MacRumors

Apple shipped 6.5 million laptops in the third quarter of this year, thanks in large part to high demand for the M1-powered MacBook Air.

That's according to research firm Strategy Analytics, whose data put Apple as the fourth largest seller of laptops between July and September, earning it 10% of the global market share and 10% growth year-on-year.

Lenovo took first place in the top five by shipping 15.3 million units, amounting to 23% market share, while HP and Dell shipped 14.3 million and 12.2 million units to earn 21% and 18% market share, respectively.

According to the report, most vendors grew on top of record 2020 levels, while Dell topped growth rates with a massive 50% increase year-on-year. At the same time, consumer spending increased thanks to higher discounts on premium products like ‌MacBook Air‌.

Including other brands outside of the top five, 66.8 million laptops were shipped in the quarter, although the figure would likely have been higher had it not been for the supply constraints and chip shortages that have hit tech companies, including Apple.

Apple last week reported Mac revenue of $9.17 billion in the fourth quarter of its 2021 fiscal year, which is an all-time quarterly revenue record for Macs. Apple CEO Tim Cook said there was "strong demand" for the M1 ‌MacBook Air‌ in particular.

Apple is expected to release a ‌MacBook Air‌ with an entirely new design and an Apple-designed M2 chip in around six to eight months from now. Rumors suggest the notebook will have a similar design as the 24-inch iMac, including off-white bezels around the display and a variety of color choices.

Apple took significant flak from users when it moved Safari's address bar to the bottom of the screen in iOS 15, but Samsung apparently liked it enough that it's now added the same option to its own mobile web browser for Android phones.

As shown in the tweet above, the optional layout now appears in a beta version of the Samsung Internet app. To be fair to Samsung, Apple wasn't the first to move the address bar below the browser window. Google tried something similar in 2016 for its own home-grown browser before canning the idea following negative user feedback. Microsoft had a similar browser interface design on Windows Phone, and even Firefox has played with a bottom address bar on Android.

That said, Samsung's timing is a bit curious, coming in the wake of Apple's much-publicized and highly divisive Safari interface redesign. Apple made sweeping changes to Safari browser in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, making numerous alterations to the organization and layout of tabs and other tools. Following a user backlash, Apple walked back the most controversial changes in successive betas, and made the position of the address bar optional.

Following an outcry from its users, Notability says it is making changes to its controversial subscription policy to ensure that people who previously purchased the app retain lifetime access to all current features and content.

The course correction was announced by the company on Tuesday in a Medium blog post, after the popular note-taking app received substantial blowback from users who were annoyed to learn that Notability's switch to a subscription model meant features they had purchased would stop functioning after one year.

Yesterday, we made a big announcement regarding our transition to a free app with an optional subscription. We heard the disappointment from our existing customers, and we want to correct our course.

Today, we are making some changes (coming soon in Notability version 11.0.2). Everyone who purchased Notability prior to our switch to subscription on November 1st, 2021 will have lifetime access to all existing features and any content previously purchased in the app.

Lifetime access will include unlimited editing, iCloud sync, and any features or content bought through in-app purchases, according to the developers, who added: "Future features we develop may also be included, depending on their complexity and cost to maintain."

We are a small company, so we designed the original one-year access plan as a precautionary measure since we were not certain if we could support lifetime access. We sincerely apologize for putting our current users in this position.

Notability's course correction means the app no longer appears to violate Apple's App Store Review Guidelines, which forbid apps that switch to a subscription model from taking away primary functionality existing users have already paid for.

It's not clear if Apple forced its hand to fall in line with the guidelines or consumer pressure was the main influence. Either way, Notability's change of course may make it unlikely that other app developers eyeing a subscription model will attempt a similar strategy of revoking features that existing users have already purchased.

Niantic has experienced major success with augmented reality game Pokémon Go, a title that still has a loyal fanbase, but unfortunately, its Harry Potter-themed game has not fared as well. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is going to be shut down on January 31, 2022 as a result.

First introduced in June 2019, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite allows players to join the Statute of Secrecy Task Force to explore Wizarding World locations in the real world, similar to Pokémon Go.

Players need to go to landmark locations in the real world to track down magical artifacts, creatures, and enemies to battle and level up. The game uses augmented reality to project portals and other items onto real-life landscapes, and there are real-time cooperative elements involved.

The game will be removed from the App Store on December 6, 2021, which is also when in-game purchases will be disabled. As a last hurrah, starting on November 2, several changes will be implemented to make gameplay more fun.

