MacRumors

Repair site iFixit today tore apart the second-generation HomePod that Apple began selling last week, sharing a video teardown of the device and testing its repairability.

The ‌HomePod‌ 2 looks very similar to the original ‌HomePod‌, but Apple has given it a more repairable design that uses less adhesive. With the original ‌HomePod‌, iFixit had to resort to special cutting tools, but the new version does not have as much glue and it is easier to open it up.

There are no major surprises inside the ‌HomePod‌, with iFixit locating the S7 processor, LEDs that show through the display at the top, a large internal woofer, amplifier board, heat sink, power supply, and five tweeters.

The look at the woofer is interesting because iFixit is able to demonstrate just how much it's moving even when the volume isn't maxed out. With all of the audio components removed, the humidity and temperature sensor is visible at the bottom of the ‌HomePod‌. It is the exact same sensor that's in the HomePod mini.

Overall, iFixit said that the ‌HomePod‌ 2 was surprisingly easy to dismantle simply because Apple removed all of the excess adhesive. Those who want to repair their own HomePods should be able to do so.

Apple's App Store policies may be violating Japanese antitrust law, according to a new report from the Japan Fair Trade Commission (FTC) that was shared by Nikkei. Japanese regulators do not believe there is enough "competitive pressure" on Apple and Google as the two companies have a duopoly in mobile operating systems and dominate the app market.

Japanese regulators want Apple and Google to allow users to choose third-party payment methods for apps and services, rather than forcing them to use the built-in purchase options in the ‌App Store‌ and Play Store. Google allows for third-party payment options for apps as of 2022, as does Apple in a very limited number of countries that have passed legislation calling for alternate payments.

The FTC suggested that app store commission rates between 15 and 30 percent could be an abuse of a dominant bargaining position. Apple in response said that a commission-based model was the best way to encourage development, while Google said that most developers are charged rates of 15 percent or less.

The two companies were also accused of manipulating search rankings to favor their own apps over competitors, which they denied.

The Japan FTC is calling for further regulation to suppress anti-competitive behavior, and said that it plans to work with the government council on digital competition on new laws. FTC head Ryota Inaba told Nikkei that the group will "respond strictly to any behavior found to violate antitrust law."

Today's report suggests that Japan could force Apple into accepting third-party payment options, something that it already does in South Korea after the country passed a law banning app store operators from forcing developers to use their billing systems. Apple has a similar allowance for dating apps in the Netherlands, allowing them to accept alternative payment methods after a dispute with the country's Authority for Consumers and Markets.

In Europe, Apple is gearing up to accommodate the Digital Markets Act, which will require it to allow apps to be downloaded on the iPhone using sideloading or alternate app stores, functionality expected as soon as iOS 17.

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.

Apple's original HomePod became available to customers five years ago today. Over the years, the smart speaker faced several setbacks, including a delayed launch, poor reviews of Siri, reports of lackluster sales, and even a temporary discontinuation.

Apple first announced the HomePod at WWDC 2017 and planned to release the speaker in December of that year. However, the HomePod was ultimately delayed and ended up launching February 9, 2018, but only in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. Availability expanded to additional countries later that year, but the rollout was slow.

"HomePod is a magical new music experience from Apple," said Apple's former marketing chief Phil Schiller, in a February 2018 press release about the launch. "It brings advanced audio technologies like beam-forming tweeters, a high-excursion woofer and automatic spatial awareness, together with the entire Apple Music catalog and the latest Siri intelligence, in a simple, beautiful design that is so much fun to use."

The original HomePod received rave reviews for its sound quality, but opinions about Siri were far less favorable, as Apple's voice assistant had several shortcomings at the time. On the HomePod, Siri could not set multiple timers, lacked multi-user support, could not directly make and receive phone calls, could not answer as many questions as Amazon's Alexa or Google's Assistant, and had other limitations. Apple added many of these features to the HomePod with software updates over the following months and years.

