MacRumors

CEO Tim Cook this week did an interview with China Daily, where he once again commented on on the future of augmented reality and hinted at Apple's work on an AR/VR headset.

Cook said that Apple is excited about the opportunities available with augmented reality, which is not too far off from prior comments that he's made, but he went on to say that people should "stay tuned" to see what Apple has to offer.

I am incredibly excited about AR as you might know, and the critical thing to any technology including AR is putting humanity at the center of it. And that is what we focus on every day. Right now, as an example, we have over 14,000 ARKit apps in the App Store, which provide AR experiences for millions of people around the world.

I think despite that, we're still in the very early innings of how this technology will evolve. I couldn't be more excited about the opportunities we've seen in this space and sort of stay tuned and you'll see what we have to offer.

Though Apple has not confirmed its work on an AR/VR wearable device, rumors have been circulating about it for years now. Apple's headset is expected to offer mixed reality technology, with a curved visor and soft mesh that fits against the face. It will be lighter than other headsets on the market, and will use an Apple Watch-like strap to hold it in place.

The headset is rumored to feature two 4K micro-OLED displays, 15 camera modules, powerful processors equivalent to the M-series chips, eye tracking capabilities, hand gesture support, and spatial audio. When it launches, the headset could cost somewhere around $3,000.

Apple is expected to debut the headset as soon as next year, and has already been demoing it to board members, suggesting it is getting closer to being finished.

Apple today seeded the second betas of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 to developers for testing purposes, and the new betas introduce new features and refine some of the changes that Apple made with the first iOS 16 release.

Lock Screen Photo Wallpaper Customization

When customizing a photo on the Lock Screen, there are two new DuoTone and Color Wash overlay options to change the look of the photo.

Wallpaper Photo Editing

If you set a photo as your wallpaper, Apple lets you know that you can use pinch gestures to adjust the crop of the image.

Back Ups Over LTE

iPhone and iPad users can back up their devices over an LTE cellular connection, in addition to a 5G or WiFi connection. Apple introduced support for 5G backups in iOS 15, and has expanded it to LTE in iOS 16.

Astronomy Wallpaper Location

The Astronomy wallpaper now shows a green dot to let you know where you are located. The dot appears in the Earth wallpaper options, but it does not stay on the wallpaper at all times and is instead only visible when editing the wallpaper. These dynamic wallpapers are also now available on older iPhones.

Wallpaper Editing

In the Settings app, the Wallpapers section has been tweaked to make it easier to customize the different wallpapers that you set for the Home Screen and Lock Screen. There are new "Customize" options under the Lock Screen and ‌Home Screen‌ options to make it clearer that there are settings that can be adjusted.

When you choose your look, there's also an option to "Set as Wallpaper Pair."

Apple Cash and Apple Card

The Apple Cash "Send and Request" interface has been changed in the second beta of iOS 16. It's now a single merged button instead of two separate buttons, and the balance is shown more clearly.

For Apple Card, the "Weekly Activity" section also lets you know how much Apple Cash you've earned for the week. t

Screenshots

There's now a "Save to Quick Note" option when saving a screenshot, which joins the Save to Photos, Save to Files, and Delete Screenshot options.

Delete Lock Screens

It's now easier to delete a Lock Screen by swiping upwards.

SMS Filtering

According to Apple's release notes, developers are able to classify incoming SMS messages from unknown numbers into 12 sub-categories with Transaction and Promotion categories for improved organization.

For Indian users, Messages supports event extraction from SMS. EVent and appointment messages are shown as Siri suggestions and are also presented to users in Messages thread and the Calendar inbox.

iPadOS 16 Stage Manager

In iPadOS 16 beta 2 on compatible iPads, there is a new Stage Manager setting under the "‌Home Screen‌ and Dock" section of the Settings app. It displays options for hiding recent apps and hiding the dock while using ‌Stage Manager‌.

Messages Junk Reporting

For some U.S. carriers, Messages in iOS 16 beta 2 extends the "Report Junk" feature to allow users to report SMS/MMS junk to carriers.

Translate

The Translate app now supports Turkish, Thai, Polish, Indonesian, and Dutch.

HealthKit APIs

For developers, HealthKit workout APIs support multisport workouts with activities that include swimming, cycling, and running.

iOS 16 beta 2 also adds HealthKit support for the new running workout metrics that Apple announced at WWDC. Workout metrics include running power, ground contact time, vertical oscillation, running speed, and stride length.

