MacRumors

Apple today released an iOS 12.5.5 update for older iPhones and iPads that are not able to run the current version of iOS, iOS 15.

The update can be downloaded over-the-air by going to the Settings app, tapping on "General," and selecting the "Software Update" option.

There's no word yet on what's included in the iOS 12.5.5 update, but according to Apple's release notes, it is a security update that addresses vulnerabilities with CoreGraphics, WebKit, and XNU. Apple says that it has received reports suggesting these exploits were used in the wild, so iOS device users still running iOS 12 should update immediately.

According to Bleeping Computer, at least one of the bugs was likely used to deploy NSO Pegasus spyware on hacked devices.

Devices unable to be updated past iOS 12 include the iPhone 5s, ‌iPhone‌ 6, ‌iPhone‌ 6 Plus, iPod touch 6, original iPad Air, iPad mini 2, and ‌iPad mini‌ 3.

Update: Apple has also released a new 2021-006 Security Update for machines running macOS Catalina.

Apple today launched a new documentary mini series on YouTube called "The Spark," which the company says is designed to explore the "the origin stories of some of culture's biggest songs and the creative journeys behind them."

The first seven-minute video focuses on "Under the Sun," a new song from singer-songwriter Cuco. Cuco explains his songwriting process and how he came up with the idea for "Under the Sun," a piece that took him more than a year to write.

Apple has been experimenting with short music-focused content on YouTube, and has also debuted a "Play, Pause, Delete" mini game show that asks artists to make tough decisions on "music, culture, and everything in between."

All four iPhone 13 models feature a new Cinematic mode that lets users record video with a shallow depth of field and automatic focus changes between subjects, and TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino spoke with Apple marketing executive Kaiann Drance and designer Johnnie Manzari to learn more about how the feature was developed.

Drance said Cinematic mode was more challenging to implement than Portrait mode for photos given that rendering autofocus changes in real time is a heavy computational workload. The feature is powered by the A15 Bionic chip and the Neural Engine.

We knew that bringing a high quality depth of field to video would be magnitudes more challenging [than Portrait Mode]. Unlike photos, video is designed to move as the person filming, including hand shake. And that meant we would need even higher quality depth data so Cinematic Mode could work across subjects, people, pets, and objects, and we needed that depth data continuously to keep up with every frame. Rendering these autofocus changes in real time is a heavy computational workload.

Manzari added that Apple's design team spent time researching the history of filmmaking and cinematography techniques for realistic focus transitions.

When you look at the design process, we begin with a deep reverence and respect for image and filmmaking through history. We're fascinated with questions like what principles of image and filmmaking are timeless? What craft has endured culturally and why?

Manzari said Apple observed directors of photography, camera operators, and other filmmaking professionals on sets to learn about the purpose of shallow depth of field in storytelling, which led Apple to realize the importance of guiding the viewer's attention.

The full interview goes into more detail about the work that went into Cinematic mode and highlights Panzarino's testing of the feature at Disneyland.

Apple's sixth-generation iPad mini is set to launch this Friday, and ahead of time, the device has started shipping to customers around the world. Track your iPad mini pre-order shipping status with others in the MacRumors forums.

The new iPad mini is essentially an iPad Air mini, as the two devices now share several features, including slimmer bezels, a USB-C port, a Touch ID power button, a 12-megapixel rear Wide camera, and compatibility with the second-generation Apple Pencil. The new iPad mini even goes a few steps beyond the iPad Air with Apple's latest A15 Bionic chip, 5G on cellular models, and an upgraded front camera with Center Stage support.

Equipped with a larger 8.3-inch display, the new iPad mini is available with 64GB or 256GB of storage, and there are four colors to choose from, including Space Gray, Pink, Starlight, and Purple. Pricing starts at $499 in the United States.

The first iPad mini unboxing videos and reviews were shared on Wednesday, and first impressions of the device were generally positive.

While an iPad mini ordered through Apple's website today likely wouldn't arrive to your doorstep until October to November, select Apple Store locations will likely have limited in-store availability of the device starting this Friday.

The European Commission has presented legislation that would compel Apple to use a USB-C port on all iPhones, iPads, and AirPods in Europe (via Reuters).

