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Apple has many accessibility features on their devices which help people with disabilities navigate their devices easily. A feature that's available on the iPhone is the option to use your voice to unlock your iPhone. You can use your voice to enter the passcode and unlock your device. Here's how to enable it: Open the Settings app Under Settings tap Accessibility Under the label, "Physical and Motor", tap Voice Control Toggle the switch on next to Voice Control To test out this feature try to unlock your iPhone using passcode and while on the passcode screen say "Tap 0" or "Tap 4" which will enter those digits in the passcode. Repeat this process for all digits in your passcode.

Apple is planning to purchase future chips for its products from Arizona starting in 2024, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman claims that Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned how Apple was looking to purchase chips from Arizona to a group of engineers during a meeting in Germany. However, it wasn't mentioned what type of chips Apple will be purchasing from Arizona. We know that TSMC has been developing a manufacturing plant in Arizona since 2020 and is planning to open another plant to manufacture new 3 nanometer chips. As Apple is TSMC's largest customer for chips, both companies will definitely benefit by having a plant close to each other and by Apple not relying as much on Taiwan.

Here are our top stories from this week. You can learn more about each story by clicking the link below. Apple’s AR/VR headset will enter mass production in March 2023 Apple's AR/VR headset is expected to enter mass production in March, according to a new report. The report also claims the new headset will debut at an Apple event in April. Instagram rolls out new app features for users including the ability to schedule posts In a tweet posted by Instagram's Head, Adam Mosseri, he announced new features which include the ability to schedule posts in advance as well as a new updated Instagram website. Colorado drivers with an iPhone can now add their IDs to Apple Wallet Colorado will allow its residents with iPhones to add their state ID to the Wallet app on iPhone. Meta lays off over 11,000 employees Meta as reported by the Wall Street Journal, has layed off over 11,000 of its employees and shrunk the size of many of its teams. Apple announces Emergency SOS via Satellite will launch later this month with new investments Apple announced that its new Emergency SOS via Satellite feature will launch later this month for iPhone 14 users as well as new investments into satellite technology and improvements. That's it for this week's top stories from The Apple Square. You can check out more stories like these on our website and we'll see you next week on The Apple Square Stories.

Facebook's parent company Meta is preparing to layoff thousands of its employees starting this week according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The move will come after massive layoffs at Twitter last week which included the massive headcount reduction of nearly half of their entire workforce. Zuckerberg in Meta's latest earnings call claimed some of their teams will grow meaningfully while other teams will stay flat or shrink. The company has come under a lot of backlash as well as lost a lot of money recently. A lot of this has to do with Zuckerberg's focus on the Metaverse which resulted in the renaming of the company and their new mission of creating the Metaverse. Meta's shares have also fell by 73% this year making them the worst performer in the S&P 500.

Apple has struggled to replace its former Chief Design Officer, Sir Jony Ive, according to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. After leaving Apple, Jony Ive started his own firm called LoveFrom which many designers at Apple have joined who worked under Jony's leadership. The report claims that only a couple of designers remain who worked with Ive on previous projects from Apple and that many have decided to join LoveFrom. Apple's Vice President of Industrial Design, Evans Hankey has also announced plans to leave Apple next year. Hankey has been responsible for Apple's product design after the departure of Jony Ive. The report claims that Apple's operations team had more influence over Apple's design team and forced them into cutting costs rather than product looks and new features. Apple's emphasis on design has mostly started to die after the passing of Steve Jobs. During Jobs time, Apple was more focused on design than ever and Jobs worked closely with Jony Ive to manufacture Apple's most innovative and revolutionary products. Also during Jobs time, Apple's design team had more influence over other teams in the company including operations. Apple is currently searching for a successor to lead Apple's design team. Apple claims that Hankey will remain at the company until a successor has been chosen.

Apple has added LG as a new supplier for iPhone 14 Pro models displays, according to Korean news source, ETNews. The report claims that LG and Samsung which is Apple's current supplier for displays will split the number of displays they supply for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models. The addition of a new supplier will allow Apple to bring in competition between the two manufacturers and reduce costs for displays. There won't be any differences to the iPhone displays from Samsung or LG since Apple monitors the quality of their components to the highest standard manufactured by suppliers.

