MacRumors

Apple's AirTag item trackers are designed to let users track their everyday possessions, such as keys, wallets, backpacks, and so on. If you find an ‌AirTag‌ that's been separated from its owner, here's how you can safely return it to them.

AirTags‌ can be tracked by their owners in Apple's ‌Find My app‌, which uses Bluetooth and other Apple devices to locate them. However, if an ‌AirTag‌ isn't nearby and there are no Apple devices in the area in which it's located, ‌‌‌Find My‌‌‌ can only tell the owner where it was last seen on the map.

In such cases, the ‌AirTag‌ owner can put it in Lost Mode, which allows anyone with an iPhone or Android device that has NFC to help return the ‌AirTag‌ to them. Even if an ‌AirTag‌ isn't in Lost Mode, if it's been separated for a period of time from its owner then it will make a sound to alert anyone nearby.

If you come across an ‌AirTag‌ and you have an NFC-equipped device, here's what you can do to get it back to its rightful owner.

1. Tap and hold the top of your ‌iPhone‌ or NFC-capable smartphone to the white side of the ‌AirTag‌.
2. Tap the notification that appears on your device's screen. This will open a website providing you with information about the ‌AirTag‌, including its serial number.
   
   

3. If the owner marked the ‌AirTag‌ as lost, you may be shown a message with information about how to contact the owner, enabling you to contact the owner to let them know that you found their AirTagged item.

AirTags can only be used to track items via an ‌iPhone‌ or iPad with the ‌Find My‌ app. Apple sells individual AirTags for $29 or a pack of four for $99. For more details on ‌AirTag‌ item trackers, check out our dedicated guide.

As the Epic Games v. Apple trial progresses into its third day, Apple's internal documents and communications with various companies are continuing to surface, giving us some insight into the dealings that Apple has had around the App Store.

Back in December 2018, Netflix stopped offering in-app subscription options for new or resubscribing members and instead began requiring them to sign up for Netflix outside of the ‌App Store‌ in order to avoid paying Apple's 30 percent cut. As it turns out, Apple executives were unhappy with Netflix's decision, and made attempts to persuade Netflix to keep in-app purchases available.

The subject hasn't yet been broached in the live in-person trial that's going on right now, but 9to5Mac highlighted emails between Apple executives discussing Netflix's decision. When Apple learned that Netflix was A/B testing the removal of in-app purchases in certain countries, Apple started scrambling to put a stop to it.

Apple's ‌App Store‌ Business Management Director Carson Oliver sent out an email in February 2018 outlining Netflix's testing plans and asked his fellow ‌App Store‌ executives whether Apple should take "punitive measures" against Netflix.

Do we want to take any punitive measures in response to the test (for examples, pulling all global featuring during the test period)? If so, how should those punitive measures be communicated to Netflix? (sic)

The emails do not make it clear if Apple did indeed take any steps to limit featuring during Netflix's testing, but Netflix did proceed with the A/B test and found it fruitful. Ahead of when Netflix pulled in-app purchase options, Apple designed an entire presentation to persuade Netflix to continue to offer in-app subscription sign ups.

Netflix was concerned about voluntary churn levels on iOS because it was higher than those who signed up via the web. In a nutshell, iOS users who subscribed to Netflix through in-app purchases were cancelling their Netflix accounts at a greater rate, an issue that Apple worked to solve for Netflix.

Other Netflix concerns included free trial abuse (which Apple addressed), un-grandfathering (raising prices on users locked in to a select price), and offering promotions (wasn't possible to offer discounts on iOS). Apple internally discussed ways to fix these problems for Netflix to encourage the company to stick with in-app purchases.

Apple also incentivized Netflix by describing how much dedicated featuring Netflix was getting. Apple said that Netflix was featured more than any other partner, something that Apple was willing to continue doing.

Apple proposed continued coordinated featuring across iOS and Apple TV, ads promoting Netflix, ‌App Store‌ email campaigns, featuring performance data, an "‌Apple TV‌ bundle" and select video partner program benefits such as the option to up-sell non-IAP customers and billing flexibility to un-grandfather and cancel subscription charges.

