It's been a busy week for Apple, with new products announced on Tuesday and Wednesday. We're now caught up on what's been rumored for a spring launch, so we thought we'd recap everything Apple came out with this week.

iPad Air

Apple updated the iPad Air on Tuesday, updating it with the new M3 chip. The ‌iPad Air‌ still comes in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, but there were no design changes and few other new features.


The 3nm M3 chip has an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU, an improvement over the 5nm M2 chip. It's faster and more efficient, with some modest performance gains. The chip supports hardware accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, so you'll be able to play console quality games on the ‌iPad Air‌.

Apple also debuted a new Magic Keyboard for ‌iPad Air‌ to go along with the M3 ‌iPad Air‌. It has a larger trackpad and a row of function keys, and it connects to the ‌iPad Air‌ magnetically, receiving power through the Smart Connector. The ‌iPad Air‌ works with the Apple Pencil Pro, much like the prior model.

iPad

The low-cost iPad was also updated, and it got an A16 chip instead of the A14 chip. The A16 chip decision was a bit of a surprise because some rumors said it would get an A17 Pro for Apple Intelligence support, but that didn't happen. If you get Apple's cheapest ‌iPad‌, which starts at $349, you won't get ‌Apple Intelligence‌.


The A16 in the ‌iPad‌ has a 5-core CPU and 4-core GPU, along with a 16-core Neural Engine.

Apple says the new ‌iPad‌ has an 11-inch display, while the prior model had a 10.9-inch display, but there haven't been any changes to the display size, in fact. Apple is just rounding differently.

MacBook Air

Apple updated the MacBook Air with the M4 chip and a new light blue color that replaces the space gray color, but there are no other changes.


The M4 ‌MacBook Air‌ starts with a 10-core CPU an 8-core GPU, but there is a 10-core GPU option. It supports up to 32GB RAM instead of 24GB like the prior model, and memory bandwidth is 120GB/s, up from 100GB/s.

Apple also added an updated 12-megapixel front-facing camera with Center Stage support, which will be a major improvement over the prior 1080p FaceTime camera. Like other M4 Macs, the ‌MacBook Air‌ supports two 6K external displays (so two Studio Displays), and clamshell mode isn't needed for it.

Mac Studio

The Mac Studio might be Apple's most exciting announcement, not because there were design changes, but because it's got the only all-new chip we haven't seen before.


Apple is offering the ‌Mac Studio‌ with the M4 Max chip, which was previously unveiled in the MacBook Pro, but there's also an M3 Ultra variant. The M3 Ultra chip is two M3 Max chips linked together for faster performance.

It has up to a 32-core CPU and an 80-core GPU, along with a 32-core Neural Engine and 819GB/s memory bandwidth. It's Apple's most advanced Mac to date. It supports up to 512GB unified memory, and 16TB of storage. If you spec it out with the maximum feature set, it's going to cost you over $14,000.

Launch Dates

You can pre-order all of Apple's new iPads and Macs this week, and a launch is set for March 12. Some custom configurations will take longer to ship.

Is Apple Done?

Unless Apple has a surprise in store that we're not anticipating, launch week has come to an end. We haven't heard rumors about any other products due for a spring refresh, but later this year, we're expecting Apple to launch a new smart home hub, a refreshed Apple TV, new Macs with M5 chips, the AirTag 2, a new HomePod mini, AirPods Pro 3, new iPhone 17 models, new Apple Watch models, and possibly even another Vision Pro.

Our next major round of announcements will come at WWDC with the unveiling of iOS 19 and macOS 16.
This article, "Everything Apple Announced This Week" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today updated its Shazam app, improving the syncing feature for adding songs identified with Shazam to music apps like Apple Music and Spotify.


According to the release notes for the new 18.9 update, Shazam will include songs recognized with the Music Recognition feature on the iPhone and iPad to the dedicated My Shazam Tracks playlist that's available for Spotify and ‌Apple Music‌ users.

Prior to now, songs identified manually with the Shazam app were added to this list, but songs recognized using the built-in Control Center option were not included.

We've made syncing songs to Apple Music and Spotify better than ever! Shazam will now include songs found via Music Recognition in Control Centre, Siri, and Shortcuts to your "My Shazam Tracks" playlist in Apple Music or Spotify.

