MacRumors

A couple of months ago, Anker launched its new "MagGo" lineup of MagSafe-compatible charging accessories. While they don't support the full 15-watt charging available with official MagSafe accessories and will be limited to 7.5 watts, they otherwise provide a versatile set of charging options for iPhone 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 13 devices.

I've had a set of most of Anker's MagGo accessories for a few weeks now, and they have proven to work well, so I thought I'd share an overview of all of them.

Anker 610 Magnetic Phone Grip

We'll start off with the cheapest and simplest one, and it's actually not a charging accessory. The Magnetic Phone Grip takes advantage of the ‌MagSafe‌ magnets on an ‌iPhone‌ 12 or 13 (or a compatible case), to stick a metal ring on the back of the phone. Think of it like a magnetic Popsocket, with the ring able to serve as a place to put your finger to help you better hold onto your phone, and it can also serve as a stand if you want to put your phone down on a surface in landscape orientation to watch a video, for example.

The magnetic attachment isn't 100% foolproof, so you do want to be careful about relying solely on the grip to hold your phone, but it does hold pretty tightly. The metal ring folds inside the magnet so there's minimal bulk when the grip isn't being used, and it's simple enough to just pop off the ring and stow it in a pocket or bag if you don't want it on your phone full-time. The grip will prevent your phone from charging over ‌MagSafe‌, so you'll need to either remove it for wireless charging or charge via Lightning, but it's not a hassle to remove the grip as needed, as long as you keep track of it.

The Anker 610 Magnetic Phone Grip is priced at $15.99.

Anker 622 Magnetic Battery

This accessory is similar to Apple's MagSafe Battery Pack, attaching directly to the back of a compatible ‌iPhone‌. It's just a bit larger than Apple's battery pack, and it includes 5,000 mAh of power. Because of power loss in wireless charging, it's not quite enough to fully charge my ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro Max, but you should be able to get a full charge out of it for any of the smaller models.

What really sets Anker's battery apart is the built-in kickstand. It's just a thin flap that adds almost no bulk to the battery, but it folds into a triangular shape like an iPad Smart Cover to prop up your phone in either portrait or landscape orientation. Despite the thinness of the flap, the stand has proven to be quite steady in my testing, moving only minimally whenever I poke at my phone's screen.

The Anker 622 Magnetic Battery is priced at $59.99.

Anker 623 Magnetic Wireless Charger

This one served for over a month as my primary desk charging solution for my ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro Max. The weighted base keeps things pretty stable, although it will rock just a bit if you poke vigorously at your phone. In a nice touch, it features an animated ring of light around the bottom of the base that confirms when it's successfully charging after putting a phone on the pad.

I like that the angle of the charging pad is adjustable, and when it's in a more upright position, it reveals a flat 5-watt charging pad that can be used for charging up AirPods. It's about as compact a unit as you can expect for the design, considering it needs to have enough mass to support a phone attached to the top of it. It comes with Anker's 20-watt PowerPort III cube adapter and a color-matched USB-C cable, so you'll have everything you need for it right in the box.

The Anker 623 Magnetic Wireless Charger is priced at $79.94, although it's currently on sale for $69.99.

Anker 633 Magnetic Wireless Charger

The 633 Magnetic Wireless Charger is a flexible solution that offers the best of both worlds as both a charging stand and a portable battery. The charging pad on this is actually a 5,000 mAh magnetic battery that slides into a holder on the stand portion, so on a desk or nightstand you can use it as a traditional fixed charger, but when it's time to go you can either pull your phone off the charger as usual or slide the phone and battery out of the stand and you've got some extra juice for the road.

The battery charges in the stand via some contact pins, but it can also charge directly via USB-C so you can charge it when you're away from the stand. And while it's on the stand, you can adjust the phone angle thanks to a hinge at the top of the arm.

Similar to the 623, the base of the stand gives a cool animated white glow when you put your phone on the charger to confirm that it's charging. The base also features a 5-watt charging pad that works great for your AirPods. A 25-watt PowerPort III adapter and USB-C cable are included in the box.

The Anker 633 Magnetic Wireless Charger is priced at $119.99.

Anker 637 Magnetic Charging Station

While I enjoyed using the 623 as my desktop charger for a while, it's since been supplanted by the 637 Magnetic Charging Station that offers a host of charging possibilities. It's a ball-shaped charger a little over 4 inches in diameter, and the front face of it is a MagSafe-compatible charging pad that puts your phone at a good angle for visibility.

But what takes the charging station to the next level is on the rear, where there are three AC power outlets, two USB-C ports, and two USB-A ports where you can plug in all sorts of other accessories. The design helps reduce clutter by acting as a mini power strip with multiple connection types and letting you run all of your cables out the back.

