watchOS 11 brings automatic sleep tracking to the Apple Watch. This means the smartwatch can track your sleep even if you don’t set a sleep schedule or use the Sleep Focus mode.
While a small change, it makes sleep tracking on the Apple Watch much more useful.
watchOS 11 will monitor your Training Load, enable you to pause your Activity Rings when you’re sick, and track your pregnancy, Apple said Monday. These features, together with a new Vitals app, represent another major step forward for Apple’s health and fitness wearable.
Your Apple Watch face gets some love, too, with improvements to the photo face and widget stack.
★★★★☆
A multidevice charger like the ESR Qi2 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station is a must-have, especially if you own an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. A 3-in-1 charger removes the hassle of dealing with multiple power bricks and cables, which occupy unwanted desk space and power sockets.
ESR recently launched its Qi2 3-in-1 wireless charging station, which stands out for its Qi2 support and detachable Apple Watch charger. Its small footprint, sturdy design and welcome extras make it a solid contender for a prime spot on your nightstand.
Apple just made a major change to its standard warranty terms for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Going forward, the company will no longer cover a single hairline crack under its warranty.
Instead, users must pay for the repair or claim accidental damage under their AppleCare plan.
In a surprising incident at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, an Apple Watch played a pivotal role in helping a determined passenger track down her stolen luggage when Spirit Airlines couldn’t.
You expect this sort of thing from AirTag, a dedicated tracker. But this time, an Apple Watch and the Find My network came to the rescue.
Apple Watch shipments dropped almost 20% year over year in the first quarter of 2024. Market analysts blame some of the decline on Apple being temporarily forced to halt sales of its most recent wearables in a patent dispute over blood oxygen monitoring in units sold in the United States.
AirPods sales also declined in Q1 2024 but for a different reason.
In one of the largest surveys on tinnitus so far, University of Michigan researchers participating in the Apple Hearing Study released data and insights Tuesday that could help lead to future treatment.
Tinnitus is the perception of sound, often ringing, that others do not hear.
“The Apple Hearing Study gives us an opportunity that was not possible before to improve our understanding of tinnitus across demographics, aiding current scientific knowledge that can ultimately improve management of tinnitus,” said Rick Neitzel, a University of Michigan School of Public Health professor of environmental health sciences.
Memorial Day weekend has arrived in the United States, and you know what that means — widespread sales on Apple gear and accessories (and pretty much everything else you can buy). Memorial Day deals on Apple gear can be irresistible.
We’re building a list, below, of solid deals at major retailers for Apple deals on gear, peripherals and accessories. Check back, because you might find something new.
If your group chat or work messages start blowing up in the middle of a meeting, you’ll want to know how to silence your Apple Watch quickly. You have a few options: Silent mode controls whether a notification makes a sound. Do Not Disturb controls whether you receive notifications. Theater mode turns off the display.
You can also use a quick shortcut to turn on silent mode in a pinch.
Apple shined a light on LGBTQ+ communities Monday with its new Pride Collection. It includes a new Apple Watch Pride Edition Braided Solo Loop plus a matching watch face and dynamic iOS and iPadOS wallpapers. In a first, you can customize the watch face and wallpapers by choosing colors.
You can order the new Apple Watch band starting May 22. The watch face and dynamic wallpapers for iOS and iPadOS arrive with an upcoming software update, Apple said.
For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) qualified a digital technology — Apple Watch’s AFib History feature — for a special research program. AFib, or atrial fibrillation, is a type of abnormal heart beat associated with heart attacks.
Apple Watch’s AFib History now qualifies for FDA’s stringent Medical Device Development Tools (MDDT) program. The program says which tools research sponsors can choose from to help develop and evaluate medical devices.
The Apple Watch Ultra 3, due to launch this year, will have “almost no” hardware upgrades. The claim comes from reputed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Last year’s Apple Watch Ultra 2 packed modest improvements over its predecessor. Apple will seemingly follow the same trend with this year’s model.
You can change the name of your Apple devices, whether you have an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, AirPods or Apple TV. By default, it’s just “[your name]’s iPhone.” But you can give your iPhone its own unique name, like Kit-Kat or Magic Rectangle.
