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You won’t need to wait until Halloween to receive treats from Apple. The company is hosting a product launch event online on Monday, Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET). If you peep the Apple Events page, you’ll see the Apple logo morphing into the Finder icon that vaguely resembles a jack-o-lantern. It not only fits into the Halloween theme for this time of year but also gives us a hint that it will be a Mac-related announcement.

And that would make sense, since Apple released new iPhones in September and then followed that up last week with a new Apple Pencil (but no new iPads). It’s too early for another iPhone, and if Apple had new iPads to roll out, we would have seen them last week. That leaves Macs as the chief suspects for Monday’s event.

M3 iMac on the way?

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is prepping a new 24-inch iMac based on a new M3 processor. The current iMac is nearly two-and-a-half years old, so it’s well overdue for a refresh. Apple released the M1 iMac in May 2021, and it has yet to update it with the M2 chip that can be found in the company’s MacBook, Mac Mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro lines.

The rumors point to a spec update and not a design overhaul, other than perhaps different color options. The current iMac is already available in a rainbow of colors: blue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange and purple.

M3 MacBooks, too?

Gurman also points out that stock is low for MacBook Pros, which could be a hint that new models are coming soon. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is the oldest MacBook in Apple’s lineup. It was released in June 2022 with Apple’s M2 chip. It could get the M3 treatment alongside the iMac on Monday. If the 13-inch MacBook Pro receives an update, it could mean the end of the much-derided Touch Bar that’s not as useful as simply having a row of physical Function keys above the keyboard. The 13-inch Pro is the last MacBook equipped with the Touch Bar.

Apple is famously tight-lipped ahead of its product announcements, so we won’t know what it has in store until Monday’s event. My best guess? We see a new M3 iMac. And if Apple rolls out the M3 chip to the 13-inch MacBook Pro, then we will also get a 13-inch M3 MacBook Air update. The least compelling MacBook Pro is the 13-inch model, and I don’t see it headlining Apple’s M3 MacBook announcement. The 13-inch MacBook Air is much more popular and is also primed for an update; it was last updated at WWDC in June 2022 with an M2 chip alongside the 13-inch Pro.

Stock may be low for the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, but they are newer than their smaller, 13-inch sibling. These models were released in January 2023 with Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. I’d wager it won’t be until 2024 that we see them updated with M3 Pro and Max chips.

What about the 15-inch MacBook Air, you ask? It’s not even six months old, far too new to receive an M3 update. Perhaps Apple will close or remove entirely the $200 price gap between it and the 13-inch model if the 13-inch model moves to the M3 and the 15-inch Air stays with the M2. Hopefully, that means the 15-inch Air gets a price cut and not the other way around, with the starting price of the 13-inch Air going up. Completing the MacBook Air shuffle could be the M2 Air replacing the M1 Air as the entry-level MacBook Air model at $999.

Again, Apple’s “Scary Fast” event starts at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET, 1 a.m. BST, 11 a.m. AEDT) on Monday and can be streamed live on Apple’s website and Apple TV.

Apple released iOS 17.1 to the public on Wednesday, more than a month after the arrival of iOS 17. The update brings a few new features and bug fixes to your iPhone, but some touted features, like the Journal app, are still missing.

To download the update, go to Settings > General > Software Update, tap Install Now and follow the onscreen prompts.

Here are some of the new features and fixes iOS 17.1 brings to your iPhone.

iPhone 12 radio frequency concerns addressed

France’s National Frequency Agency said on Sept. 12 that the iPhone 12 exceeds European-specific absorption rate limits, and it appears Apple addresses those concerns with iOS 17.1.

“iOS 17.1 includes an update for iPhone 12 for users in France to accommodate this specific test protocol that requires reduced power when off-body on a static surface,” Apple posted Oct. 10. “iPhone 12 will no longer increase the allowed power when the off-body state is detected, such as while it is sitting on a table.”

New StandBy mode settings

StandBy mode is one of my favorite new iOS features, and in iOS 17.1, Apple gives StandBy mode more setting options. With iOS 17.1, you have the option to turn StandBy mode off after 20 seconds, never or “Automatically.” Apple writes that if you choose Automatically, the display will turn off when your iPhone is not in use and the room is dark, like when you’re sleeping at night.

However, I checked these settings on my iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone XR and only found these options on my iPhone 14 Pro. So it appears the new settings are only available on iPhones with an always-on display.

Apple Music upgrades

In iOS 17.1, Apple adds a new button in Apple Music that allows you to quickly find Favorite songs. When a song is playing and you’re looking at its card on your iPhone, there’s a star outline near the song’s title. You can tap this star to add the song to your Favorites.

