Two weeks after its announcement, the HomePod 2 is officially on sale and hitting retail stores in the US, Canada, Australia, and other markets. Customers around the world are also receiving their HomePod 2 pre-orders.
Apple started accepting HomePod 2 pre-orders soon after its announcement. If you placed your order early, your unit should also show up today.
The next AiPods Max refresh, low-cost AirPods, and the HomePod mini 2 could enter into mass production in H2 2024. These products could go on sale between the end of 2024 and the first half of 2025.
Apple is unlikely to announce new audio products for the remainder of 2023 or H1 2024.
We teamed up with SwitchEasy for this week’s giveaway, which will see three lucky winners receiving an Orbit Universal Magnetic Stand.
The multifunctional stand works with any MagSafe-compatible iPhone. And it lets you mount that iPhone practically anywhere, from your desk to your car’s dash (thanks to the 3M sticker on the back).
Enter to win below!
Although Apple’s December 2022 quarter was something of a disappointment, thanks to declines in revenue and profits, company executives accentuated the positives whenever possible during an earnings call with investors on Thursday.
Here are some upbeat developments coming out of Apple’s Q1 2023 financial results, including a significant milestone in active users and a big jump in iPad revenue.
Apple’s installed base now exceeds 2 billion active devices, CEO Tim Cook said during Thursday’s earnings call. Although revenue in Apple’s first quarter fell $6.7 billion short of last year’s, the continued growth helped the company achieve what Cook called “a truly incredible milestone.”
Apple’s financial results from the December 2022 quarter include revenue and earnings per share that declined compared to the same period of the previous year. The figures did not live up to analysts’ expectations, which is dropping the share price.
Still, CEO Tim Cook stayed positive: “As we all continue to navigate a challenging environment, we are proud to have our best lineup of products and services ever, and as always, we remain focused on the long term and are leading with our values in everything we do.”
Apple reportedly stopped looking for a replacement industrial design chief. This is surprising, as it’s a high-profile position once held by Jony Ive, who led the team that created the iconic look of the iPhone, iMac and more.
The corporate rearrangement increases the power of Jeff Williams — Apple’s chief operating officer and possibly Tim Cook’s eventual replacement as CEO.
If you like a touch of “soft and comfy” with your style, Elago’s fiber-fill sleeves for MacBook and iPad could be for you. They’re a soft cases for your devices that are also environmentally friendly because the material in them is recycled.
And these sleeves won’t break the bank, either. You can choose from different sizes and colors and pay less than $30 in some cases. Check out the collection in the Cult of Mac Store.
You can grow your collection of classic Apple gear with an original iPhone from 2007… if your pockets are deep enough. A first-generation iOS handset doesn’t usually go for that much, but this one is still sealed in the original packaging.
Typically, an iPhone 1 sells for a few hundreds dollars. This one might hit $50,000.
Analysts don’t expect to be wowed when Apple announces the results of its most recent financial quarter Thursday. They predict the company’s revenue declined slightly during the October-through-December period.
Feeding into the prediction is the struggle Apple had meeting iPhone demand during the quarter, which a top market-analysis firm says could have caused a double-digit drop in shipments. Plus, Apple broke tradition by not introducing new Macs.
Legendary Apple design chief Jony Ive, responsible for the look and feel of iconic products like iPhone, grabbed headlines Wednesday for a new creation — a big, red paper nose. That may sound odd, but it’s for a good cause.
Ive and his team came up with the nose to go along with Red Nose Day, March 17. That’s charity Comic Relief’s day of giving in the U.K. and around the world to help end poverty, particularly among children.
Best-known for keyboards, Keychron rolled out its new ultra-lightweight M3 wireless mouse Tuesday, touting its strong build and robust features for Mac users and others.
“To accompany it, we have designed the smallest Type-C 2.4 GHz receiver for M3, which is compatible with MacBook and other laptops,” Keychron said.
And at $49, the svelte new optical mouse is affordable, too.
