MacRumors

The biggest news item this week was Apple's announcement of an upcoming Self Service Repair program that will allow users to obtain parts, tools, and manuals directly from Apple in a win for the Right to Repair movement.

That certainly wasn't the only news this week, with Apple also releasing iOS 15.1.1 for iPhone 12 and 13 users while continuing work on iOS 15.2 and other upcoming updates, and fresh rumors about the Apple's car and AR headset projects. Black Friday is also right around the corner, so read on for all of the details on our biggest stories of the week!

Apple Announces Self Service Repair Program, Starting With iPhone 12 and 13

Apple this week announced a new "Self Service Repair" program, allowing users to complete their own repairs via a new online store dedicated to parts and tools.

The Self Service Repair program will give customers who are comfortable with the idea of completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts, tools, and manuals, starting with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups in the U.S. in early 2022. The scheme will be introduced in phases, adding more repairs and supported devices over time.

The announcement is a win for the Right to Repair movement, and advocates like repair firm iFixit have lauded Apple for introducing the program, although some remain wary pending more details on costs and policies.

Apple Releases iOS 15.1.1 With Call Improvements for iPhone 12 and 13 Models

Apple this week released iOS 15.1.1, which improves call drop performance on iPhone 12 and 13 models. It appears to only be available for devices in the ‌iPhone 12‌ and iPhone 13 families, including Pro models, so users with other devices won't see the update.

Developers and public beta testers have also received a third round of betas for Apple's next major set of updates, including iOS 15.2. There are a number of new tweaks in the latest beta, such as the ability to search within Apple Music playlists and improvements for the new Macro camera mode settings introduced in the previous beta.

Apple Black Friday: Best Deals on iPhones, iPads, and Macs for 2021

We're less than a week away from Black Friday, and some retailers will be kicking off their major holiday sales even sooner, so keep a close eye on our Black Friday roundup where we're collecting the best deals we've seen so far.

We also have some spotlight coverage of major retailers like Walmart and Target, and we'll be sharing many more deals as we get closer to the big day.

Apple Working Toward Fully Autonomous Car With No Steering Wheel or Pedals, Aiming to Launch in 2025

Apple is picking up its work on an Apple-designed car and is aiming to create a fully autonomous vehicle, reports Bloomberg.

Apple is "refocusing" the project around full self-driving vehicles, a goal that other car manufacturers have not been able to achieve. The company is hoping to launch its first car in 2025, although even some insiders think that goal may be optimistic.

The report gave a boost to investors as Apple's stock popped immediately upon its publication, driving Apple shares to their first all-time high in over two months.

Apple AR Headset 'Approaching Liftoff' as Development Mirrors Period Before Apple Watch Launch

The long-rumored Apple augmented reality (AR) headset may be "approaching liftoff", with Morgan Stanley analysts noting that development appears to be mirroring what was seen just prior to the launch of the Apple Watch.

Apple has been applying for a number of patents across a variety of topics related to AR, and many expect Apple's entry to be a "game changer" for normalizing the technology.

Both Apple's AR headset and the iPhone 14 are expected to adopt Wi-Fi 6E, according to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The technology offers the fast speeds and low latency of Wi-Fi 6 but extended into the 6 GHz band for even better performance with less interference.

MacRumors Newsletter

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

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With the launch of iOS 15.1, Apple introduced a new prompt for the Podcasts app that asks customers to rate it, and as it turns out, confusion over what's being rated has led to an artificially inflated App Store rating for the Podcasts app.

Prior to the October 25 launch of iOS 15.1, the Podcasts app had 1.8 stars and plenty of negative reviews from customers unhappy with the design of the app. Now that Apple is asking customers to rate the app, ‌App Store‌ ratings for the Podcast app have shot up to 4.7 stars, a stark difference.

Apple made no major changes to the Podcasts app so customers are not suddenly happier with its design and performance - instead, many people are leaving ratings for the podcasts themselves. As noted by Kosta Eleftheriou and highlighted today by The Verge, many of the reviews are for the podcasts that are available through the Podcasts app, and not for the app's functionality.

