MacRumors

Apple last week demonstrated its upcoming AR/VR headset to Apple board members, indicating that the device is in an advanced stage of development and could see a debut in the not too distant future, reports Bloomberg. Apple has also ramped up development of the software that runs on the headset, with that software expected to be called "RealityOS," or rOS for short.

Work on a headworn AR/VR device has been ongoing for years now, and Apple's first product is believed to be a hybrid headset that has a curved visor and a soft mesh that fits against the face. It is expected to have an Apple Watch-like strap to hold it in place, and Apple is aiming to make it lighter and more comfortable than other AR/VR headsets that are on the market.

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

Apple has reportedly been working to release the headset since 2019 but there have been multiple delays in 2020, 2021, and now, 2022. Apple has been dealing with issues such as overheating and problems with the camera and the software, which has caused the debut date to be pushed back several times.

Bloomberg suggests that we could see the AR/VR headset as early as the end of the year, though a consumer release isn't planned until 2023.

The AR/VR headset will be Apple's first major new product category since the Apple Watch that came out seven years ago in 2015. Apple is expected to follow the AR/VR headset with a second-generation version and a set of augmented reality smart glasses that are going to launch sometime around 2024.

Apple shipped an estimated 20 million iPhones in North America in the first calendar quarter of 2022, marking notable growth, according to shipment estimates that were shared today by Canalys.

iPhone shipments were up nearly 20 percent from the 17 million iPhones shipped in the year-ago quarter, and Apple's market share hit 51 percent, up from 45 percent.

Apple was the number one smartphone vendor in North America, with Samsung coming in second with 10.5 million smartphones shipped. Lenovo was a distant third with 4 million smartphones shipped, and TCL, Google and others sent out even fewer. Apple, Google, and Lenovo saw market share growth during the quarter, while TCL, Samsung, and other smaller vendors did not.

Canalys attributes Apple's notable growth to the popularity of the ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup, which came out last September. The ‌iPhone‌ 13 models introduced camera improvements, faster A15 chips, battery life improvements, smaller notches, new colors, and more. The $429 5G iPhone SE also helped Apple boost sales during the quarter.

"The North American smartphone market has been buoyed by Apple's strong growth," said Canalys Analyst Brian Lynch. "This quarter, the iPhone 13's high popularity was the key driver. With global demand more uncertain, Apple has shifted more devices back into North America after prioritizing other regions in Q4 2021, allowing it to greater fulfill demand and deliver on backorders from the previous quarter. In addition, the launch of the latest edition of the iPhone SE offers an affordable option for many of North America's fiercely loyal iOS users. Despite not being mmWave-enabled, carriers' increasing investments in C-band and sub-6GHz spectrums will open the door for the iPhone SE's market growth in the coming quarters."

The North American smartphone market reached 39 million units shipped in total, up 3.7 percent compared to last year. Going forward, Canalys believes supply chain issues are going to be a continued problem for smartphone vendors, but the North American market is expected to take priority and "maintain healthy supply levels."

Item tracking company Pebblebee today announced the launch of two new products that are designed to integrate with the Find My app. The Pebblebee Clip and the Pebblebee Card are the latest accessories that can be tracked through the ‌Find My‌ network on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Both the Clip and the Card are similar to Apple's own AirTag and other Find My-compatible tracking devices like the Chipolo ONE Spot. Each one can be added to the items tab in the ‌Find My‌ app with just a couple of taps, and they can be tracked right alongside your other Apple devices.

Like other ‌Find My‌ devices, the Pebblebee Clip and Pebblebee Card take advantage of the ‌Find My‌ network. When attached to an item that is lost or misplaced outside of the range of the item owner, the accessories are able to leverage other nearby Apple devices to relay their position back to the item owner.

The Clip and the Card are unique in that they can also alternatively be used with the Pebblebee app to take advantage of the CrowdGPS network, so Apple's ‌Find My‌ app isn't the only tracking solution when purchasing these trackers. Both ‌iPhone‌ and Android users can use the Pebblebee app, so these are cross-platform compatible. You will need to choose ‌Find My‌ or the Pebblebee app, however, as both do not work simultaneously.

