MacRumors

Apple has announced an additional 1 billion euros investment in German engineering over the next six years as part of its Silicon Design Center expansion in central Munich.

Apple says the investment will go towards the design and construction of a "state-of-the-art research facility" at Seidlstrasse, where Apple's R&D teams can "come together in new ways, enhancing collaboration and innovation."

"Our R&D teams in Munich are critical to our efforts to develop products delivering greater performance, efficiency, and power savings," said Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. "The expansion of our European Silicon Design Center will enable an even closer collaboration between our more than 2,000 engineers in Bavaria working on breakthrough innovations, including custom silicon designs, power management chips, and future wireless technologies."

In addition to Apple's new Seidlstrasse facility, teams will occupy several additional R&D spaces at Denisstrasse and Marsstrasse as part of the Silicon Design Center expansion. The three new sites are located across the street from Apple's recently opened R&D facility at Karlstrasse. Together with engineering sites at Arnulfstrasse and Hackerbrücke, the new facilities form Apple's European Silicon Design Center, centrally located in Munich’s Maxvorstadt neighbourhood.

The announcement builds on Apple's previous 1 billion euros investment commitment from 2021, when Apple established Munich as the headquarters of its European Silicon Design Center.

Apple says it has spent over 18 billion euros with more than 800 German companies, supporting job creation, community development, and workforce opportunities throughout the country over the past five years.

Apple is closing its Northlake Mall location in Charlotte, North Carolina, after multiple shootings in the area, according to a report from Bloomberg. Employees were informed that the location would be shutting down immediately, even though it was open on Wednesday morning.

Apple's website for Northlake Mall store now says that the store will be permanently closing on Wednesday, March 1 at 4:00 p.m, with a new location in the Charlotte area planned for next year. In the meantime, Charlotte customers can visit the Apple SouthPark location.

Bloomberg says that three recent shootings in the mall "contributed" to Apple's decision to close immediately, and the move is unusual. As of Tuesday, employees were not aware the store would be closing, nor did the website mention the upcoming closure.

The relocation of the Charlotte store was already in the works and had been planned before the shutdown. Employees are being transferred to the SouthPark store or will work for the online store.

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 today released a Rapid Security Response (RSR) update for the macOS Ventura 13.3 beta, with the update coming just a an hour after an RSR update for the iOS 16.4 beta.

macOS Rapid Security Response 13.3 (a) is applied to the Mac automatically upon restart.

This is the second RSR that Apple has released for a macOS Beta. The first RSR release did not add any new features, with Apple instead using the launch as a test to make sure it is functional before it is deployed for an actual security update. Today's update may also be launching in a test capacity, and it is unclear if it includes any actual security fixes.

Rapid Security Response is an iOS 16 and macOS Ventura feature released as part of those updates.

The watchOS 9.4 update that Apple is beta testing right now will include a battery recalibration process for the 44mm Apple Watch Series 6, Apple said today in an updated Apple Watch support document.

After updating to watchOS 9.4, the 44mm Apple Watch Series 6 will be able to estimate maximum battery capacity more accurately following the recalibration process.

Apple recalibrated the batteries of the Apple Watch Series 4 and Apple Watch Series 5 models with the watchOS 9 update, and now the process is being extended to the 44mm Apple Watch Series 6.

Battery recalibration has also been done for some iPhone models in the past, including the iPhone 11. Recalibration is able to improve inaccurate estimates of battery health that some users may be seeing.

Apple today released a Rapid Security Response update that is available for those running the iOS 16.4 beta, marking the launch of the third RSR update since the feature was introduced in iOS 16.

The Rapid Security Response Update is designed to provide iOS 16.4 beta users with bug fixes without the need to install a full update, and this is likely a test update given the small file size.

iOS Security Response 16.4 (a) is available through the standard Software Update mechanism in the Settings app, but is a quick update, requiring just a couple of minutes to download the update and then a quick restart for the install process.

Once the Rapid Security Response update is installed, iOS 16.4 users will see an updated version of iOS 16.4 (a), and tapping on the version in the About section of Settings will display information about the installed iOS version and the Rapid Security Response update. Those who want to disable Rapid Security Response updates can do so by following our how to.

