Happy MacBook Air launch day! Today is the official debut date of the new M2 MacBook Air, which features the first major redesign to the MacBook Air in a decade. We picked up one of the new M2 MacBook Air machines and decided to do a hands-on video where we answer questions from MacRumors readers.
The M2 MacBook Air no longer has a tapered design, and it instead looks a lot more like the MacBook Pro. It's thinner and lighter than the prior model, and it comes in new colors that include Midnight and Starlight.
In the video, we answer questions about the M2 chip's performance for everyday tasks, the SSD storage you should choose and what you need to know about the SSD, whether you should upgrade the RAM, how the M2 chip compares to the M1 Pro chip, how the display measures up to the prior-generation MacBook Air, and tons more.
You'll want to watch our video for our full MacBook Air overview that includes details MacRumors readers wanted to know, but we also want to hear from you. Have a new M2 MacBook Air? Let us know what you think of it in the comments.
Apple today submitted its final filing in the ongoing Apple v. Epic legal battle, which is playing out in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Both Apple and Epic Games chose to appeal the original ruling as neither company was satisfied with the outcome.
Throughout the appeal, Apple has maintained that Epic Games lost the initial trial because of a flawed argument and "unprecedented" and "unfounded" accusations of anticompetitive conduct, not a legal error. In today's cross-appeal, Apple continues to argue against the injunction that would require Apple to make App Store changes to allow developers to use outside payment methods.
Apple claims that it was an "unprecedented result" that was handed down despite the fact that Epic was unable to prove irreparable harm from Apple's anti-steering rules that prevented it from directing customers to alternate payment methods.
Epic introduced no evidence below that it ever suffered injury-in-fact from the anti-steering provisions, and it cites none on appeal. Having failed to prove such harm--before, during, or after litigation--Epic never had standing to sue under the [California Unfair Competition Law].
Apple goes on to point out that Epic Games in fact no longer meets the legal requirement of "standing" because it is not an iOS developer and cannot be impacted by a Guideline that applies to iOS developers.
Back when Epic Games first violated the App Store rules by implementing alternate payment methods in Fortnite, Apple suspended its developer account, and has not since reinstated it. Apple has said that it has no plans to allow Fortnite back on the App Store while the legal dispute is ongoing.
Apple suggests that the injunction that was handed down as part of the original ruling goes too far because it applies to all developers when it should not. Epic was the sole plaintiff in the case, and there was no class action lawsuit. "The trial involved Epic alone, without a shred of evidence about consumers or other (non-subscription) developers, whose interests have been or are being pursued in separate class actions," Apple writes in the lawsuit.
Following the briefs submitted by Apple and Epic Games, the court will set a date to hear arguments. Apple has said that it expects a decision to come by summer 2023 at the earliest, so there is still some time to go before the legal dispute is settled.
Apple today seeded second release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6 updates to developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, with the new software coming three days release of the first RCs. The release candidate updates represent the final versions of iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6 that are expected to be released to the public next week.
Developers can download iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6 through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper profile has been installed on an iPhone or iPad. Public beta testers can download the profile from Apple's beta testing website.
According to Apple's release notes for the update, it adds new options for live sports games and addresses issues with device storage Settings, Safari, and more.
iOS 15.6 includes enhancements, bug fixes and security updates.
TV app adds the option to restart a live sports game already in-progress and pause, rewind, or fast-forward
Fixes an issue where Settings may continue to display that device storage is full even if it is available
Fixes an issue that may cause braille devices to slow down or stop responding when navigating text in Mail
Fixes an issue in Safari where a tab may revert back to a previous page
iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6 could be some of the last updates to iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 as Apple is now working on iOS 16, which is set to be released this fall.
To end the week, we're tracking deals on Apple's iPad Pro and AirPods, which include a few best-ever prices that match Prime Day deals we saw earlier in the week.
iPad Pro
Starting with the 11-inch iPad Pro, you can get the 128GB Wi-Fi tablet for $699.00 on Amazon today, down from $799.00. At $100 off this is an all-time low price on this version of the 2021 iPad Pro, and it's only available on Amazon in Space Gray.
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.
With this record low deal on the 128GB Wi-Fi 11-inch iPad Pro, this is now the cheapest entry point into the iPad Pro lineup. There are a few other models on sale, like the 256GB Wi-Fi tablet ($849.00) and 512GB Wi-Fi tablet ($999.00), which are second-best prices.
AirPods
You can also still get Prime Day prices on two pairs of Apple's AirPods, including the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. Starting with the AirPods Pro with MagSafe, these are on sale for $169.99, down from $239.00, which is the best price of the year.
Meross's smart air purifier provides a way to filter out dust and pollutants from the air to improve air quality at an affordable price, with full support for Apple HomeKit and the Home app.
Meross makes a wide range of HomeKit-compatible smart home devices for regions around the world, including garage door openers, smart lighting, smart power strips, and more. Compared to its direct competitors, Meross's smart home products are among the most affordable HomeKit-compatible devices on the market and often set themselves apart with no need for a hub or third-party app.
Setup and Connectivity
The air purifier is fairly easy to set up, simply requiring the hatch at the base to be twisted off to access the three-stage H13 HEPA filter, which comes in a bag that needs to be removed. Meross says that the pre-filter can capture 99.97 percent of particles at 0.3 microns in size, including smoke, pollen, pet dander, hair, and dust. The innermost layer of the filter uses activated carbon to remove odors, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and more. Meross suggests replacing the filter every three to six months, and the Meross app helps monitor its condition over time.
Once the filter is in and secure, users simply need to connect the power cable. The air purifier is powered by a USB-C port on its rear, making it easy to obtain a longer or replacement cable if necessary.
Meross's smart home offerings differ from many other brands in the same space, such as Philips Hue smart lighting, because they do not require a hub or third-party app. In theory, you need only open the Home app on your iPhone, tap Add Accessory, and scan the code on the device to add the accessory, allowing you to control and automate it from the Home app thereafter. Accumulatively, this significantly eases the setup process compared to the clunky hubs and apps that many other smart home brands demand.
While this is the ideal scenario for most smart home accessories, I have sometimes had issues setting up Meross's devices on my network, where they repeatedly failed to connect with the Home app. Some users may need to temporarily disable their router's firewall and the 5GHz portion of their network during pairing to get around these potential problems. This may not be necessary in your case, and Meross's setup experience is generally good, but prospective customers should be prepared to troubleshoot their network in the event of any issues.
Once the smart air purifier was paired, it had good responsiveness and provided a reliable connection to the Home app, and also worked well with automations. Unlike some of the other HomeKit devices I use, the Meross offerings are fairly consistently connected to my network, with no "no response" alerts. The smart air purifier is quick to respond to Siri commands or Home app actions, taking place within seconds.
The devices work over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi only, directly connecting to the router rather than via a hub. As a result, the Meross devices can be slow or refuse to reconnect to the network when Wi-Fi is temporarily unavailable, but this is a random occurrence and cycling power seems to fix the problem.
Daily Use
The smart air purifier features a cylindrical, all-metal design with ventilation around the circumference. A large fan inside draws air in through the holes around the outside and pulls it through the three-stage H13 HEPA filter, before gently blowing it out the top. The design is relatively slim compared to other air purifiers and it feels fairly premium and well-made.
The air purifier features four speed settings controlled by the Home app or a capacitive button on the top. The button emits a loud beep when touched to confirm that it has been pressed. I would have preferred a physical button, but the capacitive button does the job well enough.
While the low settings are extremely quiet, stepping up to the third or fourth fan speed can get quite noisy. It didn't bother me, but users who want to counteract allergies during the night with the air purifier on high might want to bear this in mind. Thanks to HomeKit support, there are a huge number of automation options, such as activating the air purifier when you arrive home, control another accessory, or set a particular scene.
It is important to note that Meross's smart air purifier does not contain any air quality sensors, meaning that there is no built-in way to monitor when the purifier should activate, what setting is required, and whether it is working to purify the air. An easy way to get around this is to use another HomeKit accessory that offers air quality monitoring and then set up automations in the Home app that can activate the air purifier when needed.
Nevertheless, the lack of air quality monitoring is an important consideration. It may be an unsurprising omission given the price of the air purifier, but if this is a must for you, you'll need to factor in the added cost of buying another accessory that can offer this functionality and the need to set up automations.
The Bottom Line
Meross's Smart Air Purifier succeeds in offering a compelling air purifier at an affordable price. Its sleek and unobtrusive design, USB-C port, and quiet operation on low settings make it an option worth considering for most HomeKit setups.
