Zac Hall

Apple has released a new iPhone software update that includes the 2024 Black Unity wallpaper, collaborative Apple Music playlists, Stolen Device Protection, AirPlay for hotel TVs, and more. The latest version, iOS 17.3, also includes AppleCare and warranty information in Settings for all covered devices with your Apple ID. Lastly, iOS 17.3 includes ongoing improvements to crash detection on iPhone 14 and later. iPadOS 17.3 also gains the new Apple Music features.

Go ahead and mark your 2024 calendars for February 21. That’s when the new psychological thriller “Constellation” premieres on Apple TV+. The series stars Noomi Rapace (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) and Jonathan Banks (“Breaking Bad”) and is described as a conspiracy-based space adventure.

Apple revealed Vision Pro tech specs today as pre-orders went live in the United States. One specification appears to have been published with an error, however, as the tech specs page has changed since this morning.

Apple Vision Pro runs visionOS, a new platform from Apple that runs both spatial apps and compatible iPad apps. Apple has now confirmed which spatial apps will be pre-installed on visionOS 1.0 when Apple Vision Pro reaches customers in February.

Apple Vision Pro is now available for pre-order, and so are lots of accessories for Apple’s first spatial computer. The price for most things? $200 each. That’s how much extra light seals, batteries, and the Vision Pro carrying case costs. There are more accessories for Apple Vision Pro as well.

Apple curiously opted not to release a second keynote-style video explaining Apple Vision Pro before pre-orders start. Internally, however, Apple distributed an introductory video of sorts to employees, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports. The new material reportedly covers future opportunities for Apple Vision Pro, including applications in education, medical, and training fields.

Apple Vision Pro is coming, and that means Apple Store locations in the United States will have some weird hours in the coming days.

Starting today, Parallels Desktop versions 18 and 19 are capable of running Arm versions of Windows 11 on M3 Macs. Parallels was already the first solution authorized by Microsoft for running Arm versions of Windows on M1 and M2 Macs.

Some unfortunate news for Schmigadoon! fans: Apple has chosen not to renew the musical series for a third season on Apple TV+. Schmigadoon! co-creator Cinco Paul shared the update on Instagram, revealing that the third season with 25 new songs was already written.

Lest you forget, tomorrow is Apple Vision Pro pre-order day. At least in the United States, that is.

If you’re prepared to drop $3,499 on Apple’s first spatial computer, then godspeed. Pre-orders start at 8 a.m. ET, and you’ll want an iPhone or iPad with Face ID around for the process. Having the latest version of the Apple Store app is also a must.

Wear glasses? ZEISS optical inserts are a separate purchase. $99 for readers or $149 for prescription lenses. You’ll need to upload a valid prescription from a US eye doctor after purchasing Vision Pro to buy the right optical inserts.

Apple Vision Pro curious but can’t or not eager to let go of $3,499 for the experience?

Attorney General Brenna Bird from the great state of Iowa is going after TikTok with a new lawsuit. The latest legal battle being fought in the US against the ByteDance-owned video platform isn’t just seeking an all out ban. Instead, the state of Iowa is targeting TikTok over how it allegedly age rates itself inappropriately in the App Store.

Apple has updated its online store to denote the modification required to avoid another import ban on Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. Thanks to ongoing litigation with Masimo, Apple has disabled the blood oxygen sensor functionality on new Apple Watch S9 and U2 models sold in the US from today.

Courtesy of Reddit user Confident_Tension_64, MyRadar for iPhone has been updated this month to include support for Apple CarPlay. This means drivers with MyRadar for iOS installed can now view weather radar maps from the car’s screen instead of the iPhone display.

In addition to the 2024 Black Unity Apple Watch band, Apple has added some new Year of the Dragon-themed accessories to its retail inventory.

AirPods firmware updates. Where do they come from? What do they do? We don’t need the answers to those questions to tell you that updated AirPods 3 firmware was just released.

Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that the US Department of Justice was in the late stages of preparing a major antitrust lawsuit against Apple. Now Bloomberg has reported on the status of the DOJ antitrust effort, reporting that the lawsuit could be filed as early as March.

Remember Apple’s promised iOS 17 feature for using AirPlay from an iPhone directly to a hotel TV? Yeah, that snuck in to the iOS 17.3 release cycle, fulfilling the feature list announced at WWDC 2023 last June.

The first iOS 17.3 release candidate is now available for iPhone users on the beta software update track. Stolen Device Protection is the headlining feature. It’s also the solution to an iPhone theft scheme revealed in a WSJ report last year. We also now have the official release notes for iOS 17.3 and macOS 14.3 Sonoma after reaching the RC stage.

If you were hoping for Ultra Wideband and Wi-Fi 6E or 7 chips in Apple Vision Pro, well, those are very specific expectations. Also, Apple Vision Pro appears to lack those chips, based on the official FCC filing from today.

Apple Vision Pro pre-orders in the US start on Friday, and reporters are getting their twelfth round of hands-on time with the hardware. That officially makes Vision Pro the most reviewed Apple hardware before journalists publish their actual reviews of Vision Pro.

What’s different this time, however, is Apple has allowed reporters to share photos of them actually using Vision Pro. Whether or not that helps or hurts the product is up to you.