Apple today announced increased trade-in values for a limited number of older iPhone models in an effort to encourage customers to upgrade to the ‌iPhone‌ 14 lineup.

Trade-in values have gone up for the ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and ‌iPhone‌ 7 Plus, with the new pricing listed below.

• ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro Max: Up to $600 (vs. $570)
• ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro: Up to $500 (vs. $470)
• ‌iPhone‌ 13: Up to $400 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini: Up to $350 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ SE 3rd generation: Up to $160 (Newly Added)
• ‌iPhone 12 Pro Max‌: Up to $420 (vs. $400)
• ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro: Up to $330 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ 12: Up to $300 (No Change)
• iPhone 12 mini: Up to $250 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ SE (2nd generation): Up to $100 (No Change)
• iPhone 11 Pro Max: Up to $280 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro: Up to $230 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ 11: Up to $200 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ XS Max: Up to $200 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ XS: Up to $160 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ XR: Up to $150 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ X: Up to $130 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ 8 Plus: Up to $100 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ 8: Up to $75 (No Change)
• ‌iPhone‌ 7 Plus: Up to $60 (vs. $50)
• ‌iPhone‌ 7: Up to $40 (No Change)

There have also been some minor tweaks to iPad and Mac trade-in values.

iPad

• iPad Pro: Up to $445 (No Change)
• iPad Air: Up to $320 (vs. $230)
• ‌iPad‌: Up to $165 (vs. $160)
• iPad mini: Up to $240 (No Change)

Mac

• MacBook Pro: Up to $730 (vs. $670)
• MacBook Air: Up to $515 (vs. $460)
• MacBook: Up to $125 (vs. $110)
• iMac Pro: Up to $575 (vs. $600)
• ‌iMac‌: Up to $570 (vs. $530)
• Mac Pro: Up to $1,250 (No Change)
• Mac mini: Up to $375 (vs. $340)

Apple Watch

• Apple Watch Series 7: Up to $165 (vs. $160)
• Apple Watch Series 6: Up to $105 (No Change)
• Apple Watch SE: Up to $70 (vs. $65)
• Apple Watch Series 5: Up to $80 (vs. $75)
• Apple Watch Series 4: Up to $50 (vs. $45)

Note that while trade-in value have gone up, many of these prices are still lower than 2022 prices as Apple decreased trade-in values back in January.

A full list of trade-in values, including those for Android smartphones, cis available on Apple's trade-in website.

Out-of-warranty battery replacements on iPhones, iPads, and Macs are more expensive starting today, with Apple increasing prices as planned. The higher prices apply to iPhone 13 and older models, Macs, and iPads that are out of warranty and that do not have AppleCare+.

Battery replacements for the ‌iPhone‌ 13 models, for example, now cost $89, up $20 from the prior repair cost. The $89 price is applicable to the ‌iPhone‌ X through the ‌iPhone‌ 13, with Apple charging $69 for repairs on the ‌iPhone‌ 8 and earlier. Out-of-warranty battery replacements for ‌iPhone‌ 14 models remain at $99, pricing Apple introduced back in September.

Pricing on the iPad is up by $20 for many models, including the fifth-generation and later 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, the third-generation 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ and earlier, 10.5 and 9.7-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ models, all iPad mini models, and all iPad Air models. It will now cost $119 for a battery replacement on these devices.

Battery replacements on the most recent ‌iPad Pro‌ models continue to be priced at $179 for the 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ and $149 for the 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌.

Mac battery replacements have increased in price by $30 to $50, with all MacBook Air battery replacements now priced at $159 and all MacBook Pro battery replacements priced at $249.

Note that these prices are for out-of-warranty battery replacements on devices that do not have ‌AppleCare‌+ and where the one-year warranty has expired. If you have ‌AppleCare‌+, battery replacements are free if your battery has degraded below a certain level.

The pricing in the article also applies to the United States, but battery replacement costs are also up in other countries as well. Apple began warning customers of the increased prices in January, and estimates for replacement costs are available on Apple's Mac, iPad, and iPhone repair websites.

Apple today seeded the second beta of macOS Ventura 13.3 to its public beta testing group, letting the general public test out the features ahead of the software's release. The public beta comes two weeks after Apple provided the first public beta.