The proposal, known as a directive, would force all consumer electronics manufacturers who sell devices in Europe to ensure that all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers, handheld videogame consoles feature a USB-C port. This "common port" would be a world first and impact Apple in particular since it widely uses the Lightning connector instead of USB-C on many of its devices.

In 2018, the European Commission tried to reach a final resolution on the issue but it failed to come into law. At the time, Apple warned that forcing a common charging port on the industry would stifle innovation and create electronic waste as consumers were forced to switch to new cables. A European Commission impact assessment study conducted in 2019 found that half of all charging cables sold with mobile phones had a USB micro-B connector, 29 percent had a USB-C connector, and 21 percent had a Lightning connector.

• The EU Wants All Phones to Work With Interoperable Chargers, Here’s What That Means for Apple's Lightning Port

Environmental benefits, reduced waste, convenience, and $293 million in annual savings for users are said to be among the advantages of the new directive.

The draft legislation also proposed that chargers should be sold separately from electronic devices, a move that Apple already started with the iPhone 12 and Apple Watch Series 6 models last year. The European Commission is also planning to revise its eco-design regulations to ensure that external power supplies for devices are interoperable.

In a statement shared with Reuters, Apple said "We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world." The company also expressed concerns about the proposed two-year transition period to switch to USB-C.

The directive now needs to be greenlit by the EU Parliament and national governments, who may suggest amendments, before it can come into law. The European Commission hopes that this will occur in 2022. From that point, companies will have two years to transition to USB-C on their devices.

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.

New images offering us our first real-world look inside the new iPhone 13 have revealed a smaller Taptic Engine, a larger battery, and revamped components of the TrueDepth camera system.

The ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup will start arriving at customers on Friday, a week after pre-orders went live. While a more professional teardown of the device will be shared online in the coming days and weeks, occasional leaker Sonny Dickson has shared on Twitter images that offers us our first look inside of the ‌iPhone‌ 13.

According to the images, which are likely to depict an ‌iPhone‌ 13 or ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini, Apple has made the Taptic Engine smaller on this year's ‌iPhone‌ compared to the ‌iPhone‌ 12. The size reduction was likely part of Apple's effort to free up internal space to make room for a larger battery. Apple boasts that the iPhone 13 has significantly improved battery life compared to last year's ‌iPhone‌ due to the efficiency of the A15 Bionic chip and a physically larger battery, which the images confirm.

With the ‌iPhone‌ 13, Apple has made the notch 20% smaller after years of remaining the same size. To have achieved the smaller notch, the images highlight that Apple had to move the front-facing camera to the left side of the TrueDepth camera system while moving the dot projector and infrared camera to the right side. The images also show the earpiece moved to the top bezel, further enabling a smaller notch.

While there are likely other internal changes, we'll have to wait for a more professional teardown of the device, such as those done annually by iFixit, to learn more. For comparison, check out the teardown of last year's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.

If you just recently installed iOS 15, you may have noticed that Safari has some significant design changes, but there are also a ton of new features you might not have noticed.

In our latest video, we walk through everything that's new in Safari, and it's well worth watching if you want to get the most out of Apple's browser. Make sure to check out our Twitter poll below, and let us know which Safari design you prefer.

For a more detailed rundown of all of the changes and how they work, we also have a dedicated Safari 15 guide.

With iOS 15, Apple introduced a new design and a range of new features, including better support for extensions. Safari in iOS 15 supports web extensions, which can be downloaded and installed through the App Store, so there are a much wider range of extension options for you to choose from.

We've rounded up some of the most useful iOS 15 extensions that we've found so far.