Simply toggle "Sync your songs" off and on in Shazam settings to re-sync all your previously discovered songs from the Shazam app. You may need to reopen Spotify to see the playlist refreshed

Don't forget to keep your Shazam History safe and in sync between your devices. To do this, turn on iCloud sync in Shazam Settings.

To update songs that are synced, Apple says that users should toggle "Sync your songs" off and on in the Shazam app settings, a move that will re-sync all previously discovered songs.

Shazam can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
This article, "Apple's Shazam App Gets Better Integration With Spotify and Apple Music" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Tapbots, known for the now-defunct Tweetbot app, is planning to release a new app for the Bluesky social network later this year.


Called Phoenix, the app will be developed for iPhone and Mac in tandem with Ivory, the app that Tapbots created for the Mastodon social network. Tapbots says that Bluesky has become so popular that its clients are now split between Mastodon and Bluesky, and it is no longer possible for the company to survive on Ivory alone.

Tapbots does not plan to stop development on Ivory, and work on the Mastodon app will continue after Phoenix is released. The two apps will share features, but will be separate. Tapbots says that it made more sense to develop two separate apps than to create a single combo app to provide a better customer experience, but cross-platform posting is a feature planned for the future.

After Twitter (now X) stopped supporting third-party platforms like Tweetbot, Tapbots pivoted to Ivory, an ‌iPhone‌ and Mac app designed for posting on the Mastodon social network. Both Mastodon and Bluesky are popular alternatives to Twitter/X.

Tapbots plans to release Phoenix sometime this summer, with a limited public alpha coming in the near future. More information is available on the Tapbots website.
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Apple introduced a new sky blue shade for the M4 MacBook Air models, with the color replacing the previous space gray color option that Apple offered.


For the ‌MacBook Air‌ models, Apple makes color-matched MagSafe cables to ship along with them, and there is a new sky blue variant available as of today, which can be purchased standalone.

The USB-C to ‌MagSafe‌ 3 cable is two meters in length and it allows the ‌MacBook Air‌ to be charged using ‌MagSafe‌ rather than USB-C. ‌MagSafe‌ has the benefit of being magnetic, so if someone trips on your cord, it'll pull out rather than send the machine crashing to the ground.

If you're purchasing a new ‌MacBook Air‌ model, it comes with an included ‌MagSafe‌ cable, so you only need to get this one if you need a second cable or want a different color. Apple also sells it in space gray, midnight, starlight, space black, and silver.

The USB-C to ‌MagSafe‌ 3 cable is priced at $49.
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The new M4 MacBook Air models that Apple announced today are a better deal than ever, with pricing that starts at $999. That's $100 less than the previous $1,099 starting price for the prior-generation M3 ‌MacBook Air‌ models.


Before today, Apple sold the M3 ‌MacBook Air‌ starting at $1,099, and the prior-generation M2 ‌MacBook Air‌ starting at $999, but both of those models have been discontinued and now Apple only has the M4 ‌MacBook Air‌ models available. Here are the base configurations and price points.

13-inch model:

• $999 - 10-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD.


• $1,199 - 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD.


• $1,399 - 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD.

15-inch model:

• $1,199 - 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD.


• $1,399 - 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD.


• $1,599 - 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD.

As noted in the pricing above, while $999 is the starting price for the 13-inch model, the next move up to the 13-inch model with a 10-core GPU is priced at $1,199, with no $1,099 model available for purchase. The 15-inch model continues to start at $1,199, the same as the M3 version, and there is no version with an 8-core GPU available.

The base ‌MacBook Air‌ models that Apple offers can be customized with upgraded memory and SSD storage, with up to 32GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage as options.

Pre-orders for the ‌MacBook Air‌ models are available starting today, with a launch to follow on March 12.
This article, "Apple's M4 MacBook Air Got a Price Cut" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The second beta of iOS 18.4 expands RCS messaging support to more carriers in the United States and other countries, according to multiple reports on Reddit, the MacRumors forums, and other social media sites.


After installing iOS 18.4, iPhone users with Mint Mobile, Google Fi, Ultra Mobile, Tello, and US Mobile are able to toggle on RCS messaging, and the functionality appears to be rolling out for all T-Mobile Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs).

‌iPhone‌ users with a T-Mobile MVNO can be enabled through the Messages section of the Settings app. It appears that ‌RCS‌ access is only available for those running the second iOS 18.4 developer beta, not the public beta.

