Apple's iPad mini 6 has returned to its all-time low price of $399.99 on Amazon this week. Be sure to make your purchase soon if you're interested as stock is dwindling fast and delivery estimates for Christmas may require you to pay for faster shipping if you don't have Prime.
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The 64GB Wi-Fi iPad mini is on sale at this price in Space Gray, Purple, and Starlight colors, and the sale is a match of the previous all-time low seen on this model during Black Friday. Be sure to check the delivery window before you place your order, especially if you need it to arrive for Christmas Day, as you may need to choose the faster options.
It's been over two years since Apple released the HomePod mini. Beyond new color options, the smart speaker has not been updated since launching in November 2020, but rumors suggest that a new model could be in the pipeline.
Below, we've recapped the latest rumors and expectations for the HomePod mini.
HomePod Mini History
October 2020: Apple announces the HomePod mini during its iPhone 12 event.
November 2020: HomePod mini launches November 16 in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Spain, and the U.K., followed by Mexico and Taiwan on November 24.
December 2020 - November 2021: HomePod mini launches in mainland China, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, and Italy.
March 2021: Apple discontinues the full-sized HomePod.
November 2021: HomePod mini gets three new color options: yellow, orange, and blue.
March 2022: HomePod mini launches in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
HomePod Mini Rumors
New Model
In August 2022, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple was considering launching an updated version of the HomePod mini in the future, but he did not provide a specific timeframe or details about potential new features. He did say the update was unlikely to be "super-impressive," suggesting any changes to the speaker would be minor.
More Countries
Apple is likely to launch the HomePod mini in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden in the foreseeable future based on Siri language support.
In recent software updates, the HomePod mini and full-sized HomePod gained support for Siri in Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish. Danish is still not supported on HomePods, but a report earlier this year indicated that the language was being tested.
Improved Home App
Starting with iOS 16.2, which remains in beta testing, an optional update is available for the Home app on the iPhone. Apple says the update improves the app's performance, efficiency, and reliability for controlling smart home accessories.
To upgrade the Home app, all HomePod speakers associated with the same iCloud account as the iPhone must be updated to HomePod software version 16.2, which also remains in beta testing and is expected to be released alongside iOS 16.2 later this month.
Last week on Cyber Monday, we shared a list of deals including Samsung's popular 32-inch 4K UHD Smart Monitor M8. Today, this monitor has dropped even more on Samsung's website and is available for $399.99, down from $729.99 in select colors.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Specifically, the sale is available in Spring Green, Sunset Pink, and Daylight Blue. Samsung's Smart Monitor M8 has a design very similar to the new 24-inch iMacs, and it uses USB-C charging connectivity and includes AirPlay support.
The M8 houses a 4K UHD flat LCD panel providing 400 nits of brightness, a 60Hz refresh rate, HDR support, and adaptive picture technology that automatically adjust display brightness and color temperature for viewing comfort. The M8 chassis is 11.4mm thin, which is 0.1mm thinner than Apple's iMac, and it includes a flat back, thin bezels, and a height adjustable stand with tilt functionality.
Integrated into the display is Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 wireless connectivity, one micro HDMI port, and two USB-C ports one of which offers 65W of charging output for a phone and notebook. Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.
Accessory brand Hyper today is announcing a new tech backpack with built-in support for Apple's Find My tracking, helping users keep tabs on their possessions in case they are misplaced or stolen. Leveraging expertise gained with Hyper's acquisition by Targus last year, the HyperPack Pro is a feature-rich backpack with a number of organizational features designed to appeal to creative professionals and others who find themselves regularly on the go with their devices.
Hyper was kind enough to send me an early production sample of the HyperPack Pro a few days ahead of the launch, so I've had a bit of time to test out its extensive set of features that goes well beyond the Find My integration. Rather simply taking an existing Targus backpack and adding a Find My module to it, Hyper sought to design a backpack from scratch that will appeal to Apple users with functionality, protection, and design.
The HyperPack Pro features three main compartments: a laptop compartment that fits up to a 16-inch notebook, a catch-all compartment for other items, and a tech organization compartment with lots of small pockets for keeping your chargers, accessories, and other items organized and easily accessible. Additional compartments include a cloth-lined sunglasses pocket and an easy-access front pocket on the exterior face of the backpack, a hidden lumber pocket that rests against your body to provide extra security for valuable items like passports and wallets, an expandable water bottle pocket on one side, and a unique MagSafe Charger-compatible pocket on the other side.