Apple also discussed bundle offers for Netflix and an Apple service along with carrier and payment partners for co-funded subscription offers, as well as in-store marketing for Netflix, but none of these measures ultimately convinced Netflix to stick with in-app purchases.

Today, there is no in-app purchase option for Netflix, and those who want to watch Netflix on an iPhone or an iPad must first sign up on the web, with Apple collecting no money. Netflix is also not allowed to direct customers where to sign up, though, and the splash screen just says "You can't sign up for Netflix in the app."

The ‌Epic Games‌ v. Apple trial is expected to last for approximately three weeks in total, with Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives set to testify in the coming weeks.

MacRumors previously reported about Apple's plan to switch to randomized serial numbers for future products starting in early 2021, and this transition has now started with the new purple iPhone 12 model in multiple countries.

With assistance from Aaron Zollo, host of the YouTube channel ZolloTech, we can confirm that the purple iPhone 12 released last month has a new 10-character serial number format, compared to the usual 12 characters for most other Apple products. Apple previously said its randomized serial numbers would initially be 10 characters long, so the purple iPhone 12 appears to be the first Apple product with a randomized serial number.

The change likely extends to the purple iPhone 12 mini, but we've yet to confirm this. On the contrary, the randomized serial number format does not appear to apply to the AirTag at this time, with multiple MacRumors editors and others we've spoken to still seeing 12-character serial numbers for the item tracking accessory.

It remains to be seen if the new iMac, iPad Pro, and Apple TV have randomized serial numbers when they launch in the second half of May.

In a memo obtained by MacRumors in March, Apple said products already shipping at that time would continue to use the company's previous serial number format, which has for years allowed customers and service providers to determine the date and location that a product was manufactured. The first three characters represent the manufacturing location, the following two characters indicate the year and week of manufacture, and the last four characters reveal a device's model, color, and storage capacity.

The new serial number format will consist of a randomized alphanumeric string of 8-14 characters (10 characters initially) that will no longer include manufacturing or configuration details, according to Apple's memo. Apple advised authorized resellers to prepare for the transition to the new format ahead of its "Spring Loaded" event last month.

While the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro is set to launch in the second half of May, orders placed today are estimated for delivery as late as mid-July on Apple's online store in the United States — some two months later. The new 11-inch iPad Pro is faring better so far, with some configurations available for delivery in the last week of May.

The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro features a Liquid Retina XDR Display with mini-LED backlighting, providing higher brightness and improved contrast ratio, but Apple suppliers have reportedly faced yield issues producing the display. The consumer electronics industry is also facing a global chip shortage that is expected to last into 2022, and this could be having an impact on iPad Pro shipping estimates to some extent.

The new iPad Pro was announced at Apple's Spring Loaded event on April 20, so the fact that some customers might not get the device into their hands until mid-July underscores the issues that Apple is facing with supply.

The new iMac is also facing delivery estimates of mid-to-late June for many configurations in the United States, and even a four pack of AirTags won't arrive until mid-June.

In April 2021, Apple updated its popular iPad Pro lineup, introducing a faster M1 chip, a Liquid Retina XDR display, a Thunderbolt port, and more, replacing the previous models from March 2020.

Although the 2020 and 2021 ‌iPad Pro‌ models have now been discontinued by Apple, it is not unusual to find them available at discounted prices with third-party retailers. Some other users who already have the 2020 ‌iPad Pro‌ may also be considering if it is worth the upgrade to the 2021 model.

Should you consider sticking with or purchasing the older ‌iPad Pro‌ to save money, or do you need the latest model? Our guide answers the question of how to decide which of these two iPad Pros is best for you.

Similarities

Being only a year apart, the 2020 ‌iPad Pro‌ has more in common with its 2021 successor than it has in contrast, including key features such as the design and rear camera setup.