Daily assignments will provide increased rewards, potion brewing time will be cut in half, the daily cap on sending and opening gifts will be removed, and various items and ingredients will appear on the map more frequently.

November and December will also see the launch of several events involving Dolores Umbridge, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix LeStrange, and Voldemort, along with a holiday event. The game will wrap up, with the Calamity coming to an end before the app is shut down for good.

Players who invested money in the game will not be able to get a refund, but they will be able to spend their remaining balances and use their items before the January end date.

ColorWare, known for its customization offerings for AirPods, Xbox controllers, Nintendo Switch components, and more, today introduced custom-painted AirPods 3.

AirPods 3 are available in a range of custom paint colors, including bright glossy shades, metallics, and matte colors. Every color of the rainbow is available, as are various shades of black, silver, and gold.

Each AirPod can be painted a different color, and the case can be customized in a different shade as well. Custom paint jobs for the AirPods are priced at $319, but the price goes up to $369 when adding in the case too. AirPods are priced at $179 direct from Apple, so getting a custom color is at least $140 more expensive.

Still, even at that price point, ColorWare is the only way to get AirPods that are not white because Apple still does not offer AirPods in black or other colors.

With ColorWare's painting, all of the AirPods 3 features remain intact such as MagSafe connectivity for the case, spatial audio, adaptive EQ, and more, and the paint does not impact the functionality.

Custom AirPods 3 can be ordered from ColorWare starting today, and they will ship out in about two to three weeks.

Netflix today announced the full official rollout of its Netflix Games feature, which will allow Netflix users to play a handful of games on their mobile devices.

At the current time, Netflix is making games available for Android users, but support for iOS is "on the way." Netflix says that it's early days, but its goal is to build a library of games offering "something for everyone."

Games available today include "Stranger Things: 1984," "Stranger Things 3: The Game," "Shooting Hoops," "Card Blast," and "Teeter Up."

Accessing games on Netflix requires a Netflix subscription, and there are no ads, additional fees, or in-app purchases, which is how Apple's gaming service, Apple Arcade, operates. Android users will now see a dedicated games row and games tab in the Netflix app, and will be able to select games to download and play.

It's not clear how the iOS version of the app will work. Netflix can have a "catalog" app like its main Netflix app (or a separate Games app) that lists gaming titles, linking out to games that can be downloaded from the App Store. Alternatively, Netflix can use a web-based solution, but games would need to be streaming titles.

Netflix says that it will continue to improve the mobile gaming experience in the coming months, but there is no word yet on when Netflix's games will come to iOS devices.

Facebook is shutting down its Face Recognition system and will delete the facial data of more than 1 billion of its users, Facebook parent company Meta announced this morning.

People who opted in to Face Recognition will no longer be automatically recognized in photos and videos, and their facial recognition templates will be deleted.

According to Facebook VP of Artificial Intelligence Jerome Pesenti, Facebook is making this change because it needs to weigh the positive use cases for facial recognition against growing societal concerns" as regulators "have yet to provide clear rules."

Facial recognition has been available on Facebook since 2011, and at the time that it debuted, Facebook turned the feature on automatically for more than 500 million people. The option, called Tag Recognition at the time, was designed to recognize Facebook users in photos and videos posted by other users, tagging all of the people in the photo.

There were immediate privacy concerns with the launch of the feature, which have persisted to this day. Facebook in December 2017 introduced an expanded Face Recognition feature and with it, an opt-out option.

Facebook says that more than a third of Facebook's daily active users have facial recognition enabled, and the change required "careful consideration." It will disable an Automatic Alt Text feature for blind users that automatically provided the names of people in photos.

Though Face Recognition in its current incarnation is shutting down, Facebook will continue to work on facial recognition technologies.

Looking ahead, we still see facial recognition technology as a powerful tool, for example, for people needing to verify their identity, or to prevent fraud and impersonation. We believe facial recognition can help for products like these with privacy, transparency and control in place, so you decide if and how your face is used. We will continue working on these technologies and engaging outside experts.

But the many specific instances where facial recognition can be helpful need to be weighed against growing concerns about the use of this technology as a whole. There are many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society, and regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use. Amid this ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to a narrow set of use cases is appropriate.

Face Recognition and the features that it enables will be officially removed "over the coming weeks." When disabled, people will no longer be automatically recognized in photos, and will no longer see suggested tags.

WIRED has announced that Apple's former design chief Jony Ive will sit down with Vogue's longtime editor-in-chief Anna Wintour to discuss his latest endeavors, the future of design as he sees it, and more at the virtual RE:WIRED event next week.

