MacRumors

Signify has released new Philips Hue Contact Sensor firmware that adds support for Apple HomeKit, reports Hueblog.com.

Previously the indoor sensors could only be controlled through the Philips Hue app's Security Center. Now, after updating to the new firmware (1961076030), they appear in the Home app, where users can use the "open" and "closed" status of the sensors to create automations and control other HomeKit devices that are not connected to the Philips Hue Bridge.

Released in September, the Philips Hue Secure Contact Sensor can be applied to doors, windows, cabinets, and more, sending notifications when the contact sensor is opened or closed. Users can remotely activate an alarm that flashes the lights, sounds a siren, and contacts local authorities, plus there are options for customizing camera settings.

As with Philips Hue Secure cameras, the sensors can be linked to lights to activate them when the sensor is triggered, so they can be used for things like turning on the lights in the bathroom when the door is opened.

Philips Hue Secure Contact Sensors are priced at $40 for one or $70 for a two-pack, and various mounts and other add-on hardware can be purchased for $15 to $50. More information is available on the Hue website.

Apple appears to have originally designed an Apple Watch Ultra with a dark ceramic back, according to documents filed with the United States Federal Communications Commission and spotted by @ParrotSWD on X, formerly Twitter (via 9to5Mac).

When releasing a new device, tech hardware companies must share details with the FCC, which Apple did for the Apple Watch Ultra prior to its release in September 2022.

In the document, Apple appears to have used an Apple Watch Ultra with a darker, almost black ceramic rear case – similar to Apple Watch Series models – and a plastic-looking Action button with no indent. These design attributes did not make it into the final release.

Often in filings of this type, external photos and other sensitive details are subject to a confidentiality clause with an expiry date, so it is likely that the clause in this one recently expired, hence why the images have only just come to light.

Apple currently offers the Apple Watch Ultra 2, released in September 2023, in the same natural titanium color as the first-generation model. Prior to launch, some rumors suggested Apple could release a new darker color option that was originally tested for the previous model but ultimately canceled. It didn't happen.

Sonos today announced plans to expand into a new "multi-billion dollar" product category in 2024, which is widely believed to be headphones. Sonos CEO Patrick Spence declined to give specific details on the company's plans, but he said that the new product will "complement" current Sonos devices and will "delight customers and drive immediate revenue."

Spence said that Sonos believes it will generate more than $100 million from new products in 2024, and the new product will account for a "large portion" of this revenue in the second half of the year.

There have been rumors for years now that Sonos intends to enter the headphone market with a pair of wireless headphones that could be similar in design to over-ear headphones like the AirPods Max. Sonos has never confirmed its work on headphones, but a leaked internal memo that was obtained by Bloomberg earlier today confirmed that the company does indeed have a headphone division.

Right now, Sonos develops wireless speakers, soundbars, and other home theater devices, so headphones seem to be a logical next step for the company. As Sonos manufactures higher-end devices, the first headphones could perhaps be designed to compete with over-ear headphones from companies like Bose, Sony, Sennheiser, Shure, and Bowers & Wilkins, but Sonos could also target the AirPods market.

Bloomberg in 2019 said that Sonos was targeting a $300 price point and was focusing on features like audio quality and multi-service interoperability, but it has been several years since new details emerged.

Sonos speakers already compete with Apple's speakers, so a set of headphones that serve as an alternative to ‌AirPods Max‌ and Beats would not be a surprise. At this point, little is known about Sonos' plans for the headphones, and there is no specific launch date that has been shared.

Last week, Amazon introduced the first major discounts on the Apple Watch Series 9. Today, these deals have returned and offer some of the best Black Friday deals around with $50 off nearly every Series 9 device, starting at $349.00 for the 41mm GPS model, down from $399.00.

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.

Apple launched the Series 9 models back in September, and early on the steepest discounts were about $10-15. Amazon's Black Friday deals are blowing those early markdowns out of the water, and they include both GPS and cellular models. This time around, the 41mm GPS device is available in two Aluminum models, as well as in both S/M and M/L fits.

Amazon also has the 45mm GPS Apple Watch Series 9 for $379.00, down from $429.00. It's available in four Aluminum color options, both S/M and M/L fits, and this is another record low price on the smartwatch.