• Industrial design with flat edges
• Face ID enabled by TrueDepth camera
• Liquid Retina display with 264 ppi, full lamination, oleophobic and anti-reflective coating, P3 Wide Color, and True Tone
• ƒ/1.8 12MP Wide and ƒ/2.4 12MP Ultra Wide rear cameras with LiDAR scanner
• 2x optical zoom out, 5x digital zoom in, brighter True Tone flash, and Smart HDR 3 for photos
• 4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps, 1080p HD video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps, slo-mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps, time-lapse video with stabilization, and audio zoom
• TrueDepth front-facing camera with Retina Flash, Portrait mode, Portrait Lighting, Cinematic video stabilization, 1080p HD video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps, Animoji, and Memoji
• Stereo recording with "studio quality" mics
• Four speaker audio
• "All-day" 10 hour battery life
• Wi‑Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity
• USB‑C connector
• Compatible with Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, and Apple Pencil (2nd generation)
• Available in Silver and Space Gray

Apple's specification breakdown shows that the two ‌iPad‌ Pros share an overwhelming majority of features. Even so, there a number of meaningful differences between the 2020 and 2021 ‌iPad‌ Pros that are worth highlighting, including their display technologies, processors, and front-facing cameras.

Differences

Read on for a closer look at each of these aspects, and see what exactly both ‌iPad Pro‌ generations have to offer.

➜ Click here to read more...

Apple today announced it has awarded $410 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to Pennsylvania-based II-VI, a manufacturer of optical technology.

The funds will help create additional capacity and accelerate delivery of future iPhone components, supporting more than 700 jobs in Sherman, Texas; Warren, New Jersey; Easton, Pennsylvania; and Champaign, Illinois, according to Apple.

II-VI manufactures vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that help power Face ID, along with lasers for the LiDAR Scanner:

II-VI manufactures vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that help power Face ID, Memoji, Animoji, and Portrait mode selfies. Apple also works with II-VI to manufacture lasers used in the LiDAR Scanner — technology that helps deliver faster, more realistic augmented reality experiences and improves autofocus in low-light scenes in photos and videos.

"We established Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund to support American businesses creating next-generation technology and the jobs of tomorrow," said Apple COO Jeff Williams. "II-VI shares our commitment to push the boundaries of innovation and we're proud to be extending our work together across the country."

Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund already awarded $390 million to optical supplier Finisar in 2017, and that company has since been acquired by II-VI.

A new study looking at the effects of low-light functions on smartphone users' sleeping habits suggests that features like Apple's Night Shift mode don't actually improve sleep at all.

Introduced in iOS 9, ‌Night Shift‌ is designed to cut down on the amount of blue light that an iOS device puts out during the evening hours. The feature uses the clock and geolocation of an iPhone or iPad to determine when it's sunset, and automatically shifts the colors of the display to warmer colors, returning the display to its regular settings in the morning.

Now found on most smartphones in some form, ‌Night Shift‌ is based on studies that have demonstrated that blue light can negatively impact sleep by altering the body's circadian rhythm. However, the results of a new study from BYU published in Sleep Health have undermined that premise.

To test the theory, BYU psychology professor Chad Jensen and researchers from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center compared the sleep outcomes of individuals in three categories: those who used their phone at night with the ‌Night Shift‌ function turned on, those who used their phone at night without ‌Night Shift‌, and those who did not use a smartphone before bed at all.

"In the whole sample, there were no differences across the three groups," Jensen said. "Night Shift is not superior to using your phone without Night Shift or even using no phone at all."

The study included 167 adults between the ages of 18 to 24 who said they use a smartphone daily. The participants were asked to spend at least eight hours in bed, during which they wore an accelerometer on their wrist to record their sleep activity.

Individuals who were assigned to use their smartphone also had an app installed to monitor their phone use. The app measured sleep outcomes that included total sleep duration, sleep quality, wake after sleep onset and the time it took to fall asleep.

