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- Monday January 27
- 03:23 pmApple Sports now includes broadcast info for where to watch national games
Apple has released a new version of its Sports app for iPhone with three new features. more…03:14 pmDynamic new Black Unity Collection celebrates Black History Month
Apple's new 2025 Black Unity Collection celebrates Black History Month with some cool color-shifting technology. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)03:05 pmApple unveils 2025 ‘Black Unity Collection’
Apple on Monday unveiled a new Black Unity Collection which includes a special-edition Apple Watch Black Unity Sport Loop, a matching… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.02:57 pmBeyond the iPhone 17 Air, would you accept a portless phone to go thinner? [Poll]
We’re expecting the iPhone 17 Air to be Apple’s thinnest ever phone, but with the depth of phones now constrained by the USB-C port, would you go portless to get a thinner iPhone? Chinese Android smartphone maker Oppo has been teasing an ultra-thin model, and saying that the height of the USB-C port is preventing phones from getting any slimmer … more…02:51 pmThis MacBook Pro was too busted for even AppleCare+ to repair
Macworld Customers often debate whether it’s worth getting AppleCare+ coverage for their Apple products. This represents a substantial additional cost, but in the event that your device suffers accidental damage, the policy will cover most of the cost of repairs. On balance our advice tends to be that taking out third-party insurance instead, or simply saving your money, using a case and being careful, is a better option. But it’s really a personal decision. Your decision may, however, be influenced by a case that surfaced on social media recently. A Redditor going by “frk1974” (possibly not their real name) says they were involved in a serious car accident in which their MacBook Pro was severely damaged: an accompanying photo shows a machine that is catastrophically bent and buckled. Worse still, when they went to Apple to ask for this to be covered by AppleCare+, they were told that it could not be replaced because it was “too damaged.” Needless to say, frk1974 was displeased by this decision, describing it as a “sad story” and “money wasted.” It does seem odd since the entire purpose of taking out AppleCare+ coverage is to guard against accidental damage. Damage such as this, one would imagine. I’ve just looked through the terms and conditions [pdf] for current AppleCare+ policies, and be warned that it’s 17 pages long; for this reason, as well as my lack of legal expertise, please don’t take my analysis as watertight. (It’s also possible that the Redditor has left out important aspects of the case, or is misreporting Apple’s actions and/or statements.) But while I can see a few reasons why Apple may have made this decision, none fit with the description “too damaged.” In the T&Cs, there is a list of 14 exclusions: circumstances under which Apple will not cover accidental damage. And of these, I think two could apply here. (d) To repair damage caused by reckless, abusive, willful or intentional conduct, or any use of the Covered Equipment in a manner not normal or intended by Apple: Being involved in a car accident where the Redditor acknowledges they were at fault (“I was the driver that caused the accident”) could potentially be argued to be reckless conduct, and certainly wouldn’t be intended usage. (k) To repair damage caused by fire, earthquake or other external causes: It doesn’t appear that the accident caused any fire damage, but perhaps that vague phrase “other external causes” could be argued to include major accidents like this. But the Redditor describes the conversation differently: “[They] immediately pointed me to a paragraph in the [AppleCare+] terms where they state: folded and crushed devices are not covered… This is not advertised at all of course, but it’s there.” I’ve run a search for the words “folded” and “crushed” and can’t see them anywhere in the T&Cs I’m looking at. Perhaps this means the Redditor signed up at an earlier date and consequently has a different set of conditions. Or perhaps they, or the member of staff they spoke to, became confused at some point in the conversation. AppleCare+ for Mac costs $299 for three years of coverage and is supposed to cost $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage or $299 for other accidental damage. Apple also sells AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss but only for iPhones. Nevertheless, it seems that we should update our advice to say that you should carefully check the terms of your AppleCare+ policy to see if unusual situations like this are covered. And be prepared to, as one commenter suggests, “take a hammer and make it straighter.”02:46 pm25 years of Apple's innovation in selling technology
