MacRumors

Telegram Messenger has released a new update for iPhone and iPad that lets users set a custom sound for notifications, in addition to a number of other new features.

Following the update, custom alert tones can be created in the app from short audio files and voice messages that are under five seconds and up to 300KB in size.

Multiple custom alerts can be created and assigned to individual chats or entire groups of chats, and Telegram has set up its own Notification Sounds channel with some samples to get users started.

For those who don't want to be constantly inundated by notifications, this update also introduces custom mute durations. Telegram users have long been able to temporarily mute chats for pre-defined durations, but now it's also possible to pause notifications for a specific custom duration.

Each chat has been given a streamlined menu for modifying alerts, where users can choose Disable Sound to receive notifications silently, or one of the Mute options to turn off notifications completely.

Elsewhere in this update, Telegram has improved in-app message translation in iOS, added a new interface for changing phone numbers, and thrown in more animated emoji including a "Food that moves" category.

Further details about other more nuanced changes and improvements to the Telegram interface can be found on the developers' blog. Telegram version 8.7 is available now on the App Store for ‌‌iPhone‌‌ and ‌‌iPad‌‌.

Back in July, rumors suggested that Apple was pursuing streaming rights for the National Football League's "Sunday Ticket" package, and as of this week, there is a report suggesting that the deal could already be done.

NFL Sunday Ticket has been described as "Apple's to lose" by Matthew Belloni of Puck News in a report that's been making the rounds today. In fact, he says that the deal is "actually done" according to one of his sources, and is being kept quiet at the behest of Apple.

My sources say it's Apple's to lose, at this point. (One source told me this weekend that the deal is actually done and is being kept quiet at Apple's request, which I haven't confirmed and don't know for a fact; Apple isn't commenting.) That would make sense: Even after winning top Emmys and the best picture Oscar, C.E.O. Tim Cook has said Apple is merely in its early days of premium video, and nothing is more premium than NFL football. Plus, it would explain Apple's recent foray into live events and advertising with MLB games.

Given that the information comes from unspecified sources and has yet to be confirmed, it should be viewed with some skepticism at this point. Apple was in talks with NFL executives last year, but there was competition from other TV networks and tech firms like Amazon.

Sunday Ticket airs on DirecTV, but rights are up for auction as the NFL's DirecTV deal is expiring after the 2022 season. DirecTV paid around $1.5 billion for the games, but whoever wins the rights for the 2023 season will likely pay around $2.5 billion.

Should Apple win the bid for Sunday Ticket, out-of-market fans will be able to watch non-prime time games from all 32 NFL teams on Apple TV+. Sunday Ticket would join Friday Night Baseball, which Apple airs each Friday as part of a deal with Major League Baseball.

T-Mobile provided the fastest cellular service in the United States during the first quarter of 2022, according to Ookla. For those unfamiliar, Ookla is the company behind the popular Speedtest bandwidth measurement service, and it regularly releases reports on connectivity speeds.

The median T-Mobile download speed was 117.83Mb/s on modern chipsets, while Verizon came in second with median download speeds of 62.62Mb/s, and AT&T placed third with 56.10Mb/s. T-Mobile's median connectivity speeds have increased since the fourth quarter of 2021, when it was measuring in at 90.65Mb/s.

When considering just 5G connectivity, T-Mobile again had the fastest median download speed at 191.12Mb/s, followed by Verizon at 107.25Mb/s and AT&T at 68.43Mb/s.

T-Mobile has the largest 5G network of the three carriers because it has used 600MHz low-band spectrum for 5G coverage across the United States. 5G coverage from AT&T and Verizon is more limited in availability at this time, but it can also hit higher maximum speeds in urban areas.

T-Mobile and Verizon tied for lowest median latency at 31 ms, with AT&T coming in at 34 ms. T-Mobile also won the top "consistency score" with 88.3 percent of results showing at least 5Mb/s download and 1Mb/s upload speeds. Verizon came in second at 84.6 percent and AT&T was third at 82.1 percent.