In France, Orange and Sosh also have ‌RCS‌ available with iOS 18.4 beta 2, according to iPhoneSoft, so ‌RCS‌ may also be rolling out worldwide for other carriers.

‌RCS‌ was enabled for major carriers with the launch of iOS 18, and it stands for Rich Communication Services. ‌RCS‌ is a communication protocol that improves messaging between ‌iPhone‌ and Android users, offering support for higher resolution photos and videos, larger file sizes, audio messages, Wi-Fi messaging, real-time typing indicators, read receipts, and more.
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In the latest beta of tvOS 18.4, there are new hints of Apple's work on a smart home hub accessory that's rumored to be coming as soon as this year. MacRumors found that Apple has added ChatKit framework to the tvOS code, which is curious as there is no Messages app available on the Apple TV or the HomePod.


The ChatKit framework added to tvOS 18.4 includes reactions and notifications for tapback reactions added to iMessages, like "[person] disliked this" or [person] reacted with [emoji]," which would not be applicable to Apple's current devices that run tvOS.

Both the ‌Apple TV‌ and the ‌HomePod‌ are built on tvOS, and the upcoming smart home hub will be as well. While the ‌Apple TV‌ and ‌HomePod‌ would not work with the ChatKit code features added to tvOS 18.4, Apple's home accessory likely will.

The smart home "command center" that Apple is developing is expected to have built-in Apple apps, and it's possible that one of those apps will include Messages.

It is worth noting that there is a shared codebase for tvOS and iOS, so this addition could mean nothing, but these ChatKit features were already included in iOS and have just been added to tvOS with the tvOS 18.4 beta.

Apple's upcoming device will serve as a central hub for smart home management, but it will also support video calls, viewing photos, browsing the web, listening to music, getting news, and more. It is said to look something like an iPad with an all-display design, but it will be smaller, coming in at only six inches square.

Users will likely be able to set it on a table or mount it on a wall, and the expectation is that there would be multiples throughout the house. It will include some sensors for features like sensing the temperature or detecting nearby people.

There is no concrete word on when Apple's smart home hub will launch, but it could come in the second or third quarter of 2025.
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Assassins's Creed Shadows is set to be released for the Mac on Thursday, March 20, Apple announced today. The game will launch on Mac at the same time as it is released for PlayStation 5, Windows machines, and the Xbox.


Ubisoft first announced plans to bring the game to the Mac in May 2024, and at that time, it was supposed to be released in November. The game has been delayed multiple times since then, but it seems it will finally be ready to go later this year.

Set in 16th century Japan, the action roleplaying game is part of the main Assassin's Creed gaming lineup, and it is the successor to Assassin's Creed Mirage. The game focuses on the dispute between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order, and players can take on the role of Fujibayashi Naoe, a shinobi assassin, or Yasuke, a samurai.

Each character offers different controls and gameplay styles, with separate progression paths, skills, weapon options, and stats. While Naoe uses stealth skills, Yasuke excels at combat.

The game has a vast open world to explore, and players will experience a variety of landscapes with evolving weather and seasons. There are castle towns, bustling ports, pastoral landscapes, and peaceful shrines.

Ubisoft executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté said that Assassin's Creed Shadows is his team's "most ambitious" game to date.

Playing Assassin's Creed Shadows on an Apple device requires a Mac with an Apple silicon chip, with real-time ray tracing available on M3 and M4 Macs. Ubisoft also plans to bring it to iPads with M-series chips.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is priced at $70 and it can be pre-ordered from the Mac App Store ahead of its March 20 release.
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Apple today seeded the second public betas of upcoming iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 updates, allowing public beta testers to try out the new features in the software ahead of its public launch. The public betas come a day after Apple provided the beta updates to developers.


Public beta testers can download the updates from the Settings app on each device after opting into the beta through Apple's public beta testing website.

The new software for iPhone and iPad includes Priority Notifications, an Apple Intelligence feature designed to show you your most important notifications first, plus it adds a new Sketch style for Image Playground on all ‌Apple Intelligence‌ devices.

There is a new Apple News+ Food section for ‌Apple News‌+ subscribers that aggregates recipes, food stories, and tips for healthy eating, plus an Ambient Music feature for playing chill music from Control Center. On the ‌iPad‌ and Mac, the new updates introduce Mail Categorization, a feature that was previously limited to the ‌iPhone‌.

