MacRumors

Apple today introduced a new Apple Music feature called This Week on Apple Music, which is designed to provide a break down of the five biggest things happening across ‌Apple Music‌ each week.

Apple says that it will provide highlighted stories with album suggestions, playlists, videos, radio episodes, interviews, and more.

Today's recommendations include the BTS: Butter Dance Party playlist, an interview with Jennifer Lopez, a short film, and several radio episodes.

This Week on Apple Music content can be accessed using the ‌Apple Music‌ app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV.

Apple's stock closed at an all-time high price of $144.57 on Wednesday and continues to extend its gains this week, reaching a new intraday high above $145 in trading today. Apple shares have risen around 17% since the start of June.

The stock market gains come ahead of Apple's third quarter earnings results, which will be reported on July 27. Apple unveiled several new products during the quarter, including the AirTag and new models of the iPad Pro, iMac, and Apple TV in April, and previewed major new software updates like iOS 15 and macOS Monterey at WWDC in June.

Apple's market cap is approaching a staggering $2.5 trillion, making it the world's most valuable tech company. Microsoft joined Apple in the $2 trillion valuation club for the first time last month, with gains extending to several major tech stocks.

According to Yahoo Finance, analysts on average expect Apple to set a new third quarter revenue record of $72.9 billion, up around 22% from $59.7 billion in the year-ago quarter. Apple's CFO Luca Maestri cautioned that supply constraints could have a revenue impact of $3 billion to $4 billion in the third quarter, with industry-wide chip shortages affecting supply of iPads and Macs, which could impact the results.

Nanoleaf in June unveiled its new Elements Wood Look Hexagons, which are a departure from all of the prior light panels that Nanoleaf has designed. The Nanoleaf Elements feature a textured wood-like material that can be lit up with cool or warm white light, and when off, they appear to be simple wood panels, offering a more natural look than the white plastic of prior versions.

The Nanoleaf Elements panels are not real wood and are still made from a plastic material, but there is a wood-like veneer. When not lit up, the Nanoleaf Elements look reasonably enough like wood from a distance, and it's definitely a different aesthetic than the plain plastic of other Nanoleaf light panels.

Whenever I do a Nanoleaf review there are always comments about what the white plastic looks like when not activated, so people who find that tacky may prefer this more subtle wood look that better blends into the home when the lights are not turned on. It's softer, calmer, and less obtrusive than the bright colors of other Nanoleaf options.

Since the Nanoleaf Elements have a wood finish, Nanoleaf has limited them to shades of white light. Unlike other Nanoleaf products, these can only be set to temperatures between 1500K (warm yellow light) and 4000K (cool blue light). There is no option to choose colors, which makes these a much more subtle lighting option than the standard Hexagons and other light panels.

I like color so I'm a big fan of Nanoleaf's standard light panels that can be set to millions of colors, but I do appreciate the soft lighting look of the Nanoleaf Elements. Since there's a wood pattern veneer over the lights, these panels do not get as bright as the standard panels and they're best for accent lighting. They provide enough light to replace a lamp that's on the dimmer side, but you're not going to be able to use them for any kind of task lighting.

The Nanoleaf Elements have a true hexagon shape with an LED in each corner, and each LED can be individually controlled in scenes and designs, which is a departure from other Nanoleaf light panels. Because each LED can be controlled, you can make one part of a panel brighter than another, which adds another dimension of interest to the plain warm/cool lighting schemes.

I have trouble noticing this feature when just creating a standard static lighting scene, but it's more obvious when trying to make different effects like a fire-style light or a flickering candle-like light. It makes the lighting patterns of the Nanoleaf Elements distinctly different than standard Nanoleaf panels.

Design wise, the Nanoleaf Elements Hexagons are identical to the Nanoleaf Hexagon and Triangle light panels released last year, offering the simple snap-in linking and the removable mounting plate that makes it much easier to get them off of the wall. The Hexagons come with the mounting plate already in place, so you just have to remove the adhesive backing and stick them to the wall in your desired pattern. If you don't know what you want, the Nanoleaf app has a useful Layout Assistant for generating designs.

Nanoleaf Elements connect to a home through a 2.4GHz WiFi connection and use HomeKit, so setup is as simple as scanning a ‌HomeKit‌ code. All of the panels are the same in functionality, but there's power connector that you need to plug in somewhere and a control module, which also has some touch based control options.

Aside from the different veneer and the white light only color options, the Elements are otherwise identical to other Nanoleaf products. They're controlled through the Nanoleaf app (though can also be turned on/off through ‌HomeKit‌ and you can use them in ‌HomeKit‌ scenes), and there are features like touch responsiveness, rhythm music syncing to make them activate while music is playing, and more.

They're designed to use Elements-specific scenes, but Nanoleaf has a wide selection of community-sourced scenes for its other panels, so there is a built-in feature for converting any standard scene into an Elements scene, which works okay. It's all white light, so sometimes it's hard to tell a difference between scenes, but the Nanoleaf-created scenes are unique.

I've been using Nanoleaf panels since the first Aurora triangles came out years ago, and they're still some of my favorite HomeKit-enabled lights. There are occasional connectivity issues with most ‌HomeKit‌ products, but even my original panels are still functioning like new years later and my Nanoleaf experience has always been largely hassle free. The Nanoleaf Elements are no exception and have worked well during the weeks that I have tested them.

Nanoleaf recently added Thread border router support to its Elements panels, offering improved connectivity compared to Bluetooth and WiFi. Thread is a low power mesh network for smart devices, communicating with other Thread-enabled devices and boosting signals between them. Many modern smart home devices are adding Thread integration, so it's great to see Nanoleaf adopting the technology as well.

Bottom Line

The Nanoleaf Elements are quite different from Nanoleaf's prior products and may appeal to a new audience - those who are looking for a more subtle ambient lighting solution that looks good on or off.

The wood paneling design looks attractive even if the Nanoleaf Elements are not activated, and the individual LED control offers unique functionality you won't get with other Nanoleaf products. That said, these are not going to appeal to those who love the vibrant colors of the standard Nanoleaf products, and I do feel that the cost is prohibitive at $300 for seven panels. Comparatively, the Hexagons are $200, so Nanoleaf's more refined, and grown-up lighting panels are going to cost you more money.

How to Buy

A set of seven Nanoleaf Elements panels can be purchased from the Nanoleaf website for $299.99. Three panel expansion packs can be bought for $99.99.

Note: Nanoleaf provided MacRumors with a set of Nanoleaf Elements for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

The latest beta for iOS and iPadOS 14.7, released to developers this week, patches a bug that disabled an iPhone's ability to connect to Wi-Fi if a user connected to a specific Wi-Fi network with the name "%p%s%s%s%s%n."

In his latest video rounding up the latest changes in the beta, YouTuber Zollotech found that the update has silently patched the bug that caused an iPhone to become unable to connect to Wi-Fi networks.

The bug was discovered on Twitter last month and consisted of an ‌iPhone‌ connecting to a Wi-Fi SSID with the name "%p%s%s%s%s%n." According to user reports, doing so would "permanently disable" an ‌iPhone‌'s Wi-Fi functionality, making the bug rather dangerous.

While some have claimed the bug "permanently" disabled their ‌iPhone‌'s Wi-Fi, other users found that resetting their network settings after connecting to the network restored Wi-Fi for the ‌iPhone‌.

Apple has been testing iOS and iPadOS 14.7 with developers and public beta testers for the past few weeks. Apple can be expected to publicly release the update soon, given the crucial bug fix that it provides to ‌iPhone‌ user.

Last month, Apple previewed iOS 15, the next major update to iOS destined for a public launch this fall. The upcoming update to iOS 14 will likely be the last major update to the operating system ahead of iOS 15's fall release.

Apple TV+ shows have been nominated across the Hollywood Critics Association's first annual TV awards, with "Ted Lasso" leading nominations with eight selections.

The Hollywood Critics Association has published its nominations for its first annual TV awards, as highlighted by Deadline.

‌Apple TV‌+'s Ted Lasso has received eight nominations, which is more than any other show. Overall, ‌Apple TV‌+ titles have received 15 nominations across various categories. Netflix was the leading streaming service, with a total of 28 nominations across multiple categories.

Ted Lasso has been nominated for Best Streaming Comedy Series, Best Actor for Jason Sudeikis, dual nominations in Best Supporting Actress for Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham, and four nominations in Best Supporting Actor for Brendan Hunt, Brett Goldstein, Jeremy Swift, and Nick Mohammed.

For Best Streaming Comedy Series, Ted Lasso takes on Netflix's "Cobra Kai," Peacock's "Girls5Eva," and HBO Max's "Hacks" and "The Flight Attendant," as well as ‌Apple TV‌+'s "Mythic Quest." Mythic Quest also received a number of other nominations, with Rob McElhenney being nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Streaming Series and Danny Pudi for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Streaming Series.

‌Apple TV‌+'s "Servant" is nominated for Best Drama Streaming Series, competing with Netflix's "Bridgerton" and "The Crown," Amazon Prime Video's "The Boys," Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale," and Disney+'s "The Mandalorian." Rupert Grint is also nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Streaming Series. For "Dickinson," Hailee Steinfeld is nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Streaming Series.

"1971: The Year Music Changed Everything" is nominated for Best Streaming Docuseries, Documentary Television Movie, or Non-Fiction Series, where it rivals Netflix's "American Murder: The Family Next Door," "Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel," "Murder Among Mormons," "The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness," and "Unsolved Mysteries," HBO Max's "Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults," Hulu's "Kid 90s," and Amazon Prime Video's "P!nk: All I Know So Far."

‌Apple TV‌+ shows have been nominated for over 400 awards since the streaming service's launch, including 25 Daytime Emmy Awards. In particular, Ted Lasso has been a major award-winner for Apple, receiving a Critics Choice Award, SAG Award, a Golden Globe, and more.

In July 2020, Apple introduced a new all-in-one gift card in the United States that combines its previously separate Apple Store and iTunes gift cards into one, and the combined gift card is now available in Canada and Australia as well.

The new Apple Gift Card can be applied towards "everything Apple," including purchases of Apple products and accessories, App Store apps, iTunes Store content like TV shows and movies, services like Apple Music and Apple Arcade, iCloud+ plans, and more. The gift card is available on Apple's website in digital and physical versions, with the physical card sent by mail including a collectible Apple logo sticker available in five designs.

The gift card's availability in Canada was alerted to us by MacRumors reader Basic Apple Guy, while 9to5Mac noticed Australia was added too. Apple is no longer selling separate Apple Store and iTunes gift cards in these countries following the transition.

Apple Store and iTunes gift cards remain available in many other countries for now.

For the next several weeks, Apple is offering customers in a select number of U.S. states the opportunity to purchase a wide range of its products without a sales tax.

Every year, select states offer businesses and consumers the incentive of having no sales tax as a way to help boost sales and are usually aimed at helping families lower the cost of back to school shopping. The dates for each state differ, and the selection of states this year is relatively small. Only purchases made during a state's specific holiday are free of state sales tax.

The policy around each state also varies. Alabama, for example, which is holding its sales-free tax holiday between July 16 and 18, requires that the total sales price of all items must remain under $750. Apple products, including Macs, iPad, and the iPod touch, are eligible, alongside accessories such as keyboard, mice, the Apple Pencil, and more.

Missouri, which is running its holiday between August 6 and 8, has a higher limit of $1500 and the addition of more accessories, including printers, routers, RAM upgrades, the Apple TV, and more. South Carolina, sharing a holiday with Missouri, has no limit and includes tax-free purchases of earbuds, headphones, and flash drives, however only for students. Virginia consists of a limit of only $60 for cell phone chargers and batteries.

More information on Apple's sales tax holiday, participating states and products, can be found on Apple's website.

Apple today shared a new ad called "Haystack" in which a rancher uses his Apple Watch to find his iPhone 12 in a haystack. The ad plays on the "needle in a haystack" idiom and is set to the song "Searching (For Someone Like You)" by country singer Kitty Wells.

In the one-minute ad, a rancher drives down a rural street surrounded by bales of hay. He then backs up his truck off the street, walks with his dog to a large haystack, and taps on a button in the Apple Watch's Control Center to ping his iPhone, which results in the iPhone playing a sound to help pinpoint its location if misplaced nearby.

"An iPhone that's lost is easily found," says Apple. "Relax, it's iPhone + Apple Watch."

To use this feature on the Apple Watch, swipe up to open Control Center and tap the Ping iPhone button, which will make the device chime. You can also touch and hold the Ping iPhone button to make the iPhone flash as well.

Of course, if your iPhone isn't in range of your Apple Watch, you can track its location using the Find My app on another Apple device or iCloud.com.

Toronto-based game developer Snowman today announced that "Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City" will be launching on Apple Arcade on Friday, July 16, as one of several new classic games being added to the subscription-based service.

First released in 2018, Alto's Odyssey is an award-winning endless sandboarding game with beautiful procedurally generated graphics, dynamic lighting and weather conditions, and original music. In the Apple Arcade edition of the game, players will embark on a sandboarding journey to find a new biome called The Lost City and unearth the secrets hidden within, with the classic Alto's Odyssey experience preserved.

At the heart of Alto's Odyssey and its 2015 predecessor, Alto's Adventure, is physics-based movement with a one-touch trick system.

A long list of classic games were added to Apple Arcade in April, including "Fruit Ninja" and "Monument Valley," and more classics are coming soon, including "Angry Birds Reloaded" and "Doodle God Universe." Priced at $4.99 per month, Apple Arcade provides access to a catalog of nearly 200 games without ads or in-app purchases across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, with additional titles added periodically.

Apple has taken possession of the domain name Mobeewave.com, according to a WHOIS record discovered by MacRumors. The domain name was previously owned by payments startup Mobeewave, which Apple acquired last year.

Mobeewave created a system that lets shoppers tap a credit card or smartphone on another phone to process a payment. The technology works with NFC, which is built into all modern iPhones.

Apple typically buys startups to turn their technology into features of its products, and the functionality could in future allow iPhones to be used as payment terminals with no additional hardware required. Apple hired the whole Mobeewave team, which includes dozens of employees, and the company is continuing to work from Montreal where it is based.

Prior to the acquisition, Mobeewave demonstrated the simplicity of its technology by showing users inputting a transaction amount into an app and tapping an NFC-enabled card on the back of a smartphone.

Full contact information on the domain transfer is redacted for privacy, but the record's domain information lists Apple's nameservers. The domain is no longer active, although at some point in the future Apple may choose to redirect it to either a related product page or support pages for an upcoming product.

Smartphone accessory makers are already busy producing iPhone 13 cases based on chassis models that supposedly give them advance knowledge of how Apple's upcoming flagship devices will be sized, and one brand has taken the unusual decision to publicly share the models they're working off on social media.

Well-known Chinese case maker Benks today posted on Weibo images of the models on which their moulds are based. Leakers DuanRui and Ice Universe were both quick to re-post the images to Twitter, and the pictures show all four of the ‌iPhone‌ 13 models that we are expecting, with dimensions similar to the 2020 ‌iPhone‌ lineup. The four devices come in the same 5.4-inch, 6.1-inch, and 6.7-inch options, with both standard and "Pro" variants of the 6.1-inch model.

In terms of appearance, the main difference this year will be a slightly smaller notch on the front, a diagonal rear dual-camera array on the ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini and the standard 6.1-inch, and a larger rear camera unit on the ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro models. Schematics seen by MacRumors have revealed that the upcoming iPhones will feature a thicker overall design and a larger camera bump on the ‌‌iPhone‌ 13‌ Pro and Pro Max.

The larger camera modules are likely due to the rumored inclusion of sensor-shift stabilization for all models of the lineup and improved Ultra Wide capabilities on the ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro and ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro Max.

Case makers often base their initial case designs for upcoming iPhones based on leaks and rumors, so the images may not be true representations. However, all the information we've garnered so far would suggest there's good reason to believe they are accurate.

For the lowdown on everything we know about the new features and improvements coming with the ‌iPhone‌ 13, which Apple is expected to launch in its usual September timeframe, be sure to check out our dedicated guide.

Australia's Federal Court has permitted Epic Games to sue Apple, reversing a previous ruling that said the two companies had to battle it out in the United States first before any legal action could take place Down Under.

Epic and Apple are involved in a highly public lawsuit in the United States, but Epic has also sued Apple in other countries, including Australia last November, in an attempt to boost its chances of getting a favorable ruling.

Epic's case in Australia follows much of the same argument in the U.S., claiming that Apple is a monopoly and that the ‌App Store‌ and in-app purchasing system are unfair.

Apple argued that the case was already being tried in California courts, and won a three-month stay on the Australian action that would become permanent unless Epic filed a lawsuit in California alleging violations of Australian Consumer Law.