Minnesota, the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Illinois, and New Jersey had some of the fastest median download and upload speeds in the United States during the quarter, with St. Paul, Minnesota winning out as the city with the fastest speeds (136.72Mb/s median download speeds).

Ookla's website has additional carrier-specific information about connectivity speeds in the United States, with details available in its full Q1 2022 report.

ZAGG is marking the end of tax season with a new sitewide sale that's taking 25 percent off all of ZAGG and Mophie's best charging and protection accessories. This discount does not require any coupon code and will be applied automatically in the cart.

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.

In regards to Mophie products, this includes wireless chargers, power banks, and battery cases. This will exclude items that are already marked down, and you can only get 25 percent off up to three items. ZAGG's sale will last through tomorrow, April 19 at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time.

There are a variety of power banks on sale at Mophie, including the Snap+ Juice Pack Mini, which is compatible with iPhone 12 and 13 MagSafe and is down to $37.46, from $49.95. There are regular portable batteries as well, including the Powerstation XXL ($44.96), Powerstation Ultra ($59.96), and more.

For higher-priced items, you can save big on Mophie's 4-in-1 Wireless Charging Mat, discounted to $112.46 during the sale, down from $149.95. Mophie also sells a 3-in-1 Travel Charger with MagSafe, priced at $112.46, down from $149.95.

There are plenty of other accessories on sale during this event, including car mounts, Apple Watch chargers, iPhone battery cases, screen protectors, and audio equipment. You can head to ZAGG's website to browse the full sale across all of its brands before the sale ends tomorrow. Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

Gallaudet University has announced that Apple CEO Tim Cook will deliver the university's commencement address next month. Located in Washington, D.C., Gallaudet says it is the only university in the world where Deaf and hard of hearing students live and learn bilingually in American Sign Language and English.

Cook will speak alongside Gallaudet University student Molly Feanny, who will be the undergraduate student speaker at the commencement.

"I am beyond proud and honored to share that Tim Cook will be our 2022 commencement speaker," said Roberta J. Cordano, president of Gallaudet University. "Tim is a remarkable visionary, truly one of the great CEOs of our time who, without question, will leave a lasting imprint for generations to come. As the leader of one of the most admired brands in the world, Tim has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to diversity, inclusion, representation and accessibility – values that matter deeply to our Gallaudet community and so many other underrepresented groups."

The announcement comes after Apple TV+ film "CODA" won an Academy Award for Best Picture. The film revolves around a young woman named Ruby, the sole hearing member of a Deaf family. Using sign language, Ruby acts as an interpreter for her parents while working for her family's struggling fishing boat business. Cordano said the film is "one the most authentic representations of deaf people and their families in the history of cinema."

Gallaudet's 152nd undergraduate commencement ceremony will take place on Gallaudet's campus on Friday, May 13 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

Cook has delivered commencement addresses at several universities in the United States, including Stanford, Duke, Auburn, MIT, and others.

Apple's 64GB Wi-Fi iPad has dropped to a new all-time low price of $289.99 today on Amazon, down from $329.00. This sale price will only appear once you reach the checkout screen and a coupon worth $19.01 is automatically applied to the order

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.

This time, the sale price is only available in Silver, and among the major Apple resellers only Amazon has this low of a markdown. Shipping has been slightly delayed, and delivery estimates mark May 4-6 for free Prime delivery. This sale will likely expire soon, so be sure to lock in the deal now before delivery slips even more.

For even more iPad deals, head to our full Best Deals guide for iPad. In that guide we track the best discounts online for iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro.

Apple is still working on a new HomePod product that combines a speaker, Apple TV functions, and a FaceTime camera, according to reliable Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.

In the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said he "absolutely" thinks that a new ‌HomePod‌ is coming that will likely be "at the center of Apple's approach" to the home.

Q: Do you think a new HomePod or home device is still coming?
A: I absolutely do think a new HomePod is coming — specifically, a device that combines a HomePod, Apple TV and FaceTime camera. I don't think a big stand-alone HomePod is still in development, but perhaps a new HomePod mini is coming. In any case, the combination product will probably be at the center of Apple's approach, with HomePod minis surrounding that throughout the home.

