The first ever discount on Apple Vision Pro headlines this week's best Apple deals, and it's still available at Woot. You'll also find great discounts on the new M3 MacBook Air models, second generation Apple Watch SE, and an all-time low price on the AirTag 4-Pack.

best apple deals orangeNote: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apple Vision Pro

apple vision pro orange

  • What's the deal? Get $200 off Apple Vision Pro
  • Where can I get it? Woot
  • Where can I find the original deal? Right here

The most notable deal of the week came from Woot, which still has the first discount that we've ever seen on Apple Vision Pro. Woot offers small and medium sizes for the solo knit band and dual loop band, as well as the 21W light seal. The headset is in new condition and comes with a one year Apple Manufacturer Limited Warranty.

MacBook Pro

m3 macbook pro orange

  • What's the deal? Get $300 off 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro
  • Where can I get it? Amazon

Amazon has a new record low discount on Apple's 14-inch 1TB M3 MacBook Pro, available for $1,499.00, down from $1,799.00. This is a massive $300 markdown on the computer, and the best price that we've ever tracked on this 8GB RAM/1TB model.

MacBook Air

m3 macbook air orange

  • What's the deal? Get up to $125 off 13-inch and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air
  • Where can I get it? Amazon
  • Where can I find the original deal? Right here




We saw Apple's 13-inch and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air hit multiple new all-time low prices this week, and they're all still available on Amazon. Prices start as low as $999.00 for the 256GB 13-inch M3 MacBook Air, and for 15-inch models this sale has expanded since we originally posted, now including two 512GB models.

Apple Watch SE

apple watch se orange

  • What's the deal? Get $60 off Apple Watch SE
  • Where can I get it? Amazon
  • Where can I find the original deal? Right here


Next, the Apple Watch SE hit second-best prices at Amazon this week, available for $60 off both the 40mm and 44mm GPS models. Compared to previous sales, these are just $10 higher than all-time low prices, so they're still great deals for anyone shopping for a cheaper Apple Watch this Spring.

AirTag

airtag orange 2

  • What's the deal? Get $24 off the AirTag 4-Pack
  • Where can I get it? Amazon
  • Where can I find the original deal? Right here

Finally, Amazon has a record low price on the AirTag 4-Pack this week, available for $74.99, down from $99.00. This is one of the only times we've tracked the AirTag 4-Pack at this low price in 2024, so we definitely recommend purchasing if you've been waiting for a great deal.

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

In November, Apple announced that the iPhone would support the cross-platform messaging standard RCS (Rich Communication Services) in the Messages app starting "later" in 2024, and Google has since revealed a more narrow timeframe.

General Apps Messages
In a since-deleted section of the revamped Google Messages web page, spotted by 9to5Google, Google said that Apple would be adopting RCS on the iPhone in the "fall of 2024." This timeframe suggests that RCS support will be added to the iPhone with iOS 18, which should be available in beta in June and released in September. At the latest, support should be added in iOS 18.1, which is likely to be released in October.

Google RCS iOS Late 2024
RCS support should result in the following improvements in the Messages app for conversations between iPhones and Android smartphones:

  • Higher-resolution photos and videos
  • Audio messages
  • Typing indicators
  • Read receipts
  • Wi-Fi messaging
  • Improved group chats, including the ability for iPhone users to leave a conversation that includes Android users

These modern features are already available for iMessage, and in many third-party messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Telegram. RCS support on the iPhone will extend the features to green bubbles in the Messages app.

A $3 third-party app can now record spatial video on iPhone 15 Pro models in a higher resolution than Apple's very own Camera app.

Apple iPhone 15 Pro spatial video capture lifestyle
Thanks to an update first spotted by UploadVR, Spatialify can now record spatial videos with HDR in 1080p at 60fps or in 4K at 30fps. In comparison, Apple's native Camera app is limited to recording spatial video in 1080p at 30fps.

