MacRumors

DuckDuckGo is today launching an all-new browser for macOS in beta that is "an all-in-one privacy solution for everyday browsing with no complicated settings, just a seamless private experience," set to rival Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome on the Mac.

Building on the success of the DuckDuckGo browser on the iPhone, DuckDuckGo on the Mac includes a number of privacy features. For starters, DuckDuckGo says that its browser on macOS features a "powerful tracker blocker," email protection, and more, all built-in with no strings attached.

On top of privacy, DuckDuckGo for macOS in beta is "really fast." According to tests conducted by DuckDuckGo, it uses 60% less data than Chrome and is faster than Chrome in some graphics performance tests. DuckDuckGo for macOS is still in beta, and interested users can join the private waiting list here.

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 plans to bring satellite connectivity to the Apple Watch in the future, which would allow for emergency texting and SOS response features directly on a wearer's wrist, Bloomberg reports.

Before the iPhone 13 launch last fall, a flurry of reports had suggested the 2021 ‌iPhone‌ lineup would feature "LEO," or satellite connectivity. Satellite connectivity would enable the ‌iPhone‌ to send short messages to emergency contacts over satellite networks without going through a carrier.

The feature ultimately did not materialize in the ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup, but Bloomberg reports today that the feature could launch as early as this year with the ‌iPhone‌ 14. Following its launch on the ‌iPhone‌, Apple is planning to bring the technology over to the Apple Watch.

Apple's plan includes two parts to let users leverage satellite connectivity. The first, called "Emergency Message via Contacts," would let users send short text messages to emergency services and contacts over a satellite network when there is no available cellular signal. The new protocol would appear with gray bubbles inside of the Messages app.

The second component would let users report a crisis, such as a car, boat, or plane crash, to relevant authorities. Per a Bloomberg report from August of last year:

The second emergency feature is focused on letting users report a crisis. The phone will ask what kind of emergency is happening, such as whether it involves a car, boat, plane or fire.

The system is also able to take more specific information, such as a person falling overboard or a ship sinking. It will ask a user if search and rescue services are needed, if there is suspicious behavior or weapons involved, and if a person has suffered a traumatic injury.

As expected, Bloomberg cautions that the feature will be dependent on local regulation and availability, adding "they’re not designed to work in every country."

Apple is still planning to add body temperature monitoring and new health features to the Apple Watch this year, despite experiencing development problems with blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring, in addition to multiple new features in the iPhone's Health app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple has reportedly been working on an updated sensor for the Apple Watch that is capable of determining if a user has high blood pressure, but accuracy has been an issue when testing the technology on employees. The feature is purportedly able to tell users if they may have hypertension, rather than provide specific systolic and diastolic readings. Apple is said to have been working on the feature for at least four years, but it is unlikely to be ready until 2024 at the earliest and may slip to 2025.

Apple is also working on non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, but the feature is still believed to be several years away and the company is not yet targeting a release year. In the meanwhile, Apple has discussed improving support for third-party glucose meters on the Apple Watch and on the ‌iPhone‌'s Health app to help users with diabetes.

In the immediate term, Apple is working on bringing new women's health features to the Apple Watch and ‌iPhone‌, as well as new sleep, fitness, and medication management features in the ‌iPhone‌'s Health app. The company is still planning to add a body temperature sensor to the Apple Watch this year, with the feature initially designed to aid fertility planning. Future Apple Watch models could determine if a user has a higher than normal body temperature, but it is unlikely to show an exact measurement.

As part of watchOS 9, Apple is 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. There may also be more workout types and additional metrics for running workouts in the Apple Watch's Workout app.

iOS 16 may feature improvements to the Health app that expand sleep tracking functionality, as well as add new medicine management and women's health features. Apple is said to be developing a medicine management tool to allow users to scan their pills into the Health app and remind users to take them, but the initial version that is set to launch this year is unlikely to include all of the functionality that Apple has planned.

Amid Apple's work on new health features and a number of departures on the company's health team, Gurman added that some employees have been unhappy with Apple's progress, arguing that enhancements are taking too long, not enough risks are being taken, and that the Health team has not grown in at least two years.

Pixelmator Pro 2.4 "Odesa" went live on the Mac App Store today, and the latest major update to the popular image editing app brings new layer types, new vector shapes, enhanced support for Apple’s M1 Ultra chip, and other notable additions.

The new color adjustments and effects layers let users nondestructively adjust colors and apply effects to entire layered compositions. With a single color adjustments layer, users can now change the look of a composition no matter how many layers the picture has.

