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Apple smart doorbell, next-gen CarPlay MIA, TV+ weekend promo

Benjamin and Chance kick off the new year with a catch-up on Apple missing its deadline for next-gen CarPlay to be released in an actual vehicle, and assess the response to picking the Vision Pro as 9to5Mac’s Product of the Year. There’s also rumors of an Apple-branded smart doorbell to discuss, and TV+ tries a new marketing gimmick with a free weekend promotion. 

And in Happy Hour Plus, the duo make some fun predictions about Apple-related news headlines that could happen sometime this year. 

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Deals: M4 iPad Pro $300 off, iPhone 15 Pro $470 off, Apple Watch, Twelve South PlugBug with Find My, more

A new year is here and we have a fresh batch of deals to scope out too. Alongside ongoing price drops across the Apple Watch Series 10 lineup, we are also now tracking up to $300 off select M4 iPad Pro configurations as well as even lower pricing on Amazon premium renewed iPhone 15 Pro units at up to $470 off the original price tag. Those offers join the OG Apple Watch Ultra at $380 under the original new price and the return of all-time low pricing on the wonderful Twelve South PlugBug USB-C Wall Charger with Find My. Everything awaits down below. 

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9to5Mac Daily: January 2, 2025 – TV+ promos, new Magic Mouse

9to5mac daily podcast

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

Sponsored by 9to5Mac Daily Plus: Get ad-free versions of every episode by visiting 9to5mac.com/join

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Apple will pay $95 million to settle Siri privacy lawsuit, and you might get a cut [Update]

If you used Siri between 2014 and 2024, you may have a claim against Apple | Abstract image with Siri icon

Update January 6, 2025: In a new statement to 9to5Mac, Apple says:

Siri has been engineered to protect user privacy from the beginning. Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles and it has never been sold to anyone for any purpose. Apple settled this case to avoid additional litigation so we can move forward from concerns about third-party grading that we already addressed in 2019. We use Siri data to improve Siri, and we are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private.

Find more details in our new story on the subject.


Over five years ago, Apple was hit with a lawsuit over ‘unlawful and intentional recording’ of Siri interactions. Now finally, the case is coming to an end, with Apple agreeing to pay $95 million in a settlement.

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PSA: Look out for hyper-personalized phishing attacks, powered by AI

Hyper-personalized phishing attacks, powered by AI | Man typing on MacBook

Phishing attacks are about to get a whole lot more convincing. A new report warns that scammers are now using AI to scrape information about you from your online profiles in order to send hyper-personalized emails which target your login credentials.

By finding out everything from your employer to your interests, scammers can send emails which have a far greater chance of appearing to be genuine …

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Apple’s homepage invites you to start 2025 with a 3-month free trial of Apple Fitness+

Apple's homepage invites you to start 2025 with a 3-month free trial of Apple Fitness+ | Screengrab shown

Many start the new year full of good intentions on the exercise front, and Apple is offering some encouragement through a homepage promotion of a free three-month trial of Apple Fitness+.

The offer itself isn’t new – it’s been available with the purchase of a new device since 2022 – but the homepage promo is clearly intended to tap into new year resolutions …

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Leaker claims this year’s iPhone SE will be branded as iPhone 16E

Leaker claims this year's iPhone SE will be branded as iPhone 16E | iPhone 14 shown

A leaker with a mixed track record has claimed that this year’s iPhone SE will be getting an upgraded name to reflect its new design: the iPhone 16E.

We are expecting the budget model to get its biggest ever upgrade this year, finally dropping the large chin with Home button for a modern form factor based on the iPhone 14 …

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Apple launches New Year sales event in China, including rare discounts on iPhone 16

Apple has launched a rare Chinese New Year discount promotion in China, running from January 4 through January 7. This includes up to ~$70 savings on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, as well as discounts on other iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15, iPhone 14, MacBook Air, iPad Pro, iPad Air, Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Pencil.

The atypical sales promotion on the latest iPhone 16 lineup arrives as investors question the stability of iPhone demand in the region. It may be interpreted as Apple feeling the pressure from domestic phone manufacturers like Huawei.

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Tim Cook told us how Apple will change the world, but it’s finally taking shape

Apple has a reputation for creating game-changing products. It’s done this in a variety of categories spanning its history of hardware, software, and services. But it’s natural to always seek out the next big thing. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook though, interestingly enough, has already told us what it is—and now it’s starting to take shape.

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9to5Mac Daily: December 31, 2024 – iPhone 17 rumors, iPhone in the EU

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

Last Chance!: Save 20% on all 9to5Mac Daily Plus, 9to5Mac Happy Hour Plus, and 9to5Mac Pro annual subscriptions with promo code HOLIDAY! Visit 9to5mac.com/join to sign up.

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Passkeys were supposed to be secure and simple; here’s how they fail

Passkeys were supposed to be secure and simple; here's how they fail | Close-up of a finger about to press the Touch ID button on a MacBook

I’ve been arguing that passwords are horrible for the best part of a decade now, and was an enthusiastic early adopter of the far better approach of passkeys.

Passkeys were supposed to achieve the holy grail of an approach which is both more secure than passwords and so easy to use that everyone would adopt them. But a new piece outlines four problems with the technology …

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US Army soldier arrested over data breach extortion of AT&T and Verizon

US Army soldier arrested over data breach extortion of AT&T and Verizon | Photo shows Seal of the Army

A US Army soldier has been arrested on suspicion of extorting money from AT&T and Verizon, following data breaches which saw a massive amount of customer data obtained.

The 20-year-old was arrested near the Army base in Fort Hood, Texas, on suspicion of being the cybercriminal known as Kiberphant0m – and statements by his mother aren’t likely to help …

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CarPlay 2 deadline arrives with no announcement; is the project dead? [Poll]

CarPlay 2 deadline arrives with no announcement | Apple's webpage promise of a 2024 launch

CarPlay 2, aka next-generation CarPlay, was announced way back in the summer of 2022. At the time, Apple said that a list of supporting cars would be available in 2023, and two brands were later said to be launching in 2024.

Today is the last chance to hit that deadline, and Apple’s CarPlay webpage still carries that promise. Unless there’s a surprise announcement later today, the question is: Will the date be quietly changed to 2025, or is this project now dead in the water … ?

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Apple @ Work Podcast: DDM, Wi-Fi, and you

Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

In this episode of Apple @ Work, I talk with Anil Gupta, co-founder and CTO of Wyebot Inc., about the move to DDM, Wi-Fi automation, and much more.

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