a pop-up the next time that it wants your location, so you can temporarily approve it. With this setting, location access is off until expressly allowed via the pop-up.
While Using the App allows the app to detect your location only when the app is open and being actively used. If you close the app or switch over to another app, location access ends.
Always allows an app to have access to your location at all times, regardless of whether it's open or closed. This will result in the most battery drain and should be limited to only the apps that you need the most.
A lot of apps will ask for location information that don't really need it to function (for example, a banking app might want location access to show nearby ATMs, which is also available through entering a zip code), so clearing the cruft will ensure no apps are accessing your location without express permission.
You can also turn off Location Services all together, but it's not ideal because it can impact crucial apps like Maps.
12. Limit Apps Using Bluetooth
Your iPhone lets you know when apps have requested Bluetooth access, and there are quite a few apps that want Bluetooth access for location tracking, scanning for Chromecast devices, or other not-so-useful reasons.
Checking on the apps using Bluetooth is worthwhile to make sure that you don't have a sneaky app connecting to Bluetooth sources without your permission and draining battery. To get to Bluetooth settings:
Open the Settings app.
Tap on Privacy & Security.
Tap Bluetooth.
Apps like Facebook, MAX, Hulu, and others don't need Bluetooth access for the most part, so toggle off any app that doesn't need a Bluetooth connection to function. If a feature in an app stops working, you can just turn it right back on.
Disabling Bluetooth entirely is also an option, but it's used for AirPods, Apple Watches, and other accessories, so turning it off isn't feasible for most people.
13. Use Low Power Mode
Using Low Power Mode liberally is an obvious choice for maintaining battery without having to hassle with a lot of settings, and you can toggle it on from Control Center, the Battery section of the Settings app, or using Siri. Low Power Mode cuts down on background activity, turns off your display after inactivity more quickly, limits display refresh rate, limits email fetch, cuts down on visual effects, and more.
Low Power Mode can be set to turn on at a certain battery percentage using Shortcuts, which is a handy way to have it automatically turn on when you need it.
14. Use Wi-Fi and Airplane Mode
When you can, it's best to connect to Wi-Fi to maximize battery life, and it's one of the battery preserving tips that Apple offers. At home or at work, make sure you connect to Wi-Fi rather than using cellular signal. Nothing drains a battery quite like a 5G connection, especially one that's unstable.
If you're in an area with no Wi-Fi and you know you have low cellular signal, turn on Airplane Mode or turn off your cellular connection so it's not draining your battery trying to connect. This of course only works when you don't need a cellular connection in the moment, but it can have a big impact and you probably can't do much with low signal anyway.
15. Manage Apps Draining Battery
Your iPhone tells you which apps are eating up the most battery so you can make sure nothing is secretly draining your battery without your knowledge. You can check your battery usage statistics by opening up the Settings app and tapping on the Battery section.
Battery usage charts let you see your battery level over the last 24 hours or for the last 10 days, plus you can see which apps have used the most battery life. If there's an app that you don't need that's draining an excessive amount of battery, delete it. If you do need the app, moderate how often you're using it and what permissions it has like location.
Note that with the iPhone 15 models, you can preserve your battery health with a new feature that prevents the iPhone from charging up past 80 percent. This isn't something you're going to want to enable if you're worried about battery life on a long day out, but if you keep it on while you're home, you can have a healthy battery for a longer period of time. Get to this setting by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging > Charging Optimization > 80% Limit.
16. Limit Background Activity
Almost all apps use background refresh to update even when they're not open, and limited background activity and background refresh is a longtime favorite option for cutting down on battery usage.
You can turn off Background App Refresh all together or choose which apps can refresh in the background.
Open the Settings app.
Select General.
Tap on Background App Refresh.
From there, you can tap on the Background App Refresh option to turn Background App Refresh off altogether or choose to have it activate only when connected to Wi-Fi, which doesn't drain battery as much as downloading over cellular.
You can also choose to turn Background App Refresh on just for your most used apps by tapping on the toggle next to each app in the list.