Cellular Apple Watch Series 9 deals are just as abundant on Amazon right now. You can get the 41mm Cellular model for $449.00 and the 45mm Cellular model for $479.00, both of which are $50 discounts and all-time low prices. You'll find all five Aluminum options on sale at these prices, as well as multiple size options.

Anyone shopping for Apple Watch deals should head to our dedicated guide for the Best Early Black Friday Apple Watch Deals. Right now, this also includes a record low price on the 44mm GPS Apple Watch SE (2022), priced at $219.99, down from $279.00.

If you're starting your holiday shopping this week, we've got you covered with even more guides for the best early Black Friday deals for AirPods, iPhone, HomePod, and iPad. We've also been keeping an eye on the best overall Apple deals in the lead-up to November 24. All of these guides will be updated as the month continues, so be sure to bookmark and revisit to stay up-to-date on the best prices for the products you have an eye on.

Additionally, we're tracking all of the season's best deals in our dedicated Black Friday Roundup. Our roundup mainly focuses on Apple products and related tech accessories, so it's another good resource for your online holiday shopping.

Apple is continuing to run into troubles in its attempt to develop a 5G modem to replace Qualcomm's 5G modems in the iPhone and other products, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple in 2019 acquired the majority of Intel's smartphone business and started in on a serious effort to develop its own modem hardware, but the project has suffered multiple setbacks. Apple is still "years away" from creating a chip that is able to perform as well as or better than chips from rival Qualcomm.

The Cupertino company initially wanted to have an in-house modem chip ready to go by 2024, a goal that could not be met, and now Gurman says that Apple is also going to miss an extended spring 2025 launch timeline. As of now, the modem chip launch has been postponed until the end of 2025 or early 2026, and Apple is still planning to introduce the technology in a version of the low-cost ‌iPhone‌ SE.

Development on a modem chip is said to be in the early stages, and it "may lag behind the competition by years." One version in development does not support faster mmWave technology, and Apple has also run into issues with the Intel code that it has been working with. Rewrites have been required, and adding new features has been causing existing features to break, plus Apple has to be careful not to infringe on Qualcomm patents while developing the chip.

"Why we thought we could take a failed project from Intel and somehow succeed is a mystery," an Apple employee allegedly told Gurman. Apple's hardware technologies group is also said to be "stretched thin" across numerous projects, leading to difficulty resolving bugs.

Apple's dissatisfaction with Qualcomm surfaced in 2017, which is when Apple sued Qualcomm for unfairly collecting royalties for technologies it had nothing to do with. Apple was of the opinion that Qualcomm was charging too much for its modem chip technology.

With the ‌iPhone‌ 11 lineup, Apple was able to opt out of using Qualcomm chips, instead equipping iPhones with chips from Intel, but the relationship between Intel and Apple was short lived. After the launch of the ‌iPhone‌ 11, Apple wanted to continue to use Intel chips for its first 5G iPhones, the ‌iPhone‌ 12 models, but Intel could not manufacture 5G chips that were up to Apple's standards.

Apple was instead forced to settle its legal dispute with Qualcomm, and all litigation was dropped. The two companies signed a new contract, which was extended in September 2023. The latest deal with Qualcomm covers smartphone launches in 2024, 2025, and 2026, and will last through Apple's delayed modem chip development.

While Apple's in-house modem chip has been delayed, the company is continuing development because it is eager to end its expensive deal with Qualcomm. Apple's first modem chip will be a standalone chip, but the company hopes to eventually develop a system-on-a-chip that will also cut out suppliers like Broadcom and give it more control over component development.

The way vehicles take advantage of new connectivity standards could be improving in the near future, leading to updates on how smartphones like the iPhone control cars.

This month, the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) and the FiRa Consortium that oversees the development of the Ultra-wideband (UWB) standard, announced a partnership for the future development of UWB features used for the CCC Digital Key function.

Apple is a member of both the CCC and FiRa. The CCC's Digital Key specification has been adopted by Apple for its Car Keys feature that allows the ‌iPhone‌ and the Apple Watch to unlock compatible vehicles over NFC. Select BMW, Kia, Hyundai, Mercedes, and Genesis vehicles work with Car Keys, but Apple undoubtedly wants to expand adoption.

The CCC and FiRa Consortiums will work together to "develop and maintain" the UWB technology specifications used for the Digital Key standard that serves as the basis for ‌Car Keys‌ on Apple devices. Apple engineer Jinjing Jiang will oversee the joint effort.

