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Apple Unveils New Health Features Coming to the Apple Watch and AirPods Pro 2

Source: Apple

Source: Apple

Today at their September 2024 event, Apple unveiled a series of major new health features coming to the Apple Watch and AirPods Pro 2. The new features, centered around sleep apnea and hearing loss prevention and assistance, will be released as part of software updates this fall.

Sleep Apnea Detection on the Apple Watch

Later this month, the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will gain the ability to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea in adults who haven’t previously been diagnosed with the disorder. This detection will be based on a new metric called Breathing Disturbances, which will use the watch’s accelerometer to, in Apple’s words, ” detect small movements at the wrist associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns during sleep.” Apple says the data will be analyzed on a monthly basis to detect consistent signs of sleep apnea and send sleep apnea notifications.

In addition to watchOS 11, the Breathing Disturbances metric will be added to the Health app in iOS 18, where you will be able to consult and export the data to share with a healthcare professional.

Source: Apple

Source: Apple

Apple expects to receive marketing authorization for sleep apnea notifications from the FDA and other health authorities soon and plans to make the feature available this month in over 150 regions, including the U.S., the EU, and Japan.

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Apple Announces Release Dates for New iPhones, Apple Watches, AirPods, and OS Updates

Source: Apple

Source: Apple

Apple announced a lot of dates today. Here’s a rundown of all the dates mentioned in the keynote and press releases:

iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max

In Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Türkiye, the UAE, the U.K., the U.S., and 58 other countries:

Pre-Orders: Friday, September 13, 2024
In Stores and Deliveries: September 20, 2024

In Macao, Vietnam, and 19 other countries, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will be available starting September 27, 2024.

Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra

In Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UAE, the U.K., the U.S., and more than 49 other countries and regions:

Pre-Orders: Today
In Stores and Deliveries: September 20, 2024

AirPods 4 and AirPods Max

Pre-Orders: Today
In Stores and Deliveries: September 20, 2024

AirPods Pro 2

AirPods Pro 2 are available online and in stores today.

iOS and iPadOS 18.0

Release Date: Monday, September 16th

watchOS 11

Release Date: Monday, September 16th

macOS 15.0, Sequoia

Release Date: Monday, September 16th

visionOS 2.0:

Release Date: Monday, September 16th

You can follow all of our September 2024 Apple event coverage through our September 2024 Apple event hub or subscribe to the dedicated September 2024 Apple event RSS feed.

Apple’s September 2024 Glowtime Event: Replay Today’s Keynote

If you didn’t follow the livestream of today’s ‘It’s Glowtime’ Apple event, you can replay it on Apple’s Events site or YouTube.

The keynote video can be streamed here and on the Apple TV using the TV app. A high-quality version will also be available through Apple Podcasts as a video and audio podcast. An American Sign Language version of the event keynote is available on the Apple Events page too.

We’ll be adding links to the product videos released by Apple today as they appear on YouTube after the break.

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Dezeen Highlights The Observatory, a New Event Space at Apple Park→

Architecture and design site, Dezeen has an exclusive first look at The Observatory, a new events space built into the side of a hill at Apple Park. The building, which is near the Steve Jobs Theater, will open officially later today, presumably for the iPhone media event.

Apple’s global head of design (real estate and development) John De Maio told Dezeen:

When we built Apple Park, we wanted the entire campus to be seamlessly integrated into the landscape, and this building follows that same approach,

With its stunning views of the campus greenery and the mountains ringing the horizon, The Observatory truly is an extension of Apple Park, showcasing the best of California and the best of the natural environment around us,

The building brings in the natural stone, terrazzo and wood elements that are featured in The Steve Jobs Theater and across Apple Park. It’s a design that complements both the landscape and its neighboring buildings on campus.

The Observatory looks spectacular. Don’t miss the photos shared by Dezeen on its site.

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Memberful: Powerful Developer Tools for Building Memberships [Sponsor]

If you’re a developer building a membership website for a client’s business, you should be using Memberful. It’s the best-in-class membership software used by the biggest creators, publishers, and media companies across the web.

Memberful includes everything you need to get the job done, including:

  • Seamless WordPress integration;
  • Content protection, enabling your clients to offer exclusive blog posts, videos, and downloadable resources;
  • A wide array of customizable membership options, allowing your clients to set up membership tiers, recurring subscriptions, one-time payments, and more;
  • Built-in payment processing via Stripe, so check-out is simple, and your clients get paid on time; and
  • Full customization, so your Memberful implementation matches your client’s branding

We’ve used Memberful at MacStories since 2015 when we launched Club MacStories. Memberful made setting up the Club easy and has allowed it to grow and offer new perks to members as our needs changed and our business grew. What started as a simple newsletter implementation now includes downloadable content, members-only podcasts, and more.

Memberful also scales gracefully from creators who are just starting to those who already have thousands of members. Regardless of the stage of your client’s business, Memberful’s robust API and webhooks make setting up their website a breeze without writing complex custom code. And, with integrations with popular services like MailChimp and Discord, your clients will have even more ways to engage with their audience. Plus, you’ll get comprehensive analytics and can automate email communications, allowing you to easily adjust your marketing strategy as you go and stay in touch with members.