There’s also a new way to find all your Favorited playlists, albums and songs. To find them, go into the corresponding category in Apple Music, tap the button in the top-right corner of your screen, and tap Favorited.

Apple Music also shows you song suggestions in iOS 17.1. To see them, go into any of your playlists and scroll to the bottom of the playlist to see a section called Song Suggestions. These are songs that the app thinks you might like, based on your musical tastes.

AirDrop using cellular data

With iOS 17, Apple upgraded AirDrop with NameDrop, which allows two devices to tap each other and exchange contact information — kind of like exchanging digital business cards. And in iOS 17.1, Apple now lets you use cellular data to send and receive information over AirDrop when two iPhones are out of range of each other.

Flashlight symbol in Live Activities

Have you ever accidentally switched on your iPhone’s flashlight and had someone point it out to you later? Some iPhone users won’t have to worry about that anymore. With iOS 17.1, when you turn on your flashlight, a little flashlight symbol appears in the Live Activities feed across the top of your screen. However, I couldn’t replicate this symbol anywhere on my iPhone XR, so this feature likely only works on Live Activity-enabled iPhones, like the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, as well as the iPhone 15 lineup.

Full release notes for iOS 17.1

Here are Apple’s full release notes for iOS 17.1, including bug fixes and other improvements:

AirDrop
• Content continues to transfer over the internet when you step out of AirDrop range.

StandBy
• New options to control when the display turns off (iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max).

Music
• Favorites expanded to include songs, albums and playlists, and you can filter to display your favorites in the library.
• New cover art collection offers designs that change colors to reflect the music in your playlist.
• Song suggestions appear at the bottom of every playlist, making it easy to add music that matches the vibe of your playlist.

This update also includes the following improvements and bug fixes:

• Option to choose a specific album to use with Photo Shuffle on the Lock Screen.
• Home key support for Matter locks.
• Improved reliability of Screen Time settings syncing across devices.
• Fixes an issue that may cause the Significant Location privacy setting to reset when transferring an Apple Watch or pairing it for the first time.
• Resolves an issue where the names of incoming callers may not appear when you are on another call.
• Addresses an issue where custom and purchased ringtones may not appear as options for your text tone.
• Fixes an issue that may cause the keyboard to be less responsive.
• Crash detection optimizations (all iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models).
• Fixes an issue that may cause display image persistence.

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222.

For more, check out my review of iOS 17 and our iOS 17 cheat sheet.

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features and Settings on Your iPhone

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The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 now have access to Double Tap, one of the biggest new features on this year’s watches. Double Tap is a gesture that lets you tap your thumb and index finger together twice to control the watch without touching the screen. The update is part of WatchOS 10.1 and is available to download now.

Double Tap relies on the new S9 chip, so it’s only available on the Series 9 and Ultra 2. It uses the accelerometer, gyroscope and heart rate sensor to detect movement and blood flow when the watch’s screen is active. That means you’ll need to raise your wrist to get Double Tap to register. It won’t work if the display is dimmed, or if you’re not actively using the watch. You’ll see a blue icon appear at the top of the screen when the gesture is recognized.

There’s a long list of tasks and apps that Double Tap works with, but some of the key ones include:

• Bringing up the Smart Stack of widgets and scrolling through
• Answering and ending calls
• Playing or pausing music
• Replying to text messages with voice dictation and sending that message
• Starting and stopping timers
• Taking a photo with the iPhone’s Camera app using Camera Remote on the Watch

Double Tap also works in some third-party apps and will perform the default action for that app. Examples include dismissing a notification or responding to a message from a different messaging app.

I’ve been testing a prerelease version in the public beta of WatchOS 10.1, and it’s been accurate and reliable so far. Double Tap is turned on by default, but you can turn it off or customize it from the Settings menu.

Double Tap isn’t compatible with every app, however. You won’t be able to use it during an activity in the Workout app, when navigating in Maps, while taking an ECG or when using the Heart Rate or Blood Oxygen apps.

Double Tap is separate from AssistiveTouch, an accessibility feature that lets you control various aspects of the Apple Watch without touching the display. To download WatchOS 10.1, go to the Watch app on your iPhone, then tap the General option and select Software Update.

Most of the latest phones from big brands start at $800 or more, and it can be tough to find discounts that don’t require a trade-in or activation of a new line. If you’re looking for a more affordable alternative, then we’ve got a deal you won’t want to miss. The 2022 Motorola Edge is a more-than-capable 5G phone, and right now you can snag it for just $250 at Best Buy, which saves you $350 compared to the usual price. Though there’s no set expiration for this deal, so we’d recommend getting your order in sooner rather than later if you don’t want to miss out on these savings.

It’s important to note that the unlocked model has already sold out, so if you want to take advantage of this deal, you’ll need to activate this device on a service plan through either AT&T, Verizon or Google Fi. Plus, AT&T customers will get an extra $100 off if it’s a new line or account. And while it’s not required to get this deal, Best Buy also has its own trade-in program where you can save hundreds in exchange for your old phone from Apple, Google, Samsung and tons of other brands.

Despite its relatively affordable price tag, the 2022 Motorola Edge 5G boasts some pretty competitive specs. It features with a stunning 6.6-inch OLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate for fluid performance. Internally, it’s equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 1050 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and its powered by Android 12 OS. Other impressive features include a staggering battery life of up to two days on a single charge, a 50MP camera system and support for Dolby Atmos audio.

This deal also comes with one free month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. And be sure to check out our full roundup of all the best phone deals available now for more bargains on devices from Apple, Google, Samsung and more.

Smartwatches have become a useful tool in our lives, especially for those who don’t want to be looking at a phone screen constantly. Apple makes some of the best, with its most expensive and feature-rich models being the Apple Watch Ultras. While the latest model is the Watch Ultra 2, you can save yourself a significant amount of money by opting for the still-excellent Watch Ultra instead. Released just last year, the Watch Ultra has been discounted to the lowest price it’s ever been, and you can grab it at Best Buy for $629 instead of $799. Amazon has also discounted it down to $630 if you’d rather go with it instead.

At face value, the rugged looks of the Apple Watch Ultra might seem like it’s mostly made for people who are into athletics and fitness, but it’s much more versatile than that. For example, it has a longer battery life than most Apple Watches, as well as a much brighter screen. If that wasn’t enough, this 49mm version of the app has both cellular and dual-GPS frequencies, the latter of which is great if you like to jog or run and want to keep track of it.

It also has the full suite of tracking sensors and features, including things like VO2 Max, heart-rate detection and the new-ish car crash detection. There’s no built-in app or metric to tie them all together, like the Body Battery from Garmin, but the stats are there in detail to view them when you’d like, and third-party apps can take advantage of them. Also, for those who are into more athletic activities, the Watch Ultra is water resistant down to 100 meters and comes with a titanium body that makes it a lot more hardy in the great outdoors.

There are many more great features to the Watch Ultra that we don’t have space to cover here, but it’s worth taking a look at CNET’s full Apple Watch Ultra review. If you’re on the fence about which watch to pick, it’s also worth looking at our comparison between the Watch Ultra 2 versus the Watch Ultra. If you decide to go for the newer Watch Ultra 2, you should check out these Watch Ultra deals for some great offers.

Netflix, a CNET Editors’ Choice Award pick, is virtually synonymous with streaming TV shows and movies. On top of letting you stream shows like Black Mirror and Stranger Things, your subscription gives you access to a library of mobile games you can play on your iOS or Android device.

Netflix Games is adding two spooky games for you to play in October in time for Halloween. One game is available to play now, and the other will be available to play on Halloween.

Here are the new titles available on Netflix Games in October.

Slayaway Camp 2: Netflix and Kill

Release date: Oct. 24

In this Netflix Games exclusive sequel, you take control of a killer named Skullface — because of course. Skullface is running amok at a summer camp, and like any good killer running amok at a summer camp, he dispatches camp counselors in a variety of ways, such as decapitation and, um, squishing. It’s your job to slide Skullface around the stage to get rid of the camp counselors in as few moves as possible.

Dead Cells: Netflix Edition

Release date: Oct. 31

Dead Cells, the award winning roguelike platformer, is bringing its action to Netflix. You might object that it isn’t really a horror or Halloween-themed game, but it does have “dead” in the title (and you’ll die… a lot). In this game, your character has to fight through creatures and dungeons to slay the king. And if your character dies, no worries, it’s all part of the experience. Death unlocks more powers for your character and allows you to learn the right pattern to defeat your enemies. There’s a reason the game’s tagline is “Kill, die, learn, repeat.”

Here’s how you can access games in Netflix’s library.

1. Download the Netflix app onto your iPhone, iPad or Android device.
2. Open the Netflix app and sign in to your account.
3. Scroll down your homepage until you see the Mobile Games carousel.
4. Tap into a game to learn more about it.
5. Tap Get Game to download a game you’re interested in.

An additional pop-up from either Apple’s App Store or the Google Play store will open, asking if you want to download the game. After you’ve confirmed that action, the game will start downloading on your device, like other apps.

For more, check out other Netflix Games titles, like Oxenfree 2, WrestleQuest and The Queen’s Gambit Chess.

If you’re an iPhone user, then you know your phone’s display brightness can automatically adjust depending on the amount of light in your environment. While it’s a useful feature that is supposed to combat eyestrain and make your screen easier to see, that’s not always the case.

The problem can be that your display automatically dims down even when you’re out in the sun. If you’re partially in the shade, your phone can get tricked into automatically dimming your screen, even if it doesn’t need to. This can make it difficult to see what’s on your screen. If you manually increase the brightness, it’ll just go back down again because of auto-brightness. Unfortunately, fixing this issue isn’t always as easy as toggling off the necessary settings — but that’s a good place to start.

We’ll show you two settings you need to disable to help prevent your iPhone from automatically dimming. But be careful — your iPhone might adjust its brightness, even when those two settings are disabled.

While you’re here, you should also check out everything we know about the iPhone 15, and what you need to know about the iOS 17 Beta.

First, disable auto-brightness

Yes, this may seem a bit obvious, but the first thing you want to do is to make sure that you have automatic brightness disabled in your settings. The feature is pretty self-explanatory — it automatically adjusts your brightness depending on the light in your environment. But if you want to prevent your display from always trying to adjust, you must disable this feature.

In the Settings application, go to Accessibility > Display & Text Size and toggle off Auto-Brightness at the bottom of the page. You would think that this setting would exist in Display & Brightness, so it’s not uncommon that auto-brightness would be enabled without you really knowing, since it’s tucked away in Accessibility.

If your brightness continues to automatically adjust, there’s another setting you need to disable.

You also need to turn off True Tone

If you have an iPhone SE (2nd generation) and later, the True Tone feature has the ability to measure the color temperature and brightness in your environment and then adjust its display to match it. True Tone is useful — it not only helps show more accurate colors across various lighting situations, it’s also easier on the eyes, which you need if you’re constantly reading on your phone.

Again, if you don’t care about the feature, don’t use it or are simply annoyed that your brightness continues to automatically adjust, you need to disable it. In Settings, go to Display & Brightness and toggle off True Tone under the Brightness header. As long as auto-brightness is also disabled, turning True Tone off should prevent your iPhone from automatically adjusting your brightness.

There is one exception though.

Don’t let your iPhone overheat

Your iPhone has several ways of protecting its internal components, and that includes automatically dimming your display. Even if you have both auto-brightness and True Tone turned off, if your iPhone is overheating it will automatically adjust the display intensity.

According to Apple, to help prevent this from happening, you should use your iPhone in temperatures between 32 to 95 degrees F (zero and 35 degrees C) and store it in temperatures between 4 and 113 degrees F (between 20 below zero and 45 degrees C). If you leave your iPhone in your car or on the sidewalk on a hot day, there’s a good chance that it will overheat, thus causing your display to automatically dim.

However, overheating doesn’t occur only because of a sunny day. A faulty battery could cause your iPhone to overheat: Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health and check if your battery needs to be replaced. Another reason could be buggy software: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and more sure to always be on the latest update to deal with any software bugs and issues.

We’ve seen Motorola show off rollable phone concepts and raise its game with foldable phones in recent years. But this time around it’s come out with one that bends.

The Lenovo-owned brand has created a concept phone display that can literally wrap around your wrist. The device, which Motorola unveiled on Tuesday and which it refers to as an adaptive display, is designed to showcase future phone possibilities allowed by a flexible screen. The company says the screen can be “bent and shaped into different forms” depending on what you want.

When laid flat, its 6.9-inch screen can be used just like a standard phone with a full Android experience. From there, it can be adjusted to various stand modes. In the upright position, for instance, it offers a “more compact form of full Android” since it’s running on a 4.6-inch display. Motorola envisions people using the device for video calls in the upright position. Alternatively, Motorola says you can wrap the device around your wrist to mimic the experience of the Razr Plus’s cover screen.

Motorola isn’t the first to unveil a bendable or flexible concept phone. In fact, CNET Senior Editors, Andrew Lanxon and David Lumb each got hands-on time with Motorola’s Rizr rollable-screen concept phone as well as Samsung’s foldable display concepts from CES 2023 and CES 2022. The idea of a flexible screen you can wear on your wrist might date as far back as 2016, if not earlier. And the idea of bendable displays has been around since the 1960s, when the first flexible solar cell arrays appeared.

However, perhaps a flexible display makes more sense now than it did several years ago, as major phone companies such as Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo and Motorola prove they can successfully release polished foldable phone products. Even the retro flip phone appears to be staging a comeback into the mainstream.

That said, don’t expect a phone with a bendable display like the one Motorola just showed off to appear in stores anytime soon. This is more of an experiment. Companies tend to go slowly and cautiously with radical new designs. Given some of the hurdles foldable phones are facing, such as durability and price, it might be a while before that happens — if it happens at all.

Apple fans have been bombarded with a slew of new features this fall, from a flurry of Apple hardware and software upgrades to brand-new Apple Watches, iPhones, Apple Pencils and new editions of all of Apple’s flagship software.

And while we were all busy getting lost in a sea of NameDrops, Double Taps and Telephoto Lenses, Mac OS Sonoma brought some interesting, albeit smaller, updates that didn’t get the pomp and circumstance that they deserved this year.

Most excitingly, Mac OS Sonoma’s update brings features that iPhone users have enjoyed for several years (and some that iPhone users first saw in iOS 17).

Here are a few exciting Mac features I was most intrigued by that make my phone and computer work better together. For more, check out how to fix the most annoying iOS 17 features and the Mac keyboard shortcuts you need to know.

Widgets come to your desktop

While widgets aren’t an earth-shattering productivity feature, or even new to Apple fans, having them on your desktop is pretty helpful. For instance, some of my co-workers work on the west coast, while I work on the east coast, so I have a clock widget that displays what the current time is in Pacific Standard Time that makes coordinating with my coworkers a bit simpler.

The widgets are also super simple to use — all you have to do is right-click with your mouse or double-click your trackpad on your desktop, and a menu will pop out. You can select Edit Widgets and a widget menu will appear where you can select small, medium, or large widgets for a variety of applications. If you want to remove a widget, you can either right-click or use two fingers to click your trackpad and select Remove Widget, or you can click the small red button that appears after selecting Edit Widget to remove your widget.

You can also drag and drop widgets from your Notification Center to your desktop. If you want to add widgets to your notification center, all you need to do is scroll to the bottom of your notification center and click Edit Widgets. You remove widgets from your notification center in the same way you would from your desktop.

You can also add your iPhone widgets to your Mac’s desktop, even if you don’t have the widget’s corresponding app downloaded to your computer. To enable this, you will need to go to System Settings, then scroll down to Desktop and Dock,. and from there scroll to the Widgets section. Once in the widgets section, simply toggle the Use iPhone Widgets option on. Your iPhone widgets will be available from the widget browser that appears when selecting Edit Widget on your desktop or notification center.

Auto-sorting grocery lists

I’m a pretty organized person, but to be honest, I’ve never turned to Apple’s Reminders app for help with this. The app didn’t make much sense to me and I traditionally have opted for third-party organization apps. While these new reminders features aren’t enough to sway me away from my preferred organization apps, there are some additions that have gotten me to make use of the app.

The changes to reminders are pretty easy to take advantage of. The most major update is the auto-sorting grocery list feature. To make use of this feature, click the Add List button at the bottom of the reminders page. Give your list a name (and change the color of the list and the icon if you’d like). Then, under the List Type drop-down menu, select Groceries.

Once in the list, create the categories you want for your list. For example, my list had three categories: meats, produce and miscellaneous. After you create your categories, you should be able to start putting your list together, and the items you add should be automatically sorted. Be warned — this feature seems to be a bit buggy. My best advice is to keep trying the feature, and you can always drag and drop your items to their correct category if nothing else works.

Messages that mirror your phone

One of my favorite things about having an Apple family of products is that I can text from my computer. This sounds small, but this has proven super-helpful in my day-to-day life. When I’m working on my computer, I can put my phone completely away so I can focus, but it’s nice to still be able to be reached.

One thing that has always frustrated me about iMessage on my computer is that it feels years behind my phone. For the longest time, I couldn’t use tap-back reactions or even reply to messages like I could when I would text on my phone. Sonoma has changed this for the better — there is finally parity between phone and computer when it comes to the messages experience.

The biggest feature that I had been missing was the reply function. Essentially, this function allows you to swipe across on a message and reply directly to that specific message. I’ve found this feature particularly helpful when making complicated plans or in noisy group chats.

All you have to do to use the reply function is swipe two fingers to the right until you can reply to the message. If you don’t want to swipe, you can click the message you wish to reply to with two fingers and select Reply from the drop-down menu.

For more, here’s the best MacBook of 2023.