The partnership is expected to encourage broader adoption of UWB technology use in vehicles. As of now, UWB is used for the Digital Key standard to relay how close a user is to their vehicle, allowing a smartphone or wearable to be used for vehicle access or to start the car when at the appropriate range.

Apple uses UWB for the ‌iPhone‌, Apple Watch, and AirTag. UWB enables more precise location awareness and it powers features like Precision Finding for the ‌AirTag‌.

Along with Apple, CCC members include most vehicle manufacturers like Ford, BMW, GM, Honda, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and more, while FiRa members include Apple, Google, Qualcomm, Cisco, Samsung, NXP, and more.

After years of persuading from Google, Apple plans to adopt the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard. An Apple spokesperson told TechRadar and 9to5Mac that support for ‌RCS‌ will be coming next year.

Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe the RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.

According to Apple, ‌RCS‌ will "work alongside iMessage" and will improve communication between iPhone and Android users. iMessage will continue to be the default for ‌iPhone‌ to ‌iPhone‌ communication, with ‌RCS‌ serving as a replacement for the existing SMS and MMS standards. SMS and MMS will remain available as a fallback when necessary, though.

Rich Communication Services is a communication protocol adopted by Google. Smartphone makers and carriers worldwide have adopted ‌RCS‌, but Apple has been resisting its adoption. Google has been pushing Apple to accept RCS through a long-running ad campaign involving billboards, a website, social media pressure, and more.

Google has had a "Get the Message" website since August 2022, with the site calling on Apple to "fix what's broken" in texts between ‌iPhone‌ and Android users. Earlier this year, even Samsung got into the PR campaign, publishing a bizarre ad where "Romeo" with his green bubbles and "Juliet" with her blue bubbles were unable to be together because of Apple's hesitation to adopt ‌RCS‌.

"Green bubbles and blue bubbles want to be together," read Samsung's ad, which also included the #GetTheMessage hashtag Google used for its social media push.

Compared to MMS and SMS, the standards that Apple uses for text messages, ‌RCS‌ supports higher resolution photos and videos, audio messages, and bigger file sizes. It also adds improved encryption for chats between ‌iPhone‌ and Android users, cross-platform emoji reactions, and more reliability for group chats across different devices.

With ‌RCS‌, real-time typing indicators, read receipts, better photos and videos, and much improved group chats will be standard on iPhones and Android phones, putting an end to the frustration that some ‌iPhone‌ users experience when attempting to communicate with Android smartphone owners. Apple claims that while ‌RCS‌ improves security for cross-device messaging, it is not as secure as iMessage.

According to Apple, ‌RCS‌ will provide users with the option to share their location with others inside text threads over text messages, and like iMessage, ‌RCS‌ will work over Wi-Fi in addition to cellular.

Back in September 2022, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that adopting ‌RCS‌ was not a priority for Apple. "I don't hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy into that at this point," he said. It is not clear why Apple has changed its stance, but the company is facing regulatory scrutiny over the App Store, iMessage, and other proprietary technologies in multiple countries, so adopting ‌RCS‌ could be seen as a willingness to work with other companies to improve device interoperability.

The European Union, for example, has been working on legislation that would have required Apple to make changes to iMessage to make it available on other platforms. With ‌RCS‌, iMessage will no longer have as many benefits that are unavailable cross-platform.

Going forward, Apple plans to work with Google and other Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) members on further improving ‌RCS‌. ‌RCS‌ support will be introduced in a software update next year, and carriers will need to implement support for full functionality. In the United States, Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T already support ‌RCS‌.

Samsung's 32-inch Smart Monitor M8 has hit a new all-time low price today on Amazon, available for $399.99, down from $699.99. This is the newest M80C model of the Smart Monitor, and the only color Amazon has at this price is Warm White.

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 will need to clip an on-page coupon worth $100 in order to see this discounted price applied at the checkout screen. You'll also need to be sure that you're purchasing the monitor from Amazon and not any other seller, as Amazon is the only one with the $100 on-page coupon code. If you follow the link below and don't see the code, navigate to "other sellers" tab on the right side of the page on Amazon and find the direct Amazon listing.

Once you do, you'll be able to buy the iMac-like Smart Monitor M8 with this massive $300 discount, which is a new all-time low price.

