Power up all your Apple gear with $20 off this 3-in-1 charging station
Macworld Apple fans know the pain of having too much cool stuff and not enough ways to charge it. This 3-in-1 transparent magnetic wireless charging station not only powers up your stuff, it does it with style.   3-in-1 Transparent Magnetic Wireless Charging Station – $49.99 See Deal At the top of this stylish charger, you’ll find a Qi-compatible and MagSafe-friendly adapter that works with iPhones 8 through 14. It has up to 15W of output to charge your battery quickly. Next to that is an Apple Watch (Series 2 through 8) charging area you can drape your watch over to fill it up, while in the back of the unit is a charging pad for AirPods and non-magnetic phones. It’s built with Certified QC 3.0 technology to ensure a fast charge. Adding to the appeal is the design. Made of black-tinted transparent plastic that’s rugged, it’s carefully designed to fit on your desk and add style to your decor. It also has an anti-slip base to keep it where you need it, even when you’re reaching for your phone to shut off your alarm. Get this transparent multi-charging station for $49.99, $20 off the $69.99 MSRP. StackSocial prices subject to change. Accessories

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AirTag: Everything you need to know about Apple’s tracking device
Macworld Apple opened up its Find My network to third-party device makers, but that’s not stopping the company from making its own item tracker. We’ve heard rumors about AirTag since around 2019, and the company has finally released them. They’re pretty simple, really: You add the AirTag to your account, attach it to some object, and then the Find My app will tell you where it is in the Items tab. Since nearly all modern Apple products can passively (and privately) use their Bluetooth radios to locate lost devices, you’ll have a pretty good chance of locating something that you accidentally leave somewhere. You can locate devices in real time, and also set a device to “Lost Mode,” which will notify you and display an optional phone number and message on the screen of whatever Apple got near enough to “find” it. Here’s what you need to know about Apple’s own tracking devices. Apple AirTag Read our review Price When Reviewed: 1 pack $29 | 4 pack $99 Best Prices Today: $27 at Walmart | $29 at Apple | $29 at Best Buy AirTag costs $29 each Little Bluetooth trackers are nothing new. Tile has been making them for years, and Apple even just announced that the Chipolo One Spot, coming in June, would support the Find My network. If you want an item tracker, what you care about are things like size, durability, the scale of the network, and price. Apple’s first-party trackers cost $29 each. That’s even less than the $35 Tile Pro and about on par with Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag+. Apple lets you buy a four-pack for $99. Orders start on Friday, April 23, 2021, and they ship on April 30. You use the Find My app You don’t need a new app to use AirTag. They’ll show up as Items in the Find My app, newly updated for anyone with iOS 14.3, iPadOS 14.3, and macOS Big Sur 11.1. AirTag require an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch Though Find My works on a Mac, and MacBooks are a part of the Find My network, you’ll need an iPhone or iPod Touch running iOS 14.5 or later, or iPad running iPadOS 14.5 or later in order to set up your AirTag. Once set up, AirTag work with all modern Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch devices, and MacBooks. You’ll be able to use Find My on all these devices to locate the objects you’ve attached an AirTag to. What’s more, all these devices are used to create the Find My network—hundreds of millions of Apple devices that all register the locations of your items whenever they pass within Bluetooth range. The U1 chip allows for Precision Finding You don’t need an iPhone with the U1 chip (the iPhone 11 or iPhone 12) in order to use AirTags. But if you have one, you can use a feature called Precision Finding. It uses the accelerometer, cameras, and more to direct you to the exact location of your tag. An arrow appears on the screen to show the direction and distance. On iPhones with a U1 chip, you can get precise and direct directions to your AirTag. On iPhones with a U1 chip, you can get precise and direct directions to your AirTag.Apple On iPhones with a U1 chip, you can get precise and direct directions to your AirTag.Apple Apple AirTag protects your privacy As is true with all devices on the Find My network—from iPhones to e-bikes—there is no personally-identifiable information shared with anyone at any time. Apple uses end-to-end encryption and unique random identifiers, so it never knows which devices belong to which people. Only your devices know which identifiers are yours. What’s more, Apple only sends location information when it’s requested and only retains it for 24 hours. Unless you have