Click for larger
With all of its various compartments and pockets, the HyperPack Pro is designed not only for organization and protection but also to support charging your devices while on the go. Hyper has designed a number of passthroughs and routing loops into the backpack, making it easy to run cable from a battery pack stored in one compartment to your computer, phone, iPad, or other devices stored separately in other compartments.
The side MagSafe pocket includes a mesh interior divider to securely position Apple's MagSafe Charger and a passthrough to let you route the charger's cable to the interior of the backpack where it can be hooked up to a power bank. Once that's set up, you can simply slide your iPhone into the zippered pocket, where it will latch onto the MagSafe Charger and let you top off your device wherever you are. The easily accessible side location of the pocket makes me a little nervous about the potential for theft, but if you're vigilant about maintaining awareness and control of your belongings, it's a convenient charging solution.
Moving on to the Find My functionality, the HyperPack Pro is one of only a few third-party accessories so far to support integration with Apple's item-tracking system. An IPX4 water-resistant module nestled on the top of the backpack provides the Find My functionality, with the prominent location providing optimum placement to allow you to hear the 90db alert beeps it can make if you've misplaced your pack and want to ping it from the Find My app on your Apple device.
As with AirTags and other Find My-enabled products, the HyperPack Pro can alert you via the Find My app if it's been misplaced, forgotten, or stolen and goes out of range, and the Find My network will allow you to track its location. Similar to AirTags, the Find My module in the HyperPack Pro runs on a replaceable CR2032 battery that Hyper says should last about eight months.
Setup of the Find My tracking is simple, requiring a few button presses on the module to get it into pairing mode and then handling everything else via Apple's Find My app. On the Items tab, you can select the option to add a new item, and it will enter a discovery mode where it will find the backpack and pair with it, automatically recognizing it as a backpack. The setup process will suggest a name for it like "Eric's Backpack" and suggest a backpack emoji as the icon to be displayed for it in the Find My app, but both the name and emoji can be customized. At that point, the Find My module in the HyperPack Pro will be linked to your Apple ID and show up in the Find My app alongside other items like AirTags as well as your Apple devices.
The question that immediately leapt to my mind when I learned about the HyperPack Pro was why I would want to use this solution rather than just tossing an AirTag into a backpack I already own. The latter is certainly a viable solution (and a cheaper one), but if you're in the market for a new tech backpack, the HyperPack Pro offers a solid set of features even beyond the Find My functionality. And on the security front, a thief might be less likely to recognize the Find My module in the backpack as a tracker, compared to an AirTag that is immediately recognizable once spotted and can be easily removed and discarded. With Hyper's Find My module built right into the bag, a decent amount of effort is required to remove it or its battery.
The HyperPack Pro is made of 1260D Cordura, so it should stand up to daily wear and tear quite well. Hyper offers a lifetime warranty on the bag itself and a two-year warranty on the Find My module. The laptop pocket is lined with faux fur to cushion your computer and keep it scratch-free, while the pocket is also suspended to help protect against impacts and jostles.
With padded shoulder straps and sternum straps to distribute weight across your chest, the HyperPack Pro offers a comfortable fit even with a good amount of gear in it, and the padded shoulder straps and back panel promote airflow to help keep you cooler. There's also a luggage passthrough on the back panel so you can slide the pack over the handle of a carry-on to pull it along with your luggage or help keep your belongings together while waiting in an airport or elsewhere.
In addition to the Find My support and hidden lumbar pocket in the back panel, the HyperPack Pro includes a few other security-focused features such as an interior RFID-blocking pocket to prevent thieves from skimming your credit cards or other RFID-enabled documents like passports. The laptop compartment also includes interlocking zippers, allowing you to thread one of the zipper pulls through the other one to slow down thieves who might try to unzip the pocket to access your belongings.
As it does for many of its products, Hyper is launching the HyperPack Pro via a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. Despite the sometimes uncertain nature of crowdfunding, Hyper has a long history of fulfilling its campaigns and the product is essentially ready to go. Hyper says the first bags are scheduled to begin shipping from the factory next month with delivery to the first backers coming in February.