Samsung launched this refreshed version of the Smart Monitor M8 back in June, including updates like HDR10+ support and a portrait orientation option.

You can find all the Apple Black Friday Deals currently available in our dedicated post. For everything else, we're keeping track of all of the season's best Apple-related deals in our Black Friday roundup, so be sure to check back throughout the month for an updated list of all the most notable discounts you'll find for Black Friday 2023.

Update: This deal has expired, but you can still get the monitor for $499.99 on Amazon.

Apple's latest flagship iPhones are not charging as expected in some GM vehicles, according to a number of consumer complaints highlighted by The Verge. On Reddit, Apple's site, and other forums, there are reports from iPhone 15 users who own Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick vehicles with wireless chargers that are not able to charge their new iPhones. Some people see the iPhone charge for a few seconds, but then it seems to stop, while others can't get their devices to charge at all.

On Reddit, there are several complaints from Chevy owners who can't get their wireless chargers to work properly. Placing the device in the wireless charging cubby does not result in a charge, regardless of whether the device is in a case.

Happy to know that it isn't just me. My iPhone 12 Pro Max worked perfectly (every time) in my '23 Chevy Traverse. I went to the iPhone 15 Pro Max about 6 weeks ago and the feature broke just as described in other comments: Charge for a few seconds and then stops - case on or off yields same results. I am currently on iOS 17.1.1 and have taken every update since the phone was purchased on 10/8/23.

Many of the complaints are from ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max users, and the problem may be linked to the iOS 17.1 update.

Some in-car wireless chargers are notoriously unreliable because of they are designed for a range of smartphone sizes and sometimes cannot accommodate larger devices. Alignment issues are common, resulting in a lot of frustration when it comes to wireless car charging.

General Motors told The Verge that it is "aware of the concern" and "is investigating," with nothing to confirm on the issue at this time.

This is the second charging-related issue that is plaguing the ‌iPhone 15‌ models. Following the release of the new devices, some BMW owners quickly found that wireless chargers in their vehicles were temporarily disabling the NFC chip in their iPhones. Apple confirmed the issue in October and introduced a fix in the iOS 17.1.1 update that came out in early November.

The launch of the Qi2 wireless charging standard may cut down on future problems with in-car charging because Qi2 chargers include magnetic alignment, but it often takes car manufacturers many months or even years to introduce new technology, and it won't be helpful to vehicle owners with existing Qi chargers.

Given that the charging issues that GM owners are experiencing seem to have popped up with iOS 17.1, Apple may be able to address the problem with a subsequent update, and there is also a chance that GM can issue a firmware update to restore charging capabilities. As of now, the iOS 17.2 update does not fix the problem.

Alongside its Black Friday bonus gift card announcement, Apple has also released its holiday shipping guide in the United States and other countries that outlines deadlines for customers looking to order gifts online for arrival by December 24.

Unlike in some recent years, Apple appears to have ample stock of all of its main products as we head into the holiday season, with Apple currently saying that most products can be ordered up until December 21 while still receiving delivery in time for Christmas.

For items that can be engraved through Apple, two additional days are generally required, meaning orders must be placed by December 19. The lone exception to that is AirTags, which must be ordered by December 12 if you wish to have them engraved. Finally, physical gift cards must be ordered by December 19.

While these deadlines are for shipments of orders placed through Apple's online store, the company says customers may still be able to get orders in time after the deadline if items are in stock and customers choose Apple Pickup or 2-hour delivery from a local Apple Store.

Deadlines in other countries vary somewhat, such as a flat December 21 deadline for all products (including engraved ones) in Germany and a flat December 22 deadline in the United Kingdom.

Apple may update the deadlines on these pages in the coming weeks as it assesses product availability, so it pays to keep an eye on it and ensure you order in plenty of time to receive your items in time for the holidays.

Apple's extended return policy is also now in effect, allowing items purchased in most countries between November 3 and December 25 to be returned through January 8, 2024. Select countries have a longer window with items purchased between November 4 and January 6 able to be returned through January 20, 2024.

Apple today shared details about its upcoming "Apple Store Shopping Event" between Black Friday on November 24 and Cyber Monday on November 27 where customers will be able to get a gift card with the purchase of select products.