Shortly after Apple's Vision Pro headset launched in February in the United States, Apple released iOS 17.2, which brought the new spatial video recording format to iPhone 15 Pro models.

When viewed on iPhone, spatial video appear as normal videos, but viewed on Vision Pro they provide an immersive viewing experience on Vision Pro that is almost three-dimensional.

Combined with advanced computational videography techniques and HEVC compression, spatial videos filmed at 30fps in 1080p take up around 130MB of storage space for one minute of video, so bear that in mind when shooting using Spatialify's higher resolution options, which will take up substantially more storage.

Spatialify first made headlines back in November, before Apple Vision Pro had been launched, when a TestFlight version of the app became available. This allowed iPhone 15 Pro users running the iOS 17.2 beta to record spatial video in a format that could be played back on Meta Quest 3 and other 3D headsets and TVs.

Spatialify is available to download on the App Store. The app costs $3 and requires an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max to shoot spatial video.

Related Roundup: iPhone 15 Pro

Photos of the first iPhone 16 cases have been shared online, offering another preview of the rumored new vertical rear camera arrangement on the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.

iphone 16 cases sonny dickson 1


Image credit: Accessory leaker Sonny Dickson

Over the last few months, Apple has been experimenting with different camera bump designs for the standard iPhone 16 models, all of which have featured a vertical camera arrangement.

The latest prototype features the same arrangement with two separate camera rings for the Wide and Ultra Wide cameras, housed within a pill-shaped raised surface, suggesting Apple has drawn inspiration from older iPhone models, such as the ‌iPhone‌ X. The microphone sits next to the lenses, while the camera flash is located on the back of the device outside of the bump.

With the vertical camera layout, Apple is expected to bring spatial video recording to the standard ‌iPhone 16‌ and ‌iPhone 16‌ Plus models. Current iPhone 15 models have a diagonal camera arrangement and are not able to capture spatial video, a feature that is limited to the iPhone 15 Pro models and the Vision Pro headset.

In addition to the updated camera bump design, recent ‌iPhone 16‌ prototypes have also featured an Action Button similar to the one used on ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌, and a pressure-sensitive Capture button for shooting horizontal video that sits flush with the frame of the device. Indeed, an opening for the Capture button can be seen in the latest cases.

The existence of cases at this early stage does not necessarily confirm that Apple has settled on this design for the iPhone 16. Third-party case makers also often base their initial case designs for upcoming iPhones on leaks and rumors, so the images may not be true representations. That said, the recent consistent trickle of leaks suggest Apple now has this year's iPhone 16 design nailed down.

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2
Apple is expected to launch its iPhone 16 series sometime in September. For additional details on Apple's next-generation 2024 smartphones, check out our dedicated rumor roundups for iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.

Related Roundup: iPhone 16

OLED panel supply issues may be partly behind Apple's iPad Pro launch delay, based on reports coming out of Korea.

iPad Pro OLED Feature 2
Apple's original plan was to rely on different OLED display suppliers for the upcoming iPad Pro models, with Samsung Display exclusively producing ~11-inch panels and LG Display responsible for the required ~13-inch panels.

The division of labor was reportedly due to changes in Apple's demand outlook for OLED iPad Pro models, as well as the unstable production capacity and yield of the two suppliers, which are both still getting to grips with Apple's requirement for new panel technologies.

Early reports suggested the new models could arrive as soon as this month. However, according to Korean news site hankooki.com, Samsung has recently faced poor yields of the ~11-inch OLED panels, and it has been unable to meet Apple's order quantity. The shortfall has led Apple to transfer some orders for the smaller panel to LG Display. The latter is subsequently expected to increase its order by hundreds of thousands of units going into next month.

Given the reallocation, LG Display is now likely to supply 60% of the panels for the upcoming iPad Pro models. The company has invested millions of dollars into its sixth-generation small- and medium-sized OLED production line, and has now passed Apple's quality control standards for the smaller panels, enabling it to take up the slack from Samsung.

