Apple Music has launched a new cheaper plan called the Apple Music Voice Plan.

Apple Music usually costs $9.99 per month for individuals or $14.99 per month for families. A discounted plan for students is available at $4.99 per month. The Voice Plan costs $4.99 per month, for anyone, but what’s the catch?

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Along with releasing macOS 12.1 RC to developers today which gives us a preview of all the new features and changes coming to the public soon, the release notes for the update also include a list of important bug fixes, three of which affect the 2021 MacBook Pro.

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The post macOS 12.1 fixes bugs affecting MagSafe charging, YouTube HDR, the MacBook Pro notch, and more appeared first on 9to5Mac.

A week after seeding developers and public testers with macOS 12.1 beta 4, Apple has released the 12.1 RC ahead of a public launch. Notably, the macOS 12.1 release candidate doesn’t include support for the highly anticipated Universal Control feature.

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[December 13, 2021: iOS 15.2 is now available, bringing the more affordable version of Apple Music to potential subscribers. Apple Music Voice Plan works on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and HomePod. Support was first spotted on December 7.]

Apple announced its new Voice Plan for Apple Music in October with a release date of later this year. Now ‘later this year’ has arrived, and the new tier for Apple Music memberships is making its first public appearance.

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The post [Update: Now available] Apple Music’s Siri-controlled Voice Plan launching in iOS 15.2 for $4.99/month appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple is seeding today the release candidate version of iOS 15.2, tvOS 15.2, and macOS Monterey 12.1. For Apple Watch users, watchOS 8.3 is set to bring Apple Music Voice plan support and more.

Update: Now available to public beta testers as well.

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The post watchOS 8.3 RC now available with Apple Music Voice Plan, App Privacy Report, more appeared first on 9to5Mac.

After over a month of beta testing, Apple has made the iOS 15.2 Release Candidate available to developers. Head below for the full release notes on everything new in this update, which will be released to the public as soon as next week.

Update: Now available to public beta testers as well.

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book ‘Bad Blood’, which dissects the fall of Theranos and its Steve Jobs-wannabe founder Elizabeth Holmes.

As reported by Deadline, Apple Original Films and Legendary Entertainment studios are co-producing the film, directed by Adam McKay and starring as Jennifer Lawrence as Holmes.

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There’s an awkward debate over 5G happening between U.S. phone carriers and the Federal Aviation Administration. The latest development comes in the form of two new airworthiness directives regarding 5G being adopted by the FAA.

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All of today’s best deals are headlined by Apple’s latest M1 Mac mini from $570. That’s alongside the iPhone 12 mini at $209 off and AirPods 2 at $100. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

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The post Deals: M1 Mac mini from $570, iPhone 12 mini refurb $209 off, AirPods 2 $100, more appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Amazon’s AWS cloud servers are suffering from issues this morning, taking down a handful of services including Disney+, Kindle, Tinder, Roku, and more. Amazon has acknowledged the outage on its official status page, saying that it is working towards a fix.

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Facer has become a popular place to get unique smartwatch faces across Wear OS, Tizen, and watchOS. However, its Facer Creator tool hasn’t included the ability to develop Apple Watch faces. That changes today with the arrival of Facer Creator 7.0 with support for watchOS.

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The post ‘Facer Creator’ lets you (sort of) create, share, and sell custom Apple Watch faces appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Twitter is rolling out the ability to let all users on iOS, Android, and the web listen to recorded Spaces. This means that a Spaces host can now record a Space, then make it available to listen after the fact.

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The post Twitter for iOS now lets anyone listen to recordings of Spaces appeared first on 9to5Mac.

In February, 9to5Mac reported on the launch of a focus-focused Slack competitor called Quill. Today Twitter is bringing Quill under its wing, and the chat app for teams as it exists today will exist no more.

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The post Twitter buys up (and shuts down) Slack competitor Quill appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple’s iPhone success over the years in China is hardly an accident. The Information reveals a previously unreported agreement negotiated by Apple CEO Tim Cook and Chinese government officials that saw the company invest over $275 billion in the country over five years. The deal was reached at a time when local smartphone makers were forcing iPhone sales in China to fall.

