Apple's Apple Silicon M1 Mac mini is here, and it keeps nearly everything you liked about the last Intel Mac mini, making it an excellent machine for those new to the Mac.
Running the new M1 Mac mini
The Mac mini has always been used as a convenient entry into the Mac. So, mimicking a similar, but not identical, path that it took with the transition to Intel, Apple is using the existing housing to launch the Apple Silicon M1 Mac mini.
Apple's HomePod mini smart speaker has now launched in Mexico and Taiwan, a few weeks after debuting in the U.S. and nine other regions.
Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider
The HomePod mini became available to preorder in a handful of countries on Nov. 6, and orders started to arrive on Nov. 16. During its announcement, Apple said that the HomePod mini would be coming to China, Mexico, and Taiwan "later this year."
Amazon is now starting to rolling out its Amazon Sidewalk local networking system to customers in the U.S. Here's what you should know about it.
Credit: Amazon
First announced in September 2019, Sidewalk is a new idea and long-term effort for extending the smart home to entire smart neighborhoods through the use of various local networking options.
Positioned to be hot sellers this holiday season, popular retailers are already slashing prices on Apple's iPad, iPad Air and iPad Pro this Black Friday week, with the iPad Air 4 dropping to $559.
New iPad Black Friday markdowns
Kicking off the holiday week, Apple resellers are discounting iPads, which are always a fan favorite during the holiday season — and even more so during the pandemic when families are looking for tools to aid in home entertainment, along with remote learning.
Apple's M1 Macs, which are the first to be powered by an Apple-designed Arm-based chip, are able to run iOS and iPadOS apps because of the common architecture between the different operating systems.
Some iOS developers have been updating their apps to make them compatible with macOS, but there are ways to download apps that haven't been optimized and even apps that developers have prevented from being available on macOS. Watch our YouTube video for instructions, or read through the steps below.
Installing iOS and iPadOS Apps From the Mac App Store
In the Mac App Store, you can download many of the apps you've previously purchased on your iPhone or your iPad.
Open the Mac App Store.
Click on your profile in the bottom left of the app.
Under account, choose "iPhone & iPad Apps."
Next to any app in the list, click on the download button.
The iOS app will be installed like any other Mac app and can be opened up from Launchpad or the Applications folder.
Note that you can also search for iPhone and iPad app names in the Mac App Store and click on the "iPhone & iPad Apps" tab under the results list to see apps that were originally designed for iOS devices.
Some of the apps that you see in the Mac App Store are labeled with a warning that says "Not Verified for macOS," which means it is not optimized for use on a Mac.
Other apps that do not have this wording have been checked over by the developer and should work well on an M1 Mac, even if the design isn't perfect because it's iOS first and not Mac first.
Installing Apps Not Available Through the Mac App Store
App developers can choose not to make their iPhone and iPad apps available on M1 Macs through the Mac App Store, and many popular apps like Netflix, Hulu, and others have made this choice. There is a workaround for installing these apps anyway, but it involves third-party software.
As it turns out, the M1 Macs are able to run any .ipa file, which is the format used for iOS apps. You need the .ipa file for an app to run it on an M1 Mac, and getting those files can be done through software like iMazing. iMazing is mostly used for iPhone backups, but it also has functionality for downloading and saving app .ipas.
Download and launch iMazing.
Plug your iPhone or iPad into your Mac.
Select your device and then choose the Manage Apps feature.
Select Library and then you'll see a list of all the apps that you own.
Right click on an app and choose the Download option to download it to your Library.
Right click on the same app again and then choose the Export .ipa option.
Choose a destination for the export like the Applications folder.
From the Applications folder, click on the app icon to install the app.
Apps installed this way are not optimized for M1 Macs and macOS in any way and are designed for touchscreen devices, so expect to run into some bugs and issues when using them. For the most part, iOS apps seem to work well on the Mac even when not optimized.
If you're planning to download and use apps like Hulu and Netflix, be warned that there's no option to put these apps in fullscreen mode to watch content, but there is an option to download content for offline usage just like on an iPhone or iPad.
In the future, we'll likely have far more iOS apps that are also designed with Macs in mind, but for now, these options provide ways to access and use your favorite iOS apps on Mac devices.
This article isn't sponsored by iMazing, but the software is one of the only ways to get .ipa files for apps. You can test it out by downloading the free trial, and if you want to buy it, StackSocial has it on sale right now. Note that we are a StackSocial affiliate, so if you buy iMazing this way, we'll get a small kickback that helps us keep the site running.
Update: There is an alternative method that uses Apple's free Apple Configurator 2 app, but does require you to use the Terminal to fix permissions. The instructions are detailed in this forum post
The new Apple Maps experience in macOS Big Sur borrows heavily from what was available in iOS version. Here's how to take advantage of the Look Around, Guides, and Indoor Maps features.
The move to macOS Big Sur has led to Apple porting some of its iOS apps over to macOS, in part to prove the effectiveness of Apple's Mac Catalyst. Naturally, this means the iOS and macOS versions of Maps shares the same code base, though with the latter having an interface best suited for keyboard and mouse usage.This also means there's more of a feature parity, with elements available in the iOS Maps app now usable in the macOS version for the first time. This includes the introduction of cycling route information and electric vehicle routing, which will help you plan out your journeys through more ecologically-sound means.
Apple is highlighting developers who are pleased with the recently-introduced App Store Small Business Program, one that stands to cut the standard 30% commission for App Store sales to 15% for many developers.