17. Turn Down Screen Brightness
This is a rather obvious suggestion, but the dimmer your display, the less battery you're using. If you're indoors, drop that brightness down as low as you can tolerate, and hold off on using your iPhone in the sun until you can find a shady spot if you really want to maximize battery.
The easiest way to drop brightness is to swipe down on the right side of the display to access Control Center and lower the brightness slider. It's also a good idea to make sure you have your display set to Auto-Lock after the shortest interval (30 seconds), which you can do by going to Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock.
18. Change Your Mail Settings
Along with turning off Background App Refresh, changing when and how often the Mail app checks for new emails can save you some battery.
Open up the Settings app.
Tap Mail.
Tap Accounts.
Tap "Fetch New Data" at the bottom.
You can turn off Push (which lets you know right away when a new email message is available) and adjust Fetch settings on a per account basis for accounts that don't support Push (like Gmail accounts).
Adjusting the Fetch settings to have longer intervals before checking for new messages can help save battery life, as can turning off Fetch all together in favor of manual checks that will download new messages only when the Mail app is opened.
You can choose the following settings: Automatically, Manually, Hourly, Every 30 Minutes, and Every 15 Minutes.
iPhone 15 Overheating
There has been a lot of talk of overheating issues with the iPhone 15 models, particularly the iPhone 15 Pro models. Apple released iOS 17.0.3 on October 4 to address a bug that could cause the iPhone 15 models to run hotter than expected, plus the company said that some apps like Instagram and Uber were causing processor strain that resulted in overheating. Apple has fixed the issue both with the update and by working with app developers to solve any efficiency problems.
If you're having issues with heat and battery life, make sure your iPhone is updated to iOS 17.0.3 by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
Conclusion
There are endless things to do to preserve battery life, and unfortunately, everything you use your phone for is going to drain battery, so it's all about finding what works for you, what you don't need, and where you can compromise to extend battery life.
Have a favorite battery saving tip we haven't listed here? Let us know in the comments below.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has Apple's most advanced camera system to date, with an updated 48-megapixel lens, improved Ultra Wide lens, and a new 5x Telephoto lens that offers the most optical zoom ever in an iPhone. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera this week took a deeper look at the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a specific focus on the camera features.
Apple's Main camera is always fantastic in good lighting conditions, but with the A17 Pro chip, the colors are even more accurate than before. HDR has been improved with Smart HDR 5, so skin tones are able to look more lifelike while other colors remain vivid. This is particularly noticeable in situations with bright backgrounds where you might see some washout with prior iPhone models.
Photos default to 24 megapixels instead of 12 megapixels, which means you're getting more detail and better quality with a still-reasonable file size, and with the A17 Pro, you can choose from different focal lengths, including 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm to better mimic what you can do with adjustable lens cameras.
Night mode is more impressive, and taking a Portrait image no longer requires swapping modes. With a person or pet in the photo (or if you tap to focus), depth information is automatically captured and you can choose to activate Portrait mode after the shot, which is super handy. It's much easier to just pop open the camera, snap a shot, and get exactly what you want.
The biggest change on the 15 Pro Max is the 5x optical zoom lens that replaces the 3x optical zoom lens. The 5x optical zoom is equivalent to a 120mm telephoto lens, which is a great focal length for portraits and a lens that can be used in ways that just didn't work with 3x zoom. The 5x lens is much more of a go-to option for just everyday shots, especially when people and pets are involved. It has excellent background blur that pairs well with the portrait feature.
For most people, video is about the same, but there are some bells and whistles for pros, including log color encoding when shooting ProRes video for better HDR and simpler post-production adjustments.
We'll have a much more in-depth look at the iPhone 15 Pro Max camera coming up, with a comparison to Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max, so make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors for that.
With the microscope, iFixit is able to provide a closer look at the iPhone's casing, adhesive, and display, showing off individual pixels. There are zoomed-in views of everything from the battery connector to the magnets inside the Taptic Engine.