While an air quality sensor with a visual indicator, better physical controls, and quieter operation, would have been appreciated, at the device's price point it serves its purpose extremely well. Occasional problems with my network during setup are easy to overlook once things are running smoothly. If you are looking for more a feature-rich smart air purifier, then Meross's offering may not be for you, but it is good for its price point as an entry-level option.
MacRumors readers can get seven percent off all Meross devices from the official online store with the code MacRumors at checkout.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner of Meross. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Meross provided MacRumors with a Smart Wi-Fi Air Purifier for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
Justine is one of the most influential tech YouTubers and has had a chance to test out the M2 MacBook Air for almost a week. In this episode, we talk through the M2 MacBook Air's most important features and upgrades, including its design, display, color options, webcam, four-speaker setup, and more.
We discuss how the new machine faces up to full-time use, compare it to the M1 MacBook Air, and consider who it is targeted toward. We also look at the SSD controversy associated with base model configurations of the M2 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, and consider where the MacBook Air could be headed next, with rumors of a larger model with a 15.2-inch display and M2 and M2 Pro chip options on the horizon for early 2023.
Subscribe to The MacRumors Show for more episodes, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on MacRumors, often joined by exciting guests like Sam Kohl, Ian Zelbo, Jon Rettinger, Rene Ritchie, Andru Edwards, Jon Prosser, and Mark Gurman. Remember to rate and review the show, and let us know what subjects you would like the podcast to cover going forward.
Apple today announcedApple Music Sessions, an exclusive new line of live releases and covers in Spatial Audio.
The sessions, recorded in Apple Music studios around the world, give artists the opportunity to reimagine and recreate hits from their back catalog of music, as well as creative covers of classic songs. The sessions are also recorded to provide a companion live music video on Apple Music.
Apple Music Sessions launch today with releases from Carrie Underwood and Tenille Townes, recorded in Apple Music's new studio in Nashville, Tennessee, with sessions from Ronnie Dunn, Ingrid Andress, and others lined up for the future across multiple genres.
Google has officially released ChromeOS Flex, a method of replacing the operating system on older PCs and Macs that essentially turns them into Chromebooks.
The idea is that if you have an aging Mac lying around that can't run macOS 12 Monterey, then you can install ChromeOS Flex on it using a bootable USB stick and then try out what Google's cloud-first operating system has to offer.
Google began testing ChromeOS Flex earlier this year with an early access preview. After having resolved 600 bugs since then, the company is encouraging individuals, schools, and businesses to download the software to "easily try modern computing with cloud-based management" while extending the lifespan of older devices, thereby reducing e-waste.
ChromeOS Flex is the result of Google's 2020 purchase of Neverware, a company that offered an app called CloudReady that allows users to convert old PCs into ChromeOS machines.
The operating system is certified to work on over 400 devices, including Macs released after 2010 with 16GB of free storage. Use of OS Flex is free for individuals, but schools and businesses using CloudReady will continue to be charged a fee and subscription rate, respectively.
Google says ChromeOS Flex has the same look and feel as the ChromeOS shipped with every Chromebook, as it's built on the same code base and includes Google Assistant, the Chrome browser, and Nearby Sharing. However, there's no Google Play Store, and Google has outlined some other, mainly system-level limitations of OS Flex that distinguish it from ChromeOS on native Google devices.
If you're not yet ready to install ChromeOS Flex on devices, you can temporarily run it using the USB installer. That way, you can test and verify that device functionality, such as networking and input tools, works as expected. For more help on the installation and configuration process, consult the ChromeOS Flex installation guide.
Friday is the official launch day of Apple's new M2-powered MacBook Air, and as customers who pre-ordered begin to receive their purchases, Apple has also started in-store sales for the new notebook.
Customers across the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and other regions can now place an order on Apple's website or in the Apple Store app and arrange for in-store pickup at a local retail location.
A quick spot check on the U.K. Apple online store suggests that most stores in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have available stock for customers today, although there are exceptions.
For example, the 8-Core GPU model in Midnight color with 256GB of storage isn't available for in-store pickup in Scotland's Apple stores until Tuesday, August 16, reflecting a similar wait time for online orders.
Similar delays for base configurations are reflected in certain stores in other European countries, while Australian stores won't receive stock for any configurations until Monday or Tuesday.
