Technologies
WWDC 2023 Biggest Reveals: Vision Pro Headset, iOS 17, MacBook Air and More
From its expected AR/VR headset to new Macs to software updates like iOS 17, here’s what Apple unveiled at WWDC.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference kicked off on Monday with a keynote address showing everything coming to the company’s lineup of devices. WWDC has been typically where the company gives us a first look at new software for iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Macs. But this year, Apple revealed a bevy of new hardware, too.
The big announcement was the debut of the Apple Vision Pro headset, a «new kind of computer» as Tim Cook put it in the presentation. But with MacBook Air and other Mac hardware announcements — including new silicon — as well as software upgrades, no corner of Apple’s ecosystem lacked for updates.
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For a detailed summary of everything announced as it happened, give our live blog a look. Read on for the highlights of the presentation and links to our stories.
Apple Vision Pro, a new headset
The Apple Vision Pro is the company’s answer to the AR and VR headset race. It’s a personal display on your face with all the interface touches you’d expect from Apple, with an operating system that looks like a combination of iOS, MacOS and TVOS. And it’s not going to come cheap: The Apple Vision Pro retails for $3,499 and will start shipping early next year.
The device itself looks like other headsets, though the glass front hides cameras and even a curved OLED outer display (more on why later). The headset is secured to the wearer’s head with a wide rear band (no over-the-top strap), though as rumors suggested, there’s an external battery back that connects over a cable and sits in your pocket. There’s a large Apple Watch-style digital crown on the right side that lets you dial immersion (the outside world) in and out.
The Vision Pro has three-element lenses that enable 4K resolution, though you can swap out lenses, presumably for different vision capabilities. Audio pods are embedded within the band to sit over your ears, and «audio ray tracing» maps sound to your position. A suite of lidar and other sensors on the bottom of the headset track hand and body motions.
Technically speaking, the Vision Pro is a computer, with an M2 chip found on Apple’s highest-end computers. But a new R1 chip processes all the other headset inputs from 12 cameras, five sensors and six microphones and sends it to the M2 to reduce lag and get new images to displays within 12 milliseconds. The Vision Pro runs the new VisionOS, which uses iOS frameworks, a 3D engine, foveated rendering and other software tricks to make what Apple calls «the first operating system designed from the ground up for spatial computing.»
Interior cameras track your facial motion, which is projected to others when on FaceTime and other video chatting apps.
Apple Vision Pro can scan your face to create a digital 3D avatar.
To keep users from being cut off from the outside world, the EyeSight feature uses inside-pointing cameras and the headset’s outer display to show your eyes — essentially showing people around you what your eyes are focusing on. If you’ve dialed your immersion all the way on, your eyes will disappear on the outside screen. But you’re not totally cut off. While wearing the headset, if someone approaches you they’ll filter in to your vision.
The interface uses hand motions to control the device, though there are also voice controls. It’s tough to tell how these controls will work, and we’d expect that users will need some time to adapt to not using a mouse and keyboard.
This isn’t just an entertainment device. Apple is pitching its first new product in eight years as a work-from-home and travel device, essentially letting you open however many windows you want. It can work in the office as a display for Macs, and supports Apple’s Magic Keyboard and Trackpad devices.
The Vision Pro has Apple’s first 3D cameras and can take spatial photos, providing 3D depth with binaural audio to experience moments with more immersion. Of course, this spatial experience is extended to movies that’s «impossible to represent on a 2D screen,» Apple said during its presentation, continually teasing the exclusivity that non-headset wearers won’t even understand without trying out a Vision Pro. Disney CEO Bob Iger took the WWDC stage to vouch for the headset, and followed with a short video showing interactive 3D experiences that Vision Pro users will soon get to experience on the Disney Plus streaming service.
Now that Apple has all these new cameras and eye-tracking, it’s introduced a way to secure your data and purchases with Optic ID, which uses your eyes as an optical fingerprint for authentication. Camera data is processed at the system level, so what the headset sees isn’t fed up to the cloud.
Read more: Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ retrospective
New MacBook Air 15
As was rumored, Apple announced a new MacBook Air 15, a larger version of the MacBook Air 13 that launched last year.
