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

Apple officially releases iOS 13 in just over an hour, and a host of new iPhone features are coming with it, including a system-wide Dark Mode, a Find My app, a revamped Photos app, updated privacy features, and street-level Maps, not to mention hundreds of smaller new changes and tweaks. This article covers some of the things you can do to prepare your ‌iPhone‌ for Apple's latest mobile...

Netgear has opened pre-orders for the latest version of its Orbi Mesh Wi-Fi System, which features 6th-generation Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax technology that supports gigabit wireless speeds. For those unfamiliar with Orbi, it is a multi-node mesh Wi-Fi system, some models of which Apple sells in its retail stores. The idea behind a mesh system is to provide multiple access points throughout the home, ...

Shazam, the song discovery app owned by Apple, was today updated to add Dark Mode support ahead of tomorrow's iOS 13 launch. Following the update, Shazam will be displayed in ‌Dark Mode‌ whenever ‌Dark Mode‌ on an iPhone is enabled. Shazam in Light Mode on left, ‌Dark Mode‌ on right Today's Shazam update also allows users to long press on any track in the app to add it to a favorite...

Apple today seeded eleventh beta of an upcoming tvOS 13 update to developers and public beta testers, one week after seeding the tenth beta and more than two months after unveiling the tvOS 13 software at the Worldwide Developers Conference. Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 13 developer beta can be downloaded onto the ‌Apple TV‌ via a profile that's...

Facebook today announced a new set of Portal video chat devices, including one that is aimed to compete in the streaming TV market. This device is called the Portal TV, and it connects to a TV set with a standard HDMI cable and can stream content as well as enable video calls through Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. According to Facebook, video calling is the primary feature of Portal TV,...

Apple this week published environmental reports for the new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, revealing that the Taptic Engine in all three devices is made of 100 percent recycled rare earth elements. The Taptic Engine, which powers haptic feedback, represents around 25 percent of the total rare earth elements used in each iPhone. "This is one of those happy coincidences...

Amazon this week is discounting numerous Apple notebooks and tablets, offering new all-time-low prices in each instance. You can save as much as $400 in these sales, which relate to the 2019 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, and the 2018 iPad Pro and iPad. 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...

NBCUniversal today revealed that the name of its upcoming streaming television service is "Peacock," a reference to the company's logo. The service is still set to launch in April 2020, and NBC also provided more information on the content users will see at launch and beyond (via Vulture). We knew that Peacock would be getting The Office to stream exclusively, but NBC today revealed that its ...

Amazon today introduced a new tier of Amazon Music, called Amazon Music HD, which offers lossless versions of audio files for streaming or downloading. This tier will cost $14.99/month, or $12.99/month for Amazon Prime members (via The Verge). Amazon is offering a catalog of over 50 million songs in "High Definition," which are songs with CD-quality bit depth of 16 bits and a 44.1kHz sample...

Signify today announced a new device for its Philip Hue line of lights, debuting the Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, designed to allow Hue users to sync their lights to their home entertainment systems. The Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box is designed to connect between a television set and HDMI devices like the Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, video game consoles, and Blu-Ray players with the purpose of...

Apple is set to invest $1 billion in India as it gets ready to export its "Made in India" iPhones, according to a new report out today. Times of India says Foxconn is the main investment partner in Apple's latest push in the country, with the Taiwanese assembler's factory in Chennai to be used to make Apple products for shipping to global markets. A previous report claimed as much as 70 to...

The non-profit Wi-Fi Alliance today announced the release of the Wi-Fi 6 certification program, noting that devices with the Wi-Fi 6 Certified logo will meet the "highest standards for security and interoperability." Wi-Fi 6, aka 802.11ax, delivers faster speeds, greater network capacity, improved power efficiency, lower latency, and connectivity improvements in areas with several Wi-Fi...

MacRumors has partnered with Anker again this week to offer our readers a chance to save on nine accessories, including USB-C chargers, wireless chargers, Lightning cables, and portable battery packs. 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. Savings reach as much as...

New to Apple Watch Series 5 models is a built-in compass that allows users to see which way they are facing, complete with a new Compass app that displays heading, incline, latitude, longitude, and current elevation. In fine print on its website, however, Apple has indicated that Apple Watch bands with magnets "may cause interference" with the compass. This includes the Milanese Loop, Modern ...

Mophie this week launched a new wireless charging stand for any Qi-enabled smartphone, including the latest iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max devices. The accessory is available on Mophie's website for $69.95. Mophie's new stand can convert from a vertical to a horizontal orientation, allowing you to charge your ‌iPhone‌ in portrait mode, landscape mode, or flat on its back. You can also use ...

Amazon is offering customers a chance to save when pre-ordering the Apple Watch Series 5, which is set to be released this Friday, September 20. The retailer's sale is focused on select models of the cellular Apple Watch Series 5, and offers up to $50 off these devices. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...

Apple premiered its first TV show at the Tribeca TV Festival on Saturday. Dickinson is a period drama that centers on the life of 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson, played by pop star Hailee Steinfeld. This is the first time the public has seen one of the shows set to appear on Apple TV+ when the streaming service launches on November 1. Deadline summed up the quirky take on...

Apple's biggest product unveiling of the year is now in our rear-view mirror, with the company taking the wraps off of new iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad models while also prepping for the launch of its new Apple Arcade and Apple TV+ services. Pre-orders for all of the new devices are now underway, and we're looking forward to next Thursday's release of iOS 13 and watchOS 6, followed the next...