While the HomePod's feature set gradually improved, multiple reports indicated that the speaker had lackluster sales and limited market share. Apple gave the HomePod a very rare price cut from $349 to $299 in April 2019 in an attempt to spur sales, but the device never became a runaway success and Apple ultimately discontinued it in March 2021 to focus its attention on the smaller HomePod mini that had launched four months earlier.

"HomePod mini has been a hit since its debut last fall, offering customers amazing sound, an intelligent assistant, and smart home control all for just $99," Apple explained at the time. "We are focusing our efforts on HomePod mini."

After the HomePod was discontinued, a niche market emerged for the speaker that resulted in the device fetching high resale prices on eBay.

Last month, Apple reversed course by introducing the second-generation HomePod with a virtually identical design as the original. The new HomePod has a larger backlit touch surface, five tweeters instead of seven, four microphones instead of six, an S7 chip instead of an A8 chip, a U1 chip for handing off music from an iPhone, and a new temperature and humidity sensor. The speaker launched last week and remains priced at $299.

Apple said it had "heard more interest than ever for the acoustics of a richer larger speaker," leading to the HomePod's return. Many reviewers said the new HomePod sounds largely the same as the original, and Siri has improved over the years, but it remains to be seen if the speaker will be any more successful than its predecessor.

Apple Music is the official sponsor of the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show taking place this Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Rihanna will be the headline singer at the show, and Apple is heavily promoting her upcoming performance.

At 9 a.m. Pacific Time, Apple Music Radio's Nadeska Alexis will interview Rihanna. A live stream is available in the Apple Music app.

Apple has also shared an iPhone wallpaper and Apple Watch face with Rihanna that can be downloaded in the Shazam app on a screen that pops up or by searching for Rihanna and tapping her concert page, but it is not appearing for all users. There are also new #AppleMusic and #AppleMusicHalftime hashflags with a pink Apple logo on Twitter.

Apple shared more ways that Rihanna fans can experience and celebrate her performance across Apple Music in a press release last month.

The Super Bowl kicks off at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday.

(Thanks, Chris Weaver!)

Verizon today has Apple's HomePod mini for $84.99 in all five colors, down from $99.99. As with all Verizon discounts, you don't need to be a Verizon Wireless customer to get this sale, and the retailer is offering free two day shipping.

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.

At $15 off, this is the best price we've seen on the HomePod mini so far in 2023. Overall, it's a second-best price on the smart speaker, following a discount to $79.99 from various retailers back in November.

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup. We track the best deals on HomePod every week too, so be sure to bookmark our guide if you're on the hunt for solid HomePod discounts.

Apple's senior director of iPhone product design Richard Dinh recently spoke with The Sydney Morning Herald's Tim Biggs about the design of the standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, including internal changes that simplify repairs.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are equipped with a removable back glass panel for easier repairs, making them the first models that can be opened from both the front and back sides of the device since the iPhone 4S. The change does not extend to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, which can still only be opened from the front side.

This new structural design with a central aluminum frame "helps to dissipate more heat across the entire surface more consistently," and the ability to access the logic board from either side of the device results in "improved repairability," according to Dinh.

iFixit's Kyle Wiens last year said the iPhone 14 represents "the most substantial iPhone redesign" since the iPhone X given the increased repairability. He added that the changes are "such a big deal that it should have been Apple's big announcement—the iPhone has been redesigned from the inside out to make it easier to repair."

Dinh also touched on Apple's approach to designing the standard iPhone models, noting that the company does not have any strict formula.

"We don't always follow a recipe, as much as maybe our customers would like to predict what we're going to go do next, but it always starts with the customer experience," he said, adding that "sometimes we do draw from the Pros because they're just incredible" and "sometimes we go do something different."

Popular old-school BitTorrent client Transmission is today celebrating its fourth major release, with a huge list of changes accompanying the update, including native Apple silicon support.

With Transmission 4, the client is no longer an Intel app that runs on Macs with M1 or M2 chips via Rosetta. It's now a universal binary, so it now runs natively on all Macs.

