MacRumors

Peloton appears to be rolling back its support for Apple GymKit on the Bike+, which was one of the first consumer-oriented machines to feature the option of Apple Watch integration, according to Connect The Watts.

Peloton was among the first companies to support GymKit on its home fitness machines, allowing users to easily and directly pair their Apple Watch with their bike. This meant that users could see heart rate information from the Apple Watch on the machine and feed workout metrics into the Apple Watch, the Activity app, and the Health app automatically.

After disabling Apple Watch pairing for Strength and Yoga workouts on the Bike+, one of Peloton's latest updates disables the ability to directly pair the Apple Watch with the Bike+ during Bootcamp workouts. This means that the only remaining class to still work with the Apple Watch is Cycling.

Peloton's responses to complaints about the feature removal on Instagram have claimed that the company hopes "to support GymKit for additional class types in the future," but have inadvertently proven that the gradual removal of GymKit features that has occurred so far is intentional and not a bug.

The move has caused outrage among some Peloton customers, particularly since GymKit was sold as a premium feature on its $2,495 Bike+, and was not available on the cheaper $1,895 Peloton Bike. The Bike+ launched only seven months ago and was largely seen as the only viable consumer option for using GymKit at home.

It is possible that Peloton is planning on releasing its own fitness-oriented smartwatch in the future, which may explain the gradual removal of GymKit features. Peloton purchased fitness smartwatch maker Atlas Wearables earlier this year, so it seems to be a matter of time before the company leverages that acquisition to launch its own integrated smartwatch.

The company would likely want to encourage users who have already invested in costly equipment and an ongoing $39 per month subscription to remain within the Peloton ecosystem with its own smartwatch. Rumors suggest that an announcement of a Peloton smartwatch could come as soon as the end of this month.

Another possibility is that Peloton is concerned about endorsing the Apple ecosystem now that there is a cheaper rival service in the form of Apple Fitness+. Peloton may suspect that Apple Watch users would be attracted to Apple Fitness+, and therefore would not want to provide any additional cause to purchase one by offering integrated features.

Update: Peloton has now confirmed to The Verge that GymKit no longer works in Bike Bootcamp classes and instead will "only be available in cycling classes for now." The Peloton spokesperson also said "Peloton is committed to bringing the GymKit integration to all workouts and disciplines within Apple's terms of service," which seems to suggest that Bootcamp workouts and others that have lost GymKit support did not fall under Apple's terms of service, but it is not yet clear why this would be the case.

Apple recently announced that it will be hosting a virtual event on Tuesday, April 20, and alongside new products like an iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display, new colors are expected for iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands.

Twitter user "Tommy Boi" recently shared a photo of some of the allegedly new colors, including Cantaloupe, Pistachio, Capri Blue, and Amethyst (from left to right).

The leaks have since continued, with Twitter user "Majin Bu" having shared a photo showing off three more allegedly new colors, including a sky blue, mustard yellow, and a red, which could potentially be the existing (PRODUCT)RED case. It's likely that many of these colors will be extended to new Apple Watch bands, like the Sport Band and Solo Loop.

iPhone case and Apple Watch band colors are often refreshed on a seasonal basis. These latest color options will likely be added to Apple's online store following Tuesday's event, which begins at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. We'll have full coverage of Apple's announcements across our MacRumors platforms, so be sure to follow along next week.

Blogger Siobhán Ellis has successfully integrated their electric car into their Apple HomeKit setup, adding in-app toggles for door locking, climate control, and more.

The setup, which is outlined in detail on the blog Practical HomeKit, allows multiple elements of a Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicle to be monitored, controlled, and automated using the Home app.

Using a HomeBridge plugin for the Jaguar InControl API called homebridge-jlr-incontrol, Ellis was able to feed data about the vehicle, such as charging status, charge level, pre-conditioning, and more, into ‌HomeKit‌, as well as send back basic commands. The plugin apparently required "a fair amount" of manual configuration and presented a few warnings, but it works correctly just like many other HomeBridge-based workarounds for ‌HomeKit‌.

Many functions of the vehicle, including climate control, pre-conditioning, locking and unlocking, and charging, are now viewable and controllable in the Home app from any location.

Integration into the Home app allows automations to be created based on battery level, such as automatically charging the car from a HomeKit-enabled power outlet when the battery percentage is low. Ellis also has an automation to pre-condition the temperature of the car and its batteries based on events in the Calendar app. It is also possible to automatically unlock the car at a time of day or under certain conditions.