Design wise, the Pebblebee Clip is a standard looking black item tracker with a metal frame, and it is designed to attach to keys, bags, bicycles, luggage, and other valuables. It offers a 500 foot tracking range along with water resistance and a loud buzzer to make it easier to locate. The Clip also includes LED lights that are designed to make it easier to locate in the dark.

The Pebblebee Card is best for wallets, bags, coats, passports, and other similar items. It is made from a soft touch black plastic material and it is the thickness of a couple of credit cards. For comparison's sake, the Pebblebee Card is just about the same size as the Chipolo CARD Spot that we reviewed earlier this year. It has a loud leave behind alert and is able to play a notably loud sound when activated through the ‌Find My‌ app.

Unlike the AirTags, the Clip and the Card feature built-in rechargeable batteries, so there is no need to regularly replace the battery. In the Clip, the battery lasts for up to six months on a single charge, and on the Card, the battery works for up to 12 months on one charge.

Recharging the Card can be done through an included proprietary charging cable that attaches to the item trackers magnetically. You'll need to supply your own power adapter and make sure not to lose the charger, but on the whole, it's a better charging solution than a replaceable battery (or non-replaceable like the Chipolo). The Clip is even easier to charge because it includes a USB-C port and can be charged with any USB-C cable.

The inclusion of a rechargeable battery in the Clip and Card does not make them much thicker than other item tracking solutions. The Card is slim enough to fit inside even a thin wallet, and the Clip is similar in thickness to the AirTag.

The Pebblebee Clip and the Pebblebee Card can be purchased from the Pebblebee website. Each is priced at $30, and there is a Clip four-pack available for $100.

Following several months of beta testing, Nvidia today announced that popular battle royale game Fortnite is now available to all GeForce NOW subscribers via Safari on iOS, complete with optimized on-screen touch controls and game menus.

Fortnite had been unavailable to play on the iPhone and iPad since Apple removed the game from the App Store in August 2020, after developer Epic Games added a direct payment option to the game in violation of the App Store's rules. However, the game can now be streamed on iOS via GeForce NOW or Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming.

MacRumors tested Fortnite on iOS via GeForce NOW while it was in beta for those interested in a hands-on look at the gameplay experience.

GeForce NOW is a cross-platform, subscription-based service that allows users to stream hundreds of games across multiple devices. On the iPhone, the service is only available on the web due to App Store rules. On the Mac, there is a GeForce NOW app available that was recently updated with native support for Apple silicon chips.

GeForce NOW offers a basic, limited membership option available for free, with upgraded membership tiers starting at $9.99 per month.

Apple's AirTag 4-Pack is available for $89.00 today on Amazon, down from $99.00. The accessory is shipped and sold directly by Amazon, and currently only Amazon is offering this sale. There is only a discount on the AirTag 4-Pack right now on Amazon, not on the 1-Pack option.

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.

Earlier this month we saw the AirTag 4-Pack down to around $84, so today's deal is a solid second-best offer on the tracker accessory. Overall, there haven't been many discounts on any version of the AirTag in 2022, so if you've been shopping for the device be sure to check out Amazon soon.

AirTag provides a way to keep track of your items in the iOS Find My app, with a way to play a sound on the built-in speaker to find something locally or with precision finding when it's farther away. Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

Audi today announced that Apple Music will be available directly in the infotainment systems of a large number of its vehicles via a software update.

‌Apple Music‌ integration will give Audi owners the ability to access their personal ‌Apple Music‌ library directly in their vehicle's Multi-Media Interface (MMI) screen, leveraging the in-car data connection, with no need for Bluetooth, a wired connection, or Apple CarPlay.

To activate ‌Apple Music‌, users have to open the ‌Apple Music‌ app on the Audi infotainment system, follow the on-screen instructions to log in with their Apple ID, and enter a verification code sent to their phone. Christiane Zorn, Head of Product Marketing at Audi, said:

Integrating Apple Music into the Audio infotainment system marks the next step in the collaboration between Audi and Apple. For our customers, it means that we are offering them direct access to their own personalized listening experience. This is our understanding of a premium digital in-car experience. At Audi we are systematically driving the digitalization of the vehicle and we are convinced that the interior is increasingly developing into a third living space.

