Benjamin Mayo

Following on from leaked benchmarks for the M3 chip, we now have a look at how the high-end M3 Max chip fares on Geekbench. The jump in performance for the M3 Max chip found in the high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro means it rivals the M2 Ultra chip found in the Mac Pro and high-end Mac Studio desktops, at least as far as these first published CPU benchmark results are concerned.

On the single-core test, M3 Max achieves an average score of ~2980. On multi-core, M3 Max hits around ~20800. This compares very favorably to the previous best Apple Silicon chip, the M2 Ultra, which scores ~2800 and ~21000 respectively.

Apple TV+ today announced a new original movie The Family Plan, starring Mark Wahlberg. The film is set to stream globally on Apple’s streaming service from December 15, perfectly in time for the holiday period.

The action-comedy feature sees Wahlberg play Dan Morgan, a retired government assassin who is now living the quiet life as a family man … until he is discovered and his family is threatened.

Apple today announced the new MacBook Pro lineup featuring M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, which deliver significant CPU and GPU performance leaps.

The lineup now starts with a cheaper 14-inch MacBook Pro model powered by the base model M3 chip. There are also the usual higher-end configurations with M3 Pro and M3 Max, available in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes. The M3 model allows Apple to offer a lower starting price, from $1599.

Following tradition, Apple has taken down the online store ahead of its special event, which is set to kick off in just under 30 minutes. We are expecting to see new M3 Apple Silicon Macs announced, including updated 24-inch iMac and 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

The Apple homepage has a little easter egg today: If you hover over the Apple logo with your mouse, it changes to an animated countdown.

Apple doesn’t normally show a count down on the homepage ahead of events, but it’s quite useful in this case due to the unusual start time: the event today starts in the evening at 5PM Pacific Time, whereas most Apple events kick off at 10 AM PT. A 5PM start means the stream will start in about nine hours from now, as seen in the screenshot of the countdown above.

The current AirPods Max headphones have not been revised since their introduction in December 2020, whereas AirPods Pro have seen multiple updates in hardware and software.

Bloomberg has previously reported that Apple will update AirPods Max with USB-C and new color options later next year. We had assumed this would also be the time to bring them up to speed with the AirPods Pro feature set. But apparently, that won’t be the case …

After embracing HomeKit in a big way starting in 2022, and testing several motion sensors in the intervening months, my recommendation for best HomeKit motion sensor is the Eve Motion.

The Eve Motion sensor connects directly to the Home app on your iPhone, triggers HomeKit automations quickly in response to motion events, and has a very reliable connection in my experience of many months of real world use.

Apple is going the extra mile to promote Monday’s video-only Apple event, in which the company will announce updates to the 24-inch iMac and MacBook Pro featuring M3 Apple silicon chips.

Apple is sending out special gift boxes to select influencers, such as Lamarr Wilson. The boxes include a pair of AirPods Max headphones and some “sweet and spooky” snacks and drinks to consume while watching the event on Monday night.

X (Twitter) has just launched its new lineup of subscription tiers. The $8 per month ‘Premium’ verified tier remains the default standard, but the new Basic tier comes in at $3 per month as a cheaper option.

Basic does not include a verification checkmark, but you get features like longer posts, edit button, themes and custom app icons. Premium+ is the new high-end option coming in at $16 per month, most notably offering ad-free experience in the For You and Following tabs.

Apple TV+ today releases a new documentary series covering the spooky phenomenon known as The Enfield Poltergeist, perfectly timed for the Halloween season. All four episodes are streaming now.

Apple has today increased the price of Apple TV+ to $9.99 per month, up from the previous $6.99 price. Apple Arcade has gone up from $4.99 to $6.99, and the News+ monthly price has been upped to $12.99.

The Apple One bundle price has also been increased to reflect the increases in the constituent services. The Apple One Individual bundle is now priced at $19.95/mo, Apple One Family costs $25.95/mo, and Premier costs $37.95/mo.

In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple was caught by surprise at the sudden swell of generative AI tools this year. But they are working hard to catch up with Apple SVPs Craig Federighi, John Giannandrea, and Eddy Cue all in charge of integrating AI-powered functionality into Apple’s products and services.

That will include various new AI features in iOS 18, such as smarter reply suggestions in Messages. Cue is pushing to include features like AI-generated playlists in Apple Music, and exploring how generative AI can be utilized in Apple’s productivity apps like Pages and Keynote. Giannandrea’s team is working on a new, smarter, version of Siri that should be ready to debut next year.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports today that Apple is preparing to announce new Macs at the end of this month, the literal end, on the 30th or 31st. Announcements should include an update to the 24-inch iMac, and possibly multiple new MacBook Pro models as well.

Gurman also believes that Apple is also still planning a new higher-end iMac with a 32-inch display, but that isn’t scheduled to launch until late 2024 or 2025.

Despite being renewed for more episodes, “The Problem with Jon Stewart” is ending, according to a report in The New York Times. Filming for season three was set to begin soon, but those plans have now been scrapped.

According to the newspaper, Apple executives resisted coverage of some topics Stewart had planned to tackle in the third season, including coverage of China and AI matters. The upcoming treatment of the 2024 presidential race was also reportedly of concern.

Apple’s newest iPhone 15 lineup is apparently not selling that well in China, according to new analyst research revealed via Bloomberg.

The report indicates a decline in sales of iPhone 15 in its first 17 days of availability, compared to the same period for the iPhone 14 last year. The analysts estimate a 4.5% drop, which — at Apple’s scale — equates to millions fewer devices sold. Apple stock is down 1% in premarket trading on the news.

While Apple prepares for the rollout of the first Vision Pro headset for early next year, the company’s product teams are already focused on the next-generation versions. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says today that Apple is prioritizing the development of a cheaper model, even at the expense of other initiatives like the AR glasses project.

The company is apparently aiming for a price point in the $1500-$2500 range. One of the ways Apple will save on price, Gurman reports today, is by removing the EyeSight feature that uses an external OLED display to project a rendering of the user’s facial expression to other people.

Via Supercharged, Apple is set to announce new iPad updates this week, likely on Tuesday October 17. 9to5Mac has corroborated the report with our own sources. (Update: It is looking more likely the announcement may be about the Apple Pencil.)

The iPad Air, iPad mini and the base model iPad are expected to be refreshed. These updates will likely comprise smaller spec bump updates rather than significant design changes.

Similar to functionality launched in September in the UK, the Apple Wallet app will now be able to show the card’s balance and transaction history for Discover US credit card customers.

Tapping on a transaction will deep-link into the Discover app or website, so users can action accordingly. This integration is rolling out as part of the just-released iOS 17.1 developer beta 3.

Apple original film Napoleon hits cinemas in November, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby. Director Ridley Scott has told Total Film Magazine that he is also working on an extended cut of the film, which will stream on Apple TV+.

The director’s cut currently clocks in at more than four hours, compared to the 2hr38m runtime of the theatrical version. Clearly, Scott is taking full advantage of the freedom of streaming compared to the constraints of theatrical distribution.