Compared to the iPhone 14, the iPhone 15 is remarkably similar, which makes sense because the design has not changed. There is a larger 48-megapixel camera, though, which iFixit confirms is not, in fact, the same 48-megapixel camera that's in the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The quad pixel "buckets" in the iPhone 15's camera are around 22 percent smaller, which means that the camera is not able to perform as well in low lighting conditions as the camera in the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
iFixit's iPhone 15 teardown isn't revealing anything that we didn't already know, but it is a fun read thanks to the closer look at multiple components.
YouTuber and content creator Sara Dietschy joins us on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show to discuss some of our favorite Apple accessories and more.
We talk through Sara's thoughts on the iPhone 15 Pro, the utility of the Apple Watch, and Google's newly announced Pixel devices, featuring a range of AI-powered photography capabilities. We also discuss some of our favorite accessories designed for the iPhone and iPad, Mac, and smart home. See Sara's work on her YouTube channel and follow her on X @saradietschy. Take a look at LAB22, her range of accessories for the iPhone and iPad, on Moment's website.
If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up for our discussion about the latest Apple Watch models, who should upgrade, and consider whether it is worth waiting for the rumored "Apple Watch X."
Southern Straps is a small company that has been making high-quality Apple Watch bands since the Apple Watch debuted in 2015. It was the first company to start making nylon Apple Watch bands, and with eight years of experience, Southern Straps has had time to perfect its craft.
Priced at $40, each of the nylon Apple Watch bands is made from a single piece of nylon that's doubled over, heat sealed, and stitched together. This multi-step process ensures that every band is ultra durable and able to hold up for multiple years. In fact, Southern Straps offers a five year warranty for its bands.
There are twelve nylon band options, available in classic solid colors like green, black, and sand, as well as multi-colored striped options in colors that include blue and green, blue and pink, black and grey, blue and red, blue and white, and more.
Each of the bands can be ordered with custom hardware in black, silver, or gold to match whichever Apple Watch you have. The bands come in two sizes, one that covers the 38mm to 41mm Apple Watch models, and one that covers the 42mm to 49mm models. The bands are compatible with every Apple Watch model from the original Apple Watch to the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
The nylon bands include pegged spring bars so you can change the hardware if you get an Apple Watch in a new size or opt for a new watch color.
Southern Straps bands can be used on a daily basis, and they're suitable for everything from work to sports. The bands are crafted by hand and the company aims to make sure that only the best quality straps end up on customer wrists.
We have one of Apple's new Apple Watch Ultra 2 models to give away, along with one of Southern Straps' nylon bands. To enter to win, use the widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner(s) and send the prize(s). You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older, UK residents who are 18 years or older, and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. All federal, state, provincial, and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
The contest will run from today (October 6) at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on October 13. The winner will be chosen randomly on or shortly after October 13 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.
Apple today shared a "Shot on iPhone 15 Pro" ad starring singer Olivia Rodrigo on its YouTube channel in Canada. The video provides a brief behind-the-scenes look at a music video that Rodrigo and her team shot entirely on the iPhone 15 Pro. Apple first shared the behind-the-scenes video on YouTube in the U.S. last month, but it is currently unlisted.
The music video is for Rodrigo's song "get him back!" from her sophomore album "GUTS," released last month. Apple says the video used iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max camera features such as 4K ProRes video recording at 60 fps and 5× optical zoom.
Rodrigo gained recognition for her lead roles on the Disney Channel show "Bizaardvark" (2016–2019) and the Disney+ series "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" (2019–2022). She shot to stardom in 2021 after releasing her chart-topping debut single "drivers license," and released her debut studio album "SOUR" in the same year.
The music video for "get him back!" was released shortly after Apple's event introducing the iPhone 15 lineup last month.
Amazon today has Samsung's 32-inch Smart Monitor M8 at the new all-time low price of $499.99, down from $699.99. This is the updated version of the monitor (M80C) that launched over the summer, and it beats the previous record low price that we tracked in September by $80.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Samsung launched this refreshed version of the Smart Monitor M8 back in June, including updates like HDR10+ support and a portrait orientation option. Amazon only has the Warm White option at this $499.99 price tag, and it provides an estimated delivery date between October 7 and October 11 depending on the shipping options you choose.
