Tim Hardwick
Tim is a Senior Editor at MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2016. Formerly a magazine journalist, his work has appeared in over 30 newsstand print publications and online brands covering a range of topics, from the latest trends in technology to the mysteries of ancient history.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Tim Hardwick's Articles
Trump Administration Appeals Latest Court Order Blocking TikTok Ban
The Department of Justice this week formally appealed a judge's order that blocks restrictions on TikTok by the U.S. government, according to a new court filing, in a continuation of the Trump administration's campaign against the short-form video sharing platform (via CNN).
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols issued an order blocking the Department of Commerce's...
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Apple and Other Browser Makers Ban Kazakhstan HTTPS Certificate Used to Surveil Citizens
Apple has teamed up with Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla to block a web browser root certificate that was being used by the Kazakhstan government to surveil its citizens.
The certificate allowed authorities to monitor people's online activity by intercepting and decrypting HTTPS traffic from residents in Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan.
Local ISPs were required to block foreign...
Apple Stops Offering Standalone Update Packages in macOS Big Sur
Apple appears to have ended its tradition of making standalone updater versions of macOS available to all users, beginning with macOS Big Sur.
Apple offers its macOS updates through the Software Update pane in System Preferences, but it usually also lets users download the same updates as standalone installation packages, made available on Apple's downloads website.
However, as noted by Mr...
TikTok Promotion Offers Users Four Free Months of Apple Music
Apple is offering TikTok users a four-month free trial of Apple Music to newcomers of the streaming service.
As spotted by ApplePost and Apple Terminal, the deal is available to new subscribers through the short-form video sharing app, and offers an additional month on top of Apple's normal three-month free trial for new subscribers.
The promotion runs through January 4, 2021, and the...
Apple Clarifies Power-Saving Modes of AirPods Max When Not in Use
When Apple unveiled AirPods Max last week, it revealed that they don't come with an on/off power button, but instead enter an "ultralow" power mode when inserted into the included Smart Case. That left a lot of questions about what happens to battery life when they're left out of the Smart Case and not being actively used. However, today Apple has provided some somewhat surprising answers to...
How to Set Up and Connect Your New AirPods Max
Apple in December 2020 debuted AirPods Max, a pair of wireless over-ear headphones that share many of the features of AirPods Pro, but in a more premium package.
If you've just received a pair of Apple's new headphones, you'll be raring to use them to listen to music, take phone calls, use Siri, and more. Keep reading to learn how to set up and connect them to your devices.
Update Your...
Facebook Temporarily Disables Some Messenger and Instagram Features in Europe to Comply With EU Data Rules
Some Messenger and Instagram features are temporarily unavailable to users in Europe in order to comply with new rules on data usage currently being rolled out in EU countries.
Affected users are seeing alerts in the Facebook-owned apps that some features aren’t available to "respect new rules for messaging services in Europe."
The alert doesn't specify what the missing features are, but ...
Microsoft Edge Browser Now Available With Native Support for M1 Macs
Microsoft has updated its Edge browser with native support for Apple Silicon, promising optimized performance for Macs with the M1 chip.
The update was announced through the official Edge developers Twitter account, which invited users to download the new version from the Microsoft Edge Canary Channel, a subsection of the Microsoft Edge Insiders website.
You asked, and we delivered! 💪 ...
WhatsApp Testing Voice and Video Call Features for Mac Desktop Client
WhatsApp will soon let Mac users make voice and video calls from the platform's desktop client, according to a new report from forthcoming feature specialist WABetaInfo.
WhatsApp has offered voice and video calling in its mobile app for some time, but the feature doesn't extend to the encrypted messaging platform's web and desktop clients.
However, that looks set to change, based on a beta...
Twitter Kills Quote Tweet Prompt, Returns Retweet Action to Original Behavior
Back in August, Twitter began calling retweets with comments Quote Tweets, and a couple of months later the social media platform changed the way retweets worked so that users were prompted to Quote Tweet a retweet first before deciding to share it.