Lost Mode enabled, other users never know which devices they have come across. Learn more about Find My and privacy on Apple’s support site. AirTag and stalking controversy Not long after the AirTag release in April 2021, several reports appeared in the media about the AirTag being used to track people unwillingly and unknowingly. In one report, 150 cases that involved stalking with an AirTag were recorded by eight U.S. police departments. How many total reported cases in the U.S. of all police departments is not known. Apple released a statement in February 2021 that addressed unwanted AirTag tracking. “AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person’s property,” said Apple, “and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products.” The statement also said that the company works with law enforcement and the company announced new features (listed below) in response to the concern. AirTag privacy updates These are the AirTag enhancements announced in response to unwanted AirTag tracking. Warnings during setup of a new AirTag that states that the device is meant to track personal belonging and that tracking people is a crime in many regions. It also states that AirTag is designed to be detected by victims and that police may request indemnifying information about an AirTag owner. The “Unknown Accessory Detected” alert says if a set of AirPods is travelling with the user. This AirTag information was previously not included. (Included in the AirTag Firmware Update 2.0.24.) Precision Finding, which allows a user with an iPhone 11 or later to find an unknown AirTag more precisely. (Included in the AirTag Firmware Update 2.0.24.) When an AirTag is detected, an alert sounds and is accompanied by an alert on and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch screen, allowing a user to play sounds or use Precision Finding. Tuning the unwanted tracking alerts so that it is louder. (Included in the AirTag Firmware Update 1.0.301.) Updated the unwanted tracking alert system logic so that it alerts a user earlier than before about an unknown AirTag. Updated support document to better explain the AirTag safety features. Unknow AirTag alert on Android In May 2024, Apple and Google made a joint announcement of the Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers specification. This allows users to get alerts about unwanted trackers, regardless of the platform. For example, this specification allows Android users to get alerts about AirTags, and iPhone users can get alerts for trackers made by Chipolo, Eufy, Jio, Motorola, and Pebblebee. This capability was included in the iOS 17.5 update and Android 6.0+. You can personalize your AirTag When you order your AirTag, you can personalize each tag with free engraving, including 31 different Emoji. AirTag holders cost more than AirTag AirTag has no holes or clips or other means of attaching to your devices. Don’t worry, Apple will sell you one! The least expensive of which is the Polyurethane Loop (in four colors), which costs $29. The Leather Key Ring costs $35 and comes in three colors, and the Leather Loop comes in two colors and costs $39. The Apple Leather Key Ring costs $35—more than the AirTag itself. The Apple Leather Key Ring costs $35—more than the AirTag itself.Apple The Apple Leather Key Ring costs $35—more than the AirTag itself.Apple Apple There will probably be a large third-party market of AirTag holders, clips, loops, and other attachment devices that are more affordable. How to setup AirTag AirTag is really easy to set up. Here are the steps. You can also see how it’s done in the video below. When you take the AirTag out of the box it has an insert to prevent the battery from connecting. Once you remove the insert, the battery connects and AirTag turns on. Place the AirTag near your iPhone, and the iPhone will sense it and automatically launch the setup process. Give the AirTag a name. Register with your Apple ID. AirTag is all set. Now attach it to your item. When will Apple release a new version of AirTag? Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in May 2024 that Apple will be upgrading the AirTag in the middle of 2025. The update will involve “a better chip with improved location tracking.” Mobile Phone Accessories

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Samsung expects to possibly catch up with last year’s iPhone by sometime next year
Samsung Electronics is set to mass-produce its 3nm Exynos application processors in the latter half of 2024, challenging Apple’s smartphone dominance, and pressuring TSMC and Qualcomm. more…

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Vietnam urges Apple supplier Foxconn to cut power use by 30% amid energy concerns
Vietnamese officials have asked Apple supplier Foxconn to voluntarily reduce power usage by 30% at its northern assembly plants to prevent power shortages like last summer, which led to over a billion dollars in lost output. more…