Also by default, when you set up a new iPhone, the name is transferred. This can get confusing if you keep old phones around because you’ll see “John’s iPhone,” “John’s iPhone (2),” maybe even “John’s iPhone (3)” and more. The same is true for Apple Watch, Mac, iPad and AirPods.
The name of your device shows up among a bunch of Apple features like AirDrop, Find My, Personal Hotspot, AirPlay and more. If you use these features often, giving it a unique name will make it easier to identify.
Here’s how to fix this mess on all your Apple devices. Keep reading or watch our video.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The surprise Apple event on May 7 looks like an iPad and Apple Pencil extravaganza. What’s on Cupertino’s agenda? We discuss all the latest iPad rumors.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
Savvy shoppers can now buy Apple Watch Series 9 from Apple’s Certified Refurbished store. It’s a no-risk way to pick up the wearable at up to $110 below the usual price.
These are primarily devices that consumers bought then returned so supplies and selection are somewhat limited.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 joined the official Apple Certified Refurbished store. This lets buyers save $120 on the top-of-the-line smartwatch that hit the market just a few months ago.
Buying refurbs from Apple is a popular way to save on used electronics that can be relied on.
Apple Watch Series X is expected to bring a redesign, new sensors and other changes later this year. A designer created images of a concept device to showcase the leaked/rumored features.
Take a look.
Experiencing “ghost touch” problems on your Apple Watch, where the device responds to finger taps that never happened? You are not alone. Although the bug was initially limited to the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2, it appears to affect some older models, too.
Apple informed its service providers not to replace Apple Watch models plagued by the ghost touch bug. Instead, it has provided a temporary solution while the company works on a permanent software fix.
Amazon bargain site Woot! keeps the Apple savings coming. On Wednesday it surfaced an Apple Watches and More! sale with a handful of great deals on different models of the wearable, plus an accessories bundle. And the sale page doesn’t even include all the discounted Apple Watches on the site. We added a few below.
“Look like a Silicon Valley tech mogul,” Woot wrote. “And if smart watches aren’t your thing, we’ve also got a wide array of ‘More!'”
★★★★☆
If you’re looking for a hardy velcro EDC watch band for your Apple Watch, Mifa has you covered. Mifa’s Nylon Sports Leather Apple Watch Band is sturdy, the velcro is strong and the stitched leather is high-quality.
It’s a nice band for daily wear.
It comes in five different styles. The gray-on-black NASA-inspired design is my favorite. Two other designs in brown and black emphasize “EDC-34 Essential Series” with the Mifa name. And two new versions (in green and orange) sport NASA’s classic “meatball” insignia.
Amazon bargain site Woot! is known for its bargain-basement sales on tech items, but Tuesday’s Best of Tech sale digs up some oddities, including an offbeat selection of Apple products. An international travel-adapter kit, for example. The much-maligned FineWoven iPhone cases (also silicone). And an AirTag keychain with a carabiner clip.
Not to mention gear from Belkin, Victrola and others — everything from chargers to solar panels.
The Best of Tech sale runs through April 9. See below for some of the most interesting items on sale.
Apple is investigating whether its wearable can prevent some of 4,000 drowning deaths every year in the United States. An engineer proposed a system for an Apple Watch to detect if the swimmer wearing it is in distress and send an alert to nearby iPhones.
The plan fits with Apple’s goal to bring more health-related features to Apple Watch.
The Department of Justice and 16 state attorneys general filed an blockbuster antitrust lawsuit Thursday aimed at forcing Apple to open up many aspects of its ecosystem, from the App Store to Apple Watch.
The 88-page civil suit, which accuses Apple of wielding monopoly-like power, could bring truly sweeping changes to iPhone, Mac and other Apple computers.
A new report says Apple is on track to build into Apple Watch Series 10 a feature that been a bit of a holy grail for the wearable: blood pressure monitoring.
But the feature reportedly will be limited at first, and require new hardware.
Plans to transition Apple Watch Ultra to a micro LED display have been dropped, according to a trusted source of insider Apple information.
Beyond that, Apple seems to have lost interest in micro LED screens entirely.