The top review in the ‌App Store‌ right now starts out with "Best Podcast Ever!", with the reviewer lauding the podcast they had been listening to at the time the review prompt popped up.

The rest of the reviews are a mix of one star comments about the design of the Podcasts app and positive reviews for podcast content.

With the review prompt, the Podcasts app is receiving thousands of reviews per day, and many of them are positive. Apple confirmed to The Verge that it is using a new prompt, the same one available to all developers. "With iOS 15.1 released last month, Apple Podcasts began prompting listeners to leave a rating and review just like most third-party apps -- using the standard Rating & Review prompt available to all developers," a spokesperson said.

As The Verge points out, Apple is breaking no rules using this prompt that is standard issue in third-party apps, but it's misleading for customers looking for an ideal podcast experience. The Podcasts app is the number one app that comes up when you search for "podcasts" even though unaltered ratings suggest that other podcast apps offer a better user interface.

Looking at the reviews of third-party podcast apps, the majority of the ratings are for the apps themselves, and customers do not seem to be accidentally offering reviews for podcast content as is happening with the Podcasts app. It is not clear if Apple plans to remove its confusing in-app rating prompt for the Podcasts app, but reviews for the Podcasts app certainly should not be trusted.

Customers have been increasingly unhappy with the Podcasts app since iOS 14.5, which is when Apple introduced a design change that brought with it multiple bugs ranging from problems with syncing to an issue causing huge numbers of podcast episodes to be re-downloaded at one time. There were a huge number of complaints, in fact, which led Apple to make some changes in iOS 14.6, but the app has continued to accumulate negative feedback.

Apple today opened a new retail location in the Los Angeles area with the official launch of Apple The Grove. Apple has had an Apple Store in The Grove shopping area for close to 20 years, but the recently opened store is in a new location.

To celebrate the relocation of Apple The Grove, Apple last night hosted a Q&A event with the cast of popular Apple TV+ show "Ted Lasso," including Jason Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Juno Temple, and more. Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the event and shared a tweet about it.

Cook also spent today at Apple The Grove interacting with customers doing their holiday shopping.

Apple announced the reopening of Apple The Grove earlier this month and said that the store is twice the size of the original. It has been designed to serve as an "entirely reimagined destination for the LA community" to learn about Apple's product and services.

For the last several years, Apple has been making an effort to redesign and update some of its older stores, and locations like The Grove that have outgrown their original size have been revamped. Apple recently relocated Apple Valley Fair, a Bay Area location with higher traffic than could be accommodated at the original location, and it has expanded other flagship stores such as Apple Fifth Avenue and Apple Union Square in San Francisco.

The Google Messages app on Android devices may soon start showing iMessage reactions as emoji characters instead of text, according to some digging done by 9to5Google.

In the Messages app on iOS and Mac devices, users can add a reaction like a heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, a laugh, a question mark, or an exclamation, all of which show up as annotations to an iMessage. These reactions can also be used on "green bubble" messages from Android users, but Android doesn't interpret them correctly and it can lead to awkwardness.

If you heart a message on an iPhone, for example, a fellow ‌iPhone‌ user will see a little heart on the message. On Android, though, when you heart a message it shows it in text: [Person] "Loved" and then the text of the message. This is true of all of the iMessages reactions, Google turns them into text in a way that looks weird, especially if Android users aren't aware of iMessage reactions.

9to5Google looked at the code in the latest beta update to Google Messages and discovered that rather than showing iMessage reactions as text, Google Messages may soon translate them into emoji, which would be a much better solution for Android users.

"Show ‌iPhone‌ reactions as emoji," reads a line of the code, under the "ios_reaction_classification."

For now, it's not clear exactly how this "classification" would work, but one would imagine Google Messages would spot incoming messages that start with something like "Liked" and try to match it to a previous message. Once it's figured out what message is being reacted to, perhaps Google Message will hide the incoming iMessage fallback and instead show an emoji under the original message.