In the second part of the study, the researchers split the sample in two groups – one consisting of participants who averaged about seven hours of sleep, and another that included those who slept less than six hours each night.

The group that got seven hours of sleep saw a slight difference in sleep quality based on phone usage, while those who didn't use a phone before bed experienced better sleep quality compared to both those with normal phone use and those using ‌Night Shift‌. Within the six-hour group, which had the least amount of sleep, there were no differences in sleep outcomes based on whether the participants used ‌Night Shift‌ or not.

The results suggest that blue light is only one factor that creates difficulty falling or staying asleep, and it's important not to discount the affect of physical interactions like texting, scrolling and posting on sleep outcomes.

"While there is a lot of evidence suggesting that blue light increases alertness and makes it more difficult to fall asleep, it is important to think about what portion of that stimulation is light emission versus other cognitive and psychological stimulations," said Jensen.

Since its debut on iOS, ‌Night Shift‌ has been included in macOS since Sierra. Mac users can enable or disable the feature using the ‌Night Shift‌ tab in System Preferences -> Display.

(Via BYU Communications.)

Apple's new 24-inch iMac range could help it overtake HP as the leading all-in-one (AIO) computer brand vendor, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes.

The prediction is based on evidence suggesting that more affordable all-in-one PC brands are being impacted much harder by the global chip shortage as suppliers prioritize their shipments to support more premium products in the AIO market.

The sources pointed out that high-end AIO PCs such as the iMac are only seeing limited impact from component shortages, but entry-level to mid-range products priced between NT$15,000 (US$536.51) and NT$30,000 have been hit much harder. Several ODMs have already halted their production for many AIO PCs because of component shortage, but iMac production remains unaffected, the sources said.

Apple is selling three all-new built-to-order ‌iMac‌ tiers, priced at $1,299, $1,499, and $1,699. All tiers come in several color options and include Apple silicon M1 processors, solid-state storage, 8GB of RAM, and two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports. Pre-ordered iMacs begin shipping from May 21.

According to Digitimes Research, HP was the largest AIO PC brand in the fourth quarter of 2020, shipping 925,000 units, followed by Apple with 860,000 units, and Lenovo with 731,000 units. However, Apple's shipments are estimated to have surpassed HP in the first quarter of 2021.

That said, overall Apple says it expects to be impacted by the chip shortages, and predicts a sequential decline of approximately $3 to $4 billion revenue in the third-quarter of 2021 due to ‌‌iPad‌‌ and Mac supply constraints. Apple says a combination of the shortages and a very high level of demand for both ‌‌‌iPad‌‌‌ and Mac is expected to impact revenue in the second half of 2021.

Encrypted messaging app Signal has had a series of Instagram ads blocked from the social media platform, after it attempted to show users how much data the Facebook-owned company collects about them and how it's used to push targeted ads.

In a blog post, Signal described how it generated the ads to show users why they were seeing them, simply by declaring upfront the information that the advertising platform relies on to perform its targeting.

"We created a multi-variant targeted ad designed to show you the personal data that Facebook collects about you and sells access to," said Signal. "The ad would simply display some of the information collected about the viewer which the advertising platform uses. Facebook was not into that idea."

The starkly transparent ads used Signal branding and featured the user's professional role, education, interests, hobbies, location, and relationship status, amongst other personal data points pruned from their interaction with the platform. Unsurprisingly, the ads never made it to Instagram users' feeds and Signal's ad account for the platform was summarily disabled.

"Facebook is more than willing to sell visibility into people's lives, unless it's to tell people about how their data is being used. Being transparent about how ads use people's data is apparently enough to get banned; in Facebook's world, the only acceptable usage is to hide what you're doing from your audience."

In recent months, Signal has enjoyed a surge in account sign-ups following a bungled privacy policy update by rival service WhatsApp, which caused a user exodus from the Facebook-owned platform.

The privacy-focused chat app has also been promoted by prominent Signal users like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Edward Snowden, which has only added to mainstream interest in the service.

