Apple has been fined $8.5 million in France over how personalized advertising works on the iPhone. France’s CNIL data protection agency (National Commission on Informatics and Liberty) issued the €8 million penalty against Apple as the result of an investigation.

Zens has launched three new multi-device chargers with official MagSafe support and more. The 2-in-1 Travel Charger is a clever compact way to power up iPhone and Apple Watch on the go. And the new 4-in-1 Charging Station offers power for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods in a sleek design.

All of the best discounts for Wednesday are now live as we’re halfway through the week, delivering a notable New Year deal on iPhone 14 series handsets with bundled AirPods Pro 2 and a $200 gift card. Those who want to refresh their smart home in 2023 can also score a pair of 100W Philips Hue color bulbs at $68, with a rare discount on Elgato’s latest Stream Deck MK.2 completing the roster as a perfect Mac companion at $130. Hit the jump for all of the best deals and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Scosche unveiled a number of new Apple accessories this morning at CES. The flagship product is the second-generation BaseLynx modular charging station for iPhone, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch, MacBooks, and more that comes MagSafe, a slicker metal-accented design, and more power.

Belkin has announced an overhaul for its most popular chargers at CES. After two years of work, the company has figured out how to use up to 75% post-consumer recycled plastics for its top-selling charging products.

One of the promises of Matter is to create an open ecosystem of smart home products that you can use with your preferred platform, meaning products won’t have to be designed for HomeKit, but rather all Matter-compatible products will work with HomeKit. The SwitchBot Hub 2 is designed to work with Matter and will enable other products in the SwitchBot ecosystem to integrate with HomeKit. The first product to be released with this capability will be the SwitchBot Curtain. Read on to learn more about SwitchBot’s HomeKit integration.

Back in 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Jose, California, regarding the Butterfly Keyboard in MacBook models introduced between 2015 and 2019. The lawsuit was settled in November after a judge approved a proposal by Apple to pay owners of affected MacBook models, and now those customers are being contacted to claim their payout.

Nanoleaf has announced five new Matter-compatible smart lighting products at CES that will launch this year. The new lineup features the Nanoleaf 4D TV Screen Mirror Camera and Lightstrips Kit, new Sense+ Controls, Skylight, smart bulbs for recessed lighting, and more.

For its CES announcement this year, Withings has revealed a “breakthrough” in-home biomarker analysis platform. Named U-Scan, the upcoming smart health product is touted as a “miniaturized health lab” that hygienically rests in any toilet to “unlock the wealth of health information in daily urine.”

OtterBox has announced at CES its latest innovation for iPhone protection. The new OtterGrip Symmetry case with 3x military-grade drop protection includes a handy built-in grip without giving up MagSafe compatibility.

Apple’s Magsafe is a more convenient way to charge the iPhone using accessories based on the Qi standard, but with strong magnets that keep the accessory aligned to the back of the device. Now the company seems willing to let its competitors have the same technology, as the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) has been working with Apple on the next generation “Qi2” standard based on MagSafe.

It’s been more than two years since the popular game Fortnite was removed from the App Store after Epic Games updated it with a payment system that bypassed Apple’s in-app purchases. However, as Apple is now rumored to allow alternative app stores on the iPhone and iPad, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has teased that Fortnite will return to iOS soon.

Apple has hired veteran Disney executive Ricky Strauss, to take up the role as the new head of marketing for its streaming service Apple TV+. The appointment follows the departure of prior marketing head Chris Van Amburg, in September.

Dell has unveiled a lineup of new monitors today at CES. Headlining the new products is the 32-inch 6K UltraSharp Monitor with powerful 140W charging for laptops, impressive I/O hub, 4K webcam, 99% DCI-P3 colorspace, and more.

Back in September, Lutron expanded its Caséta HomeKit-supported smart dimmer and switch lineup with the Diva and Claro products. Now for CES, the company has expanded the available colors plus announced a new Claro smart accessory switch for wired multi-location control.

The Information posted its latest roundup of technical details about the upcoming Apple VR/AR headset, a product that the publication has covered extensively across its many years of development. The device is finally expected to make its public debut this year.

One interesting tidbit in today’s story is that the H2 chip inside the latest-gen AirPods Pro secretly supports a low-latency transmission mode, which is designed to work in collaboration with the H2 chip inside the headset. Although the headband will have integrated speakers, The Information says Apple may require AirPods to be used when communicating with others.

2023 has just begun, and we have already been hearing some rumors about the next-generation iPhone, which is expected to be introduced sometime later this year. Now, analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong Intl Tech Research said that major camera upgrades are expected for all iPhone models this year, especially for the midrange iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.

Apple released the first Apple Watch Ultra a few months ago, and even though the product is focused on users who do extreme sports, many customers have been opting for it due to its larger screen and better battery life. According to Haitong Intl Tech Research analyst Jeff Pu, Apple has plans to bring Micro LED technology to the Apple Watch Ultra with an even larger display in the future.

Apple currently sells four different models of AirPods, ranging from the second-generation AirPods to the advanced AirPods Max. And while AirPods have become quite popular earphones, they’re not exactly cheap. But according to analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong Intl Tech Research, the company is now working on new “AirPods Lite” to compete with cheaper wireless earbuds.

Apple this year introduced four new iPhone models, but the strategy was quite different from previous years. This time, the differences between iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models are more significant. At the same time, the iPhone mini was replaced by the iPhone 14 Plus – but it seems that this model is just as much of a commercial failure as the mini version. But why is that?