MacRumors

For as long as it's existed, Google Photos has offered free unlimited storage for uploading images at a reduced yet good enough quality for most users. From June 1, 2021, however, all photos and videos uploaded to Google accounts will count against users' cloud storage. If you've been relying on Google to back up your media library, it may be time to move that content elsewhere. This article shows you how.

High Quality vs Original Quality Uploads

Google Photos has traditionally offered two storage options: "Original Quality," for which photos count against your storage quota, and "High Quality," which is the free and unlimited option, although it shrinks images bigger than 16 megapixels and videos over 1080p.

Whichever option you rely on, from next month both of these options will count against your Google cloud storage allocation. That could present a problem if you rely on the 15GB of free storage that comes with every Google account, or even if you already pay Google for extra storage.

What Does That Mean for My Existing Uploads?

It's important to note that any "High Quality" images already uploaded before June 1 will be exempt from this change and won't count against your storage quota, but anything uploaded after that date will eat up your allowance, so unless you plan on upping your Google storage with a paid plan, it may be time to export your photos and store them elsewhere. If you're already invested in Apple's ecosystem, iCloud is the obvious choice.

Google One storage costs $2/month for 100GB, $3/month for 200GB, and $10/month for 2TB, with discounted annual payment options also available. As for Apple's iCloud, storage options are $1/month for 50GB, $3/month for 200GB, and $10/month for 2TB. Apple One bundles also include storage allowances alongside other digital services like Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and Apple TV+.

How to Export Your Google Photos

By using the Share option in the Google Photos app, you can export individual images from Google Photos, but if you're looking for a bulk-export option, the following steps walk through the process.

1. Using a desktop browser, navigate to takeout.google.com and sign in using your Google account credentials.
2. Under "Create a New Export," in the section titled "Select Data to include," click Deselect all.
   
   

3. Scroll down to Google Photos and check the relevant box, then scroll to the bottom and click the Next step button.
   
   

4. Choose your export file type, frequency, and destination, then click the Create export button.
   

Once the request has been made, you'll see an "Export progress" message. The time it takes for your export to finish depends on the size of your media library, but Google will send an email to let you know when it's ready. Alternately, leave the page open and you'll see a Download button when the export is ready.

Once you've received your exported images, you can drag them into the Photos app on your Mac. To ensure the changes are synced to your Apple devices, check that iCloud Photos is turned on: You can find the switch in he iCloud tab in Photos' preferences (click Photos -> Preferences in the menu bar). Note that you can also upload photos via a browser by going to the iCloud Photos section on the icloud.com website.

Popular image editor Pixelmator Pro has announced a time-limited $19.99 sale on the app, offering customers 50% off the usual $39.99 selling price.

In conjunction with the sale, the developers are also sharing a sneak peak at an upcoming Pixelmator Pro 2.1 update, which includes a new AI-driven cropping feature called ML crop.

ML crop analyzes the composition of photos using a machine learning algorithm and gives the user a suggestion for how they could crop the photo to make it more eye-catching, offering different perspectives for a common photo editing task.

In other changes coming with version 2.1, users will be able to quickly see and set their primary and secondary colors, and there will also be a way to change the color of any object in a document using a drag and drop action.

Pixelmator is a Universal app, so it runs natively on both ‌M1‌ and Intel-based Macs. Updates to the image editing app are free for existing users of Pixelmator Pro, which can be downloaded directly from the Mac App Store.

Ahead of their expected launch on May 21, some brand new M1 iPad Pro orders have begun switching to a "Shipped" status.

Multiple readers of MacRumors have shared with us their updated order for their brand new iPads which now shows a "Shipped" status, rather than "Preparing to ship." Interestingly, despite the new iPad Pros now shipping for a few customers, reviews and hands-on of the newest M1-powered device have yet to be published.