On November 18, Apple revealed the App Store Small Business Program, which will reduce the amount of money Apple takes from App Store transactions, including in-app purchases and subscriptions. Under the program, which will start from January 1, 2021, developers will only have to deal with a 15% transaction fee instead of 30, while their annual App Store income is below $1 million.First-year subscription fees will also be 15% instead of 30% for qualifying developers under the program. Once the $1 million milestone is passed, the developer is charged the full 30% rate for the rest of the year.
Mac virtualization app Parallels has launched its Black Friday deals, slashing 20% off of all versions of Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac.
The Parallels Black Friday sale takes 20% off its latest virtualization software
During the Black Friday sale, a new Parallels Desktop 16 home license now costs $63.99, down from the usual $79.99. Current owners can upgrade to the latest version for $39.99 (typically $49.99). The company also takes 20% off Pro and Business editions of the virtualization software.
Apple today reminded developers to submit privacy information for their apps using App Store Connect, with that info set to be used for a new privacy label feature that will be added to each App Store app.
Apple announced the new privacy feature during WWDC, and it will see apps providing specific details on the information that is collected from users when an app is downloaded. Apple has likened the privacy feature to a nutritional label for apps, and developers are required to self-report the information.
Developers need to provide details on what types of data the app collects from customers and whether that data is linked to them or used to track them.
Apple is planning to roll out the privacy feature later in 2020, and as of December 8, will require newly submitted apps and app updates to include this information.
Apple last week announced the launch of a new App Store Small Business Program that will see the company lowering its App Store fees for small business owners and independent developers. On January 1, 2021, all developers who earn less than $1 million from the App Store will pay a 15 percent commission to Apple instead of the standard 30 percent.
Apple today shared a press release that has a long list of quotes from app developers who are pleased with the changes. Apple has said that the new App Store Small Business Program will benefit the "vast majority" of developers, providing them with more revenue to grow their teams and improve their apps.
From Christian Selig, developer of the Apollo app for Reddit:
"This made my morning. This will legitimately help so much. It'll make decisions like hiring on extra help, or acquiring better gear, going to conferences, doing more advertising, etc., much easier to justify, and it really means a lot to me that Apple is doing such an awesome thing! It's going to help my business a ton."
"I was very excited to wake up to the news. This translates to a 21 percent increase in revenue for us, which is huge. It lowers the bar for new developers trying to start a business. As COVID has hit many of us hard this year, this is a much-needed break that will help many of us weather the storm."
The quotes from Apple heap praise on the App Store fee drop, but some developers who earn more than $1 million from the App Store have been less pleased.
Spotify said that Apple's fee change demonstrates that "App Store policies are arbitrary and capricious," while Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that Apple is "gerrymandering the community with a patchwork of special deals" with the program.
Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson, known for his outspokenness over the "Hey" email app controversy, said that "Machiavelli would be proud" and that Apple was attempting to "paint any developer making more than $1m as greedy."
All app developers who earned under $1 million in 2020 qualify to join the program and get the reduced 15 percent commission rate, as do developers who are new to the App Store. Apple's reduced commission applies to paid apps, in-app purchases, and subscriptions.
The fee changes don't benefit major companies like Epic Games and Spotify that have railed against Apple's App Store pricing, but it does provide relief for smaller app developers who have been struggling during the global health crisis.
A YouTuber has improvised a solution to have up to six monitors on a single M1 Mac mini, but most users should probably stick to what the unit supports natively.
The six displays are all connected to an M1 Mac mini [Raslan Tulupov]
When Apple introduced the new M1-powered Mac mini, MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro, it quietly changed the video output limitations, enabling the Mac Mini to drive two monitors, and the MacBooks to handle one external screen alongside the built-in display. Shortly after launch, a YouTube video indicates it's possible to go far beyond Apple's recommendations.
Investment bank Cowen is tracking even stronger demand for the iPhone 12 lineup and predicts Apple could have a blockbuster holiday quarter with nearly 80 million iPhones produced.
Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider
In a note to investors seen by AppleInsider, analyst Krish Sankar has raised his December quarter iPhone build expectations to 79 million, up from 76 million in the previous month, based on strong initial demand for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models.
The Apple Car could have an intelligent window tinting system that uses liquid crystal technology to block sunlight and other people from looking inside the vehicle, one that could automatically engage to provide a level of privacy.
Drivers don't necessarily want to be seen by other road users [Pixabay]
Window tinting provides a number of benefits to drivers. For some, it can make a bright local environment more tolerable on the eyes, cutting down the amount of light entering the vehicle.
It is possible to run up to six external displays from the M1 Mac mini, and five external displays from the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, with the aid of DisplayPort adapters, according to YouTuber Ruslan Tulupov. This far exceeds Apple's specified limits on external displays with the M1 Macs.
Apple's host of new M1 Macs are not capable of supporting as many external displays as their Intel-based predecessors by default. The previous Intel-based MacBook Air could run one external 6K or 5K display or up to two external 4K displays, and the previous Intel-based MacBook Pro could run one external 5K display or up to two external 4K displays. The 2018 Intel-based Mac mini could run up to three 4K displays, or one 5K and one 4K display.
Apple says that the M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro can run one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz. The M1 Mac mini can run one display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz connected via Thunderbolt and one display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz connected via HDMI 2.0. This means that each new M1 Mac can run one less display than the model it replaced.
However, Tulupov has discovered that it is possible to run as many as six external displays from the M1 Mac mini, and five external displays from the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, using a workaround. This is achieved using DisplayPort adapters and DisplayLink software to drive the additional displays. When the M1 Mac's ports have been filled, DisplayPort adapters have to be connected via an external dock to provide more ports.
Tulupov used a mix of external displays, ranging from 4K to 1080p, as the Mac's Thunderbolt ports do not have the bandwidth to simultaneously run six 4K displays at full resolution. Users would therefore still have to be selective about their external display setup when it comes to resolutions.
