Apple

News, tips, software, reviews, and more for Mac OS X, iPhone, iPad

While MacOS automatically manages the cooling fans on your Mac, there are some particular situations where MacOS is not necessarily the most efficient. Advanced users might find it advantageous to manually control the fan speed of your Apple Silicon Mac, particularly on a MacBook Pro (remember, the newest MacBook Air models do not include a ... Read More

If you appreciate new wallpapers, you might be particularly interested in the stylish new default wallpapers for iOS 26 to spruce up your iPhone lock screen and home screen. They’re abstract glassy looking shapes with various soft colors that are kind of modern looking, and they go quite well with the Liquid Glass interface on ... Read More

If you missed the Amazon Prime Day Deal of grabbing some AirPods for just $89, well you’re in luck because that deal is back from Amazon. Additionally, you’ll be able to snag AirPods Pro 2 for $169, $100 off Apple Watch, and $150 off the MacBook Air series too. AirPods 4 – $89 (30% off ... Read More

Apple has issued the third beta versions of iOS 18.6, iPadOS 18.6, and MacOS Sequoia 15.6, to users participating in the beta testing programs of current gen system software. These beta releases are concurrent to iOS 26 beta and MacOS Sequoia 26 beta, and if you’re running one of the 26 betas you will not ... Read More

Many modern Mac users have various apps that utilize menu bar items, whether for reminders, sports scores, a clipboard manager, watching system stats, or anything else. While menu bar items are super useful, a problem that can happen (especially with modern Mac laptops with the annoying Notch design) rather quickly is the menu bar being ... Read More

While Prime Day may have ended, some of the great Apple deals from Amazon continue on, including taking $120 off Apple Watch Series 10, $70 off iPad 11, $120 off iPad Air 13″, and $150 off MacBook Air models. It’s not every day that you get up to 30% discounts on Apple gear, so don’t ... Read More

Some Mac users who are running the latest versions of MacOS Sequoia and/or MacOS Tahoe beta have discovered an annoying issue where wi-fi spontaneously drops and the Macs internet connection is no longer available. The wi-fi dropping problem seems completely random, and there is rarely a cause or specific reason for the wireless internet connection ... Read More

Today is the last day of Amazon Prime Day, which means Amazon Prime members have access to some pretty crazy deals right now on various products, but most notable are some huge discounts on Apple products. If you don’t have a Prime membership, you can sign up for a free trial of Amazon Prime or ... Read More

Some Mac users have reported that the Contacts app is randomly missing all of their contacts, and the entire address book is suddenly blank on their Mac. This is obviously alarming, but the good news is that if this happens to you, it’s usually a pretty simple fix and your contact list and address book ... Read More

Sports fans might appreciate a neat little free Mac app called MenuScores, which places a game of your choice in the menu bar, which you can use to keep track of scores or game start times with a quick glance. It’s that simple, no frills, nothing overengineered or fancy, just sports scores in your Mac ... Read More

Amazon Prime Day is live, offerring some all-time-low prices on Apple products and generally stellar deals. To take full advantage of these offers, you will need to sign up for Amazon Prime if you have not done that already (and eligible students can get discounted Amazon Prime memberships). Let’s check out the great Amazon Prime ... Read More

If you use UTM virtual machines of MacOS on your Mac, let’s say to test out a beta version of system software (like MacOS Tahoe beta), you might be wondering how to copy files from the local host Mac, to the virtualized MacOS installation running in the virtual machine (in this case, with UTM). While ... Read More

The third beta version of iOS 26 beta for iPhone, and ipadOS 26 beta for iPad, has been made available for registered Apple developers. Any user can install the iOS 26 beta now by registering for the developer beta testing program, but generally speaking this is only appropriate for advanced users. iOS 26 brings along ... Read More

The third beta version of MacOS Tahoe 26 is now available for users enrolled in the Apple Developer Beta Testing Program on their Mac or virtual machine. MacOS Tahoe 26 features the all new Liquid Glass interface look, options to customize icon and folder colors in Finder, many improvements and changs to Spotlight, a clipboard ... Read More

Amazon is offering some really great deals on Apple products again, deeply discounting the AirPods and AirPods Pro, and more. Check out the deals if you’re shopping for yourself or anyone else. AirPods 4 – $99 (down from $129) AirPods 4 are available at 22% off Apple’s retail price, coming in at just $99. AirPods ... Read More

More news and rumors, more help and how-tos, more app and accessory reviews, more iPhone and iPad and iPod touch. More of everything you love. iMore.

Time to power down for good.

One of the best mobile DACs I've reviewed, the iFi GO bar Kensei is a masterclass in build quality, and quality features, with audiophile-grade pricing

Have audiophile aspirations and a "beer wallet?" Fiio's KA11 delivers without breaking the bank if you have a solid pair of headphones or IEMs.

A wealth of features, a speedy pan and tilt motor, and smart security features make the Tapo TC73 the best on the market right now.