The new layer types work just like other layers, and can be masked, hidden, rearranged, and more. It's also possible to apply selective edits by using colors adjustments and effects layers with masks.

"One of the things that users love most about Pixelmator Pro is how it makes advanced layer-based image editing incredibly easy," said Simonas Bastys, lead developer at the Pixelmator Team. "And with the addition of color adjustments and effects layers, layer-based editing in Pixelmator Pro becomes even more powerful, enabling all-new workflows, such as advanced selective editing of photos."

To accommodate the new layer types, the layers sidebar has been redesigned and given a fresh new look. Different layer types, such as images, shapes, text, RAW layers, groups, and other layers, are now more easily recognizable. In addition, layers now also feature informative subtitles that show the most relevant information about a layer at a glance.

Elsewhere, Pixelmator Pro 2.4 also adds over 200 new, artist-designed vector shapes in categories like science, activities, and symbols. The vector shapes are resolution-independent, so they can be used freely in any design or illustration, and their vector points align to pixel boundaries, eliminating any unwanted blurring that can often be found when using vector elements in pixel designs.

This update also includes support for Apple's ‌M1 Ultra‌ processor and machine learning model optimizations, making automatic background removal, super resolution, and photo enhancement up to 1.7 times faster on ‌M1 Ultra‌ compared to M1 Max, according to the developers.

Other new features include a Scrubby Zoom mode, the ability to unlink layer masks, and a wide range of smaller improvements. Pixelmator Pro 2.4 Odesa is available from the Mac App Store as a free update for existing users and $39.99 for everyone else.

watchOS 9 will feature a new power-saving mode that will let users use an Apple Watch and its apps and features without taking up a significant amount of battery life, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported today.

Currently, the Apple Watch features "Power Reserve" mode, which greatly limits Apple Watch functionality to only show users the time. With watchOS 9, Apple is looking to port over Low Power Mode from the iPhone to the Apple Watch, letting users use apps and features while using less battery life.

For watchOS 9, Apple also is planning a new low-power mode that is designed to let its smartwatch run some apps and features without using as much battery life. Currently, Apple Watches in low-power mode -- known on the device as Power Reserve -- can only access the time. The company is also planning to refresh many of its built-in watch faces currently shipping with the device.

The added new feature in watchOS 9 is part of Apple's overall efforts to improve battery life on the Apple Watch, which has remained mainly stagnant over the years.

watchOS 9 will also include a new detection feature for atrial fibrillation that will track how long an individual has been in a state of atrial fibrillation, according to Bloomberg. Apple will preview iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, and watchOS 9 during WWDC from June 6 through June 10.

Amazon this week has introduced new all-time low prices on two models of the Apple Watch, including the Apple Watch Series 7 and the Apple Watch SE.

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.

Apple Watch Series 7

Starting with the Apple Watch Series 7, you can get the 41mm GPS Green Aluminum model with Clover Sport Band for $313.00, down from $399.00. At $86 off, this is now the best price we've ever tracked on the 41mm GPS Apple Watch Series 7.

Only the Green model is on sale at this price; all other colors in the 41mm GPS Aluminum category of the Series 7 are priced at $329.00, which is still a solid second-best price. All models are in stock and shipped directly from Amazon.

Apple Watch SE

Similarly, we're tracking a new best-ever price on one model of the Apple Watch SE. Specifically, you can get the 44mm GPS Silver Aluminum model with Abyss Blue Sport Band for $249.00, down from $309.00.

We typically track the 44mm GPS Apple Watch SE at a discounted price of $259.99, so today's sale is providing an even steeper markdown in comparison. Only the Silver Aluminum/Abyss Blue Sport Band model is on sale at this price, and it's in stock and sold directly by Amazon.

The 40mm Apple Watch SE is also being discounted this week to its usual sale price of $229.00, down from $279.00. This one's available in the Space Gray Aluminum/Midnight Sport Band and Gold Aluminum/Starlight Sport Band color options.

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

An unreleased Mac mini has been spotted within code of the latest Studio Display firmware, adding credence to rumors that Apple is working on an updated ‌Mac mini‌ that could debut sometime this year.

Developer Steve Troughton-Smith revealed on Twitter that within iOS 15.4 for the Studio Display, a reference to "Macmini10,1" has been found. That model identifier does not match any existing released ‌Mac mini‌ and is likely to be the model ID for a rumored upcoming ‌Mac mini‌.