Other New Features

Know of a new feature in iOS 16 that we left out? Let us know in the comments below.

With watchOS 9, Apple is adding a new recalibration feature for the Apple Watch Series 4 and Apple Watch Series 5, according to the watchOS 9 release notes. The recalibration will result in a more accurate estimate for maximum battery capacity.

After updating to watchOS 9, your Apple Watch Series 4 or Series 5 will recalibrate and then estimate its maximum battery capacity more accurately.

Following the watchOS 9 update, Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5 owners who have noticed battery life being misrepresented should be able to get a better read on how long their device will last.

Apple has previously introduced recalibration functionality for the iPhone 11 to make ‌iPhone‌ battery life estimates more accurate, but there has been no similar feature made available for the Apple Watch until now.

The recalibration process will happen during the update and will be complete once it's installed.

The iPad will no longer be able to be used as a home hub following the launch of iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura, and the HomePod 16 software this fall, Apple confirmed today.

As discovered in iOS 16 code by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser, Apple says that the ‌iPad‌ will no longer be supported as a home hub. This information will be displayed in the Home app after updating to iOS 16.

A home hub is required to take advantage of features like receiving accessory notifications and allowing other people to control your home. You will not be able to view shared homes until those homes are also upgraded to the latest HomeKit. iPad will no longer be supported as a home hub.

With Apple dropping support for the ‌iPad‌ as a home hub, users will need to have a ‌HomePod‌, HomePod mini, or Apple TV to take advantage of features enabled by a hub, such as accessing accessories remotely with Siri and using location-based automation features.

Apple's iOS 16 preview webpage suggested that the ‌iPad‌ would not be able to be used as a home hub, but it was not confirmed until now because in the first iPadOS 16 beta, it was still possible to set an ‌iPad‌ as a home hub. "Only ‌Apple TV‌ and ‌HomePod‌ are supported as home hubs," reads the website.

The wording in the code found in the second beta of iOS 16 suggests that Apple is removing the home hub functionality from the ‌iPad‌. The company has not explained why the ‌iPad‌ will no longer function as a home hub, but it could be related to Apple's upcoming cross-platform Matter smart home standard implementation.

Coming later this year, Matter will let HomeKit users add more smart home accessories to their ‌HomeKit‌ setups.

iOS 16 and macOS Ventura add support for the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) standard in the Mail app, helping users to easily verify authenticated emails sent by brands by displaying the brand's logo alongside the email's header.

In the Mail app, emails sent by brands with a BIMI record are marked with a "Digitally Certified" label, which is visible after tapping to expand the email's header. Next to the label, a "Learn More" link leads to the following message: "This email was verified as coming from the owner of the logo shown and the domain [example.com.]"

For a brand's logo to be displayed, the sender's domain must pass DMARC authentication checks, according to the BIMI Group website. If the email passes authentication, the Mail app queries the DNS for a corresponding BIMI record.

Based on a tweet shared by software engineer Charlie Fish, it appears that Chase Bank is an example of a brand that has implemented BIMI, with the Chase logo appearing next to an email sent by the bank in the Mail app on iOS 16. BIMI is also supported by Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Fastmail, according to BIMI Group.

This is just one of several new features added to the Mail app on iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, with others including the ability to unsend an email up to 10 seconds after sending it, scheduled emails, notifications if you forget to include an attachment on an email, support for rich links in emails, improved search functionality, and more.

With the second iOS 16 beta, Apple is expanding the built-in "Report Junk" feature in the Messages app to cover SMS/MMS messages, allowing spam messages to be reported to select carriers in the United States.

If you long press on an SMS/MMS message in the Unknown Senders section of the Messages app in iOS 16, you can select the "Report Junk" option. Using this option lets you report a message as junk, sending it to Apple and Verizon and deleting the message.

"Report Junk" was previously available for iMessage, with junk iMessages able to be reported to Apple, but the new option also covers SMS/MMS messages and makes it easier to report spam directly to carriers.

The second beta of iOS 16 that was released to developers today introduces support for backing up over LTE, according to Apple's release notes for the update.

Apple says that iPhone and iPad users are now able to back up their devices over an LTE connection, in addition to a 5G or WiFi connection.

Since iOS 15, Apple has allowed customers to choose to back up their devices using 5G if a WiFi connection is unavailable, but the option was not present for LTE connections.

LTE connections can be slower and backups can use quite a bit of data, but many cellular plans available today offer unlimited data usage, facilitating LTE backups.