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Use CarPlay? Ditch the wire with this affordable adapter [Giveaway]
Feeling lucky? 9to5Mac is giving away a brand new Carlinkit 2air Wireless USB Adapter for adding Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto to your car! Enter here between now and Friday, May 24, at 1 PM PT for your chance to win! Do Wireless CarPlay adapters actually work? My Honda Civic came with wired Apple CarPlay. I really wanted Wireless CarPlay in the Civic, but replacing its entertainment system seemed unwise. However, there’s a solution for turning , and it works with iOS 17.5 and iPhone 15. more…

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iPhone SE 4 could get a price hike
The next-gen iPhone SE 4 could get a 10% or higher price bump, though Apple won't sell the phone for more than $499. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)

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The last MacBook Pro to have a Touch Bar is down to an incredibly low price
Macworld When we say our jaws hit the floor when we saw the price of this M2 MacBook Pro, we’re not kidding. This 13-inch powerhouse with 1TB of storage and 24GB of RAM is $500 off, available for $1,599 right now in what might be the best deal you’ll ever see.  Supercharged by the still-great M2 chip, this discounted MacBook Pro features an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. Whether you want to use the laptop for work, play, or edit videos for your YouTube channel, you’ll be more than able to handle everything. And since it has a fan, it can reach longer sustained speeds versus the M2 MacBook Air. With 24GB of unified memory, multitasking is a breeze. Switch between a million Chrome tabs, video edit, play games, and listen to music like it’s nothing. You won’t even have to worry about the laptop overheating when you’re busy, because the MacBook Pro features a great active cooling system that will handle everything with ease.  Can we also discuss that gorgeous screen? The 13.3-inch Liquid Retina display delivers crisp and clear images and fantastic colors, and since it has 500 nits of brightness, you can even use it out in bright light.  But wait, the coolest feature wasn’t even mentioned yet. Remember the Touch Bar? Well, this is one of the last few models to have one. When we reviewed this 13-inch MacBook Pro M2, we enjoyed the Touch Bar, as well as the speed and graphics boost provided by the chip and the sustained performance vs the MacBook Air. Frankly, with a $500 discount and seeing how cool (and useful) the Touch Bar is, our advice is to hurry up and buy one before it’s gone forever. Save $500 on the M2 MacBook Pro with 24GB Memory and 1TB storage MacBook

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How to look up your App Store purchase history
Being able to look up your past purchases on Apple's App Store can help you recover an app you accidentally deleted, or spot a problem with a subscription.Viewing your purchase history on an iPhoneThe list of all purchases across all your devices appears, along with what you paid for them — including any free apps. If you go back a long way with the App Store, you may have to scroll down quite a lot to see the entire list.This will also include any music purchased from Apple Music/iTunes, and you may see repeated entries of the same apps that signify updates to those apps. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Here’s how a tvOS restriction keeps game developers away from Apple TV
When the first with tvOS and App Store was introduced in 2015, Apple tried to promote it as a kind of game console. However, years have passed and the catalog of games available for tvOS is quite small. While Apple TV isn’t exactly a super popular product like the iPhone, a specific tvOS restriction could be the main reason why game developers stay away from the platform. more…

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Streaming deal: save 50% on a Paramount Plus & Showtime bundle
Enjoy a wealth of programs with this streaming deal that knocks half off your first year of Paramount Plus with Showtime.Stream Paramount Plus & Showtime at 50% offNow through July 14, save 50% on your first year of Paramount Plus with Showtme. This streaming deal is a fan-favorite, with numerous programs to choose from for hours of entertainment. From The Chi on Showtime to Star Trek Discovery on Paramount Plus, the bundle includes popular shows to keep you engaged all summer long. The offer is valid for new and ex-subscribers.Save 50% on your 1st year Continue Reading on AppleInsider