In beta 2, Apple added new emoji characters and debuted the Vision Pro app for ‌iPhone‌. The update also brings Visual Intelligence to the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

An outline of all of the new features in iOS 18.4 can be found in our iOS 18.4 features guide.
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Apple today filed a legal complaint with the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal in an attempt to quash the UK government's demand for backdoor access to encrypted data, reports Financial Times.


Earlier this year, the UK government ordered Apple to give it secret access to encrypted user data uploaded to iCloud worldwide, through the creation of a backdoor. The UK used its Investigatory Powers Act to justify the demand, but Apple has not complied.

Instead, Apple removed Advanced Data Protection from the UK so that it would not have to provide the government with access to encrypted data. Advanced Data Protection is designed to provide end-to-end encryption to iPhone, iPad, and Mac users for data stored in ‌iCloud‌.

Apple will undoubtedly fight the UK every step of the way in order to protect user privacy, and the legal challenge that the company filed today could be heard as soon as this month. Apple is not able to discuss the order made by the UK in public due to the terms of the law, so the court case could be heard without public notice.

Apple previously made it clear that it would pull ‌iCloud‌ features from the UK rather than compromise its user security, and while that only extends to Advanced Data Protection right now, it could lead to key features like FaceTime and iMessage being removed in the country. The UK wants backdoor access to ‌iCloud‌ data to fight terrorism and investigate child sex abuse.

Apple fights vehemently against calls for backdoor access to user data, which we saw in 2016 when the U.S. government demanded that Apple unlock the ‌iPhone‌ of a shooter in San Bernardino, California. That led to a long legal battle that did not see Apple compromise its security. The U.S. has lately reversed course on encryption, and has been promoting end-to-end encryption for mobile devices to protect against foreign cyber campaigns.

The U.S. government is now looking into whether the UK's demand has violated the CLOUD act, which keeps the UK from asking for data from U.S. citizens, and vice versa.
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An updated version of the Mac Studio could launch as soon as this week, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The new machine is expected to be equipped with the M4 Max chip that we first saw in the 2024 MacBook Pro models, but Apple apparently does not have an M4 Ultra chip ready to go.


Instead, there could be a version of the ‌Mac Studio‌ that uses an M3 Ultra chip. Apple didn't release an M3 Ultra chip alongside the M3 chip lineup, so it would be a new chip even though it's not part of the current M4 family. The current ‌Mac Studio‌ has an M2 Ultra chip, as does the Mac Pro.

Apple's "Ultra" chips have historically been two of the "Max" chips linked together, but the M3 Max does not have the UltraFusion interconnect feature that allows the Max chips to be doubled up. The M3 Ultra would likely be a standalone chip that is a departure from the prior Ultra chips that Apple has come out with.

As the M3 Ultra is not likely to be a doubled up M3 Max chip, it's not entirely clear what we can expect in terms of performance, but Apple has more flexibility to tweak processor cores and add additional GPU power. Gurman suggests that Apple might opt to go with an M3 Ultra in the ‌Mac Studio‌ in order to distinguish it from a ‌Mac Pro‌ with a future M4 Ultra chip.

Gurman has faced some difficulty predicting the ‌Mac Studio‌'s launch timeline, perhaps due to Apple's shifting plans. Last year, he said the ‌Mac Studio‌ would come out in mid-2025 around WWDC. He later said that the timing would place it after the MacBook Air, a machine that he suggested would launch before the iPhone 16e and the new iPad Air.

Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased new product launches with a "There's something in the air" graphic on social media, and Apple has so far updated the ‌iPad Air‌ and the low-cost iPad. The ‌MacBook Air‌ is also rumored to be getting a refresh this week, and now we may also get the ‌Mac Studio‌ even though it doesn't have "Air" in the name.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook teased a new product announcement this week, sharing a short video that says "there's something in the Air." Based on the "Air" wording and the timing of the launch, it sounds like we're going to get new M4 MacBook Air models.

Design

Apple will continue to offer the ‌MacBook Air‌ in two sizes, including 13 inches and 15 inches. We are not expecting notable design updates, and there have been no rumors of a new look.


The upcoming M4 ‌MacBook Air‌ models will likely look identical to the current models, as Apple does not refresh the design of the machines super often. The last ‌MacBook Air‌ design refresh came in 2022, so it's only been three years.