Apple today seeded the second beta of macOS 13 Ventura, the next-generation version of the Mac operating system that's set to launch this fall. The second beta comes two weeks after Apple unveiled the update at WWDC and provided the first beta to developers.

Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer Center and once the appropriate profile is installed, betas will be available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences.

macOS Ventura introduces Stage Manager, a new feature that lets Mac users focus on a task while keeping other apps at the ready for easy swapping between tasks. The update adds Continuity Camera, which is designed to let you use the iPhone as a webcam for your Mac. It supports Center Stage, Desk View (for showing off your desk), and Studio Light.

Handoff is now available for FaceTime so you can transfer calls between ‌iPhone‌, iPad, and Mac at will, and Messages supports features for marking an iMessage as unread, unsending an iMessage, and marking as unread. SharePlay also now works in the Messages app.

The Mail app supports scheduling and undoing emails for up to 10 seconds after they're sent, and there are now Weather and Clock apps that are available on the Mac. System Preferences has been renamed System Settings, and it features an iOS-like design.

Safari supports Shared Tab Groups and Apple is working on Passkeys, a next-generation credential that replaces the password. There are updates to Spotlight, Photo Library has new features, and Metal 3 is included in macOS Ventura for better graphics in games.

For everything new in macOS Ventura, we have a dedicated roundup that goes through all of the features. macOS Ventura is limited to developers at the current time, but Apple plans to make a public beta available in July.

Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the updates coming two weeks after Apple unveiled the new software at WWDC and released the initial betas.

Registered developers can download the iOS and iPadOS 16 profiles from the Apple Developer Center, and once installed, the betas will be available over the air. Given that this is an early beta that could have bugs, it is best to install iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 on a secondary device.

iOS 16 introduces a revamped Lock Screen that offers a new level of personalization and customization through widgets, a notification redesign, and adjustable fonts and colors for the time. Multiple Lock Screens are supported, similar to watch faces, and can be associated with Focus modes.

Focus is easier to set up than before and more customizable, with Focus filters available to cut out distracting content within apps. The Messages app now features tools for editing a iMessage, unsending an iMessage, and marking messages as unread, plus it supports SharePlay, much like FaceTime.

The Mail app has improved search and tools that include undo send, schedule send, and follow up so you can get a reminder to check up on an email if you haven't gotten a response. Safari supports Shared Tab Groups and Apple is working to replace passwords with Passkeys, a more biometrically secure way to log in to accounts.

iCloud Photo Library allows users to more easily share photos with family members, and Live Text is supported in video. There's a neat new feature for lifting the subject from a background with a tap, which is part of Visual Lookup.

Dictation has improved, Maps now supports multi-stop routing, Apple Pay Later lets you split up purchase payments, and the Home app has been entirely overhauled with a new look. On the iPad, the update adds a new Stage Manager feature for more Mac-like multitasking, but it's limited to M1 iPads.

There are tons of other new features in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, with a full rundown on everything available in our dedicated roundup.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 9 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta coming two weeks after Apple unveiled the update at WWDC and provided the first beta to developers.

To install ‌watchOS 9, developers will need to download the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. Once installed, ‌watchOS 8‌ can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software update. To update to new software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery life, it must be placed on the charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌‌iPhone‌‌.

watchOS 9 introduces four new watch faces, including Lunar, Playtime, Metropolitan, and Astronomy, plus it includes updates to some existing watch faces and complications. The ECG app now supports AFib History for tracking how long a person has been in atrial fibrillation.

The sleep tracking feature now includes sleep stages, letting the Apple Watch track when users are in REM, Core, or Deep sleep, and Apple has added a Medications app. The Medications app lets users manage and track their medications, vitamins, and supplements, with reminders when it's time to take them.

Updates to the Workout app add custom workouts and improvements for runners, triathletes, and swimmers. Fitness+ workouts now support streaming to certain third-party TVs for those who don't have an Apple TV, and notifications have been redesigned to be less obtrusive when the watch's screen is active.

Other new features include a CallKit API that allows VOIP calls to be answered on Apple Watch, Apple Watch Mirroring for controlling the Apple Watch with an ‌iPhone‌, Quick Actions for doing more with a double pinch gesture, and updates to the Reminders and Calendar apps.

‌watchOS 9 is limited to developers at the current time, but Apple plans to provide a public beta later this summer ahead of the software's fall launch alongside new Apple Watch models.