There are some UI design changes to match the latest version of macOS, and the developers have modernized the code by migrating from C90 to modern C++. Resource efficiency has also been improved, so the app now uses less memory and fewer CPU cycles.

New feature highlights include support for using BitTorrent v2 torrents and hybrid torrents, users can now set "default" trackers that can be used to announce all public torrents, and an option to omit potentially-identifying information (e.g. User-Agent and date created) when creating new torrents has been added.

Elsewhere, newly added seeds can now start immediately and verify pieces on demand, instead of needing a full verify before seeding can begin, and the web client has been rewritten to support mobile use. When creating new torrents, users can also now specify the piece size, and IPv6 blocklists are now supported.

"Transmission on macOS is a truly native and polished experience," reads the client's website. "This isn't some cross-platform app that treats macOS as an afterthought. With a sleek and simple interface, Transmission meets or exceeds Apple UI standards while using native features.

Transmission has one of the lowest memory and resource footprints of any major BitTorrent client. Its light overhead is one reason why it is so well suited for home NAS and media servers. Having been used by Western Digital, Zyxel and Belkin, Transmission gives truly impressive performance on almost any compatible hardware."

According to the developers, the open source, volunteer-based project is much more responsive to bug reports and code submissions than it has been in the past, with over 350 new community commits contributing to the release of Transmission 4.

Transmission 4 is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux, and can be downloaded for free from the Transmission website.

iPhone 14 Pro models feature a telephoto camera lens with 3x optical zoom, allowing users to take close-up photos of far-away objects without compromising quality.

Such telephoto features are limited to Apple's Pro models, but thanks the latest update to popular third-party camera app Halide, users with non-Pro iPhones can now also get in on the action.

Halide 2.11 comes with a new feature called Neural Telephoto, which adds virtual lenses to the app's interface that enhance details in shots by applying the same machine-learning that powers Halide's macro mode.

Normally, when you use digital zoom to enlarge an image area, the number of megapixels decrease, which lowers the quality of the image, resulting in blurry, jagged shots with visible pixels.

Neural Telephoto takes these shots and enhances them with its machine-learning system, providing much better results at a virtual 2x zoom, according to the app's developers.

Neural Telephoto shots are zoomed and enhanced using machine learning in HEIC and JPEG, but the feature also captures unedited, non-zoomed full RAW files. By default, Halide shoots in RAW and JPEG mode, which provides users with an unaltered RAW file along with a zoomed and enhanced JPEG file.

The feature is available now as a free update for all existing users. For new users, the Halide app is priced at $2.99 per month or $11.99 per year, or $49.99 as a one-time purchase.

Google today announced that its Maps app will support Live Activities in the coming months, providing iPhone users with access to turn-by-turn directions on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Live Activities integration will allow users to receive real-time ETAs and directions for driving, biking, walking, public transit, and other forms of navigation via Google Maps, without having to unlock their iPhone and open the app.

Introduced with iOS 16, Live Activities are essentially live notifications on the Lock Screen that make it easier to stay on top of real-time events, such as a sports game or a food delivery order. Live Activities also integrate with the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models, providing at-a-glance information at the top of the screen. Users can long press the Dynamic Island to open an expanded view with additional information.

Apple Maps has supported Live Activities since iOS 16 was released, while third-party apps have been able to support the feature since iOS 16.1.

Google has yet to share a screenshot showing what its Live Activity will look like.

Apple is hiring Carol Surface as its new chief people officer, with Surface set to report directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook, reports Bloomberg. Apple head of retail Deirdre O'Brien had been handling the "people" role, but Apple has now made a dedicated hire and has removed the duties from O'Brien.

While O'Brien will continue to be Apple's retail chief, Surface will lead the People team, which is known as Human Resources at most companies. That team at Apple is designed to help Apple connect with and care for its employees, handling talent development, recruiting, employee relations, benefits, compensation, inclusion and diversity, Apple University, and more.