Crowdfunding via Indiegogo also provides an easy way for Hyper to reward early backers with steeply discounted pricing. While the the HyperPack Pro will eventually sell for $200, a very limited Super Early Bird Special tier in the Indiegogo campaign is available for $100.
Increasing quantities are available at other tiers with smaller discounts, priced at $120, $140, or $150 depending on how quickly you get your pledge in. Several 2-pack and 3-pack bundles are also available via the campaign, although they don't offer any additional discounts over the single-bag pricing at the various tiers.
At the moment, Hyper is only shipping the HyperPack Pro to the continental United States, but is aiming to add international shipping as soon as possible.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Indiegogo. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Amazon and Best Buy are kicking off the week with a return of the year's best prices on Apple's 14-inch MacBook Pro. Additionally, we're tracking a new all-time low on the high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro at B&H Photo.
14-Inch MacBook Pro
Starting with the 14-inch models, you can get the 512GB 14-inch MacBook Pro from Best Buy for $1,599.00, down from $1,999.00. This deal is available in both colors and Best Buy has both Silver and Space Gray in stock.
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.
For more storage, the 1TB 14-inch MacBook Pro is on sale for $1,999.99 on Amazon, down from $2,499.00. This one is only available in Silver and Amazon has an estimated delivery date of December 15 as of writing.
Both of these deals match the best prices we previously saw on the MacBook Pro during Black Friday. We aren't sure if these will expire and not return before the end of December, so if you're shopping for the holidays, make your purchases soon.
16-Inch MacBook Pro
Lastly, B&H Photo has a rare all-time low price on the 10-core M1 Max 1TB 16-inch MacBook Pro. It's available for $3,049.00, down from $3,499.00 in Space Gray.
Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn expects its main iPhone plant in China to resume full production around late December to early January, following worker unrest last month that disrupted the factory.
"The situation has stabilized," a Foxconn source told Reuters, referring to the protests in Zhengzhou and the government's easing of COVID restrictions.
"The local government is actively helping with the resumption. The capacity is now being gradually resumed with new staff hiring under way. If the recruitment goes smoothly, it could take around three to four weeks to resume full production," the person said.
"At present, the overall epidemic situation has been brought under control with November being the most affected period," the company later said in a statement, adding it has started to recruit new employees and was gradually "restoring production capacity to normal."
The Zhengzhou plant, which employs about 200,000 people, was hit by stringent COVID-19 restrictions last month after an outbreak at the factory, which led the city of about 10 million people to be locked down. Riots soon broke out as workers protested over living standards and a failure to pay promised bonuses, which Foxconn put down to a "technical error" when hiring new recruits.
The Zhengzhou plant is Foxconn's biggest iPhone factory with around 200,000 workers. Foxconn is responsible for assembling around 70% of the iPhones that Apple sells, but it has been struggling to keep employees on site due to the lockdowns, with some reports suggesting output could fall by as much as 30%. Foxconn on Monday reported sales for November were actually down 11.4% from the prior year and said it expects the fourth quarter to be "roughly in line with market consensus."
iPhone 14 Pro models currently face at least a four-week shipping delay on Apple's online store in the U.S. as the company struggles to maintain supply.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
UK-based tech company Nothing plans to launch a smartphone in the US to directly compete with Apple's iPhone, according to a new report out today.
In an interview with CNBC, Nothing CEO Carl Pei said the startup is in "early conversations" with American cellular carriers about launching a new phone in the US, but he stopped short of naming any of the carriers or the phone model.
Nothing in July launched its Phone 1 smartphone in over 40 markets, including the UK, Japan, India, and countries in mainland Europe. At the time, the company said it had no plans for a widespread release of the Phone 1 in the US.
"The reason why we didn't launch in the US is because you need a lot of additional technical support, to support all the carriers and their unique customizations that they need to make on top of Android," Pei explained in an interview with CNBC. "We felt that we weren't ready before."
"Now we are in discussions with some carriers in the US to potentially launch a future product there," said the Chinese-Swedish entrepreneur.
Pei also acknowledged that it won't be easy for his company to compete with Apple on its own turf. "There's a challenge with Android where iOS is just becoming more and more dominant. They have very strong lock-in with iMessage, with AirDrop, especially among Gen Z. So that's a rising concern for me," he said.
