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Popular accessory company Anker and its various related brands have launched several new products in recent weeks, ranging from USB chargers to portable power stations to video projectors and more, so we thought we'd round up some of the most recent announcements.

Anker 757 Portable Power Station

Last month, we took a look at the Anker 535 Portable Power Station, a 512 watt-hour battery with numerous charging and power ports to help keep your devices operating while camping, during power outages, and in other situations where you're temporarily off the grid.

For those users looking for even more juice, Anker today is announcing the 757 Portable Power Station, with more than double the amount of available energy at 1,229 watt-hours. Designed with quality components to last for at least 3,000 complete charge cycles and 50,000 hours of use with a five-year warranty, the 757 Portable Power Station offers up to 1,500 watts of output power.

With Anker's HyperFlash bi-directional inverter technology, the 757 Power Station can be charged from 0 to 80% in about an hour. It will also support Anker's upcoming 625 Solar Panel, and daisy-chaining three of those panels together can generate up to 300W, enough to charge the 757 Power Station to 80% in a little over three and a half hours.

The 757 Power Station includes six AC outlets, one 100W USB-C port, one 60W USB-C port, and four 12W USB-A ports, as well as a 120W car cigarette lighter/12V port. It's priced at a hefty $1,399 and weighs in at an equally hefty 43.8 pounds (19.9 kg), but for demanding users needing lots of power on the go, it offers a lot of versatility.

It will launch on May 9, but as a special early-bird discount, you can pledge $10 from today through May 8 and get $200 off the retail price of the power station once orders begin.

Anker 735 Charger

Expanding Anker's popular line of compact GaN chargers, the 735 (Nano II 65W) includes two USB-C ports and a USB-A port, delivering a total of 65 watts of power that is intelligently distributed among the ports when multiple devices are connected.

Priced at $65.99 through Anker and Amazon, the 735 Charger is 53% smaller than Apple's standard 61W charger that ships with the 13-inch MacBook Pro, yet offers three USB ports instead of just one.

Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K

Unveiled at CES and launched as a Kickstarter that raised over $3 million earlier this year, the Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K is a portable home theater projector that features 4K resolution via an integrated dongle and offers 2,400 ISO lumens of brightness for a crisp video experience.

The projector runs Android TV 10.0, which means it can run thousands of apps including Netflix, Apple TV, and more. InstaSet display technology automatically gets the unit up and running in just a few seconds with automatic keystone correction and autofocus, while Eye Guard technology detects when a person walks in front of the projector and automatically dims the output to protect against eye damage.

The Nebula Cosmos Laser 4K is launching for broad sales this month and will be priced at $2,199.

eufy Smart Scale P2 pro

The next-generation smart scale from Anker's eufy brand can measure a total of 16 body characteristics, including weight, heart rate, body fat, BMI, and more. Weight measurements are accurate to 0.1 pounds and a baby and pet mode helps you obtain accurate readings even at lighter end of the scale.

With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support and the EufyLife app, all of your data is easily accessible on your phone and can sync with Apple Health, and a 3D U-Body model allows you to input your body measurements to create a virtual model to help you visualize changes to your body over time.

The eufy Smart Scale P2 pro is priced at $59.99 and is available now in the United Kingdom (£49.99), with availability in the United States coming this Friday.

AnkerMake M5 3D Printer

Finally, Anker is breaking into the 3D printer market via a new Kickstarter campaign that's already raised $5 million. The AnkerMake M5 will support standard print speeds of up to 250 mm/s (up to 2,500 mm/s for rough prototyping), print sizes of up to 235 x 235 x 250 mm, auto leveling, and PLA, PETG, ABS, and TPU filaments.

A built-in AI camera keeps tabs on your print jobs, automatically detecting print problems with 95% accuracy while also capturing time-lapse videos of your jobs. The AnkerMake M5 is expected to retail for $759, though there are still some Kickstarter discount slots available at $629.

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

Last week, word surfaced that Apple's Beats brand was preparing to launch new colors of its Beats Studio Buds wireless earbuds, and today the news has become official. Starting tomorrow, Beats Studio Buds will be available from Apple in new Ocean Blue, Sunset Pink, and Moon Gray colors at the same $149.99 retail price as the original colors.

For U.S. customers looking to buy from channels other than Apple, Moon Gray will be exclusive to Amazon, Ocean Blue will be exclusive to Best Buy, and Sunset Pink will be exclusive to Target. Reseller options in other countries will vary.

I've had the new Beats Studio Buds on hand for a few days to see how they look in person, and the expanded color palette offers some nice variations beyond the original white, black, and red options that were available at launch last year.