Gurman first suggested last year that Apple was working on a combined ‌Apple TV‌ with ‌HomePod‌ speaker that has a camera for video calls through a connected television set. In April 2021, Gurman said the device's other capabilities would include standard ‌Apple TV‌ box functions like watching video and gaming plus smart speaker uses such as playing music and using Apple's Siri digital assistant.

At the time of the original report, the product was said to be in the early stages, and that Apple could choose not to launch the product or change key features. However, based on Gurman's latest reading of the situation, Apple's original plans are still firmly in place.

Apple discontinued its original high-end ‌‌HomePod‌‌ in March 2021, which left many wondering if the company was working on a successor. The HomePod mini, a smaller version of the ‌HomePod‌ which launched in 2020, has been much more popular thanks to its lower price, so it wouldn't be surprising if Apple eventually launched another version of the ‌HomePod mini‌ down the line with new features, as Gurman suggests. But what a device would look like that combines a ‌HomePod‌, ‌Apple TV‌, and ‌FaceTime‌ camera still remains unclear.

In a rare media interview, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, Johny Srouji, discussed Apple's transition to Apple silicon for the Mac, the challenges of developing chips for the Mac amid a global health crisis, and more.

The interview with The Wall Street Journal offers a unique glimpse at Srouji, who is often seen during Apple events discussing Apple's latest chip for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac and serves on Apple's leadership team.

Srouji joined Apple in 2008 and was tasked with leading the development of chips for the ‌iPhone‌ and in 2015 Srouji joined the company's leadership, reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook. Through his work leading the team that builds chips for all of Apple's products, Srouji's team's influence and importance in product development at Apple grew significantly over the years, according to a former Apple manager.

A former engineering manager said Mr. Srouji's team had become central to product development and his influence quietly grew over the years, especially as he demonstrated the ability to balance engineering needs and business imperatives.

Srouji's team at first consisted of around 45 engineers, but now includes over a thousand spread out across the world. One challenge that Srouji's team was uniquely equipped to handle was the global health crisis, which pushed remote work to become the norm.

"What I learned in life: You think through all of the things you can control and then you have to be flexible and adaptive and strong enough to navigate when things don't go to plan," Mr. Srouji, Apple senior vice president of hardware technologies, said in a rare interview. "Covid was one for example."

As the global health crisis began, Apple was in the stages of validating the M1 chip, the company's first Apple silicon chip for the Mac. The validation process includes engineers carefully inspecting the chips, their transistors, and every component. Due to the circumstances deeming this impossible, Srouji's team had to set up cameras throughout labs that they would then use to remotely inspect each and every chip.

Delaying the progress of new chips wasn't an option. So Mr. Srouji worked to design a new testing process on the fly. The team set up cameras throughout the labs so engineers could inspect the chips remotely, people familiar with the work said. It was the kind of change that would have once been hard to imagine from Apple, where secrecy and control are paramount.

In part, the operation was able to pivot so seamlessly because Mr. Srouji's team is spread out around the globe, already accustomed to conducting business through video calls and working across time zones as they coordinated work in far-flung locations such as San Diego and Munich, Germany, two places where the company is investing billions to expand into designing chips for its wireless-technology capabilities.

A more technical challenge that Srouji's team faced was building Apple silicon chips for that Mac that tailor to the wide range of Mac products, from the lowest-end MacBook Air to the highest-end Mac Pro that currently costs well into the tens of thousands of dollars.

As Apple’s hardware engineers sought to design the chips as efficiently as possible for its particular needs, the company’s software designers tuned the computers to favor the specifications it most desired, such as smooth videogame graphics.

"First and foremost, if we do this, can we deliver better products?" Mr. Srouji said of the debate. "That's the No. 1 question. It's not about the chip. Apple is not a chip company."

Next, he said, the team had to figure out if it could deliver and execute while building up the muscle to handle more products and predicting where technology was going. Apple would need to stay on top of developing components for next-generation products while pumping out hundreds of millions of devices a year.

"I don’t do it once and call it a day," Mr. Srouji said. "It is year after year after year. That’s a huge effort."

Behind closed doors, Srouji is "known for demanding hard truths with the axiom that his meetings focus on problems, not successes," according to the report.

Apple's latest and most powerful chip, the M1 Ultra, is a combination of two M1 Max chips put together. As for what's next for the Mac and Apple as a whole, Srouji remained tight-lipped in typical Apple fashion, saying "I’m not going to talk about any of that."

A photo claiming to show molds of Apple’s upcoming iPhone 14 series models has appeared online, offering another preview of the relative sizes of the rumored devices.

It's worth bearing in mind that the molds shown in the image sourced from Weibo have likely been made for use in the production of third-party iPhone cases rather than actual handsets. Still, they do appear to line up with unconfirmed details we've been hearing over recent months, particularly with regard to the dimensions of the devices.

The first notable difference in the lineup is the lack of an iPhone mini model. iPhone sizes are changing in 2022, and Apple is eliminating the 5.4-inch iPhone as it turned out to be unpopular with customers.

After seeing lackluster iPhone mini sales, Apple is offering larger iPhone sizes for its flagship devices: A 6.1-inch iPhone 14, a 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, and a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max. The iPhone 14 models are expected to look like the iPhone 13 models with the same flat-edged design.

Slight camera bump size changes are expected across the lineup. According to ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max schematics shared by Max Weinbach, the camera bump on the 2022 high-end ‌iPhone‌ will be 4.17 mm thick, or 0.57 mm larger than the bump on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

The space that the bump occupies on the back of the ‌‌iPhone‌‌ will also increase in size by about 5% in each dimension, going from the current width of 35.01 mm to 36.73 mm and height of 36.24 mm to 38.21 mm. We've yet to learn what the relative changes on the standard iPhone 14 models could be.

These camera bump changes are also expected to usher in improvements to the Ultra Wide camera. Rumors have suggested the iPhone 14 Pro models could see significant improvements to the wide-angle camera and updates to the telephoto lens.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the 2022 Pro iPhone models will feature a 48-megapixel Wide camera, which would be a major improvement over the current 12-megapixel camera, and 8K video recording capabilities.

While the image only shows the rear of the devices, the 2022 iPhone 14 Pro models are expected to eliminate the notch in favor of some combination of a circular hole-punch cutout for the camera paired with a pill-shaped cutout. This change is expected to be limited to the Pro models, while the standard iPhone 14 models will continue to feature the notch.

Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 14 models at an event that's likely to be held in September 2022, if Apple follows previous launch timelines. Be sure to check out our dedicated guides for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro for much more information on what we know.

We're less than two months out from WWDC, and Apple-related rumors are surfacing with increasing frequency. The latest batch includes an overview of upcoming Macs based on the next-generation M2 chip family, plans for the Apple Watch Series 8 and future models, what might be Apple's first USB charger with multiple ports, and a few software details about iOS 16.

Other news this week included an Apple goof that saw users temporarily unable to update the firmware on their Studio Displays, lots of discussion about Meta's plan to take nearly 50% commissions on virtual goods in the metaverse even as it argues against Apple's App Store commissions, and more, so read on for all of the details!

Apple Testing at Least Nine New Macs With Four Different M2 Chip Variants

Apple is internally testing several variants of the next-generation M2 chip and the updated Macs that will be equipped with them, reports Bloomberg, citing developer logs. There are "at least" nine new Macs in development that use four different M2 chips that are successors to the current M1 chips.

The machines include M2-based MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini models, while more powerful 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models and a new Mac Pro will use M2 variants such as the M2 Pro and M2 Max and a successor to the M1 Ultra currently found in the high-end Mac Studio.

New Apple Watch Health Features Coming This Year, but Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar Sensors Delayed

We're expecting to see as many as three new Apple Watch models later this year, and while it looks like we may be getting some new health-related features such as a body temperature sensor on the most advanced models, a couple of long-rumored sensors for blood pressure and blood sugar don't appear to be ready for prime time yet.

Some of those features will be integrated with new health-related enhancements in iOS 16, which we're also starting to hear a bit about. It sounds like we won't be getting a significant redesign, but there will be some tweaks to notifications and other aspects.

Apple's Rumored Dual USB-C Port Charger Allegedly Shown in Leaked Images

Following last week's discovery of a premature mention of an upcoming 35W dual USB-C charger from Apple, we've now seen some alleged leaked images of the U.S. version of the device, which includes foldable prongs and ports on the side of the charger.

There's been a bit of confusion as similar chargers from Mophie and white-label knockoff accessory makers are also surfacing, but it looks like Apple will also be getting into the game.

Studio Display Update Issue Fixed as Apple Addresses Code-Signing Issue

Over the weekend, users of Apple's new Studio Display found themselves unable to update the firmware of the device due to an apparent oversight by Apple which left the latest version unsigned by Apple for several days.

When Apple stopped signing iOS 15.4 earlier this month to help keep users on the latest iOS 15.4.1 update, it appears the company forgot there was no 15.4.1 update available for the Studio Display, leaving no current version authorized by Apple for installation. The issue was resolved by Apple on Monday, and users are once again able to update their displays.

Apple Says Plan for Nearly 50% Commission on Metaverse Purchases 'Lays Bare Meta's Hypocrisy'

While Meta, better known as Facebook, and founder Mark Zuckerberg have repeatedly slammed Apple's 15–30% commissions on App Store in-app purchases, Meta has revealed that it will be taking a nearly 50% commission on digital assets in its "metaverse."

The revelation immediately sparked comments about Meta's hypocritical stance on commissions, and Apple wasn't shy about weighing in, saying that it "goes to show that while they seek to use Apple's platform for free, they happily take from the creators and small businesses that use their own."

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

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The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple's annual developer and software-oriented conference, is now less than two months away. In line with previous years, Apple is likely to introduce major updates to all of its operating systems, including watchOS 9, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, and tvOS 16, bringing new functionality and a more refined experience to existing devices.

While rumors about macOS 13 and tvOS 16 remain purely speculative, there are growing indications from reliable sources about some of the specific features we can expect in watchOS 9, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16.

watchOS 9

watchOS 8 brought ID card and keys in the Wallet app, a redesigned Home app, new workout types, the Mindfulness app, updates to Sleep tracking, a Portrait mode watch face, Focus modes, and more. From what we know about watchOS 9 so far, it looks like Apple will focus on several system features, as well as health monitoring, activity tracking, and Workout app improvements.

The current picture of watchOS 9 comes from multiple reports from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, The Wall Street Journal and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Gurman believes that watchOS 9 will be a "significant" update.

System Features

• Refresh of existing watch faces
• Low Power Mode to run some apps and features using less battery life
• Crash Detection feature, similar to Fall Detection, capable of recognizing a car accident by measuring a sudden change in g-force, contacting emergency services, and sending location data

Health Monitoring

• Improved health tracking
• Improved atrial fibrillation detection by calculating "burden," a measure of how long a person is in a state of atrial fibrillation across a certain period

Activity and Workout App Improvements

• Improved activity tracking
• More workout types
• Additional metrics for running workouts

According to Kuo, watchOS 9 may drop support for the Apple Watch Series 3 because its computing power will not be able to meet the requirements of a new operating system. watchOS 9 would therefore only be available for the Apple Watch Series 4 from 2018 or newer.

The Apple Watch Series 3 was released in September 2017, making it almost five years old. It is the oldest device to support the latest version of watchOS 8, but its S3 chip significantly lags behind the Apple Watch SE's S5 chip and Apple Watch Series 7's S7 chip in terms of performance. The Apple Watch Series 3 is also the only remaining Apple Watch to feature the older, thicker Apple Watch design with large bezels and angular corners around the display.

Following the iOS 14.6 and watchOS 7.5 updates last year, Apple Watch Series 3 users have to unpair and re-pair the device from its linked iPhone when updating watchOS because the Apple Watch does not have enough internal storage to complete an update independently.