Apple earlier this month ordered an initial 8.5 million OLED display panels from the South Korean suppliers. Apple's latest shipments forecast is said to have been a decrease from the 10 million units that were projected for 2024 last year.

Apple is rumored to be aiming for "unrivaled" display quality with the new iPad Pro models, which will use a tandem OLED structure. The tandem structure is a method of stacking two layers of OLED light-emitting layers. It is superior to the luminance (screen brightness) and lifespan of a single OLED structure with one light-emitting layer. The iPhone currently uses a single stack OLED display with one light-emitting layer.

Apple will now introduce new iPad Pro models alongside new iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is apparently working to "finish software for the new devices," and the iPad Pro models also need "complex new manufacturing techniques," which Gurman says has contributed to the delay.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Related Forum: iPad

Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 Pro models will use an improved process for finishing and coloring titanium, claims a new rumor out of Korea.

iPhone 15 Pro Cameras
According to news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog, the new process will make the ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ Max look more polished than the iPhone 15 Pro models, which have a brushed finish.

The improved manufacturing process will allegedly result in a glossy appearance that is more akin to the heavily polished stainless steel material used in previous Pro iPhones. However, the new titanium finish will be less prone to scratches compared to stainless steel.

The ‌‌brushed finish on ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ models‌‌ is considerably less reflective than the finish of previous Pro iPhones. It is less prone to fingerprints and also reduces scratch visibility. Apart from looks though, Apple's use of a titanium frame for its ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ devices also cut down the weight of the devices. The ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ Max are approximately nine percent lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro and ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro Max.

In addition, the titanium frame and aluminum substructure also provides better heat dissipation than any previous-generation Pro models with stainless steel frames, according to Apple.

A rumor earlier this week claimed that the ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ models will come in new "space black" and "rose" titanium colors. The "rose" is a gold shade, while "space black" could replace the black titanium option. Apple is expected to release the iPhone 16 series in the fall.

Related Roundup: iPhone 16 Pro
Tag: Naver

Oregon this week signed a Right to Repair bill into law, and it is notable because it is the first such law that puts a stop to the practice of parts pairing. Manufacturers like Apple are not able to require customers to use Apple-sourced parts that then have to be authenticated, with the bill giving Apple device owners the right to use new parts, used parts, or third-party parts.

Apple Self Service Repair Program iPhone
Apple has launched repair tools for both independent repair shops and consumers, but repair components must be purchased directly from Apple. Components must be paired with a device serial number after being installed, which prevents unauthorized repairs that use third-party components. The bill states that companies cannot reduce the performance of a device or display misleading warnings for parts that are not properly paired.

According to repair site iFixit, Oregon's Right to Repair law is the strongest that has been passed to date. It does have consumer protections, such as requiring independent repair shops to have a "valid and unexpired certification" ensuring the person doing the repair has the "technical capabilities and competence necessary" to make a successful fix.

The elimination of the parts pairing restriction will allow independent repair shops to make more repairs without having to rely solely on components from Apple.

In addition to preventing manufacturers from requiring components to be free from pairing restrictions, the law requires companies to make parts, tools, documentation, and software available for smartphones produced in 2021 or later. For other electronics like computers, it is applicable to devices produced in 2015 and later.

Apple did not support Oregon's Right to Repair bill, and the company has said that it will result in safety and security issues for consumers. Apple will need to comply with the parts pairing portion of the bill for products made after January 1, 2025.

Amazon today launched the Amazon One app, which is designed to allow customers to scan their palms to make device-free purchases at Whole Foods, Panera Bread, and 150 third-party locations in stadiums, airports, fitness centers, and convenience stores.


Prior to the launch of the app, signing up for Amazon One had to be done in a physical location with an Amazon One device. The app lets customers create a profile, take a photo of their palm, and add a payment method. Finishing sign-up will still require an initial interaction with an Amazon One machine.

Amazon One can be used for payment, entry to venues, age verification, and loyalty rewards. The service uses generative AI to match a camera phone photo of a person's palm to near-infrared imagery from an Amazon One scanner.