Legendary in rock’n’roll history for its Marshall stacks of amplifiers, the English company recently added a rugged Bluetooth speaker to the top of its growing lineup — the Middleton.
Like Marshall’s other portable wireless speakers — which all have proper English names, by the way — it looks like a guitar amp.
And this top-of-the-line number not only “goes to 11,” but it’s weatherproof and features multidirectional sound, too.
Wouldn’t it be great if the right job opened the door to building a killer computer setup? It happened for design and product lead Jaime Creixems.
Today’s featured setup is his M1 Max MacBook Pro and Studio Display-driven wonderland, complete with excellent audio equipment and fun sidelights like Lego sets.
Netflix greatly increased the amount of its most-popular content with support for spatial audio, which lets the tv shows and films offer a surround sound-like experience but without all the speakers.
But the enhanced sound is not for every subscriber. The streaming service is using spatial audio as a way to tempt viewers to its Premium plan.
Major League Soccer fans in more than 100 countries can now sign up for the MLS Season Pass subscription service via the Apple TV app and Apple TV+, Cupertino said Wednesday.
This comes ahead of the 2023 season’s launch on February 25. The new service will air all MLS and Leagues Cup matches, plus hundreds of MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT games, Apple said.
Following the release of iOS 16.3 last week, Apple has stopped signing iOS 16.2. This means it is no longer possible to downgrade your iPhone to the older iOS build.
If your iPhone is still running iOS 16.2, you can update it to iOS 16.3 without issues.
The Samsung T7 Shield rugged SSD launched in 2022 with a maximum of 2TB of capacity and is now available with twice that.
T7 Shield is a a credit-card size external SSD intended for outdoor content creators or travelers. It works with Mac and iPad plus a wide variety of devices.
Creative’s new Sound Blaster X5, a USB sound card, digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and headphone amplifier, promises to jack up your Mac’s audio quality.
It’s not cheap at $280. But the device launched Tuesday might make big difference in the sound flowing from speakers and headphones alike.
iPhone 16 Pro buyers reportedly won’t get the “periscope” camera previous rumors suggested. A camera with the new type of high-end lens will be restricted to only the iPhone 16 Pro Max, according to a reliable source of Apple info.
The new hardware actually will arrive with the iPhone 15 Pro Max in 2023. But it supposedly won’t come to the regular-size iPhone Pro in 2024, despite what earlier reports indicated.
The pop-up lens should bring a noticeable jump in image quality while also shrinking the thickness of the iPhone’s notoriously large camera hump.
Looking to buy Apple’s 32-inch Pro Display XDR? Amazon is taking a whopping $300 off the stunning display, reducing the hole the purchase would otherwise make in your wallet.
With an MRP of $4,999, the Pro Display XDR is an expensive piece of tech. But you can take advantage of the deal on Amazon to get the display for $4,699.99.
The first reviews of the updated HomePod say the new smart speaker sounds excellent but doesn’t break much new ground.
Compared to Apple’s original smart speaker, the second-generation HomePod is more of an asset in a smart home than before. However, the device’s limitations on playing music from third-party sources mean that the home in question better be an Apple household.
The Plugable USB-C Stand Dock goes beyond just holding up an iPad so the display can be seen — it’s also an 8-port hub with HDMI, two USB-A ports and many more.
The design reduces clutter on the user’s desk. And the stand/hub is also portable.
1Password is among the best password managers for iOS, and it is about to get even better. Putting a pause on adding new features, 1Password developers have announced several improvements to the app’s fundamentals.
Last year, AgibleBits released 1Password 8 with a new home screen and additional customization options. Based on user feedback, the company is further improving some of these features.
It’s that time of year again. Apple Music made Replay 2023 most-streamed playlists available Monday to anyone who’s listened to enough music in January to have one.
It may be something you associate with the end of a year — Spotify Wrapped comes out only in December, for example. But Apple Music opens up access early with updates on Sundays so you can track your hit list and more continuously, plus a year-end recap.