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The post Apple pledged to invest over $275 billion in China while facing declining iPhone sales appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley now say that Apple shares could hit $200 as we inch closer to the launch of new products such as an augmented reality headset or self-driving car. Shares of Apple stock rose over 2.5% in premarket trading on this prediction.

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The post Analyst: Apple shares could hit $200 as self-driving car and headset projects loom appeared first on 9to5Mac.

As we’ve detailed several times recently, Apple’s lineup of Apple Silicon-powered Macs is seeing fast-paced adoption among enterprise users. Now, the folks at Jamf are out with a closer look at Apple Silicon in the enterprise…

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How much can a product change in five years? Well, in tech years, this is more like a decade. AirPods, first announced alongside the iPhone 7, have gone through a few different variations over the years. Now, the publication Scan of the Month is offering us an in-depth look at how much Apple’s wireless earbuds have changed from AirPods 1 to the Pro model, and now to AirPods 3.

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The post See how much AirPods have changed since their original debut in 2016 appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Eve Room has been a popular HomeKit product for many years, and a new version is now available that includes Thread support to improve its overall responsiveness over HomeKit and Wi-Fi.

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The post Eve Room adds Thread radio to improve HomePod support and responsiveness over Wi-Fi appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, announced more details about Meta’s effort to protect teens and support parents online. This comes after the “Instagram for kids” controversy and by the fact the US Congress is going to hear him about it this week.

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The post Instagram to launch first parental controls following controversy appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Back in September, Google previewed how Chat will let you make one-on-one Meet calls without having to use URLs. Similar to classic Hangouts, this feature is now rolling out in the version of Google Chat inside Gmail.

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The post Google Chat in Gmail rolling out instant & link-free 1:1 Meet calls, similar to classic Hangouts appeared first on 9to5Mac.

In this episode of the Apple @ Work podcast, Matt Codling from Claris and Cris Ippolite of iSolutions join the show to talk about ECF Records Manager in Claris.

Sponsored by Mosyle: Managing Apple devices at work shouldn’t be difficult. Mosyle makes it easy.

Sponsored by Direct Mail: Bring the power of email marketing to your internal communications, with Direct Mail for Mac. Create, track, and securely send right from your desktop. Request a free trial today!

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The post Apple @ Work Podcast: Breaking down Smart Packs with Claris and iSolutions appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Taking a screenshot on your iPhone is probably second nature but what about a screenshot to capture everything on a website, PDF, email, note, or stitching together multiple screenshots? Read on for how to take a scrolling screenshot on iPhone.

One of the main highlights of the new 2021 MacBook Pro is the comeback of the SD card slot. Unfortunately, it seems that some users are having issues with the SD card reader on these new machines, as they have been reporting slow transfer speeds or even inaccessible files when trying to use an SD card on the new MacBook Pro.

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Apple on Monday released its new Apple Configurator app for iPhone, which is used to deploy iOS and Mac devices in schools and business. With the new iPhone app, it is now possible to set up a Mac not purchased by an organization into Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager.

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The post Apple Configurator now available on iPhone for adding Macs not purchased by an organization into Business Manager appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Last month, the popular tracking device company Tile announced that it was about to be acquired by another company called Life360 – which also offers tracking services. Now a report from the Markup has revealed that Life360 is selling the location data of its 33 million users to “virtually anyone who wants to buy it.”

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The post Tile owner ‘Life360’ reportedly sells location data of its users to ‘virtually anyone’ appeared first on 9to5Mac.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has been investigating antitrust concerns surrounding Apple since 2019. Most recently, it was reported that the DOJ had “accelerated” its investigation amid a growing number of complaints.

Now, the Information reports that one of the focuses of the DOJ antitrust probe into Apple is on the company’s treatment of Roblox.

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The post Apple’s treatment of Roblox under scrutiny as part of DOJ antitrust probe appeared first on 9to5Mac.

The original HomePod was released by Apple back in 2018 and was ultimately discontinued in March of this year. Now, it’s dying a very slow and very sad death, and I’m starting to wonder if we (or Apple?) might have taken it for granted all along. Hear me out on this one.

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The post The original HomePod’s demise is a slow and sad one (despite appreciating value) appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Microsoft announced today that OneDrive sync is finally available as a public preview for M1 Mac users as well as Windows on ARM. For a long time,OneDrive’s full support of M1 Macs has been requested by users, and having the ability to sync everything from the computer to the cloud is a must for any paying user. Now, Microsoft announced this feature is available as a public preview.

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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 FitnessView: A health and fitness dashboard for tracking Health data with insights, widgets, and Apple Watch support!

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The post 9to5Mac Daily: December 06, 2021 – Apple rumors for 2022 and more appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Update: The campaign is now live!

The Silicon Valley-based accessory maker HYPER is launching an updated version of its flagship HyperDrive USB-C hub for MacBook Pro today (should be live any minute now) known as the HyperDrive DUO PRO. This form-fitting, milled aluminum hub – an update to what HYPER refers to as “the world’s most crowdfunded USB-C hub” ever – brings the brand’s detail-focused, feature-rich design to Apple’s latest 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros while retaining compatibility with every other MacBook released from 2016 on. The original raised over $3.1 million during its crowdfunding campaign, and HYPER is launching the HyperDrive DUO PRO on Indiegogo today with a solid 50% price drop for early backers. Alongside a flawless track record with crowdfunded product launches, the company is scheduled to begin shipping its new USB-C Hub for MacBook Pro starting next month. Head below for a closer look at the new HyperDrive DUO PRO. 

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The post New HYPER flagship magnetic DUO USB-C MacBook hub launches today at 50% off appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Facebook is updating its Messenger Kids app this week with three new features including dark mode and voice effects. Each update is available first on iOS and coming later to Android. Facebook is also introducing a new way to interact with PAC-MAN on its gaming platform.

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The post Facebook’s Messenger Kids app gains dark mode, voice effects, more; PAC-MAN coming to Gaming appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Kicking off the week, all of today’s best deals are headlined by a collection of official Apple iPhone 12 MagSafe cases from $20. That’s alongside a Philips Hue HomeKit lighting sale from $13 and this leather Apple Watch band at $9. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

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The post Monday’s best deals: Apple iPhone 12 MagSafe cases from $20, Philips Hue HomeKit sale, more appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Yes, you read that correctly. We’ve finally done it. 9to5Mac merch is here, just in time for the holidays. We’ve carefully curated a collection of items that will be available exclusively on Cotton Bureau starting today. These products will make wonderful gifts for the Apple fan in your life, and there’s no harm in also treating yourself. By buying 9to5Mac merch, you’re supporting the great work our team does every day.

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The post Introducing the 9to5Mac Merch Store: shirts, sweatshirts, polishing cloths, and stickers now available appeared first on 9to5Mac.

WhatsApp is rolling out a big update for its app on iOS. Starting today, users can choose to use disappearing messages as default, as well as opt for multiple durations of messages for every chat.

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The post WhatsApp for iOS adds default Disappearing Messages and Multiple Durations features appeared first on 9to5Mac.

In the year that TikTok joined the list of the few apps that broke 3 billion downloads globally, the company is now celebrating all of the trends that went viral during 2021 on its app.

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The post TikTok debuts 2021 year in review with a recap of all its viral trends appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple last month introduced Apple Business Essentials, a new business offering that combines device management, cloud storage, repairs, and more into a single monthly price. Following that introduction, Apple’s Jeremy Butcher joined Relay FM’s Mac Power Users podcast this week to talk more in-depth about the new program.

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The post Apple exec goes in-depth on Apple Business Essentials service in new podcast interview appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple has announced today that it is teaming up with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to launch a new program designed to expand the availability of its Everyone Can Code curriculum. The announcement comes in celebration of Computer Science Education Week…

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With the holiday season finally here, Apple is back with an Easter egg on the Apple Store app. After unveiling it for the first time in 2017, users can get a little bit of Christmas magic this year too when typing “let it snow” on the app.