The AI system is able to pair palm and vein imagery to create a unique, numerical vector representation that is used for identity matching. Amazon says that it is 99.99 percent accurate.

Palm images taken with the app are encrypted and sent to a secure Amazon One domain in the AWS cloud. Amazon says the service is convenient for consumers and businesses, and that it sees many repeat users at Whole Foods. Amazon One can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tag: Amazon

A lawsuit targeting Apple's refusal to allow apps to support cryptocurrency transactions was today tossed out by a San Francisco judge, reports Reuters. The lawsuit, which was filed by Venmo and Cash App customers, claimed that Apple drove up the fees charged by Venmo and Cash App by not letting payment apps facilitate cryptocurrency transactions.

iOS App Store General Feature Black
The plaintiffs alleged that Apple curbed competition in the mobile peer-to-peer payment market with its App Store guidelines. No option for cryptocurrency has supposedly caused Venmo and Cash App to raise prices for transactions and services due to "no competitive check." A payment app that is based on decentralized cryptocurrency technology would let iPhone users "send payments to each other without any intermediary at all."

According to the lawsuit, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, and other payment providers agreed to an ‌App Store‌ guideline that does not allow for cryptocurrency transactions, which constitutes an "unlawful agreement." Apple asked for the case to be thrown out because the plaintiffs were not able to demonstrate illegal app rules or business agreements, and the judge agreed.

Apple's ‌App Store‌ rules allow cryptocurrency wallets that store virtual currency, and apps can facilitate cryptocurrency transactions on an approved exchange in countries where the app has licensing and permission to operate a crypto exchange.

The judge overseeing the case called it "speculative" and said it "suffers from several fatal problems." The plaintiffs have been given 21 days to submit an amended complaint, but the judge does not believe the case can be saved.

Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again.


Apple is working on updates to both the ‌iPad Pro‌ and ‌iPad Air‌ models. The ‌iPad Pro‌ models will get OLED display technology and the new M3 chips, while the ‌iPad Air‌ will come in the standard 10.9-inch size and a larger 12.9-inch size.

According to Gurman, Apple's suppliers are ramping up production of the new iPads at the current time. Apple initially planned to launch the iPads in March or early April, but is apparently working to "finish software for the new devices." The OLED iPad Pro models also need "complex new manufacturing techniques," which Gurman says has contributed to the delay.

Related Roundups: iPad Air , iPad Pro
Related Forum: iPad

Apple this month sued its former employee Andrew Aude in California state court, alleging that he breached the company's confidentiality agreement and violated labor laws by leaking sensitive information to the media and employees at other tech companies. Apple has demanded a jury trial, and it is seeking damages in excess of $25,000.

apple leak feature blue
Aude joined Apple as an iOS software engineer in 2016, shortly after graduating college. He worked on optimizing battery performance, making him "privy to information regarding dozens of Apple's most sensitive projects," according to the complaint.

Leaks

The lawsuit alleges that over a five-year period, Aude used his Apple-issued work iPhone to leak information about more than a half-dozen Apple products and policies, including its then-unannounced Journal app and Vision Pro headset, product development policies, strategies for regulatory compliance, employee headcounts, and more.

In April 2023, for example, Apple alleges that Aude leaked a list of finalized features for the iPhone's Journal app to a journalist at The Wall Street Journal on a phone call. That same month, The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley published a report titled "Apple Plans iPhone Journaling App in Expansion of Health Initiatives."

Using the encrypted messaging app Signal, Aude is said to have sent "over 1,400" messages to the same journalist, who Aude referred to as "Homeboy." He is also accused of sending "over 10,000 text messages" to another journalist at the website The Information, and he allegedly traveled "across the continent" to meet with her.

