Joe Rossignol

Joe joined MacRumors in January 2015, and is now a Senior Reporter. Based out of Stoney Creek, Canada, he has been writing about Apple since 2008, with a focus on breaking news coverage.

Joe Rossignol's Articles

apple watch se 2022

Apple Card Monthly Installments Term for Apple Watch to Change From 24 Months to 12 Months

Wednesday June 14, 2023 4:03 pm PDT by
Starting August 15, the Apple Card Monthly Installments term for new Apple Watch purchases will change from 24 months to 12 months, according to fine print on Apple's website. This means each payment will be higher, but the Apple Watch will be paid off faster. In a recently updated support document, Apple also says a carrier connection with AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon will be required at the...
General macOS Mail Feature

macOS Sonoma Drops Support for Legacy Mail App Plug-ins

Wednesday June 14, 2023 1:03 pm PDT by
With macOS Monterey in 2021, Apple introduced a MailKit framework that developers can use to build modern and secure extensions for the Mail app on the Mac. Extensions can be created to block content, perform message actions, improve security, and more. In turn, Apple said legacy Mail app plug-ins would stop functioning in a future macOS release, and it appears that time has now come....
Apple Tap to Pay iPhone

Tap to Pay on iPhone Launching at More Stores in U.S. Later This Year

Wednesday June 14, 2023 11:17 am PDT by
Luxury company LVMH today announced that Tap to Pay on iPhone will be available at select Sephora, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Celine, and Dior stores in the U.S. later this year. The feature will allow customers to tap their iPhone or Apple Watch, credit card, or other contactless payment option on the store employee's iPhone, and the payment will be securely completed using the same NFC...
ipad pro 2022

Best Buy Expands Upgrade+ Program to iPad Pro and Apple Watch Ultra

Wednesday June 14, 2023 7:25 am PDT by
Best Buy today announced it has expanded its Upgrade+ program to include the iPad Pro and Apple Watch Ultra. Launched in October in partnership with Apple, the program provides monthly financing via Citizens Bank for select Apple products purchased from Best Buy in the U.S., similar to Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program. APRs range from 0% to 29.99% based on creditworthiness, according to the...
Apple Pro Display XDR Lifestyle

New Mac Studio and Mac Pro Support Up to Eight 4K Displays, Mac Pro Works With These PCI Cards

Tuesday June 13, 2023 8:46 pm PDT by
In a pair of support documents, Apple has listed various external display combinations that can be used with the new Mac Studio and Mac Pro. For example, both Macs support up to eight 4K displays at 60Hz when configured with the M2 Ultra chip. The new Mac Studio has an HDMI 2.1 port, and the new Mac Pro has two. These ports each support an 8K display at 60Hz, or a 4K display at 240Hz. Apple...
CarPlay SharePlay

Here's What's New for Apple CarPlay on iOS 17

Tuesday June 13, 2023 3:16 pm PDT by
CarPlay didn't receive much attention during the WWDC keynote, but the iPhone-based software platform did receive a few new features with iOS 17, including SharePlay support in the Music app and real-time electric vehicle charging station availability. SharePlay support in the Music app allows all passengers in a car to control what music is playing from their own devices, even if they do...
MacBook Air 15 Inch Feature Blue

15-Inch MacBook Air With 256GB Storage Has Slower SSD Speeds Than Higher-Capacity Models

Tuesday June 13, 2023 2:03 pm PDT by
As expected, the 15-inch MacBook Air with 256GB of storage is equipped with a single NAND chip, according to YouTube channel Max Tech. This will result in the 256GB model having slower SSD read and write speeds compared to 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB models that have multiple NAND chips for faster speeds, but real-world results will vary. 256GB models of the latest 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

First Benchmark Result Surfaces for Mac Pro With M2 Ultra Chip

Tuesday June 13, 2023 9:08 am PDT by
The first Geekbench 6 benchmark result for the new Mac Pro surfaced today, providing a closer look at the M2 Ultra chip's CPU performance in the desktop tower. The result lists a single-core score of 2,794 and a multi-core score of 21,453, compared to 1,378 and 10,390 for the highest-end Intel-based Mac Pro with a 28-core Xeon W processor, a configuration that started at $12,999. This means...
15 inch MacBook Air hands on

Apple Discusses 15-Inch MacBook Air's Design in New Interview

Tuesday June 13, 2023 6:42 am PDT by
Apple's VP of hardware engineering Kate Bergeron and marketing employee Laura Metz recently spoke with Tom's Guide's Mark Spoonauer about the design of the new 15-inch MacBook Air, including its larger display and two additional speakers. Bergeron said the 15-inch MacBook Air having the same battery life as the 13-inch model is the result of "thermal control loops and software optimizations."...
New Macs 2023