The insides of the Ocean Blue and Sunset Pink in particular offer a bit of additional visual interest compared to the relatively monochrome cases for other colors, with the interior of the Ocean Blue case being a light blue and the Sunset Pink case being a lavender purple. The shading difference of the Moon Gray case interior is more subtle, appearing as a slightly darker gray than the earbuds and the rest of the case.

The launch comes with a new video-game-inspired "Choose Your Player" ad campaign featuring avatars of model Kaia Gerber and Olympic gold medalist freestyle skier Eileen Gu.

Beats Studio Buds feature a stemless design along with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Transparency modes. The external surface of each earbud is a clickable button that can be configured to control playback, phone calls, noise control modes, and Siri activation, although hands-free "Hey ‌Siri‌" activation is also supported.

Basic Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is supported for an immersive audio experience, although the Studio Buds don't include the head tracking found on some other Apple earphones that can anchor sound to your device even as you move your head.

While the Beats Studio Buds don't include an Apple H1 or W1 chip, they do offer a number of features like Find My support, one-touch pairing, and a total of five microphones for high-quality phone calls. Three sizes of ear tips should allow the Beats Studio Buds to fit most users, and there's a short USB-C to USB-C cable included for charging. Wireless charging for the case is not supported.

Coinciding with the launch of the new Beats Studio Buds colors, Beats is also announcing some enhancements to the Beats App for Android that will bring new features to users of all Beats products compatible with the app. With the addition of "Locate My Beats" and new widgets, Android users will now be able to locate their earbuds, view battery life info, and control listening modes directly on their devices.

Apple today announced it has updated iMovie app for the iPhone and iPad with two new types of video projects called "Magic Movie" and "Storyboards."

Apple says the "Magic Movie" function instantly creates a custom video from the clips and photos a user selects, with transitions, effects, and music automatically added. "Storyboards" helps users learn to edit and improve their video storytelling skills with pre-made templates for popular types of videos shared on social media platforms, such as DIY videos, cooking tutorials, product reviews, science experiments, and more.

iMovie for macOS was also updated today with support for importing "Magic Movie" and "Storyboard" projects created with the iOS app. The free updates are currently rolling out on the App Store across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Apple also updated Final Cut Pro, Compressor, and Motion on macOS with optimized performance on the Mac Studio and more. The new version of Final Cut Pro also supports importing "Magic Movie" and "Storyboard" projects created with iMovie.

iMovie for iOS version 3.0 release notes:

• Get started, learn, and be inspired by two brand-new types of video projects: Magic Movie and Storyboards
• Create a Magic Movie to instantly make and share custom videos with titles, transitions, and music in just a few taps
• Select an album of photos and videos, and Magic Movie will create a polished video using your media
• Start with a Storyboard project to improve your storytelling skills using a template that guides you through the video-making process
• Choose from 20 Storyboards for common video projects like Cooking, DIY, Q&A, Product Review, and Book Report
• Customize and organize your storyboard video by adding, reordering, and grouping shots within the flexible shot list
• Learn different types of video framing and storytelling techniques with the shot tips provided in each type of storyboard
• Record video or take photos right into each Storyboard placeholder clip, or add media from your Photos library
• Enhance your Magic Movie or Storyboard video with 20 dynamic styles that include title layouts, fonts, filters, color palettes, and music
• Go further by editing clips with tools like trim, split, and clip speed
• Apply title treatments, record voiceover narration, or adjust the depth-of-field effect in Cinematic mode video clips* to further customize your videos
• Import Magic Movie and Storyboard projects into a timeline in iMovie for Mac or Final Cut Pro** to take your project further
• Save Magic Movie and Storyboard videos to your Photos library, send to friends and family via Messages or Mail, or share with your followers on social media
* Requires iPhone 13, iPad mini (6th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch or iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later)
** Requires iMovie for Mac version 10.3.2 or Final Cut Pro version 10.6.2

iMovie 3.0 requires a device running iOS 15.2 or later or iPadOS 15.2 or later.

Nomad in March launched its first official MagSafe wireless charger, the Base One, which was limited to charging just an iPhone. Today, Nomad is launching its second MagSafe wireless charger, the dual Base One Max, which is able to charge a ‌MagSafe‌ ‌iPhone‌ and an Apple Watch at the same time.

The Base One Max is similar in design to the Base One, featuring a platform with a flat ‌MagSafe‌ charger on the right and a matching upright Apple Watch charging puck next to it on the left. Like the Base One, it comes in silver and white, or carbide, a black color.

Design wise, it looks like Nomad attached a Base One charger to an Apple Watch charging base. The ‌MagSafe‌ charging spot is glossy like the Base One, and there is a seam separating the ‌MagSafe‌ charger from the Apple Watch charger, which is not made from the same glossy material and is instead a matte, soft touch material.