Users didn't have to type anything in the quote tweet prompt, and could still retweet with no added context. Still, the idea behind the small...
How to Pause and Resume Apple Fitness+ Workouts
Apple Fitness+ combines with Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV to provide the convenience of being able to work out whenever you like and wherever you are.
Another convenient feature is that you can pause a workout on these devices at any time and then resume it just as easily when you're ready to continue. This article describes the pause and resume functions on Apple Watch, iPhone,...
How to Assign Primary Users to Individual HomePods in the Same Household
Apple on Tuesday released an iOS 14.3 update for HomePod and HomePod mini, which Apple's release notes said included "general performance and stability improvements," but it actually failed to mention a new feature that allows the head of a household to assign primary users to different HomePods in the same home.
HomePod can automatically recognize voices to personalize music requests,...
Third-Gen AirPods With AirPods Pro Design to Cost $200 and Launch in First Half of 2021
Apple's third-generation AirPods, which are expected to adopt the AirPods Pro design but lack noise-cancelling and transparency features, will launch in the first half of next year for around $200, claims a new report from TheElec today.
Not for the first time in the rumor sphere, today's report refers to the earbuds as a "Lite" version of the AirPods Pro, but TheElec additionally suggests...
AirPods Max Now Available for Same-Day Pickup at Apple Stores in Some European Countries Including France, Italy, Spain, and UK
One day after their official launch, AirPods Max have now become available in select Apple Stores for same-day pickup in several European countries, including France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
AirPods Max are currently available for pickup in some stores in Space Gray and Silver, but other colors remain largely unavailable with some exceptions. In-store pickup options are...
Apple Boosts iPhone Orders By 30% for First Half of 2021 Following Strong Demand
Apple has reportedly tasked suppliers to produce up to 96 million iPhones for the first half of 2021, a nearly 30% year-on-year increase, following a late surge in demand for the iPhone 12 amid the global health crisis.
The robust orders are said to include the latest iPhone 12 series and the older iPhone 11 and iPhone SE, although industrywide shortages of key components could make the...
How to Reset AirPods Max to Factory Settings
With the first wave of AirPods Max orders now arriving into the hands of customers, as always there are bound to be a few hiccups encountered when trying to connect and use the over-ear headphones with different devices for the first time.
If you're experiencing issues, the first thing you should do before anything else is reset the headphones and see if that resolves the problem. If that...
Signal Private Messenger Rolls Out Encrypted Group Video Calls Feature
Encrypted messaging app Signal is rolling out support for encrypted group video calls with up to five participants in its latest update.
In a blog post announcing the update, Signal developer Randall-Signal explained:
Today, we're launching group calls in Signal with the latest versions of our apps. Group calls are free, private, and end-to-end encrypted — like everything else on Signal.
...
Nikkei: Apple Working on New Apple TV for Release Next Year
Multiple rumors have indicated that Apple is working on a refreshed version of the Apple TV, and a report today by Nikkei Asia Review adds to speculation that Apple will release a new version of its set-top box next year.
Cites sources familiar with Apple's plans, Nikkei's Apple TV mention appears in a broader report about Apple's 2021 production plans.
Apple is also preparing an aggressive ...
What to Do if You're Not Seeing Your Apple Fitness+ 3-Month Free Trial Offer
Before Apple Fitness+ launched on Monday, Apple advertised a promotion that allowed all customers who purchased an Apple Watch Series 6, SE, or Series 3 a free three-month free trial of Fitness+. However, while that free three-month trial is meant to activate automatically and be available when first signing up for Fitness+, many people that should be eligible for the 3-month trial are instead...
Google Services Including Gmail and YouTube Suffer Global Outage [Update: Fixed]
Gmail, YouTube and Google Docs are all experiencing severe outages, with reports of problems accessing the services across much of Europe, the U.S., and India.
Google News, Google Translate, Google Ads, Google Domain, Google Cloud Platform Dashboard, and Google My Business are also down. Other services that use Google to log in are similarly affected.
It's not clear right now what's...