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming tvOS 16 update to developers for testing purposes, with the beta coming two weeks after Apple introduced tvOS 16 at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Developers can download the new tvOS 16 beta by downloading a profile onto the Apple TV using Xcode.

tvOS 16 enables cross-device connectivity, a feature that allows developers to integrate ‌Apple TV‌ apps with iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch apps to unlock new experiences on the TV. Apple has also improved how multiple user profiles work in tvOS 16 by adding a shared keychain, so users won't need to sign in and choose their profile when launching an ‌Apple TV‌ app.

Game controller support has been expanded to the Nintendo Joy-Cons and Pro Controller, and HDR10+ support is available in the tvOS 16 ‌Apple TV‌ app. With tvOS 16, the ‌Apple TV‌ will support Matter, an upcoming standard that will improve interoperability between smart home accessories from different companies.

tvOS 16 is limited to developers right now, but Apple will provide a public beta of the software to public beta testers in July.

Volvo-backed electric vehicle maker Polestar today announced that the latest over-the-air update for the Polestar 2 adds CarPlay support, allowing iPhone users to conveniently access commonly used apps from the dashboard, complete with Siri control.

The addition of CarPlay in the Polestar 2 is interesting given that the vehicle's infotainment system is powered by Android Automotive, which is a full-stack operating system running directly on the in-vehicle hardware. Android Automotive is not to be confused with Google's similarly-named CarPlay competitor Android Auto.

In a tweet, Polestar said the over-the-air software update is rolling out to customers incrementally, and noted that the update is also available for installation at Polestar workshops. It's unclear when the rollout will be completed.

CarPlay is available in over 600 vehicle models from dozens of automakers, according to Apple, but some of the most popular electric vehicle brands like Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid Motors have yet to support the feature in their vehicles.

At WWDC 2022 earlier this month, Apple previewed the "next generation" of CarPlay, which includes support for multiple displays in a vehicle and direct integration with a vehicle's speedometer, fuel gauge, climate controls for A/C and heat, and more.

Apple said the first vehicles to support the new CarPlay experience will be announced in late 2023, with committed automakers including Ford, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, Honda, Acura, Jaguar, Land Rover, Audi, Nissan, Volvo, Porsche, and more. Apple said it would share additional information about the new CarPlay experience in the future.

Today we have a pair of deals from ZAGG and Satechi, which recently kicked off summer sales on accessories like iPhone cases, iPad cases, USB-C hubs, wireless chargers, and more.

ZAGG

ZAGG is offering a BOGO sale on its cases from Gear4 today, letting shoppers buy one case and get a second for free for a limited time. This sale covers cases for the iPhone 13 family of devices, as well as the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11. There are also some iPad and Android cases in the sale.

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.

Case styles include clear cases, reinforced drop protection cases, cases with slots for credit cards, and more. All accessories are from Gear4, and the promo won't be activated until you add two compatible cases into your cart.

Satechi

At Satechi, you can save on a variety of the company's charging and dock accessories during its new Summer Sale. This event includes a markdown on a few Satechi devices, with as much as 75 percent off docks, chargers, plugs, and more.

• Aluminum Wireless Charger - $9.99 (75% off)
• USB-C Wireless Charging Dock for AirPods - $14.99 (50% off)
• Dual Smart Outlet - $19.99 (75% off)
• Aluminum Type-C Mobile Pro Hub - $29.99 (50% off)
• Aluminum Type-C Clamp Hub Pro - $29.99 (40% off)
• Type-C Aluminum Monitor Stand Hub for iMac - $49.99 (33% off)

Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a faster M2 chip launches this Friday. Ahead of time, early reviews of the notebook have been shared by some YouTube channels and media outlets, offering a hands-on look at the performance improvements.

The only notable change to the 13-inch MacBook Pro is the M2 chip, which features an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. Apple said the M2 chip has up to an 18% faster CPU, up to a 35% faster GPU, and up to a 40% faster Neural Engine compared to the M1 chip. The new 13-inch MacBook Pro features the same design as the previous model, including the Touch Bar and two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the left side of the machine.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro's headphone jack has also gained support for high-impedance headphones, in line with the 14-inch and 16-inch models.

With the M2 chip, the 13-inch MacBook Pro can be configured with up to 24GB of unified memory, whereas the M1 chip maxes out at 16GB of memory. In line with the previous model, the notebook also supports up to 2TB of SSD storage.

13-inch MacBook Pro pricing continues to start at $1,299 in the United States, with space gray and silver color options available.