To celebrate the arrival of 2025, I decided to compile a series of Apple's top ten major areas of innovation occurring over the past 25 years. Some of these revolutions are overlooked when looking back at the company's dramatic turnaround and decades of introducing world-changing products.2025 - 25 years of Apple InnovationsFollowing the Year 2000 release of Mac OS X Public Beta and its legacy of updates up to and including today's macOS 15 Sequoia (and its successor to arrive later this year), here's a look at Apple's second major initiative of innovation, both in the sequence of time and in relative importance across the last quarter century, and what it means for Apple today.This second facet is Apple's unfolding strategies in selling the technology it had assembled into products and services to its customers. It's been an unparalleled accomplishment of the company over the past 25 years, and an integral element in Apple's incredible success as a global innovator. Further, it's actually resulted in making Apple's products better. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums02:43 pmApple's Black Unity Apple Watch band uses a color-changing loop effect
Apple has launched its 2025 edition of the Black Unity Sport Loop for Apple Watch and device wallpapers, as the company once again honors Black History Month.The Black Unity collection for 2025Apple marks Black History Month every year with an Apple Watch band made for the occasion. While 2024 involved a flower motif and a mosaic pattern was used for 2023, the 2025 effort employs a line and handwriting-based design.The new Black Unity Collection is inspired by "the rhythm of humanity," with the collection officially referred to as Unity Rhythm. A collaboration of Black creatives and allies worked on the design, which uses the black, green, and red colors of the Pan-African flag. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums02:34 pmShould you upgrade to Matter, security system discussion, & Tonie Box review on HomeKit Insider | AppleInsiderShould you upgrade to Matter, security system discussion, & Tonie Box review on HomeKit Insider
On this episode of the HomeKit Insider Podcast, we step through the week's news, revisit the question whether to upgrade to Matter, and go hands-on with a kids smart speaker.HomeKit Insider PodcastIt was a busy week in the world of smart home, with a lot of news to catch up on. We started by revisiting the Schlage Sense Pro that has since confirmed it will support Aliro later this year.Another report has emerged on the timeline for Apple's smart home display. Bloomberg is saying it will be released late this year, which lines up with Kuo's prediction based on supply chain analysis. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums02:30 pmTrain for multiple IT certifications with this $40 bundle
Grab this Complete CompTIA and IT Exam Lifetime Access Training Bundle for just $39.97 and dive into IT certification courses. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)02:24 pmApple published a new Press Release
Apple just published a new Press Release:Apple introduces the 2025 Black Unity Collection02:15 pmApple unveils beautiful 2025 Black Unity Collection Sport Loop, watch face, and iPhone/iPad wallpapers | 9 to 5 MacApple unveils beautiful 2025 Black Unity Collection Sport Loop, watch face, and iPhone/iPad wallpapers
In honor of Black History Month, Apple has unveiled its 2025 Black Unity Collection of wallpapers, watch faces, and watch straps. This year’s set is “inspired by the rhythm of humanity,” according to Apple: more…02:00 pmWall St set to open sharply lower on news of China’s ‘DeepSeek’ AI
Wall Street was poised for a decline, triggered by the increasing popularity of an affordable Chinese AI model called "DeepSeek." The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.01:59 pmJudge limits FBI powers to trawl data from Apple and others; Cloudflare privacy flaw
A judge has limited FBI powers to trawl through data obtained from tech giants like Apple, Google, and ISPs under FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). Separately, a Cloudflare privacy flaw has been identified in one of Apple’s IT service providers, which could have exposed the rough location of millions of web and app users before it was fixed … more…01:53 pmMullvad review: A VPN that’s all about privacy