Earlier rumors suggested that Apple had plans to release a new high-end ‌Mac mini‌ to replace the Intel-based model in the lineup. Following the launch of the Mac Studio, a hybrid between the ‌Mac mini‌ and Mac Pro, however, rumors have been slightly unclear on whether the upcoming ‌Mac mini‌ is a low-end or high-end product.

Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has cautioned against the prospect that a new high-end ‌Mac mini‌ would be announced this year, saying instead a launch will take place in 2023. Apple may be planning to release a new low-end ‌Mac mini‌ to replace the M1 model currently in the lineup with the "M2" Apple silicon chip while keeping a high-end model planned for next year, as Kuo has indicated.

Plex is set to end support for podcasts on Friday, the company behind the media management platform has announced.

Web Shows on the Plex media server will also close this week, the company said in a post on the Plex forum, although most of the content the section hosted will still be available to users elsewhere on the platform.

As part of our ongoing effort to make sure we're spending our time and energy in ways that best serve our awesome user community, we've made the decision to end support for Podcasts and Web Shows within Plex. We recognize this decision will impact several of you greatly, and we apologize for the inconvenience it will cause. You can continue to access these features within Plex until Friday, April 15th, 2022, at which point they will no longer be available.

Plex didn't say exactly why it had decided to end support for podcasts and close the Web Shows portal of its media management offering, but the wording suggests that neither section was being used enough to make them worth the time and money spent maintaining them.

For those who want to export their podcast subscription list in OPML format for use in other players, the Plex forum post provides instructions on how to go about it before support closes.

As noted by XDA Developers, Plex podcast support has largely stood still since it was introduced in 2018, and there are several complaints from users in the Plex forums about buggy performance and other issues going all the way back to its inception.

Critical Apple suppliers who produce iPhones and MacBooks have suspended production in key locations amid new restrictions and lockdowns that threaten an already constrained supply chain, Nikkei Asia reports.

Citing a stock exchange filing, Nikkei Asia reports that Pegatron, one of Apple's leading iPhone suppliers after Foxconn, has suspended ‌iPhone‌ production at its facilities in Shanghai and Kunshan. The two sites are Pegatron's only two production sites that make iPhones, with the supplier responsible for 20-30% of all iPhones made, the report added.

Another Apple supplier, Quanta, responsible for MacBook Air and MacBook Pro production, has revealed that production has been suspended in Shanghai since the start of the month. Dozens of other suppliers, directly and indirectly part of Apple's supply chain, are also seeing operations disrupted.

Apple has dealt with a constrained supply chain for some time now, with product availability and supply fluctuating over several months. Apple will announce Q2 earnings for the year on April 28 where company executives are likely to provide some context on how the supply chain is doing.

ChargerLAB today shared alleged images of Apple's unreleased 35W power adapter with dual USB-C ports, providing a first look at the accessory's potential design.

The images suggest that the charger will have a compact design with side-by-side USB-C ports, foldable prongs, and circular indents that would provide extra grip for removing the charger from a power outlet. 35W would be suitable for charging a wide range of Apple devices, such as iPhones, iPads, the latest MacBook Air, and the HomePod mini.

A reference to the power adapter was first uncovered last week in a document that was briefly published on Apple's website:

Use the Apple 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter and a USB-C cable (not included) to charge your device. Connect a USB-C cable to either port on the power adapter, extend the electrical prongs (if necessary), then plug the power adapter firmly into the power outlet. Ensure the power outlet is easily accessible for disconnecting. Connect the other end of the cable to your device.

In early March, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted that Apple was working on a 30W power adapter with a new design. In a follow-up tweet, Kuo has since suggested that the 35W power adapter could be the same one that he was alluding to. Kuo said the charger is "nearing mass production" and would be released at some point in 2022.

Kuo said the charger would utilize gallium nitride (GaN) technology, allowing it to be smaller, lighter, and more power efficient than silicon-based chargers. Apple released its first GaN charger last year in the form of its 140W USB-C power adapter for the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and third-party brands like Anker and Belkin also offer GaN chargers.

Back in 2018, ChargerLAB's sister website Chongdiantou showed off real-world photos of Apple's then-unreleased 18W power adapter for iPhones.

Apple's worldwide Mac shipments were slightly up in the first quarter of 2022, according to new PC shipping estimates shared this afternoon by Gartner. Apple shipped an estimated 7 million Macs during the quarter, up from 6.5 million in the year-ago quarter, marking 8.6 percent growth.