That said, iMessage has a different set of reactions than currently offered by Google Messages in RCS chats. Google may be accounting for this, as there is mention in the code of "mapping" the iMessage reactions, possibly mapping to the set of reactions available in Google Messages today, or perhaps just mapping to various emoji.

Displaying an emoji for an iMessage reaction could avoid some of the awkwardness in interactions between iOS and Android users going forward, should Google ultimately decide to implement this change.

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Throwboy to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's Apple-themed Throw Blankets. Introduced earlier this year, the blankets are modeled after classic Apple icons, machines, and operating systems.

The 1984 Throw Blanket, for example, is modeled after the first Macintosh that Apple released in 1984. It's made from a beige fabric that matches the color of the original Macintosh, plus it has a black screen, a disk drive, and a rainbow logo.

Throwboy's Icon Throw Blanket is designed to look like the original Mac Finder icon, sporting a two-tone design and a smile.

There are also a trio of blankets that are meant to resemble classic Apple operating systems, and they use colors that make them unmistakable. The 80s OS Blanket is meant to look like the Classic Mac OS with a menu bar that features File, Edit, View, and Special options on a gray background, along with floppy disk and trash icons.

The 90s Throw Blanket adopts the purple background of Mac OS 9, and the 2000s Throw Blanket features the popular aqua design introduced in Mac OS X 10.

For those who like Apple's software, there's a 2000s Text Editor Throw Blanket modeled after Apple's TextEdit app with Aqua-themed design.

All of Throwboy's blankets are unmistakably Apple-themed, and make fun additions to any Apple fan's home. Each blanket measures in at 50 inches by 60 inches and they're all priced at $46.99.

Blankets feature the Apple print on one side and a minky fleece material in a neutral color on the back, making them perfect to snuggle up with on a cold night.

We have 10 blankets to give away to MacRumors readers, with each winner able to choose their favorite design. To enter to win, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older, UK residents who are 18 years or older, and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. All federal, state, provincial, and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (November 19) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on November 26. The winners will be chosen randomly on November 26 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Very few iPhone users will repair their own ‌iPhone‌ to postpone their next smartphone purchase, despite the Self Service Repair program, according to research by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

Earlier this week, Apple announced the Self Service Repair program, giving customers who are comfortable with the idea of completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts, tools, and manuals, starting with the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineups. While the scheme has been met with praise from Right to Repair advocates, it seems that few ‌iPhone‌ users will take advantage of it in practice.

CIRP's research suggests that almost all iPhones in use have a display in "useable" condition and most iPhones have a battery in "useable" condition. 12 percent of ‌iPhone‌ displays are cracked but useable, and just six percent are unusable and in need of replacement. 26 percent of ‌iPhone‌ batteries are said to provide battery life lasting half a day without charging, and 14 percent need to be charged every couple of hours. Battery replacements are therefore likely to be among the most common repairs, but comparatively few active devices are in need of replacing either of these parts that are subject to a high level of wear and tear.

The small number of active devices in need of replacement parts, combined with the fact that many users will not be comfortable completing their own repairs, indicates that very few ‌iPhone‌ users will actually take advantage of the ‌Self Service Repair‌ program. CIRP Partner and Co-Founder Mike Levin said:

It seems battery life affects consumers more than screen condition. 14 percent of iPhone buyers reported needing to charge a battery in their old iPhone every few hours. Only six percent of iPhone buyers said they had a cracked screen that made the old phone unusable, while another 12 percent had a cracked screen that was still useable. Of course, buyers have many reasons for upgrading from an old iPhone, including processor performance or storage capacity. So, at best a small fraction of buyers are likely to postpone a new iPhone purchase by repairing an old phone through the Self Service Repair program.

Since most new ‌iPhone‌ buyers already have "more than adequately usable phones," "few owners would use the ‌Self Service Repair‌ program to postpone their next ‌iPhone‌ purchase," according to CIRP's Josh Lowitz.