The new ‌iPad‌ has proven to be popular, with some shipping estimates slipping into mid-July. The higher-end 12.9-inch model features an all-new mini-LED display compared to the traditional LED display used in the smaller 11-inch variant. Both sizes boast the Apple silicon ‌M1‌ chip, first launched in November in the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.

Apple has said the new ‌M1‌ ‌iPad Pro‌ and 24-inch iMac will be available in the second half of May but have yet to confirm a specific date officially. Despite their lack of an official announcement, typically made through a Newsroom update, the company accidentally confirmed May 21 as a launch date in the metadata of a previous Newsroom post. In addition, orders for the new ‌iPad‌ estimated arrival dates as early as Friday, May 21.

Apple has fired Antonio García Martínez, an ex-Facebook product manager and author of the controversial book "Chaos Monkeys," following public and internal calls for removal and investigation due to past misogynistic statements, The Verge reports.

Apple hired Martínez earlier this week to join its ads team, however, comments that Martínez made in the past sparked condemnation from users across social media and employees internally at Apple.

In a statement, Apple says that it highly values the diversity of its team and that those who pose a risk to its values will not be welcomed at the company.

At Apple, we have always strived to create an inclusive, welcoming workplace where everyone is respected and accepted. Behavior that demeans or discriminates against people for who they are has no place here.

A petition amongst Apple staffers, calling for his dismissal, called past remarks "misogynistic," and that his hiring "calls into question parts of our system of inclusion at Apple, including hiring panels, background checks, and our process to ensure our existing culture of inclusion is strong enough to withstand individuals who don’t share our inclusive values," according to The Verge.

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.

In the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, the two companies are this week calling up their expert witnesses to argue their points before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who will make a decision in the case after a three week trial.

Expert testimony is not as exciting as some of the leaked App Store documents that were highlighted last week, especially as much of what's being discussed was shared by Epic and Apple ahead of the trial. When speaking to expert witnesses, however, Gonzalez Rogers hinted that she might aim for a compromise between Epic and Apple to solve the dispute.

As outlined by Bloomberg, there was a discussion about Apple's rules that prevent app developers from directing users to make purchases outside of the App Store, such as through the web, as an alternative to in-app purchases.

Speaking to Epic expert witness Dr. David Evans, an economist specializing in antitrust, Gonzalez Rogers asked him if whether removing this rule would solve the problems that Epic and other developers have with ‌App Store‌ rules. "If Apple didn't have these rules, would the problem be solved?" she asked.

Evans said that while it "wouldn't eliminate the market power that Apple has," it would "certainly diminish it." Though for apps and games without alternative payment systems, he said it "would not be much of a solution."

Apple has long prevented apps from directing users to outside purchase options. The Netflix app, for example, does not use in-app purchases but is not able to direct users to sign up for a subscription through the iPhone or iPad apps, instead using vague language to inform users that it's just not possible to sign up in the app.

Fortnite, the game at the heart of the dispute between Apple and Epic, does support purchasing in-game currency (v-bucks) on the web, but ‌Epic Games‌ is not allowed to advertise that option in the app under the current rules.

If Fortnite and other apps were able to advertise alternative payment options available to customers that aren't subject to Apple's 30 percent cut, it would address Epic's "walled garden" arguments and calls for alternative app store and payment options.

Apple is arguing to maintain the status quo, and when Apple witness and economist Richard Schmalensee was asked by the judge why it would be bad for customers to have choice, he pointed out that it would be undercutting the ‌App Store‌ sales and preventing Apple from collecting its commission.

It's not clear how the trial will ultimately play out, but there are still several days to go. Week three should be much more interesting, with Apple executives like Tim Cook and Phil Schiller planning to testify.

Apple today expanded its "Look Around" feature for Apple Maps to Atlanta, Georgia, according to ‌Apple Maps‌ expert Justin O'Beirne. The expansion marks Apple's 14th Look Around update since the feature was released in June 2019.

