MacRumors

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the MacBook Air 17 years ago today at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, captivating audiences with a groundbreaking design that set new industry standards.

Jobs famously revealed the ‌MacBook Air‌ by pulling it out of an interoffice envelope to emphasize its unprecedentedly slim profile. The original model featured a 13.3-inch display, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and an optional 64GB solid-state drive, which was a rarity for consumer laptops in 2008, in a sleek aluminum unibody design. It lacked features considered standard at the time, such as an optical drive and Ethernet port. The single headphone, USB, and Micro-DVI ports popped out of a small door on the right of the machine. Jobs said:

We've built the world's thinnest notebook — without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a full-size 13-inch display. When you first see MacBook Air, it's hard to believe it's a high-performance notebook with a full-size keyboard and display. But it is.

Seventeen years later, the ‌MacBook Air‌ remains a cornerstone of the Mac lineup, providing the entry-level point for customers who want an Apple laptop. In 2020, Apple brought its own custom silicon processor to the ‌MacBook Air‌ in the form of the M1 chip, enabling a massive leap in performance and energy efficiency. It completely redesigned the machine in 2022, and added a 15-inch model in 2024. In the first half of this year, Apple is expected to bring its latest-generation M-series chips to the device.

WaterField Designs today introduced the Shield Case, a small, protective case that's designed for Apple's latest Mac mini. The shield case has a rugged ballistic nylon or waxed canvas exterior, along with a soft, padded fleece interior that keeps the ‌Mac mini‌ safe during transport.

The M4 Mac mini is Apple's smallest desktop machine to date, measuring in at just five inches by five inches. It's small enough that it can be easily taken from one desktop setup to another, hence the reason behind a case for a desktop Mac.

There is a plush interior pocket for the ‌Mac mini‌ power cord, along with a rear mesh pocket and a padded, zippered front pocket for SD cards, cords, and an AirTag for tracking purposes.

A nylon loop at the top allows the Shield Case to be carried or attached to another bag with a carabiner, and there are waterproof YKK zippers that can be locked with a padlock. A zipper guard ensures the zipper does not damage the ‌Mac mini‌.

The Shield Case can be purchased from the WaterField Designs website for $99, and it will ship out to customers this month.

Ahead of the season two premiere of hit TV show Severance, Apple is marketing the show with a fun Severance pop-up at the Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

Apple has assembled a glass cube with workstations that are identical to the setups that Lumon employees use on the show, complete with employees "working," doing yoga, playing catch, throwing paper airplanes, sipping coffee, and performing other activities that we've seen on Severance.

At 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Severance director Ben Stiller made an appearance at the site, with some of the show's actors visiting as well. Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Patricia Arquette, Britt Lower, and Tramell Tillman were on hand and spent time in the makeshift office space, with the actors in character as their "innies."

The performance went on for more two and a half hours, and the actors behaved as if they were actually at work at Lumon Industries.

Severance is set to return to Apple TV+ on Friday, January 17, three years after the first season of the show premiered.

OpenAI today said that it added a new "Tasks" beta feature to ChatGPT, allowing ChatGPT to provide reminders for upcoming tasks. The feature supports one-time reminders or recurring actions, with users able to use conversational language to set up notifications for tasks.

ChatGPT is able to do things like send a weekly global news briefing, provide a daily 15-minute workout, set reminders for completing a task like language practice, send a daily joke, create a meal plan each evening, provide reminders about upcoming events like birthdays, and more.

Reminders can be created in chat or through the tasks page under the profile menu, though the "4o with scheduled tasks" model needs to be selected. The new model is still rolling out to subscribers.

At the current time, Tasks is available to Plus, Pro, and Teams subscribers in a beta capacity, and in the future, it will be available to everyone with a ChatGPT account.

Apple today provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 11.3 update for testing purposes, with the beta coming a week after the second beta.

The beta is available to registered developers, and can be downloaded from the Watch app on the iPhone.

There were no notable new features found in the update, but code suggests that Apple will add support for robot vacuums to HomeKit, which means it will be a supported category in the Home app in watchOS.

We are expecting watchOS 11.3 to be released sometime in late January alongside iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3.

The European Union is "reassessing" its investigations into big U.S. tech companies like Apple, Meta, and Google, claims Financial Times, though a spokesperson from the European Commission has denied that such a review is taking place.

Tech CEOs like Apple's Tim Cook and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg have been cozying up to president-elect Donald Trump as he prepares to take office, and Financial Times suggests that probes launched under the Digital Markets Act could be scaled back. A senior EU diplomat told the site that "So much is up in the air right now," while other officials said that regulators are holding for "political direction" to make final decisions in cases involving Apple, Google, and Meta.

A spokesperson for the European Commission told Financial Times that there is "no such review taking place," but that the EC has "upcoming meetings to assess the general readiness of an investigation." None of the cases are "ready at a technical level," but the EC remains "fully committed to the effective enforcement of its rules."

The European Commission launched an investigation into Apple's compliance with the Digital Markets Act last year, and determined that it was not in compliance. A November report suggested that the European Commission is gearing up to fine Apple for failing to implement changes allowing developers to steer users to cheaper prices outside of the App Store.

Apple overhauled its ‌App Store‌ rules in Europe in 2024, and made several changes to satisfy regulators. European developers are able to distribute apps outside of the ‌App Store‌, and there are new fee structures and policies in place.

The EU in 2024 fined Apple $2 billion for anticompetitive behavior against third-party music services, and if Apple is fined over DMA non-compliance, the fee could be higher. Under the DMA, the European Union is able to fine Apple up to 10 percent of its global annual sales.

Back in October, Trump claimed that Cook called him to complain about penalties from the European Union. At the time, Trump said that he is "not going to let them take advantage of our companies."

With Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton having stepped down from the European Commission, priorities could change. The EC's chief spokesperson said that there could be a "political reality" that "puts pressure on the technical work." The EC "will be looking and assessing on the basis of concrete measures and actions from the new administration."

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 today released new firmware designed for the 25W MagSafe Charger that is compatible with the iPhone 12 and later and the latest AirPods and Apple Watch models. The updated firmware is version 2A143, up from the 2A138 firmware that the accessory shipped with. In the Settings app, you'll see a different version number than the internal firmware number.

The 2024 ‌MagSafe‌ charger was released alongside the iPhone 16 models, and it is able to charge them at up to 25W. For the ‌iPhone‌ 12 models to the iPhone 15 models, charging is capped at 15W.

Because firmware updates are released quietly over the air, Apple does not provide release notes. We do not know what new features or bug fixes might be included in the software.

There is no clear method for updating a ‌‌MagSafe‌‌ charger's firmware, but it needs to be plugged in and connected to an Apple device for a firmware update to initiate. You can check your ‌‌MagSafe‌‌ Charger's firmware by following the instructions in our MagSafe Charger how to.

Apple Pencil Pro deals were prevalent in the lead-up to Black Friday last year, but quickly disappeared as the holiday season continued. It's now been over a month since we last saw a low price on the accessory, but this week Amazon has the stylus for $99.00, down from $129.00.

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

This is just about $5 higher when compared to the all-time low price on the Apple Pencil Pro, but given that deals have been pretty rare recently, it's a great opportunity for anyone who's been waiting for a discount. This sale does not require any coupon codes to be clipped.

Apple Pencil Pro debuted last May with new features like squeeze gestures, haptic feedback, Find My support, and more. It's compatible with the M2 iPad Air, iPad mini 7, and M4 iPad Pro. If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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Apple recently announced that it will be opening an all-new retail store at the Miami Worldcenter complex on Friday, January 24.

We have since learned that Apple's retail store plans in Florida go slightly beyond that. In early December, the company closed its store at The Galleria shopping mall in Fort Lauderdale, and opened a new store across the hall from it. We have confirmed that the new store is a temporary location, meaning that the original store is likely undergoing renovations and will eventually reopen with a modernized design.

"We've moved, but let's stay close," says the page for Apple The Galleria. "Visit us in our new location just across the hall."

We do not know when the original store will reopen.

Apple Store news isn't always especially interesting, but at least Apple released a special iPhone, iPad, and Mac wallpaper for the upcoming Miami Worldcenter location. And for an upcoming store in China, there is even a special Apple Watch face.

Apple said the first vehicles with next-generation CarPlay would arrive in 2024. It didn't happen.

Now what?

We are two weeks into 2025, and Apple has yet to update or remove the 2024 timeframe for next-generation CarPlay advertised on its website. Apple also remains completely silent about whether or not it still plans to launch the system.

There are still a few signs of hope.

First, 9to5Mac recently reported that additional references to next-generation CarPlay were added in iOS 18.3 beta 2's code. Second, MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris today uncovered some additional next-generation CarPlay images that were filed in a EU database last month. Apple previously showed that next-generation CarPlay will feature customizable widgets, and the images provide a closer look at the widget selection screens.