The ‌Self Service Repair‌ program will be available to users starting early next year in the United States and expand to additional countries throughout 2022.

CIRP's findings are based on a survey of 2,000 Apple customers in the U.S. that purchased an Apple Watch, ‌iPhone‌, iPad, or Mac between October 2020 and September 2021.

Amazon is offering numerous all-time low prices on Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro from 2021, starting at $999.00 for the 128GB Wi-Fi tablet. These sales measure up to $150 off, and all models are in stock and ready to ship from Amazon today.

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.

We're also tracking a return of the best price we've ever seen on the Apple Pencil 2 on Amazon, available for $99.00, down from $129.00. All of these products are sold directly from Amazon.

12.9-Inch iPad Pro

• 128GB Wi-Fi - $999.00, down from $1,099.00 ($100 off, lowest ever)
• 256GB Wi-Fi - $1,099.00, down from $1,199.00 ($100 off)
• 512GB Wi-Fi - $1,249.00, down from $1,399.00 ($150 off, lowest ever)
• 1TB Wi-Fi - $1,649.00, down from $1,799.00 ($150 off, lowest ever)
• 2TB Wi-Fi - $2,049.99, down from $2,199.00 ($149 off, lowest ever)
• 128GB Cellular - $1,199.99, down from $1,299.00 ($99 off)
• 256GB Cellular - $1,299.99, down from $1,399.00 ($99 off, lowest ever)
• 512GB Cellular - $1,449.99, down from $1,599.00 ($149 off, lowest ever)
• 1TB Cellular - $1,899.99, down from $1,999.00 ($99 off)
• 2TB Cellular - $2,249.99, down from $2,399.00 ($149 off, lowest ever)

We're keeping track of all this season's best deals in our Black Friday 2021 Roundup. You can also find more of our daily deals and other offers in our Deals Roundup.

Amid rumors about Apple's custom-designed modem for its 2023 iPhone lineup, a new report today suggested that the display panels destined for these models could put substantial pressure on LG Display's market share.

According to research by UBI, seen by The Elec, BOE is converting three of its factories into facilities capable of manufacturing OLED panels for Apple. Until now, BOE has manufactured OLED panels for the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 13 at two factories in China, accounting for just 10 percent of all ‌iPhone‌ displays in 2021, but the significant expansion will reportedly allow the company to overtake LG Display as one of Apple's main suppliers of ‌iPhone‌ displays in 2023.

By the fourth quarter of 2022, BOE will expand to reach a manufacturing capacity of 144,000 substrates per month, up from just 96,000 currently. This will exceed Samsung Display's current manufacturing capacity of 140,000 substrates per month, positioning BOE as a serious competitor.

BOE taking a larger share of the supply of ‌iPhone‌ displays could pose a particular threat to LG Display since Apple is its only client for Gen 6 OLED panels, unlike Samsung Display and BOE, which both have a range of other customers and are generally more competitive.

The expansion could spell more bad news for LG after it halted production of LCD displays for iPhones and shut down its own smartphone division entirely earlier this year.

This week, additional reports about Apple's custom-designed 5G modem emerged, explaining that it will be separate from the company's A-series chip and is set to debut in iPhones as soon as 2023. These models could also feature no notch or hole-punch out of the display, an under-display Touch ID fingerprint scanner, and a periscope camera system.

Apple today shared a new video in its ongoing "Shot on iPhone" series, this time commissioned from French film director Michel Gondry, known for movies like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Be Kind Rewind," "The Green Hornet," and "The Science of Sleep."

The video focuses on eggs in various fantasy settings and situations, ending with an ‌iPhone‌ shot of chickens. The entire short piece was filmed on the ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro.

What happens when you take a dozen eggs, add iPhone 13 Pro and throw in the inventive mind of Michel Gondry? The simple becomes cinema.

