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Benjamin Mayo

bzamayo

Follow Benjamin on Twitter to keep up with his latest projects. Benjamin blogs about Apple news and rumors and posts insightful product and app reviews. Read his work on 9to5Mac and his personal blog.

Benjamin Mayo also creates apps for iOS as a professional indie developer and contractor; more details here. Email to discuss making your iOS project.

on Twitter and follow @bzamayo on Threads.

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Report: Apple actively developing foldable clamshell iPhone prototypes, folding 8-inch iPad

Foldable iPhone iPad Apple

Apple is persevering with foldable iPhone designs, according to a new report by The Information. The publication says Apple has been exploring foldable iPhones as early as 2018, and currently has at least two active prototypes of models that fold like clamshell.

The new foldable iPhone is described as being in early development, so don’t expect it to launch anytime soon. Apple has also been developing a larger form-factor foldable iPad, having faced challenges with the foldable iPhone project, according to the report ..

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Apple TV+ teases a dozen new original TV shows coming soon

As part of the Television Critics Association winter tour, Apple is previewing its spring and summer slate for Apple TV+ with a dozen new original series featured in its latest sizzle reel teaser video.

The new series announcements include The New Look, Sugar, Franklin, Lady in the Lake, Presumed Innocent, Constellation, Manhunt, The Dynasty: New England Patriots, Dark Matter, Palm Royale, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, and Land of Women.

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Apple Vision Pro users are experimenting wearing the headset without the light seal

A Reddit thread has popped up suggesting Vision Pro owners try wearing the headset in a non-standard configuration, without the large light seal attached.

As modelled by Ray Wong and Scott Stein in the photos above, this seemingly provides a more impactful sense of immersion and wider effective field of view as there is less distance between the wearer’s eyes and the headset’s lenses. The unit also carries less weight when worn like this.

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Apple Vision Pro holds up well in durability test, but yes it will break if you drop it

The Apple Vision Pro headset has just launched today, and we already have our first drop tests. Courtesy of AppleTrack, it seems the Vision Pro glass actually holds up better than some people had initially feared.

In normal wear and tear scenarios, like bumping into a wall or cabinet while walking around your house with the headset on, the Vision Pro front glass gets scuffed but doesn’t sustain serious damage. In fact, the speaker audio pods stops working before the glass breaks. But, yes, dropping it from head height will probably shatter the front glass completely … but incredibly the unit remained mostly functional …

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Tim Cook teases Apple AI announcements coming “later this year”, amid iOS 18 rumors

During the quarterly earnings call today, Apple CEO Tim Cook made a rare comment about the future of Apple’s products, referencing the company’s investments in artificial intelligence.

Cook said that Apple is “excited to share the details of our ongoing work in this space later this year”. This comment backs up rumors that iOS 18, which will be unveiled at WWDC in June, will feature comprehensive A.I features.

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Hit Apple TV+ series Hijack renewed for season two, Idris Elba returning

Idris Elba in Hijack

The Apple TV+ series Hijack is officially renewed for a second season, with Idris Elba confirmed to return as negotiator-and-hero Sam Nelson. The first season saw Nelson in the midst of a plane hijacking, unfolding in real time across seven one hour episodes.

Hijack was a bonafide hit last summer, becoming one of three Apple TV+ shows so far to appear on the Nielsen streaming charts.

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Apple Card tops 12 million users, $1bn in cashback paid out last year

For the first time, Apple is sharing active user numbers for the Apple Card, which is exclusively available in the United States. The company announced today that the Apple Card credit card has more than 12 million customers. 30 percent of those people are actively using the card, making two or more payments per month.

Apple Card Family has also seen strong uptake, with more than 1 million users sharing the card via Family Sharing, and 600,000 are set up as co-owners, building credit equally.

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You can’t edit your Apple Vision Pro home screen: visionOS apps are arranged alphabetically

Apple Vision Pro launches this Friday, Apple’s first entrance into the AR/VR headset market. While it has a lot of bells and whistles, it’s also worth remembering that this is very much the first version of a first-generation device … and there will be weird constraints and limitations.

One such limit is that the Vision Pro home screen of apps is not organizable in visionOS 1.0. As noted by Brian Tong in his video review, the system currently does not let the user reorder their grid of apps …

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Apple announces MLS Season Pass 2024 schedule, Multiview comes to iPad

MLS Season Pass Multiview

Apple today officially launched MLS Season Pass for 2024, as part of its ten year exclusive deal to stream all Major League Soccer matches. This year, a new whip-around show will broadcast for Spanish fans, and the split-screen Multiview feature will be available on the iPad TV app for the first time.

The 2024 season kicks off on February 21, with four free matches for opening weekend. You can also watch Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami preseason matches from today. MLS Season Pass costs $99 for the season, or a discounted $79 price for Apple TV+ subscribers. You can also subscribe monthly, for $14.99 per month.

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What can you connect to the iPhone 15 with USB-C?

On the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, Apple finally got rid of the Lightning port and replaced it with USB-C. This opens up a whole new world of convenience of connecting accessories and peripherals. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max go one step further, as the USB-C port on the pro models supports USB-3 speeds, enabling up to 10 Gbps data transfer speeds.