Epic appealed that decision in April, and on Friday morning three Federal Court judges duly granted it, finding that the presiding judge who permitted the stay of action had failed to consider that the lawsuit involves public interest issues, which take priority over exclusive jurisdictional stipulations. Epic said it was pleased with the outcome.

"This is a positive step forward for Australian consumers and developers, who are entitled to fair access and competitive pricing across mobile app stores," the company said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing our fight for increased competition in app distribution and payment processing in Australia and around the world."

Apple said it would appeal the decision, on grounds that its contract with Epic requires that the two companies litigate in California.

"The initial decision in April from Australia's Federal Court correctly ruled that Epic should be held to the agreement it made to resolve disputes in California," said Apple in a statement. "We respectfully disagree with the ruling made today and plan to appeal."

Apple in March told an Australian court that Epic's legal challenge against the ‌App Store‌ is "self-serving," and that all the software company aims to do is "redefine the terms of access" that it's always been subject to on Apple's platforms.

The three-week ‌Epic Games‌ v. Apple trial wrapped up in the States in late May, but it could be several weeks before we learn of the verdict, and it's quite likely that any decision will be appealed, so this is a lawsuit that could carry on for months to come both in the U.S. and abroad.

(Via The Australian Financial Review.)

Apple is still on track to begin mass production of the upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with mini-LED displays in the third quarter of this year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a note obtained by MacRumors.

Several reports have pinned the third quarter of the year as a timeframe for when Apple could release the new MacBook Pros. DigiTimes had previously pinned the late portion of the quarter as a launch timeframe, likely referencing a September launch alongside the new iPhones.

Although, while mass production may begin in the third quarter, according to Kuo, which runs from July to September, Apple may decide to hold a separate event for the Mac in October or November, rather than tying the new MacBook Pros with the release of new iPhone and Apple Watch models.

Additionally, due to continued shortages and struggles with the production of mini-LED displays, Apple may announce the new MacBook Pros but not yet begin shipments until weeks later, similar to what it did for the mini-LED iPad Pro in April. Kuo has previously reported that the new MacBook Pros will feature additional ports, including HDMI and an SD-card slot, the removal of the Touch Bar, and an overall updated design with flat-edges and MagSafe.

Rather than a mini-LED display being limited to just the high-end 12.9-inch iPad Pro, Apple plans to make the new display technology also available on the smaller 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ next year, according to well respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In an investor note obtained by MacRumors today, Kuo said that alongside a new MacBook Air equipped with a mini-LED display next year, Apple is also planning to bring the display technology to both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌. Apple first debuted a mini-LED display this past April in the high-end 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌, but the updated 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ did not receive the new display technology.

Despite both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros being just recently updated, we already know some information about what Apple has planned for next year. Bloomberg has reported that Apple is testing using a glass back rather than an aluminum enclosure for the next release of the ‌iPad Pro‌, which could enable wireless charging for the ‌iPad‌. Additionally, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also reports that Apple is exploring the possibility of iPads with displays larger than 12.9-inches, but those shouldn't be expected anytime soon.

Apple today seeded the fifth betas of new iOS and iPadOS 14.7 updates to developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the fourth iOS and iPadOS 14.7 updates.

iOS and iPadOS 14.7 can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or over the air after the proper profile has been installed on an iPhone or iPad. Public beta testers can download it after installing the profile from Apple's beta website.

The new iOS and iPadOS 14.7 updates may be focused on under-the-hood bug performance improvements and bug fixes for issues that weren't able to be addressed in iOS 14.6, but a few minor features have been found.

Apple in iOS 14.7 will expand the Air Quality Index feature to additional countries that include the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, and Canada.

When paired with the accompanying HomePod 14.7 software, iOS 14.7 will allow the Home app to set multiple timers on a ‌HomePod‌ or a HomePod mini.

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming macOS Big Sur 11.5 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta coming two weeks after the release of the fourth macOS Big Sur 11.5 beta.

Developers can download the ‌‌‌‌macOS Big Sur‌‌‌‌ 11.5 beta using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper profile from the Apple Developer Center.

macOS Big Sur 11.5 appears to be a minor update focusing on under-the-hood performance improvements and bug fixes for issues that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS Big Sur 11.4 update. No notable new features were found in the first four betas.