Apple regularly shares "Shot on ‌iPhone‌" videos and photos, and it is one of the company's longest running advertising campaigns. The "A Dozen Eggs" video may make its way to TV commercials and social media.

Update: Apple has also shared a "Behind the Scenes" look at how the video was created.

Belkin today announced the launch of the Boost Charge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad, a $150 charger that can charge an Apple Watch, iPhone, and AirPods at the same time.

Designed for Apple's latest devices, the 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad offers a MagSafe charging puck for the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and 13 models, which can charge them at up to 15W (12W for ‌iPhone‌ 12 and 13 mini). It is also able to fast charge the new Apple Watch Series 7 models, and it is the first third-party charger with fast-charging capabilities.

The Apple Watch Series 7 is able to charge up to 33 percent faster with Apple's new fast charge Apple Watch puck, with the watch charging to approximately 80 percent within 45 minutes.

Along with the 3-in-1 charging option, Belkin has also introduced the Portable Fast Charger for Apple Watch, which is priced at $60. The Portable Fast Charger for Apple Watch is able to fast charge the Apple Watch Series 7 models, as the name suggests.

Customers can pre-order the 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad with MagSafe and the new Apple Watch Fast Charger starting today, but the devices won't ship until December or January.

Apple today released watchOS 8.1.1, a minor update to the watchOS 8 operating system that came out in September. watchOS 8.1.1 comes three weeks after the launch of watchOS 8.1, an update that added SharePlay Fitness+ group workouts and other features.

‌‌watchOS ‌8.1.1 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. watchOS 8.1.1 is only available for the Apple Watch Series 7.

According to Apple's release notes, the watchOS 8.1.1 update addresses an issue that could cause Apple Watch Series 7 models not to charge as expected for some users. Some Apple Watch Series 7 owners have noticed slow charging speeds for their devices, and this update should fix the bug causing the problem.

Right on the heels of a fresh round of rumors about Apple's autonomous car project, Apple's stock price spiked to a new all-time high today, touching $157.87 per share before pulling back slightly.

The previous all-time intraday high was set back on September 7 at $157.26, and Apple's stock is now up over 21% so far in 2021 and 33% over the past twelve months.

Investors are no doubt looking toward the potential impact of Apple's entry into the massive automobile market, but any launch is still a number of years away, with Apple's rumored target of 2025 reportedly seen as optimistic even by some within the company.

Apple employees are expected to begin returning to corporate offices starting on February 1, according to a memo Apple CEO Tim Cook sent out to staff today.

The memo, obtained by The Information, says that employees will return under the hybrid work pilot that was announced earlier this year. Starting in February, employees will work at Apple's campuses and offces for one to two days each week.

Then in March, workers will be expected to be in the office Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, working from home on Wednesday and Friday. Teams that have a "greater need to work in-person" will not be able to be part of the hybrid work experience.

Apple also plans to allow employees to work remotely for up to one month per year, an increase from the prior two weeks that the company announced earlier in the year. "This provides more opportunity to travel, be closer to your loved ones, or simply shake up your routines," Cook told employees in the letter.

After working from home for more than a year, some Apple employees are not pleased that Apple is requiring them to return to the office, as the company has been able to release a number of new products with its remote work schedule.

Apple executives have always made it clear that employees are expected to return. "Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us, to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate," Cook said back in June.

Apple has pushed back the deadline for when employees must return to work several times as COVID cases have continued to soar, and in August, the company said that employees would be able to stay home until at least January.

Apple is picking up its work on an Apple-designed car and is aiming to create a fully autonomous vehicle, reports Bloomberg. Apple is "refocusing" the project around full self-driving vehicles, a goal that other car manufacturers have not been able to achieve.

Work on an Apple Car began way back in 2014, and since then, the project has gone through multiple transformations. At one point, rumors suggested Apple had abandoned its plans for a full vehicle and would instead focus on software, but rumors began picking up again in 2020. It's now been made clear that Apple intends to launch its own vehicle.