Public beta testers can download the macOS 13.3 Ventura update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

As with iOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3 adds new emoji characters that include shaking head, pink heart, blue heart, gray heart, donkey, moose, black bird, goose, wing, jellyfish, hyacinth, pea pod, ginger, fan, comb, flute, maracas, left hand, and right hand.

The update supports updating to the new HomeKit architecture that Apple has reintroduced after the update was pulled from iOS 16.2. The Messages app also offers content previews for shared Mastodon links, and there are new options in Shortcuts for creating workflows that include Siri notification announcements.

Apple says that macOS Ventura 13.3 will be released in the spring, a timeline that ranges from March 20 to June 20.

Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test the software ahead of its launch. Today's betas come two weeks after the release of the first public betas.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's free beta testing program can download the ‌iOS 16.4‌ beta over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website.

This is the last beta that will use certificates in this way as future beta updates will be linked to an Apple ID for both developers and public beta testers.

The iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates add a number of new emoji characters, including shaking head, pink heart, blue heart, gray heart, donkey, moose, black bird, goose, wing, jellyfish, hyacinth, pea pod, ginger, fan, comb, flute, maracas, and left and right facing hand options.

Safari Web Push notifications are available, but web developers will need to add support. With this feature, you can add a website to your Home Screen and the website can send you push notifications, just like on the Mac. These notifications behave like any other iOS notification and can be filtered out with Focus mode, delivered on Apple Watch, and more.

There's a new add to ‌Home Screen‌ option for third-party browsers so you can add a favorite Chrome site directly to your ‌Home Screen‌, plus the HomeKit architecture upgrade that was pulled from iOS 16.2 is now available again. The second beta reintroduces the page turning animation in Apple Books, and it has hints of Apple Music Classical.

Apple has made minor tweaks to the Podcasts app, ‌Apple Music‌ app, and the AppleCare coverage interface, plus there are new Shortcuts, 5G connectivity in Turkey, an option to add an always-on display filter to Focus more, and more. Full details on everything new can be found in our dedicated iOS 16.4 guide.

Today we're tracking discounts across every model of the 2022 iPad Air, offering numerous all-time low prices on these tablets in multiple colors. In total, you'll find up to $99 off the iPad Air, with record low prices available for both Wi-Fi and cellular models.

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

The 64GB Wi-Fi iPad Air is available in all five colors at $499.99 on Amazon, which is down from $599.00. This is a record low price for this tablet on Amazon, and most color selections are in stock now and can arrive as soon as March 4.

Secondly, the 256GB Wi-Fi iPad Air has hit $649.99 on Amazon, down from $749.00. This is another record low price, and it's available in all colors as well. Most of these models have an estimated delivery date between March 6 and March 9 for residences in the United States.

Moving to cellular models, the 64GB cellular iPad Air is available for $649.99, down from $749.00. This one is also available in all five colors, and it's a best-ever price on Amazon.

Lastly, the 256GB cellular iPad Air has hit $799.99, down from $899.00. Again you'll find all five colors are available at this discounted price, which is also another all-time low price on the iPad Air.

For even more iPad deals, head to our full Best Deals guide for iPad. In that guide we track the best discounts online for iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro. If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

Apple Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Bob Borchers has alluded to the upcoming Apple silicon Mac Pro and the company's focus on the Apple Watch's battery life in a new interview with India Today.

When asked if Apple still intends to pursue its announced plan to transition all Macs to Apple silicon, Borchers reaffirmed Apple's "clear goal to transition fully" to its own chips, seemingly hinting that the Apple silicon ‌Mac Pro‌ is still in the pipeline.

We believe strongly that Apple silicon can power and transform experiences from the MacBook Air to all the way up to the Mac Studio. We've been very clear from the beginning that our goal is to take our entire product line to Apple Silicon. And that's something we intend to do.

Amid discussion about how Apple motivated the wider computing industry to refocus on efficiency over performance, Borchers seemed to concede that the Apple Watch is a device that would benefit greatly from better battery life. He added that the issue of the Apple Watch's battery life is an area of ongoing attention at Apple. One of several answers to address the problem, Borchers believes, is fast charging. Apple apparently continues to explore how it can balance features, such as real-time health and fitness tracking, and battery life on the device.

