alerted – Latest Apple News https://www.latest-apple-news.com You can stay up-to-date on all the latest news, trends, and updates from the world of Apple. Our website is dedicated to bringing you the most comprehensive and reliable coverage of everything Apple, from the latest iPhone models to the newest Mac releases. Wed, 05 Jul 2023 12:27:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 https://www.latest-apple-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-pngwing.com_-32x32.png alerted – Latest Apple News https://www.latest-apple-news.com 32 32 Best early Prime Day 2023 Apple deals https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/07/05/best-early-prime-day-2023-apple-deals/ Wed, 05 Jul 2023 12:27:45 +0000 http://www.latest-apple-news.com/?guid=05918eb1c3d00a8308ff8194d880e88d Macworld

Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale in July is an excellent opportunity to save money on Apple devices. For two days every year, you’ll find tons of deals including savings on AirPods, Macs, iPhone, iPad, and more.

The next Amazon Prime sale will kick off just after midnight on July 11, 2023, and will run until 11.59 pm on July 12. We expect to see some great discounts on Apple products during the 48-hour sale, but you don’t have to wait until then to save money. We usually see companies offer Early Prime Day Deals to get ahead of the rush. Amazon itself is offering early access to deals via its home page. To see if you can already save money on something you want take a look at Amazon Prime Day (US) and Amazon Prime Day (UK) or at your local Amazon storefront.

While many discounts are available to everyone, you’ll need to sign up for Prime to qualify for the best deals, but that also gives you free one or two-day delivery and access to Prime Video. If you don’t already have a Prime membership, you can sign up for the free 30-day trial. After that ends, the service costs $14.99/£8.99 per month or $139/£95 a year. Here are the best prices you can get on Apple products leading up to the big sale:

AirPods deals

Amazon U.S.

And in the U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale AirPods deals for more deals.

Apple Watch deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale Apple Watch deals for more deals.

iPhone deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon rarely discounts iPhones in the U.S. and when it does they are tied into a contract. However, you can visit Amazon’s iPhone page to see the deals on offer. Accessories are often on sale, however, including these deals:

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPhone deals for more deals.

iPad deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPad deals for more Prime Day deals.

Mac deals

MAcBook Pro Touch Bar

IDG

Amazon U.S.:

Amazon U.K.:

See our best Amazon Prime Day MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals and our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Mac deals for more deals.

Want a new hard drive or SSD? See our Best SSD and hard drive deals for Prime Day.

Want a display to go with your Mac or MacBook? See our Best monitor or display deals for Prime Day 

How to qualify for Prime Early Access Sale deals

Many Prime Day discounts are exclusive to Amazon Prime members, so if you want to take advantage of the deals, you’ll need to become a Prime member. Membership cost $139 / £95 / AUD$59 annually, or $14.99 / £8.99 / AUD$6.99 on a monthly basis. There’s also a 30-day free trial for anyone who doesn’t want to commit. You can cancel at any time.

Amazon Prime is a service that began as a way to get unlimited next-day delivery but has since become much more. Subscribers get access to Amazon’s Netflix rival Prime Video, plus plenty of other benefits. You can see all Prime benefits here.

How to get the best Apple deals

Here are some quick tips to grab an Apple bargain during the two-day Prime Day sale.

1. Browse Apple’s Amazon storefront. 

It’s essentially a catalog for the full range of Apple products, and when you click through to specific devices, you’ll also see any available discounts.

We’ve listed all available devices below, many of which had good discounts off last Prime Day. We’d recommend bookmarking the product pages you’re most interested in, so you can browse discounts as soon as Prime Day hits. 

Here are the same product pages for UK readers:

2. Be prepared before Prime Day

Prime Day deals will go quickly, as many offers are available as Deals of the Day, which means stock can be limited or last for only a few hours.

Ensure first off that you’re signed up to Amazon Prime to access the deals on Amazon. You don’t need to be paying for the service; you can be on the free trial.

Also, make sure your payment and shipping information is up to date to make sure you can purchase products before they sell out.

If you come across a deal that has sold out, you can usually join the waitlist to be alerted to any stock that becomes available, usually because someone has decided they don’t want to purchase it after all, and removes it from their basket.

You can also use the “Watch this Deal” button on upcoming deals to be alerted when they become available.

3. Keep an eye on our deal selections

With a team of Apple-breathing experts browsing through deals and offers every day (literally), you can be sure if there’s a top offer out there. See only the best deals on Macworld right here.