To accompany the Apple-oriented vehicle upgrades, Ellis added wireless CarPlay. Jaguar does not support wireless ‌CarPlay‌, but Ellis was able to implement the feature herself using a wireless ‌CarPlay‌ adapter called CPLAY2air. Ellis also mounted a MagSafe charger on the dashboard for convenient iPhone charging.

Although this setup has to be created manually via HomeBridge, it shows how it may be useful to add a vehicle to ‌HomeKit‌. Integration with ‌HomeKit‌ opens up the possibility of creating useful Shortcuts as well as Home automations for the vehicle.

With services such as ‌CarPlay‌ available in most new vehicles, new services such as Car Keys expanding, and Apple collaborating with brands such as BMW and Porsche to bring Apple-integrated features to vehicles, it is not inconceivable to think that an official ‌HomeKit‌ integration for cars could be added in the future, especially in view of proof-of-concept projects such as this.

Apple today announced a "first-of-its-kind carbon removal initiative" called the Restore Fund that will make investments in forestry projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere while generating a financial return for investors.

Launched with Conservation International and Goldman Sachs, Apple says the $200 million fund aims to remove at least one million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually from the atmosphere, equivalent to the amount of fuel used by over 200,000 passenger vehicles, with a viable financial model aimed at increasing investment in forest restoration.

Apple says this effort is part of the company's goal to become carbon neutral across its entire "value chain" by 2030. Apple plans to directly eliminate 75 percent of emissions for its supply chain and products by 2030, while the fund will help address the remaining 25 percent of Apple's emissions by removing carbon from the atmosphere.

Apple's environmental chief Lisa Jackson:

Nature provides some of the best tools to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Forests, wetlands, and grasslands draw carbon from the atmosphere and store it away permanently in their soils, roots, and branches. Through creating a fund that generates both a financial return as well as real, and measurable carbon impacts, we aim to drive broader change in the future — encouraging investment in carbon removal around the globe. Our hope is that others share our goals and contribute their resources to support and protect critical ecosystems.

As part of this initiative, Apple and Conservation International have partnered with local conservation organizations in Kenya to restore degraded savannas in the Chyulu Hills region. If similar efforts are scaled up across Africa, Apple says savannah restoration could remove hundreds of millions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year.

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 is preparing to release a third-generation Apple Pencil, according to a leaker on the Chinese social networking platform Weibo, suggesting it could conceivably appear alongside new iPads at Apple's upcoming "Spring Loaded" April event.

The claim comes from Weibo account "Uncle Pan Pan," which doesn't have much of a track record for sharing accurate Apple information, although it was first to share images that allegedly showcase new colors for Apple's 2021 spring iPhone 12 case collection.

While the latest claim should be taken with a grain of salt, it does hark back to an image shared last month by a proven leaker that allegedly shows a third-generation ‌Apple Pencil‌.

Besides looking glossy, the input device shown in the image looks very similar to the current, second-generation ‌‌Apple Pencil‌‌, which was introduced with the 2018 iPad Pro. The second-gen device is shorter than the original version and charges inductively.

The ‌Apple Pencil‌ depicted also appears to have a considerably larger tip component than in existing versions, with a much longer section that screws into the ‌‌Apple Pencil‌‌ itself, possibly hinting at new technology to support additional features or provide greater drawing accuracy.

Apple still sells the first-generation ‌Apple Pencil‌, mainly to appeal to eighth-gen iPad and iPad mini 5 owners, since the second-gen version only works with the ‌iPad Pro‌ and iPad Air. An ‌Apple Pencil‌ 3 could theoretically bring new functions exclusive to Apple's next high-end ‌iPad Pro‌.

Apple is expected to use its April 20 event to unveil a new 11-inch and 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌, with the higher-end model featuring a brand new mini-LED display. Well-connected Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman believes that these new iPads will be an "iterative update" to the ‌iPad‌ line.

In today's Weibo post, "Uncle Pan Pan" also shared an image allegedly showing AirPods 3, although Apple isn't expected to launch the third iteration of AirPods until the third quarter of this year, which would rule them out of Apple's April event.

Apple has updated its Transporter app for developers with native support for Apple silicon Macs, while Microsoft has done the same for its Remote Desktop app.

The Transporter app lets developers drag and drop binaries for quick upload to App Store Connect and easily view details like progress, warnings, errors, and delivery history.

The added support for Apple silicon means developers working on an M1-equipped Mac mini, MacBook Air, or 13-inch MacBook Pro should see a significant performance improvement when carrying out the above tasks, not to mention better battery efficiency.

Version 1.2.1 of Transporter also brings stability improvements and bug fixes. Transporter is available as a free download on the Mac App Store.