"There might be a time where Apple is like 80% of the overall market and that just does not leave enough space for Android-based manufacturers to keep playing," Pei added.
Nothing has sold over 1 million products to date globally, with its Ear (1) earbuds selling 600,000 units and the Phone (1) reaching 500,000 shipments.
The company expects its revenues to jump more than tenfold in 2022 — from about $20 million in 2021 to an estimated $250 million this year, according to figures shared with CNBC. However, the firm is still losing money, which Pei says is partly due to the foreign currency exchange.
"We pay a lot of our COGS [cost of goods sold] in USD but we make money in pounds, in euros, in Indian rupees — so everything devalued against the USD," said Pei. "The goal is to be profitable in 2024."
Update 12/5: "Phone (2) isn't launching anytime soon," Pei said in a tweet, shortly after this article was published. "We're focused on doing a few things well, and won't churn out dozens of products a year like many others." Pei's comments suggest that if the "future product" planned for the US market is the Nothing Phone 2, it won't arrive for a while yet.
In addition to a deal on AirPods Pro 2, today we're also seeing Black Friday prices return for both the 2022 iPad and iPad Air. You'll find all of these sales on Amazon and a few are matched at Best Buy.
iPad (2022)
Starting with Apple's new 10.9-inch iPad, you can get the 64GB Wi-Fi model for $399.00 in all four colors, down from $449.00. This was a sale that became super rare over Black Friday and only B&H Photo had it for a short time.
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.
Every other model of the 2022 iPad is on sale at $50 off as well. You can get the 256GB Wi-Fi iPad for $549.00, the 64GB Cellular iPad is on sale for $549.00, and the 256GB Cellular is on sale for $699.00. Nearly every model has all colors at a discount.
iPad Air (2022)
Moving to the new iPad Air, the 64GB Wi-Fi model has hit $499.99, down from $599.00. This one is available in all five colors except Pink, and it's an all-time low price that's even beating the low prices we saw on Black Friday.
Similar to the iPad, the 2022 iPad Air is also seeing massive discounts across many of its different configurations, all at $99 off. The 256GB Wi-Fi iPad Air is on sale for $649.99 and the 64GB Cellular iPad Air is on sale for $649.99. Only Best Buy has the 256GB Cellular model at $99 off.
Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.
Amazon this weekend has returned with its popular Black Friday price on Apple's AirPods Pro 2, available for $199.99, down from $249.00. As of writing, only Amazon is offering this sale.
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.
The further we get into December, the harder it will be to get AirPods (and all Apple products) in time for Christmas Day delivery. With this in mind, the AirPods Pro 2 today have a December 14-15 delivery date, so if you held off for Black Friday we recommend making your purchases soon.
Mass shipments of Apple's long-rumored AR/VR headset may be delayed until the second half of 2023 due to unspecified "software-related issues," according to the latest information shared today by tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Apple headset render by Ian Zelbo
Kuo said mass shipments of components for the headset are still likely to begin in the first half of 2023, but he believes that mass shipments of fully assembled headsets may not begin until the second half of the year. This delay could result in the headset launching in the second half of 2023, even if Apple announces it earlier in the year.
WWDC 2023 in June would be an opportune time for Apple to announce the headset, along with an SDK for developers to create AR/VR apps for the device.
Kuo previously claimed that Apple planned to unveil the headset at a January media event and begin mass shipments in the second quarter of 2023. Kuo is unsure whether the delay would result in the January announcement being pushed back, but he did note that an overly lengthy period between a media event and mass shipments can hurt sales.
(7/8) The mass shipment schedule of components is still likely 1H23/2Q23, but due to postponed mass shipment schedule of the end product, Apple MR headset shipment forecast in 2023 will likely be less than 500k units, which is lower than the market consensus of 800k-1,200k units.
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) December 4, 2022
Apple's headset is expected to be an expensive, niche product, with Kuo forecasting that the company will ship fewer than 500,000 headsets in 2023.
Apple has "fully resumed" advertising on the Twitter social network, Twitter CEO Elon Musk said today during a two-hour Twitter Spaces chat highlighted by Bloomberg. Musk also confirmed that Apple is Twitter's largest advertiser.
