MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

Sales celebrating the end of 2017 are in full swing, and Target this week has priced the 32GB 9.7-inch iPad from early 2017 at $249.99, down from $329.99. Currently, that's $30 cheaper than another sale on the same iPad that Best Buy is running, so if you've been looking to purchase one of the lower-end models of Apple's iPad lineup this is a great opportunity. As of writing, the Space Gray and...

Apple is offering an Apple Pay promotion this week that discounts Fandango movie tickets by $5 when you make a purchase using either the Fandango app or the Fandango.com website. The discount will be available on movie ticket purchases made through January 2, according to the email that went out to Apple customers this morning. When you make a purchase using Apple Pay, you will need to use the ...

Apple could debut its first retail location within Saudi Arabia as soon as 2019, thanks to the government's current push towards a "high-tech look" for the country. Reuters reports today that officials in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh -- including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- are currently in licensing discussions with both Apple and Amazon in an effort to entice major technology...

One year after launching a "Ring in the New Year" challenge for Apple Watch owners, Apple today is rolling out the challenge again for 2018. The challenge's rules appear slightly similar to last year, requiring you to close all three Activity rings for seven days in a row in January. During the previous challenge, you had to accomplish the same goal coupled with the specific requirement of the...

WhatsApp announced on Thursday that its mobile app will stop working on some older smartphones from next year, as it concentrates on developing new features for the popular messaging platform. The decision means that from January 1, 2018, WhatsApp will pull support for the app on iPhone 3GS and older models, as well as iPhones running iOS 6 and earlier. The list of unsupported phones also...

Snap is reportedly working on a new Snapchat feature that will let users share stories outside of the mobile app, in an effort to boost Snapchat's presence in the social media space (via The Verge). Called "Stories Everywhere", the feature should see Snapchat's premium video and editorial content appear on news sites and elsewhere online. The move aims to bring greater visibility to the brand, ...

Instagram has been testing a "Recommended for You" feature that is now rolling out widely to all users, reports TechCrunch. Recommended posts show up in your standard image feed and are suggested based on posts liked by accounts you follow. When shown in a feed, these posts are denoted by a label at the top that clearly marks them as recommended, similar to how sponsored posts are handled....

After presents were unwrapped across the world on Christmas morning, Amazon's Alexa app [Direct Link] earned the #1 spot on the iOS App Store's Top Free chart, suggesting Echo and other Alexa devices were very popular this holiday season (via TechCrunch). This marks the first time the Alexa app gained a #1 spot on Apple's App Store, and it remained there for over a day. Currently, Alexa sits...

Nearly three years after Energous debuted its wire-free "power-at-a-distance" charging system called WattUp, the Federal Communications Commission has now approved the technology. Specifically, the FCC certification is for the company's first-generation WattUp Mid Field transmitter, which powers up devices at a distance of up to three feet away (via Engadget). The news marks the first FCC...

Increasing numbers of iPhone X owners with children are finding that they are unable to approve family purchases using Face ID. The scale of the frustration was recently highlighted by ArsTechnica, which linked to a page on Apple's support forum containing hundreds of complaints. Basically, iPhone X users are unable to use facial authentication with the "Ask to Buy" feature, which lets...

If you got a new iPhone or iPad for Christmas, you may have an old one that you're ready to sell or trade in to get a bit of extra cash. You'll want to make sure to adequately erase everything on it to get it ready for its next owner. There are only a few steps to follow so it take you just a few minutes to clean up an old iOS device. Here's what to do: Unpair Your Apple Watch If you're...

AirPods were a hot ticket item this holiday season, selling out from Apple and other retailers. We're guessing quite a few MacRumors readers got new AirPods during the holidays, so we thought we'd share some super handy tips and tricks that'll help you get the most out of your new earphones. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. AirPods Requirements To use all of the ...

Apple will reduce its shipment forecast for the iPhone X in the first quarter of 2018 from 50 million units down to 30 million units, according to a report this week by Economic Daily News (via Reuters). A handful of similar downgraded shipment predictions were shared by Apple analysts recently, most believing that the price of the iPhone X will lead to a decline in user demand early next year....

Rumors originally suggested the iPhone X would be tough to get through the holidays, but Apple significantly ramped up supply, so it's been relatively easy to get a new iPhone X ahead of Christmas. That means lots of new iPhone X devices are getting unboxed today, and if you're coming from an iPhone 8 or later, it's a big adjustment. Those of us who have been using an iPhone X since November...

AirPods, introduced last December, are Apple's completely wire-free earphones that have a W1 chip inside for simple pairing between devices. AirPods work like magic, and while they're easy to set up, the process may not be intuitive to all users who received AirPods this Christmas, so we thought we'd share some quick, easy to digest instructions. Remove the AirPods from the packaging. ...

If you got a new iPhone or iPad for Christmas and you already have at least one iOS device that's running iOS 11, setting up the new device is simple and quick with Automatic Setup. Introduced in iOS 11, Automatic Setup streamlines the setup process for new iPhones and iPads, transferring over Apple ID info, your WiFi network credentials, your preferred settings, and your iCloud Keychain. ...

As it has done in previous holiday seasons, Google today began tracking Santa's journey on the web, mobile web for iOS, as well as on Android mobile and Android TV. With the tool, you can easily track Santa's trip as he delivers presents around the world in real time, including an estimated arrival time for your specific area. This marks Google's thirteenth year of tracking Santa's journey. To ...

Although sales on App Store and iTunes gift cards usually end soon after they launch, Amazon and PayPal still have 15 percent discounts on $100 iTunes cards happening in the last few days before Christmas. The ongoing sales make for easy last-minute gift ideas since you can get a code emailed in under 24 hours. At Amazon, if you purchase $100 or more in iTunes credit you'll get $15 off once...