Aqara gets a lot right with their Smart Video Doorbell G4, including pricing and features. However, if your porch is tight, its aspect ratio may leave you a bit in the blind.

Smart privacy features, Wi-Fi 6, f/2.0 lens, and wallet-friendly pricing make the Aqara Camera E1 tough to beat.

This mobile Bluetooth DAC has it all! Beautiful design, highly functional features, and excellent sound quality make this my top pick right now.

Who says your indoor security camera needs to be all business to be effective? The Aqara Camera Hub G3 is long on features and fun!

This smooth DAC from iFi is a solid performer for those wanting to level up their desktop audio experience.

Paying just $60 for this high-quality DAC means you can spend your money where it counts most, high-quality headphones.

What you get for $100 with the Qudelix-5K is quite impressive, but that's just the beginning. Wait until you crack open the app! It's PEQ heaven.

Combining a great indoor PT camera, Zigbee hub, and a huge list of accessories to connect to makes the Aqara Camera Hub G2H Pro a HomeKit standout!

The former design lead at Apple has teamed up with Sam Altman’s artificial intelligence company.

Nebula's newest projector has already replaced my 4K television — but it comes with a price.

Anker has announced its updated MagGo range for 2024, which includes new power banks, stands, and more.

The Razer Huntsman V3 Pro Tenkeyless is a mechanical keyboard that you can make (almost) entirely your own, even without macOS support for its Synapse customisation app.

With my iPhone 16 Pro arriving on September 20, I'm already planning to buy these accessories for it.

With macOS Sequoia now available, I've bought these three accessories to help me multitask to the next level.

Now that iOS 18 is out, we’ve rounded up the best apps for your iPhone's newest update!

visionOS 2 is the first major software update for Apple Vision Pro, and now it's available for everyone to install after months of beta updates.

The latest software update for Macs is now available. You can install macOS Sequoia (version 15) on your device for some big upgrades.

After months of beta releases, Apple is finally rolling out the watchOS 11 update to all Apple Watch users with the Series 6 or newer.

Apple is officially rolling out iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 to all users, after months of beta releases. But, it launches without any Apple Intelligence features.

iOS 18 will feature a 'Repair Assistant', to help indicate what parts will work with your broken iPhone.

A plastic version of the Apple Watch SE 3 is still in development, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Netflix's app update is ending support for iOS 16, affecting older iPhones that can't run iOS 17 onward.

Apple Intelligence is now only available on iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models, unless you buy a used iPhone 15 Pro.

Geekbench results for iPhone 16 Pro suggest it'll be a powerhouse that could outperform your MacBook.

Your new iPhone won't include Apple Stickers, reports suggest, but you can ask for them if you feel nostalgic.

Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies, Johny Srouji, has confirmed all new iPhone 16 models have 8GB of RAM.

Apple has confirmed third-party app stores will be available on the iPad from tomorrow, September 16.

You can now preorder iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro directly from Apple's site as well as select carriers!

The Apple Store is down in advance of iPhone 16 pre-orders.

Apple has received FDA clearance for its new hearing aids feature for the AirPods Pro 2.

Apple's iPhone 16 features up to 45W wired charging across the board.

With Apple allowing apps updated for iOS 18 to be submitted to the App Store, developers have noticed one less requirement.

AT&T has revealed its iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro deals ahead of next week's launch.

According to leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is waiting until 2025 to release the next generation of Apple Watch Ultra and SE.

Apple has released a new firmware update for AirPods Pro 2, bringing iOS 18 features to the wireless earbuds.

After seeing Apple roll out the AirPods 4 with noise cancellation, I might leave my AirPods Pro 2 behind.

After the iPhone 16 event, Apple quietly revealed that Beats is now making hardshell polycarbonate iPhone 16 cases in a surprising move.

In the iPhone 16 keynote, Apple said the new devices have bigger batteries, but didn't go into the specifics. Now, we can see the battery life stats offer hours of extra battery.

Apple just released the Apple Watch Series 10 and a new option for the Ultra 2, which comes with new bands. But, they'll work with older models.

Apple must pay back 13 billion euros to Ireland following a ruling in its unpaid taxes case.

While the new iPhone 16 models are eSIM only in the US, they still come with a SIM card tray everywhere else, while lacking 5G mmWave support.

After seeing Apple announce the iPhone 16, I think it's time to admit that I'm not a "Pro" user anymore.

If you missed the special event or just want to watch everything again, here's how you can re-watch Apple's "It's Glowtime" event.

Apple just released the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, and more. Here are my early thoughts on Apple's impressive new devices.

Apple has launched its pre-approval process for customers who wish to purchase an iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro.

While the iPhone 16 event was all about new iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods, it also marked the end for all of these Apple products.