HomeboyA screenshot included in the lawsuit

Other leaks relate to the Vision Pro and other hardware:

As another example, an October 2020 screenshot on Mr. Aude's Apple-issued work iPhone shows that he disclosed Apple's development of products within the spatial computing space to a non-Apple employee. Mr. Aude made this disclosure even though Apple's development efforts were confidential and not known to the public. Over the following months, Mr. Aude disclosed additional Apple confidential information—including information concerning unannounced products, and hardware information.

Apple believes that Aude's actions were "extensive and purposeful," with Aude allegedly admitting that he leaked information so he could "kill" products and features with which he took issue. The company alleges that his wrongful disclosures resulted in at least five news articles discussing the company's confidential and proprietary information. Apple says these public revelations impeded its ability to "surprise and delight" with its latest products.

Apple Finds Out

Apple said it learned of Aude's wrongful disclosures in late 2023, and the company fired him for his alleged misconduct in December of that year.

In a November 2023 interview, Apple alleges that Aude denied leaking confidential information to anyone. However, during that interview, Apple alleges that Aude went to the bathroom and deleted "significant amounts of evidence" from his work iPhone, including the Signal app that he used to communicate with "Homeboy."

During a follow-up interview in December 2023, Apple alleges that Aude admitted to some of his wrongful disclosures, but claims he only provided "narrow admissions limited to the information he had not been able to destroy."

Apple attempted to resolve this matter out of court, but it said Aude was uncooperative:

Apple does not bring suit against its former employees lightly. As a result of Mr. Aude's willful destruction of evidence, however, Apple cannot know the universe of what he disclosed to whom and when. Before filing this lawsuit, Apple reached out to Mr. Aude to potentially resolve this matter. Over a month ago, Apple contacted Mr. Aude to understand the full scope of his leaks and ask for his full cooperation in resolving this matter without litigation. Mr. Aude, however, did not commit to cooperating.

Aude has also allegedly refused to divest of the restricted Apple stock units that he received as part of his compensation package.

Apple said that Aude poses an "ongoing threat" to the company due to his "long and extensive history of disclosing [confidential information] to third parties intentionally and without authorization, his continued relationships with individuals at other technology companies, and journalists, and his attempts to conceal his misconduct."

Apple is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial, and it is also seeking other legal remedies.

The full complaint can be viewed in this PDF file.

Students who entered the WWDC 2024 coding challenge can today sign in to Apple's Swift Student Challenge website to find out if they've won. Apple has selected 350 winners, who are eligible to attend the ‌WWDC 2024‌ special event at Apple Park on Monday, June 10.

swift student challenge 2024
There are 50 Distinguished Winners who will be invited to Cupertino for a three-day ‌Apple Park‌ event that will include the keynote meetup and two additional days of opportunities to interface with Apple engineers.


Those who are not selected as Distinguished Winners can enter Apple's lottery for a chance to be able to be selected to go to the ‌Apple Park‌ keynote event. Apple is inviting developers and students to apply, but because space is limited, selections are made through a random process. Lottery winners will be notified on Thursday, April 4.

Swift Student Challenge winners who are not picked to go to the ‌Apple Park‌ event can follow along with Apple's announcements on the Apple Developer website, the Apple Developer app, and YouTube. Winners will also be eligible to enter to attend future WWDC events for the next two years.

Lottery winners selected for Apple's event will need to fund their own travel to Cupertino, California, purchasing plane tickets and hotel accommodations.

Apple's annual Swift Student Challenge tasks students with creating an innovative coding project using the Swift Playgrounds app. Projects are judged based on technical accomplishment, creativity of ideas, and the content of the written responses that explain the project.

In addition to being eligible to attend the ‌WWDC 2024‌ special event, Swift Student Challenge winners also receive a one year membership in the Apple Developer Program and exclusive merchandise. This year's winners are receiving free AirPods Max headphones.

‌WWDC 2024‌ is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14.

Related Roundup: WWDC 2024

Apple today plans to release an Apple Immersive Video that features the best of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. It is the first-ever sports film captured in Apple Immersive Video, and it will be available on the Vision Pro headset.