It supports up to 1250 watts of AC output, so you can hook up lots of equipment through its power outlets, and it supports up to 65 watts of total USB charging. It can route all 65 watts through a single USB-C port if you want to hook up a Mac, for example, or it will divide that power among multiple USB accessories if you're using several ports on the charging station. It comes with an attached 5-foot power cord that uses a 45-degree flat plug for tight spaces.

The Anker 637 Magnetic Charging Station is priced at $99.99.

Anker 613 Magnetic Wireless Charger

In addition to the five items I've covered here, the MagGo lineup also includes the 613 Magnetic Wireless Charger for your car. It sits on the dashboard and features an adjustable arm for positioning the charging pad wherever you need it.

I don't have this one on hand to test out, but it's priced at $69.99.

Note: Anker provided MacRumors with the MagGo accessories for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. 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.

Target has a few Apple-related deals going on today only, headlined by a $20 markdown on the HomePod mini. You can get the smart speaker for just $79.99, down from $99.99.

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 sale is available in Space Gray and White as of writing, with options to pick up the speaker in your local store or ship it to your home. Target RedCard owners can save an additional 5 percent on the HomePod mini.

This is beating the best Black Friday deal we tracked on HomePod mini at B&H Photo and Staples by about $10. It's matching Costco's deal from last month, but given that a Costco membership was required for that deal, Target's sale today will be available to far more people.

Secondly, Target is offering 20 percent off select MagSafe accessories for one day only. You can get the MagSafe Charger for $31.99, down from $39.99 (matched at Amazon), the MagSafe Battery Pack for $79.99, down from $99.99 (matched at Amazon), and a wide assortment of Clear, Leather, and Silicone iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 cases.

We track the best deals on HomePod every week, so be sure to bookmark our guide if you're on the hunt for solid HomePod discounts.

It has been over two years since Apple launched the AirPods Pro, and while the wireless earbuds haven't been updated since then, rumors suggest that second-generation AirPods Pro will finally be released next year.

Key features of the current AirPods Pro include silicone ear tips, improved sound quality over standard AirPods, active noise cancellation, and a Conversation Boost feature that raises the volume of a person talking in front of you. AirPods Pro compete with the likes of Google's Pixel Buds, Samsung's Galaxy Buds, and Amazon's Echo Buds.

We've been hearing rumors about the second-generation AirPods Pro since shortly after the original ones launched, so keep reading to find out when the new AirPods Pro will likely be released and what new features we can expect.

AirPods Pro 2: Release Timeframe

While new AirPods Pro were initially rumored to launch within the first six months of 2022, this no longer appears to be the case.

In a research note earlier this month, reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he now expects Apple to launch the second-generation AirPods Pro in the fourth quarter of 2022, which runs from October through December of the year.

Apple announced the original AirPods Pro with a press release on its website on October 30, 2019, which was also in the fourth quarter.

Should you buy AirPods Pro now or wait until the new ones are released? Catch up on rumored features below and decide for yourself.

AirPods Pro 2: Rumored Features

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu have previously reported that Apple has tested a more compact design for the new AirPods Pro that would eliminate the stems that drop below the earbuds. If this ends up being the final design, the new AirPods Pro could look similar to Apple's Beats Studio Buds released in June 2021.

Gurman and Wu also claimed the new AirPods Pro will feature motion sensors for fitness tracking capabilities alongside the Apple Watch.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Pro will have a "significantly upgraded" wireless chip compared to the H1 chip in the current AirPods Pro. The chip powers audio-related functions like active noise cancellation, and improvements to this technology could result in improved battery life for longer listening time per charge. Kuo also expects the new AirPods Pro to support lossless audio available through Apple Music.

The new AirPods Pro charging case will be able to emit a sound to help users find it when misplaced, according to Kuo. It is likely that the next AirPods Pro will also have a water-resistant charging case, like the third-generation AirPods charging case.

If you ultimately decide to purchase the AirPods Pro now instead of waiting, keep in mind that they are often on sale on Amazon for significantly less than Apple's regular $249 price, so be sure to monitor our Apple Deals roundup.

For more details, check out AirPods Pro 2: Everything We Know So Far.

WhatsApp has made a privacy change to prevent people on the messaging platform from viewing the "Last Seen" status of users whom they have never chatted with, according to the latest report from independent feature specialist WABetaInfo.

As regular WhatsApp users will know, the "Last Seen" status of a contact sits atop the conversation thread, informing you when that contact last opened the app and was active on the platform. Users can disable their "Last Seen" status so that other contacts can't see when they were last online, but the setting's options are currently limited to "Everyone," "My Contacts," and "Nobody."

The latest change behind the scenes is said to be a privacy and security feature to prevent people you don't know and haven't communicated with from seeing your "Last Seen" status and online presence in the app.