Social network X, previously known as Twitter, may soon offer more than one subscription tier. Code in the app suggests that the Premium offering could be split into three, including Premium Basic, Premium Standard, and Premium Plus.
Premium Basic lists "full ads" in the For You feed, while Premium Standard says it has "half ads" in For You. Premium Plus says there will be no ads in For You. Given the specific mention of the For You feed, it sounds like all of the tiers will continue to have ads in replies. Revenue from reply ads is used for paying content creators on the social network.
X Premium will be broken up into 3 tiers:
Premium Basic - Full Ads Premium Standard - Half Ads Premium Plus - No Ads pic.twitter.com/I0CyaQf2ME
— Aaron (@aaronp613) October 5, 2023
At the current time, a Premium subscription is priced at $8 per month or $84 per year, and there is no word yet on what the new tiers might be priced at. There are also no other details on the differences between the plans or launch information.
With the Apple Vision Pro headset, the built-in cameras will create a customized "Persona" that resembles the user, and this Persona is used in video chat apps like FaceTime.
Creating a Persona involves a 3D capture of the face and upper body, but it turns out that Apple's technology won't be advanced enough to take glasses into account.
As noted by @M1Astra, visionOS code requires users to remove anything that covers the face, such as glasses. There does not appear to be any kind of secondary scanning mechanism to separately capture a user's glasses, and instead, Apple will allow users to "Select Eyewear" from a variety of options.
visionOS code suggests that Vision Pro users will be able to choose from a range of different glasses and sunglasses options that come in common shapes like square, rounded, oval, aviator, and more, with thick and thin frames.
Users will likely be able to find something that is close to their own frames, but there may not be an exact match available. It is not yet clear if color options will be available, but it seems like a level of customization that Apple would offer.
Apple uses the Vision Pro cameras to bring a user's facial expressions and hand movements to their Persona, giving it a more realistic feel that mimics person-to-person interactions.
Personas are one aspect of visionOS that Apple is working on perfecting before the launch of the Vision Pro headset. In September, Apple began surveying developers who have the Vision Pro about their Personas, soliciting opinions on facial expressions, appearance matching, and more.
The Vision Pro headset is set to launch in early 2024 in the United States, and it will be priced at $3,500.
Apple is working on two new versions of the iPad Air 6, according to a report from 9to5Mac. The site claims that Apple has four separate models in the works (two each in cellular and Wi-Fi), though it is not clear what the differentiating factor would be if there are indeed two separate iPad Air models coming.
Apple makes two versions of the iPad Pro because it comes in two sizes, and 9to5Mac speculates that Apple could release a larger version of the iPad Air to go along with the current 10.9-inch version, or debut "a more expensive model with better specs."
Given that the iPad lineup already features two sizes of the iPad Pro, a low-cost iPad, and the iPad mini, a larger or higher-end iPad Air may not make a lot of sense. 9to5Mac warns that Apple's plans could change and that a second iPad Air model might not appear.
Prior rumors have suggested that Apple is working on a seventh-generation iPad mini and an 11th-generation low-cost iPad, with neither tablet expected to feature major changes. 9to5Mac says that its sources believe the iPad mini 7 is coming "soon," but the report also says that all of the new iPads are on track to be announced "between now and WWDC 2024 in June," which is a wide window.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in September that Apple is not likely to introduce new iPads in 2023, and that iPad mini and iPad Air models will instead come in 2024. Bloomberg's Mark Gurmanalso said in September that Apple is working on a new iPad Air and that it could be "coming soonish," so it continues to be unclear if we'll see an iPad of some kind before the end of the year.
Apple has not refreshed the iPad Air since March of 2022, so it has been over a year since the last update. The current model includes the M1 chip, and Apple could wait for the debut of the M3 chip for an update, so iPad Air launch timing could be tied to M3 launch timing.
As for the iPad mini, it has not been refreshed since September 2021, though it is not a tablet that Apple updates regularly.