Apple is hiring Surface from Medtronic, where she currently serves as Chief Human Resources Officer. She has been with Medtronic for over nine years, and also worked at Best Buy and Pepsi. Surface is set to start at Apple in March.

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.

Netflix today announced an expansion of its crackdown on password sharing, with the streaming service putting a stop to multi-household account use in Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal.

In these countries, people who share an account with those who do not live with them will need to pay for an "extra member." Prices are as follows:

• Canada - $7.99 CAD
• New Zealand - $7.99 NZD
• Portugal - 3.99 euros
• Spain - 5.99 euros

Prices are per person, with up to two additional people able to be added to an existing Netflix Standard or Premium plan. The extra price will provide each person with a profile, personalized recommendations, login, and password. Alternatively, people who share a Netflix account with someone outside of their household at the current time can transfer a profile to a separate paid Netflix account.

Netflix will require customers to set up a primary location, ensuring that anyone who lives in the household can use the Netflix account. Netflix says it will still be possible for subscribers to watch content while traveling, however. The Netflix website has little information on how travel works, and Netflix did not provide details when requested. Part of the process of blocking account sharing requires users to set a Primary Location, and in Canada, Netflix says that for people who have second homes or travel frequently to another location, the Netflix app must be opened on a mobile device while connected to the Wi-Fi network at the Primary Location once per month.

For members with second homes or who travel frequently, open the Netflix app on your mobile device(s) while connected to the Wi-Fi network at your primary location once a month and then when you arrive at the second location.

This suggests Netflix will require monthly checkins at a Primary Location for the streaming service to be accessible if you are not at home.

According to Netflix, more than 100 million households are sharing accounts, which impacts its "ability to invest in great new TV and films." The company says that a Netflix account is "intended for one household," a rule that the company first started enforcing last year.

Netflix has already been testing restrictions for multi-household account access in several countries in Latin America, and it said in a Q4 earnings results release that it plans to enforce rules against password sharing more broadly in 2023.

Password sharing rules will be enforced through IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity. So far, Netflix has not made any announcements in the United States, but the company is well aware that it will not be a "universally popular move," as it said it is anticipating "a bit of a cancel reaction" as the crackdown continues. Given that pricing for an additional person is $7.99 in New Zealand and Canada, Netflix could eventually implement a similar add-on price in the United States.

While the Netflix terms of service have never explicitly allowed for multi-household password sharing, Netflix looked the other way for so long that implementing fees for offering account access to friends and family is likely to upset some subscribers.

Netflix's plan pricing also doesn't help, as subscribers pay for watching on multiple devices. With the Premium plan, for example, Netflix provides Ultra HD 4K streaming and support for watching on four devices simultaneously, now with the caveat that everyone watching has to be in the same home.

iOS 16.3 appears to be impacting the iCloud Backup feature for some people who have upgraded to the new software, based on complaints on the MacRumors forums and the Apple Support communities.

Impacted users have seen automatic ‌iCloud‌ Backup disabled, and attempting to turn on automatic backups results in the following message: "An unknown error occurred. Please try again later." With the error message, the "Back Up This iPhone" toggle under Settings > Apple ID > ‌iCloud‌ remains deactivated.

‌iPhone‌ owners who are experiencing this problem seem to still be able to manually activate an ‌iCloud‌ backup, but an iOS 16.3 bug appears to be preventing the setting from functioning as expected.

Some users were able to fix the problem by turning on two-factor authentication, leading to speculation that Apple is attempting to force people into using the extra authentication layer, but that does not seem to be the case. Two-factor authentication has not solved the problem for all users, and some people with two-factor authentication initially enabled have also had the same error. From one impacted user on the Apple Support Communities:

Same problem for me - iOS 16.3 on an iPhone and iPad - 2factor is turned on and have tried logging out and in of Apple ID and rebooting.

MacRumors reader GBstoic also complained that ‌iCloud‌ backup was not initially working after installing iOS 16.3, but that two devices were ultimately able to automatically backup even with the backup toggle turned off and no two-factor authentication enabled, suggesting an underlying error.