According to a response from WhatsApp support, people and businesses a user knows or has previously messaged are not affected by the change.

To improve the privacy and security of our users, we're making it harder for people you don't know and haven't chatted with from seeing your last seen and online presence on WhatsApp. This will not change anything between you and your friends, family, and businesses who you know or have previously messaged.

As WABetaInfo notes, if a user can't view the "Last Seen" of any contacts they've already chatted with, it's because they have turned off the visibility of their "Last Seen" status or they've adjusted it on a contact-by-contact basis, a feature currently available to some users on WhatsApp beta that has yet to roll out globally.

As previously rumored, Apple is planning to release four iPhone 14 models in September 2022, including a 6.1-inch iPhone 14, 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max, according to analyst Jeff Pu.

In a research note with Haitong International Securities, obtained by MacRumors, Pu said the two Pro models will be equipped with a triple-lens rear camera system with an upgraded 48-megapixel Wide lens and 12-megapixel Ultra Wide and Telephoto lenses. This lines up with information shared by TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who in April claimed that the 48-megapixel lens will support 8K video recording.

Pu also expects the iPhone 14 Pro models to be equipped with 8GB of RAM, up from 6GB for the iPhone 13 Pro models. While this rumor sounds plausible, some other iPhone 14 specs forecasted by Pu seem far less likely, such as his claim that all four iPhone 14 models will feature 120Hz displays. Back in September, display industry analyst Ross Young said the standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max models will stick with 60Hz displays.

Pu also said the standard iPhone 14 models will start with 64GB of storage, despite the iPhone 13 lineup starting at 128GB of storage.

Pu has a mixed track record for Apple rumors. For example, he accurately claimed that 16-inch MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models with mini-LED displays would launch in 2021, but he was incorrect about HomePods with 3D sensing cameras launching in 2019.

The United States Labor Department has launched a whistleblower retaliation investigation, according to a report from Financial Times.

The U.S. Labor Department did not provide details on the investigation, but Financial Times says that former Apple employee Ashley Gjovik received a December 10 letter from the Labor Department that confirmed the inquiry. Gjovik was fired from Apple in September for allegedly leaking confidential information.

Gjovik, who has been vocal on Twitter, complained about ongoing harassment and unsafe working conditions at Apple, and she believes that she was fired under a false pretext.

Apple told Financial Times that it is "deeply committed to creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive workplace." The company said that it takes "all concerns seriously" and investigates thoroughly when a complaint is raised.

In recent weeks, Apple employees have been critical of workplace misconduct and have shared their frustrations, which has led to the creation of an "AppleToo" initiative calling on Apple executives to address the abuse, discrimination, and harassment that employees have reported.

Back in September, Apple retail and people chief Deirdre O'Brien encouraged employees who are experiencing issues to talk to their managers and their "business relations partner." Apple, she said, has a "confidential process" to investigate complaints in a way that "treats everyone with dignity and respect."

Apple is also facing an investigation from the National Labor Relations Board.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple today released iOS 15.2, the second major update to the iOS operating system that was released in September. iOS 15.2 introduces several features that Apple initially promised would come in iOS 15, but were ultimately delayed. This guide highlights everything new that's been added in the iOS 15.2 update.

App Privacy Report

App Privacy Report is one of the iOS 15 additions that Apple showed off at WWDC. It's a privacy feature designed to allow users to see how often apps have accessed their permission-restricted info like location, photos, camera, microphone, and contacts across the last seven days.

With App Privacy Report, users can also see which apps have contacted other domains and how recently they've contacted them to keep an eye on what apps are doing behind the scenes. You can, for example, see all of the trackers that a website is using, so you know where your data is going.

App Privacy Report is available by opening up the Settings app, selecting the Privacy section, and choosing App Privacy Report. From there, you can toggle it on. After you use apps for some time, data will begin showing up in this spot.

• How to Use App Privacy Report

Apple has a dedicated support document for the App Privacy report feature, which includes additional information on how it works.

Emergency SOS

Emergency SOS, the feature that lets you call emergency services with a series of button presses, has been updated in iOS 15.2. You can now press the side button rapidly multiple times to initiate, or hold down the side button and the volume button together if preferred.

Prior to the update, the rapid press worked, but there was no option for holding down the buttons together. Apple has also added a longer eight-second countdown before a call is placed if you have Auto Call enabled, up from the prior three-second countdown.

Apple Music Voice Plan

iOS 15.2 adds support for the Apple Music Voice Plan that was first introduced in October. Priced at $4.99 per month, the Voice Plan provides access to all songs, playlists, and stations in ‌Apple Music‌ using Siri.

There is a limited on-device interface available as the experience is meant to be ‌Siri‌ oriented. Users can ask ‌Siri‌ for music suggestions that are provided based on listening history or likes and dislikes, and a "Play it Again" feature lets users access a list of recently played music.

