MacRumors

Porsche today announced that Taycan models in the United States are adopting Apple Maps EV routing in CarPlay, a feature that will direct Taycan owners to nearby electric vehicle charging facilities.

The Apple Maps EV Routing option will allow Taycan users to plan travel routes that include stops for charging. Prior to now, Taycan owners had to exit out of ‌CarPlay‌ in order to create a route that included charging stops.

Taycan vehicles include the Porsche Charging Planner, designed to optimize stops based on the anticipated state of charge upon arrival to a destination, traffic conditions, and average speed, but ‌Apple Maps‌ EV Routing is now available as an alternative for those who use ‌CarPlay‌.

‌Apple Maps‌ EV Routing uses real-time vehicle information to help customers get to their destination, with charging stops recommended when necessary. ‌Apple Maps‌ analyzes elevation changes along a route and other factors to determine when to suggest a charging stop, and if the vehicle's battery gets too low, it will provide a route to the nearest compatible charging station.

Porsche says that ‌Apple Maps‌ EV routing is available to U.S.-based Taycan owners who have installed the latest My Porsche app on their iPhones.

PepsiCo is teaming up with Apple to offer Pepsi drinkers free Apple Music access this summer. As noted by AdAge, Pepsi today launched its "Press Play on Summer Campaign."

The ad blitz will see Pepsi offering 400 million 20-ounce bottles of Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar, Pepsi Mango, Pepsi Wild Cherry, Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Major Melon, Mountain Dew Spark, Mountain Dew Voltage, Starry, and Starry Zero Sugar with ‌Apple Music‌ QR codes. The codes, which are available starting today, will provide free three-month ‌Apple Music‌ memberships to new customers, trips to Apple music live events, and Beats headphones.

Pepsi plans to advertise the promotion throughout the summer months, starting with an ad featuring Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny was Apple's 2022 Artist of the Year, and the "Un Verano Sin Ti" album was ‌Apple Music‌'s most streamed album in 2022.

Ads for the free ‌Apple Music‌ codes will be on TV, social networks, and other locations such as gas stations and convenience stores.

"We at Pepsi couldn't be more excited to kick off this historic partnership with Apple Music and Bad Bunny. Both Pepsi and Apple Music have such storied histories in the music space delivering first-of-its-kind experiences for our fans over the years, so it is only fitting that we join forces to create 'Press Play On Summer'," said Todd Kaplan, Chief Marketing Officer - Pepsi. "Bad Bunny is one of the biggest artists on the planet and we are thrilled to welcome him into the Pepsi family! We are excited to give fans unprecedented access to a host of music experiences and Bad Bunny's catalogue all summer long."

Pepsi and Apple first teamed up in 2003, with Pepsi offering 100 million song downloads from the iTunes Store.

Apple this week previewed new iPhone, iPad, and Mac accessibility features coming later this year. One feature that has received a lot of attention in particular is Personal Voice, which will allow those at risk of losing their ability to speak to "create a voice that sounds like them" for communicating with family, friends, and others.

Those with an iPhone, iPad, or newer Mac will be able to create a Personal Voice by reading a randomized set of text prompts aloud until 15 minutes of audio has been recorded on the device. Apple said the feature will be available in English only at launch, and uses on-device machine learning to ensure privacy and security.

Personal Voice will be integrated with another new accessibility feature called Live Speech, which will let iPhone, iPad, and Mac users type what they want to say to have it be spoken out loud during phone calls, FaceTime calls, and in-person conversations.

Apple said Personal Voice is designed for users at risk of losing their ability to speak, such as those with a recent diagnosis of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) or other conditions that can progressively impact speaking ability. Like other accessibility features, however, Personal Voice will be available to all users. The feature will likely be added to the iPhone with iOS 17, which should be unveiled next month and released in September.

"At the end of the day, the most important thing is being able to communicate with friends and family," said Philip Green, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2018 and is a member of the ALS advocacy organization Team Gleason. "If you can tell them you love them, in a voice that sounds like you, it makes all the difference in the world — and being able to create your synthetic voice on your iPhone in just 15 minutes is extraordinary."

All four iPhone 15 models launching later this year are expected to feature a USB-C port instead of Lightning. This change means the iPhone will support a more universal charging standard, benefit from faster data transfer speeds, and more.

Below, we have recapped rumors about the iPhone switching to USB-C, including potential speed differences, other Apple accessories adopting USB-C, and more.