Two of my iOS 16.3 devices automatically backed up to iCloud when being charged today. This is despite the back up to iCloud option being turned off and me being unable to turn it on. Not sure that 2FA is the problem after all.

Multiple reports have indicated that some devices are continuing to back up even with the error message, but that is not the case for all users, so there could be multiple issues that are impacting ‌iCloud‌. While most reports are from ‌iPhone‌ owners, this is also a problem that is affecting the iPad as well, and all of the devices that are experiencing issues are running iOS 16.3 and iPadOS 16.3.

Despite speculation that Apple is attempting to force people into using two-factor authentication, there does not appear to be actual evidence that this is the case. The error message is vaguely worded, and if Apple was requiring two-factor authentication for ‌iCloud‌ Backup functionality, there would likely be a much more specific message providing an explanation.

It appears that this is an iOS 16.3 bug that will be addressed in a future update. For now, those impacted can do manual backups to keep their data safe.

Apple is working on an iOS 16.3.1 update that could include a fix for the ‌iCloud‌ issues, but there is no word yet on when that software update might be released.

Insurance provider UnitedHealthcare today announced the launch of UnitedHealthcare Rewards, a program that allows members to use their Apple Watches or iPhones to earn up to $1,000 per year by completing different health goals and activities.

UnitedHealthcare says that eligible members are able to earn rewards by using a smart watch, smartphone, or activity tracker, with the rewards able to be added to a prepaid debit card or deposited into a health savings account. Rewards can be earned by completing the following tasks:

• Achieve 5,000 steps or more each day.
• Complete 15 minutes or more of activity per day.
• Track sleep for 14 nights.
• Get a biometric screening.
• Complete a health survey.
• Select paperless billing.

Some of the payouts include $3.50 per week for walking 5000 steps a day, $10 for tracking 14 days of sleep, $7 a week for 30 active minutes of fitness each day, and $25 for completing a health survey.

Additional activities will be added to the rewards program throughout the year. UnitedHealthcare Rewards is available to select employers with fully insured plans at the start of their new plan year, and additional employers will gain access later in 2023. The program can be accessed through the UnitedHealthcare app or through the UnitedHealthcare website.

Today we're tracking a pair of sitewide sales that you can find on ZAGG and Nomad, offering up to 65 percent off popular accessories like wireless chargers, iPhone cases, MagSafe-compatible car vent mounts, and much more.

ZAGG

At ZAGG, you can get 30 percent off your entire cart when you purchase two or more products. This excludes already-discounted items, and the sale prices for all products will be automatically applied in your cart.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Under this sale, you can save across Mophie's brand of popular charging accessories. This includes its best wireless chargers, portable chargers, and wall chargers. Remember that you'll need to buy at least two items to see any discounts.

Nomad

Nomad has a few new items in its ongoing outlet sale today, including wireless chargers, AirTag loops, MagSafe-compatible accessories, AirPods cases, and more. All items sold in the outlet sale are final sale.

In total, you'll find Apple-related accessories at up to 65 percent off in this outlet sale. No coupon codes are required as all discounts have been automatically applied.

• AirPods Rugged Case - $9.95, down from $29.95
• AirTag Leather Loop - $9.95, down from $14.95
• iPhone 13 Sport Case - $29.95, down from $39.95
• AirPods Pro Modern Leather Case - $33.95, down from $39.95
• MagSafe Mount - $41.95, down from $59.95
• Base Station - $69.95, down from $99.95
• Base Station Apple Watch Edition - $90.95, down from $129.95

Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

Apple plans to release so-called "Apple Watch Series X" and third-generation Apple Watch SE models with larger displays in 2024, according to research shared last week by David Hsieh, an analyst at technology research firm Omdia.

In his research note, Hsieh claimed that the Series X will have 1.89-inch and 2.04-inch display size options, which would be 5% to 10% larger than the Apple Watch Series 8 depending on the case size. These measurements apply to the rectangular display panel, but since the Apple Watch has rounded bezels, the actual viewable area is less.