Legacy Contacts

With Legacy Contacts, you can set a trusted person to be able to access your Apple ID and your data (or "Digital Legacy") after you die. The person that you designate as your contact can access your photos, messages, notes, files, contacts, calendar events, apps, device backups, and more. iCloud Keychain passwords remain inaccessible, as does licensed media.

The Legacy Contact option can be accessed by opening up the Settings app, selecting "Password & Security," and choosing "‌Legacy Contact‌" from the list. From there, you can select a trusted person to access your account after you pass away. You can choose an iPhone user or an Android user, and share your special access key through Messages or by printing it out.

• How to Use Apple's Legacy Contact Feature to Let Your Family Access Your Photos and Data After You Die

Find My Battery Reserve Feature

With this update, the Find My app can be used to locate an ‌iPhone‌ for up to five hours in Power Reserve, a feature activated when the ‌iPhone‌'s battery is dead.

TV app

In iPadOS 15.2, Apple has introduced a new design for the TV app. The TV app features a sidebar, which makes navigation between the various sections of the TV app simpler.

For ‌iPhone‌ users, there's a dedicated "Store" tab in the TV app for accessing movies and TV shows that can be purchased. The new design and the addition of a Store tab may help separate Apple TV+ content from paid content, as the existing design has been confusing for some users.

Hide My Email in the Mail App

You can use Hide My Email directly from the Mail app after installing the iOS 15.2 beta. When composing an email, just tap on the "From" field and select the "Hide My Email" option to generate a random email address.

Hide My Email is available to everyone who has an ‌iCloud‌+ plan (priced starting at $0.99 per month), and it's a useful feature for protecting your email address.

All the emails sent to the random Apple-created email address are forwarded to you so you can respond if needed, but the person on the receiving end does not see your real email address. And if you start getting spam emails from someone, you can just delete the email address and put a stop to it.

• How to Use the Hide My Email Feature in the Mail App

Display Repair Restriction Changes

Apple promised a software update that will change an ‌iPhone‌ 13 policy that caused Face ID to be non-functional when repairs were made to a broken display, and that update is included in iOS 15.2.

Apple has a microcontroller that pairs the ‌iPhone‌ 13 to its display, and when performing a display repair, the microcontroller had to be paired to the display using Apple's tools in earlier versions of iOS. Because independent repair shops do not have access to those tools, they were upset about being unable to easily perform display repairs.

Apple has removed the microcontroller pairing requirement that disabled ‌Face ID‌ for ‌iPhone‌ 13 models with swapped displays, allowing for independent display repairs.

Communication Safety

In iOS 15.2, Apple is enabling Communication Safety in Messages for children. The feature is designed to scan incoming messages images on children's devices for nudity and warn them that such photos might be harmful.

Communication Safety is opt-in, privacy-focused, and must be enabled by parents. It is limited to the accounts of children, with detection done all on-device, and it is not the same as the anti-CSAM functionality that Apple still has in development.

Compared to earlier versions of Communication Safety that Apple described, the implemented version does not notify parents if children open a photo containing nudity. Apple removed this feature after concerns that it could be dangerous in situations of parental abuse.

We have an in-depth explanation of how Communication Safety works to answer any questions that MacRumors readers have about the feature.

Apple is also introducing expanded guidance in ‌Siri‌, Spotlight, and Safari Search that will help children and parents avoid unsafe situations online. Users who ask ‌‌Siri‌‌ how to report child exploitation, for example, will receive information on how to file a report.

Macro Mode Toggle

iOS 15.2 adds a manual toggle for Macro mode, in the form of a flower icon that can be tapped to toggle Macro mode off when the camera is close to an object.

To get the new toggle, users need to go to Settings, navigate to Camera, and turn on "Macro Control." Then, when close enough to an object, the flower icon will Appear in the camera app. The icon can be tapped to enable or disable Macro mode.

Apple has also added a new Preserve Settings option for Macro Control. If Macro Control is disabled, the Camera will automatically switch into Macro mode when close enough to an object, so this feature is meant to give users unhappy with that function more control over when Macro mode activates.

Notification Summary

Apple tweaked Notification Summary in iOS 15.2, and it has a new look with a card-style view that shows main apps in the summary in overlapping cards, making it easier to see at a glance what's included in the summary.

Playlist Search in Music App

Apple has added a long-awaited feature that allows ‌Apple Music‌ users to search within playlists.

iCloud Private Relay

In the Cellular and WiFi sections of the Settings app, Apple has clarified the ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay wording. The toggle, which was previously called "‌iCloud‌ Private Relay" has been renamed to "Limit IP Address Tracking" to make it clearer what happens when it's turned on.

