Zac Hall

Apple has been forced by the EU to allow app purchases and installs without the App Store. The effort to enable the capabilities as securely as possible has been massive. The details continue to evolve based on developer arms regulatory feedback, and many more changes for EU customers are planned over the next year. Still, Apple continues to express concern that the Digital Markets Act that enforces all these changes could come at a cost.

You may recall the recently announced but unnamed sports streaming service from ESPN, Warner Brothers, and Fox. It turns out a former Apple sports deal maker will run the bundle.

Apple is moving on from a class action lawsuit that claimed CEO Tim Cook defrauded investors in 2019. The cost of doing business is just $490 million for Apple, according to a settlement that will have to be approved by the court.

iOS 17.4 introduces the ability to assign languages to Siri specifically for when it reads your messages to you. Languages can be different than the assigned language used for Siri for all other tasks. This is useful for when you primarily use Siri in one language, but you chat with people using other languages.

After a whirlwind of events, Epic Games says Apple has reinstated their App Store developer account. The move clears the way for Epic to bring its Epic Games Store to the EU, avoiding the App Store structure altogether. The turnaround is somewhat unexpected as Apple seemed to stand by its decision to revoke Epic’s developer account on Wednesday.

iPhone 16 Pro is still half a year away, but we already have some ideas of what to expect. 91mobiles, which often publishes accurate design files of unannounced Apple products, adds to the knowledge base with a new set of iPhone 16 Pro CAD files.

The idea of outright banning TikTok in the United States has been debated in Washington for several years now. The possibility is all the more likely today as lawmakers in the House of Representatives have voted to advance a TikTok ban bill.

In addition to iOS 17.4 and visionOS 1.1 this week, Apple has updated the Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and HomePod. Today’s release includes macOS Sonoma 14.4, tvOS 17.4, watchOS 10.4, and the HomePod 17.4 software update.

Apple has released visionOS 1.1 for all users. The Apple Vision Pro software update features a number of changes that should be welcome to early owners.

Happy Digital Markets Act Day to those who celebrate. Apple has published a document titled “Apple’s Non-Confidential Summary of DMA Compliance Report” in which it outlines policy changes now in effect. In the new 12-page document, Apple outlines more future changes coming to EU users later this year and early next year.

Friday Night Baseball is returning to Apple TV+ on March 29. This marks the third Major League Baseball season with Apple streaming two MLB games each week. But don’t expect Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro this season.

Apple surprised us on Monday morning with the introduction of the M3 MacBook Air. It can now drive two external monitors while the lid is closed, the midnight color should be less prone to fingerprints, and both the 13- and 15-inch sizes are available from day one. Apple calls the M3 MacBook Air the best consumer laptop for AI, and it hits stores on Friday. In the meantime, let’s check out some of the first press reviews.

Apple’s iOS 17.4 software update for iPhone is now available. It features major App Store changes in the EU, new emoji for everyone, and a slight update to CarPlay.

Here’s how Apple describes the CarPlay update in iOS 17.4:

In the latest installment of Things No One Should Lose Sleep Over, Epic Games says Apple has taken down its newly reinstated developer account in the EU. In a blog post, Epic partially blames a tweet as Apple’s reason for doing so. Epic says this hinders its plans to launch a competing app marketplace in the EU.

Regain clarity with CleanMyPhone by MacPaw — the new AI-powered cleaning app that quickly identifies and removes blurred images, screenshots, and other clutter from your device. Download it now with a free trial.

Spotify teased up a version of its iPhone app earlier this year that would let users subscribe to ad-free plans directly in the app. Despite dramatic changes forced by the Digital Markets Act and a gigantic $2 billion fine by the EU, Spotify has reportedly changed its tune for now.

Regain clarity with CleanMyPhone by MacPaw — the new AI-powered cleaning app that quickly identifies and removes blurred images, screenshots, and other clutter from your device. Download it now with a free trial.

In 2020, switching from Intel to Apple silicon brought incredible performance-per-watt improvements to the Mac. It also enabled iPhone and iPad apps to natively run on macOS for the first time. A year later, Microsoft and Amazon teamed up to bring some Android apps to Windows with a similar approach.

The difference? Apple was rewarding developers and users with the culmination of its own technology to expand the app catalog on the Mac. Microsoft, on the other hand, well, no one is exactly sure what they were trying to achieve.

Regain clarity with CleanMyPhone by MacPaw — the new AI-powered cleaning app that quickly identifies and removes blurred images, screenshots, and other clutter from your device. Download it now with a free trial.

Apple has confirmed it will release the final version of iOS 17.4, officially bringing the software update out of beta. iOS 17.4 is packed with changes including new emoji characters, podcast transcriptions, virtual Apple Cash card numbers, and much more. The update also addresses Digital Markets Act regulatory requirements in the EU with support for competing app marketplaces and other changes where required.

Regain clarity with CleanMyPhone by MacPaw — the new AI-powered cleaning app that quickly identifies and removes blurred images, screenshots, and other clutter from your device. Download it now with a free trial.

Update: Services were restored after an outage of 1-2 hours for most people. The most likely explanation appears to be a mistake within Meta, similar to that in 2021.

Did you just get randomly signed out of Facebook? It’s not just you. The platform is facing an outage that has logged out users. The outage will cause your password to be rejected, but your password isn’t wrong.

Another day, another case of Apple stoking the growth fire on Wall Street with the magical two letters: AI.

Tim Cook’s shareholder meeting comments about Apple breaking new ground for AI this year were intended to excite investors. According to one analyst, however, the market has not been persuaded by promises. Still, they make the case for one investors should be optimistic about the company’s revenue growth with AI.

Meanwhile, Apple has found new ways to market existing silicon using AI. The term AI, not the technology, that is.

Apple has issued the first release candidate versions of more upcoming software updates. Following iOS 17.4 RC last week, Apple just dropped release candidate versions of visionOS 1.1, macOS 14.4, watchOS 10.4, and tvOS 17.4.

Apple introduced the M3 MacBook Air with a headlining new feature. For the first time, the Apple silicon MacBook Air will be able to simultaneously drive two external monitors. The only compromise is that the MacBook Air lid must be closed. Still, that’s a big win for users who appreciate portability on-the-go and large displays at the office.

The new feature also raises an interesting question: will the M3 MacBook Pro that was introduced in October also gain multi-display support in the same way? It shares the same version of Apple silicon and has Pro in the name, after all.