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As far as technology has advanced, there are still times when you might need to send or receive a fax. Whether it’s a rare or regular occurrence, fortunately, you can handle your fax needs with an app. Read on for three ways to receive and send a fax with iPhone or iPad, including two free options as well as solutions for businesses with strict privacy requirements.

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Apple is in a global fight to protect its App Store business model, and the latest development lands us in Russia. Apple is taking legal action after objecting to a ruling by the country’s Federal Antimonopoly Service that would allow developers to promote alternative payment methods to Apple’s in-app purchases.

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The post Apple challenging Russian requirement to let developers inform customers about payment options outside App Store appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple TV screensavers are a fan favorite with views from up in space, under the ocean,, and everywhere in between. There’s no built-in screensaver to turn your into a fireplace, however, but there are apps for that.

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The post Turn your Apple TV into a charming fireplace with Christmas music for the holidays appeared first on 9to5Mac.

After a hiatus of rumors regarding Apple’s mixed reality and AR headsets, there have been lot of stories about these two products in the past few weeks. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman talks about Apple’s plan for its long-rumored mixed reality headset.

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The post Report: Apple’s mixed reality headset to focus on gaming, media consumption, and communication appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple had a busy year in 2021, announcing the iPhone 13 lineup, new Apple Silicon-powered Macs, and more. Looking ahead to 2022, there’s still a lot to expect from the company. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman breaks down everything he expects Apple to unveil in the new year.

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The post Gurman: Apple planning redesigned iPad Pro, high-end iMac, new Mac Pro, more for 2022 appeared first on 9to5Mac.

You may have noticed that WhatsApp for iOS now shows a waveform when you’re recording a voice message. Now, the company is testing a new interface that shows exactly the form of your message when it’s sent to the chat.

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The post WhatsApp for iOS testing new voice waveforms for chat bubbles appeared first on 9to5Mac.

In a year that EarPods are becoming trendy again and Apple just introduced the third-generation AirPods, 9to5Mac is back with another concept. This time, we’re imagining a possible revision of Apple’s braided EarPods, which haven’t received an update in almost a decade.

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The post Concept: EarPods (2021) with a braided cable, Spatial Audio, new color option appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Chargie is a device that aims to be even smarter than Apple’s Optimized Battery Charging feature, and to bring the same benefits to other battery-powered products you own.

Apple started introducing smarter charging features from iOS 13, and has since rolled out the intelligent battery management process to AirPods and Macs – but more is possible…

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The post Chargie offers even smarter charging than Apple’s Optimized Battery Charging feature appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple’s two-year transition to its own silicon is finally over, except for one product: the Mac Pro. Another one that isn’t part of the Mac silicon transition but users are eager to know where it’s heading next is the Pro Display XDR.

Both of these products were introduced by Apple during WWDC19 and were aimed at the most demanding customers. Here’s a roundup of Apple’s plans for the next Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR.

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The post Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR: Here’s what to expect from new models appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Apple @ Work is brought to you by Mosyle, the leader in modern mobile device management (MDM) and security for Apple enterprise and education customers. Over 22,000 organizations leverage Mosyle solutions to automate the management and security of millions of Apple devices daily. Request a FREE account today and discover how you can put your Apple fleet on auto-pilot at a price point that is hard to believe.

It’s the holiday shopping season, and many of us here at 9to5Mac are working on our Christmas gift guides. We all have fun putting these together, and I love reading them. As someone in the IT industry, my gift list is always fairly unique! Here are some of my favorite items of the holiday season.

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The post 9to5Mac Gift Guide: Holiday gifts for IT professionals and tech enthusiasts appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Meta (formerly Facebook) on Friday announced a small but important update for Messenger users. Starting next week, Messenger will let users split their bills with friends and family, which can be quite useful in places like restaurants.

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The post Messenger will soon let users split payments directly through Facebook Pay appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Earlier this week, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple plans to replace the iPhone with an AR device in 10 years. While it will take a decade for this to happen – if it’s ever going to happen – do you think the iPhone will ever go away?

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The post Poll: Do you think Apple will replace the iPhone with an AR device in 10 years? appeared first on 9to5Mac.