As Bloomberg explains, Apple worked on two vehicle paths, one with limited self-driving capabilities and a second with full self-driving functionality that does not require human intervention, and the company will now pursue this second path under the leadership of Kevin Lynch, who joined the project earlier this year. Apple has hit a "milestone" in developing the self-driving car system, and has finished the core work on the chip that will power the first car.

The Apple car chip is the most advanced component that Apple has developed internally and is made up primarily of neural processors that can handle the artificial intelligence needed for autonomous driving. The chip's capabilities mean it will run hot and likely require the development of a sophisticated cooling system.

The hope is to develop a vehicle that can spare customers from driving fatigue when they're on long trips. But building an actual car - for an auto industry outsider like Apple - will require partnerships. The company has discussed deals with multiple manufacturers and has considered potentially building the vehicle in the U.S.

Apple wants to design a car that lacks a steering wheel or pedals, and with an interior that's aimed at hands-off driving. Bloomberg said that Apple has considered a design similar to the Lifestyle Vehicle from Canoo, in which passengers sit along the sides of the vehicle, facing one another.

Apple is still discussing the inclusion of a steering wheel, which may be required so people can take over in an emergency situation An iPad-like tablet could be in the middle of the vehicle, which passengers would be able to interact with.

Apple wants its car to be safer than those manufactured by Waymo and Tesla, with redundancies and failsafes to avoid failures. The vehicle will be electric, with Apple discussing charging that's compatible with the combined charging system so Apple vehicle owners can use a global network of chargers.

Using Lexus SUVs outfitted with LiDAR scanners and other equipment, Apple has been testing its self-driving system. Bloomberg says that Apple will test the new processor that it has developed in those cars, along with new self-driving sensors.

Apple is said to be aiming to launch its self-driving car in four years, which would put a debut right around 2025. Whether Apple will be able to hit that goal will depend on whether Apple can develop a full self-driving system. Should it not be able to meet its aims, Apple could delay launch or sell a car that's less technologically advanced. The timeline is aggressive, and Apple is ramping up hiring to meet deadlines.

Apple has furthered its research on devices with all-glass enclosures, a newly granted patent filing shows.

The patent, first spotted by Patently Apple, is titled "Electronic device with glass enclosure" and was granted to Apple by the United States Patent and Trademark Office earlier today. The research focuses on electronic devices with six-sided glass enclosures and glass casings that extend all of the way around a device.

For devices such as the iPhone, Apple's patent covers how touchscreen displays are enclosed "within the interior volume and positioned adjacent at least a portion of each of the six sides of the six-sided glass enclosure." These displays are flexible to accommodate the internal curves of the enclosure and can provide additional touch input regions.

The patent explains how glass may be curved, tapered, and overlapped to create an all-glass enclosure, featuring accommodations for components such as speakers and microphones. Apple also suggests that some of the glass surfaces may feature different textures to differentiate them from nearby input regions.

Apple outlined various implementations for allowing access to the device's internals, presumably for manufacturing and repairs, such as by removing a window or what Apple calls a "cap" section. This would allow internal components to be slid out in a way that is similar to the latest Apple TV's Siri Remote.

The filing also shows how the device's software could integrate with an all-glass design to dynamically adapt based on how the user holds and orients the device, such as additional information being shown on the outer edges and UI elements that move around to the surface being interacted with.

Beyond the ‌iPhone‌, which appears to be the main focus of the patent, the filing also demonstrates how other devices, such as the Apple Watch, a cylindrical Mac Pro, and a ‌Mac Pro‌ tower, could feature all-glass enclosures and utilise their internal surfaces.

Devices with all-glass enclosures have long been idealized by some, including former Apple designer Sir Jony Ive, as the natural conclusion of Apple design. Apple's patent filings do not demonstrate the company's immediate plans, but they do show some of the company's specific areas of research and development.

The Apple Watch Series 7 features an all-new, thicker front crystal. Combined with larger display sizes, the refractive curved edge of the Apple Watch's glass gives the impression of the display almost meeting the casing, in what may be a small iteration toward reaching the sort of design envisioned in this filing.