Just five days ago, Musk accused Apple of hating "free speech," "making moderation demands," and ceasing ad spending, causing a slew of press coverage about a potential battle brewing between Apple and Twitter. Musk publicly claimed that Apple had "mostly stopped" offering ads on Twitter and that it had also threatened to "withhold Twitter from its App Store."
Then, two days after making those statements, Musk met with Apple CEO Tim Cook, and ended up reversing course. After the meeting, Musk said that there had actually been a "misunderstanding" about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store, and Cook "was clear that Apple never considered doing so."
Musk said that Cook had shown him around Apple Park and that the two had a "good conversation," which apparently led to Apple resuming its Twitter ads. Apple had not confirmed that it had stopped ad spending on Twitter, nor has it said anything about Musk's comments today. Following the Twitter Space discussion, Musk tweeted to "thank advertisers for returning to Twitter."
Apple is consistently one of Twitter's top advertisers, and the ad spending reportedly exceeds $100 million annually.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, and iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models feature a LiDAR Scanner next to the rear camera that can be used to measure a person's height instantly in Apple's preinstalled Measure app.
To measure a person's height, simply open the Measure app, point your iPhone at the person you want to measure, and make sure they are visible on the screen from head to toe. After a brief moment, a line should appear at the top of the person's head with their height measurement. You can choose to have the measurement displayed in feet-and-inches or in centimeters in the Settings app under Measure → Measure Units.
The app measures a person's height from the floor to the top of their head, hair, or hat. You can even measure the seated height of a person in a chair.
The circular shutter button in the bottom-right corner allows you to take a photo of the person with their height measurement and share it with them.
The feature is not available on iPhones without a LiDAR Scanner.
With Black Friday and Cyber Week shopping events winding down and the calendar flipping over to December, our attention is starting to turn to 2023 and all of the Apple news we're expecting to see.
This week saw an alleged benchmark leak for an "M2 Max" chip expected to make an appearance in upcoming Macs like the MacBook Pro early next year, as well as fresh rumors about the iPhone 15 coming later in the year.
Other news included Apple's annual App Store Awards, the high-profile launch of the Oceanic+ diving app for Apple Watch Ultra, and our look at some of the other things in Apple's pipeline that we're hoping to see in the fairly near future, so read on for all of the details on these stories and more!
The benchmark is likely for a future MacBook Pro. If accurate, the listing indicates the M2 Max chip will have a 12-core CPU option and can be configured with 96GB of RAM, whereas the M1 Max chip has a 10-core CPU and is available with up to 64GB RAM.
Given that Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company's product lineup is "set" for this holiday season, the first Macs with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips are expected to be announced in 2023.
iPhone 15 Said to Feature 'State-of-the-Art' Camera Sensor
The report said the sensor can "capture more light and reduce overexposure or underexposure in certain settings," which should result in improved Night mode photos and other benefits for iPhone 15 cameras.
Man Robbed After Buying 300 iPhones at Apple Fifth Avenue
An unnamed 27-year-old man who purchased 300 iPhones from Apple Fifth Avenue this week was robbed shortly after leaving the store, according to New York radio station 1010 WINS.
The man was reportedly carrying 300 iPhone 13 devices in three bags and walking to his car at 1:45 a.m. when another car pulled up next to him and demanded that he hand over the iPhones, leading to a fight in which one of the bags containing 125 iPhones worth $95,000 was taken.
Apple Announces 2022 App Store Award Winners
Apple this week announced its 2022 App Store Award winners, highlighting the 16 best apps and games selected by Apple's editorial team. Each winner will receive a physical App Store award that is modeled after the design of the App Store logo.
Apple Announces Oceanic+ App Now Available for Apple Watch Ultra
Apple this week announced that the Oceanic+ app is now available for the Apple Watch Ultra. Designed by Huish Outdoors in collaboration with Apple, the app serves as a dive computer for recreational scuba diving at depths of up to 40 meters/130 feet.
Apple already offers a basic Depth app on the Apple Watch Ultra. For experienced scuba divers looking for more advanced data, the Oceanic+ app is a useful tool.
Apple Still Has These 5 Things to Release Heading Into 2023
The calendar has turned to December and that means Apple has only one month left to fulfill its promises of releasing an Apple Music Classical app and expanding its self-service repair program to Europe before the end of 2022. Delays are always possible, of course, so the plans could be pushed back to 2023.