Display

Apple uses mini-LED display technology for the MacBook Pro, but that's likely to stay a premium feature. We're expecting the ‌MacBook Air‌ to continue to use the same Liquid Retina Display technology (aka LED) as the current model.

With the recent ‌MacBook Pro‌ refresh, Apple added a nano-texture matte display upgrade option. It's possible we could see the same option offered for the ‌MacBook Air‌, but it's no guarantee because that also might remain a premium option.

M4 Chip

We've already seen the M4 chip in multiple products, including the ‌MacBook Pro‌, iMac, iPad Pro, and Mac mini, so it won't be a surprise when it's added to the ‌MacBook Air‌.


The M4 chip has up to a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, along with a 16-core Neural Engine. It's built on TSMC's upgraded 3-nanometer process, and was designed with Apple Intelligence in mind. The M4 will outperform the M3 chip, but it won't be a shocking upgrade. We can expect modest improvements in CPU and GPU, with improvements up to 25 percent.

RAM

The ‌MacBook Air‌'s RAM now starts at 16GB instead of 8GB, a change that Apple made last year. We aren't expecting any changes here, and the new ‌MacBook Air‌ machines will also start with 16GB RAM.

Battery Life

With the efficiency improvements brought by the M4 chip, the ‌MacBook Air‌ could see battery life gains. The 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro, for example, lasts for up to 24 hours when streaming video or 16 hours when browsing the web.

FaceTime Camera

Apple updated the ‌MacBook Pro‌ with a 12-megapixel front-facing camera, and it's possible we'll get the same update with the ‌MacBook Air‌. The camera supports Center Stage, a feature for FaceTime and other video apps that is designed to keep you centered in a video chat even as you move around the room.

The camera will also likely support Desk View, which provides an overhead view of your desk so you can do demonstrations.

Thunderbolt Ports

Current ‌MacBook Air‌ models have two Thunderbolt 3 ports, but the next-generation models could get three Thunderbolt 4 ports, which would be an upgrade for both speed and connectivity.

The new ‌MacBook Pro‌ models support up to two external displays when the device's lid is open, and the ‌MacBook Air‌ should have the same specifications.

Pricing

The M3 ‌MacBook Air‌ is priced starting at $1,099, and there are no pricing changes rumored.

M2 MacBook Air Discontinuation

Apple still sells a ‌MacBook Air‌ with an M2 chip, and it's priced starting at $999. It's possible the ‌M2‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ will get discontinued with an M3 ‌MacBook Air‌ taking its place, though Apple could opt to keep the ‌M2‌ model around if upgrading to M3 chips would make the machine too expensive.

Other "Air" Products?

It's the M4 ‌MacBook Air‌ that's ready to launch imminently, but Apple could also surprise us. There are, after all, multiple Apple products with "Air" in the name, some of which are due for an update.

The iPad Air is set to be updated this spring, for example, and the AirTags are going to get a refresh at some point in 2025.

Apple's Announcement

Apple doesn't seem to be planning for a spring event this year, and the iPhone 16e was announced via press release and accompanying videos. We're expecting the same release procedure for the ‌MacBook Air‌, with the device set to come out as soon as tomorrow.
This article, "New MacBook Air Coming This Week: What to Expect" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iFixit today shared one of its traditional teardown videos, taking apart the new iPhone 16e to take a closer look at the internal components.


The ‌iPhone 16e‌ has the same quick release battery adhesive as the other iPhone 16 models, with the battery adhesive able to be released using a low-voltage electrical charge.

An earlier teardown revealed a 15.55 Wh battery inside the ‌iPhone 16e‌, which is bigger than the 13.83 Wh battery. iFixit says that Apple was able to place a larger battery in the ‌iPhone 16e‌ because there is additional space that's available thanks to the single-lens rear-camera.

iFixit's teardown gives us our closest look yet at Apple's new C1 modem. It's on the underside of the RF board, and has the same package structure as the Qualcomm X71M modem, with a 4nm modem and DRAM. The 7nm transceivers are not located in the same package as the modem.

iFixit was not impressed with some of the design decisions that Apple made, due to the repair difficulty. To get to the USB-C port, for example, all of the internal components of the device need to be removed. Still, iFixit said that the ‌iPhone 16e‌ makes some progress toward repairability thanks to the rollback of parts pairing in iOS and small changes like a metal bracket that protects a flex cable from being sliced when opening up the device.
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