Available in Europe, North America, and Japan, ‌Apple Music‌ integration will be rolled out to "nearly all" existing 2022 model year Audi vehicles via an automatic over-the-air update, and will come in many new Audis as standard. Cellular data streaming costs are billed via a data package available from Cubic-Telekom in Europe and the first three gigabytes are free of charge.

Audi is not the first automaker to integrate ‌Apple Music‌ directly into its infotainment system, with Porsche first announcing the feature in 2019 before expanding to other services like Apple Podcasts. Similarly, Mercedes began to roll out Apple Music integration from summer last year.

Apple chip supplier TSMC is exploring the potential of building a new factory in Singapore to help address the global chip shortage, the Wall Street Journal reports.

TSMC is Apple's sole chip supplier and is responsible for fabricating all of the company's custom silicon chips, such as the A15 Bionic and the M1. While Apple's chip orders have been prioritized over many other companies, limiting the impact of shortages on Apple customers, TSMC has still suffered from global supply chain issues as the world's biggest contract chip maker.

The plans to build a new multi-billion dollar factory in Singapore are still under consideration. According to individuals said to be familiar with the matter, the government of Singapore may help to fund construction of the plant.

The proposed production lines would manufacture chips with seven- to 28-nanometer fabrication processes, which are older production technologies. While Apple's latest chips are manufactured with TSMC's five-nanometer process and therefore could not be manufactured at the new plant in Singapore, the expansion could free up production capacity at other factories where Apple's chips can be manufactured and help to relieve global shortages.

Beyond the plans for a new plant in Singapore, TSMC is also building a $12 billion factory in Arizona to manufacture five-nanometer chips. TSMC's main factories are located in Taiwan, but it already operates a factory in Camas, Washington, as well as design centers in Austin, Texas and San Jose, California, meaning that the Arizona facility will be its second manufacturing site in the United States. TSMC is also building a new factory in Japan with help from the Japanese government and investment by Sony.

Privacy-focused browser Brave has updated its iOS app with a new Privacy Hub feature that displays a summary of the trackers it has blocked for specific sites or over a given time span.

Similar to Safari’s Privacy Report, the new Privacy Hub in version 1.38 of the browser is designed to educate users about trackers and other privacy threats Brave is blocking.

This update also improves protections against fingerprinting for iOS. Fingerprinting is a technique used to identify and track people by combining multiple semi-identifiers (slight differences of each person’s browser, such as the size of the browser window or computer hardware details) and combining them into a single, unique identifier.

Brave for iOS now protects against fingerprinting by adding small amounts of randomization to fingerprintable APIs rather than disabling them, which can break websites, making for a smoother, more private browser experience.

In addition, Brave has added a certificate viewer to its iOS app, allowing users to confirm that they are visiting a real site and not a spoofed copy. To view a page’s certificate, users can tap the lock icon in the URL bar, and they can then verify if a certificate is valid or revoked, trusted or not, or compliant (or not) with standards.

Brave has gained momentum and popularity in recent years for its privacy focus. Last year, Brave dropped Google as its default search engine and replaced it with the more privacy-oriented Brave Search, which uses an independent index and doesn't track users or their searches. Brave for iOS is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Disney is launching a cheaper, ad-supported version of its Disney+ streaming service later this year, and reports this week revealed how the company plans to run fewer ads on the cheaper plan than some rival streamers.

Disney says it intends to run ads for four minutes on movies and shows that last an hour or less, according to Variety and The Wall Street Journal.

That's the same as HBO Max, less than NBC's Peacock, which runs no more than five minutes of ads every hour, and less than Disney's own Hulu, which runs anywhere between nine and 12 minutes for every hour of content. For context, viewers of traditional TV are usually exposed to between 18 and 23 minutes of ads per hour, according to data from Kantar.