Help your clients monetize their passion by getting started for free with Memberful. It’s the best way for creators, publishers, and media companies to reach their audiences.

Our thanks to Memberful for sponsoring MacStories this week.

The Latest from Magic Rays of Light, Comfort Zone, and MacStories Unwind

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:

Sigmund and Devon highlight the triumphant return of Slow Horses and rate tvOS streaming apps based on how well they take advantage of system features.

Niléane and Chris have upgraded their desk setups, but Matt didn’t get the memo and brought a hard drive or something. Then we see who can bend the rules the most to survive the challenge.

This week, a surprise apology for rain, an update on our annual OS reviews and what we plan to do with our free time once they’re finished, and a TV pick.

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Balatro+ Is Coming to Apple Arcade on September 26th

Balatro+. Source: Apple.

Balatro+. Source: Apple.

Earlier today, Apple announced several new and updated games are coming to Arcade, including one of my favorites of 2024: Balatro. Balatro is a roguelike deck-builder that mixes the familiarity of poker with special joker and other cards for combos that result in an incredibly fun roller coaster ride that’s hard to put down.

The game was originally released earlier this year on consoles and PC, but the potential for a mobile version was immediately obvious. My and many others’ wish for an iOS version of Balatro will come true on September 26th as part of the Apple Arcade service with Balatro+, which will also be available on the iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro.

Other notable Arcade announcements today include NFL Retro Bowl ‘25 and Monster Train+, which are out today along with Puzzle Sculpt, a spatial puzzle game for the Apple Vision Pro. NBA 2K is returning with NBA 2K25 Arcade Edition on October 6th, too.

Of all these games, though, I’m mostly excited about Balatro+. We’ve discussed this on NPC and elsewhere many times, but this is exactly the sort of game that Apple Arcade needs. There’s plenty of room for variety on Apple Arcade, but for a while, it’s felt like the artistic, indie corner of the catalog has been in decline. Balatro+ is just one game, but it’s an important one that many consider a contender for ‘Game of the Year,’ so I’m very happy to see it on Arcade.

Reeder: A New Approach to Following Feeds

15 years into its life, Reeder is one of the most popular and beloved RSS readers available on Apple’s platforms. You can’t have a discussion about the best way to follow RSS feeds without Reeder coming up as a contender – and believe me, we’ve had many such discussions here at MacStories and on the Club MacStories+ Discord. It’s an institution, and one that many people have very strong feelings about.

With a product as successful and engrained as Reeder, it would be easy for the app’s developer Silvio Rizzi to stick to what works and keep it the same without rocking the boat. But to Rizzi’s credit, that’s absolutely not the case with the new version of Reeder, which is available today. Instead, the new Reeder expands the app’s scope far beyond that of a typical RSS reader and fundamentally rethinks the traditional approach to keeping up with feeds. It’s a massive break from the past that will likely prove divisive among Reeder’s longtime user base. At the same time, it has the potential to appeal to a whole new audience of users who’ve never tried RSS readers before.

Reeder Classic (formerly Reeder 5) is here to stay.

Reeder Classic (formerly Reeder 5) is here to stay.

There’s a lot to cover in this update, but first, a word of reassurance for fans of Reeder as we know it: it isn’t going anywhere. The previous version, Reeder 5, has been renamed Reeder Classic and remains available on the App Store. In fact, Rizzi intends to continue developing Reeder Classic in conjunction with the new version. If you want to stick with the Reeder you know and love, you certainly can, and I think offering both versions is the right call given the huge change in direction Rizzi has gone with this update.

The best word to describe the new Reeder is “ambitious.” Its purpose is not just to be your RSS reader, but your inbox for keeping up with feeds of many different kinds from various sources across the Internet – text from websites, sure, but also videos on YouTube, audio from podcasts, posts on social media, and more. It’s a one-stop shop for the feeds you follow online, collecting them together into a single timeline that you can seamlessly browse across all of your devices. As I said, it’s a lofty goal.

It’s also quite different from what previous versions of Reeder were trying to do. In order to take on this new role as an inbox for all of your feeds, Reeder has been rebuilt from the ground up, a characteristic that shows both in its design and functionality. Many new features have been added, but nearly as many have been removed. Whether this update looks like a streamlined evolution or a stripped-down regression depends largely on if you’re interested in this sort of catch-all tool at all, but that’s the risk one takes when reimagining an established product in such a substantial way.

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Apple Music Vibes with Five New Mood Stations

Today, Apple Music introduced five new mood stations:

The music featured by the stations is automatically updated from Apple Music’s catalog of over 100 million tracks and tuned to your listening tastes.

This isn’t the first time Apple has introduced mood stations. You may recall that it released Love and Heartbreak stations on Valentines Day. All seven mood stations are in a new ‘Find Your Mood’ section in Apple Music’s Home tab.

I haven’t spent a lot of time with Apple Music’s new mood stations yet, but as I sampled each, I was met with a familiar song or band, with every track matching the mood I picked. I’ll be digging into each of these station more as I edit my macOS Sequoia review.