From November 24 to November 27, customers will receive Apple Gift Cards with the purchase of eligible items from the Apple Store:

Mac: Up to a $200 Gift Card

• MacBook Air
• Mac mini

iPad: Up to a $100 Gift Card

• iPad Pro
• iPad Air
• iPad (10th generation)
• iPad mini

iPhone and AirPods: Up to a $75 Gift Card

• iPhone 14
• ‌iPhone‌ 13
• ‌iPhone‌ SE
• AirPods Max
• AirPods Pro (2nd generation)
• AirPods (3rd generation)
• AirPods (2nd generation)

Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod, Beats, and Accessories: Up to a $50 Gift Card

• Apple Watch Series 9
• Apple Watch SE
• Apple TV 4K
• HomePod
• Magic Keyboard
• Magic Keyboard Folio
• Apple Pencil (2nd generation)
• Smart Keyboard Folio.
• Beats Studio Pro
• Beats Solo3 Wireless
• Powerbeats Pro
• Beats Fit Pro
• Beats Studio Buds +
• Beats Studio Buds
• Beats Flex

Customers who plan to trade their current device in for a new product are still eligible for a gift card. The Apple Store Shopping Event is set to run for four days and will be available through Apple's online store in the United States, the United Kingdom, and various other countries.

Apple plans to introduce a new thermal system on the iPhone 16 to reduce overheating, according to the leaker known as "Kosutami."

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple is working on a graphene thermal system for the ‌iPhone 16‌ lineup, while the iPhone 16 Pro models could add metal battery casings to reduce overheating. The move appears to come in response to widely encountered overheating issues experienced with the iPhone 15 Pro, which Apple addressed through a software update earlier this year.

Graphene has high thermal conductivity, surpassing that of copper, which is currently used in iPhone heat-sinks. Apple has been interested in graphene for thermal management for some time, filing patents related to its exploration of the material for heat dissipation in portable devices. Apple previously transitioned the Apple Watch's battery from black foil casings to ones made of metal with the Series 7, so an equivalent change on the ‌iPhone‌ seems plausible.

Microsoft is launching a "Windows App" that can remotely connect to a Windows PC and provide access to it from any platform. Available for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, PCs, and web browsers, the app also provides a gateway to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft Dev Box, and the company's Remote Desktop Services.

The Windows app includes a customizable Home Screen from which users can access multiple different cloud services and remote PCs. The app features multiple monitor support, custom display resolutions, dynamic display resolutions and scaling, peripheral redirection, and more.

Microsoft has offered the Remote Desktop Connection app in Windows for years now, but the Windows app signals a broader shift to cloud computing for Windows more generally.

For now the app is only available as a preview for enterprise accounts, but it is likely to support regular customers in time, although the option to sign in using a personal Microsoft account doesn't currently work, according to The Verge. The Mac version requires macOS 12 or later, while the iOS/iPadOS app needs a device running iOS or iPadOS 16 or later. The web version of the app can be accessed by going to windows.cloud.microsoft.

Apple today highlighted the ability in iOS 17.1 for UK users to connect their credit and debit cards in Apple Wallet and easily access information like account balance, spending history, and more.

Users can view their up-to-date bank card balance, payments, deposits, and withdrawals in Wallet and when they're checking out with Apple Pay online or in-apps. Apple says the new feature "empowers users to make more informed purchases, increases their confidence when making a transaction, and allows them to simply view frequent information so that they have more control when it comes to their finances."

From Apple's press release:

"By enabling users to conveniently access their most useful account information within Wallet and at the time of their purchase, they can make informed financial decisions and better understand and manage their spend," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. "We look forward to working with U.K. partners under the Open Banking initiative to help users better their financial health, and provide more ways in which banks can deepen their relationships with customers."

Apple added the transaction and card balance functionality to the Wallet app in October's iOS 17.1 update as part of its Connected Cards feature, and several banks have since come on board, including Barclays, Barclaycard, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, M&S Bank, Monzo Bank, NatWest Bank, and Royal Bank of Scotland.

• How to View UK Bank Account Balance in Apple Wallet

UK banks support the Open Banking API to integrate with the Wallet app, which has made the feature widely available to UK users, while the Connected Cards rollout in the United States has lagged behind.

Apple Music Classical was updated on the App Store today and extends the service's availability beyond iPhone and Android to bring it to iPads for the first time (via 9to5Mac). Apple released Apple Music Classical on the Google Play Store in March.