In testing, running full-resolution videos across the various displays at the same time as rendering in Final Cut Pro, Tulupov found performance to be "awesome," with very few frames being dropped. When closing and opening the MacBook Air, the displays behaved as expected, and the setup seems to be more than adequate for daily use.
Tulupov noted that he did not test this setup with Sidecar for the iPad, but it may still be possible to run Sidecar in addition to the external displays for even more screen space.
In a separate video, Tulupov explained how to go about connecting additional external displays to an M1 Mac using a DisplayPort adapter. The process simply involves installing DisplayLink drivers, which are already Big Sur-compatible, and connecting the adapter via USB-C.
The workaround solution may offer a lifeline to users who were disappointed at the M1 Mac's limited external display capabilities.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is more than just the largest model in the 2020 iPhone collection, with the super-sized smartphone boasting better battery life and even camera specifications that improve on what the iPhone 12 offers.
Apple's augmented reality headset or a future iPhone could use light from a display to track the movement of nearly any surface, while finger devices may be able to provide detail to the system about what kind of objects a user may be touching.
Microsoft's HoloLens, which can track fingers for input to control AR content.
Apple has been rumored to be working on a form of VR or AR headset for quite some time, and various reports and patent filings have indicated it could take a number of directions. In a pair of patents granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday, two more ways the system could function have been revealed.
You could win SwitchBot gear in this latest episode of HomeKit Insider, where we also go hands on with the HomePod mini, and the new Yale cabinet lock.
Internet networking involves a lot of alchemy, and I confess to occasionally dropping an eye of newt (or an IP of newt) into a boiling pot to fix problems on my local network. There’s a particular message that macOS displays in limited cases that perplexes people, because it’s the sort of low-level bubbling up that Apple generally takes care of. In this case, your Mac is alerting you to a problem that may be of your making or might involve your Wi-Fi gateway or broadband modem. That message: “Another device is using your IP address.”
This conflict prevents your computer from accessing some of the local network and from reaching the internet. Here’s why.
Introducing AppleInsider Daily, a new podcast that will catch you up on the biggest Apple news and rumors in a quick, bite-sized format.
Each episode of AppleInsider Daily gives you a quick briefing on the three most important stories of the previous day, making it easy to stay up to date on the Apple news you may have missed.Listen in for a quick recap of the day's most impactful news. From rumors about future Apple products to the latest financial notes and hardware reviews, AppleInsider Daily has you covered. And since most episodes clock in at under five minutes, you'll have time to get caught up whenever and wherever you want to listen.
The availability of HomePod mini is now at its lowest since Apple's new smart speaker went on sale last month, with shipping times across Europe having already slipped into next year in many cases.
In the United Kingdom, France, and Spain, for example, the delivery time for a HomePod mini ordered today in either space gray or white is as long as five to six weeks, and in Germany has even slipped to between six and seven weeks, taking shipping into mid-January.
In fact, with the exception of the U.S. and India, global stocks of HomePod mini are so low right now that anyone seeking to have one shipped for a holiday gift and who has yet to get their order in is very likely going to be disappointed.
Wait times in the Asia Pacific region are less consistently pronounced but still relatively long, with HomePod mini shipping times in the first wave of launching countries, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia, ranging between four and six weeks. As mentioned, one exception in Asia is India, where customers can have either color of HomePod mini shipped to their door in seven to 10 business days.
In Canada, the space gray model takes four to five weeks to arrive when an order is placed today, but the wait time for the white HomePod mini is five to six weeks. Apple's home base in the United States remains the best place to still pick up one of the speakers for the holiday season, with delivery times in the region of two to four weeks, depending on color choice.
Meanwhile, in-store pickup options vary from country to country, but remain the best chance to get a HomePod mini or two before the holiday break. In many countries, HomePod mini orders are limited to two per customer.
Costing $349 at launch, the original 2018 HomePod was considered by many to be too expensive compared to rival products and it failed to capture a significant portion of the smart speaker market. To improve sales, Apple in 2019 cut the price of the HomePod to $299, and still sells the device alongside its smaller $99 siblings, which appear already to be on a more positive track, based on their initial reception.
The first wave of HomePod mini launches occurred in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the United States. Availability in Mexico and Taiwan commenced on Monday, with availability in China expected soon.
Macs are undergoing a big change. Apple is switching its internal architecture from one that uses Intel CPUs, third-party graphics processors, and other parts, to the company’s own “system on a chip.” The first Apple silicon SoC for Macs is called the M1.
It’s a big step for Apple and the Mac. But what does it mean for you? In this article, we cover what Apple’s system on a chip means to the user, how it affects what software you can use, and answer other frequently asked questions. We will update this whenever there are new developments.
A grand jury has issued two indictments charging Apple's head of global security and several other individuals with bribery to obtain concealed weapon permits.
Credit: WikiCommons
According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, Apple Chief Security Officer Thomas Moyer and insurance broker Harpreet Chadha were accused of offering bribes to Santa Clara Undersheriff Rick Sung and Captain James Jensen to receive concealed firearm (CCW) permits.
Apple Maps users in Austria say that transit directions are starting to appear, though as yet they do not cover all public transport.
Transit directions have begun to roll out for Austria in Apple Maps
Continuing its expansion of Apple Maps features, which recently saw improvements for Portugal and also the UK, Apple has seemingly begun rolling out public transit directions in Austria.
Last week Apple announced a huge change to the App Store rules, saying those making less than $1 million a year will be charged 15 percent instead of 30 percent. While it doesn’t come close to fixing all the problems with the App Store, you can at least say that it’s a pretty big improvement, one that will benefit those who need it the most: small developers.
So, who could possibly be against this?