• 1Password (Subscription Required) - For 1Password users, the 1Password extension allows users to input their saved 1Password information in Safari, similar to how it works on the Mac. 1Password can autofill logins, passwords, credit card information, two-factor authentication codes, and more. A 1Password subscription is required, which is priced at $2.99 per month.
• Amplosion ($2.99) - Amplosion redirects Google's AMP pages and links to standard links in Safari, which is a good solution for those who don't like AMP pages. Amplosion, designed by Apollo creator Christian Selig, is open source and designed with transparency so users can verify what the extension is doing.
• Apollo (Free) - Reddit app Apollo has a new Safari extension that's designed to allow the Apollo app to open any Reddit weblink rather than requiring the link to be opened in the Reddit app. If you pair Apollo with Amplosion, Safari will open any Safari Reddit link in the Apollo app automatically, which is great for those who prefer Apollo to the official Reddit app. Apollo is free, but the Pro unlock costs $4.99.
• Achoo - ($0.99) - Another extension created by Christian Selig, Achoo is an HTML viewer and inspector. If you need to see the HTML of a webpage on your iPhone and iPad, this is a simple app worth picking up. You can inspect HTML, copy/paste it, and edit it.
• StopTheMadness ($7.99) - StopTheMadness is a privacy protecting extension that has several functions. It stops Google from loading AMP pages, ends clickjacking in Google search results, Facebook, and Gmail, removes tracking parameters from the ends of URLs, loads unshortened versions of URLs, prevents videos from autoplaying, and more. It's expensive, but for those who want to cut out a lot of the Safari browsing annoyances, it's worth checking out.
• Super Agent (Free) - Super Agent is an extension that automatically fills in cookie consent forms based on your preferences, getting rid of frustrating cookie pop up forms.
• Overamped ($1.99) - Overamped is another extension that is designed to direct AMP and Yandex Turbo to the original sites, disabling AMP and Yandex Turbo in Safari.
• Dark Reader ($4.99) - Dark Reader for Safari brings Dark Mode to every website by adding dark themes for websites that don't support ‌Dark Mode‌ natively. There are controls for adjusting brightness and contrast, swapping between Dynamic and Filter mode, toggling the dark themes off for individual websites, and more.
• Noir ($2.99) - If you have ‌Dark Mode‌ turned on and visit a website that does not support it, Noir will automatically turn it dark so that you're not blinded by a sudden bright webpage with ‌Dark Mode‌ enabled. Noir only activates when a website does not have a ‌Dark Mode‌ option, and you can choose to turn ‌Dark Mode‌ on or off on a site by site basis.
• Convusic ($0.99) - Convusic is a Safari extension that's designed to open any Spotify link in Apple Music. If you're an ‌Apple Music‌ subscriber and often come across Spotify links but still want to hear the songs, this extension offers a solution. When installed, you can choose which app will open music streaming links. It works both ways - Spotify users can set it to open ‌Apple Music‌ songs in Spotify, and ‌Apple Music‌ users can set it to open Spotify songs in ‌Apple Music‌.

Installing Extensions

To install an extension, you need to download the extension app from the ‌App Store‌ and then open up the Safari section of the Settings app. From there, tap on "Extensions" and select the toggle next to the extension you want to enable.

If you want to find more extensions, just tap on the "More Extensions" button to go to the "Safari Extensions" section in the ‌App Store‌.

Alternatively, extensions can also be managed right in the browser window by tapping on the "Aa" button and then choosing the "Manage Extensions" option.

Guide Feedback

Have a favorite extension not listed here or want to offer feedback on this guide? Let us know in the comments below.

Apple is planning to give its Apple Store employees one-time bonuses amounting to up to $1,000, reports Bloomberg. The bonuses will be provided to employees who have been working during the ongoing global health crisis.

Retail employees who were hired before March 31, 2021 will be given $1,000, and employees who joined after that date will be given $500. Employees hired for the holiday shopping season will get $200. Apple plans to provide the bonuses to those who work in retail stores, those who do online sales, and AppleCare staff.

Apple does not often give bonuses to its retail staff. The last bonus went out in 2018 when Apple granted $2,500 in restricted stock units to most of its employees, including those working at Apple Stores. The bonuses were handed out after the introduction of new U.S. tax laws and were given to most employees below a director level.

The $1,000 bonuses will be provided as paychecks rather than as stock units like the prior bonus and are designed as a thank you to employees for their efforts during the pandemic.

Aqara makes a range of HomeKit-compatible smart home devices that are stocked in Apple Stores around the world. This review takes a look at some of Aqara's latest products, including its TVOC Air Quality Monitor and Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1, which launches today.

With these new accessories, I was able to add to the HomeKit setup that I created with some of Aqara's devices earlier this year and put the company's new additions to the smart home to the test.