Version 1.1 of Apple's app includes an interface designed specifically for the larger iPad display, with a navigation sidebar and media playback controls along the bottom of the screen.

In 2021, Apple announced that it had purchased the classical music streaming service Primephonic and would be folding it into ‌Apple Music‌ via a new app dedicated to the genre. Apple launched ‌Apple Music‌ Classical in March, offering a standalone experience for discovering and listening to classical music.

The ‌Apple Music‌ Classical app offers ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers access to over five million classical music tracks, including new high-quality releases, in addition to hundreds of curated playlists, thousands of exclusive albums, and other features like composer bios and deep dives on key works.

The app offers a simpler interface for interacting with classical music specifically. Unlike the existing ‌Apple Music‌ app, ‌Apple Music‌ Classical allows users to search by composer, work, conductor, catalog number, and more. Users can get more detailed information from editorial notes and descriptions.

Apple commissioned high-resolution digital portraits of famous composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Johann Sebastian Bach for the app, using color palettes and artistic references from the relevant classical period, with more unique artwork to be added over time. Apple works with classical music artists and institutions to offer exclusive content and recordings.

The third watchOS 10.2 beta that Apple released this week reintroduces an Apple Watch feature for swapping watch faces that was initially removed with the upgrade to watchOS 10.

Users can now choose to use a swipe gesture to switch the active Apple Watch face by enabling the option in the Apple Watch Settings app. With the feature turned on, swiping left or right on the watch face scrolls through the available watch faces that have been set up.

Switching watch faces with a swipe gesture was the default in watchOS 9, but Apple updated the interaction because of complaints that it was too easy to accidentally change watch faces. The current gesture requires long pressing before swiping to change the active watch face.

With watchOS 10.2, Apple Watch owners who preferred the prior method of changing their watch faces can choose to enable the setting if desired. The option is under Settings > Clock in the third beta.

watchOS 10.2 is available to both developers and public beta testers at this time, and it is expected to see a public launch in December.

The iPhone 15 models are equipped with Qualcomm's X70 modem chip that promises faster 5G speeds than the X65 in the prior-generation iPhone 14 models, and testing shared by Ookla confirms that download speeds have notably improved.

Using data collected from its online Speedtest for measuring connection speeds, Ookla has been able to determine that the ‌iPhone 15‌ models support download speeds that are up to 54 percent faster than the download speeds available on the ‌iPhone‌ 14 models.

Compared to their equivalent ‌iPhone‌ 14 models, the ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus saw 54 percent faster download speeds, the ‌iPhone 15‌ had 45 percent better download speeds, the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max was 27 percent faster, and the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro had a 25 percent better download speed.

The ‌iPhone 15‌ models had the fastest download speeds out of all the Apple and Samsung devices included on Ookla's results list. Median download speeds on the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max were at 285Mb/s, and the other iPhones weren't far behind.

The ‌iPhone 15‌ had the slowest median download speed out of Apple's lineup at 249Mb/s, but it still came out ahead of Samsung's latest smartphones, including the Galaxy Z Fold5 and the Galaxy Z Flip5.

Note that Ookla's data covers median download speeds across the entire United States, and connectivity could vary depending on location, proximity to a major city, location of the closest cellular tower, carrier, and more. Data shared for the ‌iPhone‌ was collected from September 22 to October 30.

5G download speeds also improved in multiple other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, South Korea, Spain, the UK, and the UAE, with full results available on the Ookla website.

As part of an effort to promote Apple Music on the PlayStation, Apple is offering PlayStation 5 owners up to six months of free access to the ‌Apple Music‌ streaming service.

PlayStation 5 owners will need to sign into the PlayStation Network, download the ‌Apple Music‌ app, and follow the on-screen instructions to accept the offer. Users will need to sign in with an Apple ID or create one.

The PlayStation website suggests that gamers use ‌Apple Music‌ to create a personalized gaming playlist to listen to before, during, and after gameplay sessions.

The ‌Apple Music‌ promotion is only available on the PlayStation 5, and it has to be redeemed on a PlayStation 5 console. Only new and qualified returning subscribers to ‌Apple Music‌ can get free access, so this is not a deal that is available to current subscribers. New subscribers will receive six months of ‌Apple Music‌, while returning subscribers will get five months.

Apple will be offering the deal until 11/15/24. After the six-month period expires, a subscription can be continued for $10.99 per month.