Nearly two years following the release of iOS and iPadOS 13, which included native, built-in, and systemwide dark mode, Snapchat, one of the world's most prominent social media networks, has finally rolled out a dark mode theme for iOS users.

Snapchat began testing a dark mode theme of its app design late last year with a small group of iOS users. Now, Snapchat says that as of this week, it has flipped the switch on access to dark mode for more than 90% of its iOS user base, offering millions of users access to the less eye-straining app interface.

Snapchat is offering three different types of "Appearance" modes for iOS users to choose from. The first mode maintains a dark theme for the app regardless of the default iOS system theme, the second mode maintains a light theme for the app, and the third mode matches the iOS setting.

Snapchat users can enable dark mode like so: Tap the Settings icon in the top-right hand corner, navigate the list, tap "App Appearance," then enable either "Always Dark," "Always Light," or "Match System."

Dark mode on Android will start rolling out in the coming months.

As reported by local outlet The Verifier, Apple Pay has officially launched in Israel following multiple reports suggesting an imminent launch sometime this year.

Ever since its launch in the United States in 2014, ‌Apple Pay‌ has slowly expanded to more countries worldwide while at the same time expanding the list of financial institutions that support the feature. With ‌Apple Pay‌, users can easily add their credit or debit cards from supported banks to their iPhone and Apple Watch to make purchases at contactless payment terminals around the world. ‌Apple Pay‌ is also available on the Mac for web purchases.

At launch, there may be some banks that don't yet have support for ‌Apple Pay‌; however, the list of supported banks will grow with time. Users can add a card to ‌Apple Pay‌ by heading over to the Wallet app on ‌iPhone‌, pressing the plus button in the top-right hand corner, and following the on-screen prompts.

When you set up an AirTag, it's automatically associated with your Apple ID, which means it's linked to your ‌Apple ID‌ and can't be used by someone else unless you reset it.

Resetting can be as simple as removing an ‌AirTag‌ from your ‌Apple ID‌, by following these steps:

1. Open the Find My app.
2. Tap on the ‌AirTag‌ that you want to remove by choosing its name from the list.
3. Swipe upwards to bring up the full ‌AirTag‌ settings.
4. Tap on "Remove Item."
5. Tap on "Remove" and then tap again on the "Remove" popup.

Once you've gone through this process, the ‌AirTag‌'s ownership is cleared and you can give it to someone else to set up and use with their own account.

Unfortunately, if you're not in Bluetooth range of your ‌AirTag‌ when you remove it from your account, it won't register and a manual reset will be required. If you wind up with an ‌AirTag‌ from someone else that says it's linked to their ID but they've already removed it from their account, follow these steps to physically reset the ‌AirTag‌:

1. Press down on the stainless steel backing of the ‌AirTag‌.
2. As you press down, rotate counterclockwise until the cover stops rotating.
3. Pull apart the two halves of the ‌AirTag‌.
4. Take out the battery.
5. Put the battery back in.
6. Press down on the battery until it makes a sound.
7. Once the sound finishes, repeat this process four more times, removing and replacing the battery and then pressing on the battery until you hear a sound.
8. You need to hear a total of five sounds to ensure that the ‌AirTag‌ is reset.
9. After you've finished this process, put the cover on the ‌AirTag‌ back on and then align the three tabs on the cover with the three slots on the ‌AirTag‌.
10. Press down on the cover until there's a sound, and rotate the cover clockwise until it locks in place.

To avoid having to do this tedious physical resetting process, it's best to make sure that the person giving you an ‌AirTag‌ has removed it from their account in the proper way while it's in range of Bluetooth, because that's a far easier process for clearing ‌AirTag‌ ownership to pass it along to someone else.

Apple today emailed customers who have purchased a standard AppleCare plan for their Apple TV devices to let them know that coverage has been extended from two years to three years.

Customers who purchased ‌AppleCare‌ for the ‌Apple TV‌ will be now receiving a total of three years of coverage based on the date that they original bought the plan. ‌AppleCare‌ for ‌Apple TV‌ end dates will be automatically adjusted.