Look Around was initially introduced in iOS 13, and it offers 3D street-level imagery much like Google's Street View. At launch, Look Around was limited to just a handful of cities, but Apple has been expanding it since then and it is now an option in more than 20 cities and regions worldwide.

Apple has a list of the places where Look Around is supported on its website, with availability in cities that include New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, San Diego, Portland, Denver, Phoenix, London, Tokyo, Dublin, and more.

Apple's last Look Around update was in February, with the feature coming to San Diego and Portland.

Update: Apple has also expanded Look Around to the Sendai and Kanazawa areas in Japan.

Since Apple launched the MagSafe-enabled iPhone 12 models, accessory makers have been coming up with various magnetic charging options that are designed to replace the standard Qi-based chargers available for iPhones.

Belkin recently launched the Boost Charge Magnetic Portable Wireless Charger Pad, which is one of its more affordable charging options at $29. The Magnetic Charger Pad is not MagSafe and can't charge at 15W. Like other chargers of this type, it is limited to 7.5W charging speeds.

‌MagSafe‌ is Apple technology so to get those 15W speeds, you need to use hardware licensed from Apple. Belkin has done this for its multi-charging options, but not using ‌MagSafe‌ is more affordable.

At $39, Belkin's charger is the same price as the the ‌MagSafe‌ Charger from Apple, but that price point includes a 6.6-foot charging cable and a 20W USB-C charger to power it. With ‌MagSafe‌, the charger is sold separately and is another $19 if you don't have one already on hand. If you do already have a 20W charger, you can get the Belkin charger for $29, $10 less than Apple's ‌MagSafe‌ Charger.

Design wise, Belkin's charger is a small wireless charging pad that snaps onto the back of an ‌iPhone‌ 12 model magnetically. Like other magnetic chargers, the magnets help it align in just the right spot for charging, so though you're not getting 15W, you are getting hassle-free alignment and optimal 7.5W charging.

The Belkin charger is made from a black or white plastic material that's nothing special, though I appreciate the long cord because it's ideal if you want to charge while using your ‌iPhone‌ at the same time. If you don't need all the cord, it comes with a cord wrap. The charger is thicker than a ‌MagSafe‌ Charger, and just a tiny bit bigger.

You can use this with any ‌iPhone‌ that charges with a Qi-based wireless charger, but it's best suited to the ‌iPhone‌ 12 models because of the magnet.

I tested the charging speed on the Boost Charge Magnetic Portable Wireless Charger Pad and it was what I would expect from any 7.5W charger. It's not a charging speed that's ideal if you need power in a hurry, but it's as useful as any other Qi charger for charging at night or while your ‌iPhone‌ is on your desk during the day.

Bottom Line

If you want 15W charging speeds or already have an appropriate 20W+ charger for use with a ‌MagSafe‌ Charger from Apple, I definitely recommend that. It's sleeker and faster than this charger from Belkin, and there's no real reason to choose an inferior charger.

If, however, you don't have a 20W charger and don't necessarily need 15W charging speeds because you're going to use it overnight or in a trickle charge situation, then Belkin's Boost Charge Magnetic Portable Wireless Charger Pad is perfectly adequate and worth checking out as an alternative option.

How to Buy

The Boost Charge Magnetic Portable Wireless Charger Pad can be purchased from Belkin or from Amazon for $30 without a charger and $40 with a 20W charger.

Apple's M1 iMacs are set to start delivering to customers next week, and ahead of the official launch day, benchmarks for the machines have been showing up on Geekbench, likely from reviewers who are testing them.

It will come as no surprise that ‌M1‌ iMac benchmarks are right on par with benchmarks for the ‌M1‌ MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini, coming in with an average single-core score of 1724 and an average multi-core score of 7453, aggregated from three benchmarks that are currently available.

Benchmarks are for the iMac21,1, which is likely the entry-level option with an 8-core CPU, a 7-core GPU, and two Thunderbolt ports. The ‌M1‌ ‌iMac‌ benchmarks list 8 CPU cores and a base frequency of 3.2GHz, and they're running macOS 11.3.