Funny you should ask!
I mean, you didn’t. The Macalope put those words in your mouth. You might have said that aloud but, again, the Macalope needs you to read this and accept it into your heart as true: he can’t hear you. He never has been able to hear you. There still seems to be a lot of confusion about that and he’s really not sure why.
European smart home company Somfy will make its Tahoma gateway hub HomeKit compatible from the beginning of next month, according to the iFun.de tech website.
The gateway is used to control the France-based company's shutters and blinds, including external blinds, vertical awnings, patio awnings and pergolas, so if the company sticks to its scheduled rollout, owners of these Somfy products will be able to control them via Apple's Home app from December 1.
According to the German tech website, Somfy is delivering the promised HomeKit support around a year late. Compatibility was reportedly planned for a 2019 rollout, but the update had to be postponed several times. Somfy security cameras, on the other hand, have been HomeKit compatible for some time.
As noted by HomeKitNews, the Tahoma gateway is also capable of controlling other areas of the home, including smart lights, gates and garage doors, which is why it's already compatible with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and IFTTT, in addition to integrations with Sonos, Philips Hue, and Velux.
Apple appears to have updated its Maps coverage to add transit directions in Austria, with a focus on public transportation routes in and around the capital, Vienna.
Apple Maps users in the country can now select transit routes when getting directions between two locations, with U-Bahn and S-Bahn train routes included in the coverage.
iPhone-ticker.de notes that map options for other Austrian cities have also been expanded, although some regions still lack full coverage. Maps has integrated regional trains into its transit directions for Innsbruck, for example, but other modes of public transport in the area are still missing.
Transit directions were first added to Apple Maps in 2015 with the launch of iOS 9. Maps initially only offered transit information in a handful of cities, but over the course of the last five years, Apple has worked to expand the feature to additional areas.
Transit information is now live in dozens of cities and countries around the world, with a full list available on Apple's iOS and iPadOS Feature Availability website, although it has not yet been updated to include Austria.
Apple's M1 Macs are out in the wild now, but ahead of the holidays, you might still be trying to figure out which one to pick up, either for yourself or as a gift for someone else. We've got all three of the new Macs available, so we thought we'd give MacRumors readers a hands-on overview of each machine in our latest YouTube video.
Price wise, the Mac mini is the cheapest of the bunch at $699, while the MacBook Air starts at $999 and the MacBook Pro starts at $1,299. With the Mac mini you do, of course, need to provide all of your own peripherals, including display, mouse, and keyboard at minimum.
If you already have those on hand, the Mac mini is potentially the way to go. For the notebooks, the MacBook Air is lighter, but there's not a huge amount of difference in size between the Air and the Pro.
The entry-level MacBook Air has a 7-core GPU while the entry-level MacBook Pro has an 8-core GPU, which is why the price is a bit higher. If you get the 512GB SSD with the MacBook Air, you get upgraded to that 8-core GPU automatically.
There are some thermal differences between the M1 Macs, but most people may not be able to distinguish between them when it comes to performance. The Mac mini has the most space for heat dissipation, while the MacBook Pro has a fan for better thermal management.
The MacBook Air, meanwhile, has no fan. You may see some slightly better sustained performance when doing system intensive tasks on the Macs with better cooling, but there's not a whole ton of difference between them. In most benchmark tests, they're all just about the same, and they're all huge upgrades over their Intel counterparts. Watch our M1 MacBook Pro vs. 2020 MacBook Pro test below to see.
As for upgrades, there's not a lot available. You can bump up the SSD storage, which is a good idea if you plan to use onboard storage and want a machine that's going to have enough space for years to come, but you can also work with external SSDs if you opt for the 256GB minimum.
You can also upgrade the RAM on each M1 Mac from 8GB to 16GB. If you have the extra $200, it's a good idea to do so for futureproofing and because you're never going to go wrong having extra RAM. This year's Macs have unified memory architecture which basically means all of the chip components can draw from the same memory pool, bringing some speed and efficiency improvements.
Apple is excellent at optimizing RAM usage and there's no exception here. You may not even need 16GB because in our testing, the M1 Macs are super quick even with the built-in 8GB.
All of the M1 Macs offer incredible performance at their price points, and in our testing, they've all outshone their Intel counterparts. macOS Big Sur runs great on the M1 Macs, and apps built for Apple Silicon are fast and efficient. Even apps not built for Apple Silicon and running under the Rosetta 2 translation layer are close to as fast as they are on Intel machines.
If you rely on specific Windows apps and regularly use Boot Camp, the M1 Macs are not for you. There is no way to run Windows on an M1 Mac at this time. CrossOver does allow for some Windows apps to be used, but this solution may not be worth the effort for heavy Windows users.
Touch ID also seems to be quicker on the M1 Macs in comparison to Intel Macs, and even small tasks like waking from sleep or switching resolutions are instantaneous. All of the Macs are close to whisper quiet. The MacBook Air makes no sound at all, while the Mac mini and the MacBook Pro rarely activate their fans even under intensive tasks.
Apple has made some serious battery life promises with the M1 Macs, and the MacBook Pro can last for up to 20 hours. We've seen that impressive battery life in day to day usage. Intel Macs have never been able to hold up to editing a video with a decent amount of battery life to spare, but the M1 Macs have no problem.
The M1 Macs are amazing so far, but it's worth keeping in mind that these are first generation machines. Apple is upgrading the entire Mac lineup to Apple Silicon chips, a process expect to take two years. These are low-end Macs that have been refreshed, and there are some more exciting, higher-end Mac refreshes in the works which could be one reason to hold out on a purchase right now.
One other consideration is design. Apple did not update the design of the new Macs, and there are some design changes rumored to be in the works for the MacBook Pro at a minimum. A fresh design could also be worth the wait.