Speed Differences

While all iPhone 15 models are expected to have a USB-C port, only the Pro models will support at least USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt 3 for faster data transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps, according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He expects the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus to remain limited to USB 2.0 speeds of up to 480 Mbps like Lightning.

iPad Pros gained Thunderbolt 3 support in 2021, while the USB-C port on the latest iPad Air is capable of up to 10 Gbps transfer speeds.

Made for iPhone Optimizations

Apple plans to optimize the fast-charging performance of chargers certified under its "Made for iPhone" program on iPhone 15 models, according to Kuo. Uncertified cables will allegedly have limited charging and data transfer speeds. It's worth noting that Apple does not limit uncertified cables for iPads with USB-C ports, so this would be a different approach with the iPhone if this rumor proves to be accurate.

Apple Accessories Moving to USB-C

With the iPhone 15 switching to USB-C, several Apple accessories are expected to follow suit:

• EarPods
• AirPods Charging Cases
• MagSafe Battery Pack
• Magic Mouse
• Magic Trackpad
• Magic Keyboard

The latest Siri Remote for the Apple TV already features a USB-C port.

Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 15 series in September. Many more changes are rumored for the Pro models, including a titanium frame, faster A17 Bionic chip, thinner bezels around the display, Wi-Fi 6E support, and more.

The third-generation Apple TV 4K introduced in October 2022 is now available on Apple's refurbished store for the first time in the U.S., Canada, and select European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and others.

In the U.S., the refurbished models are discounted by $20 compared to brand new, with the 64GB model with Wi-Fi priced at $109 and the 128GB model with Wi-Fi and Ethernet priced at $129. The refurbished third-generation Apple TV 4K comes with the Siri Remote with a USB-C port, power cord, and documentation inside a new plain white box.

Apple says all of its refurbished products are functionally tested, inspected, and cleaned, and they are eligible for AppleCare+ coverage.

The third-generation Apple TV 4K features the A15 Bionic chip, HDR10+ support, a thinner and lighter design, increased RAM, and more. Note that this Apple TV model ships without a USB-C charging cable in the box for the Siri Remote, except in Brazil, so you will need to purchase a cable separately if you do not have one.

For those who prefer a new model, monitor our Apple TV deals guide for occasional sales.

Apple's 2023 M2 Mac mini is available at all-time low prices in both storage configurations today on Amazon. As of writing, only Amazon has these deals and you can get the Mac mini delivered as soon as May 19.

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.

Starting with the 256GB M2 Mac mini, you can get this model for $499.99, down from $599.00. This is the best price we've ever tracked for this version of the computer, and it's the first time we've tracked this deal since early April.

Additionally, the 512GB M2 Mac mini has dropped to $689.99, down from $799.00 on Amazon. This is another best-ever price for the new Mac mini, and delivery dates are available for as soon as May 19 as of writing.

Lastly, the 512GB M2 Pro Mac mini is also available at a record low price of $1,099.99 on Amazon, down from $1,299.00. This one has a slightly delayed delivery date of May 27, but at $199 off it's a great deal and worth locking in soon if you're interested.

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

After nearly two months of leaks, the Beats Studio Buds + earphones are now official, with the audio brand from Apple revealing improved performance and some new color choices compared to the original Beats Studio Buds, including an eye-catching Transparent option.

Priced at $169.99, a $20 increase over the original model, the Beats Studio Buds + deliver improvements to fit, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), Transparency mode, microphones, battery life, and more.

The most immediately obvious change for the Beats Studio Buds + is the overall look, with the new Transparent color option being the standout alongside a Black option with Gold accents and an Ivory option. The Transparent design is reminiscent of what Nothing has been doing with its phones and earphones, although the specific look is rather different. While Nothing has gone with a completely transparent outer surface for portions of its devices, Beats' transparency isn't quite as clear but includes essentially every part of the exterior of the buds, case, and even the eartips.

Beyond the new colors, the Studio Buds + look essentially identical to the original Studio Buds, but Beats says 95% of the internal parts are brand-new including 3x larger microphones for improved sound capture and a brand-new venting and mic port design. As with the previous model, the Studio Buds + include IPX4 sweat and water resistance to stand up to workouts and weather.

When it comes to fit, Studio Buds + offer improvements there as well with a new extra-small eartip option joining the existing small, medium, and large sizes to fit a wider range of ears with a better seal.

The multi-function "b" button on each earbud has been redesigned to reduce accidental presses and offer a firmer feel. The button continues to offer standard media controls where a single press handles play/pause, a double press skips forward, and a triple press skips backward.