Apple Inc

]]> Best early Prime Day Apple deals 2023 https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/06/30/best-early-prime-day-apple-deals-2023/ Fri, 30 Jun 2023 14:27:25 +0000 http://www.latest-apple-news.com/?guid=f813d7ea726b0dad263d6db7a91945e4 Macworld

Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale in July is an excellent opportunity to save money on Apple devices. For two days every year, you’ll find tons of deals including savings on AirPods, Macs, iPhone, iPad, and more.

The next Amazon Prime sale will kick off just after midnight on July 11, 2023, and will run until 11.59 pm on July 12. We expect to see some great discounts on Apple products during the 48-hour sale, but you don’t have to wait until then to save money. We usually see companies offer Early Prime Day Deals to get ahead of the rush. Amazon itself is offering early access to deals via its home page. To see if you can already save money on something you want take a look at Amazon Prime Day (US) and Amazon Prime Day (UK) or at your local Amazon storefront.

While many discounts are available to everyone, you’ll need to sign up for Prime to qualify for the best deals, but that also gives you free one or two-day delivery and access to Prime Video. If you don’t already have a Prime membership, you can sign up for the free 30-day trial. After that ends, the service costs $14.99/£8.99 per month or $139/£95 a year. Here are the best prices you can get on Apple products leading up to the big sale:

AirPods deals

Amazon U.S.

And in the U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale AirPods deals for more deals.

Apple Watch deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale Apple Watch deals for more deals.

iPhone deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon rarely discounts iPhones in the U.S. and when it does they are tied into a contract. However, you can visit Amazon’s iPhone page to see the deals on offer. Accessories are often on sale, however, including these deals:

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPhone deals for more deals.

iPad deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPad deals for more Prime Day deals.

Mac deals

MAcBook Pro Touch Bar

IDG

Amazon U.S.:

Amazon U.K.:

See our best Amazon Prime Day MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals and our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Mac deals for more deals.

Want a new hard drive or SSD? See our Best SSD and hard drive deals for Prime Day.

Want a display to go with your Mac or MacBook? See our Best monitor or display deals for Prime Day 

How to qualify for Prime Early Access Sale deals

Many Prime Day discounts are exclusive to Amazon Prime members, so if you want to take advantage of the deals, you’ll need to become a Prime member. Membership cost $139 / £95 / AUD$59 annually, or $14.99 / £8.99 / AUD$6.99 on a monthly basis. There’s also a 30-day free trial for anyone who doesn’t want to commit. You can cancel at any time.

Amazon Prime is a service that began as a way to get unlimited next-day delivery but has since become much more. Subscribers get access to Amazon’s Netflix rival Prime Video, plus plenty of other benefits. You can see all Prime benefits here.

How to get the best Apple deals

Here are some quick tips to grab an Apple bargain during the two-day Prime Day sale.

1. Browse Apple’s Amazon storefront. 

It’s essentially a catalog for the full range of Apple products, and when you click through to specific devices, you’ll also see any available discounts.

We’ve listed all available devices below, many of which had good discounts off last Prime Day. We’d recommend bookmarking the product pages you’re most interested in, so you can browse discounts as soon as Prime Day hits. 

Here are the same product pages for UK readers:

2. Be prepared before Prime Day

Prime Day deals will go quickly, as many offers are available as Deals of the Day, which means stock can be limited or last for only a few hours.

Ensure first off that you’re signed up to Amazon Prime to access the deals on Amazon. You don’t need to be paying for the service; you can be on the free trial.

Also, make sure your payment and shipping information is up to date to make sure you can purchase products before they sell out.

If you come across a deal that has sold out, you can usually join the waitlist to be alerted to any stock that becomes available, usually because someone has decided they don’t want to purchase it after all, and removes it from their basket.

You can also use the “Watch this Deal” button on upcoming deals to be alerted when they become available.

3. Keep an eye on our deal selections

With a team of Apple-breathing experts browsing through deals and offers every day (literally), you can be sure if there’s a top offer out there. See only the best deals on Macworld right here.

Apple Inc

]]> Best early Prime Day Apple deals 2023 https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/06/30/best-early-prime-day-apple-deals-2023-2/ Fri, 30 Jun 2023 14:27:25 +0000 http://www.latest-apple-news.com/?guid=f813d7ea726b0dad263d6db7a91945e4 Macworld

Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale in July is an excellent opportunity to save money on Apple devices. For two days every year, you’ll find tons of deals including savings on AirPods, Macs, iPhone, iPad, and more.

