Apple's Vision Pro is set to launch in the United States early next year, and Apple is discussing the United Kingdom and Canada as two of its first international markets to get the mixed reality headset by the end of 2024, although "a final decision hasn't been made," according to sources cited by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his latest report, Gurman says Apple is looking at bringing the Vision Pro to Europe and Asia soon after, with Apple engineers working to localize the device for France, Germany, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea. More to follow...Related Roundup: Apple Vision ProRelated Forum: Apple Vision ProThis article, "Apple Vision Pro Likely to Launch in UK and Canada by End of 2024"…

Macworld We’re still many months away from being able to plunk down $3,500 for an Apple Vision Pro. But if you absolutely can’t wait and you happen to own a Meta Quest Pro, you can get an idea of what Apple’s mixed reality headset interface will be like. With its Nova UI framework, Supernova Technologies built a visionOS simulation that can run on the Quest Pro. It doesn’t do much, though. It uses eye tracking, which means it requires Meta’s Quest Pro, and you can swipe between screens with your fingers, but that’s all it really does. None of the app icons are real or functional. See the video below. During the demo, after moving through simulated visionOS screens, the…

Apple security and privacy engineers thwarted Pegasus. It was just one of their successes this year. Fast Company’s Harry McCracken speaks with Apple engineers who are creating innovative ways to protect users from a wide array of threats. Harry McCracken for Fast Company: For years, Apple has made privacy and security one of the iPhone’s principal selling points. But a fraction of users—including dissidents, activists, and journalists—have reason to obsess over it. Governments and others with ill intent have targeted these groups with sophisticated spyware to gain access to messages, location data, and other information that can compromise not just privacy but their physical safety. “These are attackers who are willing to spend untold millions and millions and millions of…

Macworld StandBy, one of a number of appealing new features in this year’s iOS 17 software update, enables iPhones to act as smart displays when plugged in and not otherwise in use. This means they can serve a secondary function as a reduced-brightness (or red-tinted) digital alarm clock with a few useful widgets while charging overnight. But based on a new report, Apple is considering a similar feature for the Mac. Of course, your Mac is less likely to be sitting beside your bed during the night, so the analogy isn’t exact. But there’s considerable merit to the idea of the screen automatically transitioning into a more general info hub when it would otherwise be sleeping (and assuming battery conservation…

Apple is prepping major new hearing health and body-temperature features for AirPods, planning cheaper models, a transition to USB-C charging ports, and exploring how it could better position AirPods as a hearing aid, Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg News. AirPods Pro (2nd generation) Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News: The capabilities will come in addition to already-announced software features that were part of iOS 17, as well as plans for new AirPods Pro and Max models. The company is working on a new hearing test feature that will play different tones and sounds to allow the AirPods to determine how well a person can hear. The idea is to help users screen for hearing issues, not unlike how the Apple Watch…

Macworld Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too. The only way is upsell One of the quirkier stories we covered last week centered on a simple Velcro strap. Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro headset, you see, is rather heavy, and the company seems to have addressed possible issues with comfort by adding on an extra strap that goes over the top of the user’s head. But this strap is…