Microsoft continues its work to bring native M1 support to its Mac apps, with its Remote Desktop being the latest to benefit. The app is designed to give Mac users access to a Windows PC via RemoteFX, and includes the ability to access local Mac files from Windows applications as well as printer capabilities.

As with Transporter, the same general improvements that come with Apple silicon support should apply to the latest version of Remote Desktop, version 10.6.0 of which also brings client-side IME support when using Unicode keyboard mode and bug fixes. Remote Desktop is available as a free download from the Mac App Store.

(Via The 8-Bit.)

Apple supplier TSMC today said it is doing all it can to increase productivity and alleviate the worldwide chip shortage, but that tight supplies will likely continue into next year (via Reuters).

The comments followed a reported 19.4% rise in the Taiwanese firm's first-quarter profit, which beat market expectations, thanks to strong chip demand and a global shift to home working.

TSMC did not mention Apple specifically, but it is a major Apple supplier and this suggests that the ongoing chip shortage could continue to impact Apple. TSMC produces A-series chips for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple silicon chips for the Mac. Foxconn, another Apple supplier, said in March that it expects the global chip shortage to extend into the second quarter of 2022.

An earlier report claimed Apple is facing a global shortage of certain components for some of its MacBook and ‌iPad‌ models, which is causing the Cupertino tech giant and its suppliers to postpone production of the products. Samsung is also said to be feeling the impact in its production of OLED displays, which Apple uses in its iPhones.

The ongoing chip shortage was caused by supply chain issues that arose during the global health crisis and weather-related events like the freeze in Texas that shut down Austin chip plants.

As chip factories struggled to keep up with standard outputs during the pandemic, demand surged as people purchased devices for an at-home lifestyle, leading to higher prices. As a result, electronics companies bought up all available supply, leading chip makers to run at capacity.

TSMC's business was initially boosted by the shortage, but it is now impacting manufacturers of high-performance computing (HPC) products like smartphones and laptops.

"Our first-quarter business was supported by HPC-related demand, balanced by a milder smartphone seasonality than in recent years," said Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang, referring to high performance chips.

"Moving into second quarter 2021, we expect our revenue to be flattish, as HPC-related demand will continue to grow, offset by smartphone seasonality."

At its earnings briefing, TSMC said it expects to post revenues of between $12.9 billion and $13.2 billion in the second quarter of 2021, which is a 1% sequential increase at the midpoint.

TSMC said this month it plans to invest $100 billion over the next three years to significantly expand its production capacity to meet ever-increasing demand. The new investment came the same week that Apple reportedly booked all of TSMC's production capacity for 4nm process chips, which are expected to be used in "new generation" Mac computers.

Bloomberg's highly-respected Mark Gurman says that he expects nothing "particularly innovative" or "extraordinary" to launch at Apple's "Spring Loaded" event next week, Tuesday, April 20.

Gurman made the remarks during an interview for Bloomberg Technology, in which he reaffirmed that Apple will launch a new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, with the higher-end model featuring a brand new mini-LED display. Gurman says these new iPads are only an "iterative update" to the iPad line, an increasingly vital product family for the tech giant thanks to the global health crisis.

The event will be Apple's first product launch of 2021, and speculation about what could be announced is nothing short of rampant. One of the biggest new upcoming products expected from Apple is redesigned iMacs, which Bloomberg has previously reported will receive a design that is in line with the Pro Display XDR and a more powerful Apple silicon chip.

No timeframe has been set for when these new iMacs could debut and Gurman says, "if the iMac does indeed get launched next week, that's going to be a big deal." Apple is also reportedly preparing to launch AirTags, a circular Tile-like tracking device that can be attached and used to locate items such as keys, bags, and more.

The event will take place on Tuesday, April 20, and will be live-streamed via Apple's website, the Apple TV app, and Apple's YouTube channel. It'll kick off at 10:00 a.m Pacific Time, and for those unable to watch, MacRumors will be providing full event coverage both on MacRumors.com and through the MacRumorsLive Twitter account.

Google today rolled out Chrome 90 to its stable channel, introducing automatic preference for HTTPS sites over the HTTP protocol, plus some other notable changes.

By default, Chrome will now redirect all websites to use the more secure HTTPS protocol. Encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS), HTTPS secures communication over networks by authenticating the website and protecting the privacy of data in transit. MacRumors.com has supported HTTPS for some time now.

In addition, Chrome 90 adopts the AV1 codec for optimized video conferencing with WebRTC. The new codec should improve compression efficiency and reduce bandwidth consumption while improving video quality, and improve connectivity on low bandwidth connections. Screen sharing is also said to be more efficient when compared to the VP9 codec.

Elsewhere, users can now hide the Reading List without delving into Chrome's flags. To do so, right-click the Bookmark Bar and deselect the new Show Reading List option at the bottom.