The 24-inch ‌M1‌ ‌iMac‌ significantly outperforms the 2019 21.5-inch ‌iMac‌ with an Intel chip that it's replacing, and it's going to be a solid upgrade over all older 21.5-inch machines.

The previous-generation high-end 21.5-inch ‌iMac‌ earned a single-core score of 1109 and a multi-core score of 6014, so the ‌M1‌ ‌iMac‌ is 56 percent faster when it comes to single-core performance and 24 percent faster when it comes to multi-core performance.

Compared to the current high-end 27-inch ‌iMac‌, the ‌M1‌ Mac outperforms in single-core performance, but it is lagging behind the 10th-generation Comet Lake Intel chip in multi-core performance. The high-end 27-inch ‌iMac‌ earned a single-core score of 1247 and a multi-core score of 9002.

The ‌M1‌ ‌iMac‌'s single-core performance is 38 percent faster, but the Intel ‌iMac‌'s multi-core performance is 25 percent faster.

With these scores, the ‌M1‌ ‌iMac‌ is not going to be able to replace the high-end 27-inch ‌iMac‌ because it lags behind in multi-core performance, but Apple is working on higher-end Apple silicon chips for desktop machines and we'll likely see an even more powerful Apple-designed chip introduced when Apple is ready to replace the 27-inch ‌iMac‌ with a new model.

The ‌M1‌ ‌iMac‌ does outperform lower-end 27-inch ‌iMac‌ models with Intel chips, beating the 6-core Intel models in both single and multi-core performance.

Pricing on the ‌M1‌ iMacs starts at $1,299 for the entry-level model and $1,499 for the version with an 8-core GPU, two additional USB-C ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and additional color options. ‌M1‌ ‌iMac‌ models ordered today will ship out in June, but those who preordered will soon be receiving their machines, and we'll learn more about them when reviews go live.

An Apple customer in the United Kingdom has successfully used Apple's Find My network to track an AirTag as it was being sent by mail to a friend in a completely different city.

Outlined in a blog post at Intego, Kirk McElhearn said he taped an ‌AirTag‌ to a piece of card, wrapped it inside a small bubble envelope, and then sent it on its way. Kirk lives in the small town of Stratford-upon-Avon, and he shipped his ‌AirTag‌ to a friend near London.

Using the ‌Find My‌ app on his iPhone, Kirk says he was able to keep track of his ‌AirTag‌ whereabouts, including its arrival at a shipping facility and a "highly automated mail processing centre." What's worth noting is that Apple uses its ‌Find My‌ network, which crowdsources anonymous data from ‌iPhone‌ and iPad devices, in the area to pinpoint the location of an ‌AirTag‌.

It didn’t take long for my AirTag to start its journey. At 5:49, it had started moving, going into Stratford-upon-Avon, presumably for it to be loaded on to a truck to go to the next location. At around 6:40, it had left the town, heading north.

At 7:30, it reached the South Midlands Mail Centre, a "highly automated mail processing centre," a massive warehouse-like site where mail is sorted. The presence of even one employee with an iPhone, with Find My turned on, was enough to register this location, but it’s likely that many of the employees have iPhones.

Kirk built a custom script on his Mac which took a screenshot of the ‌Find My‌ app every two minutes as a way to log the movement of his ‌AirTag‌. The video can be viewed in his blog post for those interested. A few days later, the ‌AirTag‌ successfully arrived at his friend's house near London.

Apple has a series of built-in parameters that are meant to prevent AirTags from being used for unwanted tracking. One of the leading ways Apple aims to prevent unwanted tracking is by alerting a user if an ‌AirTag‌, unpaired with their ‌iPhone‌ or Apple ID, is found to have been following them for a certain period of time. The specific time period is unknown, but as Kirk finds out, it seems to be a rather long time.

