Apple today expanded its Self Service Repair Program to include the latest Mac models, the M3 MacBook Pro and M3 iMac introduced in October 2023. This allows customers to order Apple-certified parts and conduct repairs on these machines themselves, without needing to go to an Apple Store or another repair shop.

Next month, Apple will also roll out Apple Diagnostics app support so users can assess performance of their machines, and an update to System Configuration will mean users can perform Mac repairs fully independently, without needing to contact the Self Service Repair support team to run the final steps.

A new report today says that there is increasing evidence of steep iPhone discounts being used in China in an attempt to counter weak demand.

It gives the example of the iPhone 15 Pro Max being offered at a $180 discount on the official price, which is significantly larger than has been offered in previous years …

Consumer Reports found that some Amazon’s Choice video bells have security so bad that a complete stranger can pair their phone to your doorbell simply by holding the exterior button for eight seconds.

Bad actors can even access still images from thousands of miles away, without needing any credentials for your account, creating a privacy nightmare …

X live video is now available inside the Spaces feature. Previously, the group chat feature only supported live audio.

However, the feature is somewhat different from the Periscope service which Twitter bought and later replaced with an integrated live video broadcast, and bears more of a resemblance to Twitch …

Following the launch of the M3 MacBook Pro in Apple’s US Refurbished store, the company is now selling refurbished models of the M3 iMac – which was also launched in October 2023. Customers can now buy refurbished M3 iMacs at a discounted price and save up to $260 compared to the full retail price.

Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that the Apple Car project is officially dead after more than a decade of work. In a new story today, The New York Times shares additional details on the turmoil inside the Project Titan team, based on conversations with “a half dozen people who worked on the project over the past decade.”

Some of these details were previously reported by NYT technology reporter Tripp Mickle in his After Steve book.

Mercury is an elegant weather app for Apple devices for those looking for an alternative to the native iOS Weather app. With its latest update, Mercury has received a host of new features, as well as a fully optimized version for Apple Vision Pro. Read on as we detail more about the update.

LIFX today is launching its new lineup of outdoor smart lights. Now available for purchase, the whole collection brings its signature addressable LED Polychrome tech to four new releases. All slated to get Matter support, you’ll find weather-resistant string lights, flexible outdoor lightstrips, and the first LIFX path lights.

Serif announced on Wednesday a major update coming to the entire Affinity suite of apps, which includes the popular Affinity Photo image editor, the Affinity Designer graphic vector design software, and the Affinity Publisher page layout software. With the update, the apps now work with dozens of new cameras and also get 32-bit HDR support.

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

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As someone who’s been covering the ins and outs of Project Titan for the past decade, I can’t say I’m surprised by this week’s news that the infamous Apple Car has been cancelled.

My hope, however, is that the death of Apple Car means there are good things to come for CarPlay users.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has a message for Wall Street. He believes Apple “break new ground” on generative AI this year. Cook’s latest AI hype comments came today during Apple’s annual shareholders meeting.

Wednesday is back with a fresh batch of discounts, with the original Apple Watch Ultra landing at $503 as the headliner. That $296 price cut comes joined by a collection of official Apple Watch Sport Bands starting from $35, as well as Apple’s new M3 iMac starting from $1,149 – including higher-end models with extra memory. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Rivian is rolling out an update to its iPhone app with support for Live Activities. This lets Rivian drivers track their car’s charging progress right from their iPhone’s Lock Screen or the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15.

With the release of iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4, Apple will give video calling apps the option to turn off the new Reactions feature by default.

This new Reactions feature debuted with iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma last year. The feature is enabled by default, a decision that has led to some pretty awkward moments when the Reactions are triggered by accident during a video call.

iOS 17.4 is a massive new iOS update for iPhone users, and includes new features to support European Union regulations, which makes it possible for to use alternative app marketplaces. However, the recent changes aren’t just limited to those who fall under EU jurisdiction. iOS 17.4 has tons of new changes and features, like new emoji, new Apple Music and Apple Podcasts updates, an updated “Hello” screen, and much, much more.

Watch our hands-on video for an explainer of everything new in iOS 17.4 RC. Be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more iOS-centric videos.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Vision Pro demand is higher than Apple originally expected, with US shipments expected to hit 200-250k units this year.

While there was speculation about how many people only bought Vision Pro to experience it before sending it back it at the end of the 14-day return window, he estimates that the current return rate has dropped to just 1% …

The A17 Pro chip powering the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models was the first in the world to use a 3-nanometer process, and Apple is already looking ahead to a 2nm chip in 2025, and a 1.4nm one beyond that, perhaps as early as 2026.

A new report today takes a fascinating look at just what is involved in these unimaginably small process sizes …

Kandji, a popular Apple enterprise management vendor, has announced a new partnership with ServiceNow for an automatic sync feature that directly integrates the latest data from Kandji’s Apple fleet into the ServiceNow Configuration Management Database (CMDB).

The team behind previous iPhone and iPad developer camps has announced VisionDevCamp, a hackathon-style event for developers interested in working on Vision Pro apps …

Apple Pay Later, the feature where you can spread an Apple Pay purchase across four equal installments with zero interest, is leading the way when it comes to consumer credit transparency.

Experian and Apple announced today they are working together to include Apple Pay Later pay-in-4 loans in a consumer credit report. Apple is the first major BNPL provider to provide loan and payment history directly to a credit reporting agency.

It’s not the first time we’ve heard it reported that the Apple Car is cancelled, but yesterday’s Bloomberg report does seem definitive – with two very senior Apple execs said to have made an official announcement to the Titan team.

But while it may be dramatic news in one sense, after the company spent a huge amount of money over more than a decade, the evidence is that AAPL investors were almost entirely unmoved …

Apple lawyers reportedly met with the Department of Justice last week, to make a last-minute plea for the agency not to file a US antitrust suit against the company.

Neither Apple nor the DOJ commented on the meeting, which follows the iPhone maker being accused of “malicious compliance” in its response to both the Supreme Court decision on the App Store, and European antitrust legislation taking effect next month …

Apple Music has launched a new personalized playlist feature today, with users noticing a new ‘Heavy Rotation’ mix in their Made for You section.

Heavy Rotation features the songs you are listening to a lot, and the mix is a great way to blast some of your recent favorites. The list of tracks is updated daily.

Meet BLUETTI’s first ecosystem, the SwapSolar: the world’s first LFP-powered MultiCooler portable fridge and the AC180T hot-swappable battery power station. This dynamic duo just launched on Indigogo, so make sure to catch those Super Early Bird prices.

Rumors about Apple working on a smart ring are not new. In fact, it’s been almost a decade since the company patented the concept of an “iRing” with sensors, but that product has never seen the light of day. More recently, rumors again raised the possibility of Apple finally announcing its own smart ring – but is there room for it in Apple’s lineup of wearable products?

While T-Mobile is not offering free MLS Season Pass to its customers this year, the popular MLB TV offer is back for another year. You can redeem the promotion starting today through April 2 using the T-Life app on your device.

Apple on Tuesday released iOS 17.4 RC (Release Candidate) to developers and beta testers, as the update is expected to be released to the public next week. While iOS 17.4 brings changes to the App Store and App Marketplaces for users in the EU, the update also unveiled new unreleased Beats Solo 4 headphones.

Bloomberg reports that Apple has officially canceled its effort to build an electric car. The move was announced internally by Apple COO Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch, who had been leading the Apple Car project since 2021.

“Apple’s most senior executives finalized the decision in recent weeks,” the report says. The project had reached a “make-or-break point” inside Apple, with Tim Cook also facing pressure from shareholders to make a decision.

In addition to releasing iOS 17.4 RC 1, Apple has updated several other beta software releases today. This includes the fourth beta of the upcoming visionOS 1.1 update. The new version adds mobile device management support for enterprise email and calendar, the latest emoji characters, and improvements to Persona.

Additionally, Apple has released the fifth beta versions of its other non-iOS software updates. This includes macOS Sonoma 14.4, tvOS 17.4, and the HomePod 17.4 update. No sign of watchOS 10.4 beta 5 yet.

Apple has published the full release notes for iOS 17.4, offering an in-depth look at new features and bug fixes. Apple says the update fixes problems with Find My, Dual SIM users, and more. Head below for the full details.