The general functionality is the same, and this is just a clarification to the wording.

Turning off the "Limit IP Address Tracking" feature turns off ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay for the cellular provider or the WiFi network, just as it did before. There have been no changes to the ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay feature, which can be activated separately for cellular and WiFi traffic.

Reminders and Notes Apps

Tags can now be bulk renamed and deleted in the Reminders and Notes apps.

On the iPad, Apple has added a new Notes setting to access Quick Note with a swipe from the lower left or lower right corner of the screen.

CarPlay

The CarPlay Apple Maps app is gaining enhanced detail in iOS 15.2, but only for cities where the new maps features are supported. The updated map includes road details like turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks.

More detailed city maps are available in London, Los Angeles, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Stocks App

The Stocks app has been updated to allow users to view the currency for a ticker and see year-to-date performance information when viewing charts.

Siri Commands

iOS 15.2 reintroduces several ‌Siri‌ commands that were removed in iOS 15 and that were used by low vision and blind ‌iPhone‌ owners. The commands that now work are those for checking voicemail messages, playing the most recent voicemail, checking call history, and providing information on recent calls.

Bug Fixes

The update includes several bug fixes for issues with ‌Siri‌, ProRaw, HomeKit, and ‌CarPlay‌, with a list of fixes below.

• ‌Siri‌ may not respond while VoiceOver is running and ‌iPhone‌ is locked
• ProRAW photos may appear overexposed when viewing in third-party photo editing apps
• ‌HomeKit‌ scenes that include a garage door may not run from ‌CarPlay‌ when your ‌iPhone‌ is locked
• ‌CarPlay‌ may not update Now Playing information for certain apps
• Video streaming apps may not load content on ‌iPhone‌ 13 models
• Calendar events may appear on the wrong day for Microsoft Exchange users

Guide Feedback

Know of an iOS 15.2 feature we left out or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.

Apple is not expected to introduce a foldable iPhone until 2023 at the earliest, with 2024 being the more likely target date, according to display analyst Ross Young.

Rumors about a foldable ‌iPhone‌ have died down in recent months, but there continues to be evidence that Apple is at least working on prototypes of foldable devices. In September 2020, it was suggested that Samsung had provided foldable display samples to Apple for testing purposes, and there have also been rumors that Apple is working with LG Display.

Back in May, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was working to launch a foldable ‌iPhone‌ with an 8-inch flexible OLED display in 2023, but he has said little else about Apple's work on foldable devices since then. Bloomberg in January said that Apple had started "early work" on a foldable iPhone, but development at the time had not expanded beyond a display.

Going forward, Kuo believes that foldable smartphones are going to become a "must-have" for all major smartphone brands, and Samsung at least has definitely been working on perfecting its foldable smartphone options. Earlier this year, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Fold3, the third-iteration of its foldable smartphone.

Early Galaxy Fold devices from Samsung were riddled with issues, but Samsung has now had three years to iron out bugs with little competition in the foldable smartphone field. If Apple does opt to come out with a foldable smartphone in 2023 or 2024, it will need to compete with Samsung, a company that now has several years of expertise with foldable devices.

Kuo has previously said that Apple will need to solve "key technology and mass production issues" to launch a foldable iPhone by 2023, so it would be no surprise at all to have the technology delayed until 2024.

Apple's next-generation larger-screened "iMac Pro" is expected to launch next spring, according to a forward looking article on Apple's upcoming devices penned by display analyst Ross Young.

Young says that the new ‌iMac‌ is "expected in the spring," with spring in the Northern Hemisphere starting on March 20 and ending on June 21. Apple often holds an event in the spring, so we could perhaps see the new ‌iMac‌ come out at the annual spring event.

There were rumors of an ‌iMac‌ with a display larger than 27 inches, but more recent information, including details from Young, have pointed toward Apple maintaining the 27-inch display size. The device will use a mini-LED display similar to the MacBook Pro, and it will feature support for 120Hz ProMotion refresh rates.

To simplify its naming strategy, the new ‌iMac‌ could be called the "‌iMac‌ Pro," which would differentiate it from the 24-inch ‌iMac‌ and put it on par with the ‌MacBook Pro‌ machines. The new 27-inch iMacs are expected to use the same M1 Pro and M1 Max chips as the 2021 ‌MacBook Pro‌ models.

There have been rumors about Apple transitioning to OLED displays for some Macs and iPads instead of mini-LED, and Young also touches on that subject in his analysis. Young believes that we shouldn't expect an OLED iPad or MacBook until 2023 at the earliest.

Right now, prices for Apple's mini-LED panels are more expensive than similar OLED panels, but the adoption of OLED vs. the continued adoption of mini-LED will depend on how fast mini-LED prices drop. Young says that pricing differences "will be critical" in the "OLED vs. mini-LED battle."

