The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that will either ban TikTok from app stores operating in the country or force Chinese company ByteDance to sell the short-form video app. The landmark bill has now passed both chambers of Congress, having already been approved by the House of Representatives. President Biden says he will sign the bill into law on Wednesday. Once that happens, TikTok will be banned in the United States if ByteDance does not divest ownership within nine months, with a possible three-month extension to that deadline if a deal is in progress. China would need to a ..read more

The European Commission has waved through new 'right to repair' legislation that aims to make it easier for consumers to get their broken devices fixed, even if products are out of warranty. The EU already requires companies to offer a two-year minimum warranty on common household appliances and electronics, such as smartphones, TVs, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners, but the new rules impose additional requirements. According to the legislation, if a consumer chooses to have their device repaired under warranty, the warranty must be extended by a year. Consumers may also borrow a devic ..read more

Apple is planning to refresh the entire Mac lineup with updated M4 chips starting in late 2024 and continuing into 2025, and that will include a new M4 chip for Apple's mid-tier desktop machine, the Mac Studio. M4 Chip Rumors Apple has a lineup of M4 chips in development, including the standard M4, the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and a higher-end version that's codenamed "Hidra." This higher-end chip could be an "Ultra" version that's equivalent to the M2 Ultra, or it might even be something even more powerful. With the ‌M2‌ lineup, the ‌M2‌ Ultra is a chip that is in fact two ‌M2‌ Max chips linked ..read more

Amazon is back with a big sale on the newest 24-inch M3 iMac, including both 256GB and 512GB models. This time around, the deals do not require any sort of coupon in order to see the final discounted price. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Starting with the 8-core GPU/256GB M3 iMac, this model is available for $1,199.00 in two colors, down from $1,299.00. Amazon also has the 10-core GPU/256GB M3 iMac on sale for $1,409.00, down from $1,499.00. This one is avail ..read more

Apple today seeded the third betas of upcoming iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released the second betas. Registered developers are able to opt into the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to the Software Update section, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option, and toggling on the iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 Developer Beta. An Apple ID associated with a developer account is required to download and install the beta. Most of the features that Apple promised would be coming in ‌iOS 17‌ have now been released, but iO ..read more

Apple today released the third beta of an upcoming visionOS 1.2 update to developers, allowing them to test new features ahead of the software seeing a public launch. The third ‌visionOS‌ 1.2 beta comes one week after the release the second beta. The ‌visionOS‌ beta can be downloaded by going to the Settings app on the device and toggling on developer betas. A registered developer account is required, and Apple recommends making a backup before installing new software. Apple may make further improvements to Personas, EyeSight, and other features with ‌visionOS‌ 1.2, but no major new additio ..read more

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 10.5 update to developers for testing purposes, with the beta coming a week after the release of the second beta. To install the ‌watchOS 10.5 update, developers need to open the Apple Watch app, go to the Software Update section under "General" in Settings, and toggle on the watchOS 10 Developer Beta. An Apple ID linked to a developer account is required. Once beta updates have been activated, watchOS 10.5 can be downloaded under the same Software Update section. To install software, an Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery li ..read more

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 17.5 to developers for testing purposes, with the beta coming a week after the release of the second beta. Registered developers are able to download the tvOS 17.5 update by opting in to the beta through the Settings app on the Apple TV. A registered developer account is required. tvOS software updates are often minor in scale compared to other operating system updates, focusing primarily on smaller improvements rather than outward-facing changes. We don't yet know what's included in tvOS 17.5. Apple shares some information on tvOS rele ..read more

Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a result, Apple is expected to take a "conservative view" of headset demand when the Vision Pro launches in additional countries. Kuo previously said that Apple will introduce the Vision Pro in new markets be ..read more

Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. The lack of an official Calculator app on the iPad has been a long-running meme on social media, as users have waited for its arrival. In the meantime, iPad users have relied on calculator apps in the App Store, such a ..read more