Kirk says he expected his friend's ‌iPhone‌ to alert him that an unknown ‌AirTag‌ had been found on him, but even three days after his friend first received the ‌AirTag‌, their ‌iPhone‌ failed to alert him to the presence of the unknown item tracker. His friend did however hear an audible alert from the ‌AirTag‌, which is another method Apple uses to alert users to an unknown device. After the audible alert, it's unlikely that AirTags would send an alert to an ‌iPhone‌.

After the AirTag was delivered, my friend left the envelope on a table in his house. He has an iPhone, so I expected him to be notified of the presence of the AirTag after a while.

I therefore expected my friend to get such a message on or after Monday afternoon, three days after I mailed it. By Tuesday, he had still not received any alerts. As I write this article, I just checked in the Find My app, and the AirTag was last seen 13 minutes ago, at his location, but he still has not received any alerts.

Lucikly in this case, there was no potential harm in the friend's ‌iPhone‌ failing to alert him to the unknown ‌AirTag‌. However, in other instances, there could be a danger if the built-in measures for unwanted tracking fail to kick in.

An exploit allows messages and additional data to be sent across Apple's Find My network, according to the findings of a security researcher.

Security researcher Fabian Bräunlein has found a way to leverage Apple's ‌Find My‌ network to function as a generic data transfer mechanism, allowing non-internet-connected devices to upload arbitrary data by using nearby Apple devices to upload the data for them.

The ‌Find My‌ network uses the entire base of active iOS devices to act as nodes to transfer location data. Bräunlein explained in an extensive blog post that it is possible to emulate the way in which an AirTag connects to the ‌Find My‌ network and broadcasts its location. The ‌AirTag‌ sends its location via an encrypted broadcast, so when this data is replaced with a message, it is concealed by the broadcast's encryption.

Bräunlein's practical demonstration showed how short strings of text could be sent from a microcontroller running custom firmware over the ‌Find My‌ network. The text was received via a custom Mac app to decode and display the uploaded data.

It is not immediately clear if this ‌Find My‌ network exploit could be used maliciously or what useful purposes it may serve. Nonetheless, it seems that it could be difficult for Apple to prevent this unintended use due to the privacy-focused and end-to-end encrypted nature of the system.

For more information, see Bräunlein's full blog post, which explains in detail the entire technical process behind passing arbitrary data through the ‌Find My‌ network.

Earlier this week, we shared a 3D-printed Apple TV Remote case that's designed to house an AirTag, adding much-needed Find My functionality to the Siri Remote. We thought we'd check out one of the remote cases in person, and have had one printed up.

The Etsy seller who designed the case sells it for $12.99, but if you have your own 3D printer you can buy the STL file for $1.99 and whip up your own.

We bought the STL file, which actually had two different remote options inside. There's one that makes it easier to slide the remote in and out, and a second that's more of a snap-on case. We preferred the former because it's easy to remove the remote, but both work.

With both models, there's a spot where the ‌AirTag‌ attaches at the back, leaving the Apple logo visible, and then the remote snaps on top. There are cutouts available for charging purposes, and there were no issues with the fit. It all lined up and worked as advertised.

This case obviously adds some bulk to the ‌Siri‌ remote since it's thick enough to include an ‌AirTag‌, but that's probably a plus if you're often losing the ‌Apple TV‌ remote.

With the ‌AirTag‌ attached to the remote, it can be tracked through the Items tab in the ‌Find My‌ app, and if you have an iPhone 11 or ‌iPhone‌ 12 model, Precision Finding is useful for tracking the remote in the house. You can also play a sound, though it's worth noting that the case does muffle the pinging just a bit.

It's likely that given the attention that this 3D-printed case has received, we'll see more polished versions of ‌Apple TV‌ remote/‌AirTag‌ hybrid holders coming from third-party manufacturers, but for now, the 3D-printed version works well.