Nanoleaf today announced the upcoming launch of the Nanoleaf Smart Holiday String Lights, which are able to integrate with Matter-compatible smart home platforms like HomeKit.
The two 10-meter light strands include 250 addressable LEDs that can be set to 16 million colors and multiple shades of white that range from 2700 to 6500K. With IP44 water resistance, the 250 lumen lights are able to be used indoors or outdoors.
Lights can be controlled with the Nanoleaf app, with the Home app, or with Siri voice commands. With the Nanoleaf app, there are customizable color palettes and light animations, plus an option to sync with music that's playing. There are nine preset scenes such as Holiday Magic and Crackling Fireplace.
Because Nanoleaf's lights are Matter-enabled, a Matter-compatible smart home hub like the HomePod mini or recent Apple TV 4K is required to use them with HomeKit. The lights can be controlled via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Matter over Wi-Fi, plus there are physical controls available in case a smart device is not around when you want to change the color or turn the lights off.
Apple today introduced SF Symbols 5, a new version of the library of iconography that it provides to developers for use in apps. The icons have been created to integrate with San Francisco, the system font that Apple uses for its devices.
There are more than 5,000 symbols in total, with SF Symbols 5 adding 700 characters. Some of the new symbols in the update include game controller buttons, weather conditions, additional currencies, and automotive indicators. The symbols are available in apps running iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, tvOS 17, and watchOS 10.
The update also introduces symbol animations with behaviors like bounce, scale, and pulse defining how symbols and their layers move. Apple says that the animated effects bring "bring vitality to interfaces and provide feedback to user input while communicating changes in status and ongoing activity." To support animations, symbols have been redrawn and optimized for motion.
Apple included improved tools for developers who want to create custom symbols, including a library of enclosure shapes, badges, and slashes, along with updated annotation tools. A new inspector allows for animation previews for system symbols and custom symbols.
Developers are able to use Apple's SF Symbols wherever there are interface icons, including navigation bars, toolbars, tab bars, and context menus.
Only one activity is available when mirroring or sharing your view through AirPlay or FaceTime.
This suggests that users will be able to mirror their Vision Pro display to an external monitor or TV, or share their view with others through AirPlay or FaceTime. Other headsets like Meta Quest have similar features which can help to reduce the feeling of isolation of the headset user from others.
Reset EyeSight Data
Apple's visionOS 1.0 beta 4 also includes a new option to reset EyeSight data. EyeSight is the feature that displays a user's simulated eyes on the external display of the Apple Vision Pro. The option reads:
You can reset EyeSight by going to Settings > People Awareness and tapping Reset Personalized EyeSight. This will remove personalized eye details from EyeSight, like your eye shape and measurements, but EyeSight will still use your skin tone where available. After you have reset EyeSight, you can restore it by recapturing your Persona.
Sharing of Persona Data
The code indicates that a user's Persona will be sent to all participants in a FaceTime call in order to allow other participants to view the user's Persona. Apple Vision Pro can generate Personas via machine learning that allow users to share virtual representations of themselves that reflect face and hand movements in real time with others over FaceTime.
For FaceTime calls on a visionOS device, your Persona will be sent securely to all of the people on the call so they can view your Persona. After a call is completed, your Persona may remain stored encrypted on the other call participants’ devices for up to 30 days. The other call participants will be able to access your Persona only when they are on a call with you.
The code also indicates that Personas, but not the data used to generate them, could be stored on Apple's servers, albeit in a manner that isn't accessible to Apple.
To create your Persona and personalized EyeSight, Apple Vision Pro cameras capture images and 3D measurements of your face, head, upper body, and facial expressions. The data used to build your Persona and EyeSight do not leave your device. Your Persona may be stored on Apple servers, encrypted in a way that Apple cannot access.
Additional New Alerts
visionOS 1.0 beta 4 also includes the following new alerts:
Calling unavailable while in Travel Mode
Brighten your lighting to use your Persona.
This video has excess motion, and could cause discomfort if expanded.