• Review: Aqara Camera Hub G2H and Sensors Offer Easy Setup and Fast Response Times in Compact Designs
• Review: Aqara's HomeKit H1 Switches, Temperature Sensor, and Hub M2 Expand Any Smart Home With Easy Setup

While Aqara does have its own app for controlling and setting up the accessories, it is possible to control, automate, and manage them entirely through Apple's Home app.

Hub M1S

To connect the new devices, I used the Aqara Hub M1S. The Hub M1S serves as a smart home control center for the wide range of Aqara sensors, controllers, and other child devices using the Zigbee 3.0 protocol, which can connect up to 128 devices. The Hub M1S will also support Matter, a new smart home protocol built by companies including Apple and Amazon, via an over-the-air software update in the future.

In terms of design, the Hub M1S features a compact, circular design with matte white plastic. There is a patterned speaker grille on the front, an RGB 18-LED ring around the outside, and a convenient ‌HomeKit‌ pairing sticker on the top.

Unlike many ‌HomeKit‌ hubs, the M1S plugs directly into a power outlet, with no need for additional cables or adapters. This design is much more convenient, although it comes at the cost of not having an ethernet port for a wired connection to a router. As a result, the Hub M1S connects over Wi-Fi, but I did not notice any significantly slower latency compared to other wired hubs.

The design of the hub itself extends further back than one may expect owing to the need for a built-in adapter, but it is slim enough once plugged in to be discreet and broadly as good-looking as you could hope for with such a device.

The Hub M1S integrates with the Home app seamlessly, initiated by a simple scan of the ‌HomeKit‌ code sticker on the top. The initial pairing process was frustration-free and any subsequent devices paired with the Hub M1S automatically appear in Apple's Home app.

The Hub M1S also supports all four of the native ‌HomeKit‌ alarm modes and features a surprisingly loud two-watt built-in speaker. The speaker does not sound like a high-fidelity component, but since it is not for music, the quality is adequate for brief alerts and can easily project across a large room. Like other Aqara hubs, the Hub M1S uses its speaker to talk you through the setup process and pairing other accessories, and it can also be used to deliver alerts through automations in the Aqara app.

The illumination sensor and RGB LED array are similarly configurable in the Aqara app, with options for brightness and color. While the speaker and the LED ring do not integrate directly with the Home app due to Apple's limitations, they do allow the Hub M1S to be used as an alarm, a doorbell, or even a night light via the Aqara app, in addition to its ‌HomeKit‌ capabilities.

Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1

The Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1 is a new product that allows users to easily retrofit smart home functionality to their existing roller shades by motorizing its beaded cord. The design mirrors other Aqara products with matte white plastic but is surprisingly heavy owing to its motor and internal battery. It feels very substantial and well-built, and is subtle enough to not be an eyesore when attached to a wall.

The Roller Shade Driver features a detachable plastic runner on its rear with screw holes to screw directly into a wall. The correct screws and wall anchors come in the box, as well as an optional adhesive strip. While it does demand screwing into a wall, as any other shade driver would require, the installation process is relatively simple thereafter.

The Roller Shade Driver offers two power modes. You can either operate the device wirelessly, and then recharge its internal battery around every two months via its USB-C port, or leave a power cable inserted all of the time to avoid the need for recharging.

The Roller Shade Driver comes with a selection of four adapters to accommodate different beaded cords, meaning that it should work with most roller shade cords with beads between three to six millimeters thick, as well as both plastic and metal chains. After simply feeding your shade's cord into the adapter, it is very easy to pair the shades to an Aqara hub like the company's other devices using Zigbee 3.0, with a simple press of the pairing button and instant connection with the Aqara hub, which also automatically adds the shades to the Home app.

In the Aqara app, you can tweak the pre-set open and closed positions so that the driver knows when to stop opening or closing the shades and understands percentages within that range. After that, you can use the Home app alone, and set up automations to control the shades, such as based on sunset and sunrise time, or add the shades to scenes and shortcuts. One excellent addition to the design is physical buttons for quick manual control, just in case you do not have a Siri-enabled device nearby and want to close or open the shades.

In day-to-day use, I found the motor to be much quieter than some competing ‌HomeKit‌ roller shade drivers, and also was much less prone to slippage and loss of the exact open and closed positions. Crucially, I have found that reliable connectivity is the biggest problem with some of the existing brands that offer roller shade drivers, but the Aqara Roller Shade Driver's connection was consistently reliable. Its USB-C port for power and manual buttons are also excellent practical advantages over some competing products.

The Roller Shade Driver launches today as the product begins to roll out to a range of countries around the world, starting in Europe and Asia.

TVOC Air Quality Monitor

Aqara's TVOC Air Quality Monitor is a small HomeKit-enabled temperature, humidity, and air quality sensor that can show this information directly on the sensor itself via an e-ink display. This means you can watch changes in real-time and glance at the current metrics without needing to open Siri or use the Home app, but still feeds these metrics to the Home app for when you want that functionality.

Pairing is extremely fast and easy once you have an Aqara ‌HomeKit‌ hub set up, with a simple press of the top button to pair via Zigbee 3.0, which also automatically adds it to the Home app. The Home app displays the sensor's current temperature, humidity, and air quality information, which allows you to use these metrics to trigger automations, in the Shortcuts app, or simply take a glance at the current statuses in the Home app.

The design is very small, slim, and compact, with the front perspex being set into the matte white casing. The back of the sensor is flat and magnetic, allowing users to stick it to a surface like a refrigerator if desired.

The Air Quality Monitor is powered by two small disposable batteries, which Aqara says should power the device for around a year before needing replacement. When attempting to replace the batteries, I found the plastic backplate extremely difficult to pry off, even needing to use a flathead screwdriver to get enough leverage, but thankfully this won't be something you need to do often.

The Bottom Line

With these accessories, Aqara maintains its high standards of design, easy pairing, and reliability. The company's support for ‌HomeKit‌ and focus on seamless integration in Apple's Home app continues to be better than many other smart home brands. Aqara's practical designs, easy setup process, and reliable connectivity are still present with the Hub M1S, Roller Shade Driver, and TVOC Air Quality Monitor.

The Hub M1S, while not quite as full-featured as the Hub M2, has an outstanding minimal design that cuts down on cables, and I wish more smart home brands would embrace this more practical design for their hubs. Added features such as the speaker LED ring make an otherwise unexciting product more useful, even if these aspects do not integrate with the Home app.

The Roller Shade Driver is an affordable and convenient way to upgrade your manual roller shades with smart functionality and offers a distinctively better experience than other competing devices that I have tried. Although the need to screw into a wall may put some users off, once completed, the setup is fairly effortless and it becomes a device that works reliably in the background.

The Air Quality Monitor makes a great addition to any desk with its glanceable e-ink display and minimalist aesthetic, but is also useful within the Home app for any growing ‌HomeKit‌ setup. While it is a little pricey at $44.99, the combination of the e-ink display and ‌HomeKit‌ integration, as well as multiple metrics, will make it worth its cost for many individuals.

How to Buy

• Hub M1S - $49.99 (10% off on-page coupon currently available)
• TVOC Air Quality Monitor - $44.99 (10% off on-page coupon currently available)
• Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1 (available in the UK only to start, expanding to other countries in Europe and Asia over the coming weeks)

Aqara is currently offering a 15 percent discount on the Roller Shade Driver E1 on its Amazon store in the UK with the promo code RSDE1PR1, valid through to September 24, 2021.

Note: Aqara provided MacRumors with a Roller Shade Driver E1, TVOC Air Quality Monitor, and Hub M1S for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Microsoft today announced several new additions to its Surface lineup, introducing an updated high-end Surface Laptop and a revised version of its Surface Duo foldable smartphone.

The Surface Laptop Studio is Microsoft's "most powerful Surface" to date, and it replaces the Surface Book line of laptops. Rather than a removable display like prior models, Microsoft has adopted a design that looks rather similar to Apple's Magic Keyboard. The 14.4-inch display lifts up and can be pulled forward into a tablet mode.

There are actually a total of three modes: laptop, stage, and studio. Laptop looks like a standard laptop computer, while stage is a middle tier mode that allows the display to be pulled forward at an angle for gaming and watching movies, and studio, which is a full tablet mode with the display folded all the way down.

Inside, there's an 11th-generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor and either Intel Iris Xe graphics or an Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti graphics card. It supports 16 to 32GB RAM and up to 2TB of storage, plus 120Hz refresh rates, and it works with the new Surface Slim Pen 2. Pricing starts at $1,600.