Reviews

Many reviews agreed that it might be worth waiting for the redesigned MacBook Air with the M2 chip, which Apple says will be available in July. The new MacBook Air starts at a lower price of $1,199 and features newer design elements like MagSafe charging, a 1080p camera, thinner bezels around the display, physical function keys, and more.

However, one notable difference between the notebooks is that the MacBook Air features a fanless design, while the MacBook Pro has an active cooling system to ensure sustained performance for users with more demanding workflows.

WIRED's Brenda Stoylar:

If you just need a good, new laptop, wait for the upcoming MacBook Air. You get a slightly larger, more modern-looking screen, a better webcam, nicer speakers, and a fast-charging support, all in an overall lighter package (and fun colors!). This MacBook Pro remains an awkward middle child and doesn't bring nearly enough to the table to be worth your while.

Gizmodo's Phillip Tracy:

Viewed in a vacuum, the MacBook Pro 13 is a great laptop with outstanding performance and unbeatable battery life, characteristics that put it ahead of some of its PC rivals. Zoom out and it's hard to see where this model fits within Apple's portfolio. The most direct rival to this entry-level Pro isn't the more premium versions, but rather, the MacBook Air. Not only does the Air have a lower starting price, but it has a larger display, a better webcam, quad speakers, more interesting color options, a slimmer chassis, and the benefit of a traditional shortcut row.

The Verge's Monica Chin:

This would be the perfect device for someone like me — if it weren't for the new MacBook Air. This new MacBook Air, also powered by the M2, is coming very soon. It will be, as far as I can tell from Apple's website, the same price as the M2 MacBook Pro for the same specs in most cases (they level out at the $1,499 mark). But, unlike the MacBook Pro, the M2 MacBook Air did get a big redesign, and it includes all kinds of new features — including new colors, a larger display, a 1080p webcam, and, especially, MagSafe — that this device doesn't have.

Chin shared several benchmarks comparing the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the previous model powered by the M1 chip. Geekbench 5 results confirm the new 13-inch MacBook Pro has up to 18-20% faster multi-core performance than the previous model.

TheStreet's Jacob Krol said the new 13-inch MacBook Pro delivers even more impressive battery life compared to the previous model:

Notably, our battery test beat the promised 20 hours of video playback that Apple was promising. In our testing, the 13-inch MacBook Pro lasted for 23 hours and 15 minutes with a 4K playback test. I also set the brightness to 50% and turned off connectivity during the playback. It's quite impressive, and in day-to-day use, it's tough to make the MacBook Pro die.

I could easily have the 13-inch MacBook Pro last over a full day of use, coming in around 18 hours of full use, and the laptop can sit in standby mode for several days.

More Reviews

• TechCrunch's Brian Heater
• CNET's Dan Ackerman
• Pocket-lint's Stuart Miles
• iMore's Gerald Lynch
• Six Colors' Jason Snell
• TechRadar's Matt Hanson
• Forbes' David Phelan
• Macworld's Roman Loyola
• PCMag's Brian Westover
• CNN Underscored's Mike Andronico

Videos

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess is skeptical that Apple is planning to sell a physical vehicle and believes that the company is focusing on cockpit software instead (via Reuters).

Diess made the comments at the hub.berlin technology conference in Berlin, where Apple is also in attendance represented by its vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, Lisa Jackson. "I'm not sure if Apple will actually bring cars to the market in the end. It would be a big effort," he said, adding that he believes Apple will focus on car cockpit software instead.

The remarks come weeks after Apple unveiled a next-generation CarPlay experience at WWDC 2022, featuring support for multiple large displays, speedometers, fuel levels, climate controls, and more. Users will be able to personalize their in-car experience by choosing different gauge cluster designs and widgets, with the new version of CarPlay effectively offering a wholly Apple-designed experience for all of a car's displays and functions. While the new ‌CarPlay‌ experience is designed so that users never need to exit the system, Apple said that automakers will be able to retain a sense of brand identity with the new system.

Apple said the first vehicles to support the new ‌CarPlay‌ experience will be announced in late 2023. While Volkswagen is not among the automakers that have committed to implement it in new cars, two of the goliath automaker's sub-brands, Audi and Porsche, were included in Apple's list of initial supporters.

Apple has been rumored to be working on a self-driving electric vehicle for around eight years, but a series of development challenges have led to questions about when the project will be officially revealed, if ever. Earlier this year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo warned that Apple's car team had "been dissolved for some time," and needed to be reorganized soon in order for mass production to begin by 2025.