Key features of the new MacBook Air include Apple's latest M2 chip, a new design with flatter edges, a slightly larger 13.6-inch display with a notch, MagSafe charging, an upgraded 1080p camera, and new Starlight and Midnight color options alongside Silver and Space Gray.
The notebook is also equipped with two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones.
Pricing for the new MacBook Air starts at $1,199. The notebook is available with up to 24GB of unified memory and up to a 2TB SSD. The previous MacBook Air with the M1 chip remains available for $999.
Apple has updated its Developer System Status page to indicate multiple outages, reflecting developers' struggle to upload new versions of their apps.
Developers have contacted MacRumors to report frustration as their binaries are currently failing to upload with no informative error codes.
Apple's System Status page shows issues with Xcode Cloud, TestFlight and App Store Connect, with the latter experiencing problems with app processing and app upload.
It's not clear what the source of the problem is, but Apple is clearly aware of the situation and will already be working on a fix. We'll update this article when the issues are resolved.
Update: Apple's Developer System Status page says the issues with App Store Connect, TestFlight, and Xcode Cloud have been resolved.
It's July 15 in New Zealand and Australia, which means the M2MacBook Air launch day has officially kicked off. Customers in New Zealand and Australia are always the first to get their hands on new devices due to time zone differences.
Customers who ordered the M2 MacBook Air last week are starting to receive their new machines and will soon be sharing their experiences with the new design and M2 chip on the MacRumors forums, Twitter, and other social networks.
Because New Zealand does not have Apple retail locations, customers in Australia will be the first to be able to pick up an M2 MacBook Air from an Apple Store. Available MacBook Air stock in Australia will give us an idea of what we might be able to expect from other stores around the world. Apple is likely to have stock machines available, but custom configurations will need to be ordered online.
Delivery dates for the M2 MacBook Air slipped just after the machine was launched, suggesting that it is in short supply. M2 MacBook Air models ordered online will not be shipping out until mid to late August due to supply constraints.
Following New Zealand and Australia, sales of the MacBook Air are set to begin in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and then North America.
Pricing on the M2 MacBook Air starts at $1,199 in the United States. The updated M2 chip features a faster 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, plus the body has been redesigned. It includes a larger 13.6-inch display, a MacBook Pro-like chassis with no taper, MagSafe charging, and new colors like Midnight Blue and Starlight.
Get a new M2 MacBook Air today? Let us know in the comments.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced in March 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview release 149 includes bug fixes and performance improvements for Web Inspector, Media, CSS, CSS Container Queries, Rendering, JavaScript, Screen Sharing, Web Animations, WebAuthn, Navigation Preload, Web API, and Security.
The current Safari Technology Preview release is built on the Safari 16 update and it includes support for feature coming in macOS Ventura such as Live Text, Passkeys, Web Extension improvements, and more.
The new build of Safari Technology Preview is compatible with machines running macOS 13 Ventura, unlike prior versions of Safari Technology Preview, but it no longer works with macOS Big Sur.
Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
The iOS 16 Safari update builds on the Tab Groups feature introduced in iOS 16, plus it adds some much-needed quality of life improvements and security enhancements.
This guide covers all of the new features in Safari in iOS 16, which is available now, and iPadOS 16, coming in October.
Tab Group Updates
Introduced in iOS 15, Tab Groups let you organize and save your tabs into different segments that you can swap between. So, for example, if you're planning a trip, you can save all your tabs into a "Trip" group. In iOS 16, Apple takes Tab Groups even further with new features.
Pinned Tabs
Pinned tabs are now available in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, and they can be used in Tab Groups. If you have tabs in your Tab Group that you want to have open all the time, pinning is an option. To pin a tab to a Tab Group in iOS 16, open up the Tab Group then long press on the URL bar in Safari and choose the "Pin Tab" option.
Every Tab Group has its own separate Start Page in iOS 16, so you can have different favorites, frequently visited sites, and other options that are exclusive to each group of tabs.
Accessing the start page can be done by going to the Tab View and then pressing the "+" button to open an empty page. If you scroll down to the bottom, you can tap on "Edit" to customize your Tab Group start page. You'll need to have the Tab Group you want to customize active, as this is a process that needs to be done separately for each Tab Group.
Any Tab Group you've created can now be shared with friends and family, allowing multiple people to contribute links and work together. Everyone can add tabs and see the Tab Group update instantly.