Macworld At a GlanceExpert's Rating Pros Privacy-focused sign-up Great for getting around geoblocks Great pricing Cons Needs more servers 5 connections is lower than some rivals Our Verdict Mullvad’s VPN is making waves in the tech world, and not just because it’s very good. While many VPN services are great for maintaining privacy online, Mullvad goes even further, offering a low-priced, easy-to-understand plan that lets you sign up entirely anonymously if you’d like. Pair that with good speeds and great unblocking of streaming sites and you have a very competitive VPN that just needs some more servers. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Retailer Price Mullvad $5.26 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Price When Reviewed$5.26 a month (€5) Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Mullvad $5.26 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Mullvad is so keen to not store users’ personal information, it doesn’t offer new recurring plans anymore. That’s the kind of privacy-first mindset you can expect, and while you may think that sounds like overkill, your account information is tied to a single account number. That means logging into your account is done without having to hand over an email or password, and payments are handled monthly at that flat €5 per month rolling deal (so the only price change will be dependent on the exchange rate at that time). You can even buy prepaid cards if you don’t want to log payment information, which makes Mullvad the ideal VPN service for anyone looking to leave a minimal digital footprint. See how Mullvad compares to other Mac VPNs we’ve tested. For that lower price you may be wondering what kind of corners are cut, but you won’t find any (outside of more servers). Split Tunnelling, multihop connections and even an AI-focused defence mechanism called DAITA are included in your membership. It also performed excellently when we hopped between different countries’ versions of Netflix. The app itself is a little different to many rivals, accessed exclusively from the menu bar on Mac rather than having that as an option. That’s likely to be a matter of preference, but the privacy focus, geo-unblocking and low price make this well worth a look. Features & Apps Content Blockers: Mullvad has a more granular filter for content blocking than some other services.Foundry Mullvad is available on Mac (which we’ll be reviewing primarily today), but it also has Windows, iOS, iPadOS, Android, and plenty more apps. See our round ups of the Best VPN for iPad and Best VPN for iPhone. They all work the same way, but the Mac version is restricted to the menu bar as mentioned above. That’s fine (outside of making snapping screenshots for this review a tad awkward), and it packs plenty of features inside. iOS App: The iOS app looks identical to the Mac version.Foundry Once you get your head around that, all versions of the app contribute to a total device limit of five. We’d always prefer more, but for this price that’s €1 per device if you use them all. Unlike some services, the iPhone and iPad apps also pack plenty of power user features, too, like multihop connections and the DAITA protection. Sticking with the Mac version, though, and Mullvad offers a bunch of features that would be paid additions elsewhere. There’s the Kill Switch to cut traffic if the VPN drops, while a Lockdown Mode takes that step further and forces the user to reconnect via Mullvad if the connection drops. There’s Multihop for bouncing your connection via multiple servers, and split tunnelling is available as standard so users can send some traffic via the VPN and ignore it for others, and the ad blocker is more granular than you may expect, letting you stop adult content or gambling sites, among other things. DAITA: Mullvad is forward-thinking with its DAITA tool.Foundry Something I’ve not seen in my testing of VPN services in recent months is DAITA (Defence against AI-guided Traffic Analysis). As Mullvad explains, sophisticated AI can analyse data packets going to and from your device, even though that information is encrypted. DAITA isn’t supported on every server, but where it is, it’ll add ‘network noise’ so data packets are all the same size. It’s a smart addition which feels particularly forward-thinking, and works with WireGuard at present. Speaking of which, WireGuard and OpenVPN are the supported VPN protocols here. Performance Multihop: Mullvad lets you further obfuscate traffic with multihop.Foundry I’ve alluded to server counts a couple of times, and that’s the main drawback of Mullvad at present. It has almost 700 servers, which is still impressive but falls behind some of the biggest names in the game. For example, NordVPN has over 7,000 worldwide, but some are ‘virtual servers’ that aren’t always where they say they are, whereas Mullvad’s are at least all real, dedicated servers. Mullvad also rivals the big names when it comes to getting around geoblocks. Netflix was entirely open in our testing, letting me switch between content libraries with ease. While the likes of Nord offer the same functionality, they’re much more expensive. Still, a VPN isn’t worth its salt unless it’s relatively fast, even as traffic bounces around the globe, so what are the speeds like? In short: good! Download speeds dropped by between 11 and 15 percent in our testing, while upload speeds dropped by less than 9 percent. That’s really quite impressive, especially at this price and with such a focus on privacy. There are some minor