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This week’s top stories: AirPods Max officially announced, Apple Fitness+ launch date, more

Chance Miller | Dec 13 2020 - 1:45 pm PT

In this week’s top stories: Apple officially announces AirPods Max, Apple Fitness+ gets a release date, Apple surveys iPhone 12 users, and more. Read on for all of this week’s top stories.

AirPods Max

Apple this week officially announced its new AirPods Max, bringing a higher-end over-ear headphone option to the AirPods lineup. The AirPods Max feature a stainless steel design and they come in at $549 — but they’re already back ordered until into 2021.

AirPods Max up to 20 hours of high-fidelity audio, talk time, or movie playback with Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio enabled. There is also support for head detection, so AirPods Max can intelligently detect when they are placed on a user’s head and pause playback when removed.

You can learn more about AirPods Max in our full coverage right here.

Apple Fitness+

Apple Fitness+ will launch to the public on December 14, Apple announced this week. Apple Fitness+ will cost $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year. It is also included in the Apple One Premier bundle for $30 per month.

Apple Fitness+ will be located inside the Fitness app on the iPhone, running iOS 14. You can also get the workouts on the Apple Watch, and Apple is also launching a Fitness app for the Apple TV. For the initial launch, Apple Fitness+ is available in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Apple Silicon rumors

A new report from Bloomberg this week described that Apple is working on successors to the M1 with up to 20 CPU cores, made up of 16 high performance and 4-efficiency cores. In 2021, the company is expected to roll out ARM versions of the higher-end MacBook Pro, “both entry-level and high-end iMac desktops”. An ARM Mac Pro is scheduled to follow in 2022.

Find more details in our full coverage.

Holiday buying guides

Finally, we continue to offer holiday gift guides and buying guides at 9to5Mac. So far we’ve offered detailed advice on Apple Watch gifts, AirPods vs AirPods Pro, and more.

These and the rest of this week’s top stories below.

iOS | tvOS |

iPhone |

Apple Watch |

Mac and iPad |

AirPods|

Apps |

This week’s top videos |

9to5Mac Daily |

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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iOS 26.4.1 released, more – 9to5Mac Daily

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. Sponsored by Backblaze: Backup you can rely on. Save 20% with code 9to5daily. New episodes of 9to5Mac Daily are recorded every weekday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are delivered as soon as they’re available. Stories discussed in this episode: iOS 26.4.1 now available for iPhone users, here's what's fixed iOS 26.4.1 fixes iPhone bug that stopped iCloud data from syncing, including Apple Passwords iOS 26.4.1 enables Stolen Device Protection by default for enterprise iPhones accounted for 5 of the 10 best-selling smartphones in Q4 2025 Apple very cautious about iPhone Ultra sales; Samsung wins concession Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Overcast RSS Spotify TuneIn Google Podcasts Subscribe to support Chance directly with 9to5Mac Daily Plus and unlock: Ad-free versions of every episode Bonus content Catch up on 9to5Mac Daily episodes! Share your thoughts! Drop us a line at happyhour@9to5mac.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.

9to5Mac Watch Time |

Jeff Benjamin joins Zac Hall to give Apple Watch Series 3 and Series 5 an exit interview before new models are announced. 9to5Mac Watch Time is a podcast series hosted by Zac Hall. In this series, we talk to real people about how Apple Watch is affecting their lives.

