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BMW’s new iDrive system still supports CarPlay, but only barely

At CES last week, BMW unveiled a major revamp to its iDrive infotainment system, built on the new “BMW Operating System X.” The revamp brings a new “BMW Panoramic Vision” design with infotainment that stretches around, described as “high tech meets highly intuitive operation.”

The good news is that the new iDrive system still supports Apple CarPlay. The bad news, however, is that BMW has done the bare minimum to integrate CarPlay – and it’s actually a downgrade in some ways.

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Deals: iPad mini 7 returns to all-time low at $100 off, AirPods Pro 2 up to $99 off, Alpine Loops, and more

While we are still tracking a chance to land some wildly low prices on the official Apple Watch braided and silicone Solo Loops, a fresh batch of Apple gear deals are now live to kick the week off. After months waiting for a solid price drop on the new iPad mini 7, today is the day. Just about every configuration, color, and storage capacity is now seeing a straight up $100 price drop with deals kicking off from $399 shipped. Apple’s AirPods 2 are still down at $180 in new condition, but Best Buy certified refurbished units have now dropped to $150 for today only alongside the return of all-time low pricing on the 2024 Alpine Loops for Apple Watch Ultra 2. All of that and more awaits down below. 

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Everything we expect from a lower-priced Apple Vision headset in 2026

It’s always been clear that Vision Pro was simply Apple’s first step into the AR/VR headset world, and that a lower-priced Apple Vision product would follow, but there have so far been mixed reports on when we might expect to see it.

We’ve so far seen reports variously suggesting that the non-Pro Apple Vision headset would launch in 2025, 2026, and 2027 – with the latest of these saying the company is “ramping up” development work …

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9to5Mac Daily: January 13, 2025 – Apple Watch SE rumors, TikTok ban looms

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts appStitcherTuneInGoogle Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is out after company ‘let far too many people down’

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence has been replaced in his role and is leaving the company. Its interim CEO says this is because the company “let far too many people down.”

Customers have been calling for Spence to be sacked ever since the disastrous launch of a new app left many of them struggling with connectivity problems and broken features …

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Turn your iPhone into retro console with physical buttons with this case

For anyone who grew up with a Gameboy Color in hand and a love for Pokémon, the Gamebaby case brings all that nostalgia right to your iPhone. As someone who still gets excited about retro gaming, this new accessory is a game-changer (literally). With physical buttons that snap onto your phone, the Gamebaby transforms your iPhone into a retro Gameboy-like device, perfect for playing classics through the Delta emulator. Let’s dive into how this works and why it’s a must-have for retro gamers.

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Gurman: Vision Pro 2 won’t release in 2025, but lower-cost headset is ‘ramping up’

According to Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, Apple is planning no sort of Vision Pro refresh in 2025. He mentions that it’s possible that Apple could theoretically unveil a headset ahead of a release next year, but all signs are pointing to new Vision Pro hardware launching in 2026 instead.

On the other hand, he reports that Apple’s more “urgent goal” is to create a cheaper headset, and Apple is ‘ramping up’ development for that headset.

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Indie App Spotlight: ‘Univershuffle’ finds you songs using the entire Apple Music catalog

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.


Univershuffle is a new music discovery app that shuffles all of the songs on Apple Music, completely at random – no AI or algorithms involved. It offers the ultimate experience for finding new music, so long as you’re willing to sort through a ton of songs.

The app is available for free in a limited capacity, though you’ll need to link an Apple Music account to listen to songs in their entirety. It launched on the App Store this week.

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Turn your M4 Mac Mini into a Mini Mac Pro [Hands-on]

I’ve been seeing people give their Mac Minis a serious style upgrade by housing them in enclosures that make them look like mini Mac Pros—and I had to try it out for myself. Enter the Zeera MacForge Gen2, a CNC aluminum case that turns your Mac Mini M4 into a desktop workstation that looks like a shrunken version of Apple’s iconic Mac Pro. And let me tell you, I love the look.

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Apple @ Work: It’s time for Apple to make certification exams free

Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

Apple has spent years carving out a space in the enterprise as a great PC alternative. With IT teams increasingly managing more iPhones, iPads, and Macs, Apple’s role as an enterprise endpoint has never been more critical. However, as Apple continues to grow, I question why its certifications for IT professionals aren’t free. If the company wants enterprises to use Apple, why are they charging to become certified in managing them?

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