We've been tracking early Black Friday deals in our dedicated Black Friday Roundup, and in an effort to prepare our readers for the big shopping event we're highlighting sales store-by-store in the lead-up to November 26.

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

Similar to Walmart, Target has been holding quite a few pre-Black Friday sales throughout November. Thanks to the release of its Black Friday circular recently, now we have a clear picture of all the deals you'll see if you choose to shop Target on Black Friday.

Target's Black Friday Schedule

Like other stores, Target's event is more of a week of sales rather than just one day. The retailer kicks things off on Sunday, November 21, and deals will come in and out all the way through Saturday, November 27. This means that you'll be able to get a lot of shopping done ahead of the 26th, but there will be a few deals available only on that day.

• Sunday, November 21 - Online sales begin
• Thursday, November 25 - Stores closed, online sales continue
• Friday, November 26 - Specific opening hours vary by location

Target Black Friday - Deals Start 11/21

There are quite a few solid deals across numerous product categories at Target this year, although many do overlap with other retailers as well. You can get the Nintendo Switch bundled with Mario Kart 8 and three months of Nintendo Online for $299.99, a free $50 Target gift card when purchasing any Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, and the usual collection of major TV set discounts.

Apple

For Apple products, you can get up to $250 off an iPhone 12 or an iPhone 13 when adding a new line, or up to $50 off when upgrading. You'll also get a $140 Target gift card when activating an iPhone SE (2nd gen) in stores.

One of the more notable Apple-related offers at Target will net you a $15 Target gift card when you purchase $100 or more in Apple Gift Cards. Retailer-specific gift card offers like this are now the only deals available for Apple Gift Cards, so if you're a regular Target shopper this one could be the best for you.

Below you'll find Target's best deals on Apple products this Black Friday, but if you're shopping for AirPods, you'll do better heading to Walmart. That retailer will have the AirPods Pro with MagSafe for $159.00, compared to Target's price of $189.99.

• Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) - $169.99 ($30 off)
• Apple Watch SE (GPS) - $219.99 ($60 off)
• AirPods 2 with Charging Case - $114.99 ($45 off)
• AirPods Pro - $189.99 ($60 off)
• MagSafe accessories - 20 percent off
• Beats Solo3 Wireless - $99.99 ($100 off)
• Powerbeats Pro - $149.99 ($100 off)

TVs

• RCA 43-inch Roku TV - $229.99 ($170 off)
• Element 65-inch Roku TV - $299.99 ($350 off)
• TCL 55-inch 4K HDR Roku TV - $379.99 ($140 off)
• LG 50-inch Smart LED HDR TV - $399.99 ($60 off)
• Samsung 65-inch Smart HDR TV - $569.99 ($80 off)

Audio

• JBL Tune 225 True Wireless Earbuds - $49.99 ($50 off)
• Bose QuietComfort 35 Noise-Canceling Wireless Headphones - $179.99 ($120 off)
• Sony Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones - $249.99 ($100 off)
• Vizio V-Series 5.1 Soundbar + 2x Surround Speakers + Wireless Subwoofer - $199.99 ($50 off)

Smart Home

• Google Nest Video Doorbell - $129.99 ($50 off)
• Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) - $49.99 ($50 off)
• Amazon Blink Wi-Fi Mini Cam - $19.99 ($15 off)
• Amazon Echo Show 5 - $44.99 ($40 off)
• Amazon Echo (4th gen) - $59.99 ($40 off)
• Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen) - $19.99 ($20 off)

Video Games

Like all of the other major retailers, and similar to previous holiday seasons, Target is offering the Nintendo Switch bundle with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and three months of Nintendo Switch Online for $299.99. This essentially nets you a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for free. You can also shop for some deals on Switch games, including Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Super Mario Maker 2, and more for $39.99.

Target will also have Ring Fit Adventure on sale for $54.99 ($25 off), Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit for $59.99 ($40 off), and you can get a free Mario plush when purchasing Super Mario Odyssey or Super Mario Party.