Ive's conversation with Wintour will take place Tuesday, November 9 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Registration for the event is free and available online.

Our world is facing some of the most critical challenges of all time. While the last decade ushered in dramatic technological acceleration, the last 18 months have kicked off a tectonic societal shift in how we live, work, and connect.

Generating sustainable and strategic solutions to these challenges—from both communal action and heroic innovation—requires us to rewire discourse and the way we think. This is RE:WIRED.

Join us this November for a series of conversations between technologists and people who think hard about the consequences for those technologies on society, economics, sustainability and, ultimately, our future.

Ive left Apple in 2019 to form an independent design company LoveFrom with fellow designer Marc Newson. Apple said it would remain one of Ive's primary clients, but it's unclear which Apple products he has helped to design since his departure from the company. Apple did confirm that Ive was involved with the design of the colorful 24-inch iMac released in April, but it did not say if any of that work occurred after he left Apple.

LoveFrom has reached multi-year design partnerships with brands like Airbnb and Ferrari.

Ive's participation in RE:WIRED was spotted earlier by 9to5Mac. Other speakers at the two-day event will include CISA director Jen Easterly, actor John Cho, EVgo CEO Cathy Zoi, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, and more.

Apple classified the fourth-generation iPad as an obsolete product as of November 1, meaning the device is no longer eligible for hardware service worldwide, according to an internal memo obtained by MacRumors. The fourth-generation iPad has yet to be added to Apple's public-facing vintage and obsolete products list, but it should be soon.

Released in November 2012 alongside the original iPad mini, the fourth-generation iPad did away with Apple's classic 30-pin connector and adopted the Lightning connector that had debuted in the iPhone 5 just weeks earlier. The fourth-generation iPad also gained Apple's A6X chip for up to twice the CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of the A5X chip in the third-generation iPad that had launched in March 2012.

Apple also classified the Late 2012 model Mac mini as an obsolete product as of November 1, according to the memo.

Amazon is continuing its pre-Black Friday discounts from yesterday with a new collection of solid markdowns on Apple products and accessories. Today we're tracking sales on Apple Pencil 2, Apple TV 4K, and the MacBook Air.

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 Pencil 2

Following a deal at Verizon late last week, Amazon is now providing the best current deal on Apple Pencil 2 at $99.99, down from $129.00. This sale is a match of one of the lowest prices that we've ever tracked for the Apple Pencil 2, and as of writing it's only available on Amazon.

We very rarely see the Apple Pencil 2 dip below this sale price, so if you've been on the hunt for one at a discount, now's a great time to buy. The Apple Pencil 2 is compatible with the following iPads: iPad mini (6th generation), iPad Air (4th generation), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (3rd, 4th, and 5th generations), and 11-inch iPad Pro (1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations).

Apple TV 4K

Next, Amazon has the 32GB Apple TV 4K (2021) for $169.00, down from $179.00. This is the second-best price that we've ever tracked on this model of the Apple TV 4K, and it's been the most consistent discount on the accessory.

You can also get the 64GB Apple TV 4K for $189.98, down from $199.00. We've seen this Apple TV 4K discounted by an additional $10, so this sale is another second-best price. Both of these Apple TVs are sold by Amazon, and they're in stock and ready to ship today.

MacBook Air

Lastly, you can get the 256GB M1 MacBook Air for $899.00, down from $999.00 in all three colors of Gold, Silver, and Space Gray. This is currently the best price available online among the major Apple resellers, and overall it's the second-best price we've tracked.

The 512GB M1 MacBook Air is also on sale, available for $1,149.99, down from $1,249.00. Similar to the 256GB model, this is a second-best price on this 2020 MacBook Air. Both notebooks are shipped and sold directly from Amazon.

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

Firefox today released Firefox 94 for iOS devices, which introduces a new homepage design that adds several quality of life improvements to the browser. Firefox says that the new features are designed for "short bursts of online interactions that are constantly interrupted by life."

The update adds a feature that jumps back to the last open active tab so you don't lose what you were browsing when you close the app, and recently saved bookmarks are easier to find and get to.

All of your recent searches are also now grouped by topic, so you can return to something you were researching with just a tap.

Firefox is also planning to add a way to get rid of tabs that are no longer relevant to you. When this feature releases on iOS in the coming months, tabs you have not visited in the last 14 days will be moved to an inactive state where they're still viewable, but they no longer clutter the tab view.