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Apple Slashes iPhone Prices In China Amid Fierce Huawei Competition
Apple is offering discounts of up to $318 on select iPhone models in China, hoping to "defend its position in the high-end smartphone market, where it faces increasing competition from local rivals such as Huawei," reports Reuters. From the report: The increased competitive pressure on Apple comes after Huawei last month introduced its new series of high-end smartphones, the Pura 70, following the launch of the Mate 60 last August. Apple's previous discounting effort in February appears to have helped the company mitigate a sales slowdown in China. Apple's shipments in China increased by 12% in March, according to Reuters' calculations based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). This marks a significant improvement from the first two months of 2024, when the company experienced a 37% slump in sales. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Redesigned iPhone SE might cost a bit more than the current model
We’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about the next generation iPhone SE, which is expected to be announced sometime next year with a major redesign compared to the current model. Of course, one of the main selling points of the is the more affordable price – and there’s some news about that. more…

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Slack AI Privacy Principles Generate Confusion and Consternation
After a section of a Slack document laying out its privacy principles surrounding AI was taken out of context on social media, controversy ensued. Adam Engst attempts to calm the waters, with help from ChatGPT.

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iOS 17.5.1 and iPadOS 17.5.1 Fix Photo Reappearance Bug
Apple has released new versions of iOS and iPadOS in response to bug reports that iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 caused deleted photos to reappear and show blank images.

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Apple TV+ series ‘Time Bandits,’ starring Lisa Kudrow, premieres July 24th
Today, Apple TV+ announced the premiere date for the all-new comedic adventure series, “Time Bandits,” the first-ever television… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.

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Review: NuPhy Halo75 V2 mechanical keyboard is a light show of fun for your Mac
Anyone play Mega Man back in the day? That’s the first thing I thought of when I unboxed the new NuPhy Halo75 V2 mechanical keyboard. The awesome “blue lagoon” color just screams Mega Man, and the aptly named Halo75 puts on a really playful light show for your Mac as you type. Come to think of it, those blues also give 9to5Mac vibes… more…

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iOS 17.5.1 update fixes rare bug that caused some deleted photos to return
Macworld Shortly after the release of iOS 17.5 last week, some users started to notice that certain photos they had previously deleted (though not all of them) started to reappear in their photo libraries.Some of the photos were quite old, and there wasn’t any rhyme or reason as to which images would be impacted; some reported photos sent through Messages, others not. There was speculation about Apple potentially keeping photos they said they deleted, among other accusations. The mystery appears to now be solved, and fixed, with iOS 17.5.1. The release notes are as follows: This update provides important bug fixes and addresses a rare issue where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted. When you “delete” a file in iOS (and most other operating systems), it’s not actually erased. Instead, a file management system marks that area of storage as empty and available for future use. But the data is technically still there until it is overwritten by new data, which is how some specialized forensic software can recover “deleted” data from hard drives and SSDs. So Apple wasn’t keeping deleted photos or messages in iCloud beyond the 30-day restore period. Instead, some images marked as deleted but not yet overwritten by new data had their database entries corrupted in such a way as to cause your iPhone or iPad to once again display them in your Photos albums. The iOS 17.5.1 update fixes this bug. The patch notes don’t list any other changes. How to update to iOS 17.5.1 To update your iPhone: Open Settings Select General Select Software Update Follow the on-screen instructions iOS

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DTK Mac mini scrapped by Apple is successfully repaired by collector
Back in 2020, Apple offered selected developers a custom DTK Mac mini with the A12Z Bionic chip inside, so that they could develop apps for the Apple Silicon platform. After the official launch of the M1 Macs, developers had to return their DTK Mac mini to Apple, which scrapped the machines. But one of these scrapped DTKs was successfully restored. more…

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Save hundreds on a bundle of Microsoft’s best software
Get lifetime access to Windows 11 Pro, Microsoft Office, Project and Visio in this heavily discounted Microsoft software bundle deal. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)

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Apple preps next-gen AirTag with new chip for even better location tracking
AirTag lets users keep track of personal items like their keys, wallet, purse, backpack, luggage, and more through the Find My… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.

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