The iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates include a number of privacy and security improvements that make your devices safer than ever, with Apple restricting access to photos and calendar events and cutting down further on how websites track you across the web. Private Browsing Upgrades in Safari In Safari, Private browsing windows are now locked and require secondary authentication to unlock and access. If you hand your phone over to someone and they attempt to open your Safari private browsing tab, access will be denied without a Face ID/Touch ID scan or a passcode. The Private tab is locked automatically. Tracking URL Removal Opening up a URL in a private browsing window automatically strips all tracking information added to…

Apple in March permanently shut down its retail stores in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the mall where it’s located suffered at least three shootings in recent months. At the time, Apple’s website stated, “In preparation for a new store we plan to open in the Charlotte area early next year, we will be permanently closing Wednesday, March 1st at 4pm.” Apple Northlake Mall : Tech giant Apple Inc. is bringing a retail store to Huntersville’s Birkdale Village. The town’s planning department confirmed today that a permit for an Apple Store there has been filed and approved. The Birkdale Village location stands to replace the Apple Store that abruptly shuttered at Northlake Mall earlier this year. Construction has kicked off on…

Three months after Apple closed a North Carolina retail store, it has filed permits to start construction on a new location, just a handful of miles away.Birkdale Village, North CarolinaPermits have been filed for construction at 8805 Townley Road in Birkdale Village. It will open as part of a larger effort to rejuvenate the area with new properties, including Anthropologie, Lilly Pulitzer, Cheesecake Factory, and other new retail venues opening at the center. Read more...

Apple is in talks with banks to launch Apple Card in India, claims a report by local finance website Moneycontrol. According to the report, citing sources familiar with the matter, Apple CEO Tim Cook met with HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan during his trip to India in April to discuss the possibility of bringing the credit card to the country alongside Apple Pay. In India, only banks are allowed to launch credit cards. According to the outlet's sources, Apple is therefore exploring the possibility of launching its ‌Apple Card‌ there as a co-branded credit card with HDFC Bank. The Cupertino-based tech giant is also said to have held discussions with central bank and regulatory body the Reserve Bank…

Image: Google Google has found a fun new way to dunk on Apple with an ad campaign for Pixel phones that straddles the line between cute and cringe. The search giant has released five videos — under the campaign name “Best Phones Forever” — which depict sitcom-like interactions between anthropomorphized versions of the Pixel 7 Pro and some sort of iPhone Pro. And it kinda seems like the phones want to bone each other? Google has pitched this as “what happens when two phones stop being rivals and start being friends,” though the campaign largely focuses on the iPhone’s apparent shortcomings compared to Pixel phones — such as astrophotography, security, and Apple’s lack of foldable devices. The iPhone is basically…

Macworld Apple currently sells two laptop lines: the MacBook Pro (which comes in 13-inch M2, 14-inch M2 Pro/Max and 16-inch M2 Pro/Max models) and the MacBook Air (which is available in 13.3-inch M1 or 13.6-inch M2 and a, new for 2023, 15-inch M2 MacBook Air). That is a lot of Mac laptops with very different specs. In this article, we are concerned with the Mac laptops that are best suited to average use: home, student and office work. The 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro or M2 Mac chips are better suited to pro users and have much higher prices, so we won’t be including them here. But if you are wondering whether your needs might extend…