Apple MLS partnership June 2022
Apple in February said that the MLS Playoffs were recorded in 8K 3D with a 180-degree field of view and Spatial Audio, giving viewers the opportunity to feel "every heart-pounding moment" of the playoffs.

As Jason Snell from Six Colors points out, Apple's video is being released 110 days after the 2023 MLS Cup Final, which is quite the wait. The video is also just five minutes long.

The MLS documentary is set to premiere on the Vision Pro at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time or 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time tonight.

Related Roundup: Apple Vision Pro
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

The company behind the new "Clicks" physical keyboard accessory for the iPhone says it will soon start shipping for a few more models.

Clicks Keyboard iPhone Yellow
In an email shared by Parker Ortolani on Threads this week, the company said the iPhone 15 Pro version of the keyboard will begin shipping to customers worldwide by April 15. And on the Clicks website, the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro Max versions of the keyboard are estimated to ship by April 30 and in May, respectively.

Clicks started shipping the iPhone 14 Pro version of the keyboard in February, and this is the only model that has arrived to customers so far. The keyboard was first announced in early January, ahead of the annual CES tech conference.

Inspired by the once-popular BlackBerry smartphone, Clicks is both a physical keyboard and a case for the iPhone. The keyboard connects to the iPhone's USB-C or Lightning port, and it features dedicated keys for emoji and dictation, backlit keys, and a pass-through charging port. Wireless charging is still supported through the case.

Clicks Keyboard iPhone
One advantage of using a physical keyboard with an iPhone is a full-screen experience, as the on-screen keyboard does not appear. There are also keyboard shortcuts, such as CMD-H to return to the Home Screen and CMD-Space to open Spotlight.

The obvious downsides of the keyboard are the added size and weight, but there is a niche market of physical keyboard fans who are willing to put up with these compromises to have an old-school BlackBerry-like typing experience.

Clicks was co-founded by well-known tech personalities "MrMobile" and "CrackBerry Kevin." The keyboard starts at $139 in the U.S., and it is offered in London Sky and BumbleBee color options. It has silicone on the front, and vegan leather on the back. The keyboard is currently sold out, with the company accepting reservations for future availability.

Apple's M3 Ultra chip may be designed as its own, standalone chip, rather than be made up of two M3 Max dies, according to a plausible new theory.

apple silicon 1 feature
The theory comes from Max Tech's Vadim Yuryev, who outlined his thinking in a post on X earlier today. Citing a post from @techanalye1 which suggests the M3 Max chip no longer features the UltraFusion interconnect, Yuryev postulated that the as-yet-unreleased "M3 Ultra" chip will not be able to comprise two Max chips in a single package. This means that the M3 Ultra is likely to be a standalone chip for the first time.

This would enable Apple to make specific customizations to the M3 Ultra to make it more suitable for intense workflows. For example, the company could omit efficiency cores entirely in favor of an all-performance core design, as well as add even more GPU cores. At minimum, a single M3 Ultra chip designed in this way would be almost certain to offer better performance scaling than the M2 Ultra did compared to the ‌M2‌ Max, since there would no longer be efficiency losses over the UltraFusion interconnect.

Furthermore, Yuryev speculated that the M3 Ultra could feature its own UltraFusion interconnect, allowing two M3 Ultra dies to be combined in a single package for double the performance in a hypothetical "M3 Extreme" chip. This would enable superior performance scaling compared to packaging four M3 Max dies and open the possibility of even higher amounts of unified memory.

Little is currently known about the M3 Ultra chip, but a report in January suggested that it will be fabricated using TSMC's N3E node, just like the A18 chip that is expected to debut in the iPhone 16 lineup later in the year. This means it would be Apple's first N3E chip. The M3 Ultra is rumored to launch in a refreshed Mac Studio model in mid-2024.

Apple's AirTag 4-Pack has dropped to $74.99 today on Amazon, down from $99.00. This deal brings the AirTag 4-Pack back down to its all-time low price, which is a price that we haven't tracked since the holiday season.