Triggered by ongoing supply chain issues, Apple will now let customers take their devices back home in the event their repair will take longer than expected due to a missing part that's backlogged. Once the part has arrived at the location, customers can return the device to complete the repair.

In the case a customer takes their device back home, they'll be informed when the part needed for their repair arrives. From that day, customers will have five days to return the device back to the service center before the repair is canceled.

The new policy is available in select locations, and it's up to the service center whether or not a customer is eligible to take their device back home as they await repair parts. Logically, this only applies to customers with devices that are functioning and in a usable state.

Apple has been dealing with ongoing supply chain challenges that have impacted the iPhone and the Mac in the last several months. According to sources speaking to MacRumors, repair parts for the MacBook Pro, such as the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ display, are currently taking up to two months to arrive in certain regions.

Other parts, such as the top case for select models of the ‌MacBook Pro‌ and MacBook Air, which includes the battery, keyboard, and internal chassis, could take several weeks.

Apple is not among the founding members of a new "metaverse" standards body that includes Meta, Microsoft, Sony, Epic Games, Nvidia, Adobe, and others (via Reuters).

Announced in a press release, "the Metaverse Standards Forum brings together companies and standards organizations to foster alignment on requirements and priorities for metaverse interoperability standards, and accelerate their development and deployment through pragmatic, action-based projects." The organization seeks to enable communication between a wide range of organizations and companies to give the metaverse "real-world interoperability" and help different visions of the metaverse work with each other.

Over 35 founding members include 0xSenses, Academy Software Foundation, Adobe, Alibaba, Autodesk, Avataar, Blackshark.ai, CalConnect, Cesium, Daly Realism, Disguise, the Enosema Foundation, ‌Epic Games‌, the Express Language Foundation, Huawei, IKEA, John Peddie Research, Khronos, Lamina1, Maxon, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAR Cloud, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Otoy, Perey Research and Consulting, Qualcomm Technologies, Ribose, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Spatial Web Foundation, Unity, VerseMaker, Wayfair, the Web3D Consortium, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the XR Association.

Apple is noticeably missing from the list of members, despite its heavy investment and ongoing work on multiple devices in the augmented-reality and virtual-reality space. Apple has been heavily involved in creating standards in the past, such as HTML5 for the web. It created Thunderbolt with Intel and the "USDZ" file format for three-dimensional content with Pixar and Adobe. Most recently, Apple touted its involvement in developing Matter at WWDC 2022, a new open standard for smart home accessories.

Gaming companies Roblox and Niantic, and crypto-based metaverse platforms like The Sandbox and Decentraland, are also absent from the Metaverse Standards Forum. The forum is open to any organization at no cost, so Apple and others could join in the future.

T-Mobile is the "best" carrier in the United States when factoring in connection speed and reliability, according to PCMag's annual mobile network comparison, the results of which were released today.

PCMag drove over 10,000 miles through 30 cities to test AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon connection speeds. In the past, this study focused on the fastest connections, but this year, PCMag looked for the best overall network. T-Mobile ended up winning in 18 out of 30 cities, while Verizon won in eight and AT&T won in four.

In terms of pure speed, T-Mobile won in 19 cities, Verizon in nine, and AT&T and two, with Verizon hitting the highest download speeds at 3891Mb/s. T-Mobile had the best average download speed across all tests at 264.4Mb/s, beating out Verizon's average speed of 156.8Mb/s and AT&T's average speed of 79Mb/s. T-Mobile also had average upload speeds that beat out Verizon and AT&T.

T-Mobile has improved its service in rural areas, though it still had more data dead zones outside of the rural Northeast than Verizon and AT&T. T-Mobile had the best 5G coverage because of its Sprint acquisition, which came with mid-band spectrum, but AT&T and Verizon may catch up at some point in the future.

PCMag was testing 5G speeds, so the fastest connections will require a 5G smartphone. The testing indicates that on T-Mobile and Verizon, there is a growing gulf between 4G speeds and 5G speeds. Verizon and T-Mobile have "dramatically increased nationwide speeds" thanks to the expansion of mid-band 5G networks, but AT&T's speed has dropped.

All tests were done with the Samsung Galaxy S22+, a device that had the "best network performance" in PCMag's test. Scores were weighted with speed accounting for 60 percent of the score and reliability accounting for 40 percent. Call success, data success, download speeds, upload speeds, and latency were all taken into account.

PCMag's full results can be read over at its website for those interested in a deeper breakdown of the scores achieved by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. The site also has detailed information by region and for each city that was visited.