Apple has stated that Apple Vision Pro will launch in the U.S. in early 2024 before expanding to other countries at later dates.
The current iPad Air was introduced in March last year, adding the M1 chip, Center Stage on the front-facing camera, a faster USB-C port, and several new color options, but it was still a fairly minor upgrade over the previous model from September 2020. As we near a year and a half since the fifth-generation iPad Air was introduced, what can users expect from the sixth-generation model and when will it launch?
As of 2023, it has been some time since the iPad Air had a major hardware refresh. Yet due to its positioning between the entry-level iPad and the iPad Pro, it is not immediately clear what a new iPad Air model could gain without cannibalizing the iPad Pro.
There have been few concrete rumors about the features the next iPad Air will offer as yet, so the overall picture of what to expect is still somewhat fluid. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has repeatedly said that an iPad Air update this year with a minor "spec bump" is not out of the question, suggesting that the upgrade will be fairly iterative, targeting several small but significant areas.
A chip upgrade is the most certain feature coming to the next iPad Air. The iPad Air currently contains the M1 chip. There have been no reports about what chip the next-generation iPad Air will feature, but the M2 chip has now been in the iPad Pro for almost a year, meaning that it should be more than suitable for the iPad Air. For comparison, the M1 chip was present in the previous-generation iPad Pro for 11 months before it came to to the iPad Air. There is even the possibility that it could skip the M2 and get the M3 chip instead, depending on the timing of its release.
A minor spec bump is also likely to include upgrades to the front and rear cameras, potentially bringing features like Photonic Engine to the iPad for the first time. ProRes video recording, Audio zoom, stereo audio recording, Portrait mode, and Portrait Lighting support are all plausible upgrades in this area.
A horizontally oriented front-facing camera and a Thunderbolt port are among the other potential features for the sixth-generation iPad Air. The latest iPad Pro models brought connectivity upgrades like Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 to the iPad for the first time. By now, these capabilities are overdue to make their way to the iPad Air. Similarly, Apple Pencil hover, another iPad Pro-exclusive feature, could finally trickle down to the iPad Air in its next incarnation.
A new iPad Air launching this year is certainly more likely than a new iPad Pro emerging, but Apple historically has only updated the device around every two years. While a refresh to add the M2 chip is certainly possible in 2023, it may be more probable that Apple will again wait two years to update the device and target 2024 for a more worthwhile upgrade.
Last month, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that new iPad models are "unlikely" to launch this year, seemingly leaning into a 2024 launch for the next-generation iPad Air. However, a reliable Weibo leaker recently said that the sixth-generation iPad Air should launch in October as the only iPad refresh of 2023, with "no mini and Pro this year."
More strikingly, on a September episode of The MacRumors Show podcast, Mark Gurman said that there is a new iPad Air with improved specifications in the works and the device is apparently "coming soonish," likely this month. As such, the sixth-generation iPad Air appears to now be pending release, meaning that a launch in the near future cannot yet be ruled out. If a month passes with no such occurrence, the first half of 2024 will become the most likely scenario.
Update: A new report suggests Apple is working on two separate sixth-generation iPad Air models, but it unclear if this refers to two different size options or something else.
A bug impacting search functionality in the Messages app for some iPhone 15 users appears to be fixed in the second beta of iOS 17.1 released this week.
Some early adopters of iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models have complained that the Messages app's search tool only displays recent messages after transferring content from another iPhone. The issue has been mentioned by several users across the MacRumors Forums and Reddit since the devices launched earlier this month.
The bug is present on all iOS 17 versions up to the first iOS 17.1 beta, but many affected users said it has been fixed as of the second iOS 17.1 beta. It may take a day or longer for the device to index and restore the older messages after installing the update. Some users said they needed to open the Settings app, tap on Messages, tap on Siri & Search, turn off all of the settings shown, restart the iPhone, and re-enable those settings to fix the issue.
iOS 17.1 is expected to be released in late October, so users not interested in installing the beta might have to wait a few more weeks for the fix.