A press-and-hold function allows you to toggle between ANC and Transparency mode, but it can also be configured to activate a voice assistant or adjust volume up and down. Call handling functionality can also be customized to require either one or two presses to end a call.

Aside from ANC and Transparency, Beats Studio Buds + also support Spatial Audio content on Apple Music, although they do not include the immersive head-tracking functionality found on the Beats Fit Pro and several AirPods models.

Rather than using Apple's H1 or H2 chip, the Beats Studio Buds + use a custom second-generation "Beats Proprietary Platform" that offers many of the same features as Apple's chips such as "Hey Siri" and Find My support, automatic device switching via iCloud and more, while also offering similar features on Android such as ‌Find My‌ Device, one-touch pairing, and automatic pairing to all devices linked to the same Google account.

With a revised vent design and ANC processing now housed on the primary chipset, the Studio Buds + have up to 1.6x better ANC than the previous model and up to 2x better Transparency performance. The buds also include playback correction, which attempts to remove residual acoustic artifacts that can be introduced by ANC or Transparency processing. A feedback microphone and secondary filter analyze the audio data at up to 50,000 times per second to ensure playback accuracy.

Additional improvements to voice performance focus on noise suppression and voice targeting to make sure speech is as intelligible as possible, while the larger microphones deliver a higher signal-to-noise ratio with greater sensitivity. Machine learning was used to train the system in a variety of noisy environments for optimal voice capture.

Battery life sees a significant boost in the Studio Buds +, with the earbuds providing up to 9 hours of battery life with ANC and Transparency turned off and the case providing an additional 27 hours for a total of 36 hours of battery life, a 50% increase compared to the original Studio Buds. With ANC or Transparency turned on, you'll get 6 hours out of the buds on a single charge, with an additional 18 hours available from the charging case.

As with the original Studio Buds, the case for the new model charges via USB-C and does not support wireless charging, and a tiny USB-C to USB-C cable is included. A full charge of the case and buds takes two hours, but a 5-minute Fast Fuel feature delivers up to an hour of battery life when you're running low.

All three colors of the Beats Studio Buds + are priced at $169.99 and are available to order starting today at apple.com and Amazon in the United States, Canada, and China, with shipping beginning tomorrow. Releases in other countries will follow over the next few months.

Woot today has a collection of M1 iMacs at solid prices, starting with the 7-core GPU/256GB model for just $919.99 in Green, down from $1,299.00. This is a new all-time low price on this version of the 24-inch iMac, beating the previous low by about $80.

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.

All iMacs in Woot's sale today are in "New Open-Box" condition, meaning that the devices are brand new and come in original Apple retail boxes. However, they do not come with an Apple warranty and instead include a 90-Day Woot warranty.

You can also get the 8-core GPU/256GB M1 iMac for $1,029.99 on Woot, down from $1,499.00. This sale isn't quite as good as the $999.99 price tag we briefly saw on Amazon a few weeks ago, but at just about $30 higher it's a very solid second-best price.

This one is only available in Green and it also comes in "New Open-Box" condition. Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

Update: We've updated this article to reflect an even steeper markdown on the 7-core GPU/256GB iMac. Additionally, the 8-core GPU/256GB model is now out of stock on Woot.

Apple is set to rearrange the layout of the rear triple-lens camera system on the iPhone 15 Pro Max to accommodate the new periscope camera technology that will be exclusive to the larger handset.

This year, a periscope lens system will be used for the telephoto camera in the iPhone 15 Pro Max for the first time, allowing for 5x or 6x optical zoom. Comparatively, the iPhone 14 Pro Max offers 3x optical zoom, which is expected to be retained for the smaller iPhone 15 Pro.

Apple is likely limiting the periscope technology to the iPhone 15 Pro Max because of the internal space needed for the advanced hardware, but even with the available extra space in the Pro Max model, Apple has had to reorganize the formation of the camera module purely out of necessity.

When the current iPhone 14 Pro Max is held in landscape orientation with the Side button at the top (as per the above image) the Telephoto lens is closest to the top corner of the device, while the Ultra Wide lens sits below between the flash and LiDAR sensor.

In comparison, the Ultra Wide lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max will move to the corner position in the array, while the Telephoto will take its place between the flash and LiDAR. This will provide Apple with more internal space to fit in the complex folded optics in the periscope system.