While the unveiling of major new versions of Apple's operating systems usually takes place at WWDC in early June, the updates themselves are not typically released to the public until the fall, which would coincide with when Kuo believes Apple will discontinue the Apple Watch Series 3 and launch new Apple Watch models.

iOS 16

iOS 15 introduced a redesigned notifications system and Focus modes, Spatial Audio and SharePlay in FaceTime calls, Live Text, ID cards in the Wallet app, and new privacy features, as well as redesigns for Safari, Maps, Weather, and Notes. iOS 16 is shaping up to address notifications once again while adding a considerable number of refinements to the Health app.

Gurman is the origin of many of the rumors about iOS 16's Health app, Apple Fitness+, and system features, but there have also been hints from The Wall Street Journal.

System Features

• Enhanced notifications
• New ways to interact with apps
• Crash Detection feature, the same as in watchOS 9
• Preliminary support for Apple's mixed-reality headset

App Improvements

• Expanded sleep tracking information in Health
• New medicine management feature to scan pills and get reminders to take them in Health
• New women's health features in Health
• New Apple Fitness+ workout types
• "Fresh" Apple apps

Apple Music

• Optional Apple Music app for classical music with specializations for classical music metadata
• User interface based on Primephonic
• "Visual, audial, and haptic" aspects
• Option to redirect from tracks in the ‌Apple Music‌ app to Apple Classical
• Support for Lossless and Spatial Audio

Signs of the Apple Classical app have been spotted in iOS 15.5 beta code. Apple Classical is almost certain to be present in iOS 16, but there is a chance it could debut at an earlier date. For example, Apple could unveil the new app at WWDC, but make it available immediately via an update to iOS 15.

iOS 16 will reportedly feature built-in support for Apple's long-rumored mixed reality headset to lay the groundwork for the new device. Gurman noted that this means Apple "could theoretically preview technical aspects of the headset or its software, without showcasing the full device" at WWDC.

iOS 15 supported the same devices as iOS 13 and iOS 14, with the ‌iPhone‌ 6s, ‌iPhone‌ 6s Plus, and first-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE being the oldest supported devices. It is unclear if iOS 16 will finally drop support for these older devices with the A9 chip.

iPadOS 16

Very little is currently known about iPadOS 16, but it will likely gain most of iOS 16's new features, alongside several iPad-specific enhancements. Gurman is the only source of early rumors about iPadOS 16, with the headline change currently focusing on improvements to the multitasking interface.

• New multitasking interface
• Enhanced notifications, the same as in iOS 16
• New ways to interact with apps, the same as in iOS 16
• New Apple Fitness+ workout types
• Apple Classical app, the same as in iOS 16
• "Fresh" Apple apps

Apple has significantly refined the multitasking experience in iPadOS in recent years, enhancing features such as Slide Over, Split View, and the dock. For example, iPadOS 15 added a new multitasking menu at the top of apps, as well as center window, a new multiwindow shelf, and a more intuitive experience with Split View. The exact further improvements to multitasking for iPadOS 16 are as yet unclear.

Release Dates

Apple is expected to preview watchOS 9, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, and tvOS 16 at WWDC, which is set to kick off on Monday, June 6. After being introduced at the conference, the new operating systems are likely to be seeded to developers for testing purposes that same day. In July, Apple will likely provide it to public beta testers alongside the third developer beta.

When beta testing has finished, the new operating systems will be released to the public, presumably alongside new hardware products such as the ‌iPhone‌ 14, in the fall. While watchOS 9, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16 will probably be released simultaneously, the new version of macOS often follows at a later date.

Zhengzhou city in China today implemented lockdowns near Foxconn's main iPhone manufacturing facilities, which could ultimately impact Apple's supply chain, reports Bloomberg.

Some areas in the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone have been placed under quarantine effective immediately, and people in the area must stay in their homes and are not permitted to leave. The Airport Economy Zone is where Foxconn's largest ‌iPhone‌ assembly plant is located, and the lockdown comes after employees have been undergoing mandatory Covid testing.