Apple was the number four vendor during the quarter, a position that it has held for some time. Market share was at 9 percent, up from 7.7 percent in Q1 2021. The overall PC market was more unstable, and several vendors saw a decrease in shipments.

Lenovo continued to be the number one PC vendor in Q1 2022 with 18.3 million PCs shipped, but saw a 12.6 percent decline in the number of shipments. HP, the number two vendor, saw a 17.8 percent decline and shipped 15.9 million PCs. Dell came in at number three with 13.7 million PCs shipped and five percent growth, while ASUS and Acer were the number five and six vendors.

Overall, there were 77.5 million PCs shipped in the first quarter of 2022, down 7.3 percent from the 83.6 million shipped in the first quarter of 2021. Gartner says that overall PC shipment numbers were impacted by a decline in Chromebook sales in the educational market.

In the United States, Apple was the number four vendor with 2.8 million Macs shipped, up from 2.3 million in the year-ago quarter, marking impressive growth of 18.6 percent. Apple's U.S. market share came in at 14.5 percent, up from 10.2 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Dell, HP, and Lenovo all shipped more PC units than Apple in the U.S., with shipments of 5.1 million, 4.3 million, and 3.3 million, respectively.

Apple has seen success with its M1-based Macs, most recently introducing the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models in October 2021 and the ‌M1 Max‌ and M1 Ultra Mac Studio models in March. Apple is close to converting its entire Mac line to Apple silicon powered machines, with just the Mac mini and the Mac Pro continuing to use Intel chips.

IDC also released its own shipping estimates this morning, noting similar growth for Apple. According to IDC, Apple shipped an estimated 7.2 million Macs, up from an estimated 6.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Data shared by Gartner and IDC is estimated and not reflective of Apple's actual sales, and the numbers can fluctuate quite a bit over time. Estimated data used to be able to be confirmed when Apple provided quarterly earnings results with actual Mac sales information, but Apple no longer breaks out unit sales for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, making it impossible to determine exact sales numbers.

Corporate Apple employees in the United States began returning to their offices today, ending a two-year work from home policy that Apple implemented during the pandemic. Employees at locations like Apple Park and Infinite Loop were last month given a deadline of April 11 for returning to in-person work.

Apple has been eager to get employees back in the office and scheduled return dates several times, only to have to push those dates back as COVID infection rates surged. Apple delayed the official return indefinitely back in December, promising to give employees at least one month notice to prepare to return to offices. The notice was sent out in March following a drop in infections and a relaxing of social distancing and masking policies across the U.S.

Though many tech companies have implemented permanent work from home options for some employees, Apple is not one of them. Throughout the global health crisis, Apple has made it clear that employees would eventually need to return to in-person work and collaboration.

"For all that we've been able to achieve while many of us have been separated, the truth is that there has been something essential missing from this past year: each other," Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees back in June 2021. "Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us, to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate."

Apple is not forcing employees to return to the office five days a week, and has instead adopted a gradual return strategy and a hybrid home/office work policy. Apple employees are currently required to work from the office at least one day per week by April 11, at least two days per week by May 2, and at least three days per week by May 23.

When the three-day in-office work policy is enacted on May 23, employees will be required to be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, with most able to work remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays.

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.

Square today announced a new version of its Square Stand point-of-sale system that allows businesses to easily accept in-person payments.

The second-generation Square Stand combines an iPad, the Square POS app, and built-in payment readers for contactless payments like Apple Pay and chip-enabled credit and debit cards. The original Square Stand required separate payment readers.

With the same swivel design as the original, the new Square Stand can easily be turned towards a customer at a checkout. There are several payment methods available, including tapping an iPhone or Apple Watch with Apple Pay, tapping a chip-enabled card, or inserting a chip-enabled card. For magnetic stripe payments that still require swiping, Square sells a magstripe reader that can plug into the Square Stand's audio jack.

The new Square Stand is available to order starting today for $149 in the United States, while orders begin in June in the UK. The stand is compatible with 10.2-inch and 10.5-inch iPad models, such as the ninth-generation iPad and the third-generation iPad Air. The iPad must be purchased separately, but the Square POS app is free to use.

Apple's AirPods 3 have dropped to $149.99 on Amazon this week, down from $179.00. As usual, Amazon is currently the only major Apple reseller offering the AirPods 3 at this low of a price, and they're being sold directly from Amazon.

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

This sale is about $10 off from the all-time low price that we tracked on this pair of AirPods over the holidays, and it's one of the best deals that we've seen in 2022. Amazon is offering free delivery for as soon as this Friday, April 15 to most places in the United States.