Apple has released the first iOS 17.4 RC (release candidate) ahead of the expected final version shipping next week.

iOS 17.4 addresses new regulation in the EU as required by the Digital Markets Act. The primary change is in policy with Apple now forced to allow app markets to compete with the App Store on iPhone. iOS 17.4 delivers the system-level infrastructure to support alternative app stores.

Globally, iOS 17.4 has a collection of feature additions including updates to CarPlay, the latest emoji characters, and more.

We’re still learning everything Apple Vision Pro can do thanks to creative developers like Geert Bevin. For example, did you know apps can create floating wrist HUDs as if you were wearing a futuristic watch that projected information? That’s something his new MIDI Widgets app for Apple Vision Pro can do, and it’s a must-have for musicians.

Sonos’ long-awaited over-ear headphones have hit a development snag, according to Bloomberg. Today’s report explains that the snag stems from a software problem and will delay the production and release of the headphones. Sonos’ Apple TV competitor and revamped iPhone app have also both hit development problems.

Apple is reportedly hiring away the current White House deputy press secretary. Olivia Alair Dalton currently serves as Deputy Assistant to the President and White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary.

Zoom is dropping support for older versions of iOS, the company announced today. In the release notes for an update to Zoom for iPhone, Zoom said that it will end support for iOS 11 and iOS 12 next month.

A collection of official iPhone 15 series silicone cases is headlining all of today’s best deals. Pricing across all four of Apple’s latest smartphones starts from $26 to go alongside a clearance discount on Apple’s M1 iPad Pro at $610. Plus, the all-new Anker 15W MagGo Qi2 charging orb hits $85. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

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

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Apple and Meta won’t just be competing with their VR headsets – they are also likely to be gearing up for a later battle between Apple Glasses and Meta Glasses.

While both devices are believed to be years from launch, a new report today says that we’ll get a sneak peek at Meta Glasses later this year …

iOS 18 will be announced at WWDC in June, and is rumored to be one of the biggest updates ever for iPhone users. Now, a new rumor allegedly offers our first look at which devices will be compatible with iOS 18 when it’s released later this year. The rumor also allegedly offers details on iPadOS 18 compatibility as well.

An Apple Ring patent application has been granted, amid conflicting reports about the status of the company’s development of such a device.

However, while recent reports focus more on the applications of a ring as a health sensor as a cheaper alternative to an Apple Watch, this patent is more concerned with using it as an input device …

Some enterprising types are offering Vision Pro rental in China to satisfy demand to try the product, which is currently only available for purchase in the US.

Just one of these rental outlets says that it has had more than 10,000 customers since the service launched, just a couple of days after the device first went on sale …

Our expectations for the ProMotion always-on display for both iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 models have been echoed in a new supply-chain report.

Way back in May of last year, display analyst Ross Young shared what he believes to be Apple’s roadmap for 2024 and 2025 …

Tomorrow is the date of Apple’s annual shareholder meeting, and the company this year faces five shareholder proposals – and recommends voting against all of them.

The company went as far as trying to exclude one of them, but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled that it must be put to a vote …

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In this episode of Apple @ Work, I talk with Jeetu Patel from Cisco about Webex on the Apple TV and Vision Pro.

iOS 17.4 beta has been available to developers and beta testers since last month, and it brings a lot of significant changes such as App Marketplaces for installing apps outside the App Store in the EU. As the Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust legislation deadline is approaching, it seems that Apple is getting ready to release iOS 17.4 RC as soon as tomorrow.

Apple Vision Pro still lacks many popular apps, and X (or Twitter, as you prefer) is one of them. While there’s no sign of an official visionOS app coming soon, an independent developer has created “Dusk” – an alternative X/Twitter client that lets Vision Pro users access the social network in an elegant way.

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

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Update (Feb. 27 at 5:53 p.m. ET): Netflix says that this change impacts subscribers of the Basic plan in certain countries, including the United States and Canada.

Netflix is severing ties with Apple’s App Store billing system for good. Netflix stopped allowing new and rejoining subscribers to sign up with App Store billing back in 2018, but Netflix subscribers who were paying through Apple at the time were allowed to continue doing so. Now, that’s finally about to change.

Alongside major updates to the iPad, a new MacBook Air is also coming soon. The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models could be introduced at an event in March. Here’s everything we know so far.