Due to Apple's reluctance to comment on future plans, we do not know if next-generation CarPlay is still happening. Hopefully, Apple will finally provide an update about next-generation CarPlay soon to set the record straight.

Apple first previewed next-generation CarPlay at WWDC 2022, more than two and a half years ago. For now, the wait continues.

Disney today announced that it is rolling out support for the Live Activities feature on iPhones for mobile food and beverage orders at its two big U.S. parks.

The feature started rolling out today at select mobile order locations across Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort, the company said. Where available, the feature allows you to track the status of your mobile order on the iPhone's Lock Screen or in the Dynamic Island, without needing to open the My Disney Experience or Disneyland apps.

You can tap the "I'm Here, Prepare My Order" button to have your order freshly prepared, and view your order number, order status, and pickup location.

Live Activities are available on the Lock Screen on all iPhone models that are updated to iOS 16.1 or later, while the Dynamic Island is limited to the iPhone 14 Pro models, all iPhone 15 models, and all iPhone 16 models. You may also need to ensure that your My Disney Experience or Disneyland app is updated to the latest version.

Apple has backed a technology that could contribute to future Apple Intelligence advancements.

The consortium behind the "Ultra Accelerator Link" or "UALink" technology today announced that Apple, Alibaba, and Synopsys have joined its Board of Directors. The three companies will contribute to further development of the technology.

UALink is described as a "high-speed, scale-up interconnect for next-generation AI cluster performance." The consortium is aiming to release UALink 1.0 in the first quarter of 2025, and it will enable data speeds of "up to 200Gbps per lane."

The technology could pave the way for faster and more efficient Apple Intelligence servers.

"UALink shows great promise in addressing connectivity challenges and creating new opportunities for expanding AI capabilities and demands," said Becky Loop, Director of Platform Architecture at Apple. Loop added that "Apple has a long history of pioneering and collaborating on innovations that drive our industry forward."

It is not clear if or when Apple will adopt the technology, or if it is merely interested in helping out the overall AI industry.

Apple Intelligence servers are currently powered by the M2 Ultra chip, and they are expected to start using M4 series chips this year. In an eventual move away from Mac chips for server use, The Information recently reported that Apple has been developing a new AI server chip that will offer even faster performance for AI workloads.

Today we're tracking a big selection of discounts on Anker's and Jackery's best portable power stations on Amazon, with as much as $1,500 in savings on these devices. These accessories are high-capacity portable batteries that can provide backup power to a wide variety of devices, from laptops to RVs.

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

In most cases, you'll need to clip an on-page coupon before you see the final deal price for deals from both brands. Once you do, the coupon code will be applied to the accessory in your cart, and at the checkout screen you will see the final sale price.

Jackery

• Explorer 100 Plus Mini - $199.99 with on-page coupon, down from $229.99
• Solar Generator 240 + Mini Solar Panel - $269.00 with on-page coupon, down from $349.00
• Solar Generator 300 Plus + Solar Panel - $299.99 with on-page coupon, down from $399.99
• Explorer 500 - $529.00 with on-page coupon, down from $799.00
• Solar Generator 3000 PRO - $2,199.00 with on-page coupon, down from $3,999.00
• Explorer 3000 Pro + 200W Solar Panels - $2,499.00 with on-page coupon, down from $3,999.00
• Explorer 2000 Plus Kit with Expandable Battery and Solar Panels - $3,599.00 with on-page coupon, down from $4,999.00

Anker

• SOLIX C800 Power Station with Camping Lights - $449.00 with on-page coupon, down from $649.00
• SOLIX C1000 Power Station - $499.00 with on-page coupon, down from $998.00
• SOLIX F2000 Power Station - $1,099.00, down from $1,999.00
• SOLIX F2000 Power Station with 400W Solar Panel - $1,799.00 with on-page coupon, down from $2,899.00
• SOLIX F2000 Power Station with 200W Solar Panel - $1,599.00 with on-page coupon, down from $2,549.00
• SOLIX F3800 Power Station - $2,699.00, down from $3,999.00
• SOLIX F3800 Power Station with 400W Solar Panel - $3,499.00 with on-page coupon, down from $4,899.00

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

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Apple is nearing the start of mass production for its first U.S.-made A-series chips at TSMC's Arizona plant, Nikkei Asia reports.

The report suggests that test production of the chips at the new TSMC plant near Phoenix has already been completed, and Apple is now in the final stages of verifying their quality and performance. The first batch of commercially viable chips could be ready for mass production as early as this quarter, pending the completion of quality assurance processes.

The factory is expected to produce A-series chips used in Apple devices, primarily for older iPhone models. A recent report suggested the facility would make the A16 Bionic chip for the iPhone 15 and ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus, and the S9 chip for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. The commencement of mass production at the Arizona plant will mark the first time Apple silicon chips are manufactured in the United States.

Apple today stopped signing iOS 18.2, which means that iPhone users who have upgraded to iOS 18.2.1 can no longer downgrade to iOS 18.2. Apple released iOS 18.2.1 earlier in January.

When new versions of iOS are released, Apple typically stops signing the prior version after a week or two. An update that is not signed is not able to be installed on an ‌iPhone‌ because there is a server-side software verification check.

By preventing downgrading to older versions of iOS, Apple ensures that users keep their devices up to date with the newest security improvements.

Apple's iOS 18.2.1 update included unspecified bug fixes, while the now-unsigned iOS 18.2 update that came out in December added Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Siri ChatGPT integration, and Genmoji.

Data broker Gravy Analytics has been hacked, and location information from millions of iPhone and Android users is at risk, reports TechCrunch. Gravy Analytics' parent company Unacast disclosed the data breach earlier this month [PDF], and said that its AWS cloud storage environment had been accessed by an unauthorized person using a "misappropriated access key."

"Some files" were obtained, and preliminary findings suggest those files "could contain personal data" collected from users of third-party services that use Gravy Analytics. According to 404Media, hackers are claiming to have customer lists and location data from smartphones that shows peoples' precise movements, with millions of users affected. Some of that data, which does indeed include the historical location of smartphones, has been published on private forums.

Gravy Analytics says that it tracks more than a billion devices around the world daily, and security researchers that saw a sample of the data collected by Gravy Analytics confirmed that the information can be used to track a person's recent locations, with no anonymization.

In December, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) prohibited Gravy Analytics and its subsidiary Venntel from selling, disclosing, or using sensitive location data in any product or service. The FTC warned that the two companies exposed consumers to privacy harms that could include disclosure of health information, political activity, and religious practices, and put people at risk of stigma, discrimination, violence and other harms.

The order required Gravy Analytics to delete all historic location data and any data products developed using data collected from consumers, but it was apparently too late because the company's systems had likely already been breached at the time.

Gravy Analytics collects location data through a real-time ad bidding process that allows companies competing to buy an ad to see customer IP address and more precise location data if enabled. Gravy Analytics' database had location data from ‌iPhone‌ apps that include FlightRadar, Grindr, and Tinder, and while the apps did not have a direct relationship with the data broker, user location information was collected through their ads.

Turning off app tracking in the Privacy and Security section of the ‌iPhone‌'s Settings app keeps ads from being able to obtain a unique device identifier to link location data to a specific device, and preventing apps from using precise location data is also a way to preserve more privacy.

Baptiste Robert, CEO of security firm Predicta Lab, told TechCrunch that ‌iPhone‌ users that had app tracking disabled did not have their data shared.

iPhone users from Illinois will soon be able to add their driver's licenses and IDs to the Apple Wallet app on ‌iPhone‌ and Apple Watch, the Illinois Secretary of State announced today [PDF].

An Illinois state law that went into effect on January 1 legalizes mobile IDs and allows places of business to accept digital driver's licenses in lieu of physical licenses.

As of right now, Illinois does not have a mobile license program, and the state is in the beginning process of developing digital driver's licenses. The Secretary of State plans to establish standards of security and conduct "rigorous testing" to make sure data from Illinois residents is kept private. Illinois is aiming to bring driver's licenses and IDs to Apple Wallet by the end of 2025, but that may be ambitious with nothing in place just yet.

Like in other states that have adopted Wallet integration for digital IDs, mobile IDs will be a companion to physical IDs instead of a replacement. Banks, police, and more can still ask for a physical ID.

Select airports in the United States accept digital licenses in the Wallet app instead of requiring a physical version.

Apple first announced Wallet support for digital IDs in 2022, and states have been slowly adopting the feature since then. So far, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Hawaii, California, Ohio, Iowa, New Mexico, and Puerto Rico have implemented support.

In addition to Illinois, Connecticut, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Utah, Montana, and West Virginia are working to implement the feature.