A periscope lens system generally uses a primary lens to capture a photo, with an angled mirror or prism reflecting the light 90 degrees toward a second lens that then sends it to the image sensor. The image sensor and secondary lens are positioned sideways inside the smartphone to extend focal length, and that takes up valuable surface area.

Because of the way light is reflected at an angle in this system, the actual telephoto lens will likely need to be square-shaped, a departure from the circular telephoto lens used for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Granted, the camera cutout will still be circular, but the actual lens inside will be square.

In that sense, compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, from the outside the next-generation model will look as though nothing has changed in the lens array, but under hood, the hardware layout will be significantly different.

The notable tidbit was revealed by researcher Unknownz21, who yesterday confirmed that next year, both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will get the periscope zoom camera technology, a change that was first revealed by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The displays on the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models are expected to be slightly bigger than previous generation models, and the larger internal space afforded by the new sizes is likely one of the reasons why Apple will be able to bring the periscope lens to both premium devices in 2024 for the first time.

Apple has announced the launch of Tap to Pay on iPhone in Australia, allowing independent sellers, small merchants, and large retailers in the country to use ‌iPhones‌ as a payment terminal.

Introduced in February 2022, the feature allows compatible iPhones to accept payments via Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets, using only an ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌ - no additional hardware or credit card machine is required‌.

Tap to Pay on ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ uses NFC technology to securely authenticate the contactless payments, plus the feature also supports PIN entry, which includes accessibility options.

"Australia is a nation of entrepreneurs and innovators, and small and medium-sized businesses are at the heart of the country's workforce, employing millions of Australians. Now, with Tap to Pay on iPhone it's easier than ever for businesses of any size to seamlessly accept contactless payments using only their iPhone, wherever they do business," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. "The convenience of Tap to Pay on iPhone empowers Australian businesses to offer easy, secure, and private contactless payment experiences to their customers, and help them run and grow their business."

Westpac and Tyro Payments are the initial payment platforms in Australia supporting Tap to Pay for their business customers. Apple says that additional payment platforms and apps, including ANZ Worldline Payment Solutions, Stripe, Till Payments, and Zeller, will make this secure and convenient capability available in the coming months.

Tap to Pay on ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ requires ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ XS or newer models, and works for customers as any normal ‌‌‌Apple Pay‌‌‌ transaction would. Sellers just need to open up the app, register the sale, and present their ‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌ to the buyer, who can then use an appropriate contactless payment method.

Tap to Pay on ‌‌iPhone‌‌ is available to over 700,000 additional businesses across the United States, and Apple Stores in the U.S. have also rolled out the feature. Australia is the third region to support Tap to Pay, following a similar rollout in Taiwan last month.

The 2023 Apple Park event that select developers have been invited to attend will include tours of the campus, special extra long developer sessions, and an evening activity, all of which are new compared to the event that Apple held last year.

Developers will be treated to refreshments in the morning, followed by the 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time keynote viewing. After that, Apple will host the Platforms State of the Union, and there will be two 30-minute ‌Apple Park‌ tours to choose from at 3:00 p.m.

Attendees can select from an "Inside the Ring" tour of ‌Apple Park‌, or an "Inner Meadow" tour. With the Ring tour, developers will visit Caffe Macs, hear about the unique architectural design of ‌Apple Park‌, catch an "incredible view" of the Inner Ring, and see a "fascinating" exhibit at The Gallery at ‌Apple Park‌, which Apple says has not previously been open to visitors.

The Inner Meadow tour will walk attendees through the fruit orchards and the pond, with Apple sharing the history of The Rainbow and highlighting design elements of the Ring Building.

Apple plans to host the Apple Design Awards at 5:30 p.m., and then there will be a "Special Evening Activity." Apple says that the special activity is one attendees "won't want to miss," with food and beverages to be provided.

On Tuesday, June 6, Apple is also inviting developers to 2.5 hour morning, afternoon, or evening sessions at the Apple Developer Center, where "some of the latest announcements" will be discussed. Apple does not provide insight into the topics planned for these sessions, but rumors suggest that both the AR/VR headset and its xrOS operating system will be announced.

If we do indeed see ‌xrOS‌, the extra sessions could help introduce developers to the new technology and walk them through how to develop apps for the devices. Apple did not offer these Tuesday sessions during last year's developer viewing party.

Apple's special event is limited to developers and developers were invited to attend via a lottery system.

Older Wemo smart plugs from Belkin have a vulnerability that allows them to be hacked, according to a blog post from security researchers at Sternum. The Wemo Mini Smart Plug V2 (model F7C063) from 2019 is vulnerable to a buffer overflow attack that can be used execute commands remotely.