This case is not compatible with the new remote that Apple released alongside the second-generation ‌Apple TV‌ 4K, but those who have an older ‌Apple TV‌ remote might want to check it out.

Last month, Apple opened up its Find My app to third-party device manufacturers, allowing for third-party products to be tracked in the Find My app right alongside Apple devices.

Chipolo is one of the first brands to offer this functionality with its new ONE Spot item tracker, which is now available to pre-order in the United States and many other countries, with pricing set at $28 individually or $90 for a four pack. This slightly undercuts the price of an AirTag, which costs $29 individually or $99 for a four pack.

As with the AirTag, users can attach a Chipolo ONE Spot to their keys, wallet, backpack, or other items and track the location of those items in the Items tab of the Find My app. Like the AirTag, the Chipolo ONE Spot has a built-in speaker that can play a sound when misplaced, and it has a replaceable CR2032 battery for up to a year of battery life.

Both the AirTag and Chipolo ONE Spot can leverage the Find My network, meaning that if one of nearly a billion customers with an iPhone or other Apple device comes within close proximity of a lost AirTag or Chipolo ONE Spot, the location of the tracker can be relayed back to its owner, all in the background, anonymously and privately.

Unlike the AirTag, however, the Chipolo ONE Spot lacks Ultra Wideband support, and thus lacks the Precision Finding feature that shows iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 users the exact distance and direction to their AirTag. The Chipolo ONE Spot also has IPX5-rated water resistance, while the AirTag has higher IP67-rated water and dust resistance.

One advantage of the Chipolo ONE Spot is that it has a built-in hole for attaching it to a keychain. When you factor in the price of both an AirTag and an AirTag accessory to attach it to items, the Chipolo tracker has greater value.

Chipolo ONE Spot pre-orders will begin shipping in June.

(Thanks, Leonard!)

While the new 24-inch iMac with the M1 chip is still over a week away from launching, a few lucky customers are beginning to see their orders marked as "shipped" on Apple's online store, with a May 21 delivery date.

MacRumors readers Jean-François and Emmanuel, both from Canada, let us know that their orders moved to "shipped" status starting today.

For customers who still see their iMac order in the "processing" or "preparing to ship" stages, this is still normal at this time. Many of the initial orders that are now shifting to "shipped" status are likely custom built-to-order configurations from Apple's online store, with shipments coming directly from China following assembly.

Powered by Apple's M1 chip with an 8-core CPU and up to an 8-core GPU, the new iMac can be configured with up to 16GB of unified memory and up to 2TB of SSD storage. There's also a minimum of two Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 ports, with an additional two USB 3 ports on higher-end models. The new iMac is just 11.5mm thick and available in up to seven colors, including green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver.

The new iMac became available to order on Apple.com starting April 30, with pricing starting at $1,299 in the United States.

Apple today released an update on the progress of the Apple Developer Academy program, ahead of applications for the new Detroit site opening this week.

The Apple Developer Academy sets out to provide enrolled students with app development training and entrepreneurial skills. Apple offers two different training programs: 30-day foundation courses that cover specific topics, such as an introductory course on app development as a potential career path, and a more intensive 10- to 12-month academy program that takes a deeper look at coding and professional skills.

The first Apple Developer Academy opened in Brazil in 2013, but since then, the company has opened more than a dozen academies across the globe, including sites in Indonesia and Italy, with two new academies on the way in Korea and Michigan. These expansion plans will give thousands more students access to educational opportunities each year.

Apple revealed that as many as 51 nationalities are represented among Developer Academy graduates. More than 1,500 apps on the App Store and more than 160 companies have been created by Apple Developer Academy graduates.

Applications for the first academy cohort in Detroit, Apple's first Developer Academy in the U.S., open this week via a form on the Michigan State University website. All Michigan residents aged 18 and over are able to apply, regardless of prior coding experience.

Next month, Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will take in an all-online format, featuring hundreds of sessions for developers to learn about new technologies, tools, and frameworks.