If you need an affordable Mac for everyday tasks, the M1 Macs are a solid choice. The Mac mini is the one to get if you want a desktop, and if you need a notebook, the MacBook Air is going to work for most people. The MacBook Pro has an extra GPU core in the base model, a brighter display, and better speakers, which is a consideration. We have a full guide on the MacBook Air vs. the MacBook Pro if you're trying to choose between them.
Do you have an M1 Mac or are you going to buy one? Are you holding out for next year's Apple Silicon offerings? Let us know in the comments.
As in previous years, Black Friday began early in 2020—no one’s waiting until the day after Thanksgiving to kick off sales. Amazon got the ball rolling in October this year, and other retailers like Walmart will offer staggered waves of deals throughout November.
We’ve started listing the best deals below—keep an eye peeled for further updates as the days tick by.
All of the M1 Mac models use the same M1 chip, so the upgrade options are limited to SSD storage space and RAM. We haven't seen many comparisons that demonstrate the difference between a machine with 8GB RAM and the upgraded 16GB RAM option, but Max Tech today shared a video highlighting the performance between an 8GB MacBook Pro and a 16GB MacBook Pro.
The video includes a series of benchmark tests, ranging from Geekbench and Cinebench to RAW exporting tests. Geekbench and Cinebench benchmarks didn't demonstrate a difference in performance between the 8GB and 16GB models, but other tests designed to maximize RAM usage did show some differences.
A Max Tech Xcode benchmark that mimics compiling code saw the 16GB model score 122 compared to the 136 scored by the 8GB model, with the lower score being better.
The biggest difference was seen in an 8K RAW R3D to 4K export, which took the 8GB MacBook Pro 13 minutes and 57 seconds to complete, while the 16GB MacBook Pro was able to complete it in 5 minutes and 59 seconds, a time on par with the 2019 16-inch Core i9 MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM.
Small differences were also seen in a 4K export test and a Lightroom Classic RAW export test, but the results were quite close, coming down to 17 seconds in the Lightroom test. The 16GB model even beat out a $2,300 iMac.
Notably, during these benchmarking performance tests, Max Tech saw low performance temperatures that didn't often require the fans to kick in, which was a huge difference when comparing the M1 MacBook Pro models to Intel MacBook Pro models.
Max Tech's video is worth watching in full for those who are trying to decide between a machine with 8GB RAM and a machine with 16GB RAM. There appear to be some minor performance differences when it comes to benchmarks, especially with system intensive tasks, but in day to day usage, the 8GB model holds up well and most people may not need the 16GB upgrade.
Former Apple vice president of retail Angela Ahrendts has been appointed the new board of trustees chair for nonprofit Save the Children.
Credit: Apple
According to Save the Children, Ahrendts will be the first independent chair from outside of the organization to hold a seat on the board. The decision was made after a selection process by the board that kicked off in 2019.
Foxconn has landed a contract to produce key server components for Google at its beleaguered Wisconsin plant, according to a new report.
Credit: Engineering News-Record
The facility should begin mass production of the components in the first quarter of 2021, timed with the release of Intel's Ice Lake server chips. Currently, Foxconn is setting up assembly lines to place semiconductors onto circuit boards at the plant.
Comcast plans to implement monthly data caps for Xfinity home internet customers across nearly its entire service area in 2021.
Credit: Comcast
The data cap will be 1.2 terabytes a month, and will apply to a slew of states in the northeastern U.S. starting in 2021. A similar cap is already in effect for non-unlimited customers across most of the other areas that Comcast services.
Sonos Black Friday deals are going on right now, offering triple-digit discounts on some of the company's top speakers.
Sonos Black Friday deals
The premium speaker company has already started its Black Friday sale, including $100 off the Move speaker, Beam Soundbar, and Sub Gen 3. Sonos is of Apple's biggest HomePod rivals, with connected speakers known for hi-fi audio quality as evidenced in our hands-on Move and Beam reviews. This is a chance to save big on gifts that are sure to please the music lover in your life.
Anker today began discounting a wide variety of accessories as part of its Black Friday sales. This includes notable markdowns on portable batteries, wall chargers, Lightning cables, Bluetooth speakers, Eufy's smart home products, and more.
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.
All of the products listed below can be found on Amazon, and in most cases each discount has been automatically applied. In some cases, you'll need to check an on-page coupon in order to see the discount price, and we've marked such products in lists. All discounts shared below will last through November 29.
Apple in September tweaked its App Store rules surrounding in-app purchase requirements for realtime experiences, and as a result, apps that offer virtual events for more than a single person must use in-app purchases.
Apple was originally requiring apps to comply starting in December 2020, but the deadline has now been pushed out until June 30, 2021.
As the world fights COVID-19, we recognize that adapting experiences from in-person to digital continues to be a top priority. Although apps are required to offer any paid online group event experiences (one-to-few and one-to-many realtime experiences) through in-app purchase in accordance with App Store Review guideline 3.1.1, we temporarily deferred this requirement with an original deadline of December 2020. To allow additional time for developing in-app purchase solutions, this deadline has been extended to June 30, 2021.
Apple's App Store rules allow apps that offer realtime person-to-person experiences between two individuals to use purchase methods other than in-app purchase, but this does not extend to group classes. So, for example, tutoring, medical consultations, real estate tours, and one-on-one fitness training sessions can be purchased within apps without having to rely on in-app purchase, but that doesn't apply to group events.
All realtime person-to-person experiences that are one-to-a-few or one-to-many events that involve more than two people have to implement in-app purchases. Apple made this rule change because so many services have been forced to go digital due to the ongoing health crisis.
Apps like ClassPass and Airbnb normally offer real world purchase options that are not subject to in-app purchases, but have instead been offering virtual experiences in recent months.
Since virtual experiences are subject to in-app purchase rules, Apple has been wanting to take a cut of sales from those apps, which ClassPass and Airbnb have resisted. As a result, Apple tweaked the rules to allow for person-to-person purchases that don't have a fee, while subjecting group events to the fee.
Apple has said that waiving commission for ClassPass, Airbnb, and similar apps would be unfair to other developers. "Apple maintains a clear, consistent set of guidelines that apply equally to everyone," Apple has said of the dispute.
Apps like ClassPass and Airbnb will now have until the end of June 2021 to comply with Apple's new requirements. Apple also recently announced a policy that allows app developers that earn under $1 million per year to pay 15 percent commission to Apple instead of 30 percent.
Apple shuts down App Store Connect for a week around the holidays each year in an effort to give App Store staff time off from work. This year, App Store Connect will be unavailable from December 23 to December 27.
With App Store Connect unavailable, Apple will not accept new apps or app updates, so all pricing changes and new app submissions need to be locked in before those dates for developers who want to offer discounts or new app content over the December holidays.
Developers usually offer sales and promotions ahead of when the App Store closes for the holidays, and those sales remain available until the App Store re-opens in late December.
Though App Store submissions will be unavailable, other App Store Connect tools will remain accessible to developers throughout the holiday period.
Korean website The Elec today claimed that Apple plans to release at least one iPad Pro model with a Mini-LED display in the first half of 2021, as has been widely rumored for many months, but the report added an interesting new twist.
Following the release of the first iPad Pro model with Mini-LED backlighting in the first half of 2021, The Elec claims that Apple plans to release new iPad Pro models featuring OLED displays in the second half of the year. Samsung and LG are already in the process of developing the OLED displays for the iPad Pro, according to the report.
Many of the rumors to date have claimed that Mini-LED backlighting may be limited to a new high-end 12.9-inch iPad Pro launching around March, so it is possible that the rest of the iPad Pro lineup will continue to use traditional LCDs until they are upgraded with OLED displays later in the year, but the roadmap is unclear at this point.
Mini-LED and OLED displays share many of the same benefits over traditional LCDs, including higher brightness, improved contrast ratio, and increased power efficiency. Apple already uses OLED technology for most recent iPhones and the Apple Watch.
Apple last refreshed the iPad Pro in March 2020, but it was a relatively minor update, with new features including an A12Z Bionic chip that is essentially an A12X chip with an extra GPU core enabled, an Ultra Wide camera, a LiDAR Scanner for enhanced augmented reality, and better sounding microphones. It was the first update to the iPad Pro since the device received a major redesign in October 2018.
We've been tracking early Black Friday deals in our dedicated Black Friday Roundup, and in an effort to prepare our readers for the big shopping event we're highlighting sales store-by-store in the lead-up to November 27.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Target. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Similar to Walmart, Target has been holding quite a few pre-Black Friday sales throughout November. Thanks to the release of its Black Friday circular recently, now we have a clear picture of all the deals you'll see if you choose to shop Target on Black Friday.
Target's Black Friday Schedule
Like other stores, Target's event is more of a week of sales rather than just one day. The retailer kicked things off on Sunday, November 22, and deals will come in and out all the way through Saturday, November 28. This means that essentially all of the deals listed in this post are already live.
Sunday, November 22 - Online sales begin
Thursday, November 26 - Stores closed, online sales continue
Friday, November 27 - Specific opening hours vary by location
Covid-19 Safety Efforts: Last month, Target initiated a number of new safety measures in preparation for holiday shopping. You can expect the usual ordinances when shopping at Target this season: you'll need to wear a face mask in any Target store, and if you don't want to enter the store you can opt to use the "Drive Up" grocery drop-off service.
Additionally, guests can take advantage of contactless self-checkout thanks to the Wallet feature in the Target app, and the retailer is even rolling out "MyCheckout" devices to let team members help guests check out anywhere in the store and avoid lines.
If you're preparing a big Target shopping trip, you can visit Target.com/line to see if there's a line outside your local store. If there is, you can reserve a spot in the line without needing to physically be there. When it's your turn to enter the store, Target sends out a text to your phone and you can start shopping.
Target Black Friday - Deals live now
Target has a few deals that are overlapping with other retailers, including discounts on the Nintendo Switch, Amazon's line of Fire TV devices, and a few Beats headphones. In terms of Apple sales, Target's ad is a bit anemic, but we are seeing offers on iPhone 12 models and Beats headphones. This includes a low price on the Powerbeats Pro at $159.99.
Target is offering up to $250 in bill credits on the latest iPhones when you port in a line to AT&T and purchase the smartphone on an AT&T installment plan. This is only available for in-store pickup through November 28.
Additionally, you can get up to $700 off select Apple products when trading in and adding a new line or upgrading an existing line on an eligible smartphone plan. This offer is also only available in Target stores and not online.
New iPhones eligible for these offers include iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and iPhone 12 mini. Older iPhone models, like the iPhone 11 Pro Max, have other offers including a $300 Target gift card with qualified activation.
Like all of the other major retailers, Target is offering the Nintendo Switch bundle with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and three months of Nintendo Switch Online for $299.99. You can also shop for some deals on Switch games, including Luigi's Mansion 3, Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Super Mario Maker 2, and more for $39.99.
Other video game discounts include $29.99 games like The Last of Us Part 2, Just Dance 2021, Borderlands: Legendary Collection, Persona 5 Royal, and more. Other $39.99 games include Splatoon 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Watch Dogs: Legion, Crash Bandicoot 4, Yoshi's Crafted World, Mario Tennis Aces, and more.
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, and our Black Friday Roundup for all of the latest offers happening this week.
Although it has not yet been officially announced, the feature already appears to be in beta testing, and according to The Verge, also comes alongside in-app lane guidance for the first time. Waze, which is owned by Google, refused to comment to The Verge on the app's integration with the CarPlay dashboard.
Previously, CarPlay required users to completely change between different app screens to see audio controls and other information while being directed to a destination. With the CarPlay dashboard, users can see a map, guidance information, and other contextual information such as currently playing audio or the calendar simultaneously in a split-screen view. The feature arrived with iOS 13, but only worked with Apple Maps originally. With iOS 13.4, Apple introduced the option for third-party apps to add support for the dashboard mode in their own maps apps.
Developers appear to have been slow to integrate the feature, however, with Google Maps only gaining support for it as recently as in August.
Apple has announced its annual four-day shopping event that begins Black Friday and ends on Cyber Monday, and like always, the best stuff is excluded.
Apple is once again offering gift cards instead of actual discounts, but they’re a little better than in year’s past. Apple changed the way its gift cards operate, so you can use it on device and digital purchases. But you’re still better off searching for deals elsewhere.
For one, none of Apple’s newest products are part of the sale. So you won't find the iPhone 12, Apple Watch SE or Series 6, iPad Air, or M1 Macs, as well as the HomePod mini.
Sonos recently began its Black Friday sale, with new discounts on its speakers, sound bars, and more. These sales take up to $200 off Sonos' products, and also include a few combo sets if you're looking to set up a home audio entertainment area.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Sonos. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
The new Sonos sale will run all week and end on Monday, November 30. Some speakers do have delayed shipping estimates due to demand, so products like the Sonos Move in black won't ship out until November 27, but most other devices are available to ship today.
As cellular networks upshift from a roughly 30Mbps average data rate over 4G LTE in many metro areas—and even in smaller towns—to data rates that could be a few times higher as 5G networks starts appearing in earnest, thoughts of using your phone for home broadband instead of a wired connection increase as well, in places where wired speeds are low or expensive.
Carriers have discouraged this in the past, but many now offer plans with significant data allotments for a personal hotspot, like 15GB to 60GB per month. This is particularly the case on business plans, which many people now use at home.
Can you “wire” a personal hotspot into your home network? Yes—but read the carrier’s fine print. We do not encourage you to violate your terms of service. But if it fits within your contract’s parameters, you can use a Mac to pass through mobile broadband effectively.
Apple assembly partner Pegatron's board of directors is said to have approved a proposal to spend $150 million to build a manufacturing plant in India.
The new facility is expected to begin production in the second half of next year or in early 2022, with more investments planned in the country over the next two years, reported India's Economic Times, citing unnamed executives.
Pegatron, Apple's second-largest iPhone assembler after Foxconn, registered its India subsidiary in July, and said that the global health crisis had made it hard for staff to visit India, which had resulted in delays. The facility would be the company's first to be established in the country, and would likely be involved in future iPhone assembly.
Pegatron has been cleared to take part in India's billion-dollar Production-Linked Incentive Scheme, which provides incentives on locally-produced smartphones. The Taipei-based assembler joins rival iPhone manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron, which are already signed up to the scheme.
Pegatron recently drew the ire of Apple after it was discovered that the iPhone supplier had been committing labor violations at a student workers' program at its Shanghai and Kunshan campuses in eastern China.
Apple put Pegatron on probation as a result of the violations, and while the supplier's current iPhone business is not expected to be affected, it could lose some iPhone 12 orders to rival Luxshare next year.
The Frame TV brings fine decor and art to your wall. It's excellent in that role, though it doesn't deliver Samsung's very best motion video technology.
The M1 Macs have arrived. The benchmarks are in. And what we've seen is nothing less than mind-blowing performance from Apple's own silicon, compared to the Intel chips that came before. But this, as we know, is just the beginning. The M1 is only the first in a whole family of chips that will be powering Macs from now on.
As impressive as these new processors—and the improvements they bring in speed and battery life—are, some have felt underwhelmed by the new Macs, given that they look pretty much identical to the models they're replacing. This was by design, of course, to impart a feeling of continuity from Apple's existing models, assuring customers that fundamentally nothing has changed.
Apple has announced its annual four-day shopping event, offering customers up to a $150 Apple Store gift card with the purchase of select products between Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States.
The gift card values in the United States are as follows:
Like last year, Apple is excluding some of its latest products, including the iPhone 12 series, Apple Watch Series 4 and newer models, and the new iPad Air, as well as refurbished products, products purchased with an educational discount, and iPhones purchased via the iPhone Upgrade Program. Note that to buy AppleCare+ with one of the gift cards, the purchase has to be done in store. It can't be done online or over the phone.
Apple's four-day shopping event runs November 27 through November 30 on Apple.com, by phone at 1-800-APPLE, and at Apple Stores. Apple's new gift cards can be used for products, accessories, apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, iCloud, and more.
The offer will also be available in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and likely several other countries, with gift card amounts varying.
As usual, there are better Black Friday deals on Apple products than what Apple offers itself, so be sure to check out our Black Friday roundup this week for all of the best discounts leading up to the big day. We'll also be highlighting various one-off deals throughout the week.
Twitter's new ephemeral tweets, or "fleets," have been hit by a bug that allows them to be accessed long after their supposed 24-hour expiration time, less than a week after the feature launched.
Fleets are short stories made up of photos or videos with overlaying text. Much like stories on Instagram or Facebook, fleets are located at the top of the Twitter timeline.
