Apple has started to roll out iOS 14.3 to iPhone owners worldwide. The latest version of the mobile operating system brings a host of new features, including Apple Fitness+ and a new photo format, known as ProRAW, for those with an iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. iOS 14.3 also brings support for the AirPods Max – the first over-ear noise-cancelling headphones designed by Apple, which launched earlier this month.
If you’ve pre-ordered a pair of AirPods Max or fancy slimming the midriff with a subscription to Apple Fitness+, which includes unlimited access to pre-recorded fitness classes in a variety of disciplines to follow along at home, or using equipment in your local gym, you’ll need to update to iOS 14.3 or it won’t work.
To update your iPhone, you’ll need to head to Settings > General > Software Update. Tapping on the latter will trigger your iPhone to start checking for the latest version of iOS. If you’re running the latest version of the operating system, you will be notified. If not, iOS 14.3 will appear with a button to Download and Install.
At 593MB, this is a pretty hefty update, so you’ll want to make sure you have unlimited downloads on your broadband plan before tapping the “Download” button.
If you own an iPhone 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max, there is another exciting reason to ensure you’re running the latest version of iOS 14. This enables the latest Pro handsets to shoot photos in Apple’s newly-designed ProRAW format. This new image format is designed to take advantage of the triple rear camera set-up and LiDAR sensor found on the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max.
Typically, when you take a photo with your smartphone there will be plenty of photo processing automatically applied to a snap. Apple has talked about this process at length, which includes identifying faces in the photo using AI and automatically brightening the features so that people are always recognisable – even if they have their backs turned to the light source, for example.
The alternative is taking a RAW photo, which contains all of the information captured by the lens, but will likely require a fair bit of tinkering to get it just the way you like it.
Apple’s ProRAW aims to offer the best of both worlds, capturing high-quality RAW images with all of the processing that would normally be applied automatically when capturing a photo on iPhone saved as a separate option for photographers to access and edit.
iOS 14.3 also includes support for animated album covers in Apple Music. It’s unclear how Apple is determining which artists are able to use these looping animations for their albums, with only a handful spotted by beta testers of iOS 14.3 so far.
Here is the full list of changes as revealed by Apple in the release notes submitted for iOS 14.3…
Apple Fitness+
- A new fitness experience powered by Apple Watch with studio-style workouts available on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV (Apple Watch Series 3 and later)
- New Fitness app on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV to browse Fitness+ workouts, trainers, and personalised recommendations
- Video workouts added each week in ten popular workout types: High Intensity Interval Training, Indoor Cycling, Yoga, Core, Strength, Dance, Rowing, Treadmill Walking, Treadmill Running, and Mindful Cooldown
- Playlists curated by Fitness+ trainers to complement your workout
- Fitness+ subscription available in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States
AirPods Max
- Support for AirPods Max, new over-ear headphones
- High fidelity audio for rich sound
- Adaptive EQ adapts sound in real time to the personal fit of ear cushions
- Active Noise Cancellation to block out environmental noise
- Transparency mode to hear the environment around you
- Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking for a theatre-like listening experience
Photos
- Apple ProRAW photos can be captured on iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max
- Apple ProRAW photos can be edited in the Photos app
- Option to record video at 25 fps
- Mirror the front-facing camera for still photos on iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X
Privacy
- New privacy information section on App Store pages that includes a developer-reported summary of the app’s privacy practices
TV app
- An all-new Apple TV+ tab makes it easy to discover and watch Apple Original shows and movies
- Enhanced search so you can browse by category such as genre, and see recent searches and suggestions as you type
- Top search results shown with the most relevant matches across movies, TV shows, cast, channels, and sports
App Clips
- Support for launching App Clips by scanning Apple-designed App Clip Codes via Camera or from Control Centre
Health
- Ability to indicate pregnancy, lactation, or contraceptive use in Cycle Tracking in the Health app in order to better manage period and fertile window predictions
Weather
- Air quality data is now available in Weather, Maps, and Siri for locations in China mainland
- Air quality health recommendations are provided in Weather and Siri for the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Mexico at certain air quality levels
- Air quality data in Weather, Maps, and Siri reflects updated national scales for Germany and Mexico
Safari
- Ecosia search engine option in Safari