The MacBook Air 15 is powered by an M2 chip and gets up to 18 hours of battery life. Configurations can come with up to 24GB of memory and up to 2TB of storage, retailing for $1,299 to start (or $1,199 with a student discount).
The 15-inch model is 11.5mm thick and 3.3 pounds, and has two Thunderbolt ports and a Magsafe cable connector — along with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It has an above-display 1080p camera in a notch, three microphones and six speakers with force-canceling subwoofers.
Read more: 15-inch MacBook Air M2 Preorder: Where to Buy Apple’s Latest Laptop
Mac Studio with M2
A new Mac Studio has landed and it comes with Apple’s latest silicon. The new model comes with an M2 Max chipset, or the new M2 Ultra chipset — essentially two M2 Max chips combined, which enables up to 192GB of memory.
The M2 Ultra stole the spotlight with new capabilities, with a 24-core CPU and streaming 22 videos at 8K ProRes resolution at once. It can support up to six Apple Pro Displays at once.
The Mac Studio starts at $1,999 and will be available starting next week.
Mac Pro with M2 Ultra
Apple wasted no time announcing that its new high-end desktop Mac Pro model would get the M2 Ultra as well. The new Mac Pro gets all the M2 Ultra upgrades as the Studio, including support for up to 192GB of RAM.
The Mac Pro has eight thunderbolt ports, two HDMI ports and dual 10GB ethernet ports, with six open PCIe Gen 4 slots. The new Mac Pro comes in both upright tower and horizontal rack orientations.
The new Mac Pro starts at $6,999 and will be available starting next week.
iOS 17
iOS 17 brings a ton of quality-of-life improvements, and the iOS 17 developer beta is available now to download. Finally, you can use more filters while searching within your Messages. In addition to pressing and holding on messages to reply, you can also simply swipe on specific messages to reply to them, and voice notes will be transcribed.
Say goodbye to gray screens when you get calls — now you can set full-screen photos or Memoji to contacts when they call you. And if someone leaves a voicemail, you can see it transcribed in real-time to help you screen calls if you don’t recognize a caller.
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A new safety feature, Check In, sends a note to a trusted contact when you reach a location — like when you make it home safe after late-night travel. If it’s taking you longer to get to a destination, you’ll be prompted to extend the timer rather than alert your contact. It also shares your battery and signal status. Check In is end-to-end encrypted.
Last year, Apple introduced an iOS feature to let you copy photo subjects and paste them as stickers — and now you can do that with video to essentially create GIFs to share with friends or even as responses to Messages. All emoji are now shareable stickers, too.
AirDrop has been a helpful tool to send files between Apple devices, but now you can share your contact info with Name Drop. You can choose what you want to share between email addresses, phone numbers and more.
Also, say goodbye to relying on Notes to jot down your thoughts — Journal is a new secure app for personal recollections. Apple is pitching it as a gratitude exercise, but iOS will auto-include activities like songs and workouts you’ve done to your personal log.
Apple Maps got an update that Android owners have had for years — the ability to use Maps offline, especially helpful when you’re outside network range while outdoors or conserving battery.
A new mode, StandBy, converts an iPhone to an alarm clock when it’s charging and rotated horizontally. It gets smart interactions like a large visible clockface along with calendar and music controls.
Lastly, as was rumored, you won’t have to say «Hey Siri» anymore. Just saying «Siri» will bring up the voice assistant.
Read more: Apple Finally Lets You Type What You Ducking Mean on iOS 17
iPadOS 17
iPadOS 17 brings more controls to widgets, which don’t just show more info at a glance — they have more interactive buttons to let you control your smart home or play music.
iPadOS 17 is bringing more interactive personal data to the Health app, including richer sleep and activity visualization.
The next iPadOS update brings quality-of-life upgrades like more lock screen customization and multiple timers (helpful when cooking), as well as improvements to the follow-you-during-video-calls Stage Manager feature for iPad selfie cameras.
With all the screen space on an iPad, Apple expanded what you can do with PDFs, which can be autofilled and signed from within iPadOS. iPad owners can collaborate in real time while tweaking PDFs, and the files can now be stored in the Notes app.
MacOS Sonoma
MacOS Sonoma, named after one of California’s most famous wine-producing areas, continues the WWDC theme of adding more widget functionality.