Other video game deals include $29.99 games like Deathloop, Guardians of the Galaxy, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and more. There's also games on sale for $39.99, like Far Cry 6, Death Stranding: Director's Cut, Demon's Souls, and more. In total, video game sales start as low as $14.99 on select games.

Target will also offer $20 off game subscription services like PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass.

We're keeping track of all this season's best deals in our Black Friday 2021 Roundup. You can also find more of our daily deals and other offers in our Deals Roundup.

Apple will debut its rumored custom-designed 5G modem in 2023's iPhone models and the component will not be integrated into the device's A-series chip, DigiTimes reports.

In paywalled report published earlier today, sources speaking to ‌DigiTimes‌ said that 2022 will be the last year when Qualcomm supplies all of the modems in ‌iPhone‌ models. Thereafter, iPhones are expected to begin featuring 5G baseband modem chips designed by Apple itself.

The 5G modem that Apple has developed for its 2023 ‌iPhone‌ models is said to be separate from its A-series chip, tentatively called the "A17." This stands in contrast to the initial Android devices that are looking to feature custom modems, which reportedly intend to integrate both the cellular processor (CP) and application processor (AP) directly into the device's System on Chip (SoC).

TSMC, the Taiwanese company that currently supplies all of Apple's custom silicon SoCs, is believed to be preparing to supply Apple with its custom-designed 5G baseband modem.

At its investor day earlier this week, Qualcomm said that it expects to supply just 20 percent of Apple's modem chips in 2023, suggesting that Apple will self-supply up to 80 percent of the 5G modem chips required for iPhones starting in 2023.

It is not unreasonable to speculate that the remaining 20 percent supplied by Qualcomm will be in older or entry-level devices in the 2023 ‌iPhone‌ lineup. On the other hand, the remaining 20 percent could also include devices made for regions where Apple's 5G modem is not supported.

Apple is believed to have kickstarted the work on its own in-house modem chips, with the aim of moving away from Qualcomm, by acquiring Intel's modem chip business in 2019.

The report lines up with previous rumors that said that Apple's modem chip will be ready to launch in 2023.

Back in August, Apple said that it would pay out $100 million and make several changes to the App Store to settle a class-action lawsuit brought about by developers, and the settlement offer received preliminary approval yesterday from Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers, who is overseeing that case in addition to the Epic v. Apple lawsuit.

Under the terms of the agreement, Apple will create a $100 million "fund," which developers can access based on their historic ‌App Store‌ proceeds. Developers who earned $1 million or less through the U.S. storefront for their apps in every calendar year between June 4, 2015 and April 26, 2021 can receive between $250 and $30,000. Higher payments will be made to those who have participated more extensively in the ‌App Store‌ ecosystem.

Eligible developers will be able to make claims when the settlement receives final approval, and can sign up to be alerted when claims are being accepted through a website created for the lawsuit.

In addition to paying $100 million, Apple agreed to maintain the ‌App Store‌ Small Business Program in its current structure for the next three years, and it will allow developers to use communication methods like email to share information about payment methods available outside of their iOS apps.

Other terms include more ‌App Store‌ pricing options, the publication of an annual transparency report based on ‌App Store‌ data, and tools that allow developers to appeal the rejection of an app. Full details on what Apple has agreed to can be found in our original settlement article.

The lawsuit dates back to 2019, when a group of iOS developers accused Apple of using its ‌App Store‌ monopoly to impose "profit-killing" commissions. The developers were unhappy with Apple's 30 percent cut, an issue that was largely resolved when Apple introduced the App Store Small Business Program and cut commissions to 15 percent for developers making under $1 million in a given calendar year.

Going forward, briefs, papers, and memoranda in support of the final approval of the settlement must be filed by April 29, 2022, and a Fairness and Final Approval Hearing will take place on June 7, 2022. If and when final approval is granted, developers will begin to receive money from Apple.