According to Techcrunch, the bug allowed fleets to be viewed and downloaded by other users without notifying their creator. Details of the bug were posted in a series of tweets over the weekend. Twitter soon acknowledged the issue and says a fix is on the way.
“We're aware of a bug accessible through a technical workaround where some Fleets media URLs may be accessible after 24 hours," a Twitter spokesperson told TechCrunch. "We are working on a fix that should be rolled out shortly."
The workaround refers to a developer app that could reportedly scrape fleets from public accounts through Twitter's API. However, once Twitter's fix is applied, URLs for fleets won't work whether they're active or expired.
Twitter says it doesn't delete fleets from its servers for up to 30 days, and it may retain fleets for longer if they violate its rules.
Apple appears to be rolling out its Safari webpage translation to more countries. According to iPhoneSoft, iOS users in France have reported gaining access to the feature, and tips sent to MacRumors suggest Mac users in Sweden are also seeing it show up for the first time.
Apple introduced Safari's machine translation earlier this year when it debuted iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur at WWDC in June.
The feature allows users to translate the language of websites viewed in Apple's native browser; it can translate Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
Based on the latest information, Apple appears to have remotely enabled the translate option for the two additional countries for users running iOS 14.2.1, and revised version of macOS 11.0.1 Big Sur.
The first Macs powered by Apple-designed processors are finally here. And from the outside, they’re almost dead ringers for the Intel-based Macs they’re replacing.
But on the inside, they’re not like other computers. Apple has brought its approach to system design, learned through years of iteration on the iPhone and iPad, to the Mac for the first time.
Those of us who are used to thinking of personal computers in certain terms are going to need to adjust to this new reality. It’s a world in which Apple sells three different Mac models without even disclosing the clock speed of the processor inside. (It doesn’t do it for the iPhone or iPad, after all.)
The “10” era of the Mac operating system (Mac OS X and macOS 10) is now over. Apple decided to turn it up to (version) 11 and released macOS Big Sur.
With macOS Big Sur, you’ll find that still a very familiar OS, but there are several changes that will help you be more productive. To help you learn about those new features, we have written guides and how-tos so you can get the most out of the software. We have a list of those articles here to help you get started.
macOS Big Sur FAQ
Want a quick overview of what’s in Big Sur? Read our macOS Big Sur FAQ. The FAQ also has a Mac compatibility list, how to install Big Sur, and more.
If you’ve ordered a new iPhone 12, you’ll notice that the box is a whole lot slimmer than in previous years. That’s because the bulkiest accessory is gone: the power adapter. In fact, Apple has removed the charger from all iPhones it sells, so whether you’re spending $399 on an iPhone SE or $1,399 on a maxed-out iPhone 12 Pro Max, you need to bring your own charger.
Any old charger and Lightning cable you have lying around will work, of course. But if you’ve been using Apple’s old 5W adapter, it’s a perfect time to upgrade. For the first time, Apple is supplying a USB-C-to-Lightning cable in all iPhone boxes to allow for fast charging, so all you need is the right charger.
Your iPhone has long been able to identify songs that you hear around you, but it’s never been the easiest process. You can ask Siri or launch the Shazam app, both of which take time and effort. With iOS 14.2, there’s a much easier way.
If you have the Shazam app installed (if not, you can download it here), you’ll be able to add a new song identifier button to the Control Center that can ID songs at a tap. Just head over to the Control Center tab in Settings and click the “plus” symbol next to Music Recognition, and then position it where you’d like. And that’s it.
When you buy a new iPhone, getting it all set up takes minutes. All you need to do is back up your old phone and sign in to your iCloud account on your new phone, and you can pick up right where you left off, home screen layout, open Safari tabs, and all.
It’s not quite as simple on the Mac. While Apple offers several ways to transfer files from one machine to another, none of it is as simple as iCloud backups on iOS. But if you know which toggles to flip, apps to sync, and folders to share, it doesn’t have to be so hard. Just follow our guide to getting everything set up on your new Mac.
The sleek Corsair TBT100 Thunderbolt 3 Dock ups the game for a Mac laptop, Mac mini, or iMac by providing a full complement of ports for those that lack them and offering additional—and more easily accessible—ports for those already possessing many.
The compact dock, which weighs in at a pound (0.5 kg), provides ready access to useful jacks, while offering a solid design contrast that doesn’t imitate Apple’s aesthetic. The $259.99 price is right in line with the array of options.
The TBT100 has five high-speed data ports: two USB Type-A SuperSpeed (3.2 Gen 1 or 5 Gbps), two USB Type-C SuperSpeed+ (3.2 Gen 2 or 10 Gbps), and one Thunderbolt 3. That Thunderbolt 3 port, however, is reserved to connect to a Mac, as the 40Gbps throughput is necessary to power all the peripherals. It also provides up to 85 watts to power an attached laptop, removing the need for the laptop to have a separately connection to power. (The dock also supports Windows systems with Thunderbolt 3.)
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re thinking about buying a new Mac computer and may be in need of a little guidance. Fortunately, we’re quite familiar with Apple’s Macs, and we’re happy to help you choose the right Mac for you.
This buying guide provides an overview of all the Mac models available, and what each model is best suited for. To get more details, you can read the full review by clicking the product name in the product boxes that have mouse ratings.
The move to macOS Big Sur has led to Apple porting some of its 
On November 18, Apple revealed the 
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Each episode of AppleInsider Daily gives you a quick briefing on the three most important stories of the previous day, making it easy to stay up to date on the Apple news you may have missed.Listen in for a quick recap of the day's most impactful news. From rumors about future Apple products to the latest financial notes and hardware reviews, AppleInsider Daily has you covered. And since most episodes clock in at under five minutes, you'll have time to get caught up whenever and wherever you want to listen.
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Apple shuts down 
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