A Tab Group can be shared by tapping on the share sheet icon at the top of the Tab View and then selecting a person to share with. You can send an invite using Messages, and then see who's participating in the Tab Group interface.
Passkeys are meant to replace traditional passwords when signing into websites or apps, and Apple is aiming to roll out Passkeys starting in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura.
Passkeys are next-generation credentials that are safer and easier to use than passwords, using a dual authentication key system. One key is public and stored on the website server, while the second key is private and kept on-device. On the iPhone and other devices with biometric authentication, Face ID or Touch ID is used to authorize the passkey to authenticate the user to the website. The keys must match to allow for a log-in, and because the second key is private and available only to the user, it cannot be stolen, leaked, or phished.
Passkeys rely on iCloud Keychain, which in turn requires two-factor authentication for further protection. Passkeys sync across all of a user's devices through iCloud Keychain, which is end-to-end encrypted with its own cryptographic keys.
Passkeys will work on all Apple devices, but Apple is also working with companies like Microsoft and Google to ensure that Passkeys can also be used with non-Apple devices.
Extension Syncing
If you've downloaded an extension on another device, you can see it in the Safari preferences on your iPhone thanks to Extensions syncing, a new iOS 16 feature.
After it's installed, the extension will sync across devices so you only need to turn it on once. Extensions are listed in the Settings app under Safari > Extensions. Extensions not on your device are listed in the "On Other Devices" section so you can easily download them.
If you don't want to share extensions across devices, you can toggle off the option in the same Settings section.
Web Push Notifications
Website push notifications have been available through Safari on the Mac for some time now, but in iOS 16, these push notifications are also going to be available on the iPhone and iPad.
Support for web push notifications won't be available when iOS 16 launches, with the feature coming in an update later this year.
As on the Mac, web notifications will be available on an opt-in basis, and you will be able to choose websites to receive notifications for.
Website Settings Sync
Your website settings like page zoom, automatic Reader view, and more, will now sync across devices so you only need to set your preferences once. If you don't want to share settings for websites across devices, you can toggle it off in the Safari section of the Settings app.
Strong Password Editing
When you're creating a website account using Safari, Safari will suggest a strong password for you to use, which syncs with iCloud Keychain. Unfortunately, some websites have specific requirements like a certain number of symbols or capital letters that strong passwords don't always fulfill.
With iOS 16, there is an option to edit strong passwords so you can adjust them as needed to meet site requirements.
Apple in iOS 16 added a new Focus option called Filters. Filters are designed to allow users to filter out content within apps, displaying a specific Safari Tab Group or Mail account. When you use a Focus with a filter set, the app with the filter will only show what you've selected, hiding everything else.
For Safari, you can choose any Tab Group account to associate with a Focus. With a filter set, when you're in that Focus, Safari will only show the Tab Group you've selected.
Lift Subject From Background
iOS 16 has a fun feature that lets you drag subjects right out of images, and it works in the Safari app. Open up a webpage with any image, long press on the image, and then choose the "Copy Subject" option.
Your iPhone will automatically copy the main subject of the image and then you can paste it elsewhere, into the Messages app, for example.
The new MacBook Air with the M2 chip launches this Friday. Ahead of time, the first reviews of the new MacBook Air have been shared by some media outlets and YouTube channels, providing a closer look at the redesigned notebook and its capabilities.
Key features of the new MacBook Air include Apple's latest M2 chip, a new design with flatter edges, a slightly larger 13.6-inch display with a notch, MagSafe charging, an upgraded 1080p camera, and new Starlight and Midnight color options alongside Silver and Space Gray. The notebook is also equipped with two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones.
Pricing for the new MacBook Air starts at $1,199. The notebook is available with up to 24GB of unified memory and up to a 2TB SSD.
The Air is impressively thin and light, but it also has a bigger and better screen, a great set of speakers and a nifty MagSafe power adapter. And thanks to Apple's M2 chip, it's also far speedier than the last model, a computer I called "stunningly fast" just a year-and-a-half ago. Once again, Apple has set a new standard for ultraportables.
The Verge's Dan Seifert said the new MacBook Air is "a success on virtually every level," but he said that customers looking to upgrade from an older notebook should still consider the previous MacBook Air with the M1 chip, which starts at $999:
The new MacBook Air is a success on virtually every level. It's got a better screen, thinner and lighter design, better speakers, a much-improved webcam, an excellent keyboard and trackpad, more convenient charging, and excellent build quality.