In the emails, Apple does not specify why it is extending the ‌Apple TV‌ ‌AppleCare‌ plans, but it is likely because of the transition to ‌AppleCare‌+ for ‌Apple TV‌, which Apple made available alongside the launch of the second-generation ‌Apple TV‌ 4K.

‌AppleCare‌+ for ‌Apple TV‌ provides three years of protection along with coverage for two incidents of accidental damage. The existing ‌AppleCare‌ plans that are being extended do not include accidental damage coverage.

‌AppleCare‌+ for ‌Apple TV‌ is priced at $29, with a monthly purchase option also available.

(Thanks, Mark and Ryan!)

Apple today released a new version of Safari 14.1 for macOS Catalina and macOS Mojave users, with the update introducing fixes for two WebKit vulnerabilities that were patched in macOS Big Sur yesterday.

Apple's support document for the updated Safari release confirms that it addresses the same WebKit memory corruption issue and an integer overflow bug for users of older versions of macOS.

Both of these vulnerabilities may have been actively exploited, so it's important for users to upgrade immediately.

Apple says that the new Safari 14.1 release includes the security content of the 14.1 update that was released on April 26, 2021. It has a build number of15611.1.21.161.7 on macOS Catalina and 14611.1.21.161.7 on macOS Mojave.

Apple's legal battle with Epic Games is continuing on, and during the second day of the trial, ‌Epic Games‌' CEO Tim Sweeney continued his testimony against Apple.

Sweeney was grilled by Apple's lawyers, and made several points seemingly favorable to Apple. In addition to mentioning how he prefers Apple's iPhone and values Apple's privacy policies that he's aiming to dismantle, Sweeney confirmed that Apple's 30 percent cut is also the "most prevalent rate" that other platforms charge.

Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all take a 30 percent cut from ‌Epic Games‌ on their platforms and require their in-app purchase systems to be used, but Sweeney said that Epic is not challenging them because he believes in the idea of "subsidized hardware," though he also admitted that ‌iPhone‌ and iOS development is "very similar." It's also worth noting that Fortnite makes more money on console platforms than it does from iOS.

Sweeney confirmed that ‌Epic Games‌ has a history of bullying platform makers. ‌Epic Games‌ pushed Sony into allowing cross-platform play, but Sony ultimately got the upper hand and requires additional payment to enable cross-platform capabilities, unlike iOS, where cross-platform play is free and has been since Fortnite launched on the App Store.

Apple pointed out ‌Epic Games‌' use of Apple's Metal API and shared correspondence where Sweeney and Epic had praised Metal in the past as evidence that Epic benefits from Apple's APIs and SDKs. From an Epic internal email discussing a quote to give to Apple:

We've been making use of Metal on iOS to great effect since its release in 2014. A fast, agile, feature-rich API like Metal is exactly what we need to bring a game designed for modern consoles and desktops to the battery-powered iPhone and iPad. As a developer, it blows away OpenGL in every way.

Starting in 2015, Sweeney began trying to convince Apple to make the ‌App Store‌ an open platform.

Humorously, when he got Sweeney's initial email, Cook didn't know who Sweeney was. "Is this the guy that was at one of our rehearsals?" he asked Phil Schiller in a forwarded email.

When asked whether he would have accepted a special deal from Apple for a lower ‌App Store‌ commission, Sweeney said "Yes, I would have," which seems to weaken Epic's argument that its decision to kick off a legal battle with Apple was done to benefit all developers.

At the conclusion of today's questioning, Sweeney was asked what he would do if ‌Epic Games‌ loses the case. In response, he said that Apple would be able to cut off Fortnite and remove ‌Epic Games‌ from the developer program for any reason. "We would have to live with not supporting the iOS platform," he said.

The legal fight between Apple and Epic will continue for three weeks, with Apple executives like Tim Cook set to testify during the third week. We'll have ongoing coverage of Apple v. Epic as the case continues on.