On the desktop, Firefox 94 adds 18 new themes to choose from with six new limited-time seasonal colorways, and it uses Apple's low power mode for fullscreen video on YouTube and Twitch to extend battery life for long viewing sessions.

There's also a new Site Isolation feature to protect Firefox users against side-channel attacks like Spectre.

The iOS version of Firefox can be downloaded from the App Store, and the Mac version can be downloaded from the Firefox website.

Apple bucked a trend when it unveiled macOS Monterey in June featuring an abstract wallpaper graphic, breaking an eight-year tradition of using a photo of the natural landscape that inspired the latest Calfornia-themed version name.

This change came as a shock to YouTuber and photographer Andrew Levitt and his friends Jacob Phillips and Taylor Gray, whom together have made recreating macOS wallpapers something of a tradition.

Once the trio of friends had come to terms with the new abstract wallpaper, they concluded that it was supposed to represent Monterey Canyon, which is deep underwater and impossible to photograph. So, instead they decided to create their own Monterey landscape, but finding the right shot came with its own problems, as their intrepid video diary explains.

After several false starts, the group eventually found an ideal location – Lone Cypress on Pebble Beach – and, using time-lapse photography, were able to create a not only a still image but also a dynamic wallpaper that changes according to the time of day.

They have since made both the still shot and the dynamic version available to download. The following steps explain how to install the dynamic version of the Monterey wallpaper.

1. Click the Apple symbol in the menu bar and select System Preferences....
2. Click Desktop & Screen Saver in the preferences pane.
   
   

3. Select one of the official wallpapers that come with macOS, such as "Catalina," "Big Sur," or "Monterey Graphic," and set it to Dynamic.
   
   

4. Open a Finder window and navigate to the "macOS Monterey.heic" wallpaper you downloaded.
5. Right-click (or Ctrl-click) on the file and select Services -> Set Desktop Picture from the contextual menu.
   

Follow the creators on Instagram: Andrew Levitt, Jacob Phillips, and Taylor Gray.

Notability users have been left frustrated and annoyed after the developer of the popular Mac and iOS note-taking app revealed on Monday that it has switched to a subscription-based model, and that key features included in original app purchases will stop functioning after one year.

Previously available as a one-off $8.99 purchase, Notability for iPhone, iPad, and Mac is now free to download on the App Store, but not all the features are available in the "freemium" version, and those that are included have editing limitations.

To get "the full Notability experience" offered by version 11.0 of the app now requires an annual $14.99 subscription, which includes unlimited note taking and access to additional features that are otherwise available as in-app purchases.

As far as it affects current users who purchased the full app, key features will become non-functional after one year, after which they will have to subscribe to retain the feature set they originally paid for. In other words, no grandfathering scheme is currently being offered. Addressed to those users, a Medium post from the Notability Blog explains:

Thank you for your support all these years. You will be able to continue using Notability as you do now for the next year for free. You will continue to have access to any items or technology you previously purchased. If you would like access to more premium content or technology like MyScript's Handwriting Recognition and Math Conversion, you may choose to subscribe at any point. After the year is up, you can choose to become an annual subscriber or use the free version of Notability.

Thousands of Notability users have taken to Twitter and Reddit to express their frustration with the unexpected change.

As many users have pointed out, on the face of it, the change appears to violate Apple's App Store Review Guidelines, which state "if you are changing your existing app to a subscription-based business model, you should not take away the primary functionality existing users have already paid for." We've reached out to both Notability and Apple for comment.

Notability has garnered an Apple Editors' Choice spot and is regularly a top-ranked app worldwide on the App Store. The app has gained widespread popularity with students and teachers alike, as it includes a variety of note-taking, journaling, and drawing tools, and can be used to mark up imported documents.

The other popular note-taking app for iOS and Mac that Notability is often compared to is GoodNotes, which remains available as a one-off $7.99 purchase on the App Store.

Several popular apps have switched to subscription models in recent years as a way to stave off dwindling income after years of free updates, but some developers have taken a different and less divisive approach.

For example, just over a year ago the developers of popular paid-for camera app Halide released Halide Mark II as a whole new app, and gave it to all users of the original app for free, with all the new features and updates free for a year. After the year is up, the app continues to work, but to get additional features requires an optional subscription or a one-time purchase.

Amid long waiting times for iPhone 13 models around the world, Apple has reportedly reallocated iPad parts to make up for shortages, in another signal that the global paucity of chips is impacting Apple's supply chain.

‌iPad‌ and ‌iPhone‌ share common components including core and peripheral chips, which means Apple is able to shift supplies between the devices to prioritize one or the other, reports Nikkei Asia.

