Category: News

  • Apple releases 2 new Apple Watch Pride Edition bands

    Apple releases 2 new Apple Watch Pride Edition bands

    The news: Alongside big announcements for Apple Music, 2 new Apple Watch Pride Edition bands have also been released.

    • “The Pride Edition Braided Solo Loop ($99) artfully weaves together the original rainbow colors with those drawn from various Pride flags to represent the breadth of diversity among LGBTQ+ experiences and the history of a movement that has spanned generations” Apple says
    • A new version of the Nike Sport Loop band ($49) has also been released and features all 6 colors of the rainbow
    • Both bands are available for order now, and will release in Apple Stores on May 25

    Our take: I love Apple’s yearly Pride releases and the new Solo Loop this year looks exceptional. $99 is a bit pricey though…

  • Apple Music with free Spatial and Lossless Audio upgrades announced

    Apple Music with free Spatial and Lossless Audio upgrades announced

    The news: A new version of Apple Music featuring Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio has been announced and is coming next month.

    • Spatial Audio features support for Dolby Atmos, allowing sound to come from all directions…even from above you
      • This will be available on select songs at launch, with more added regularly
    • Lossless Audio includes significantly more audio data and will be available for the entire catalog of 75 million songs at launch
    • The new version of Apple Music is launching sometime in June and requires iOS 14.6

    Our take: Apple wasn’t joking when they said they would be changing music forever. Everything announced today doesn’t cost a cent more than the $9.99/month that everyone already pays. This is a huge blow to others like Spotify and Tidal that charge a premium for lossless music.

  • Apple says major Music announcement is ‘coming soon’

    Apple says major Music announcement is ‘coming soon’

    The news: Apple has announced a major change for Apple Music that is said to be happening soon.

    • As noted in the Music app, Apple says “Get ready—music is about to change forever.”
    • No release date for the announcement has been set, but rumors point to something happening imminently…perhaps as a soon as May 18

    Our take: If this isn’t for the HiFi tier of Apple Music, than I have no idea what this is. Apple rarely pre-announces anything…and to do so on a Sunday? That’s even stranger.

  • Space Gray Mac accessories discontinued, available ‘while supplies last’

    Space Gray Mac accessories discontinued, available ‘while supplies last’

    The news: Months after discontinuing the iMac Pro, Apple is not closing out their inventory for their Space Gray Magic accessories, as spotted first by MacRumors.

    • Apple’s Space Gray Magic Mouse, Track and Keyboard are available in limited quantities “while supplies last,” as noted by Apple on the bottom of each product page
    • Fresh color-matched accessories were recently unveiled alongside the M1 iMac

    Our take: With the iMac Pro no longer being sold and updated Magic accessories announced, these didn’t really make much sense anymore. I’m sure we’ll see new color-matched accessories to replace these when we get the new iMac Pro later this year…

  • Rumor suggests new AirPods coming next week

    Rumor suggests new AirPods coming next week

    The rumor: Apple could have another Spring surprise up their sleeve, and it could be happening next Tuesday, according to YouTuber Luke Miani (not yet tracked).

    • Miani, who we reached out to, said that new AirPods could be announced on May 18 via a press release that could also include a ‘Apple Music HiFi’ debut
    • AppleTrack has heard privately that Apple is planning to release new AirPods in the coming weeks

    Our take: From the countless images we’ve seen to the fact that AirPods 2 and AirPods Pro were both announced as part of a press release, this doesn’t feel like too far of a stretch. Miani, however, does not have a track record…so it’s important to take this with a grain of salt.

  • New survey reveals most/least popular iMac colors, popularity of AirTag & more

    New survey reveals most/least popular iMac colors, popularity of AirTag & more

    The survey: New findings in an April survey from SellCell reveals a number of interesting data points about Apple’s recent product releases.