Disney also confirmed to TechCrunch that preschool programming will not have any commercials whatsoever. In other words, preschool kids who use their own profile to watch Disney+ on the cheaper plan won't see any ads.

Disney has yet to reveal the price of the ad-supported plan, which is set to debut in the U.S. in late 2022, but Disney executives suggested during the company's recent earnings call that once the cheaper plan launches there will likely be a price increase to the existing ad-free plan, which is currently $7.99 a month.

Netflix is planning to introduce a new ad-supported tier in the final three months of the year, with the plan aimed at attracting new subscribers who find the current pricing unaffordable. Netflix has long resisted implementing an ad-supported tier and has said multiple times in the past that the streaming service would never show ads, but it is hemorrhaging subscribers.

Disney in June 2021 also said that it had no plans to introduce a cheaper ad-supported tier anytime soon because it was satisfied with its paid subscriber model, but then the company changed its tune in March.

Other entertainment companies like Discovery, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, and Paramount have launched ad-supported subscription tiers to offer content at multiple price points. When Disney+ launches its ad-supported tier, it will make Apple TV+ one of the only services not to offer a cheaper streaming option.

Right now, ‌‌Apple TV‌+‌ is priced competitively even with ad-based services at $4.99 per month, but Apple does not have the wealth of content that other streaming services are able to offer.

YouTube has added a new playback feature to its web player and mobile apps that helps users identify the most replayed parts of a video they're watching (via TechCrunch).

Going forward, a gray graph will appear along the top of the video progress bar. "If the graph is high, then that part of the video has been replayed often," says YouTube. "You can use the graph to quickly find and watch those moments."

The feature is being pitched as particularly beneficial for longer videos or those that haven't been broken down into sections using timestamps or chapters, allowing users to scrub through any YouTube video to find the most interesting parts.

Previously the feature was as an experiment that only YouTube Premium subscribers could access, but it's now available to anyone who uses YouTube from a browser or the company's official iOS and Android apps.

YouTube announced the feature alongside a number of other changes designed to make longer videos easier to navigate, including a new way to loop parts of videos, and a forthcoming experiment for Premium subscribers that lets users to "seek to the exact moment in a video that you want to watch."

Apple CEO Tim Cook this week met with Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, where the two reportedly discussed trade, investment, and finance.

According to Vietnamese news site SGGP (via iMore), Chinh said that the Vietnamese Government wants to create a "fair, transparent, and market-based business environment" to enable U.S. firms and investors to gain ground in Vietnam.

Vietnam has 31 companies that employ 160,000 workers that are producing and assembling electronic parts and equipment for Apple products, and Chinh asked Cook to step up Apple's business activities in Vietnam.

Cook in turn thanked Vietnam for creating a "favorable business environment for Apple's operations," and he told Chinh that Apple does indeed want to extend its supply chain in the country.

Over the course of the past couple years, reports have suggested that Apple is shifting more of its production to countries like Vietnam and India in order to diversify its supply chain and manufacture more products outside of China. Apple has started assembling some AirPods Pro, iPads, and HomePod mini devices in Vietnam.

Apple supplier Foxconn in January 2021 was granted a license to create a $270 million plant in Vietnam after Apple asked the company to move some iPad and MacBook assembly from China to Vietnam.

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 an iTunes 12.12.4 update for Windows, with the new software adding several security fixes to address vulnerabilities.

According to Apple's security support document for the new Windows version of iTunes, it includes fixes for AppleGraphicsControl, ImageIO, Mobile Device Service, WebKit, and more.

Apple did not mention that the exploits were found in the wild, but iTunes for Windows users should still update to the latest version when possible. There are no other outward-facing changes, with iTunes 12.12.4 focusing on under-the-hood improvements.

iTunes for Windows can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store or from Apple's website.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.5 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new update coming two days after the release of macOS Monterey 12.4.

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

There's no word yet on what new features or changes might be included in macOS Monterey 12.5, but if we find anything new after installing the software, we'll update this article.

Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the new software coming two days after the launch of iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5.

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.