Production of the iPad was down 50% from Apple's original plans for the past two months, sources briefed on the matter said, adding that parts intended for older iPhones were also being moved to the iPhone 13.

Apple foresees stronger demand for ‌iPhone‌ 13 models, especially in the months immediately following launch that lead into the holiday season. Nevertheless, demand for iPads remains strong, with total ‌iPad‌ shipments in the first nine months of this year totaling 40.3 million, up 17.83% from the same time a year ago, according to IDC data.

The last time Apple prioritized iPhones over iPads was last year, when it reallocated some ‌iPad‌ parts to the ‌iPhone‌ 12 amid supply chain constraints during the peak of the global health crisis.

Apple's financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021 revealed all-time record revenues for Mac and Services, but Apple's performance was only roughly in line with analyst expectations and was almost certainly held back by component shortages that have led to lengthy shipping estimates for many products.

LG today announced that owners of 2016 to 2021 model 4K or 8K LG Smart TVs will be eligible for a free three-month Apple TV+ trial starting November 15 in the United States and over 80 other countries and regions where Apple TV+ is available.

The trial will be available through the LG Content Store and must be redeemed by February 20, 2022. The offer is limited to first-time Apple TV+ subscribers, so anyone who has already trialed Apple's streaming video service cannot take advantage of this promotion. There is a limit of one free trial per eligible LG Smart TV and per Apple ID.

Apple TV+ normally offers a free seven-day trial, with pricing then set at $4.99 per month. Apple also continues to offer a free three-month trial of the service with the purchase of a new iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac.

Apple TV+ competes with the likes of Netflix and Disney+ by offering a slate of original programming, ranging from the award-winning comedy series "Ted Lasso" to the star-studded drama series "The Morning Show."

Following the launch of the Beats Fit Pro this morning, Apple has discontinued several older Beats headphones options, including the $150 Powerbeats, the $250 Beats Solo Pro, and the $130 Beats EP on-ear headphones.

These Beats headphone options were listed on Apple's online store as of yesterday, but today, attempting to visit one of the links for the products brings up a warning that the accessories are no longer available for purchase.

Twitter users noticed the absence of the Beats headphones earlier today, and it appears they disappeared from Apple's site shortly after the debut of the Beats Fit Pro.

With the discontinuation of the Powerbeats, Beats Solo Pro, and Beats EP, Apple's beats lineup now includes the Beats Studio Buds, Powerbeats Pro, Beats Pro Over-Ear Headphones, Beats Flex, Beats Studio3, Beats Solo3, Beats Fit Pro, and Beats Pill+, all of which can be purchased from Apple's website.

Apple today also introduced temporary price drops for several older Beats options, including the Beats Flex, Beats Studio Buds, and the Power Beats Pro, which are available at discounts ranging from $20 to $50.

Starting later this week, Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers will be able to offer customers an iPhone XR as a loaner device during lengthier repairs in the U.S. and other regions, according to an internal memo obtained by MacRumors.

iPhone XR will be available as a loaner starting November 4, which will be an upgrade over the iPhone 8 that Apple currently offers as a loaner. As a one year newer device than the iPhone 8, the iPhone XR has more modern features like Face ID and Dual SIM support, and the iPhone XR also has a newer A12 Bionic chip for faster performance.

If an Apple Store determines that a customer's iPhone must be mailed off to an Apple repair center to be serviced, the customer would be eligible to receive an iPhone XR for free until their regular iPhone is ready for pickup.

Apple's iPhone Loan Agreement provides more details, including that customers must return the loaner iPhone no more than 14 days after the date that Apple notifies them that their repaired iPhone is ready for pickup.

Apple CEO Tim Cook will be one of the speakers at DealBook, an online summit from The New York Times that's hosted by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Sorkin announced today.

Cook is set to appear on Tuesday, November 9 at 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and according to the site's description, he will speak on the future of the internet, the next tech innovations, and more.

What is the future of the internet? What innovations will make the next leap possible? What battles should we be willing to fight? The leader of the iconic tech giant shares his vision.

The event will also feature General Motors CEO Mary Barry, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, WeWork co-founderAdam Neumann, actor Dax Shepard, and more.

Join us for two extraordinary days, celebrating the 20th anniversary of DealBook. We're bringing together some of the most influential minds in business, policy and culture to take stock of a world in the midst of rapid reinvention, grappling with the ripples of Covid and rewriting the rules in real time.

Registration for the event is free and can be done on the DealBook website.