Amazon today has Apple's 256GB 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro for $999.00, down from $1,299.00, along with a deal on the 512GB model as well. At $300 off, these discounts represent new record low prices for the 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
You can get the 256GB model in both Silver and Space Gray at this price on Amazon. Delivery is estimated for around October 12 through October 16, depending on your Prime membership status.
The 512GB 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro is available for $1,199.00 on Amazon, down from $1,499.00. Only Silver is available at this price, although there is an on-page coupon you can click to get the Space Gray model at a second-best price of $1,249.99.
Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.
Update: As of the afternoon of 10/5, Amazon has ended these deals. We aren't sure if they will restock soon or not, so be sure to check back if you're interested.
The iPhone 14 now sits in the middle of Apple's iPhone lineup below the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, but above the iPhone SE and iPhone 13. The iPhone 13 starts at $599, while the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are priced at $699 and $799, so how different are the two successive iPhone generations?
In 2021, Apple unveiled the iPhone 13 as the successor to the popular iPhone 12, with improved rear cameras, longer battery life, the A15 Bionic chip, and more. The iPhone 14 launched one year later, with the headline upgrade being a new iPhone 14 Plus model with a 6.7-inch display – a screen size that was previously exclusive to Apple's "Pro" iPhones. Upon the debut of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, Apple dropped the price of the iPhone 13, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Plus to $599, $699, and $799, respectively. The iPhone 13 mini has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 both feature the same display size, 5G connectivity, A15 Bionic chip, and design. Nevertheless, the iPhone 14 still offers a number of upgrades, such as an additional GPU core, Emergency SOS via satellite, the Photonic Engine, and Action Mode.
As the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 share the overwhelming majority of their features and have the same design, should you consider sticking with the iPhone 13 to save money? Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two iPhone models is best for you, and serves as a way to clearly see the differences that the iPhone 14 brings to the table.
iPhone 13
iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
Thickness of 7.65mm
Thickness of 7.80mm
Weighs 174 grams
Weighs 172 or 203 grams
4-core GPU
5-core GPU
4GB of memory
6GB of memory
12-megapixel Main camera with ƒ/1.6 aperture
12-megapixel Main camera with ƒ/1.5 aperture and larger sensor
12-megapixel front-facing camera with ƒ/2.2 aperture
12-megapixel front-facing camera with ƒ/1.9 aperture and autofocus
Photonic Engine
Cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field (1080p at 30 fps)
Cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field (4K HDR up to 30 fps)
Action mode
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.3
Emergency SOS
Emergency SOS via satellite
Crash Detection
19-hour battery life
20- or 26-hour battery life
eSIM optional
eSIM only (in the U.S.)
Available in Green, Pink, Blue, Midnight, Starlight, and PRODUCT(RED)
Available in Blue, Yellow, Purple, Midnight, Starlight, and PRODUCT(RED)
Starts at $599
Starts at $699 or $799
The iPhone 14's upgrades over the iPhone 13 are fairly minor, offering small refinements in terms of photography and videography capabilities, battery life, and GPU performance. 6GB of memory, Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via satellite, three features that also came to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max in 2022, are moderate upgrades for the safety-conscious. That being said, the iPhone 14 is probably best suited to those coming from an older device and intend to keep their iPhone for a long time.
At face value, there is likely not enough to justify getting the iPhone 14 over the iPhone 13. Matters may be different if you want a larger display size, as there is no equivalent to the iPhone 14 Plus in the iPhone 13 lineup. Even then, the iPhone 14 Plus's $799 starting price is the same as the iPhone 15 – one of Apple's latest models. The iPhone 15 sports a wide array of new features, such as the Dynamic Island, a 48-megapixel camera, a USB-C port, and more, making for a much more attractive and future-proof purchase.
The iPhone 13 is still highly capable for everyday use, and iPhone 14 shares the vast majority of the iPhone 13's most versatile features, such as the A15 Bionic chip, OLED Super Retina XDR display, Ceramic Shield, Night mode, MagSafe, and IP68 water resistance, so it is generally better to save the $100 and get the older model, or opt for the iPhone 15 instead.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