China has been implementing lockdowns in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and these efforts could have an impact on Apple device manufacturing. At this time, there appear to be no ‌iPhone‌ or iPad delays, but Apple has been battling MacBook Pro shortages. Apple suppliers Pegatron and Quanta have also recently halted production in eastern China due to Covid restrictions.

Back in March, Foxconn was forced to suspend production for several days in Shenzhen following a city-wide lockdown that prevented residents from leaving their homes. The shutdown lasted just a couple of days before Foxconn was able to resume production, with employees living and working at the factory in bubble arrangements.

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 shared a new ad focused on the Apple Card, highlighting the convenience of having a card-free payment option and the simple sign up process.

In the spot, a man in a store pops a chocolate bar in his mouth before realizing he doesn't have his wallet on him to pay for it. He frantically checks all of his pockets at the checkout while people wait impatiently behind him.

Eventually, he pulls out his iPhone, opens up the Wallet app, and applies for an ‌Apple Card‌ right there in line. He's approved within minutes, and is able to use the ‌Apple Card‌ on his phone for his purchase. "Reboot your credit card," reads the tagline, with additional information available in the video's description.

Get the simplicity of Apple in a credit card. Apply in minutes and use right away. No fees, unlimited Daily Cash back, and you can share with whoever you call family.

Apple Card is available in the United States only and it is a convenient iPhone-based credit card issued by Apple in partnership with Goldman Sachs. It is linked to Apple Pay and built right into the Wallet app, but it also works like a traditional credit card.

Three years ago, Apple explored letting users use Siri to make purchases for apps and services, similar to how users can use Amazon's Alexa to place orders online, but engineers scrapped the idea following privacy concerns, according to a new report today by The Information.

The report highlights how engineers at Apple have limited access to how users use Apple's services, such as Apple TV+ and Apple Maps. Apple's strict privacy procedures make it harder for engineers to have direct access to usage data, causing concern that the company's strict privacy policy is stifling Apple's services and making it harder to compete with Google and others.

In the more noteworthy tidbit of the report, The Information reveals that in 2019, Apple explored the possibility of letting users use ‌Siri‌ to make purchases, but that further along in the project, the team in charge of the effort had to abort the idea following privacy concerns.

Some proposed Apple features never see the light of day because of privacy restrictions. In 2019, employees explored whether a customer could use Siri to purchase apps and other online services by using their voice, similar to how customers of Amazon buy products using its voice assistant, Alexa, according to a person with direct knowledge of the project. The effort stalled in part because of strict privacy rules that prevented Siri from tying a person's Apple ID to their voice request. The Apple media products team in charge of the project couldn't find an alternative way to reliably authenticate users in order to bill them, this person said.

This isn't the first time that Apple's privacy policy has limited what its engineers can do, according to the report. Engineers and staffers working on ‌Siri‌, the App Store, and even the Apple Card often have to "find creative or costly ways to make up for the lack of access to data."

One of those creative ways Apple engineers have come up with is differential privacy, which was first demoed by Apple's Craig Federighi at WWDC 2016. In a technical PDF overview, Apple describes its implementation of differential privacy as enabling it "to learn about the user community without learning about individuals in the community. Differential privacy transforms the information shared with Apple before it ever leaves the user’s device such that Apple can never reproduce the true data."

Even with differential privacy, however, and Apple's attempt to aggregate as much user data possible without making it traceable back to specific users, engineers remain concerned and feel constrained with what they can and can not do, according to the report.

Despite those efforts, the former Apple employees said that differential privacy and other attempts to work around customer data restrictions have had limited or mixed results and that it can be tough for new employees to adapt to Apple's strong privacy culture, which comes directly from CEO Tim Cook and other senior vice presidents. Apple's efforts to reduce how much customer data it collects are based on fears that employees could try to look at the information for improper reasons—the kind of well-known violations that have occurred at Google and at Uber—or that hackers could compromise the data.

The report also sheds light on privacy concerns during the development of the Apple Watch. According to people who worked on the project cited in the report, features like Raise to Speak, which lets users speak to ‌Siri‌ without a verbal "Hey ‌Siri‌" by just raising their wrist faced initial pushback due to concerns about microphone and accelerometer data collection.