But that success comes at a cost, literally, and the performance advancements over the M1 model aren't as stark as the design and feature improvements are. The M2 Air is a better choice for the vast majority of people over the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro model, even though the Pro has slightly better performance and longer battery life.
Faster Performance With M2 Chip
Jason Snell shared a variety of benchmarks for the new MacBook Air in his review at Six Colors. In line with Apple's advertising, Geekbench 5 results show that the M2 chip delivers up to around 18% faster multi-core performance compared to the M1 model, while single-core performance is up to 11% faster.
Thinner and Lighter Design
The new MacBook Air does away with the notebook's iconic wedge-shaped design in favor of a flatter design. The Verge's Dan Seifert said he is "a fan of this new design," which he described as "remarkably thin" and "extremely portable":
Yet it's remarkably thin — just a smidge over 11 millimeters — and that thinness is immediately noticeable when you open the lid and start typing on it. It's also noticed whenever you slot it into a bag or carry it around. The older MacBook Air's tapered shape had less visual weight and may look thinner, but the new model is indeed slimmer than its predecessor.
It's also slightly lighter, at 2.7 pounds vs. the older model's 2.8. That's not a huge difference, and the Air is far from the lightest computer you can buy, but it does make it extremely portable and easy to tote around wherever I need it.
Slower SSD in Base Model
In a statement issued to The Verge, an Apple spokesperson confirmed that the base 256GB model of the new MacBook Air has a single NAND chip, which will result in slower SSD speeds in benchmark testing. Apple said real-world performance of the new MacBook Air is "even faster," but the statement does not explicitly refer to SSD speeds:
Thanks to the performance increases of M2, the new MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro are incredibly fast, even compared to Mac laptops with the powerful M1 chip. These new systems use a new higher density NAND that delivers 256GB storage using a single chip. While benchmarks of the 256GB SSD may show a difference compared to the previous generation, the performance of these M2 based systems for real world activities are even faster.
Last month, it was discovered that the 256GB model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip has up to 50% slower SSD read speeds and up to 30% slower SSD write speeds compared to the equivalent previous-generation model in benchmarks.
The dilemma arises from the fact that Apple switched to using a single 256GB flash storage chip instead of two 128GB chips in the base models of the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro. Configurations equipped with 512GB of storage or more are equipped with multiple NAND chips, allowing for faster speeds in parallel.
If the fastest SSD speeds are important to your workflow, we recommend configuring the new MacBook Air with at least 512GB of storage.
Apple and Major League Baseball today announced the August schedule for "Friday Night Baseball," with all of the games available to watch for free on Apple TV+ without a subscription. Assigned broadcasters for each game will be announced on a weekly basis.
The weekly "Friday Night Baseball" doubleheaders, along with live pregame and postgame shows, can be watched in the Apple TV app across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD boxes, select Xbox and PlayStation consoles, select smart TVs, on the web at tv.apple.com, and elsewhere. The games are available to watch in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and the UK.
The schedule is as follows:
Friday, August 5 Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies 7 p.m. ET
Cincinnati Reds at Milwaukee Brewers 8 p.m. ET
Friday, August 12 San Diego Padres at Washington Nationals 7 p.m. ET
Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets 7 p.m. ET
Friday, August 19 Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees 7 p.m. ET
Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins 8 p.m. ET
Friday, August 26 Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 7 p.m. ET
Cleveland Guardians at Seattle Mariners 10 p.m. ET
"Friday Night Baseball" debuted on Apple TV+ in April and will continue throughout the 2022 regular season, with no subscription required for a limited time.
Aqara this week launched the Curtain Driver E1, providing a solution to retrofit traditional curtains with automated motors and HomeKit functionality.
The Curtain Driver E1 hooks onto curtain rods and uses a motor to push curtains open or pull them closed, also offering Zigbee 3.0 and a 6,000mAh battery that can deliver 12-month battery life. Like Apple's Home app, the Curtain Driver E1 will be updated to support Matter in the future, according to Aqara.