    • M1 iMac color selection, from most to least popular: Blue (33.4%), Silver (30.1%), Green (13.4%), Purple (8.9%), Yellow (6.8%), Pink (4.1%), Orange (3.3%)
    • “Over six in 10 (61%) iPhone and iPad users intend to buy the new AirTag, while 39% aren’t interested” SellCell reports
    • 82% of survey respondents want to see Face ID come to future Macs
    • For iPhone 13, the return of Touch ID is currently the most anticipated feature

    Our take: I assumed blue would be the most popular iMac color, but I had no idea that yellow, pink and orange would all be relatively unpopular. That being said, I don’t think that there’s any world where 6 out of 10 iOS users buy AirTag…

  • Unsubstantiated rumor says ‘Apple Switch’ is in the works

    Unsubstantiated rumor says ‘Apple Switch’ is in the works

    The (sketchy) rumor: New information originating from a Korean forum suggests that Apple is working on a portable gaming device similar to the Nintendo Switch.

    • The portable gaming hybrid device is said to feature a chip different from the A/M-series with “enhanced GPU performance and ray tracing support”
    • No other credible rumors suggest that Apple is developing something like this, and the same source says Apple is developing games with Ubisoft

    Our take: I think this rumor is probably conflating the Apple gaming controller that reliable sources have said is in the works with Apple’s broader gaming strategy of bringing more games to Apple Arcade. I doubt we will ever see this come to fruition because, well, we already have the iPhone…

  • New M1 iMac is significantly faster than older models, on-par with other M1 devices

    New M1 iMac is significantly faster than older models, on-par with other M1 devices

    The news: The first benchmarks for the newly redesigned iMac models have surfaced, found first by MacRumors.

    • Performance on the iMac’s M1 chip is on-par with other M1 devices like the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini
    • Compared to the older 21.5-inch iMac models that this computer is replacing, the single-core scores are over 50% faster and multi-core scores are over 20% faster

    Our take: While I was really hoping there would be some better M1 performance in the new iMac, it seems like it is basically the same as all the other M1 computers. For anyone with an older 21.5-inch iMac, however, this will be a monumental upgrade.

  • M1 iPad Pro is now fastest iOS device by 33%

    M1 iPad Pro is now fastest iOS device by 33%

    The news: The first iPad Pro benchmarks have been uploaded and the performance as just as mind-numbing as expected (via MacRumors).

    • With single-core scores hovering around 1715 and multi-core scores in as high as 7262, the M1 chip on iPad Pro is the fastest iOS device by 33.8% when comparing the top two highest iOS multi-core scores of all time
      • The previous iOS multi-core high score was 4809 on the 2020 iPad Pro with A12X inside
    • This M1 chip on iPad Pro sees almost identical performance to the Macs with M1 chip inside

    Our take: This performance is ridiculous and is sure to position the iPad Pro in a peculiar spot on the market. At the point, no other tablet even gets close to the performance on the iPad Pro…

  • iOS/iPadOS 14.6 beta 3 released to developers

    iOS/iPadOS 14.6 beta 3 released to developers

    The news: The third beta of iOS 14.6 has been released to developers.

    • Code in iOS 14.6 has indicated that Apple is working on a HiFi version of Apple Music and preliminarily supports Apple Card Family
    • 9to5Mac discovered that iOS 14.6 beta 3 now allows you to use an email Adress instead of phone number for AirTag recovery

    Our take: Considering there is almost 0 forward-facing changes so far in iOS 14.6, it definitely feels like Apple is holding a lot back for a larger release in the future (e.g. Apple Music HiFi hidden until publicly announced).

  • First look at next MacBook Air shows new design, colors & more

    First look at next MacBook Air shows new design, colors & more

    The leak: Apple’s next MacBook Air will feature an all-new design and more, according to Jon Prosser (77.6% accurate).

    • The new design is not tapered, but rather completely flat and nearly as thin as the USB-C port on the side
    • Prosser mentions that the exact sizing of the display is a guess, but the bezels on this prototype are white
    • An updated keyboard features full-size function row keys and the same Touch ID sensor as the new iMac keyboards
    • The rubber feet on the bottom of the MacBook Air have been swapped for two long rubber bars

    Our take: I think this design looks phenomenal, and it seriously seems like this is as thin as they can go. We’ve seen a lot of Apple’s new base silicon designs, but I’m still most excited to see the next M-series of Pro models…