Basically, the Wemo Mini Smart Plug V2 has a 30 character name limit that can be overwritten, leading to an exploitable memory buffer error. Full details on how the exploit works are available from Sternum.

Belkin told Sternum that it has no plans to update the Wemo Mini Smart Plug V2 because it is at the end of its life after four years and has been replaced with newer models. That leaves many potential Belkin customers vulnerable, as there are likely many of these smart plugs being used in the wild.

Sternum recommends that people prevent the Wemo Mini Smart Plug V2 from accessing the internet and communicating with other devices like the iPhone because of the vulnerability, but the safest bet would be to remove the plugs and replace them with something more secure.

Google today announced that it is updating its inactive account policy, with Google Accounts that have not been used in at least two years to be deleted. Google says that accounts that have not been used for long periods of time are more likely to be compromised because of the use of older, less secure passwords and a lack of two-factor authentication.

Going forward, if a Google Account has not been used or signed into for at least two years, Google may delete the account and its contents. This includes content from Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Meet, Calendar, YouTube, and Google Photos.

The policy is applicable to personal Google Accounts rather than those created for businesses and schools. Users with an inactive account will see those accounts being deleted starting in December 2023, but Google plans to provide plenty of notice before it starts to cull accounts.

Accounts that were created and never used again will be the first to be nixed, with Google sending multiple notifications to both the account email address and the recovery email, if one has been provided.

To keep a Google Account active, Google recommends signing in at least once every two years, and anyone who has signed into an account or a Google service recently has an account that is considered active and will not be deleted.

Activity includes reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video, downloading a Google Play app, using Google Search, having an active subscription through a Google Account, or using Sign in with Google.

Back in 2020, Google said that it would wipe content from unused accounts but would keep the accounts intact. That is now changing with the plan to delete inactive accounts.

The App Store prevented an estimated $2 billion in "potentially fraudulent transactions" in 2022, Apple said today in a Newsroom article that highlights the security benefits of the ‌App Store‌ and Apple Pay.

Close to 3.9 million stolen credit cards were prevented from being used to make fraudulent purchases within apps, and 714,000 accounts were banned from transacting again, which is how Apple ended up at the $2 billion figure.

Apple says that it also rejected almost 1.7 million app submissions for apps that did not meet ‌App Store‌ standards for "privacy, security, and content." Of those 1.7 million apps, 400,000 were rejected for privacy violations, 153,000 were rejected for spam, copying an existing app, or misleading users, and 29,000 were rejected for including hidden or undocumented features.

428,000 developer accounts were terminated for potentially fraudulent activity, and 105,000 fraudulent developer account creations were blocked. Apple also deactivated 282 million fraudulent customer accounts and blocked another 198 million before they were created.

Fewer fraudulent developer accounts were terminated in 2022 than 2021 because of "new methods and protocols" that Apple implemented to make fraudulent account creation more difficult. Apple claims that it protected users from "nearly 57,000" apps sourced from "illegitimate storefronts" that distribute harmful software. Over 147 million fraudulent ratings and reviews were blocked from the ‌App Store‌, preventing customers from being tricked by reviews left by bot accounts.

Apple's ‌App Store‌ security figures come as it is facing pressure to allow iPhone and iPad customers to install apps outside of the ‌App Store‌ through "sideloading" or alternate app marketplaces. The European Union has already passed legislation forcing Apple to allow apps to be installed outside of the ‌App Store‌, functionality that the company is expected to implement in Europe as soon as iOS 17.

The United States is working on similar legislation to allow customers to bypass the ‌App Store‌, and Apple says such mandates would "undermine the privacy and security protections" that ‌iPhone‌ users have come to rely on and would allow "malware, scams, and data-exploitation to proliferate."

Verizon today announced new "myPlan" customizable smartphone plans that essentially unbundle unlimited cellular service from the "perks" that Verizon has offered to subscribers in the past. Right now, for example, signing up for a Verizon "Get More" plan offers unlimited 5G service along with perks like access to Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Disney+, and more.

With the new "myPlan" options, Verizon is charging a base price for 5G access, and then an additional $10 for each "perk" that a subscriber wants to add.

There are now two plans, including Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Welcome. Unlimited Plus is the only plan with the faster 5G Ultrawide band connectivity, while Welcome Unlimited offers slower 6GHz 5G speeds. Unlimited Plus is priced at $80 for one line, while Unlimited Welcome is priced at $65 for a single line, with discounts for additional lines. Prices include a $10/line Auto Pay discount.