"Apple Watch Series X" would be similar branding as the iPhone X, but the name is not confirmed. Hsieh is likely using the "Series X" name as a placeholder based on the fact that the model is expected to be the 10th-generation Apple Watch. The original Apple Watch was introduced in September 2014 and released in April 2015.

As for the third-generation Apple Watch SE, Hsieh expects the device to have the same display sizes as the Apple Watch Series 8. If the new Apple Watch SE adopts the same slimmer bezels as the Series 8, this means it would be available in 41mm and 45mm case sizes, compared to 40mm and 44mm for the current Apple Watch SE. He also expects this year's Apple Watch Series 9 to retain the same display sizes as the Series 8.

In line with analysts Ross Young and Jeff Pu, Hsieh believes the next-generation Apple Watch Ultra will feature a larger 2.13-inch display when measured as a rectangle. The current Apple Watch Ultra's display measures 1.99 inches rectangularly.

Hardware prototyping consultant Ken Pillonel has sought to address some of the AirPods Pro's repairability issues with a 3D-printed replacement casing and switching the Lightning charging port for a USB-C port.

In his latest video, Pillonel highlighted that the ‌AirPods Pro‌ are not designed to be serviced or repaired since their charging case is not openable without damage to the device, effectively making them a disposable item. Repair specialists at iFixit gave Apple's first- and second-generation AirPods, as well the ‌AirPods Pro‌, a repairability score of zero out of 10 because of this. Pillonel found that the ‌AirPods Pro‌'s charging case is easier to open than that of the standard AirPods, even if this is still not guaranteed without damage.

After developing a similar solution for the first- and second-generation AirPods, Pillonel sought to create a solution to give new life to unopenable ‌AirPods Pro‌ charging cases, which currently face inevitable obsolescence due to their three built-in batteries. Pillonel created a downloadable 3D-printed replacement casing (available on GitHub) to allow technicians to purposefully break open the existing case to gain access to the internals and make repairs.

Replacement batteries are available to buy online, but replacement Lightning ports cannot be purchased. This means that Lightning ports cannot be replaced when they break unless they are obtained from other AirPods charging cases, which is not always an option for technicians. To remedy this, Pillonel is now offering a ready-to-install replacement USB-C port with an integrated circuit for the ‌AirPods Pro‌.

As a standard port, USB-C on the ‌AirPods Pro‌ increases the possibility of long-term repairability, Pillonel has suggested. Pillonel is also responsible for similar modifications that added a USB-C port to the iPhone and a Lightning port to a Samsung Galaxy A51.

EU legislation will force Apple to switch new AirPods models to USB-C from late 2024 and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple could make the change sometime after releasing the first iPhone models with a USB-C port this year. Apple launched the Self Service Repair program last year as part of an effort to address some of the criticisms around the repairability of its devices, but questions remain around the sustainability of devices like AirPods.

Apple in its upcoming iOS 16.4 update will re-introduce the revamped HomeKit architecture it originally pulled in December due to widespread issues, MacRumors can confirm.

Backend code indicates that Apple is ready to re-introduce the updated Home architecture that was released with the iOS 16.2 update, only to be pulled a week after launch because of bugs and installation issues.

At the time, Apple said the removal was temporary and that the upgrade option would "return soon," but new code references discovered by Nicolás Álvarez (@nicolas09F9) indicate that the architecture will indeed return with the release of iOS 16.4, beginning with the first beta that could arrive as soon as this week.

Apple says that the update improves the reliability and efficiency of communication between smart home accessories and Apple devices, and it is something that Apple has been working on since iOS 16 was announced at WWDC in June 2022.

When the Home architecture was first released, it caused some ‌‌HomeKit‌‌ devices to disappear from ‌‌HomeKit‌‌ setups or to become stuck with a "configuring/updating" status. It also resulted in invitations to share the Home with others failing, and it broke ‌‌HomeKit‌‌ Secure video recording for some users.