The next Amazon Prime sale will kick off just after midnight on July 11, 2023, and will run until 11.59 pm on July 12. We expect to see some great discounts on Apple products during the 48-hour sale, but you don’t have to wait until then to save money. We usually see companies offer Early Prime Day Deals to get ahead of the rush. Amazon itself is offering early access to deals via its home page. To see if you can already save money on something you want take a look at Amazon Prime Day (US) and Amazon Prime Day (UK) or at your local Amazon storefront.

While many discounts are available to everyone, you’ll need to sign up for Prime to qualify for the best deals, but that also gives you free one or two-day delivery and access to Prime Video. If you don’t already have a Prime membership, you can sign up for the free 30-day trial. After that ends, the service costs $14.99/£8.99 per month or $139/£95 a year. Here are the best prices you can get on Apple products leading up to the big sale:

AirPods deals

Amazon U.S.

And in the U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale AirPods deals for more deals.

Apple Watch deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale Apple Watch deals for more deals.

iPhone deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon rarely discounts iPhones in the U.S. and when it does they are tied into a contract. However, you can visit Amazon’s iPhone page to see the deals on offer. Accessories are often on sale, however, including these deals:

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPhone deals for more deals.

iPad deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPad deals for more Prime Day deals.

Mac deals

MAcBook Pro Touch Bar

IDG

Amazon U.S.:

Amazon U.K.:

See our best Amazon Prime Day MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals and our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Mac deals for more deals.

Want a new hard drive or SSD? See our Best SSD and hard drive deals for Prime Day.

Want a display to go with your Mac or MacBook? See our Best monitor or display deals for Prime Day 

How to qualify for Prime Early Access Sale deals

Many Prime Day discounts are exclusive to Amazon Prime members, so if you want to take advantage of the deals, you’ll need to become a Prime member. Membership cost $139 / £95 / AUD$59 annually, or $14.99 / £8.99 / AUD$6.99 on a monthly basis. There’s also a 30-day free trial for anyone who doesn’t want to commit. You can cancel at any time.

Amazon Prime is a service that began as a way to get unlimited next-day delivery but has since become much more. Subscribers get access to Amazon’s Netflix rival Prime Video, plus plenty of other benefits. You can see all Prime benefits here.

How to get the best Apple deals

Here are some quick tips to grab an Apple bargain during the two-day Prime Day sale.

1. Browse Apple’s Amazon storefront. 

It’s essentially a catalog for the full range of Apple products, and when you click through to specific devices, you’ll also see any available discounts.

We’ve listed all available devices below, many of which had good discounts off last Prime Day. We’d recommend bookmarking the product pages you’re most interested in, so you can browse discounts as soon as Prime Day hits. 

Here are the same product pages for UK readers:

2. Be prepared before Prime Day

Prime Day deals will go quickly, as many offers are available as Deals of the Day, which means stock can be limited or last for only a few hours.

Ensure first off that you’re signed up to Amazon Prime to access the deals on Amazon. You don’t need to be paying for the service; you can be on the free trial.

Also, make sure your payment and shipping information is up to date to make sure you can purchase products before they sell out.

If you come across a deal that has sold out, you can usually join the waitlist to be alerted to any stock that becomes available, usually because someone has decided they don’t want to purchase it after all, and removes it from their basket.

You can also use the “Watch this Deal” button on upcoming deals to be alerted when they become available.

3. Keep an eye on our deal selections

With a team of Apple-breathing experts browsing through deals and offers every day (literally), you can be sure if there’s a top offer out there. See only the best deals on Macworld right here.

Apple Inc

]]> Best Prime Day Apple Deals 2023 https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/06/21/best-prime-day-apple-deals-2023/ Wed, 21 Jun 2023 09:05:59 +0000 http://www.latest-apple-news.com/?guid=9b268a13f8d639786ff3251b28e96b28 Macworld

Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale in July is an excellent opportunity to save money on Apple devices. For two days every year, you’ll find tons of deals including savings on AirPods, Macs, iPhone, iPad and more.

The next Amazon Prime sale will kick off just after midnight on July 11 and will run until 11.59 pm on July 12, 2023. We expect to see some great discounts on Apple products during the 48-hour sale, but you don’t have to wait until then to save money. We usually see companies offer Early Prime Day Deals to get ahead of the rush. Amazon itself is offering early access to deals via its home page. To see if you can already save money on something you want take a look at Amazon Prime Day (US) and Amazon Prime Day (UK) or at your local Amazon storefront.

You’ll need to sign up for Prime to qualify for the discounts, but that also gives you free one or two-day delivery and access to Prime Video. If you don’t already have a Prime membership, you can sign up for the free 30-day trial. After that ends, the service costs $14.99/£8.99 per month or $139/£95 a year.

To get a taste of what is to come, here are the best prices on Apple gear we saw during Amazon’s Prime Early Access sale in October 2022, which should give you an idea of what to expect from Prime Day 2023.

AirPods deals

Amazon U.S.

And in the U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale AirPods deals for more deals.

Apple TV deals

Amazon U.S.

Apple Watch deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale Apple Watch deals for more deals.

iPhone deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon rarely discounts iPhones in the U.S. and when it does they are tied into a contract. However, you can visit Amazon’s iPhone page to see the deals on offer.

Amazon U.K.

Older iPhones

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPhone deals for more deals.

iPad deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPad deals for more Prime Day deals.

MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals

MAcBook Pro Touch Bar

IDG

Amazon U.S.:

Amazon U.K.:

See our best Amazon Prime Day MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals for more deals.

Want a new hard drive or SSD? See our Best SSD and hard drive deals for Prime Day.

iMac and Mac mini deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Mac deals for more deals

Want a display to go with your Mac or MacBook? See our Best monitor or display deals for Prime Day 

How to qualify for Prime Early Access Sale deals

Many Prime Day discounts are exclusive to Amazon Prime members, so if you want to take advantage of the deals, you’ll need to become a Prime member. Membership cost $139 / £95 / AUD$59 annually, or $14.99 / £8.99 / AUD$6.99 on a monthly basis. There’s also a 30-day free trial for anyone who doesn’t want to commit. You can cancel at any time.

Amazon Prime is a service that began as a way to get unlimited next-day delivery but has since become much more. Subscribers get access to Amazon’s Netflix rival Prime Video, plus plenty of other benefits. You can see all Prime benefits here.

How to get the best Apple deals

Here are some quick tips to grab an Apple bargain during the two-day Prime Day sale.

1. Browse Apple’s Amazon storefront. 

It’s essentially a catalog for the full range of Apple products, and when you click through to specific devices, you’ll also see any available discounts.

We’ve listed all available devices below, many of which had good discounts off last Prime Day. We’d recommend bookmarking the product pages you’re most interested in, so you can browse discounts as soon as Prime Day hits. 

Here are the same product pages for UK readers:

2. Be prepared before Prime Day

Prime Day deals will go quickly, as many offers are available as Deals of the Day, which means stock can be limited or last for only a few hours.

Ensure first off that you’re signed up to Amazon Prime to access the deals on Amazon. You don’t need to be paying for the service; you can be on the free trial.

Also, make sure your payment and shipping information is up to date to make sure you can purchase products before they sell out.

If you come across a deal that has sold out, you can usually join the waitlist to be alerted to any stock that becomes available, usually because someone has decided they don’t want to purchase it after all, and removes it from their basket.

You can also use the “Watch this Deal” button on upcoming deals to be alerted when they become available.

3. Keep an eye on our deal selections

With a team of Apple-breathing experts browsing through deals and offers every day (literally), you can be sure if there’s a top offer out there. See only the best deals on Macworld right here.

Apple Inc

]]> Best Prime Day Apple deals 2023 https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/06/21/best-prime-day-apple-deals-2023-2/ Wed, 21 Jun 2023 09:05:59 +0000 http://www.latest-apple-news.com/?guid=fd929ba0d651e5f3bd97952fc86f677f Macworld

Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale in July is an excellent opportunity to save money on Apple devices. For two days every year, you’ll find tons of deals including savings on AirPods, Macs, iPhone, iPad, and more.

The next Amazon Prime sale will kick off just after midnight on July 11 and will run until 11.59 pm on July 12, 2023. We expect to see some great discounts on Apple products during the 48-hour sale, but you don’t have to wait until then to save money. We usually see companies offer Early Prime Day Deals to get ahead of the rush. Amazon itself is offering early access to deals via its home page. To see if you can already save money on something you want take a look at Amazon Prime Day (US) and Amazon Prime Day (UK) or at your local Amazon storefront.

While many discounts are available to everyone, you’ll need to sign up for Prime to qualify for the best deals, but that also gives you free one or two-day delivery and access to Prime Video. If you don’t already have a Prime membership, you can sign up for the free 30-day trial. After that ends, the service costs $14.99/£8.99 per month or $139/£95 a year. Here are the best prices you can get on Apple products leading up to the big sale:

AirPods deals

Amazon U.S.

And in the U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale AirPods deals for more deals.

Apple Watch deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale Apple Watch deals for more deals.

iPhone deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon rarely discounts iPhones in the U.S. and when it does they are tied into a contract. However, you can visit Amazon’s iPhone page to see the deals on offer. Accessories are often on sale, however, including these deals:

MagSafe Battery Pack: $84 ($15 off, MSRP $99)

AirTag (4-pack): $90 ($9 off, MSRP $99)

iPhone 14 Pro Max MagSafe case: $37.49 ($12.51 off, MSRP $49)

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPhone deals for more deals.

iPad deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPad deals for more Prime Day deals.

Mac deals

MAcBook Pro Touch Bar

IDG

Amazon U.S.:

Amazon U.K.:

See our best Amazon Prime Day MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals and our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Mac deals for more deals.

Want a new hard drive or SSD? See our Best SSD and hard drive deals for Prime Day.

Want a display to go with your Mac or MacBook? See our Best monitor or display deals for Prime Day 

How to qualify for Prime Early Access Sale deals

Many Prime Day discounts are exclusive to Amazon Prime members, so if you want to take advantage of the deals, you’ll need to become a Prime member. Membership cost $139 / £95 / AUD$59 annually, or $14.99 / £8.99 / AUD$6.99 on a monthly basis. There’s also a 30-day free trial for anyone who doesn’t want to commit. You can cancel at any time.

Amazon Prime is a service that began as a way to get unlimited next-day delivery but has since become much more. Subscribers get access to Amazon’s Netflix rival Prime Video, plus plenty of other benefits. You can see all Prime benefits here.

How to get the best Apple deals

Here are some quick tips to grab an Apple bargain during the two-day Prime Day sale.

1. Browse Apple’s Amazon storefront. 

It’s essentially a catalog for the full range of Apple products, and when you click through to specific devices, you’ll also see any available discounts.

We’ve listed all available devices below, many of which had good discounts off last Prime Day. We’d recommend bookmarking the product pages you’re most interested in, so you can browse discounts as soon as Prime Day hits. 

Here are the same product pages for UK readers:

2. Be prepared before Prime Day

Prime Day deals will go quickly, as many offers are available as Deals of the Day, which means stock can be limited or last for only a few hours.

Ensure first off that you’re signed up to Amazon Prime to access the deals on Amazon. You don’t need to be paying for the service; you can be on the free trial.

Also, make sure your payment and shipping information is up to date to make sure you can purchase products before they sell out.

If you come across a deal that has sold out, you can usually join the waitlist to be alerted to any stock that becomes available, usually because someone has decided they don’t want to purchase it after all, and removes it from their basket.

You can also use the “Watch this Deal” button on upcoming deals to be alerted when they become available.

3. Keep an eye on our deal selections

With a team of Apple-breathing experts browsing through deals and offers every day (literally), you can be sure if there’s a top offer out there. See only the best deals on Macworld right here.

Apple Inc

]]> How to start a smart home using Apple Home https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/06/14/how-to-start-a-smart-home-using-apple-home/ Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:45:00 +0000 https://www.theverge.com/23751656/apple-home-smart-devices-gadgets-homepod-mini
Illustration by Samar Haddad for The Verge

My smart home journey began, like so many others, with a poorly placed light switch. My partner and I had just bought our first house, and the switch that illuminated the kitchen was in the laundry room all the way on the other side, meaning we had to wander through darkness to get to it. I hated that light switch.

So what to do? Well, I could spend a bunch of money I didn’t have to hire someone to move it, try to do it myself and accidentally burn my house down with a bad wiring job, or take the plunge on a smart home. I took the path of least resistance (that’s an electricity joke) and got started on smartening up my house.

I started out with an Amazon Echo Dot and quickly found that I hated the skills system Amazon uses; plus, the sound quality of its little black puck was terrible. So I got a Google Home Mini. It looked nicer but had invisible touch controls, and the app felt half-finished. I could’ve stopped there, but driven by the sunk cost fallacy, I gave Apple Home a shot.

White HomePod Mini on a flowered table cloth in front of a planter shaped like a pink duck.
After you start your Apple-centric smart home, the HomePod Mini can add more convenient voice controls.

Apple Home, formerly known as HomeKit (which still refers to its smart home APIs), is Apple’s nine-year-old smart home platform, started in 2014 as a Siri-driven experience. Amazingly, it had no app until two years later and no smart speaker until the company finally released the first HomePod in 2018. The Verge’s Nilay Patel loved the HomePod’s audio chops but said it suffered in many other ways, not least of which is its place in Apple’s infamous walled garden, making it a “lonely” device. It couldn’t distinguish between voices, couldn’t operate your TV, and could only handle one timer at a time. But I just wanted my lights to turn on and off, and for me, it seemed to do that better than the others, so I stuck with it. Apple has closed the gap since then in all of the big, meaningful ways, but it’s been a slow process.

Today, Apple Home’s advantages are mostly two-fold. First, there’s Apple’s easy-to-use, attractive Home app. I found Apple Home to be a breath of fresh air after using Amazon’s Alexa smart home app, which perplexingly hides most of its actual smart home controls in a tab.

Second is being so locked into the company’s ecosystem that you benefit from its strict requirements for Apple Home-compatible devices. Those requirements include the ability to control devices locally — which means you still get basic control from your phone if your internet service goes out — and features like HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV), which gives users encrypted cloud video storage and facial recognition based on users’ Apple Photos library, among other things (more on this later). Admittedly, though, this is a double-edged sword since compliance with Apple strictures has resulted in a more limited, spendy product choice.

Apple’s system has, among the big smart home platforms, also seen perhaps the most enthusiastic support for the new Matter protocol, which is partially based on Apple’s platform and still in its early days. If you’ve invested in almost any recent Apple Home Hub — that is, an Apple TV or a HomePod — you’ll find that device is also a Thread border router. That’s important because Thread is the wireless standard to be used in many inexpensive smart home devices going forward. For more, our own Jennifer Tuohy has a great introductory guide on the subject.

Starting your smart home

If you’re going to go with Apple Home, you may want to start with an Apple Home Hub — as mentioned above, either an Apple TV (ideally from 2021 or newer) or a HomePod. If you’re planning to purchase a HomePod, be aware that If you get the newest version, you’re essentially only paying for better sound (which, again, is stellar) because the $99 HomePod Mini, at only a third of the price, brings all of the same functionality. The 2022 Apple TV 4K, starting at $129, is a powerful TV streaming box and probably the best such product for most people to buy anyway, though you won’t get Thread support, as it’s reserved for the 128GB version.

Whichever you choose, buying an Apple Home Hub enables you to control your smart home when you’re away and lets you share access with others, provided they have an iPhone. Without a Home Hub, things get less convenient, but you can still add and control smart home products with your Apple devices.

Light bulb in metal lamp with green inside lining in a blue room with a guitar in background.
Smart light bulbs are a great way to add to expand your repertoire.

As for smart devices, start small. Smart light bulbs are a great jumping-off point, and I’ve generally had the best experience with Philips Hue, though setup is a little more involved for Hue bulbs than for, say, Nanoleaf’s Essentials A19. Both brands offer bulbs compatible with Apple’s Adaptive Lighting feature, which gradually tunes the warmth of the bulb throughout your day to be cooler or warmer, depending on the time.

For smart plugs, I’ve tried a few, and all have been iffy at one time or another. The best, though, have been my Eve Energy smart plugs. Eve’s plugs are not cheap but feel worth it, as they offer a built-in power meter function that tracks how much power is flowing through them, even offering an estimate of what that’ll cost you based on the last week, day, or minute of usage. The Eve app also succeeds where Apple’s Home app fails by showing how your Thread network is structured, which helped immensely when I had to troubleshoot responsiveness issues with my Thread devices a few weeks ago.

Smart home security cameras can be a good go-to next, though picking the right one is tricky. Go for one that supports HKSV if you have an iCloud Plus subscription, as that gets you 10 days of video history, the ability to set detection zones, and object recognition for people, animals, vehicles, and even packages. In addition to being able to view camera notifications on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, an Apple TV can show picture-in-picture streams from your cameras, which comes in handy when I’m watching TV in my basement and can’t hear knocks on my front door (of course, notifications can be turned off as well).

I use a pair of EufyCam 2C cameras, though there are reasons to be cautious about Eufy’s security practices. Otherwise, Netatmo and Logitech both make well-liked alternatives, as do Eve and Aqara. Be careful not to confuse Apple Home compatibility with HKSV support, though. Arlo makes fantastic cameras, for instance, but their support is limited to live video streaming and basic motion detection in the Apple Home app.

White motion sensor next to a leather record player.
Motion sensors like this Aqara motion sensor P1 can offer peace of mind.

If you want to add peace of mind beyond what cameras offer, you can look for door and window sensors like those for Ecobee thermostats. The Aqara water leak detector actually saved my bacon once when a leak I’d patched in my basement sprung open in the middle of the night — my iPhone alerted me to it, waking me up so I could stop the leak before it got to anything important. Door / window and motion sensors can also be great for setting up automation, so your lights are on right after you walk in the room.

Finally, with enough HomePods (Mini and above) in your home, you actually may not need separate humidity or temperature sensors, as those are built in, though in my experience, they’re not as accurate as dedicated sensors. In addition, their built-in alarm recognition means you can be notified if your smoke detector goes off when you’re out of the house. Those features aren’t unique to HomePods, but having all of them in one device is. Some Amazon Echo speakers have temperature sensors and can detect sounds like smoke alarms but lack humidity sensors, while Google’s Nest speakers can detect alarms, but only if you pay for its Nest Aware subscription, and lack built-in temperature and humidity sensors.

Black smart thermostat on wall.
Ecobee thermostats can work with door and window sensors.

I set up my own Apple Home system by slowly identifying pain points in my house that I thought a smart device would make better. I now have a mix of smart lights and smart dimmers; various environmental, motion, and leak sensors; outdoor smart security cameras; a smart garage door opener module (that is, shockingly, compatible with my ancient Automatic Doorman opener); and more. I don’t even know how many devices I own at this point because many of them are Zigbee devices that rely on various hubs, like my Aqara and Hue hubs, to connect to Apple Home.

I collect information like I once did Pogs, and I love being able to find out the conditions in every part of my house — and being able to check on things there when I’m away. Various sensors have also allowed me to adjust my dampers for the best air distribution and helped me know where to place humidifiers and dehumidifiers for the best result.

Making it better

As I said earlier, Apple’s onerous certification program has resulted in a more limited selection and higher prices, which can be a big pain in the butt when you’re looking for smart home devices. But as Matter is rolled out more, we should see a lot of those limitations fall away as basic smart devices like light bulbs, switches, plugs, and sensors become more commoditized. It also means no more looking for HomeKit certification for device makers, as Matter is intrinsically cross-platform.

But there are other things Apple could do better. Improvements to Siri are always welcome, as right now, it often refers me to my phone for certain queries, such as web searches or business information (though other times it gives me the answers I’m seeking through the speaker), and my phone never seems to be aware it’s supposed to be showing me something. It would also be great to see more third-party support for Apple’s assistant — two years after opening Siri to other developers for use, Ecobee is still the only company actually taking Apple up on the offer.

There are ways to get around Apple’s lack of third-party support, such as Home Assistant, an open-source project that adds customizable HomeKit support to far more devices than do so natively. I’ve never tried this myself, partially because I haven’t had a need and partially because it’s time-consuming and I’ve just never gotten around to it.

I’d also love to see some fun or more granular automations injected into Apple Home. There are hacky ways to get this to happen, but they’re obscure and require more technical know-how than many people possess. For instance, I have a scene that flashes green and yellow lights on a pair of Nanoleafs and plays Todd Rundgren’s “Bang on the Drum All Day’’ whenever I yell “Go pack!” at Siri — but frankly, I won’t touch that scene ever again because I still have no idea how I got the lights to actually do what I wanted them to.

Should you use Apple Home?

If you want more choice and don’t want to wait for Matter to truly take over (assuming it really does), Google and Alexa are your options — that is, unless you’re willing to invest your time, energy, and brain power into Home Assistant integration, an open-source project that adds customizable HomeKit support to far more devices than do so natively.

But if you want to have a smart home and you’re concerned about privacy and security, then Apple has the best track record for those things. And as the Matter protocol matures, choice and affordability limits will fall away. If you’re already in the Apple ecosystem, it’s almost no contest, as the company’s famous interoperability extends to its smart home platform, making for a much more synchronous experience.

Photography by Wes Davis / The Verge

]]> Microsoft found a macOS exploit that could completely bypass System Integrity Protection https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/05/30/microsoft-found-a-macos-exploit-that-could-completely-bypass-system-integrity-protection/ Tue, 30 May 2023 20:25:41 +0000 https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/05/30/microsoft-found-a-macos-exploit-that-could-completely-bypass-system-integrity-protection?utm_medium=rss Microsoft identified a new macOS vulnerability called “Migraine” that can cause headaches for Mac users — but only if you haven’t updated your software recently.

Apple patched macOS Apple patched macOS “Migraine” exploit

On May 30, Microsoft published a new threat intelligence paper detailing a macOS vulnerability they call “Migraine,” which they’ve already alerted Apple about. With this vulnerability, attackers with root access on a machine can “automatically bypass” System Integrity Protection (SIP) and perform arbitrary operations on that device.

Read more…

]]> Crash Detection feature & Apple Watch alert police to fatal car crash https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/05/29/crash-detection-feature-apple-watch-alert-police-to-fatal-car-crash/ Mon, 29 May 2023 13:31:46 +0000 https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/05/29/crash-detection-feature-apple-watch-alert-police-to-fatal-car-crash?utm_medium=rss Police are investigating a fatal car crash in Ohio after an Apple Watch alerted them to the scene, and anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office.

Crash Detection can alert emergency servicesCrash Detection can alert emergency services

According to the sheriff’s office, a single-vehicle collision occurred between 7 am and 8 am near I-71 North and I-270. The crash was brought to the attention of Grove City police officers by an Apple Watch, according to WBNS-10TV.

Read more…

]]> Apple alerted Pegasus spyware victims during first known use in a military conflict https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/05/25/apple-alerted-pegasus-spyware-victims-during-first-known-use-in-a-military-conflict/ Thu, 25 May 2023 11:20:16 +0000 https://9to5mac.com/?p=884640

Security researchers have documented the first known case of NSO’s Pegasus spyware being used in a military conflict. The hacks relate to the long-running military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, over a region claimed by both countries.

The victims – who included a United Nations official, journalists, human rights advocates, and a former government minister – received alerts from Apple that their iPhones had been hacked …

more…

The post Apple alerted Pegasus spyware victims during first known use in a military conflict appeared first on 9to5Mac.

]]> Apple Watch Fall Detection Features Save Two Lives https://www.latest-apple-news.com/2023/05/12/apple-watch-fall-detection-features-save-two-lives/ Fri, 12 May 2023 17:31:00 +0000 https://www.macrumors.com/2023/05/12/apple-watch-fall-detection-saves-two-lives/ The Apple Watch’s health features are making headlines this month, and have been credited with saving at least two lives. Fall Detection came in handy in two emergency situations in Minnesota and Ohio.



In Minnesota, Apple Watch user Michael Brodkorb was hit by a vehicle that then fled the scene. His Apple Watch detected the impact using Fall Detection and dialed 911 after he was unable to respond. “I was just shocked,” he said. “I mean, just the sheer force of what it’s like to get hit by a vehicle.”

Along with calling 911, the Fall Detection feature alerted his wife and children inside the house, so he was able to get immediate help. He ended up with injuries to his ribs and tailbone. “It absolutely is a life-saving tool,” Brodkorb said. Police did find the driver, a 17-year-old boy, but it is not yet clear if he will be charged.

During his recovery, Brodkorb sent an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook, who wished him a speedy recovery.

In Cincinnati, 83-year-old William Fryer was walking on the Ohio River Trail when his knees gave out. No one was around, but his Apple Watch detected the fall, called emergency services, and alerted his daughter.

Cincinnati police were able to locate him and paramedics transported him to the hospital. X-rays ultimately showed that he had a large blood clot that caused his fall, but the blood clot symptoms had been atypical as they had not been noticed. Fryer had the clot removed, and said that he was grateful his Apple Watch had been able to summon help.

The Fall Detection feature on the Apple Watch can be enabled by opening up the Apple Watch iPhone app, going to Emergency SOS, and toggling on the Fall Detection option. Fall Detection is enabled by default for Apple Watch owners over 55, but younger Apple Watch users can also turn it on.
This article, "Apple Watch Fall Detection Features Save Two Lives" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

]]>