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Week 6 – 9to5Mac Watch Time

This week on Watch Time join 9to5Mac's Zac Hall and Tempo developer Rahul Matta in the final episode of this podcast "season". 9to5Mac Watch Time is a podcast series hosted by Zac Hall. In this series, we talk to real people about how Apple Watch is affecting their lives. Subscribe now to catch up with each episode and automatically hear new episodes as soon as they’re released every two weeks: 🟣 Apple Podcasts | 🟠 Overcast | 🟢 Spotify Follow Zac Instagram @apollozac Twitter @apollozac SpaceExplored.com Follow Rahul Matta Twitter @rmatta Twitter @TempoLog Blog indie.sh Follow 9to5Mac Instagram @9to5mac Twitter @9to5mac Facebook YouTube.com/9to5Mac Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast RSS Read More Toning down the Apple Watch: Tips and feature requests to avoid being overwhelmed Apple releases watchOS 7.4.1 with security improvements Apple Watch blood sugar and blood pressure measurement could be a step closer watchOS 7.4 brings iPhone mask unlock feature for Apple Watch Enjoy the podcast? Shop Apple at Amazon to support 9to5Mac Watch Time!

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iPhone Fold visualized, HomeKit Adaptive Temperature, MacBook Neo shortages – 9to5Mac Happy Hour

Benjamin and Chance analyze the form factor of the iPhone Fold with dummy units start surfacing, and investigate why so many of Apple’s Macs are severely backordered right now. Also, NASA takes the iPhone into space, Aqara launches the first thermostat with support for HomeKit’s new Adaptive Temperature feature, and Chance is mad at the MLB app. And in Happy Hour Plus, Benjamin and Chance talk about some of the good shows they’ve been watching on TV recently. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join. Sponsored by Stamps.com: Send from your computer or phone 24/7. Try Stamps.com risk-free for sixty days with code happyhour. Sponsored by IM8: Go to IM8HEALTH.com/happyhour and use code happyhour to get a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets, and 10% off your order. Sponsored by Gusto: The online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. Get three months free when you run your first payroll at gusto.com/happyhour. Hosts Chance Miller @ChanceHMiller on Twitter @ChanceHMiller on Instagram @ChanceHMiller on Threads Benjamin Mayo @bzamayo on Twitter @bzamayo@mastodon.social @bzamayo on Threads Subscribe, Rate, and Review Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify 9to5Mac Happy Hour Plus Subscribe to 9to5Mac Happy Hour Plus! Support Benjamin and Chance directly with Happy Hour Plus! 9to5Mac Happy Hour Plus includes: Ad-free versions of every episode Pre- and post-show content Bonus episodes Join for $5 per month or $50 a year at 9to5mac.com/join. Feedback Submit #Ask9to5Mac questions on Twitter, Mastodon, or Threads Email us feedback and questions to happyhour@9to5mac.com Links NASA astronauts on the way to the Moon capture Earth using iPhone 17 Pro Max Here’s how NASA cleared the iPhone 17 Pro Max for astronauts on Artemis II Aqara W200 launches with Apple’s Adaptive Temperature support Use Adaptive Temperature and Clean Energy Guidance on iPhone – Apple Support Mac Studio delivery '4-5 months' out for top RAM after Apple dropped 512GB option Apple faces supply chain problem as MacBook Neo demand exceeds expectations MacBook Neo facing 3-week delays at Apple, here’s how to buy one sooner New video reveals iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone Fold dummy models iPhone Fold dimensions: Here's how the foldable iPhone sizes up next to the iPhone 18 Pro ‘iPhone Ultra’ is the likely name of Apple’s foldable, says leaker iPhone Fold launch could be delayed into 2027 after engineering problems iPhone Fold is ‘on track’ to launch this September, per Mark Gurman iOS 27: Apple will reportedly let Claude and other AI chatbot apps integrate with Siri

Stacktrace Podcast |

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Stacktrace has moved! – Stacktrace

As we've mentioned in the last episode, the Stacktrace podcast is no longer a part of the 9to5Mac network. If you're seeing this entry in your podcast player, then you probably need to unfollow Stacktrace and follow the podcast again. Start by unfollowing the show in your podcast player, then just search for "Stacktrace" and follow the show again. You'll notice that the updated show has a new artwork and that episode 179 has already been released there. To learn more about how to listen to Stacktrace, check out our new website. Thanks for listening!

Apple @ Work Podcast |

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Apple means Business – Apple @ Work

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