Benjamin Mayo

Apple TV+ has announced that its holiday musical comedy ‘Spirited’ has become the most popular Apple Original Films title on the streaming service ever, via Deadline. Apple does not release specific viewership numbers, other than to suggest that the Ryan Reynolds—Will Ferrell movie broke records for the service.

Apple’s original film efforts were validated this year when Apple TV+ became the first streaming service to win the coveted Best Picture Oscar, for ‘CODA‘. That being said, exactly how many people are watching Apple’s films is still murky.

Apple today announce the expansion of its Emergency SOS via satellite feature to more regions. The satellite connectivity feature is now available to iPhone 14 customers in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Ireland.

The feature is rolling out today. Emergency SOS via satellite allows iPhone 14 users to send short emergency text messages, in places where Wi-Fi and cellular service is unavailable.

Apple today released Emancipation, the new Will Smith movie about a slave escaping his captor in 1863. The film is inspired by the true story of the enslaved ‘Whipped Peter’, whose photos in the press helped inform the public just how poorly slaves were being treated, and guide public opinion towards the freedom movement.

Emancipation is streaming today on Apple TV+. Of course, the film is mired in controversy because of its lead actor’s actions at the Oscars earlier this year, in which Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage.

The Wall Street Journal this weekend reported that Apple has recently ‘accelerated’ plans to expand production outside of China. Primary iPhone assembly facilities have been repeatedly disrupted by China’s strict COVID-19 policy, coming to a fore most notably in November with mass worker protests.

The report says the main locations of interest for expansion are India and Vietnam, regions where Apple already has sizeable production bases with its supply chain partners.

Apple TV+ today released a trailer for its upcoming content slate of original TV shows and movies for 2023. The sizzle reel includes teases of a bunch of new shows, including highly anticipated premieres like the drama miniseries “Masters of the Air,” a sequel to the acclaimed war dramas, “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.”

It also teased the third season of “Ted Lasso,” the sci-fi series “Wool,” Billy Crudup’s comedy “Hello Tomorrow,” and the Ridley Scott-directed feature “Napoleon,” among others.

On its machine learning blog, Apple announced resounding support for the StableDiffusion project. This includes updates in the just-released macOS 13.1 beta 4 and iOS 16.2 beta 4 to improve performance running these models on Apple Silicon chips.

Apple also published extensive document and sample code to show how to convert source StableDiffusion models into a native Core ML format.

If you happen to be an owner of one of the very few cars on the market with Car Key support, you are now able to share that car key credential with non-iPhone users for the first time.

Apple is working with the IETF and industry members to standardize cross-platform car key sharing. The first implementation of this support has landed today for Google Pixel owners. Google is working on rolling out support for all Android 12+ devices soon.

Apple is raising awareness for World AIDS Day, as part of its ongoing partnership with (RED) charity.

Apple Watch users can show their support by downloading a selection of special red-themed watch face configurations. Apple retail will also be promoting PRODUCT(RED) in the stores, with new window displays. As usual, a portion of every PRODUCT(RED) Apple product sold goes to the (RED) Global Fund.

Today, Elon Musk met Tim Cook at Apple’s campus. Earlier in the week, he had claimed that Apple was threatening to remove Twitter from the iPhone App Store, citing Apple’s so-called censorship. He also voiced concerns about Apple’s ‘secret’ 30% tax.

Post meeting, he is now tweeting a very different tune. Musk described it as a “good conversation” and said Cook made it clear that it was not the case that Apple was considering removing Twitter.

Apple has overhauled the Apple Music Replay experience for 2022. Although it still is a web browser only experience, the Replay section now features a dynamic stories-esque design of highlights based on your listening history. See yours at replay.music.apple.com.

This is a big upgrade over Apple Music Replay from previous years, and brings it closer to the dynamic interactive nature of Spotify Wrapped. However, inside the native Apple Music app, you can still only view a basic playlist of your most played songs.

Update: Weirdly, the YouTube video has now reverted back to the original ad, vocals intact.

Apple has updated the videos on social media, including YouTube, for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus launch ad. The original ads used a snippet of the song Biggest by Idris Elba, with lyrics repeating the word ‘Biggest’.

However, the way the way the word was said in the song meant some people instead heard an offensive racial slur. It became somewhat of a viral meme almost immediately after the ad came out in September. Two months on, though, Apple has responded by removing the vocals from the ad’s soundtrack entirely.

Although NFL commissioner Roger Goodell originally said they expected to close a deal for the prestigious Sunday Ticket package by the fall of this year, the latest reports indicate that talks have slowed. Apple TV is known to be very interested in acquiring Sunday Ticket rights, joining its existing streaming sports lineup including Major League Soccer and MLB Friday Night Baseball.

The latest update on the state of affairs comes from the New York Times. The paper says that negotiations are now likely to drag into next year. Despite some earlier reports claiming the opposite, Apple is yet to finalize a deal, and Google (YouTube) has emerged as a strong contender.

Apple TV+ is the exclusive streaming home of Peantus and Charlie Brown, including classic specials and new originals.

For the holidays, Apple TV+ is streaming A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving free for a limited time. In the last two years, Apple partnered with PBS to broadcast the Peanuts holiday specials on free-to-air TV. However, this year, they are streaming only.

Moved up from its usual Friday release time, Apple TV+ today released the first three episodes of its new action thriller series Echo 3, starring Luke Evans and Michiel Huisman.

The series focuses on the rescue of Amber, a brilliant young scientist. With no one else stepping up to the plate, military veterans Bambi and Prince, her brother and husband respectively, embark on a treacherous mission to locate and rescue her.

Principal photography filming has finally concluded on Ted Lasso season three. The highly-anticipated third season, which may also be its last, is expected to premiere in the spring, although an official release date has not yet been announced by Apple TV+.

The comedy remains Apple TV+’s biggest hit to date, popular with audiences and critics alike. You can watch the first two seasons here.

Apple today unveiled its Black Friday holiday event for 2022, in which customers can get an Apple Store gift card worth up to $250 with the purchase of an eligible Mac, iPad, or iPhone from the Apple Store.

The Apple Shopping Event runs from November 25 through November 28, Black Friday through Cyber Monday. As usual, check 9to5Toys to find the best Apple deals.