USB-C makes it easy to connect displays, external storage, cameras, and charge using the same cable as all your other devices. Here’s what you can do with your new iPhone and its shiny new port …

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Gurman: New iPad Pro and M3 MacBook Air already in production, set for end of March release

In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that the new iPad Pro and M3 MacBook Air are already in production in the Apple supply chain. They are set for an end of March release.

In all, Gurman expects March launches for the redesigned iPad Pro lineup with OLED displays, a spec-bumped iPad Air, a new larger 12.9-inch iPad Air, and a new generation of 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air with M3 chips.

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Apple Card savings account interest rate increases to 4.5%

The Apple Card savings account continues to increase its interest rate, making it ever more appealing to customers. On Friday, Apple notified Apple Card users that their money in the savings account are now accruing interest at 4.5%, the second increase in the same month.

The savings rate has gone from 4.25% in December to 4.35% earlier in January, to now 4.5%. For an account with no associated fees, these rises makes the account significantly more competitive with the wider market of high-yield savings accounts.

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Watch Austin Butler’s new TV show: Masters of the Air streaming now

Austin Butler in Masters of the Air

Apple TV+ today launched its new big-budget limited series, Masters of the Air, a long-awaited installment in the Band of Brothers and The Pacific franchise. Based on the book of the same name, Masters of the Air follows the 100th Bomb Group as they take on treacherous air raids, in broad daylight.

Executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the show’s star-studded cast list includes Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan, Ncuti Gatwa and more …

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Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says latest App Store changes are an ‘anticompetitive scheme rife with junk fees’

Apple announced a slew of App Store policy changes today to conform to the EU’s Digital Market Act, including supporting alternative app stores (Apple calls them ‘app marketplaces’) for the first time in Europe.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has immediately come out to criticize the changes, in a post on his X account. Sweeney says the new rules are an “anticompetitive scheme rife with junk fees”, and an example of “malicious compliance”.

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Apple opens up NFC chip to allow alternatives to Apple Pay in Europe

In compliance with the Digital Markets Act, Apple is opening up the NFC chip on the iPhone for the first time. This will allow banking and wallets app to offer competition to Apple Pay for the first time, allowing users to choose an alternative payment system as the default app that appears when holding the iPhone near a payment terminal, as well as the double-click side button shortcut.

Developers of banking/wallet apps can apply to Apple to get an entitlement to support these features. To get approved, the developers will have to meet various industry and regulatory requirements.

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Apple now allows game streaming apps in the App Store

Apple is updating its App Store policies to relent on a longstanding ban on game streaming apps. Developers are now allowed to submit a single app that can contain a catalog of games, where the game code is running off a server. This allows services like Xbox Cloud Gaming to finally release a native app for the iPhone and iPad.

Previously, Apple required developers submit a separate app for each game individually, a laborious and untenable affair.

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Apple announces reduced commission structure for apps in Europe

Apple App Store

To comply with the Digital Markets Act, Apple is announcing a sweeping set of changes to the App Store policy. This includes a new reduced commission structure.

iOS apps in the EU can now accept alternative terms with commission set at 17%, plus 3% if apps are using Apple’s In-App Purchase system. Either way, that’s a significant cut from the old 30% rate. Small business program developers will pay commission of 10%, plus 3%, down from 15%. There’s an additional new Core Technology Fee for ‘high volume apps’, which applies per install …

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iPhone app sideloading: Apple reportedly plans to charge fees and review apps downloaded outside of the App Store

Apple App Store

Apple will soon announce policy changes to conform to the Digital Markets Act in Europe, with an impending implementation deadline of March. The DMA will force Apple to allow iPhone app sideloading, with the goal of reducing Apple’s monopolistic control of software on iOS.

However, exactly how that will go down remains in question. The Wall Street Journal believes it has the inside scoop on Apple’s plans. Although apps will be available outside of the App Store for the first time, the Journal says Apple still plans to charge fees and conduct app review processes for sideloaded apps.

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Bloomberg: Apple targets 2028 release date for its own electric vehicle

Project Titan, the Apple electric car project, has been underway since 2015. But the project has faced numerous delays and repeated executive turnover. Initially planning to make a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel, those lofty ambitions have come crashing down to earth in recent years.

With Apple VP Kevin Lynch leading the project since 2021, the company has set a new release date for the launch of its first vehicle: 2028. That’s according to a new report today from Bloomberg.

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Apple TV+ scores 13 Oscar nominations for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and ‘Napoleon’

Apple TV+ films scored 13 Academy Award nominations today, ahead of the Oscars ceremony to be held on March 10.

Martin Scorsese epic Killers of the Flower Moon led Apple’s haul, including the prestigious Best Picture nod and Lily Gladstone for Best Actress. Ridley Scott’s Napoleon scored nominations for costume design, production design and visual effects.

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Apple Music will now pay 10% higher royalties to artists for Spatial Audio music

Apple Music is now encouraging artists with a financial incentive to make their music available in Spatial Audio, which offers an immersive surround sound experience when listening with AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and other headphones.

Apple will pay up to 10% more per play in royalties for tracks where a spatial version is available. This is starting with January’s payouts.

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New iPad Air with 12.9-inch display and redesigned rear camera design shown in purported leaked schematics

After Apple went a whole year in 2023 without a single iPad hardware update, there are big expectations for the upcoming refreshes. New generations of iPad Pro and iPad Air are expected as soon as this spring.

91mobiles has today published purported schematics for the new iPad Air, which features a larger 12.9-inch display, a size increase from the current 10.9-inch model.

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