Starting today, Apple Maps users in the Netherlands can access cycling route data on iPhone and Apple Watch. Dutch culture is known for being especially bike-friendly, so bringing this navigation feature to users is notable.

Geert Bevin is adding a new tool to his collection of music utility apps for Apple devices. MidiWrist Unleashed “turns your Apple Watch into a standalone MIDI controller that directly connects to any advertised Bluetooth LE MIDI device,” and it’s completely independent from the iPhone.

Automating your shades is one of the easiest ways to feel like you’re living in the future, as the Jetsons predicted. If you already have existing shades, you might want to look at the RYSE SmartShade, which lets you convert existing shades to HomeKit-compatible ones with minimal installation.

M-series Apple silicon chips tout impressive performance but unpredictable release cadence. That makes it hard to keep up with which chips are in which devices. Apple currently has three generations of M-series chips, up to four variations of each generation, and three product categories that use M-series chips. Here’s the data to make sense of it all.

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The first Apple event of 2024 is almost here. Set for May 7, the “Let loose” event is expected to focus entirely on the iPad. This should come as no surprise, considering the device was Apple’s only major product line to not receive any hardware updates in the entirety of 2023. iPad sales, as a result, keep dropping. But Apple is prepared to reverse that trend with its May 7 lineup.

Here is a roundup of everything you can expect to see when the event arrives.

In my final edition of 9to5Toys Lunch Break, you’ll find Apple AirTags down at $24 each on Amazon. The latest AirPods 3 drop to $140, and Apple Pencil 2 is sitting at the Amazon low of $79. Hit the jump for all that and more.

Apple Arcade launched with close to 100 titles and the service is seeing new games added almost every week with over 200 games now in the library. Follow along with our guide on all the available Apple Arcade games plus the latest releases.

More than three years after Spotify lossless audio was first promised by the company, it still hasn’t launched. There have been multiple reports since, and the latest of these claims that the service is now very close to launching.

We’ve also heard three different brand names suggested. The company originally announced it as Spotify HiFi, then we heard Music Pro, and today’s report says it will be called Spotify Lossless …

Apple is out with its latest ad for iPhone 15 highlighting the power of Precision Finding. A fun twist with this commercial is a Star Wars Day theme where the main character heads to a convention and has to solve the problem of finding friends amongst a sea of cosplay characters.

A French website has obtained what appear to be molds of the iPhone 16 line-up, showing what appears to be a small but still notable change to the MagSafe charging ring.

The molds also reflect the changes we’re expecting to see to the camera layout in the base and Plus model iPhone 16 …

Next week’s Let Loose event will see the unveiling of new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, alongside a new Apple Pencil and an updated Magic Keyboard which will give the iPad Pro a more MacBook-like look and feel.

But there is one key iPad which won’t get an update next week, and that’s the entry-level model. Apple is said to be working hard on an updated version of this …

There were no surprises in Apple’s earnings report yesterday, with the company reporting close to the $5B year-on-year fall in revenue it had warned us to expect.

Analysts got their usual chance to question CEO Tim Cook and chief financial officer Luca Maestri directly after the announcement. The pair always remain tight-lipped about specific plans, but there are a few things worth noting …

Yesterday saw the announcement of the Apple Q2 2024 earnings report, which were pretty much exactly as expected – revenue coming in at $90.75B against Wall Street expectations of $90.1B.

As usual, Six Colors has brought the numbers to life with a great set of colorful visualizations, alongside a video talking through them …

Apple last year updated its online store with a new feature called “Shop with a Specialist over Video.” As the name suggests, it lets customers connect with an Apple Specialist using one-way video when buying certain products, such as the iPhone. This functionality is now coming to the Apple Store app on iOS as well.

Following on from the announcement of Apple’s second quarter fiscal 2024 results, Apple CEO Tim Cook joined the company’s chief financial officer Luca Maestri on a call with investors. During this call, Cook again teased Apple’s upcoming generative AI and said that the company has advantages over its competitors.

Apple on Thursday announced its earnings for the second fiscal quarter of 2024, slightly beating expectations with $90.75 billion in revenue. During an interview, Cook also took a moment to talk about the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit against Apple, calling it “misguided.”

AT&T thinks people are willing to pay $7 extra per month for what it claims is “enhanced data connectivity for real-time responsiveness.” This new AT&T “Turbo” option is rolling out now, and the carrier says it “boosts all the high-speed and hotspot data” while active.

Update: It turns out Tim Cook was misunderstood in the CNBC story. The full quote in context does not imply an AI software announcement at next week’s hardware event, although Apple does infuse its silicon with AI readiness. Here’s the full quote in context:



”Looking ahead, we’re getting ready for an exciting product announcement next week that we think our customers will love. And next month, we have our Worldwide Developers Conference, which has generated enormous enthusiasm from our developers. We can’t wait to reveal what we have in store.

”

Additionally, with a pause inserted to explain what happened:

“And we’re getting into a period of time here where we’re extremely excited like I’m in the edge of my seat literally because next week, we’ve got a product event that we’re excited about. And then just a few weeks thereafter, we’ve got the developers Worldwide Developers Conference coming up and we’ve got some big plans to announce in in both of these events. [pause] From an AI point of view…”

Apple is still expected to unveil its AI software innovations in June during its Worldwide Developers Conference.

Apple has disclosed its fiscal year 2024 Q2 earnings results. The company reports $90.75 billion in revenue during the three-month period, dropping 4.31% year over year. Analysts expected revenue around $90.33 billion. Apple netted $23.64 billion in profit, 2.15% decline.

Apple reported revenue of $94.8 billion for the same quarter a year ago. Apple argues that last year’s results included around $5 billion in revenue from “pent-up demand from the constraints” of Covid-19 factory shutdowns.

Other numbers from Apple’s quarterly results:

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There is no shortage of great third-party podcast clients on the App Store, such as Castro, Overcast, and Pocket Casts. But when Apple Podcasts introduced transcripts in iOS 17.4, the app immediately won me over.

Podcast transcripts are a fantastic feature for all kinds of users. For Deaf users there’s a clear benefit, since content that was previously limited to audio suddenly became accessible in written form. For researchers trying to quickly find key info, transcript search is an invaluable tool.

For me though, the biggest win with podcast transcripts has been their ability to save me significant time by filtering down the content to only what I actually want to hear.

We’re excited to announce the launch of something new for the amazing 9to5Mac community: YouTube channel memberships! This is your opportunity to directly support the channel you love and unlock some fun perks as a result.

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Of course, our YouTube content will always remain free and accessible, and you are not obligated to become a channel member. However, for those who especially appreciate our work, here is your chance to support us directly.

Apple’s “Let Loose” event is almost here and we’re expecting the official launch of the new iPad Pro, iPad Air, and more. Here’s how to watch the iPad event (including below), plus a reminder that the start time is three hours earlier than most of the company’s events.