The AirPods 3 were introduced in October 2021 and feature a more compact stem similar to the AirPods Pro, and a redesigned contoured fit. There's a force sensor built into the stem for physical control over media and Siri, and they come with a MagSafe Charging Case.

We track sales for every model of the AirPods in our Best AirPods Deals guide, so be sure to bookmark that page while you shop around for the wireless headphones.

Apple will face additional antitrust charges in the European Union related to a music streaming probe triggered by a complaint from Spotify, Reuters reports.

The charges are part of an ongoing investigation by the European Commission into accusations of anti-competitive conduct in the music streaming market from Spotify and suggest that the EU is strengthening its case against Apple amid growing scrutiny into big tech across the region.

In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint with the European Commission, alleging that Apple enforces App Store rules that "purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience," accusing the company of "acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers."

In particular, Spotify highlighted that Apple's 30 percent commission on ‌App Store‌ purchases, including in-app subscriptions, forces the music streaming service to charge existing subscribers $12.99 per month for its Premium plan on the ‌App Store‌, just to collect the $9.99 per month it usually charges.

It is proposed that this gives Apple an "unfair advantage," since Spotify is unable to fairly compete with Apple Music's standard $9.99 per month price within the ‌‌App Store‌‌. If Spotify chooses not to collect payments via the ‌‌App Store‌‌, Apple purportedly "applies a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions" on the company. It is also said that Apple was "locking Spotify and other competitors out of Apple services such as Siri, HomePod, and Apple Watch," thereby making ‌Apple Music‌ a more attractive option for subscribers.

In April 2021, the investigation found Apple to be in breach of EU competition law. Apple denied allegations of anti-competitive behavior, and said at the time of Spotify's complaint that its rival was using "its financial motivations in misleading rhetoric."

An individual familiar with the matter speaking to Reuters said that the European Commission now intends to set out extra antitrust charges in a supplementary statement of objections, which are normally used when an EU competition enforcer has changed parts of its case or obtained new evidence. The additional charges will reportedly be issued in the coming weeks.

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.

Amazon today knocked the price of the 64GB Apple TV 4K down to $169.99, from $199.00. This model is sold directly from Amazon and it's in stock and ready to ship out today.

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

This deal now matches the same sale price of the 32GB Apple TV 4K, allowing you to double the storage of the set-top box at no extra cost. Compared to past sales, this is a match of the all-time low price on this version of the 2021 Apple TV 4K.

Apple updated the Apple TV 4K in April 2021, including an A12 Bionic processor, 4K high frame rate HDR support, and the redesigned Siri Remote. This version of the Siri Remote is larger than the previous model, and it includes a clickpad control wheel, a dedicated power button, and a side button for Siri controls.

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

Following a lengthy testing period, YouTube's picture-in-picture support for iOS will begin rolling out in the next few days, allowing all users, including non-premium and premium subscribers, to close the YouTube app and continue watching their video in a small pop-up window.

Google in June announced that picture-in-picture support would be rolling out to both premium and non-paying YouTube app users in the U.S., but many people outside the country have been able to get it working, so the company could be making it globally available.

Only YouTube Premium subscribers have had access to picture-in-picture mode on iOS as an "experimental feature," and at one stage this was interpreted to mean it would remain a premium-only feature, until Google clarified that it would eventually be coming to all users in the country.

On Sunday, in a tweeted response to a user having problems accessing the experimental feature, YouTube said picture in picture would be available in "a matter of days" for devices running iOS 15 and later.

For those unfamiliar with the feature, picture-in-picture allows videos to be watched while using other apps. When watching a video, users can tap the picture-in-picture button to move the video to a smaller window that floats over the Home Screen or other apps.

YouTube has extended the testing period for the feature several times in an effort to improve the experience before an official launch, and it now appears that the company is almost ready for it to go live.

• How to Use Picture in Picture Mode on iPhone

The availability of YouTube picture-in-picture has been back and forth, with the feature sometimes working via the YouTube website on Safari. Some users have resorted to Shortcuts to turn off built-in parameters on the YouTube site that disables picture-in-picture. But with official support just around the corner, those workarounds will no longer be needed.

Update: YouTube has clarified its earlier comment about the rollout "in a matter of days," and said that it was made in reference to YouTube TV, not YouTube.

"What's currently being rolled out is the YouTube TV picture-in-picture for iOS 15+ devices," YouTube said on Twitter. "If you're referring to the YouTube app, it's only available to Premium members on Android mobile phones.