nitpicks, though — I’d like to see latency noted before connecting, for example, but that’s a small issue. Privacy & Security As I’ve kept mentioning throughout this review, Mullvad has one eye on privacy at all times. The company is based in Sweden, and runs a no-logs policy where it doesn’t save any user information. Mullvad has been audited multiple times to verify that policy, but given it won’t even store your email address or payment information, it’s hard not to be impressed. Price – Every single plan for Mullvad will set you back €5 a month, or your equivalent (that’s $5.26 or £4.20 at the time of writing). That’s a big step in the right direction, with no complex add-ons or power features tied behind a paywall. Pricing and plans As mentioned earlier, all of this comes in at just €5 a month. That’s a steep drop compared to many of its rivals which charge around double that and lock you in for one or two years. On the one hand, there’s an argument that you’re not getting a cheap monthly rate as with its competitors, but on the other hand you’re able to pick and choose when you subscribe without being tied into lengthy plans to secure those rates. Should you buy Mullvad VPN? Mullvad is a fantastic VPN service that’s about as privacy-minded as can be. It might not have the most servers, but that’s a small price to pay for the service on offer.01:11 pmChina’s DeepSeek hits #1 on App Store, shocks AI researchers, sends US tech shares tumbling | 9 to 5 MacChina’s DeepSeek hits #1 on App Store, shocks AI researchers, sends US tech shares tumbling
China’s DeepSeek – an AI chatbot intended to rival ChatGPT – is currently the number one download in the App Store, after its performance took US companies by surprise. The Chinese startup appears to be rivalling the performance of OpenAI’s ChatGPT despite having cost far less to develop, and that’s hitting the market valuations of major US AI players … more…01:05 pmApple Watch crucial to rescue of skiers who fell 1,000 feet down a mountain
The Apple Watch helped save the lives of injured skiers in Washington after falling approximately 1,000 feet down a mountain, thanks to an SOS alert.A helicopter's view of a mountain rescue - Image Credit: King County Sheriff Air SupportOn Wednesday, the Chelan County Sheriff's Office in Washington were informed of an Apple Watch SOS alert. The notification from Apple's wearable came from a skier located near Steven's Pass, a popular ski resort.Rescuers didn't have much information to go on, except that a skier had fallen on the mountain, and had injured a leg. The skier reportedly fell approximately 1,000 foot in their accident, reports Fox Weather. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums01:00 pmThe Stargate Project: A Real-Life Skynet in the Making?
Rob Enderle examines the Stargate project's risks and rewards. Could this AGI initiative redefine the future of artificial intelligence and humanity? The post appeared first on TechNewsWorld.12:30 pmM. Night Shyamalan beats $81 million plagiarism accusation over 'Servant'
Director M. Night Shyamalan and writer/creator Tony Basgallop have defeated a lawsuit alleging that their "Servant" series on Apple TV+ stole ideas from a previous film.Apple TV+ show 'Servant.' Image source: AppleThe lawsuit was brought by filmmaker Francesca Gregorini in January 2020, although the case was initially dismissed. On appeal, it was allowed to proceed with its accusation that "Servant" stole the plot and aped certain creative choices in the 2013 movie "The Truth About Emanuel."Following a seven-day trial by jury, however, The Independent reports that the federal judge overseeing the case has ruled in favor of "Servant." The jury had been shown the film plus the first three episodes of the series at the start of the trial. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums12:25 pmLeakers clash on whether iPhone SE 4 will have notch or Dynamic Island
One of the big questions about the upcoming iPhone SE 4 is whether the display will have a notch or Dynamic Island. Two leakers have presented clashing views on this, with the latest dummy models appearing to support the notch. The dummy models also give us our clearest view yet of what the new entry-level iPhone may look like, with high-quality photos, and a video … more…12:20 pmLooking back at 15 years of the iPad, Apple's revolutionary tablet
Announced on January 27, 2010, the iPad wasn't really an iPhone and not quite a Mac. The latest iPads blend the best of both worlds — and that's now been an evolution a decade and a half in the making.Apple's iPad Pro with Magic KeyboardWith trackpad support, revamped file systems, and no shortage of computing power, the latest iPad Pro lineup consists of serious competitors in usability for nearly every task to any hybrid or touchscreen notebooks out there. It hasn't always been that way, though. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums