Philips Hue Adds Support for HomeKit Adaptive Lighting to Ambiance Lights

Philips Hue, known for its line of HomeKit-connected lights, has begun rolling out a new firmware update for the Hue Bridge that brings HomeKit Adaptive Lighting support to the Hue range of Ambiance lights (via iCulture). The rollout follows a month of beta testing with select Hue users.


Adaptive Lighting is an iOS 14 feature that's designed to allow HomeKit-connected lights to adjust their color temperature throughout the day. Warm colors are used in the morning, cooler colors are used midday, and blue light is reduced at night for better sleep.

To update your Hue Bridge, launch the Hue app, tap Settings, then scroll down and select Software Update. The version you want is 1941132070. Tap Update to install it. No new update is required for the lights.

After the update, launch the Home app and you should see message appear at the top indicating that your lights support Adaptive Lighting. Tap the message and you can choose which lamps to enable it for.

Color temperature shifts throughout the day without user interaction, using subtle transitions between color options. With Philips Hue, this works with both the White & Color Ambiance and the White Ambiance lamps, in all different shapes (candle lamp, E27, GU10, and so on).

Tags: HomeKit, Philips Hue

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Microsoft Releases Office for Mac Beta With Support for Apple Silicon

Following Apple's unveiling this week of M1-powered Macs, Microsoft has released a Universal build of its Mac Office 2019 beta for Mac that includes support for Apple Silicon.


That means the latest release of apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive can be installed on Apple's latest 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.

Thanks to Apple's Rosetta 2 translation software, Apple's M1-powered Macs can run x86 code that's written for Intel Macs. In contrast to OG Rosetta – the version that allowed PowerPC apps to run on Intel-based Macs – code isn't interpreted in real-time. Instead, the Rosetta 2 translation process happens entirely on first launch, though there is a slight performance hit as the initial x86–64 translation of instructions takes place.

Microsoft's announcement sheds light on how the back-end work manifests to the user when its apps are initially launched:

The first launch of each Office app will take longer as the operating system has to generate optimized code for the ‌Apple Silicon‌ processor. Users will notice that the apps 'bounce' in the dock for approximately 20 seconds while this process completes. Subsequent app launches will be fast.

Microsoft advises users enrolled in its "Insider Fast" Beta Channel to install the November 2020 release (build 16.43), or later, which includes the latest optimizations for macOS 11 Big Sur. Microsoft says it doesn't have a date or version for a public launch, but whenever the release arrives, it certainly won't be the last.

Apple says Rosetta 2 is a temporary solution for developers to make their existing Intel-based programs to run on Arm-based Macs, meaning they will eventually need to create native apps for ‌Apple Silicon‌ machines. Notably, Apple ended support for OG rosetta 3 years after its release.

Tags: Microsoft Office, Office 365, Apple Silicon

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Things 3.13.2 Update Brings Support for macOS Big Sur, Including New Widgets and Rich Notifications

Popular to-do app Things was updated to version 3.13.2 today, bringing new widgets, rich notifications, and support for macOS 11 Big Sur.


First up, the Things interface has been tweaked throughout to align with the fresh new look of Apple's latest Mac operating system, and includes a remolded app icon to fit in your Dock.

However, the two big changes in this version revolve around the new unified Notification Center in macOS 11. The new Things ‌widgets‌ can be configured in the Notification Center to show to-do lists and quickly glance at what you're doing Today, see what's Upcoming in your schedule, stay on top of your most urgent projects, view tag-filtered lists, and so on.

In addition, Things notifications have been improved, and now include variable snooze durations (10 min, 30 min, 1 hour). There's also now an option to complete your to-do directly from the notification, which wasn't possible before.

• Here's When You Can Download macOS Big Sur in Time Zones Around the World

According to the developers, this update has also been thoroughly tested for compatibility with the new Apple M1 chip that powers the latest 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, all of which were announced earlier this week.

Version 3.13.2 is rolling out now to all Things users. Things 3 can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $49.99 and from the iOS App Store. The iPad version is priced at $19.99 [Direct Link] while the ‌iPhone‌ version (which includes Apple Watch support) is priced at $9.99. [Direct Link]

A 15-day trial of Things for Mac is available on the Cultured Code website.

Tags: Things, Cultured Code

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Apple TV App Now Available to Download on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5

As expected, the Apple TV app is now available for download on PlayStation 4 and Playstation 5.

Image credit: Sigmund Judge
The ‌Apple TV‌ app lives within the PS5's dedicated media space, and offers users access to the $4.99-per-month ‌Apple TV‌+ subscription service, which offers original TV shows, movies, documentaries, and premium ‌Apple TV‌ Channels.

The TV app also features access to Apple's library of iTunes Store content, as well as content from third-party providers like Showtime and Starz.

The launch of the ‌Apple TV‌ app coincides with Thursday's launch of the PlayStation 5 in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea, with availability extending to more countries on November 19.

PlayStation 4 owners globally can download the ‌Apple TV‌+ app from the PlayStation Network.

Earlier this week, the ‌Apple TV‌ app also came to Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S. The ‌Apple TV‌ app is also available on select Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio TVs, as well as Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices.

Tags: PlayStation, Apple TV Plus

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Here's When You Can Download macOS Big Sur in Time Zones Around the World

Apple's official public release of macOS Big Sur is finally set to drop on Thursday, November 12, just two days after the company released the second release candidate to developers following its "One More Thing" event.


Developers are busy putting the finishing touches on their apps to take advantage of new features in ‌macOS Big Sur‌, support the new Macs with Apple's own M1 chip coming next week, and complement the refreshed macOS design, and many users will be looking to update their Macs as soon as Big Sur is available.

Although Apple has not shared an exact time for the release of ‌macOS Big Sur‌, we can make some educated guesses based on Apple's localized sites for various countries and past releases.

While Apple lists the release date as November 12 in much of the world, localized sites for some countries in the Eastern Hemisphere list the launch date as November 13, as the launch time will come after midnight in those countries.

Notably, Apple lists a release date of November 12 on its Indian site, while its Thai site lists a November 13 release date.

Given that those two countries are 90 minutes apart by time zones, that pins things down relatively closely, suggesting a window between 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time. The most likely release time in that window would be 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, which is a common release time for Apple. A release at that time would correspond to 11:30 p.m. on November 12 in India and 1:00 a.m. on November 13 in Thailand. This same method also accurately pinpointed when iOS 14 was released.

It's worth noting, however, that major macOS releases over the past several years have typically come closer to 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, so it's certainly possible it could be a bit later than our prediction of 10:00 a.m.

There are no guarantees Apple will stick to its usual release timing, but given our best of guess of 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time release, here's a breakdown of what that corresponds to in other time zones in the United States and around the world:

• Honolulu, Hawaii -- 8:00 a.m. HST


• Anchorage, Alaska -- 9:00 a.m. AKST


• Cupertino, California -- 10:00 a.m. PST


• Vancouver, Canada -- 10:00 a.m. PST


• Phoenix, Arizona -- 11:00 a.m. MST


• Denver, Colorado -- 11:00 a.m. MST


• Chicago, Illinois -- 12:00 noon. CST


• New York, New York -- 1:00 p.m. EST


• Toronto, Canada -- 1:00 p.m. EST


• Halifax, Canada -- 2:00 p.m. AST


• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- 3:00 p.m. BRT


• London, United Kingdom -- 6:00 p.m. GMT


• Berlin, Germany -- 7:00 p.m. CET


• Paris, France -- 7:00 p.m. CET


• Cape Town, South Africa -- 8:00 p.m. SAST


• Helsinki, Finland -- 8:00 p.m. EET


• Moscow, Russia -- 9:00 p.m. MSK


• Istanbul, Turkey -- 9:00 p.m. TRT


• Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- 10:00 p.m. GST


• Delhi, India -- 11:30 p.m. IST


• Jakarta, Indonesia -- 1:00 a.m. WIB next day


• Shanghai, China -- 2:00 a.m. CST next day


• Singapore -- 2:00 a.m. SGT next day


• Perth, Australia -- 2:00 a.m. AWST next day


• Hong Kong -- 2:00 a.m. HKT next day


• Seoul, South Korea -- 3:00 a.m. KST next day


• Tokyo, Japan -- 3:00 a.m. JST next day


• Brisbane, Australia - 4:00 a.m. AEST next day


• Adelaide, Australia -- 4:30 a.m. ACDT next day


• Sydney, Australia -- 5:00 a.m. AEDT next day


• Auckland, New Zealand -- 7:00 a.m. NZDT next day

‌macOS Big Sur‌ is compatible with most 2013 and later machines, outlined below:

• 2015 and later MacBook


• 2013 and later MacBook Air


• Late 2013 and later MacBook Pro


• 2014 and later iMac


• 2017 and later iMac Pro


• 2014 and later Mac mini


• 2013 and later Mac Pro

The operating system update does not support the following Macs that were capable of running macOS Catalina:

• 2012 and Early 2013 MacBook Pro


• 2012 ‌MacBook Air‌


• 2012 and 2013 ‌iMac‌


• 2012 ‌Mac mini‌

For all of the details on what's new in ‌macOS Big Sur‌, make sure to check out our roundup which offers a thorough look at the refreshed design, updates to key apps, and other new features.

Related Roundup: macOS Big Sur

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Apple Silicon M1 Chip in MacBook Air Outperforms High-End 16-Inch MacBook Pro

Apple introduced the first MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini with M1 Apple Silicon chips yesterday, and as of today, the first benchmark of the new chip appears to be showing up on the Geekbench site.



The M1 chip, which belongs to a ‌MacBook Air‌ with 8GB RAM, features a single-core score of 1687 and a multi-core score of 7433. According to the benchmark, the M1 has a 3.2GHz base frequency.

When compared to existing devices, the M1 chip in the ‌MacBook Air‌ outperforms all iOS devices. For comparison's sake, the iPhone 12 Pro earned a single-core score of 1584 and a multi-core score of 3898, while the highest ranked iOS device on Geekbench's charts, the A14 iPad Air, earned a single-core score of 1585 and a multi-core score of 4647.



In comparison to Macs, the single-core performance is better than any other available Mac, and the multi-core performance beats out all of the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro models, including the 10th-generation high-end 2.4GHz Intel Core i9 model. That high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro earned a single-core score of 1096 and a multi-core score of 6870.

Though the M1 chip is outperforming the 16-inch MacBook Pro models when it comes to raw CPU benchmarks, the 16-inch MacBook Pro likely offers better performance in other areas such as the GPU as those models have high-power discrete GPUs.

It's worth noting that there are likely to be some performance differences between the MacBook Pro and the ‌MacBook Air‌ even though they're using the same M1 chip because the ‌MacBook Air‌ has a fanless design and the MacBook Pro has an new Apple-designed cooling system. There's also a benchmark for the Mac mini, though, and it has about the same scores.


The ‌Mac mini‌ with M1 chip that was benchmarked earned a single-core score of 1682 and a multi-core score of 7067.

Related Roundups: Mac mini, MacBook Air

Tags: Apple Silicon, M1

Buyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Buy Now), MacBook Air (Buy Now), 13" MacBook Pro (Buy Now)

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Deals: Expercom Introduces First Discounts on M1-Enabled MacBook Pro, Air, and Mac mini

Yesterday Apple announced the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini, all of which are now available to order on Apple.com and at retailers including Amazon and Best Buy. Additionally, Expercom has introduced a slate of the first markdowns on these Mac devices.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Expercom. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

You'll find discounts reaching up to $77 off the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, up to $63 off the new MacBook Air, and up to $46 off the new Mac mini. We've listed all of the base configurations below, but you can also customize each model on Expercom to add more storage, memory, or AppleCare+.

The caveat to Expercom's sale is that you'll see delayed shipping estimates for many of the Macs. As of writing, all of the MacBook Air models won't ship for another 2-3 weeks, although some MacBook Pro models do have shorter estimates, depending on how you configure each device.

13-Inch MacBook Pro

• 256GB - $1,232.65, down from $1,299.00 ($66 off)


• 512GB - $1,422.45, down from $1,499.00 ($77 off)

MacBook Air

• 256GB - $947.96, down from $999.00 ($51 off)


• 512GB - $1,185.71, down from $1,249.00 ($63 off)

Mac mini

• 256GB - $663.27, down from $699.00 ($36 off)


• 512GB - $853.07, down from $899.00 ($46 off)

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

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Apple on Veterans Day: Apple Watch Activity Challenge, Extended Apple Music Trial, and More

Apple today shared a press release highlighting its various Veterans Day initiatives, including a new Activity Challenge on the Apple Watch and an extended four-month Apple Music trial for veterans in the United States.


Today, Apple Watch users in the United States can earn a limited edition Activity award and animated iMessage stickers in honor of Veterans Day. To participate, users must record any workout of 11 minutes or more.

Veterans who sign up for Apple Music for the first time throughout the month of November will receive an extended four-month free trial in the United States. Apple Music typically offers a three-month free trial for new subscribers.

Apple is also highlighting veterans-related content in the App Store, Apple TV app, and Apple Books app, and made a donation to Team Rubicon.

Tag: Activity Challenge

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Federal Judge Tosses Apple's Theft Claims in Ongoing Epic Games Legal Fight

A California federal judge on Tuesday dismissed some of Apple's counterclaims against Epic Games in its ongoing antitrust battle over Apple's App Store fees (via Bloomberg).


Apple and Epic have been in a legal fight since August, when Apple removed Fortnite from the ‌App Store‌ after ‌Epic Games‌ introduced a direct payment option in the app, defying the ‌App Store‌ rules. ‌Epic Games‌ promptly filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of anti-competitive actions.

In September, Apple filed a counter suit to stop the game maker from using its own payment system for Fortnite. Apple also accused Epic of theft and sought extra monetary damages beyond breach of contract.

In October, Epic filed a motion ahead of Tuesday's hearing seeking the dismissal of Apple's counterclaims of intentional interference with prospective economic advantage and conversion, along with its punitive damages bid.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers granted ‌Epic Games‌' motion for judgement, throwing out Apple's two claims for lost ‌App Store‌ fees and other monetary damages.

"This is a high-stakes breach of contract case and an antitrust case and that's all in my view," Gonzalez told Apple's lawyers, according to Bloomberg. "You can't just say it's independently wrongful. You actually have to have facts," the judge said, adding that the rest of the breach-of-contract case moves forward.

Apple told Bloomberg that it disagreed with the judge's decision, adding that it was clear that Epic breached its contract with the company. Epic in October had a preliminary injunction dismissed by the same judge, meaning Fortnite will remain unavailable on the ‌App Store‌ for the duration of the lawsuit, assuming that the app remains in violation of the ‌App Store‌ Review Guidelines. The case continues.

Tags: lawsuit, Epic Games, Epic Games vs. Apple

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Apple Watch Cellular Models Now Available in Belgium, Telenet Exclusive Provider

Apple has begun selling the Apple Watch models with cellular connectivity in Belgium for the first time, reports iCulture.


Only the aluminum and stainless steel versions are available in cellular variants on Apple's regional online store – the titanium model currently remains unavailable.

Belgian provider Telenet will be the first provider to support 4G connectivity on Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE models. Pre-orders for the models from Telenet opened on November 10 and the cellular service launches on November 13. Prices start at 349 euros.

The network operator made the announcement in a press release, which revealed that it will also allow customers to share the same number between their iPhone SIM and the Apple Watch eSIM, under its Telenet One Number package.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE

Tag: Belgium

Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now), Apple Watch SE (Buy Now)

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HomePod Mini Repair Fee is Only $20 Cheaper Than Buying a New One Without AppleCare+

Ahead of the HomePod mini launching next week, Apple has revealed that it will charge a fee of $79 to service the speaker for customers without AppleCare+ coverage. This is only $20 cheaper than buying an entirely new HomePod mini for $99.


By comparison, AppleCare+ for the HomePod mini involves a $15 upfront cost and an additional $15 per-incident fee for up to two incidents of accidental damage protection every 12 months. Ultimately, if you damage your HomePod mini and need it serviced, it will cost you $30 with AppleCare+ or $79 without in the United States.

While many customers may find AppleCare+ unnecessary for the HomePod mini, those with pets or young children may want to consider purchasing coverage.

HomePod mini pre-orders began November 6, and the speaker launches Monday, November 16.

Related Roundup: HomePod mini

Buyer's Guide: HomePod Mini (Buy Now)

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AnandTech Calls Apple's Fastest CPU Core Claim for M1 'Extremely Plausible'

Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, making up the first wave of Macs powered by Apple Silicon, and AnandTech has since published a deep dive into Apple's brand new M1 custom chip at the heart of the new machines.


The article begins by picking through the admittedly scant details that Apple's event offered about the M1 chip's design, yet manages to extrapolate some interesting tidbits regarding the processor's packaging and architecture.

Beginning with the M1's unified memory architecture, AnandTech notes that the packaging style keeps the embedded memory off to the side of the compute die rather on top of it, ensuring the chips can be efficiently cooled, which suggests Apple is using a 128-bit DRAM bus similar to that found in previous A-X chips.

Apple says the M1 features four high-performance "Firestorm" CPU cores and four efficiency "Icestorm" cores. Examining an actual die shot shown in Apple's M1 unveiling, Anandtech explains that the chip appears to have a 12MB cache – up from the 8MB of L2 cache featured in the A14 – which makes sense given that it's now being used by four high-performance cores instead of two.

The article later goes on to compare the M1 performance to existing Intel and AMD processors and takes the A14 as a benchmark guide, while noting that with its additional cache, "we expect the Firestorm cores used in the M1 to be even faster," suggesting "Apple's claim of having the fastest CPU core in the world seems extremely plausible."

Running the A14 through a series of benchmarks against a Rizen 9 5950X and an Intel i7-1185G7, AnandTech calls the results "mind-boggling," noting that "the fact the A14 currently competes with the very best top-performance designs that the x86 vendors have on the market today is just an astonishing feat." Taking into account a graph of single-thread performance gains over the last five years, AnandTech suggests that Intel has increased its chips' performance by about 28%, while Apple has managed closer to 198% in the same period.

Apple's performance trajectory and unquestioned execution over these years is what has made ‌Apple Silicon‌ a reality today. Anybody looking at the absurdness of that graph will realize that there simply was no other choice but for Apple to ditch Intel and x86 in favor of their own in-house microarchitecture – staying par for the course would have meant stagnation and worse consumer products.

The performance analyses conclude by noting Apple's enormous power efficiency advantage, which is why the new M1 chip will be able to offer either vastly increased battery life, and/or vastly increased performance compared to the current Intel MacBook line-up. Apple has said it will take at least two years to transition its entire Mac lineup to ‌Apple Silicon‌. Going on its current performance trajectory, Apple's forthcoming desktop-class chip designs are likely to look "extremely impressive," AnandTech concludes.

The five-page deep dive contains far more details than we've summarized above, and is well worth a read. You can check out the complete article here.

Related Roundups: MacBook Air, iPad mini 5

Tag: Apple Silicon

Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now), iPad Mini (Caution), 13" MacBook Pro (Buy Now)

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