We don't yet know what might be introduced in iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6, as Apple has now implemented all of the features that were announced as coming in the iOS and iPadOS 15 updates, and work on iOS 15 is likely winding down with iOS 16 approaching.

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. We'll get our first glimpse at iOS 16 on June 6, the first day of the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Apple has also seeded initial betas of tvOS 15.6 and watchOS 8.7.

Alongside iOS 15.6, iPadOS 15.6, and macOS Monterey 12.5, Apple has also seeded new betas of tvOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, and HomePod 15.6 to developers for testing purposes.

tvOS 15.6 can be installed by downloading a profile onto the ‌Apple TV‌ using Xcode, while watchOS 8.7 can be downloaded over the air after installing the configuration profile from the Apple Developer Center. As for the ‌HomePod‌, the beta software is limited to a select number of testers and it is not widely available to all developers.

At the current time, we do not know of any new features available in the betas, but we will update this article should anything notable be found.

In collaboration with the Metal engineering team at Apple, PyTorch today announced that its open source machine learning framework will soon support GPU-accelerated model training on Apple silicon Macs powered by M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, or M1 Ultra chips.

Until now, PyTorch training on the Mac only leveraged the CPU, but an upcoming version will allow developers and researchers to take advantage of the integrated GPU in Apple silicon chips for "significantly faster" model training.

A preview build of PyTorch version 1.12 with GPU-accelerated training is available for Apple silicon Macs running macOS 12.3 or later with a native version of Python. Performance comparisons and additional details are available on PyTorch's website.

Apple's stock opened at $146.85 today and continues to trend downwards, with shares currently trading below the $143 mark in today's session. Apple's stock price has declined approximately 20% since closing at $178.44 on April 4.

The stock market has experienced broader losses since the start of April, with the S&P 500 down around 13% and the Dow Jones down around 8.5% over that period. Many other tech companies are in a similar boat, with Google parent company Alphabet's and Microsoft's stocks also down around 20% since early April as two larger examples.

Apple has been financially successful during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the company recently setting a new March quarter revenue record of $97.3 billion. However, on an earnings call last month, Apple said supply constraints caused by COVID-related disruptions and industrywide silicon shortages were impacting the company's ability to meet customer demand, resulting in lengthy shipping estimates for devices like the MacBook Pro.

Apple today shared a new ad highlighting iPhone privacy features like App Tracking Transparency and Mail Privacy Protection that are designed to give users more transparency and control when it comes to their personal data being collected.

The ad revolves around a young woman named Ellie who discovers that her personal data is being sold at an auction house, with bids being placed on her iPhone's emails, purchase history, location data, contacts, browsing history, and more. Upon realizing that her data is being sold, Ellie makes use of App Tracking Transparency and Mail Privacy Protection, at which point the auctioneer and bidders suddenly begin to vanish into thin air.

In a white paper last year, Apple said that the average mobile app has six embedded trackers from third-party companies for the "sole purpose of collecting and tracking people and their personal information," fueling an industry valued at $227 billion per year. Apple's message behind its new ad is that the iPhone allows users to limit this tracking.

App Tracking Transparency, for example, allows users to choose whether an app can track their activity across other companies' apps and websites for the purposes of advertising or sharing information with data brokers. On devices running iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, tvOS 14.5, or later, apps that wish to track a user based on their device's unique advertising identifier can only do so if the user allows it when prompted.

In the Mail app, Mail Privacy Protection prevents email senders from learning information about a user's email activity. When the feature is enabled, it hides the user's IP address and prevents senders from seeing if the user opened their emails. The feature was introduced as part of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, and watchOS 8.

The ad comes as Apple has been advocating against regulations like the European Union's proposed Digital Markets Act, which would require Apple to allow sideloading of apps on the iPhone outside of the App Store. In recent months, Apple's CEO Tim Cook and software engineering chief Craig Federighi have both argued that sideloading would expose iPhone users to privacy and security risks.

Alongside the ad, Apple said it will be launching a billboard campaign in select U.S. cities with the slogan "Privacy. That's iPhone."