AirTag and Lavender iPhoneNote: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

If you only need one AirTag, Amazon has the 1-Pack for $24.00, which is a solid second-best price on the Bluetooth tracker. Delivery dates for the AirTag 4-Pack are estimated between this Saturday, March 30 and Tuesday, April 2, while the 1-Pack dates have stretched into mid-April.

AirTag provides a way to keep track of your items in the iOS Find My app, allowing you to play a sound on the built-in speaker to find something locally or with precision finding when it's farther away. Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

iOS 17.4 brings support for 15W wireless charging with Qi2 to the iPhone 12, according to Macworld.

iphone 12 preorder purple
Qi2 is a next-generation wireless charging technology designed by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) and based on MagSafe. ‌MagSafe‌ was first introduced on the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and offers speeds of up to 15W. Third-party wireless chargers without ‌MagSafe‌ certification have been limited to maximum speeds of 7.5W, but Qi2 can reach the full 15W.

Last year, Apple enabled 15W speeds with Qi2 wireless chargers on the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 via iOS 17.2. The iPhone 15 lineup already supported Qi2 upon launch, leaving the ‌iPhone‌ 12 as the only ‌iPhone‌ model with ‌MagSafe‌ without the faster charging capability when using Qi2 accessories.

Citing reader reports and its own tests, Macworld claims that the ‌iPhone‌ 12 is able to charge at 15W when using a Qi2 wireless charger after an update to iOS 17.4. When using a Qi2 charger, the device now displays the animation that only appears when 15W charging is active and tests with the Anker Qi2 MagGo Wireless Charger demonstrated charging speeds in line with ‌MagSafe‌.

Apple openly stated that iOS 17.2 brought Qi2 support to the ‌iPhone 13‌ and ‌iPhone 14‌, but it did not make any such claim about iOS 17.4 and the ‌iPhone‌ 12. This may be because the ‌iPhone‌ 12's wireless charging technology was built around the original Qi standard and ‌MagSafe‌ before Qi2 was finalized.

Tag: Qi2
Related Forum: iPhone

Apple's proposed launch schedule for its first foldable iPhone has been delayed until 2027 due to technical challenges, claims a report out of Korea.

foldable iphone
According to Alpha Biz (via DigiTimes), Apple executives have adjusted the launch schedule for the foldable ‌iPhone‌ from the fourth quarter of 2026 to the first quarter of 2027 following issues with the acquisition of parts, including foldable displays that meet its high standards.

Apple is still in the early stages of developing two foldable smartphones, according to The Information. The report said that the two ‌iPhone‌ prototypes fold widthwise like a clamshell. More recently, Samsung Securities claimed that Apple's first foldable ‌iPhone‌ will feature a 6-inch external display and an 8-inch main display.

Meanwhile, Korean outlet The Elec last month reported that Apple is also considering launching a 7- to 8-inch device that could ultimately replace the 8.3-inch iPad mini.

Despite the rumors, however, there is increasing skepticism among analysts over whether Apple will abandon its foldable phone in the near term because the company is concerned that existing foldable technology has not yet matured in such a way that would enable it to realize the kind of next-generation application its engineers and designers have in mind.

Only last month a Chinese rumor claimed that Apple had suspended its development of a foldable ‌iPhone‌ after supplier displays failed to pass the company's own stringent testing standards. Apple is said to have been testing rival foldable phones since 2016 as part of its research and development process into foldable devices.

In one cited case, one of the latest folding panels made by Samsung reportedly "broke down after a few days" under Apple's rigorous internal testing, which allegedly caused Apple to put the entire project on ice for the foreseeable future.

The company is seemingly struggling to eliminate the crease that forms in the middle of a display due to repeated folding, and is still working out a design for a hinge that allows the display to lie totally flat, without a bump or dip in the middle. Apple has also been looking at filling panels with polymer materials such as silicone or acrylate to reduce light reflection issues.