Borchers also discussed Apple's rationale behind offering both the high-end Mac mini and the Mac Studio, explaining that one delivers a small form factor, while the other offers the flexibility of additional connectivity.

Telegram Messenger this week released an update for its Mac app that adds a new Power Saving menu of options to help users save battery life when accessing the encrypted chat platform on their MacBooks.

Found in the app's settings, Power Saving Mode can be turned on with the toggle of a switch, and when enabled, the feature instantly disables a series of resource-intensive processes.

According to Telegram, the feature turns off things like autoplay GIFs and videos, sticker and emoji animations and effects, and interface animations that normally work in the app. There's also a slider option that allows users to have Power Saving Mode turn on automatically based on the battery level percentage of their Mac.

In addition, the new Power Saving menu has a separate series of switches to turn off resource-hungry processes individually, offering a way for users to target only the worst offenders. The feature comes with version 9.4.1 of the Telegram Mac app, which also includes bug fixes and performance improvements.

Social network Twitter is experiencing a global outage at the current time, with most users unable to refresh or in some cases even load their timeline feeds. Neither Twitter's website nor the Twitter iPhone app are working properly.

Sending a tweet works in the app, but in many cases only the author can see their tweet given that timelines are out of action. Twitter Search is also non-functional. There are thousands of reports about the outage on the Down Detector website.

It is not clear what is causing the outage, but Twitter conducted its fourth round of layoffs over the weekend, cutting 10% of its remaining workforce. The layoffs reportedly hit several departments, including ads and infrastructure engineering, leaving the company with fewer than 2,000 employees. It had about 7,500 when Elon Musk took over.

Update: While the Following feed is still down, some users are reporting they can now see the For you feed, which aggregates recommended tweets algorithmically from accounts that are not followed.

Update 2: Reports suggest that timelines have now been restored and both the Twitter app and website are working as expected.

Apple today released the second beta of iOS 16.4 to developers, and while not as feature rich as the first beta, there are a couple notable additions in beta two worth knowing about.

Apple Books Page Turning Animation

With the launch of iOS 16, Apple tweaked Apple Books to eliminate the traditional page turning animation that had been used since the early days of the app, a move that upset some Apple Books users.

The second iOS 16.4 beta reintroduces the page turning animation as an option, which is a welcome change for the Apple Books readers who missed it. In the Themes and Settings section of the Books app, there are now three options for page turning: Curl, Slide, and None.

Slide is the ‌iOS 16‌ default, Curl is the old iOS 15 and earlier animation, and None is an even simpler animation that just shifts from page to page with little fanfare. These features are also available in iPadOS 16.4 for those who read on the iPad.

Apple Music Classical Code

Code in the iOS 16.4 beta confirms Apple's continued work on the Apple Music Classical app, and suggests that it could be launching in the not too distant future.

Code in the beta suggests that listening to ‌Apple Music‌ Classical will require users to have the standard ‌Apple Music‌ app installed. "To listen in ‌Apple Music‌ Classical, you'll need to install ‌Apple Music‌," reads a line in the MusicKit framework.

As of right now, there is no sign of an ‌Apple Music‌ Classical app in iOS 16.4, but that doesn't mean that it won't come in a later beta or with the iOS 16.4 launch. It could also be delayed until a later update or even iOS 17, as this is not the first iOS 16 update that has had ‌Apple Music‌ Classical references.

Apple Pay in South Korea

Code in iOS 16.4 confirms that users in South Korea will be able to add credit and debit cards to the Wallet app for use with Apple Pay, suggesting iOS 16.4 will add ‌Apple Pay‌ in the country.

That is in line with reports from early February that indicated South Korea's Financial Services Commission has approved Apple Pay. Apple has been working to bring ‌Apple Pay‌ to South Korea since 2017.

AppleCare Device Coverage

Under Settings > General > About where Apple has a "Coverage" section that lists your Apple devices with AppleCare+, all listed products now have an icon next to them. This section includes your iPhone and connected peripherals like Apple Watch and AirPods.

The section was present in beta one, but the icons are new.