Meta layed off over 11,000 employees which is 13% of its entire workforce. The news went out this morning to Meta employees and was followed by a message from Mark Zuckerberg about the massive layoffs. Alongside cutting jobs, Meta will also cut discretionary spending as well as extend its hiring freeze to Q1 of 2023. Zuckerberg claimed full responsibility for this and said he made the descion to significantly increase Meta's investments. The increase in investments was caused by the growth in revenue that Meta has generated during the pandemic as users were spending more on e-commerce. However revenue after the pandemic has dipped and become lower for Meta. Employees who have been layed off will receive a severance package of 16 weeks as their base as well as two additional weeks for every year worked at Meta. Meta will also cover healthcare for affected employees and their families for 6 months. The company promises to help their layed off employees find new jobs as well as help employees who are on a visa. Unlike Twitter however, Meta will still allow employees to use their work email addresses for 1 more day. The news of the layoffs from Meta come a week after Twitter layed off nearly half of its entire workforce after Elon Musk's acquisition of the company. But Meta handled the layoffs much better than Twitter did, and Zuckerberg very clearly addressed the issue and why he has to make the descion to reduce headcount. Meta hasn't been doing well recently with its stock being the worst performer in the S&P 500 and it has lost nearly $10 billion on its investments on the Metaverse. The company expects to lose more in 2023. Zuckerberg has hinted that a massive layoff was coming in Meta's latest earnings call where he claimed some teams will shrink in size and Meta will become a slightly smaller organization.

Philips Hue is adding more new lights to its holiday collection this season with its new Festavia string lights, but they aren't cheap. They work perfectly with Apple HomeKit and can be used year round at your house for other purposes like accent lighting. The new Festavia string lights features 250 smart LEDs along a 20m cord. It's compatible with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and more. Philips Hue lights can also be controlled remotely with the Philips Hue app on your phone. The app will allow you to control the brightness, colors, set timers and schedules, and more, just like other Philips Hue products. There's also a new Sparkle and Scatter option which is exclusively available for Festavia lights. Festavia lights will be available to purchase for $159.99 on November 15 on the Philips Hue website. Philips Hue Festavia lights is a great way for people to use smart lights to decorate their homes this holiday season.

Apple announced today that the new Emergency SOS via Satellite features for the iPhone 14 models will launch in November for iPhone users in the US and Canada. Emergency SOS via Satellite will allow iPhone users in an area with no cell service to connect their iPhone to a low orbit satellite and message emergency services via satellite connection. The UI is designed to help users find the nearest low orbit satellite for connection. Alongside that, Apple has also announced a new $450 million investment into improving satellite features with majority of the investments going to Globalstar which is in charge of these satellites. Apple claimed that iPhone users will have access to this feature for free for two years but hasn't given us any prices of what iPhone users will have to pay after the two years is up to keep the service. In addition to contacting emergency services, iPhone users can also send their locations to friends and family on the Find My app. The feature is very useful for iPhone users who like to spend most of their times in areas with no cell service and they can easily contact emergency services by connecting to a nearby satellite.

Another new state has started allowing iPhone users to use digital IDs. Colorado drivers will now have the option to add their state ID to Apple Wallet. The IDs will be accepted at TSA security checkpoints at Denver Airport and many more select airports which approve digital IDs as a form of identification. Colorado residents will however still need to carry around their physicial ID since the state will only approve the digital ID as a secondary ID which will only be accepted at TSA checkpoints. Colorado joins Arizona and Maryland to become the first three states to allow their residents to use digital IDs.

In a tweet posted today by Adam Mosseri, Chief of Instagram, he announced many new features that are coming to the platform very soon including a new redesign of Instagram on the web. The first new feature announced by Mosseri was "Scheduled Posts" which will finally allow Instagram users to schedule their posts 75 days ahead without having to use third party apps. Scheduled Posts will make it easier for creators who like to post at specific times. Another update is to the Instagram website. Mosseri said Instagram realized how often people use the Instagram website for multitasking, and they designed the new website to take advantage of larger screens as much as possible. Mosseri claims these new features will help Instagram provide "as great of an experience as possible".

Apple will open its brand new flagship store, Apple Pacific Center, in Vancouver next week on November 18. The new store will be two floors and will replace Apple's existing Pacific Centre store. People walking passed the new store will be able to see the artwork of Canadian designer, Mo Bofill and Musqueam weaver and artist , Debra Sparrow, displayed covering the glass to celebrate the grand opening of the new store. The store will host many Today at Apple sessions as well as performances by local musicians.