Microsoft's other big announcement was the Surface Duo 2, an updated version of the Surface Duo foldable smartphone. The new model, which is slightly larger at 8.3 inches unfolded, adds 5G connectivity to bring it in line with competing smartphones, and it now includes a rear camera system with wide, ultra wide, and telephoto lenses.

The Surface Duo 2 is equipped with Qualcomm's fastest Snapdragon 888 chip, and it continues to feature the same design as the prior model with a prominent hinge that's not hidden under the display. Pricing on the Surface Duo 2 starts at $1,499.

Microsoft also refreshed the Surface Pro lineup with the Surface Pro 8, which gains a 2x faster chip, Surface Slim Pen 2 support, a larger 13-inch display, 120Hz refresh rates, Thunderbolt 4, and improved camera technology. Pricing starts at $1,100. There were also minor updates to the Surface Go 3 and the Surface Pro X, Microsoft's more affordable options.

More on Microsoft's announcements can be found on the Microsoft website, and many of the devices can be ordered starting today.

Apple today seeded the first public betas of upcoming iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 betas, one day after seeding the first betas to developers and just a couple days after releasing iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to the public.

Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS and ‌iPadOS 15.1‌ updates over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website.

SharePlay makes a return in iOS 15.1, with Apple once again testing the feature that was removed before the launch of iOS 15. SharePlay is designed to let users call their friends and family and interact by watching movies, watching TV, or listening to music together.

Apple has added features like shared playlists and TV show syncing so everyone sees the same thing at the same time. SharePlay also has a built-in screen sharing feature, and Apple is still working out the bugs.

Paired with the HomePod 15.1 beta (which is invite only), iOS 15.1 adds Lossless Audio and Dolby Atmos with Spatial Audio support to the ‌HomePod‌ and the HomePod mini, bringing Apple's speakers in line with iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

iPhone users who have a health care provider or state record that uses SMART Health Cards can import their COVID-19 vaccination records into the Health app and can then add a vaccine card to the Wallet app. This is an opt-in feature that uses a global specification, but healthcare providers need to implement it.

Right now, Smart Health Cards are or will be available to those in California, Louisiana, New York, Virginia, Hawaii, and some Maryland counties, as well those who were vaccinated at Walmart, Sam's Club, and CVS Health. Healthcare providers like electronic health record vendors like Epic and Cerner also support Smart Health Cards.

Apple today seeded a new public beta of the macOS 12 Monterey beta to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test the new macOS Monterey software ahead of its public release.

Public beta testers can download the macOS 12 Monterey update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

macOS Monterey introduces quite a few major updates for the macOS operating system. When released, Universal Control will let a single mouse, trackpad, and keyboard be used across multiple Mac or iPad devices, and it's now possible to AirPlay directly to a Mac from an iPhone, ‌iPad‌, or even another Mac.

Safari has an updated tab bar and support for Tab Groups to keep tons of tabs organized, and FaceTime now features support for spatial audio, Portrait Mode (M1 Macs only) and Voice Isolation for cutting out background noise. A SharePlay ‌FaceTime‌ feature (coming in a Monterey update) will let Apple TV users watch TV, listen to music, and share their screens with one another.

Shared With You, another new feature, keeps track of the music, links, podcasts, news, and photos that people are sent in Messages, highlighting it in the relevant apps. Notes has a new Quick Note feature for jotting down thoughts, and the Shortcuts app is now available on the Mac.

A dedicated Focus mode helps people stay on task by cutting out background distractions based on what's going on, and there's an updated Maps app with a whole slew of new features. With Live Text, Macs can now detect text in photos or provide details on animals, art, landmarks, plants, and more in images. The new beta adds Live Text support for Intel Macs.

Mail Privacy Protection hides IP and prevents tracking through invisible pixels, and iCloud Private Relay keeps Safari browsing protected. There are many other new features in ‌macOS Monterey‌, with a complete overview available in our macOS Monterey roundup.

Apple has no plans to allow Fortnite to return to the App Store in the near future, Apple's lawyers told Epic's lawyers this week. Further, Apple does not plan to consider requests for the reinstatement of the Epic Games developer account until the court's judgment is "final and nonappealable," a process that could span years.