Podcasts Splash Screen

There's a new splash screen in the Podcasts app in beta 2, which explains the new changes.

The Podcasts app now supports channels in Library, expanded CarPlay functionality, and an improved Up Next feature that lets you resume episodes and skip what you don't want to listen to.

Always On Display Settings

Apple made some minor tweaks to the Always On Display section in the Settings app on ‌iPhone‌ 14 Pro models. The toggle to turn off Always On Display is now listed under the toggles for showing wallpaper and notifications, rather than above.

More Features

Know of something that we left out in this list? Let us know in the comments below.

Apple is planning a new Apple Watch activity challenge for International Women's Day, which will be celebrated on Wednesday, March 8.

The Activity Challenge will be displayed on the Apple Watch as a notification in the days leading up to the event, and to earn the International Women's Day award, Apple Watch users will need to do a workout of any kind for at least 20 minutes.

On March 8, show your support for the empowerment of women everywhere. Do any workout for 20 minutes or more to earn this award. Record your time with the Workout app or any app that adds workouts to Health.

Apple Watch owners who earn the award will unlock a dedicated badge in the Fitness app, plus they will get a series of animated stickers that can be used in the Messages and FaceTime apps.

The International Women's Day award follows new challenges that were introduced for Lunar New Year, Black History Month, and Heart Month in February.

The Apple Music Classical app that Apple first announced when it acquired classical music service Primephonic could potentially be launching in the near future according to additional mentions of "‌Apple Music‌ Classical" found in the iOS 16.4 beta.

Code in the beta suggests that listening to ‌Apple Music‌ Classical will require users to have the standard ‌Apple Music‌ app installed. "To listen in ‌Apple Music‌ Classical, you'll need to install ‌Apple Music‌," reads a line in the MusicKit framework.

As of right now, there is no sign of an ‌Apple Music‌ Classical app in iOS 16.4, but that doesn't mean that it won't come in a later beta or with the iOS 16.4 launch.

Apple initially said in 2021 that ‌Apple Music‌ Classical would be introduced "next year," aka, 2022, but that did not happen. There was no 2022 launch of the new classical music experience, and Apple has provided no updates on when we might expect to see the new app.

Apple promised that ‌Apple Music‌ Classical would be a dedicated classical music app that is separate from ‌Apple Music‌, but this makes it clear that the ‌Apple Music‌ Classical app will also require ‌Apple Music‌ to be installed.

This is not the first time that we've seen references to ‌Apple Music‌ Classical in an iOS 16 update. iOS 16.3, for example, added "Open in ‌Apple Music‌ Classical" wording to the code, and there have also been mentions of the feature in backend code on Apple's site.

It is unclear why Apple has taken so long to introduce an ‌Apple Music‌ Classical app, and though we continue to see signs of it, it still remains a mystery as to whether it will come in iOS 16.4, a later iOS 16 update, or iOS 17.

The second beta of iOS 16.4 that was introduced to developers today appears to have a limited number of new features, but it does have a major update for those who use Apple Books - it reintroduces an option for the page turning animation.

With iOS 16, Apple revamped the Books app and removed the traditional page turning animation in favor of a simpler slide animation, but many Apple Books users were not happy with the decision.

The iOS 16.4 beta adds a new toggle in the Themes and Settings section of the Books app that lets users choose a page turning animation. Options include Curl, Slide, and None. Slide is the iOS 16 default, Curl is the old iOS 15 and earlier animation, and None is an even simpler animation that just shifts from page to page. These features are also available in iPadOS 16.4 for those who read on the iPad.

B&H Photo today has a few deals on Apple's M2 Mac mini, marking some of the first notable discounts on the device since it launched in January 2023. Both deals are only available on B&H Photo as of writing, and the retailer offers free expedited shipping in the contiguous United States.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with B&H Photo. 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, this model is on sale for $549.00, down from $599.00. This beats the sale price found at retailers like Amazon by about $30 and is now the lowest price we've ever tracked on this version of the M2 Mac mini.

Moving to the 512GB M2 Mac mini, B&H Photo has this model for $749.00, down from $799.00. Similar to the 256GB option, the 512GB M2 Mac mini's price tag is the best we've seen to date at any retailer.

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.