I'm not sure why Nomad chose this design, but I think I'd prefer it if had a more uniform look, because as is, it appears to be two mismatched pieces stuck together. It's not a bad aesthetic though, and it still looks quite attractive on a desk. I have the silver version, and it has an Apple-like appeal to it.

The Base One Max is heavy at two pounds and the magnetic attachment is strong, so removing your ‌iPhone‌ from the base still takes a bit of a twist motion and you can't just pull it up directly even with the weight of the stand. The ‌MagSafe‌ charger is the same as Apple's own ‌MagSafe‌ charger and it works identically.

It charges a MagSafe-compatible ‌iPhone‌ at 15W (12W for the iPhone 12 mini and ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini), and I experienced the same general charging speeds that I got with Apple's ‌MagSafe‌ charger in my testing. You can use the Base One Max with non-MagSafe iPhones, but you won't get the benefit of the magnetic attachment and the charging will be limited to 7.5W.

Though the Series 7 Apple Watches support fast charging, the Nomad Base One Max is a standard Apple Watch charging puck that does not support the faster charging speeds.

Nomad includes a USB-C cable with the Base One Max, which does charge over USB-C unlike some other chargers that have a proprietary connector, but the power adapter is not included. You will need to supply your own 30W+ power adapter, which is an extra expense.

Bottom Line

At $150 for a dual charging device, the Base One Max is a better deal than the Base One, but it still has a premium price tag that I find to be too high for what it's providing.

It's attractive, high-quality, and looks nice on a desk, but it's missing the third charging spot that some other multi-device chargers at that price point have, and it also does not come with a charging brick, so you need to spend additional money to provide your own.

The Base One Max will appeal to those who don't mind shelling out for the design and the quality, but it may not have the broad appeal of more affordable ‌MagSafe‌ charging solutions.

How to Buy

The Base One Max can be ordered from the Nomad website for $149.95.

Apple CEO Tim Cook today delivered the keynote speech at the Global Privacy Summit in Washington D.C. The conference, hosted by the International Association of Privacy Professionals, is focused on international privacy and data protection.

Cook reflected on Apple's ongoing commitment to privacy, which the company has repeatedly described as a fundamental human right.

"The fight to protect privacy is not an easy one, but it is one of the most essential battles of our time," said Cook. "We at Apple are proud to stand alongside all those who are working to advance privacy rights around the world. As a company, we are profoundly inspired by what technology can make possible, but we know too that technology is neither inherently good, nor inherently bad. It is what we make of it. It is a mirror that reflects the ambitions of the people who use it, the people who build it, and the people who regulate it."

Cook highlighted Apple's privacy features that give users control over their data, like App Tracking Transparency, but said he is "deeply concerned" about proposed regulations that would diminish these features and expose users to privacy and security risks. In the European Union, for example, the proposed Digital Markets Act would require Apple to allow sideloading of apps on the iPhone outside of the App Store.

"Here in Washington and elsewhere, policymakers are taking steps in the name of competition that would force Apple to let apps onto iPhone that circumvent the App Store through a process called sideloading," said Cook. "That means data-hungry companies would be able to avoid our privacy rules and once again track our users against their will. It would also potentially give bad actors a way around the comprehensive security protections we have put in place, putting them in direct contact with our users."

Cook said that Apple believes in advancing regulations that do not undermine privacy protections in the process.

"If we are forced to let unvetted apps onto iPhone, the unintended consequences will be profound," warned Cook. "And when we see that, we feel an obligation to speak up and to ask policymakers to work with us to advance goals that I truly believe we share, without undermining privacy in the process."

Cook's speech was streamed live on YouTube and begins around the 14:05 mark of the video.

Cook and other senior Apple executives, such as software engineering chief Craig Federighi, have repeatedly expressed the company's opposition to regulations that would require sideloading and third-party app stores on the iPhone.

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's M1 Mac mini (256GB SSD) has dropped to a new all-time low price of $569.99 today on Amazon, down from $699.00. You won't see this deal price until you add the Mac mini to your cart and an automatic coupon worth $99.01 is applied to the order.

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.

At a total of $129 off, this is now the best price we've ever tracked on this model of the M1 Mac mini, and only Amazon is offering the sale. The Mac mini is shipped and sold directly by Amazon, with delivery as soon as April 14-15 for most places in the United States.

The M1 Mac mini was introduced in November 2020, and is the first Mac mini to include Apple's M1 chip. The M1 in the Mac mini has an 8-core CPU with four high-efficiency cores and four high-performance cores along with an integrated GPU that has 8 cores.

Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

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.

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