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 filed a patent infringement lawsuit against AliveCor, a company that has developed the ECG "KardiaBand" designed for the Apple Watch, among other ECG-focused products. AliveCor and Apple are already in the midst of a legal battle following an ITC complaint and antitrust lawsuit that AliveCor filed last year
According to Apple, AliveCor's product line has not been successful with customers, and the company's "failures in the market" have led it to "opportunistic assertions of its patents against Apple." Earlier this year, AliveCor submitted an International Trade Commission complaint against Apple in an attempt to get an import ban on the Apple Watch, and the judge ruled in AliveCor's favor.
Apple says that while it is appealing the ruling, it is using this new patent infringement filing to "set the record straight as to who is the real pioneer," putting a stop to AliveCor's "rampant infringement that unlawfully appropriates Apple's intellectual property." From the filing:
Apple is the pioneering innovator, having researched, developed, and patented core, foundational technologies before AliveCor came into existence. AliveCor's litigation campaign is nothing more than an attempt to siphon from the success of Apple technologies it did not invent, all the while selling products that rely on foundational ECG innovations that Apple patented years before AliveCor came to be.
The complaint cites several Apple patents related to the heart rate and ECG functionality in the Apple Watch, which Apple says AliveCor's KardiaMobile, KardiaMobile Card, and Kardia app infringe on.
Apple claims that AliveCor's patent infringements are causing Apple irreparable harm, with Apple aiming for a permanent injunction to stop further infringement, as well as damages and legal fees.
AliveCor first filed an antitrust suit against Apple back in May 2021, accusing Apple of "monopolistic conduct" for the launch of the ECG functionality in the Apple Watch. AliveCor claims that Apple saw the success of its KardiaBand and decided to "corner the market for heart rate analysis on Apple Watch."
The company has also filed patent infringement lawsuits accusing Apple of coping AliveCor's cardiological detection and analysis technology.
Apple's full complaint against AliveCor can be read on Scribd.
Apple in late October began testing iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 updates, providing betas to both developers and public beta testers. As of now, we've had four total betas, with the fourth beta having been released earlier this week. iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 are expected before the end of the year, and we thought we'd try to narrow down the launch timeline.
With only four betas released since October, iOS 16.2 still has some testing time remaining before we can expect a release. At the very least, we'll have a release candidate before iOS 16.2 is launched, but there is a possibility we'll also see another beta too.
We typically see five or more betas before a release candidate, but timelines get crunched during the holiday season. Last year, Apple seeded just four betas of iOS 15.2 before the RC and subsequent launch, so we could see something similar this year. If that's the plan, Apple could provide us with the release candidate version of iOS 16.2 next week, likely on Tuesday, December 6.
With that in mind, we could see an iOS 16.2 launch the week of December 12. The week of December 19 is also a possibility if there are more betas on the horizon, but that's during Hanukkah and close to Christmas. Last year's iOS 15.2 launch happened on Monday, December 13, after Apple provided the fourth beta on December 2 and the RC on December 7.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said we can expect iOS 16.2 in mid-December, which would line up with the week of December 12 estimate. Apple has confirmed that some of the features in the update, such as the Freeform app, are indeed coming before the end of the year. Apple is expected to introduce Emergency SOS via Satellite in the UK on December 13, which could when the iOS 16.2 update will come out.
We can even expect to see initial betas of iOS 16.3 before December ends.
Most Notable Features
iOS 16.2 is a major update that adds a number of notable new features to the iPhone and the iPad, with the biggest changes outlined below.
Freeform App - Freeform is a cross-platform open-ended whiteboard app that can be used for jotting down notes, sketching, drawing, saving links, and more, with built-in collaboration features. It is available in the latest iPhone, iPad, and Mac betas.
Stage Manager External Display Support iPad owners who have an M1 or M2 iPad can once again use Stage Manager with external displays. Up to eight apps can be used for multitasking purposes, and there's a useful new option for dragging a window from an iPad to an external display and vice versa. While older iPads can use Stage Manager, external display support is limited to Apple silicon models.
New Home App Architecture - The iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, and macOS Ventura 13.1 updates add support for an updated Home app architecture that Apple is introducing following the debut of Matter. The new app architecture will provide faster, more reliable performance in homes with many smart accessories, but it does require that your entire suite of devices be updated to the latest software.