Meanwhile, for developers, Chrome 90 introduces support for CSS overflow, which should help prevent scrolling within a CSS box. Google has also renamed the Feature Policy API to Permission Policy, which lets users adjust the behavior of certain APIs and web features in the browser.

In the previous version of the browser, Chrome 89 introduced Google's live caption transcription feature, which uses machine learning to create a real-time transcription for videos or audio played through the browser.

Google Chrome for Mac is a free download available directly from Google's servers. Google Chrome for iOS is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

From now until April 22, Apple will be donating $1 to Conservation International for every Apple Pay purchase made on Apple.com, through the Apple Store app, or in Apple retail stores.

The donations will be made in celebration of Earth Day, which takes place on April 22.

Conservation International works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity. Combining fieldwork with innovations in science, policy, and finance, Conservation International has helped protect more than six million square kilometers of land and sea across more than 70 countries.

Apple shared the promotion in an email to ‌Apple Pay‌ users, with the email also highlighting brands with sustainable clothing and accessories like Allbirds, Pela, and The North Face, and promoting Apple TV+ documentary "The Year Earth Changed," which debuts this Friday.

Earth Day is important to Apple, and Apple often makes several efforts to highlight it. Apple typically updates the logos on Apple retail stores to feature a green leaf, and provides green t-shirts with employees. There are usually dedicated App Store features and we're expecting an Earth Day Apple Watch challenge.

Apple has placed increased emphasis on device trade-ins in the last few years, with the company largely relying on third-party partners for its trade-in program, including Atlanta-based outfit Phobio in the United States.

While many customers are satisfied with their trade-in experience, The Verge today reported that there has been an "alarming uptick" of online complaints about Phobio in the last few months. The report claims that many of these complaints have a common theme: a MacBook or iPhone that appears to be in perfect working order, only for the device to have an unexplained issue after being mailed in to Phobio for inspection.

In particular, the report claims that numerous customers have been told by Phobio that their MacBook's display has "three or more white spots," resulting in a significantly lower trade-in offer than Phobio originally quoted.

The report shares one customer's story:

When Daniel McGloin decided to trade in his mid-2017 Apple MacBook in February of this year, he thought he was getting a pretty good deal. The software engineer and San Diego native initiated the trade-in with Apple through the Apple Store mobile app, where he was quoted $350 for his used laptop. He felt it was in pretty good condition, with no apparent damage to the case and a fully functioning display and keyboard. […]

The situation soon changed after his laptop arrived for inspection. Suddenly, McGloin was told his MacBook was worth just $140, less than half what Apple originally quoted. The mysterious culprit: "display has 3 or more white spots," the Apple Store app told him. It’s a defect McGloin doesn't remember ever seeing, and one that he should have noticed: typically, white spots on an LCD display are evidence of serious damage or burn-in and are clearly visible. In McGloin's estimation, however, the laptop was in "excellent" condition, he tells The Verge, and he didn't see any white spots when he packed it up.

The Verge said it inspected McGloin's MacBook in person after he rejected the trade-in offer and could detect no such white spots or any discernible damage.

While any company is likely to have its fair share of customers complaining online, the report says "that doesn't explain the mystery of the white spots," resulting in some "perfectly functional" MacBooks having their trade-in value cut by half or more. The Verge said Phobio would not comment directly on the white spots issue, but the company said it strongly believes in "giving full and fair value" to customers for trade-ins:

We carefully assess each device sent to us, and only change the initial quote if the device we receive or its condition differs from what was initially indicated by the customer. We document our findings at every step of the way with photos that are shared with the customers. The customer can then agree to the revised quote, or if they do not, we express ship it back to them at our expense.

We specifically train our support team to see the trade from the point of view of the customer, with empathy, and to advocate for the customer. If devices are damaged in transit or we make a mistake in the inspection, we seek to fix it immediately. We strongly believe in giving full and fair value to customers for their trade ins. This helps fuel the circular economy, and sustainability, and it is part of our corporate purpose.

As mentioned in the statement, Phobio does allow customers to decline a revised trade-in offer, and they even ship the device back to the customer at the company's expense.

All in all, it's hard to quantify an "alarming uptick" in online complaints against Phobio, since many customers with positive experiences do not speak up. Nevertheless, all of this information is worth keeping in mind if you are considering a trade in.

Google today announced new automation and web features coming to Google Assistant for Android and iOS, with the most notable feature for Apple users being the ability to locate a lost iPhone using the digital assistant.