Sonoma also has some gaming upgrades like a new gaming mode that prioritizes CPU and GPU to improve frame rate. Apple is paying attention to immersion with lower latency for wireless controllers and speakers or headsets. The company is also courting developers with game dev kits and Metal 3. But the biggest gaming announcement is that legendary game creator Hideo Kojima’s opus Death Stranding is coming to Macs later this year. «We are actively working to bring our future titles to Apple platforms,» Kojima said during the WWDC presentation.
On the business side, Mac has improved videoconferencing with an overlay that shows slide controls while you’re presenting. Apple also introduced new reactions — like ticker-tape falling for a congratulations — that can be triggered with gestures.
PassKey, the end-to-end encrypted password chain tech Apple introduced last year, can now be shared with other contacts, and everyone included can edit and update passwords to be shared with the group.
Safari has security updates including locking the browser window when in private browsing mode, and profiles to separate accounts, logins and cookies between work and personal use.
AirPods and audio upgrades
Apple has a handful of improvements to its audio products. AirPods will get Adaptive Audio, which combines noise-canceling with intelligent audio to drown out annoying background noise while letting through important sounds — like car horns or bike bells. It’ll also pass through voices in case someone starts a conversation in person.
And it’s far easier to digitally take control of the music with SharePlay while somebody with CarPlay is driving — a prompt will go out to others in the car asking if they want to take control.
Apps in WatchOS 10 are getting a new look.
WatchOS 10
Yet again, widgets make an appearance with WatchOS 10, the next operating system upgrade for Apple Watches. Widgets are now accessible in a stack from your home screen — just use the digital crown to scroll between them.
Apple has focused on cycling this year, improving workouts by showing functional threshold data, an important metric for cyclists. It also connects over Bluetooth to sensors on bikes, and there’s a new full-screen mode for iPhones that allows you to use it as a full screen while cycling.
Hikers, rejoice! WatchOS 10 has upgraded its compass with cellular connection waypoints, telling you which direction to walk and how far you have to go before you can get carrier reception. It also shows SOS waypoint spots, and shows elevation view in the 3D compass view. There’s also a neat topographical view.
Apple is also expanding its Mindfulness app to log how you’re feeling in State of Mind, choosing between color-coded emotional states. You can even access this from your iPhone in case you’re away from your Apple Watch.
Health focuses for 2023
On top of the WatchOS Mindfulness updates, Apple introduced a neutral survey to self-report mood and mental health, which acts as a sort of non-medical way to indicate whether you may want to get professional help.
Apple also has a new cross-device Vision Health focus in the Health app, and a new feature on the Apple Watch measures daylight time spent outside to watch for myopia in younger wearers. Screen Distance uses the TrueDepth camera on iPads to warn people if they’re too close to the screen.
Technologies
Can Chemicals Turn My Orange iPhone 17 Pink? Here’s What I Found Out
There are reports that some cosmic orange iPhone 17 Pro handsets are turning pink. I threw chemicals at my iPhone to see what would happen.
A recent Reddit thread suggests that it’s possible for a cosmic orange iPhone 17 Pro to turn vibrant pink. As PCMag’s Eric Zeman noted, it’s likely that the phone has been discolored by cleaning substances that affected the finish, turning it from vibrant orange to a wild hot pink. Sure, this might technically be a fault, but in all honesty I love pink phones and the idea of a hot pink iPhone 17 Pro filled me with joy. So I wanted to see if I could test the theory and see just what color-changing effects various household cleaners might have on my phone.
It’s important to note here that the iPhone 17 Pro I used was bought by CNET for the purposes of testing. Had I paid over $1,000 of my own money I wouldn’t be so reckless in smearing it with chemicals that could potentially irreparably harm it. And you shouldn’t either. If you need to clean your phone, do it safely. Disclaimer aside, let’s dive in.
The chemicals
I bought two chemicals to test this out. Zeman explains that it may be oxidation that caused the color to change and that hydrogen peroxide could do this. I couldn’t find this over the counter in the UK, so I instead bought an «oxy-active» stain remover spray that, among other things, contains «oxygen-based bleaching agents» which sounded ideal. Apple also clearly states «don’t use products containing bleach or hydrogen peroxide» on its support page so, naturally, I bought some thick bleach too.
Oxy application
I started by spraying the oxy cleaner on a microfiber cloth until it was noticeably wet from the liquid and then liberally applied this all over the rear of the iPhone. The Reddit user with the affected phone showed that it only affected the metal parts, not the glass back panel, so I made sure to focus my attention on the sides and camera bar.
With the phone well and truly doused in chemicals that have no business being anywhere near a phone, I left it to sit and think about what it had done for 30 minutes — after which time I wiped it dry and took a close inspection. Disappointingly, my phone was still factory orange, rather than «what the hell have you done to your phone» pink. Time to move on.
Bleach blast
I opened the bleach and trying hard not to think about my days as a middle school cleaner, applied a liberal blob of the stuff to a cloth and smeared it over the defenceless phone, concentrating again on the metal areas. I definitely should have worn protective gloves for all of this so please make sure you take better care of yourself than I do if you do anything with bleach.
Again, I gave it a 30-minute settling in period before cleaning it off and inspecting the results.
The phone remained as orange as ever, looking as box fresh as it was the day before when it was, indeed, box fresh. The orange color hadn’t changed and now almost 24 hours later there’s still no sign of discoloration of any kind.
Is the pink iPhone 17 real?
I can’t say with any certainty whether the Reddit user’s images of a pink iPhone 17 Pro are real or not. The cuddly human side of me wants to take them at their word, while the journalist in me is sceptical. What I can say with certainty is that putting your orange iPhone into close contact with household cleaning products isn’t going to win you a funky, ultra-rare pink hue that you could sell on eBay for a small fortune.
It’s possible that using pure peroxide could be the thing that does it, but to be honest, if you’re going out of your way to throw industrial-grade chemicals at your phone then you may as well just directly try and dye it. My goal here was to see how susceptible the orange model is to everyday household cleaners such as kitchen cleaner or bathroom bleach — the sort of things it might naturally come into contact with in routine use. And what I’ve found is that, no, it won’t ruin the nice orange color. But it’s probably still not good for your phone.
Technologies
My Teen Loves Her Apple AirPods Pro 2 and You Will Too With This $100 Off Deal for Black Friday
Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 have everything you could want from a pair of wireless earbuds, plus a steep discount.
Black Friday deals: The Apple AirPods Pro 2 are some of the best personal audio gear on the market, even if they aren’t the latest model anymore. Sure, Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 are the newest earbuds in the lineup but the AirPods Pro 2 are still an excellent pick for most people.
They’re an even better buy this week during early Black Friday sales when you can get your hands on a pair of Apple AirPods Pro 2 at a discount. Right now, Walmart is shaving a massive $100 off the AirPods Pro 2, dropping the cost to $139. That’s one of the lowest prices we’ve seen — but we doubt this deal will stick around for long.
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CNET’s key takeaways
- You can get these amazing earbuds for just $139 right now at Walmart.
- My teenager loves everything about them.
- The sound quality is exceptional.
- The noise cancellation can help give you some peace, even in a busy home.
My 13-year-old daughter loves her music and her privacy, and for years she has wanted a pair of AirPods. They’re not cheap so I’ve only been getting her more budget options, like the Amazon Echo Buds, as a result. These kept seemingly disappearing, though, so I finally ponied up for the AirPods Pro 2.
I picked them up during last year’s sales, and they were definitely well-received. She’s happy, she uses them every day, and she hasn’t lost them yet. The AirPods Pro 2 are currently on sale at Walmart for $139, a nice price for a high-quality pair like these, and one of the lowest we’ve seen.
What about the AirPods Pro 3?
The AirPods Pro 3 weren’t available at the time I bought the AirPods Pro 2, but they were rumored, and I didn’t wait to see what they offered. As CNET’s resident headphone expert, David Carnoy summarized in his AirPods Pro 3 and Pro 3 comparison, the newer model is «significantly improved in the four most important areas: fit, sound quality, noise cancellation and battery life.» They also have heart-rate monitoring, like the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2.
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While these are undoubtedly all important things, a lot of people aren’t going to notice the differences or make the most of the new features. With the AirPods Pro 3 being newer, they’re on a smaller sale and are currently available at Amazon for $220, which is $30 off the list price.
Why I didn’t get the AirPods 4 instead
Why did I choose AirPods Pro 2 instead of the AirPods 4 with ANC? First, as I mentioned in another article about a different pair of earbuds I bought, I think sealed, in-ear buds are better than open-design models like the AirPods 4. The seal creates another layer of noise isolation and contributes to superior sound quality, and if you want to pay attention to the world you can always engage ambient sound mode, which Apple calls transparency mode.
Also a factor was that, at the time, Carnoy considered the Pro 2 the best Apple noise-canceling wireless earbuds: «While we’re quite impressed with those new models — and with the AirPods 4 ANC in particular — the AirPods Pro 2 remain arguably the best Apple AirPods you can buy if you don’t mind having silicone ear tips jammed in your ears,» he said.
My daughter uses earplugs all the time to help her sleep, so she definitely qualifies as somebody who’s comfortable stuffing things in her ears. Like her fingers, when I start using words like «sigma,» «skibidi» and «relatable» to try to relate to her.
I asked Carnoy about the Pro 2s potentially not fitting in her kid-size ears and he reassured me that the range of eartips that come with the Pro 2s «now include XS, so they should fit.»
Do AirPods make a great gift?
It took me years to finally understand, but yes, for someone looking for wireless earbuds, AirPods — especially the Apple AirPods Pro 2 — make the perfect gift, regardless of whether you’re a teenage girl.
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Technologies
If You’re Flying for the Holidays, This Bluetooth Dongle Transforms In-Flight Movies, and It’s 35% Off for Black Friday
Watch airplane movies just like you would at home with this game-changing device.
Air travel for the holidays can be stressful, especially when winter weather or flight delays force a change of plans, but one perk of flying still remains — watching new-release movies. However, in-flight entertainment on most airlines usually requires a wired set of earbuds. (And the ones the airline hands out are so bad they may as well not even be connected.)
I’d far prefer to use my wireless, noise-canceling AirPods Pro, but they connect only via Bluetooth. There’s a simple tech solution that makes viewing movies on the plane feel more like watching them on your couch.
The AirFly is a simple Bluetooth dongle that allows me to connect my wireless earbuds directly to the airplane’s entertainment system, eliminating the need for adapters or wired workarounds.
It’s become a must-pack item in my travel bag. Since I started using it, I’ve stopped dreading in-flight audio and finally get to enjoy movies on the plane. If you fly often, this little gadget could completely change how you travel. And the base level AirFly SE is 35% off for Black Friday at Amazon.
The AirFly Pro lets me enjoy in-flight entertainment
The AirFly Pro from Twelve South is a minimally designed dongle that allows me to connect to the 3.5mm headphone jack in my airplane seat, enabling me to listen to in-flight entertainment on my noise-canceling earbuds.
All I have to do is pair the AirFly with the Bluetooth headphones I’m using, such as my AirPods Pro, plug the AirFly into the display in front of me, and I’m all set. I don’t even need to use my phone to connect the two devices.
There are several versions of the AirFly: the AirFly SE, which is currently on sale for $26 on Amazon and connects to just one set of headphones, the AirFly Pro at $55, the Pro V2 at $60 and the Pro 2 Deluxe at $70, which comes with an international headphone adapter and a suede travel case.
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I use the AirFly Pro, which has been a game-changer for me on flights. I’ve never had to worry about battery life since the AirFly Pro lasts for over 25 hours and can be fully charged in just three hours. I can also pair two separate pairs of headphones to a single AirFly Pro, in case I’m with someone else on a flight and want to watch the same movie or show.
And if that’s not enough, the AirFly Pro also doubles as an audio transmitter, allowing me to turn any speaker with a headphone jack, such as my old car stereo, into a Bluetooth speaker.
The AirFly Pro makes a great gift for any traveler
The AirFly Pro is the perfect present to give to someone who’s planning to travel this year. Besides my Anker MagSafe battery pack, the AirFly Pro has become my most treasured travel accessory when I fly, which is why I consider it one of those can’t-go-wrong gifts.
For more travel gear, here are our favorite tech essentials to travel with and our favorite travel pillows.
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