Apple has officially delayed Universal Control, a hallmark feature of macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15 announced in June, until Spring 2022.

In an update to the iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey feature pages, Apple now indicates that ‌Universal Control‌ will be "available this spring." ‌Universal Control‌, which allows users to use one mouse and keyboard across all of their Macs and iPads, has been absent from all versions of both macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15 thus far.

Apple had initially indicated that ‌Universal Control‌ would be launching in the fall of this year, presumably alongside the initial releases of macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15, but that promise did not materialize. Apple just today released macOS Monterey 12.1, including SharePlay and other new features, but lacking Universal Control. With the fall season officially ending on December 21, it seemed likely to be the case that the feature would be delayed until next year.

Apple today released a new "Tracker Detect" app on the Google Play Store, with the app designed to allow Android users to locate AirTags that might be nearby.

According to the app's description, Tracker Detect looks for item trackers that are separated from their owner and that are compatible with the Find My Network, so it will locate AirTags and other Find My-enabled devices like the Chipolo Bluetooth item tracker.

Apple says that Android users can scan to find a nearby AirTag if they think that someone is using an ‌AirTag‌ or another device to track their location. The app is designed to alleviate fears from experts worried that AirTags can be used maliciously to track the location of individuals.

For iPhone users, Apple previously introduced several safety features, including an alert that will let an ‌iPhone‌ user know if an ‌AirTag‌ that does not belong to them is following them. There was no such protection for Android users prior to the introduction of the Tracker Detect app, which Apple said it was working on back in June.

An Apple Support document on the feature says that if the app detects an ‌AirTag‌ or Find My-compatible item tracker nearby for at least 10 minutes, a sound can be used to help locate it. Conducting a scan will reveal any nearby AirTags, and after offering up a tool to play a sound to locate the ‌AirTag‌, Apple will offer information on how to disable it by removing the battery.

Apple today released macOS Monterey 12.1, the first major update to the macOS Monterey update that initially launched in October.

The ‌‌macOS Monterey‌ update can be downloaded on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Preferences. Apple has also released a macOS Big Sur 11.6.2 update for those still running macOS Big Sur and a Security Update 2021-008 for those running macOS Catalina.

macOS Monterey 12.1 adds a major missing feature to the Mac -- SharePlay. With SharePlay, Mac owners can watch TV, listen to music, and play games with friends and family members over FaceTime.

Using SharePlay, all kinds of apps integrate with ‌FaceTime‌, and content is synced for all people who are part of the ‌FaceTime‌ call. You can listen to music and access shared playlists using Apple Music, watch synced TV shows and movies together with the TV app, work out together with Apple Fitness+, and even share your screen with friends and family members for things like group trip planning or device troubleshooting.

SharePlay was designed to work with first-party apps like Apple TV and ‌Apple Music‌, but Apple designed an API for developers so third-party apps can also use ‌FaceTime‌ for shared games and other experiences.

macOS Monterey 12.1 brings support for the $4.99 ‌Apple Music‌ Voice Plan that's designed to work with Siri, and it adds Communication Safety for children in the Messages app. There are updates to the Memories feature in Photos to bring macOS 12 in line with iOS 15, and the update includes the same Digital Legacy feature being introduced in iOS 15.2.

Digital Legacy lets you designate a person as a Legacy Contact to give them access to your iCloud account when you die. Apple has also added Hide My Email support for the Mail app, a Store tab in the TV app, and bug fixes for the trackpad, HDR video playback on YouTube, charging, and notch display issues. Apple's full release notes for the update are below.

macOS Monterey 12.1 adds SharePlay, an entirely new way to have shared experiences with family and friends in FaceTime. This update also includes the Apple Music Voice Plan, new safety features for children and parents in Messages, redesigned Memories in Photos, and other features and bug fixes for your Mac.

SharePlay

• SharePlay is a new way to share synchronized experiences in FaceTime with content from the Apple TV app, Apple Music, and other supported apps
• Shared controls give everyone the ability to pause, play, rewind or fast forward
• Smart volume automatically lowers the audio of a movie, TV show or song when you or your friends speak
• Screen sharing lets everyone on a FaceTime call look at photos, browse the web, or help each other out

Apple Music Voice Plan

• Apple Music Voice Plan is a new subscription tier that gives you access to all songs, playlists, and stations in Apple Music using Siri
• Just Ask Siri suggests music based on your listening history and likes or dislikes
• Play it Again lets you access a list of your recently played music

Photos

• Memories has been redesigned with a new interactive interface, new animation and transition styles, and multiple image collages
• New Memory types include additional international holidays, child-focused memories, trends over time, and improved pet memories

Messages

• Communication safety setting gives parents the ability to enable warnings for children when they receive or send photos that contain nudity
  