New MacBook Air and Mac Studio Now Available for Apple Store Pickup

Tuesday June 13, 2023 6:02 am PDT by
The new 15-inch MacBook Air and updated Mac Studio are now available for same-day or next-day pickup at select Apple Store locations in the U.S. The new Mac Pro is also available for in-store pickup, but there is a two-week wait at many locations. To order a product with Apple Store pickup, add the product to your bag on Apple.com, proceed to checkout, select the "I'll pick it up" option,...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

New Mac Pro Has 'Product of Thailand' Label, Final Assembly Still in USA

Monday June 12, 2023 2:28 pm PDT by
Apple's new Mac Pro has a "Product of Thailand" label, but final assembly of the desktop computer still takes place in the U.S., according to an FCC filing. We have been informed that the new Mac Pro is assembled at the same Austin, Texas facility where it has been assembled since 2013, and units distributed to U.S. customers continue to include components designed, developed, and...
Mac Studio Desk

2023 Mac Studio Reviews: Faster M2 Ultra Chip and 8K Display Support

Monday June 12, 2023 10:10 am PDT by
Apple's updated Mac Studio with M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips will launch in stores and begin arriving to customers this Tuesday. Ahead of time, the first reviews of the desktop computer have been shared by select media outlets and YouTube channels. The new Mac Studio features the same overall design as the 2022 model, but now features Apple's latest M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips, faster Wi-Fi 6E...
iOS 16

Apple Preparing iOS 16.5.1 Update for iPhone Following iOS 17 Beta

Monday June 12, 2023 7:40 am PDT by
Apple appears to be preparing an iOS 16.5.1 update for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs last week. It's unclear when the update will be released, but it will likely be available either this week or next week. Minor updates like iOS 16.5.1 are typically focused on bug fixes, stability improvements, and security patches, rather than new features....
15 inch MacBook Air hands on

15-Inch MacBook Air Reviews: The Sweet Spot for Performance, Size, and Value

Monday June 12, 2023 6:15 am PDT by
Apple's new 15-inch MacBook Air will launch in stores and begin arriving to customers this Tuesday. Ahead of time, the first reviews of the laptop have been shared by select media outlets and YouTube channels, offering a closer look at new features. The 15-inch MacBook Air is equipped with the same M2 chip as the 13-inch model, and the laptops share the same overall design. Apple says both...
General Apps Reddit Feature

Apple Subreddit Goes Dark in Protest of Reddit's API Pricing Changes

Sunday June 11, 2023 2:54 pm PDT by
Apple-related subreddit /r/apple has gone dark in protest of Reddit's upcoming API pricing changes affecting third-party Reddit apps. The subreddit is now private, meaning that users can no longer view or submit posts, and the moderators behind the community said it will remain that way for the next 48 hours, or potentially longer if necessary. /r/apple is one of many subreddits that will be ...
Mac Pro Feature Teal

Apple Executive Discusses New Mac Pro's Lack of Graphics Card Support

Sunday June 11, 2023 10:27 am PDT by
While the new Mac Pro features six available PCI Express expansion slots for audio, video capture, storage, networking, and more, the desktop tower is no longer compatible with graphics cards. Instead, graphics processing is handled entirely by the M2 chip, which includes up to a 76-core GPU that can access up to 192GB of unified memory. Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus briefly ...
iOS 17 Autocorrect Feature

iOS 17 Will Finally Improve Your iPhone's Autocorrect

Sunday June 11, 2023 9:09 am PDT by
One of the key new features of iOS 17 is improved iPhone autocorrect, based on an entirely new underlying system. The software update will be released later this year for the iPhone XS and newer, and is currently available in beta for developers. Apple says iOS 17 includes a state-of-the-art language model for word prediction that will greatly improve autocorrection on the iPhone. Any time...
MacBook Air 15 Inch Feature Purple

Gurman: Apple Already Working on 15-Inch MacBook Air With M3 Chip

Sunday June 11, 2023 7:20 am PDT by
Apple is already developing 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M3 chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said he expects the updated laptops to be released in 2024. The current 13-inch MacBook Air was announced in June 2022, while the 15-inch model was introduced last week. Both models are currently powered by the M2 chip,...
Mac Pro Feature Teal

Mac Pro With M2 Ultra Chip Up to Twice as Fast as Top-End Intel Model

Saturday June 10, 2023 6:55 pm PDT by
The first benchmark results for Apple's new M2 Ultra chip have surfaced on Geekbench 6, providing a closer look at CPU performance improvements for the latest Macs. So far, the benchmark results are only for the Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra chip, but the scores should be equal or better for the Mac Pro with the same chip. In early results, the M2 Ultra chip appears to have single-core and...
Mac Gaming

Apple Releases Tool to Help Developers Port Windows Games to Mac

Saturday June 10, 2023 6:28 pm PDT by
Apple at WWDC this week announced a new toolkit that makes it easier for game developers to port Windows games to the Mac. The toolkit provides an emulation environment that allows developers to run their existing, unmodified Windows game on the Mac and quickly evaluate how well the game could run on macOS before writing any code. A beta version of the toolkit is available for download on the...