There are two variants of the device, including a rod version for curtain poles and a track version for U-rails and I-rails, and you will need to ensure that you select the correct variant at the point of purchase. The driver can support heavy curtains up to 12kg, but it is worth checking exactly what sort of curtains and rod or track you have against Aqara's exact compatibility requirements. For example, curtain rods must be between 0.98-inches (25mm) and 1.26-inches (32mm) in diameter and cannot be telescopic. It is also important to note two separate curtain drivers are required for pairs of curtains.
Setup
Installing the Curtain Driver E1 is relatively easy. You simply mount the rod hanger over the curtain rod between the last two curtain grommets, extend the driver's hooks by double-pressing the button, hook the motor onto the hanger, and retract the hooks by double-pressing the button again. This ensures that the motor applies the correct amount of pressure to the rod depending on its size.
The driver also comes with set of eight curtain clips and a rubber strip. The instruction manual suggests using the clips and strip along the top of a curtain, presumably to help the motor pull it along uniformly, but I found this fiddly and unsightly, with the clips scraping along my ceiling, so I left them off and this didn't seem to affect the motor's ability to pull the curtain at all.
To connect the driver to the network, open the Aqara app, select the E1 from the list of accessories, and follow the on-screen instructions to set the open and closed positions. If you have two Curtain Driver E1 units, you can bind them together in the app so they operate in sync.
To add the curtains to the Home app, simply select the option in the Aqara app and scan the HomeKit code printed on the curtain driver's base. The Home app then correctly displays the curtains with relevant controls, so it is virtually no longer necessary to use the Aqara app.
Camera Hub G3
The Curtain Driver E1 requires the use of an Aqara home hub. In this case, I used the Camera Hub G3, which doubles as a feature-rich HomeKit-enabled camera, avoiding the need for a dedicated hub to be connected to the router.
At its core, it is a Zigbee 3.0 hub with support for up to 128 sub-devices and both 2GHz and 5GHz networks, but it also offers a 2K camera, 20 FPS playback, support for two-way conversations, an infrared blaster, 360° rotation with pan and tilt, AI gesture and facial recognition, a built-in privacy mode, local storage, a 1/4-inch tripod mount, a USB-C port, and more.
The camera seems to handle bright, natural sunlight well and nighttime performance is good thanks to its high-resolution. Two-way conversations are possible thanks to a built-in microphone and speaker. It features a privacy mode that rotates the camera inside the body, shows two closed eyes on the front, and provides access to a micro-SD card slot for local storage. If you're not a fan of the camera's look, you can easily push off the silicone hood to remove the "ears."
The camera can locally detect individual faces and can be set to follow people and pets, or be triggered by abnormal sounds, with plenty of conferable settings in the Aqara app. When manually looking around a room or automatically following a person, motor operation is smooth and effectively silent.
Pan and tilt features are not supported natively in the Home app, but if you configure it in the Aqara app, it is displayed perfectly in Apple's Home app. The camera seemed a little reluctant to tilt upwards when necessary and I noticed that it seems to get quite warm, but otherwise it works extremely well, especially in iOS 16's redesigned Home app camera views. The hub functionality of the G3 will support Matter later this year, as Matter will not support cameras in its initial release.
Daily Use
I found that the Curtain Driver E1 opened my curtains quickly and fairly reliably. The driver is heavy owing to its large internal battery and it has a bulky design, but it is very good in terms of build quality, and this is all hidden behind the curtain. It is also easy enough to unhook the driver from the rod hanger and charge it via USB-C.
For granular controls, you need to use Aqara's app. There, you can mitigate motor noise by slowing it down. There are also options to have curtains open very slowly over the course of a period of time to simulate a natural sunrise. Nevertheless, the Home app can be used for basic functions like opening and closing, checking battery level, or if there are any obstructions to the motor's movement.
The Curtain Driver E1 can be controlled physically by pressing the buttons or by simply tugging the curtain gently in the direction that you want it to travel. The motor detects this and completes the procedure.
However, I would caution users who seek to use the Curtain Driver E1 with longer curtains. In this instance, the top end of the curtains close seamlessly, but the bottom half can be dragged along the floor and not close fully, so the drivers probably work best with curtains that do not reach the floor. I would also warn people that have curtain rods with a support in the middle that there could be some gap left between curtains, and it is not possible to ensure that pairs of curtains overlap to block out light.
