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It was every week filled with unboxings this week, with Apple’s new M1-based Macs and the HomePod mini making their approach into clients’ arms for the primary time. We’re seeing spectacular efficiency from all the new merchandise, and it’s going to be tremendous attention-grabbing what Apple is ready to do with its higher-powered Macs because the transition to Apple Silicon continues.
This week additionally noticed the discharge of a particular iOS 14.2.1 replace for the iPhone 12 lineup to deal with just a few early bugs on these units, and Apple introduced a brand new App Store program that can minimize its fee in half for builders who earned underneath $1 million from the App Store within the earlier 12 months. Read on for all the particulars on these tales and extra!
First Apple M1 Macs Begin Arriving to Customers
The first Macs with Apple’s customized M1 chip started arriving to clients Tuesday, and there was fairly a bit of pleasure surrounding the launch, as efficiency has confirmed to be fairly spectacular.
Benchmark outcomes have proven that the brand new MacE book Air with the M1 chip outperforms a high-end 16-inch MacE book Pro, whereas the brand new 13-inch MacE book Pro can compile code as quick as a 2019 Mac Pro, all whereas consuming solely a fraction of the battery lifetime of the previous-generation Intel-based 13-inch MacE book Pro.
There are already fairly just a few standard apps which have been optimized with native assist for Apple Silicon, together with Pixelmator Pro, Fantastical, BBEdit, Affinity Designer, Twitter, Darkroom, and djay Pro AI. A crowdsourced record of common Mac apps might be discovered within the MacRumors boards.
Watch the Apple M1 MacE book Air Blaze Through Opening Every Default App
To additional exhibit simply how spectacular the M1 chip’s efficiency is, MacRumors discussion board member iChan shared a video during which he opened each default app within the Dock on the brand new base mannequin MacE book Air, and the pocket book dealt with the duty with ease. We additionally carried out our personal exams pitting the brand new M1 MacE book Air in opposition to the equal Intel mannequin from earlier this 12 months, and it wasn’t a lot of a contest.
These feats are much more spectacular contemplating that the bottom mannequin MacE book Air is provided with simply 8GB of reminiscence and has a silent, fanless design, making it thrilling to see what Apple will obtain with its M-series chips in higher-end Macs to return.
Rumors recommend that future Apple Silicon Macs will embody new 14-inch and 16-inch MacE book Pro fashions with an all-new kind issue as early as Q2 2021, along with a redesigned 24-inch iMac and a smaller model of the Mac Pro.
Hands-On With the New HomePod Mini
Apple’s new HomePod mini additionally started arriving to clients this week, and we picked one as much as see the way it measures as much as the full-size HomePod.
HomePod mini measures in at simply 3.Three inches tall and 3.9 inches huge, so it is a whole lot smaller than the usual HomePod. Despite its compact design, we had been impressed on the sound that the speaker was in a position to put out.
Priced at $99, the HomePod mini is a extra budget-friendly competitor to the Amazon Echo and Google Home, whereas nonetheless providing many options of the full-size HomePod, together with Siri, HomePackage integration, Apple Music, Intercom voice messaging, and stereo pairing with one other HomePod mini.
Apple Releases iOS 14.2.1 With Fix for Text Message Bug and iPhone 12 Mini Lock Screen Issues
Apple’s iPhone 12 fashions have had just a few bugs since their launch, and Apple cleaned up a number of of them this week with the discharge of iOS 14.2.1, which is just for the iPhone 12 household.
The replace fixes a bug that prompted some MMS textual content messages to not be obtained in each single-person and group chats, and it fixes a bug that prompted the Lock Screen of the iPhone 12 mini to grow to be unresponsive. It additionally features a repair for Made for iPhone listening to units that had been experiencing sound high quality points.
Apple Drops App Store Fees to 15% for All Developers Making Under $1 Million From App Store
Apple this week introduced a brand new App Store Small Business Program that can permit builders who earned as much as $1 million in post-commission earnings throughout the earlier calendar 12 months to qualify for a decreased 15% fee on the sale of apps and in-app purchases tied to digital items and companies.
The program is about to launch on January 1, 2021, and Apple can be sharing complete particulars in early December. In the meantime, Apple outlined the next parameters:
- Existing builders who made as much as $1 million in 2020 for all of their apps, in addition to builders new to the App Store, can qualify for this system and the decreased fee.
- If a taking part developer surpasses the $1 million threshold, the usual fee charge will apply for the rest of the 12 months.
- If a developer’s enterprise falls under the $1 million threshold in a future calendar 12 months, they’ll re-qualify for the 15 % fee the 12 months after.
Apple Investigating Display Issues With iPhone 12 Models
In an inside doc for technicians this week, obtained by MacRumors, Apple has acknowledged a difficulty with some iPhone 12 shows exhibiting flickering, a inexperienced or grey glow, or different unintended lighting variations underneath some circumstances.
Apple says that it’s conscious of buyer studies associated to this problem and is investigating. Apple has suggested technicians to keep away from servicing affected iPhones, at the very least for now, and as a substitute inform clients that they need to preserve their iPhone updated with the most recent iOS model. This steerage means that Apple could also be assured that it might probably repair the difficulty in a future software program replace.
The same inexperienced tint problem affected some iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max shows, and Apple was in a position to repair it in iOS 13.6.1.
MacRumors Newsletter
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(This story has not been edited by Newslivenation workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)