• Safety warnings contain helpful resources for children when they receive photos that contain nudity

Siri and Search

• Expanded guidance in Siri, Spotlight and Safari Search to help children and parents stay safe online and get help with unsafe situations

Apple ID

• Digital Legacy allows you to designate people as Legacy Contacts so they can access your iCloud account and personal information in the event of your death

TV App

• Store tab lets you browse, buy, and rent movies and TV Shows all in one place

This release also includes the following enhancements for your Mac:

• Hide My Email is available in the Mail app for iCloud+ subscribers to create unique, random email addresses
• Stocks allows you to view the currency for a ticker and see year-to-date performance when viewing charts
• Reminders and Notes now allow you to delete or rename tags

This release also includes bug fixes for your Mac:

• Desktop and Screen Saver may appear blank after selecting photos from the Photos library
• Trackpad could become unresponsive to taps or clicks
• External displays may not charge some MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers when connected using Thunderbolt or USB-C
• HDR video playback on YouTube.com could cause 2021 MacBook Pro computers to panic
• Menu bar extras may be obscured by the camera housing on 2021 MacBook Pro computers
• MagSafe may stop charging on 2021 16-inch MacBook Pro computers when lid is closed and system is shut down

For more on the new features that have been introduced with macOS Monterey, we have a dedicated macOS Monterey roundup.

Alongside iOS 15.2, Apple today released a new 15.2 software update for the HomePod and the HomePod mini.

The ‌HomePod‌ 15.2 software adds support for the $4.99 per month Apple Music Voice Plan, a Siri-based option for listening to ‌Apple Music‌ on ‌HomePod‌ and other devices.

Software version 15.2 includes support for Apple Music Voice Plan, a new subscription tier designed to access music using Siri, and extends Siri voice recognition to new languages. This update also includes performance and stability improvements.

Today's update adds several new languages to the ‌HomePod‌ in addition to introducing ‌Apple Music‌ Voice Plan. There's now support for the following languages:

- Dutch (Belgium)
- Dutch (Netherlands)
- French (Belgium)
- French (Switzerland)
- German (Switzerland)
- Italian (Switzerland)
- Russian

‌‌‌‌‌‌‌HomePod‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ software is installed automatically on the ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌HomePod‌‌‌‌ unless the feature is disabled‌‌‌‌, but the ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌HomePod‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ can also be manually updated in the Home app by following the instructions in our HomePod‌‌ update how to.

Apple today released iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2, the second major updates to the iOS and iPadOS 15 operating systems that were released in September 2021. iOS 15.2 comes more than a month after the launch of iOS 15.1.

The iOS and iPadOS 15.2 updates can be downloaded for free and the software is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the new software, go to Settings > General > Software Update. It may take some time for the update to roll out to all users.

iOS 15.2 adds App Privacy Report, a feature designed to let you know how often apps are accessing permissions-restricted info like the camera and the microphone, plus it lets you know the domains that apps and websites are contacting so you can keep an eye on what's going on behind the scenes.

The update includes Communication Safety for devices owned by children and the Apple Music Voice Plan, plus it introduces Legacy Contacts for managing your data after you die, and it adds improvements to Find My, Hide My Email, and more. Apple's full release notes for the iOS 15.2 update are below:

iOS 15.2 adds Apple Music Voice Plan, a new subscription tier that provides access to music using Siri. This update also includes the App Privacy Report, new safety features for children and parents in Messages, and other features and bug fixes for your iPhone.

Apple Music Voice Plan

• Apple Music Voice Plan is a new subscription tier that gives you access to all songs, playlists, and stations in Apple Music using Siri
• Just Ask Siri suggests music based on your listening history and likes or dislikes
• Play it Again lets you access a list of your recently played music

Privacy

• App Privacy Report in Settings lets you see how often apps have accessed your location, photos, camera, microphone, contacts and more during the last seven days, as well as their network activity

Messages

• Communication safety setting gives parents the ability to enable warnings for children when they receive or send photos that contain nudity
• Safety warnings contain helpful resources for children when they receive photos that contain nudity

Siri and Search

• Expanded guidance in Siri, Spotlight and Safari Search to help children and parents stay safe online and get help with unsafe situations

Apple ID

• Digital Legacy allows you to designate people as Legacy Contacts so they can access your iCloud account and personal information in the event of your death

Camera

• Macro photo control for switching to the Ultra Wide lens to capture macro photos and videos can be enabled in Settings on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max

TV app

• Store tab lets you browse, buy, and rent movies and TV Shows all in one place

CarPlay

• Enhanced city map in Apple Maps with road details like turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks for supported cities

This release also includes the following enhancements for your iPhone:

• Hide My Email is available in the Mail app for iCloud+ subscribers to create unique, random email addresses
• Find My can locate iPhone for up to five hours when in Power Reserve
• Stocks allows you to view the currency for a ticker and see year-to-date performance when viewing charts
• Reminders and Notes now allow you to delete or rename tags

This release also includes bug fixes for your iPhone:

• Siri may not respond while VoiceOver is running and iPhone is locked
• ProRAW photos may appear overexposed when viewing in third-party photo editing apps
• HomeKit scenes that include a garage door may not run from CarPlay when your iPhone is locked
• CarPlay may not update Now Playing information for certain apps
• Video streaming apps may not load content on iPhone 13 models
• Calendar events may appear on the wrong day for Microsoft Exchange users

For a complete overview of all of the features that are available in iOS 15, we have a dedicated iOS 15 roundup.

Apple today released watchOS 8.3, the second major update to the watchOS 8 operating system that first launched in September. watchOS 8.3 comes more than a month after the launch of watchOS 8.1, and it is not known why Apple skipped version 8.2.

‌‌watchOS ‌8.3 can be downloaded for free through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌‌.

The watchOS 8.3 update is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 3 and later like all watchOS 8 updates.

According to Apple's release notes, watchOS 8.3 adds support for the voice-only Apple Music Voice Plan, which is designed to allow users to ask Siri to play ‌Apple Music‌ songs, playlists, and stations.

The update also introduces support for App Privacy Report, a feature that monitors when apps access sensitive data and sensors that are restricted by privacy settings, such as location information, and it fixes an issue that could cause notifications to interrupt Mindfulness sessions unexpectedly. Though not included in the release notes, watchOS 8.3 expands AssistiveTouch to the Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5.

Details on what's included in the ‌watchOS 8‌ update can be found in our watchOS roundup.

Apple today released tvOS 15.2, the second major update to the tvOS operating system that first launched in September 2021. tvOS 15.2 comes more than a month after the launch of tvOS 15.1, an update that introduced SharePlay support.

tvOS 15.2 can be downloaded over the air on the Apple TV through the Settings app by going to System > Software Update. ‌‌‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌‌‌ owners who have automatic software updates enabled will be upgraded to tvOS 15.2 automatically.

Apple's tvOS updates are typically minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes, performance updates, and small tweaks rather than major outward-facing changes. We found no new features in tvOS 15.2 during the beta testing process, so it's not yet clear what's included in the update.

Apple does not provide detailed release notes for its tvOS updates, but it does offer some tvOS details through its tvOS support document.

Adobe today announced the launch of Creative Cloud Express, an app and web-based service that allows for drag-and-drop content creation, ranging from social media posts to marketing materials like logos, flyers, and banners.

Creative Cloud Express offers thousands of templates, 20,000 fonts, 175 million royalty-free Adobe stock images, and other design assets. "Quick Actions" powered by Adobe Sensei machine learning allow users to remove backgrounds from photos, trim and merge videos, turn videos into GIFs, convert/export PDFs in a few clicks, and more.

Adobe's head of Creative Cloud, Scott Belsky:

Creative Cloud Express is perfect for people with no creative training. But it's also a great addition to the toolkit of creative professionals. If you just want to make a social media post, produce a simple flyer, resize an image, or craft a quick thumbnail image for your Premiere Pro video, Creative Cloud Express is the fast and easy way to go. And Creative Cloud and Creative Cloud Express are connected through Libraries, Shared Templates and Shared Brands, which makes it easy for creative pros to share work with people with less formal training.

The free version of Creative Cloud Express includes basic editing and photo effects, access to a limited collection of design assets, and 2GB of cloud storage. For $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, users can get access to the entire collection of design assets, premium "Quick Actions" like Refine Cutout and Resize, the ability to convert and export to and from PDFs and other file types, 100GB of cloud storage, and more.

Creative Cloud Express is also included with existing Creative Cloud Single App plans over $20.99 per month and the Creative Cloud All Apps plan.

Creative Cloud Express is available on the web and as an iPhone and iPad app on the App Store. The app was previously known as Adobe Spark Post.

Today you can get Apple's 24-inch 8-Core GPU, 256GB iMac for a new record low price of $1,399.00 at B&H Photo, down from $1,499.00. This sale is available in Silver, Orange, and Yellow, and it's in stock today with free expedited shipping available to most states.

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.

The best discounts we previously tracked on this model, and on most models of the M1 iMac, reached only to $50 off original prices. This is one of the best all-around markdowns on the M1 iMac line to date, and you'll also find the $1,399.00 sale price on Amazon this week, but it won't deliver until January.

You can keep track of ongoing sales on Apple's iMac line by visiting our Best iMac Deals guide. There, we keep track of the best iMac offers from Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, and other retailers, so be sure to check back often if you're shopping for an iMac for the first time, or thinking of upgrading.