Fitbit owner Google this week came a step closer to rivaling the health features of Apple Watch after the FDA approved its new algorithm for continuously monitoring users' heart rate rhythms.

Like Apple Watch, Fitbit devices with a heart-rate monitoring capability include an ECG app that must be manually run by the user to check for irregular rhythms, which can be a sign of atrial fibrillation (AFib), a potentially serious heart arrhythmia condition. AFib affects nearly 33.5 million people globally, and individuals with AFib have five times higher risk of stroke.

For several years, the Apple Watch has had one up on rival smartwatches by including an irregular rhythm notifications feature, which occasionally checks heart rhythm in the background and sends a notification if an irregular heart rhythm is identified that could potentially be atrial fibrillation (AFib). Upon receiving a notification, users can then launch the ECG app and perform a more comprehensive 30-second test by placing their finger on the Digital Crown to generate an ECG waveform.

Google's new PPG (photoplethysmography) algorithm works similarly by passively monitoring heart rhythm in the background overnight and whenever the user is resting, making for a potentially more capable life saver.

The clinical validation for Fitbit's PPG algorithm is supported by data from the landmark Fitbit Heart Study, which launched in 2020 and enrolled 455,699 participants over five months. The study was conducted entirely virtually during the pandemic, making it one of the largest remote studies of PPG-based software to date. Data presented at the 2021 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions found that the Fitbit PPG detections correctly identified AFib episodes 98% of the time, as confirmed by ECG patch monitors.

Google says the new PPG-based algorithm and Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications feature will soon be available to consumers in the U.S. across a range of heart-rate enabled Fitbit devices.

Apple plans to further bolster the health smarts offered by Apple Watch this year, with a new body temperature monitoring sensor expected to feature in the Apple Watch Series 8. As part of watchOS 9, Apple is also planning to improve its existing atrial fibrillation detection feature with a new capability to measure how long a person is in a state of atrial fibrillation across a certain period.

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Apple chipmaking partner TSMC says it will be ready to move its 3nm chip process to volume production in the second half of this year, putting it on track to supply Apple with the next-generation technology in 2023 (via DigiTimes).

"We expect the ramp of N3 to be driven by both HPC [high performance computing] and smartphone applications," said Wei during an April 14 earnings conference call. "We continue to see a high level of customer engagement at N3 and expect more new tape-outs for N3 for the first year as compared with N5 and N7."

TSMC is expected to initially process 30,000-35,000 wafers manufactured using 3nm process technology monthly, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes.

A July 2021 report from Nikkei Asia claimed Apple will launch an iPad this year featuring a processor based on TSMC's 3nm process. The report from DigiTimes today also claims the process will first be used by Apple in iPads, although it doesn't say which model or when it would launch.

If true, it would be the second time in recent years that Apple has debuted new chip technology in an ‌iPad‌ before using it in its flagship smartphones. Apple first debuted the A14 Bionic chip, based on 5nm technology, in 2020's fourth-generation iPad Air.

Whether or not it goes down the same adoption route, Apple is expected to release the majority of its devices with 3nm chips fabricated by TSMC in 2023, including Macs with M3 chips and iPhone 15 models with A17 chips.

The move to a more advanced process typically results in improved performance and power efficiency, enabling faster speeds and longer battery life on future Macs and iPhones. According to TSMC, 3nm technology can increase processing performance by 10% to 15% compared to 5nm tech, while reducing power consumption by 25% to 30%.

Some M3 chips are said to have up to four dies, potentially allowing up to a 40-core CPU. In comparison, Apple's M1 chip has an 8-core CPU and the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips have 10-core CPUs.

TSMC said it is also on track to move N3E, an enhanced version of N3, to volume production in the second half of 2022. Wei said TSMC's N3E process would "further extend our N3 family with enhanced performance, power, and yield."

Looking ahead, TSMC said its next-generation N2 (2nm) process development was also on track, and the foundry expects to get ready for risk production at the end of 2024 followed by volume production in 2025.