Apple provided this information to ‌Epic Games‌ after Epic CEO Tim Sweeney emailed Apple's Phil Schiller and asked for the ‌Epic Games‌ developer account to be reinstated. Sweeney said that Epic would adhere to Apple's guidelines "whenever and wherever" products were released on Apple's platforms, but he went on to explain that Epic would only reinstate Fortnite if Apple adheres to the "plain language of the court order" and allows apps to "include buttons and external links."

As was outlined earlier this month, the judge overseeing the case ruled that Apple must allow developers to provide links to external payment methods alongside in-app purchases if developers want to do so. Apple has until December to implement the court's terms, and the company has not yet decided if it will appeal the decision, nor has it provided details on how the court's "metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action" to direct purchase mechanisms will be interpreted and enacted.

Though Apple was ordered to change its "anti-steering" rules to allow apps to direct customers to other payment methods, the ruling was largely in Apple's favor and found that Apple is not a monopolist under federal or state antitrust laws. Epic, unhappy with this decision and appealed the ruling, prolonging the legal fight between the two companies. Apple too might appeal the judge's decision, but again, has not yet opted to do so.

Apple said that due to Tim Sweeney's public statements on the outcome of the lawsuit and Epic's "duplicitous conduct in the past," it has "exercised its discretion not to reinstate Epic's developer program account at this time." Apple is well within its rights to deny the reinstatement of the ‌Epic Games‌ developer account because the court decided that Epic breached its contract with Apple and Apple's termination of the account was "valid, lawful, and enforceable." Apple has no legal obligation to restore the ‌Epic Games‌ developer account.

Sweeney shared the letters between the two companies on Twitter and said that "Apple lied" when it previously said that it would welcome Epic's return to the ‌App Store‌ if it complied with the ‌App Store‌ rules, but Epic has demonstrated an unwillingness to comply with the ‌App Store‌ terms and Apple may be worried that Epic would just attempt to find another way to skirt the guidelines if the account is reinstated. Apple wants to wait out the appeals process before making a further decision on the matter.

‌Epic Games‌ was also ordered to pay Apple $6 million, which is a 30 percent cut of the revenue that it collected from the Fortnite app using its illicit direct payment option. Epic paid the fee earlier this month.

The photographer Austin Mann has today published his in-depth annual review of the latest iPhone's camera capabilities, this time focusing on the ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro. Mann's tests were performed in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, looking at each of the ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro's camera upgrades, including Macro mode, increased telephoto zoom and Cinematic mode.

Mann said that macro mode, which uses the Ultra Wide lens and allows users to take photos around 2cm away from a subject, is "perhaps the strongest advancement in this year's camera system" and fulfills a clear need for many photographers. Images in Macro mode are still able to be fairly sharp in low-light and amid camera shake. Macro effectively functions "as a fourth lens" and is "not just an iterative increase."

The new 13mm Ultra Wide lens with f/1.8 aperture is said to offer sharper low-light images with faster shutter speeds. While the Ultra Wide still has some lens distortion, according to Mann, the overall sharpness is "drastically improved."

The new 77mm Telephoto camera offers a 33 percent increase in size over the same lens on the ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro, but it is also boosted with a substantially larger sensor. Mann praised the results of these improvements, saying "everything I shoot with the Telephoto feels naturally cinematic and has a different feel than imagery captured by previous models" and "my eye isn't accustomed to seeing this kind of depth compression from my ‌iPhone‌."

Mann also experimented with the new Photographic Styles feature, which allows photographers to finely tune a distinctive look for all of their photos without sacrificing the sense of depth. He commented that Photographic Styles are intentionally "very subtle" and feature "a lot more depth instead of the flat nature of a preset." While Mann noted that photographers are likely to shoot in ProRAW for clients, Photographic Styles "will be perfect" for times "when I just want great looking images right now versus maximum processing control later."

He added that features like Photographic Styles and Smart HDR 4 are among the more nuanced upgrades this year, saying that they "will impact every single photo you take, but not at the same transformative level."

Mann shot a range of video clips in Cinematic mode and was impressed by the ‌iPhone‌'s new computational videography capabilities. He noted that it was particularly impressive that you can change focus at the perfect frame later on in the editing process.

See Mann's full report for many more images and additional information about the technical capabilities of the ‌‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro‌'s improved camera setup.