Automations
Below its status LED and button, the Curtain Driver E1 features a built-in ambient light sensor. Unfortunately, the sensor is not exposed to HomeKit and does not provide an exact reading of lux it detects, but it allows curtains to be opened or closed around the thresholds of "weak ambient light" or "strong ambient light" in automations in the Aqara app.
For more accurate and specific light automations, you can always use another sensor and set up an automation in the Home app. There are possibilities to control curtains with pre-set schedules such as sunset and sunrise, local weather, and geofencing, or connect with other accessories and scenes.
Beyond acting as a hub for the Curtain Driver E1, the Camera Hub G3 allows the Curtain Driver E1 to be controlled with hand gestures. While this is contingent on using Aqara's app and being located inside the camera's field of view, there are plenty of other automations possibilities work in Apple's Home app natively.
The Curtain Driver E1 is also easily paired with other accessories for specific automations. For example, Aqara's Motion Sensor P1 can trigger curtains to open upon entering a room for the first time in the morning or when an exact light level is reached outside. The motion sensor has three sensitivity modes, a built-in light sensor, a wide 170° field of view, configurable detection timeout, and support for Matter later this year.
The Bottom Line
With a large battery capacity, USB-C charging, excellent build quality, manual control options, and built-in light sensor, the Curtain Driver E1 justifies its price, but things can start to get expensive if you need two drivers for a pair of curtains, as well as an Aqara hub. It may be one of the best available solutions for retrofitting existing curtains with motorization and HomeKit integration, but it inevitably falls short of more costly, dedicated motorized curtain rails.
I was still impressed with Aqara's Curtain Driver E1 and it seems to be a great option for customers who want to automate existing curtains in HomeKit, especially if they already have just a single curtain or other devices in the Aqara ecosystem, and are willing to put up with a little bit of friction with regards to compatibility, setup, and charging.
For those looking for a hub for the Curtain Driver E1 or a reliable smart home camera, I would also highly recommend the Camera Hub G3. It is by far the most feature-rich and versatile HomeKit camera I have ever used, delivering high image quality and useful object tracking.
How to Buy
The Curtain Driver E1 is Amazon in both North America and Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), as well as via selective Aqara retailers around the world (availability may vary).
Note: Aqara provided MacRumors with a Curtain Driver E1, Camera Hub G3, and Motion Sensor P1 for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
Ubiquiti earlier this week announced that it is rolling out firmware version 3.7.0 for its AmpliFi Alien router, which delivers HomeKit support.
HomeKit support allows the router to be managed from the Home app across Apple's platforms to adjust security settings for various HomeKit accessories installed in the home. The functionality serves to firewall HomeKit devices by allowing them to communicate only with other approved devices, helping secure potentially sensitive accessories such as cameras from unauthorized access.
Only a few brands such as Linksys and Eero have supported HomeKit on select routers so far, so Ubiquiti is a notable addition.
Ubiquiti says the firmware update is a staged automatic rollout, but instructions for manually updating to the latest version are linked in the announcement. Users will also need the latest version of the AmpliFi WiFi app for iPhone.
In the wake of Prime Day we aren't tracking as many discounts as we were earlier in the week, but Amazon is offering a handful of solid markdowns on the 2021 MacBook Pro lineup today. These include multiple all-time low prices on the 14-inch and 16-inch models of the MacBook Pro.
14-inch MacBook Pro
You can get the 14-inch MacBook Pro (8-Core M1 Pro/512GB) for $1,799.00 in Silver and Space Gray, down from $1,999.00. This is a solid second-best price on the 14-inch MacBook Pro, and there's a slight shipping delay with estimated delivery of around July 23 for Silver and August 2 for Space Gray.
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 a higher-end model, the 10-Core M1 Pro/1TB 14-inch MacBook Pro is on sale for $2,249.00, down from $2,499.00. This is an all-time low price on this model of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, and at this time it's only available in Silver.
Moving to the larger 16-inch MacBook Pro, we're tracking an all-time low price on the 10-Core M1 Pro/512GB 16-inch MacBook Pro, priced at $2,249.00, down from $2,499.00. This one is available in both colors, with Space Gray running low on stock as of writing.
On the higher end, the 10-Core M1 Pro/1TB 16-inch MacBook Pro is on sale for $2,449.00, down from $2,699.00. At $250 off, this is the best price you'll find online for this version of the 2021 16-inch MacBook Pro.
You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with 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.