There are $10/month add-ons for the Disney/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle, 100 GB of additional hotspot data (Unlimited Plus comes with 30GB), Apple One (which includes ‌Apple Music‌, Apple TV+, ‌Apple Arcade‌, and 50GB iCloud storage), Walmart+, and ‌Apple Music‌ Family. Verizon also offers add-ons for +play (its answer to ‌Apple TV‌ Channels), 2TB cloud storage, and three TravelPass days.

Verizon says that subscribers can decide "exactly what goes in and what stays out" of a plan, to ensure that customers are not paying for what they do not want.

For comparison's sake, a single line $90/month "5G Get More" plan (with Auto Pay) at the current time includes 50% off an Apple Watch, free TravelPass access (1 per month), the Disney Bundle, ‌Apple Music‌, ‌Apple Arcade‌, 50GB of hotspot data, and 600GB of Verizon's cloud service.

Adopting the new plan would cost $80 per month with Auto Pay enabled, $10 for ‌Apple One‌ (with the same benefits), $10 for the Disney bundle, and $10 for three TravelPass days per month. It would also be limited to 30GB hotspot data and would include less Verizon cloud storage, so on the whole, the plan change is not ideal for existing Verizon customers who prefer to have access to the current add-ons.

The new plan would benefit those who do not care for or use the add-ons as it would cut the price by $10 per month, but it will drop hotspot data by 30GB.

Verizon says that each family member gets to "customize their own plan," so savings will be more notable for those who share a plan with family, but for most people, these changes are likely to result in price increases and loss of perks rather than more choice.

Verizon's new myPlan options will be available starting on May 18. Existing customers will not need to change their plans, and can add additional perks to their current plans if desired.

Former Apple employee Weibao Wang was today officially charged with theft of trade secrets for stealing critical Apple Car information and relaying it to China, reports CNBC. In an indictment [PDF] shared by the United States Department of Justice, Wang has been charged with six counts of trade secret theft for secretly accessing Apple Car data between 2016 and 2018.

Wang was on the Annotation Team during his time at Apple, working on algorithms to accelerate the process of annotating real-world objects. Because of his role, he was granted "broad access" to databases that included information for the project. The information that he had access to was limited to just a few thousand of Apple's more than 135,000 full time employees.

Wang signed confidentiality and Intellectual Property Agreements before being granted access to Apple's databases, plus he attended secrecy training that covered the consequences of stealing data. Nevertheless, in 2016, he downloaded Apple's "entire autonomy source code," and stole additional autonomous systems and hardware information shortly before resigning from his position at Apple in 2018.

When he resigned, Wang did not tell Apple where he planned to go, but it turned out he had accepted a position at the U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese company developing autonomous driving technology. Apple in May 2018 reviewed data access logs and found that Wang accessed sensitive details right before he left, which is when the company involved the Department of Justice.

In June, the DoJ searched Wang's residence, at which point he purchased a one-way plane ticket from San Francisco, California to Guangzhou, China. After he made it to China, the extent of the theft was uncovered. There is a warrant for Wang's arrest, and if extradited and convicted, he will face up to 60 years in prison.

Wang is one of three Apple employees accused of attempting to steal Apple Car information for China. Last year, former Apple employee Xiaolang Zhang pled guilty to theft of trade secrets as part of a plea bargain. Zhang also attempted to flee the country, but he was caught. A third accused employee, Jizhong Chen, has pled not guilty.

Apple today updated its dedicated Support app that is designed to help Apple product owners get help with their iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watches, and other accessories.

According to Apple, the updated version of the app has a new layout to make it easier to view and manage calls, chats, and reservations, along with quicker access to the locations of nearby service providers.

What this means in practice is that Apple has added a navigation bar to the bottom of the app with "Support," "Locations," and "Activity" tabs. The Activity tab lists all of the support activity over the past 90 days, such as past and upcoming reservations and calls, while Locations shows you a list of service providers and options to schedule a repair.

The main Support tab continues to offer all of the same functionality that it did before, with options to manage subscriptions, check AppleCare coverage, and search for device advice.

In addition to the layout updates, Apple has also expanded Support app access to Vietnam and added Vietnamese as a supported language, with this change coming following the launch of the online Apple Store in Vietnam. Apple says the Apple Support app is available in 174 regions and 32 languages.

The Apple Support app is a free app that can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]