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- Tuesday June 04
- 16 mins agoIndian stocks plunge as Modi’s likely weaker win causes policy worries
As vote counting trends in the general election suggested Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alliance was unlikely to win the… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.40 mins agoHow to get color text in the Apple Notes app
I recently had to Google how to get color text in the Apple Notes app, because the way to do this is rather deeply hidden! Especially if you want to do it in the iPhone or iPad app, you have two use one of three workarounds, because – strangely – the feature isn’t directly supported … more…1 hour agoInstantly share photos, videos, links and more with AirDrop
If you want to know the fastest and easiest way to send someone photos, videos, files and so, so much more, you should know how to AirDrop. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)1 hour agoApple is still considering screens for AirPods charging cases
It's the idea that just won't go away — Apple is again looking at adding screens to AirPods charging cases.Detail from the patent showing music controls on an AirPods charging caseAirPods and AirPods Pro have always come in a case that's more than a holder to stop you losing them. It's not that much more, it specifically only recharges the AirPods, but it is more than a simple plastic container.Only, Apple has plans to make even more use out of the AirPods charging case and it will not let the idea go. Apple keeps coming back to the notion of putting a touch screen on the case so that users can play, pause, and skip music. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums1 hour agoApple supplier TSMC says it has discussed moving chip fabs out of Taiwan but such a move impossible | Mac Daily NewsApple supplier TSMC says it has discussed moving chip fabs out of Taiwan but such a move impossible
Major Apple supplier TSMC, the Taiwanese contract chipmaker whose major clients include Apple and Nvidia, said on Tuesday it had held talks… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.12:42 pmAirPods Max versus Sonos Ace: premium personal audio, compared
The Sonos Ace is the company's new push into premium personal audio. Here's how it fares when compared to Apple's AirPods Max.Sonos Ace and AirPods MaxThe Sonos Ace were launched as a premium pair of headphones, its first foray into personal audio. They're a stylish pair of headphones that ticks many of the premium audio boxes for consumers.It's hard not to make a direct comparison of them to AirPods Max. As over-ear headphones with metal accents and a leaning towards audio quality, it's hard not to do so. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums12:22 pmNetflix dropping support for older Apple TV models this summer
Netflix has announced that it is dropping support for select older generations of Apple TV. In an email sent to subscribers this week, Netflix said that it is “sunsetting support” for the Apple TV (2nd generation) and Apple TV (3rd generation) on July 31. more…12:21 pmApple chip plants can’t be moved, despite China’s war games, says TSMC
TSMC’s Apple chip plants cannot be moved off the island, the company has said, despite ever-growing fears of a Chinese invasion. The chipmaker’s chairman C.C. Wei said that it had held talks with “some customers” about the idea following China carrying out war-game exercises around the island, but that it simply isn’t practical … more…12:05 pmApple TV+ and Netflix are neck-and-neck for viewer satisfaction
Subscribers are just satisfied with Apple TV+ as they are with Netflix, and more satisfied than Disney+ subscribers. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)12:00 pmBalance, Not Mandates, Needed To Keep Kids Safe Online: Report
An effective approach to children’s online safety needs to strike a balance between protecting kids' user privacy and free speech, as well as distributing responsibility to the government, online services, and parents, according to a new ITIF report. The post appeared first on TechNewsWorld.12:00 pmApple TV+ customer satisfaction continues to rise, according to latest survey
The latest telecoms customer survey from ASCI has been published and — despite rising prices and industry pullbacks — the bottom line is streaming services are still hot. Almost every video streaming service tracked by ASCI grew its customer satisfaction score compared to the previous year, with Apple one of the biggest risers. The 2024 score for Apple TV+ came in at 79, up from 76 in the year-ago survey. more…12:00 pmAptoide iOS game store launches this week; wait list of 20,000
An Aptoide iOS game store launches in Europe on Thursday, the third, uh, third-party app store to be announced after Setapp and AltStore. All three companies are taking advantage of the changes Apple was forced to make in the EU by the Digital Markets Act, which opens up the App Store to competition for the first time … more…11:56 am13-inch iPad Pro review: hardware of the future running software of the past
Apple's 13-inch iPad Pro is a testament to the power and efficiency of Apple Silicon, but WWDC has to address at least some of the shortcomings of iPadOS for those hardware upgrades to mean anything.13-inch iPad Pro reviewAs Apple shaves away every millimeter from the iPad, it gets closer to realizing the dream of offering information on a sheet of glass. At 5.1 millimeters, there's not much else Apple can do to the hardware without physics getting in the way.However, the only thing in the way of improving iPad software is Apple and its philosophy surrounding the tablet. While iPad is the perfect work device for some, there are obvious limitations and shortcomings that need to be addressed. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums11:27 amApple’s iPhone recycling robot no longer unscrews phones: It rips them apart
The latest version of Apple’s iPhone recycling robot no longer unscrews devices in order to access the innards; instead, it rips them apart. The change is one of many that have seen the practicality of Apple’s recycling robots grow from something which took 12 minutes per phone – which the company admits was really just a research project – to 18 seconds … more…11:14 amWWDC AI announcements will spark iPhone 16 upgrade cycle — eventually
Investment bank JP Morgan believes that Apple's combination of AI and privacy will mean a large swathe of users will upgrade to the new iPhone 16 throughout 2025, and that should reassure investors that are worried about the company's future.A Siri icon superimposed on Apple ParkAhead of the WWDC announcements on June 10, 2024, analysts at JP Morgan have told investors to expect Apple to concentrate on AI on-device features. It says that there will be cloud and data-center elements, but Apple will stress the on-device privacy and showcase improvements to existing apps.In a note seen by AppleInsider, the analysts predict that WWDC will be what they call a "tick all the boxes" announcement, that is specifically aimed at showing investors Apple has not fallen behind on AI. They say that investors will look particularly for any deals between Apple and OpenAI or Google, but that regardless of how it's done, Apple's AI implementation will be across all its native apps. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums10:50 amTicketMaster hack sees personal data of 560M for sale [U: Snowflake statement]
Update: After reports that cloud storage provider Snowflake may have been compromised, the company said there is no evidence of this. Reading between the lines, the attack may have been made via Snowflake, but it appears to have been TicketMaster credentials that were compromised. A TicketMaster hack has been confirmed by the company in an SEC security filing, stating that personal data of its users has been offered for sale on the dark web. The agency has not confirmed the scale of what appears to have been a massive breach … more…10:46 amChatGPT is down for many; recovery underway; Mac app may be best bet
ChatGPT is down for many, with OpenAI acknowledging on its status page that the chatbot is “unavailable for some users.” The partial outage appears to be global, though recovery does now appear to be in progress, with DownDetector showing a decline in the number of reports … more…10:45 amSo Apple really made a great iPad Pro feature and just didn’t tell anyone?
Macworld Apple’s obsession with secrecy has struck again but this time in an unusual way. Yes, the company that is only able to sell devices by tricking people with that icky “marketing” that no other company does actually forgot to market a feature! What is this feature? Well, according to developer Guilherme Rambo the M4 iPad Pro is: …the first device to support and use Apple’s new Secure Indicator Light (SIL) mechanism. When using the microphone or camera, the corresponding indicator dot is effectively rendered in hardware (using the display), making it a lot less likely that any malware or user space app would be able to access those sensors without the user’s knowledge. Guilherme Rambo Apple implemented this without fanfare. Or any kind of fare at all. In fact, it implemented it without even mentioning it when the product was rolled out. This is very odd behavior for a company that (according to many) only uses privacy as a marketing tool. You made the privacy, and you forgot to market it? What’s that about? Now, you may be saying to yourself, please, Mr. Macalope, sir. (Why so formal?) Your strawmen do burn oh so very prettily, but spare us your concocted arguments from fabricated Apple foes! But this is not a strawman argument at all! As it turns out, you are the only strawman here, fictional reader who purports not to think anyone says this about Apple. Ironic, right? One entity that suggests privacy is a marketing smokescreen for Apple is a little outfit known as… let’s see here, lemme just pretend to be looking this up… oh, yes! The U.S. Department of Justice. Apple’s emphasis on privacy was brought up multiple times in the DOJ’s suit against the company. The DOJ suggested that by not allowing third-party app stores, the company was reducing privacy options by not allowing a more privacy-focused store to set up shop on iOS. Yeaaah. Because that’s gonna happen. The horny one is sure there’s a long line of privacy-focused would-be app store overlords out there. It’s definitely not outfits like Meta that have tried for years to slip various privacy-hoovering apps into the App Store. Nope. Nuh-uh. The DOJ argued: By contrast, Apple allows certain enterprise and public sector customers to offer versions of app stores with more curated apps to better protect privacy and security. U.S. Department of Justice Like much of the DOJ’s filing, this is a poor explanation of the situation. These enterprise app stores are for employees and are designed to protect the privacy and security of the entity running the store, not the end user. In fact, many of them, because they’re run by companies that want to spy on their employees (or, to be fair, have to if they’re regulated industries) are absolutely terrible for privacy. The only privacy argument the DOJ makes that actually makes sense is that Apple degrades privacy by making Google the default search engine. And Apple does do it because Google pays them a ridiculous amount of money to do it, but most people were probably going to use Google anyway. (Still, they should stop.) IDG IDG IDG There are many good reasons to force Apple to loosen restrictions on the App Store. So many, really. Privacy isn’t in the top 20. Privacy doesn’t even know the items in the top 20. It never gets invited to their parties. Does Apple use privacy to market its products? Of course it does. It does so because privacy is an advantage of its products. These are not mutually exclusive things. But you can also make a pretty good case based on the above that privacy is so engrained at Apple that it defaults to that (unless someone wants to give them billions of dollars a year to kind of forget it for a bit). Is it perfect? No. But it’s still better than pretty much anyone else. iOS, iPad10:30 am5 reasons why I prefer Sonos Ace to AirPods Max (but you shouldn’t buy them)
Macworld Sonos has been a beloved brand for years, especially among Apple fans. It’s easy to see why: from the slick product design to the thoughtful eco-friendly packaging, Sonos offers a very Apple-like experience. Their home speakers and sound bars have a very “it just works” quality that may not satisfy the kind of audio nerds that demand extreme control via a big ‘ol receiver, but for everyone else simply looks and sounds great. One audio area Sonos hasn’t even attempted, in almost 20 years on the market, is headphones. Sonos Ace changes all that. The first headphones from the Sonos brand, the Ace are direct competitors to the likes of AirPods Max, Bose QuietComfort Ultra, Sony WH-1000XM5, et al. In other words, they’re over-the-ear wireless headphones with active noise cancelling and a transparency mode and are priced on the “premium” end of the market at $449. I’ve been using them for a couple of weeks now and if I’m honest, I’d reach for these over my AirPods Max any day, despite not having the tight integration that Apple-brand products enjoy (there’s no hands-free “Hey Siri” support, for example–you have to press a button to invoke Siri). There are a number of things Sonos gets right that Apple could learn from. And despite this, I can’t recommend anyone buy them just yet. If you’re intrigued by Sonos Ace, you might want to wait a few months. Sonos Ace Price When Reviewed: $449 Best Prices Today: $449 at Sonos | Not Available at Adorama | Not Available at Best Buy Better fit and comfort AirPods Max are comfortable in many ways, but they don’t quite fit my head. This isn’t uncommon—I have a small head, and the smallest size setting for many over-ear headphones is just a tiny bit too big to fit comfortably. AirPods Max are like that, Sony’s WH-1000XM5 are not. And neither are the Sonos Ace. At the smallest settings, they fit just right. But there’s a weight issue, too. AirPods Max weighs 385 grams, way more than something like those Sony XM5s (250g). Sonos’ are heavy as well at 312 grams, due in part to the steel bars in the headband and overall sturdy construction. The top headband is soft and flexible, the removable earcups are soft and plush. They simply feel comfortable and steady on your head even during long listening sessions. It would definitely be nice if they shed a few grams more, but I would much rather wear these for a few hours than AirPods Max. A better TV streaming solution If you use an Apple TV, you can switch the audio over to your AirPods Max (if you’re on the same Apple ID) by opening the Apple TV control center and changing the audio output. It works pretty well, and it’s very convenient. Unless you want to listen to something that is not coming from your Apple TV. If you’re streaming video through your smart TV, or playing a console game, that AirPods Max integration won’t do anything for you. It’s going to be super annoying to some Sonos users that the Sonos Ace are not Wi-Fi connected like all other Sonos speakers. You can’t just join into any Sonos speaker group and directly stream from audio sources that you’ve linked to in the Sonos app. These are Bluetooth only (to extend battery life), so they have to stream audio from a linked source like your iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc. The Sonos soundbar/headphone handoff feature is excellent, even though it only works with their most expensive soundbar right now. The Sonos soundbar/headphone handoff feature is excellent, even though it only works with their most expensive soundbar right now.Sonos The Sonos soundbar/headphone handoff feature is excellent, even though it only works with their most expensive soundbar right now.Sonos Sonos However, they can pull off a pretty neat trick where you can link them to a Sonos soundbar, and then with a long press of the “content button” on the right earpiece swap audio from the soundbar to your headphones. It happens quickly, it’s reliable, it passes through Dolby Atmos for spatial audio, and the latency is low enough to be a viable solution for gaming. Right now it’s only compatible with the Sonos Arc soundbar (others are coming in a software update soon) but it works with everything because it’s the sound that your soundbar would play. I really like switching with just a press-and-hold of the content button, too. Apple should make the AirPods Max’s Digital Crown work that way. Multi-point Bluetooth AirPods Max pair with one device at a time, but they also support Apple’s fast-switching wherein they will be paired automatically with other Apple stuff that uses your same Apple ID, so you can quickly switch to them. Sonos Ace supports dual Bluetooth connections, so you can be simultaneously connected to Bluetooth sources (not just Apple products) and quickly switch between them. It’s essentially the same idea, only more flexible. They work great over the USB-C connection, too. Just plug in and you’re good to go. You can even plug the USB-C into your PS5 DualSense controller and they’ll work as a gaming headset straight away, and you can still use noise canceling and such. You can turn them off! You can’t turn off AirPods Max. There’s no manual way to do it. They just use some combination of the on-ear sensors and accelerometer to determine if you’re not using them, and eventually time out. Look, a power button! It feels so silly to count that as a “feature” but the AirPods Max don’t have one. Look, a power button! It feels so silly to count that as a “feature” but the AirPods Max don’t have one.Foundry Look, a power button! It feels so silly to count that as a “feature” but the AirPods Max don’t have one.Foundry Foundry The Sonos Ace will eventually power themselves off as well, but there’s a power button that you press and hold for a couple of seconds to turn on or off. Yes, pretty much every pair of headphones has a power button. Sonos’ entry in the space is not unique, Apple’s are, but it’s worth pointing out what a pain the butt it can be not to have any sort of manual power button. They sound great Bose and Sony have sort of caught up to Apple on noise reduction, and the Sonos Ace is right up there as well. They do an amazing job of reducing repetitive noise like traffic, air conditioners, airplane noise, etc. The transparency mode (Sonos calls it Aware Mode) is maybe tied for the best I’ve ever heard. Until now, nobody has been able to match the natural sound of AirPods Max’s transparency mode, and Sonos may have done it. For other audio, it’s sort of a tie with AirPods Max, and whether you like these better than the comparable headsets from Apple, Sony, or Bose is more a matter of personal taste than technical excellence. I find the high end just a touch thin by default on the Ace, a bumping Treble up a notch or two on the (really anemic) EQ in the Sonos software fixes that right away. Microphone quality and noise reduction during calls are similarly great. In general, it’s safe to say you don’t lose anything in sound quality with Sonos Ace over AirPods Max, and with support for lossless audio over USB (or when connected to the right Android device with apt-X Lossless) they might even be a little better. But don’t buy a pair yet There are a few little things that could be improved on the Sonos Ace. The case feels kind of cheap for a high-priced pair of headphones, for instance. It hardly seems worth focusing on that when AirPods Max have a case that’s worse than useless. But on balance, even at $449 I would rather use these than the $549 AirPods Max. Even with the AirPods Max seemingly perpetually available at a discount…I’d use the Sonos Ace at the same price any day. They sound just as good, are more comfortable, and have more flexible connectivity options. And a power button. Sonos Ace are great—but the app leaves much to be desired. Sonos Ace are great—but the app leaves much to be desired.Sonos Sonos Ace are great—but the app leaves much to be desired.Sonos Sonos But Sonos dropped a huge update to its all-important app recently and it has been a bit of a scandal. It’s a totally new architecture under the hood and a new interface, and while it certainly looks better and more modern, the Sonos users are not happy about it. It’s missing a lot of features the old app had and it’s riddled with bugs. It took me two hours of troubleshooting to add a Sonos Arc soundbar after having previously set up the Sonos Arc headphones. There’s no queue or playing next in the music playback interface. The sleep timer is gone. Playing back local music is missing. Sonos has already pushed out a software update to address some bugs and shortcomings and has a public roadmap for when we can expect the return of other features. If your only Sonos product is to be the Sonos Ace, some of these won’t be an issue for you. If you already have Sonos speakers or plan to get them, the app is a buggy and feature-stripped nightmare right now. Yes, Sonos Ace cost more than the latest from Bose or Sony, but they’re cheaper than AirPods Max by $100. Even with AirPods Max seemingly always on sale somewhere, they may cost you less. If you plan to use your headphones entirely and exclusively with Apple products forever, maybe the convenience of AirPods Max makes them a better choice for you (still, wait for a potential AirPods Max 2 later this year). If you ever want to connect them to anything else, or if you have or want to get a Sonos sound bar, you’ll probably like Sonos Ace better and pay less. My advice is to wait a few months and look for the Sonos Ace to go on sale. Give it a slightly better price and a few months of app updates and the Sonos Ace will be a real winner. Headphones, Mobile Phone Accessories10:29 amNetflix is finally killing off support for 2nd and 3rd generation Apple TVs
It's probably time to get rid of that thin second or third-generation Apple TV set-top box, as even Netflix is abandoning the older gear.Apple TV second and third generationIn an email to customers, Netflix has warning users of old Apple TVs that their days of using the service on the decade-old hardware is coming to an end. In the email, the company says that it is sun-setting support for them on July 31, 2024.It says that it is doing this to "maintain the best possible Netflix experience." It's not clear why the device is getting axed, other than age. Codec support may be an issue as well. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums