The number of Netflix subscribers increased by 9.3M last quarter, to hit 270M globally – way higher than analysts had expected. However, the company says that it won’t (normally) reveal subscriber numbers in future …

Police officers were allowed to force a suspect to use his thumbprint to unlock his phone, according to a federal court ruling.

However, it said the issue was a finely-judged one, and its ruling should not be interpreted to mean that this is lawful in all circumstances …

A new Best Buy Vision Pro app uses augmented reality to let you see how things like big-screen TVs, furniture, kitchen appliances, and more would look in your home.

Once you find something you like, you can also buy it from within Vision Pro by opening the product page in Safari and completing the purchase there …

Senator Elizabeth Warren has tweeted a somewhat bizarre one-minute video in which she says that green texts are “ruining relationships” and that this is “just one of the dirty tactics that Apple uses to keep a stranglehold on the smartphone market.”

Warren uses the to-camera piece to voice her support for the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple, but has chosen a rather peculiar argument to do so …

Update: Both Signal and Telegram have been removed at China’s insistence as well. Apple statement in story.

Apple has removed two Meta apps from the App Store in China at the request of the Chinese government. Both WhatsApp and Threads have been made unavailable in the App Store, preventing new installs for the messaging and social apps.

Apple is rumored to be working on a new HomePod with a touchscreen LCD display on top, and we’ve already seen some images of this unreleased device floating around the web. Now Apple product collector Kosutami is back with a new image showing another part of one of these HomePod prototypes with a display.

Adobe on Thursday officially launched its new Adobe Express app with Firefly AI for iOS and Android. This version of the app has been available to beta testers for some time, and can now be downloaded by anyone. Read on as we detail everything that’s new with the Adobe Express update.

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.

Sponsored by Kolide by 1Password: The device trust solution that ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it can’t access your apps. Close the Zero Trust access gap for Okta. Watch the demo.

Last year Astropad launched its impressive Rock Paper Pencil kit for iPad that delivers a reusable/removable matte screen protector plus a ballpoint-style Apple Pencil tip for a real pen-on-paper experience. This year the company delivered Rock Paper Pencil v2 with a NanoCling border, flat profile, improved Apple Pencil tip, and more. Here’s what I think after testing out the improved version.

Game Room is one of the best experiences on Apple Vision Pro, especially with newly introduced spatial Personas. The latest update to the Apple Arcade game introduces one of the most popular classics: checkers.

Apple Watch is a must-have accessory for every cyclist. That’s become time and again it has proven critical for helping cyclists after a crash. Eric Zollinger from New York is the latest wearer to know firsthand.

Today I learned two things. First, apparently Meta Quest headsets don’t work on planes? I guess Apple knew to prioritize that feature for Vision Pro. And second, support is reportedly on the way. Add this to the list of ways competition from Vision Pro is making a better product.

A spring refresh may be around the corner, but in the meantime, you can save on Apple’s latest 12.9-inch iPad Pros from $1,029. It comes joined by a chance to save $265 on a stainless steel Apple Watch Series 9 and the first discount on Anker’s new . Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Razer has now unlocked the god-tier of mobile gaming. The company today is launching its latest smartphone controller grip for iPhone 15 and Android handsets. On top of just fully embracing USB-C, the new Razer Kishi Ultra steps up to deliver a more premium experience actually geared towards gamers with support for even larger devices like iPad mini 6. But that’s really just the tip of the iceberg for why this is .

Ross Young of DSCC has great news for potential 12.9-inch iPad Air buyers. According to Young, the newly introduced larger iPad Air will use the same display technology as the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

A smart MagSafe wallet could alert you if you leave a card behind after using it in a store, thanks to a simple approach described in a new Apple patent application.

The wallet could also better protect you against accidentally losing cards when carrying only one or two cards …

Apple will reveal its AI cards on June 10 at WWDC, and Siri is surely going to be a key component. Generally, people want Siri to get good. You can’t just replace Siri intelligence with generative AI, however, but the two technologies make a powerful combination. What I want to see from an AI-infused Siri is actually simple.

Apple has pledged to buy US-made chips once TSMC’s Arizona plants come online, but the company may have to pay more for them.

TSMC’s chief exec has said that it plans to charge customers more for chips made outside of Taiwan, due to the higher production costs …

Beginning today, more than sixty IHG Hotels & Resorts locations will support the new iOS 17 AirPlay feature, allowing guests to easily stream to the TV in their hotel with no additional hardware required.

Just like you would stream to an Apple TV at home, guests are able to seamlessly select their hotel TV as the AirPlay output to watch videos, view photos and stream music from their iPhone or iPad.

Romance scams are getting a whole lot more convincing with the latest tactic: using two phones, one running a face-swap app, to conduct live video calls with victims …

Apple has an ambitious goal to create a fully carbon neutral value chain for its products by 2030, and every year it charts its progress in its annual Environmental Progress Report. The 2024 report published today highlights a milestone achievement for emissions.

Apple says its overall greenhouse gas emissions have more than halved since 2015, down 55%. However, there is still more work to be done as the company will need to attain a 75% reduction to meet its 2030 targets.

Almost 100,000 iPhones which Apple paid a contractor to scrap were instead stolen and shipped off to China, according to an in-depth report.

Apple sued the company concerned, but now appears to have abandoned the lawsuit, with the report suggesting this is to avoid publicly admitting that it orders the shredding of perfectly usable devices, in stark contrast to the company’s environmental stance …

We’re expecting 2024 to be the year Apple builds generative AI features into iOS 18, and the company has announced a $250M investment to support ongoing work in this field. The Apple Singapore campus is growing from one building to three, to provide space for ‘new roles in AI and other key functions.’

Apple says that the expansion and refit will allow for greater collaboration between its growing teams in the country …

One of the many great benefits of Apple Silicon is the ability to run iPhone and iPad apps on the Mac. For baseball fans, this meant support for using the iPad version of the MLB app on macOS.

Sadly, the 2024 MLB season is off to a rocky start for Mac users (just like it is for Cincinnati Reds fans).

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.

Sponsored by Kolide by 1Password: The device trust solution that ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it can’t access your apps. Close the Zero Trust access gap for Okta. Watch the demo.

Logitech is known for its computer accessories such as keyboards and mouse. On Wednesday, the company announced the new M750 Wireless Mouse – which looks like any other Logitech mouse. However, this is the company’s first “Signature AI Edition” mouse with a dedicated ChatGPT button.

As I’ve written in the past, Soulver is one of my must-have apps on the Mac and iPad. It’s essentially a smart notepad calculator, with live data, natural language calculations, and more. Starting this week, Soulver is now available on the iPhone.

In a new report today, analyst Ross Young says that Apple has an interesting twist planned for next year’s iPhone 17 lineup. According to Young, the iPhone 17 Plus will actually feature a smaller screen than the ‘Plus’ model does now.

The game emulation situation on iOS just got real. The oft rejected game emulator Delta has finally made its way to the App Store. Additionally, the Delta developer has also published their alternative marketplace, AltStore, in the EU today.

Benjamin and Chance discuss the latest in Apple news, including Web Distribution for EU users launching in iOS 17.5 beta 2, we get our first sense of the M4 Mac release scheduled and the company opens up its third-party repair policies further. Also, the Humane Ai Pin debuts to a very mixed critical response.

And in Happy Hour Plus, we talk about our multitasking and window management habits on macOS. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

Note from Chance: We had some technical difficulties this week, so the audio quality isn’t up to our normal standards. We apologize and will be back to normal next time!

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Comcast is out with some new prepaid connectivity offerings today. The new internet plans are simple and affordable with speeds up to 200 Mbps for home internet and unlimited 5G data for the mobile plans. Meanwhile, NOW TV includes access to 40+ networks for live and on-demand content.

Double good news for fans of the hit sci-fi series “For All Mankind” on Apple TV+. The alt-history space race drama is returning for a fifth season, and a new spinoff series dubbed “Star City” has been announced.

Existential question time: how do you take a selfie with your iPhone? This subject just hit the 9to5Mac Slack. That’s because Tim Cook is currently on tour in the eastern hemisphere, and at least two tweets include someone taking what I’ll call a reverse selfie with the Apple CEO.

Wednesday has some fresh Apple deals to share, including one of the best prices ever on the latest 16-inch M3 Pro MacBook Pro. Complete with 18GB of memory, you can save $249 alongside a chance to drop iPhone 14 down to $475. Plus, Belkin’s just-released 15W Qi2 MagSafe 2-in-1 charger falls to $50. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Update: Half an hour after publishing, TikTok Comms shared much more on X, including availability in Australia and Canada starting today.

Remember that TikTok Photos app rumor? More recently, the unreleased app has been going by the name TikTok Notes. Although the name is changed, the game is still the same: take a swing at Instagram.

SIM swaps are one of the biggest security threats we face, allowing criminals to access most services protected by two-factor authentication. The situation could be about to get even worse, as we learn of an apparent large-scale attempt to bribe T-Mobile and Verizon workers to facilitate the swaps.

While new rules and security features are supposed to make these attacks harder to pull off, now would be an excellent time to ensure your accounts are protected by authenticator apps rather than text messages …

Tim Cook made a diplomatic comment about the possibility of Apple manufacturing in Indonesia, after the country’s president pressed him on the issue. The country is an important market for Apple, as the world’s 4th most populous country after China, India, and the US.

Indonesia is one of a growing number of countries to use the threat of import tariffs as a way to encourage foreign companies to invest in the local economy, and Apple has so far used an indirect method to escape these …

WhatsApp chat filters are the latest feature to be added to the popular messaging app, a few weeks after allowing users to pin multiple chats. You can now separate out only chats with unread messages, as well as separate group chats from individual ones …

We’ve today received an update on Apple’s 2030 environmental goals, one of which is for the company’s entire supply-chain to be carbon neutral by that date.

The company says more than 320 suppliers – representing 95% of the company’s “direct” manufacturing spend – have made the transition to clean energy …

Phil Schiller has told a court in an antitrust case that he doesn’t know for sure whether the App Store is profitable, and never considered the return on investment when launching it.

He’s also explained the reason that there are very few written records of decisions made around the launch of the store is because Apple co-founder Steve Jobs felt that meeting notes were unnecessary – and the company still doesn’t record minutes for meetings between senior execs …

Canada is introducing a new digital services tax starting this year, which will see foreign tech giants like Apple and Google receive tax demands for income earned in Canada but not currently taxed there.

This follows the example of several European countries, including France, Italy, and the UK – and is designed to address tax avoidance …

Apple @ Work is brought to you by Kolide by 1Password, the device trust solution that ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it can’t access your apps. Close the Zero Trust access gap for Okta. Learn more or watch the demo.

The role of Microsoft Office on the Mac is critical. When Bill Gates appeared on video at WWDC many years ago to commit to new versions of Office for Mac, the Mac with a robust Office program was a critical part of Apple’s enterprise growth. While competing alongside it are Google Workspace and the Google Drive ecosystem, iWork is Apple’s free option with Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. These platforms are good but are simply part of a company’s larger product portfolio. What if there was an option from a company that simply wanted to make great productivity apps? That’s what I’ve found with OfficeSuite.

The iPhone 16 Pro lineup will bring new features such as larger displays, a dedicated Capture button, and more. We’re also expecting multiple noticeable improvements to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max camera hardware. Here are four things to look forward to this year…

Microsoft on Tuesday launched a native OneNote app for visionOS, showing the company’s commitment to its customers who use Apple Vision Pro. This comes after the company released Microsoft Office apps for Apple’s mixed reality headset.

Customers in the US can book a Vision Pro demo at one of the Apple Retail Stores to experience the headset for around 30 minutes. During the demo, customers watch some pre-loaded content, including Spatial Videos made by Apple. However, the company will soon let users watch their own content during a Vision Pro demo session.

Update: That didn’t last long. Bimmy is no longer available in the App Store, which may or may not have something to do with the NES part of the title.

Update 2: Actually, from the developer, Tom Salvo: “I removed the app out of fear. No one reached out to me.”

Bimmy NES Emulator is one of the latest game emulation apps to officially land on the App Store. NES may or may not refer to the Nintendo Entertainment Console.

Prepare to dance and celebrate the planet. Two new Activity Challenges are on the way in April.

Last month, Apple announced a new Web Distribution offering for developers in the European Union. With today’s launch of iOS 17.5 beta 2, that feature is now available.

Web Distribution gives developers in the EU the ability to offer their apps for download directly from their website. Here’s how it works.

Update: One day later, we have public betas as well.

The iOS 17.5 beta train continues today with the second developer release. Apple is also testing macOS Sonoma 14.5, visionOS 1.2, watchOS 10.5, tvOS 17.5, and HomePod 17.5.

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.

Sponsored by Kolide by 1Password: The device trust solution that ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it can’t access your apps. Close the Zero Trust access gap for Okta. Watch the demo.