Android users have long been able to use the Google Assistant to trigger a sound for their smartphone if it got lost. That same ability, much like Apple's own Find My system, is coming to the ‌iPhone‌. The feature will let users who have a Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker and the accompanying Google Home app for iOS find a misplaced device.

The alert is triggered when asking "Hey Google, find my phone" through a Google smart home devices. Following the trigger, the Google Home app will send an iOS critical alert on the ‌iPhone‌. Apple offers apps the ability to utilize critical alerts, which are special notifications that can break through Do Not Disturb, or silent mode, to ensure they reach the user. Apps with critical alerts require special approval from Apple, and Google seems to have obtained that approval.

Additional features coming to the Google Assistant app include "Assistant Routines," which Google says will make it easy to perform multiple actions at once with a single command automatically, and a Duplex update that makes ordering takeout and delivery easier with partner restaurants.

Amazon has today introduced its second-generation Echo Buds with a 21 percent smaller design and enhanced active noise cancellation.

The second-generation Echo Buds introduce a white color option, and it is difficult to see past the clear design cues that Amazon has taken from the AirPods Pro's charging case, which looks almost exactly the same with an elongated design, a single centered LED, and a long groove to open the lid.

Much like the ‌AirPods Pro‌, the Echo Buds now feature a vented design to reduce ear pressure. There are also other comfort improvements that have been made possible by reducing the size of each individual bud, such as a shortened in-ear tip and reduced external height for a more flush fit.

Noise cancellation is said to be twice as good as the previous model and the buds now feature an AirPods Pro-style sound passthrough mode. Sound quality has also been improved with extended dynamic range and increased bass and treble fidelity. The microphones are also improved for better call quality.

The second-gen Echo Buds are rated IPX4 for water and sweat resistance, and the earbuds can deliver five hours of listening with noise cancellation enabled, with two additional full charges in the case for a total of 15 hours. Like the original Echo Buds, the second-generation model comes with Alexa built-in.

The Echo Buds come with four sizes of oval-shaped ear tips and optional wing tips in two sizes for a more secure fit.

The second-generation Echo Buds are priced at $119.99 with the standard USB-C charging case, or $139.99 with the wireless charging case, undercutting the $249 price of ‌AirPods Pro‌ considerably. They will go on sale on May 13 and will be discounted for a limited time to $99.99 and $119.99.

Parallels today announced the release of Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac with full support for M1 Macs, allowing for the Windows 10 ARM Insider Preview and ARM-based Linux distributions to be run in a virtual machine at native speeds on M1 Macs.

Parallels says running a Windows 10 ARM Insider Preview virtual machine natively on an M1 Mac results in up to 30 percent better performance compared to a 2019 model 15-inch MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor, 32GB of RAM, and Radeon Pro Vega 20 graphics. Parallels also indicates that on an M1 Mac, Parallels Desktop 16.5 uses 2.5x less energy than on the latest Intel-based MacBook Air.

Microsoft does not yet offer a retail version of ARM-based Windows, with the Windows 10 ARM Insider Preview available on Microsoft's website for Windows Insider program members. The ability to run macOS Big Sur in a virtual machine is a feature that Parallels hopes to add support for in Parallels Desktop later this year as well.

Anyone with a Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac license can get an automatic update to Parallels Desktop 16.5 at no additional cost. Otherwise, one-time or subscription-based pricing options are listed on the Parallels Desktop product page, with Parallels currently offering 10% off most license configurations with code 2KQ-PTG-DYZ.

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

Fans of smaller smartphones long hoped that Apple would introduce a smaller-sized iPhone with a modern design and features like Face ID. That wish came true with the iPhone 12 mini last year, and rumors suggest there will be an iPhone 13 mini this year as well, but the end of the line may be on the horizon for the 5.4-inch model.

In a research note shared with MacRumors today, reputable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the 2022 iPhone lineup will consist of four new models, including high-end 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch models and low-end 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch models.

"We predict that the new 2H22 iPhone will come in four models: the high-end 6.7" and 6.1", and the lower-end 6.7" and 6.1"," wrote Kuo.

If there is no so-called iPhone 14 mini next year, the iPhone SE would regain the title of smallest iPhone with its 4.7-inch display. However, the current iPhone SE is actually slightly larger than the 5.4-inch mini model due to having thicker bezels and a Touch ID home button. The iPhone SE also has only a single-lens rear camera and is equipped with an LCD screen, whereas the iPhone 12 mini has a superior OLED display.

In recent months, there have been numerous reports about the iPhone 12 mini experiencing lackluster sales relative to other iPhone 12 models, but there is no official data since Apple no longer reports iPhone unit sales. Apple retiring the 5.4-inch model next year would certainly suggest the device was not selling well enough to stick around.