Always On Display Updates - For iPhone 14 Pro models, there are two new toggles for disabling wallpaper and notifications when the always on display feature is activated. This cuts down on what's shown on the screen when it is off for fewer distractions.
Lock Screen Sleep Widget - The Lock Screen has gained a Sleep widget for those who use the sleep functionality on the Apple Watch.
Lock Screen Medication Widget - There's also a Medication widget that lets you know when you need to take a medication.
News in the Weather App - When there's relevant weather-related news in your area, such as information about a hurricane or a fire, you will see news headlines in the Weather app.
5G in India - iOS 16.2 will bring 5G connectivity to India.
"To enable new ways to use Daily Cash like the upcoming Savings account feature, we are updating the Daily Cash Program section of your Apple Card Customer Agreement," reads an email sent to Apple Card holders this week.
In October, Apple announced that Apple Card users would soon be able to open a new high-yield savings account from Goldman Sachs and have their Daily Cash cashback rewards automatically deposited into it, with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements. The account will be managed through the Wallet app on the iPhone.
The savings account was listed in the release notes for the iOS 16.1 Release Candidate, but it did not end up launching with that update. The savings account has not been present in any iOS 16.2 betas, so it's unclear when it will become available, but Goldman Sachs evidently continues to lay the groundwork for the feature's launch.
Once the account is set up, all Daily Cash received from that point on will be automatically deposited into it and start earning interest, unless a user opts to continue having Daily Cash added to their Apple Cash balance. Apple Card provides 2-3% Daily Cash on purchases made with Apple Pay and 1% on purchases made with the physical card.
Launched in 2019, Apple's credit card remains exclusive to the United States. Customers who sign up for an Apple Card and use it to purchase Apple products through December 25 will receive 5% Daily Cash as part of a limited-time promotion.
Google is continuing on with its attempt to convince Apple to adopt the RCS messaging standard, publishing a new "it's time for RCS" blog post. Promoted heavily by Google, RCS or Rich Communication Services is a messaging standard that is designed to replace the current SMS messaging standard.
It provides support for higher resolution photos and videos, audio messages, and bigger file sizes, plus it adds improved encryption, cross-platform emoji reactions, and more reliable group chats across different devices. Google has been pushing Apple to adopt RCS for well over a year now, but so far, Apple is not budging.
Google's new blog post points out that this week marks the 30th anniversary of the SMS messaging standard, as the first SMS message was sent on December 3, 1992. Google argues that it's time for an update, calling out Apple for "dragging its heels."
Google points out that with RCS, cross-platform end-to-end encrypted messaging would be available. Features like real-time typing indicators, read receipts, higher-quality photos and videos, and more control over group chats would be standard on both iPhones and Android phones.
All major mobile carriers and manufacturers have implemented RCS support, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Motorola, Nokia, OnePlus, Samsung, Sony, and others. Apple continues to be the lone holdout, and the company has so far hardly acknowledged Google's attempts to push RCS adoption.
There is no word on if Apple has considered supporting RCS, nor when such support might be implemented. In a September interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that it is not a priority. "I don't hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy in on that at this point," said Cook.
Cook further suggested an iPhone upgrade to a reporter who mentioned having trouble texting photos to his mother who uses an Android phone. "Buy your mom an iPhone," he said.
Google has gone as far as publishing an entire "Get the Message" website on RCS and Apple's lack of adoption for the feature, encouraging Apple customers to ask Apple to "fix what's broken" by switching from SMS to RCS. Google has also published anti-Apple ads promoting RCS, but nothing so far has caught Apple's attention.
Apple today in collaboration with artist Zedd announced that a new Remix Session of Zedd's hit dance song "Clarity" is now available in GarageBand.
iPhone and iPad users can now open the GarageBand app and remix "Clarity" with guided instruction from Zedd. The free Remix Session can be downloaded in GarageBand's Sound Library, and Zedd has shared a companion video on YouTube with tips on how to remix the song in a couple of minutes using the app's Live Loops interface.
Live Loops allows GarageBand users to explore all the isolated parts of the Grammy award-winning song, such as vocals, beats, synths, and quickly rearrange and add new elements to the song, with no musical experience required.
"Clarity" is also available in Spatial Audio on Apple Music starting today following the 10-year anniversary of the song's release last month.
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