Apple, iPhone, iPad, Mac News and Rumors

Today we're tracking a pair of deals, one on the Apple Pencil 2 and one on the 2020 M1 MacBook Air. These sales include the current best price online for the Apple Pencil 2, and an all-time low price on the MacBook Air.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apple Pencil 2
Firstly, Woot has the Apple Pencil 2 for $109.99, down from $129.00. This sale isn't the lowest price we've ever tracked on this accessory, as it's been down to $99.00 in previous sales earlier this year, but it's still a solid second-best deal if you're looking to purchase an Apple Pencil 2 this week.


$19 OFFApple Pencil 2 for $109.99

The Apple Pencil 2 is compatible with the new iPad mini 6, but not the new 10.2-inch iPad. For that tablet, only the original Apple Pencil is supported.

MacBook Air
Amazon today has the 512GB M1 MacBook Air for $1,099.99, down from $1,249.00. This is a match of the all-time low price on this model of the 2020 MacBook Air, and it's available in Space Gray and Silver.



You'll see this sale price reflected on the checkout screen, once an automatic coupon is applied to your order. While the Gold option won't be available until around October 1, you can still purchase a Gold MacBook Air today at this discounted price ahead of the delayed shipping date.

$149 OFFM1 MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,099.99

The 256GB model is on sale as well, available for $849.99, down from $999.00. All three colors are discounted for this model, but none are in stock today. This is still the lowest price we've ever tracked for the 256GB MacBook Air, so if you're willing to wait a few weeks, it's worth locking in this price while it's available.

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundup: Apple Deals
This article, "Deals: Get the Apple Pencil 2 for $109.99 ($19 Off) and 512GB M1 MacBook Air for $1,099.99 ($149 Off)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon today is offering the 512GB M1 MacBook Air for $1,099.99, down from $1,249.00. This is a match of the all-time low price on this model of the 2020 MacBook Air, and it's available in Gold and Silver.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

You'll see this sale price reflected on the checkout screen, once an automatic coupon is applied to your order. Only the Gold color is available to ship today, while the Silver option won't be available until around September 21. You can still purchase a Silver MacBook Air today at this discounted price ahead of the delayed shipping date.

$149 OFFM1 MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,099.99

The 256GB model is on sale as well, available for $849.99, down from $999.00. All three colors are discounted for this model, but none are in stock today. This is still the lowest price we've ever tracked for the 256GB MacBook Air, so if you're willing to wait a few weeks, it's worth locking in this price while it's available.

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundup: Apple Deals
This article, "Deals: Amazon Takes $149 Off 2020 MacBook Air Models, Starting at $849.99 for 256GB" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon today introduced new low prices on the M1 MacBook Air for both 256GB and 512GB storage options. To start, you can get the 256GB model for $849.99, down from an original price of $999.00.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Only Silver and Gold are available at this price on Amazon. This sale marks a new all-time low price for Apple's 2020 M1 MacBook Air, providing the cheapest entry price into the lineup since it debuted last year.

$149 OFFM1 MacBook Air (256GB) for $849.99

Likewise, the 512GB version of the M1 MacBook Air is seeing a notable discount to $1,099.99, down from $1,249.00. This is a record low price for the notebook, and it's available in all colors.

$149 OFFM1 MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,099.99

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundup: Apple Deals
This article, "Deals: Amazon Drops Price of 256GB M1 MacBook Air to New Low of $849.99 ($149 Off)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon this week has the M1 MacBook Pro on sale in both 256GB and 512GB configurations, including a return to record low prices for both models. Prices start at $1,099.99 for the 256GB MacBook Pro, down from $1,299.00. You'll see the discount after an automatic coupon worth $49.01 is applied at the checkout screen on Amazon.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This price is a match of the previous all-time low price on the 256GB M1 MacBook Pro. This model of Apple's notebook line includes the same aluminum body with large Force Touch trackpad as previous generations, speakers at the side of the keyboard, and a 13.3-inch display with slim black bezels. Both colors are on sale and available to ship out today.

$199 OFF256GB M1 MacBook Pro for $1,099.99

Secondly, Amazon has the 512GB MacBook Pro for $1,299.99, down from $1,499.00. This sale price is available in both Silver and Space Gray, and it's sold directly from Amazon.

$199 OFF512GB M1 MacBook Pro for $1,299.99

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundup: Apple DealsRelated Forum: MacBook Pro
This article, "Deals: All-Time Low Prices Return to Apple's M1 MacBook Pro, Starting at $1,099.99 for 256GB" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Best Buy and Amazon are both offering great deals on numerous models of the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air today, including a handful of record low deals on the latest Apple notebooks.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

13-Inch M1 MacBook Air
Starting with the 2020 M1 13-inch MacBook Air, you'll find the 256GB notebook for $899.00 at Amazon and $899.99 at Best Buy, down from $999.00. Amazon stock has dwindled and will "ship soon," but Best Buy has plenty of stock in all three colors.

Additionally, both retailers have the 512GB M1 MacBook Air at $1,099.99, down from $1,249.00. While this is a record low price on the 512GB notebook, the 256GB model's discount is a second-best price.

• M1 MacBook Air, 256GB - $899.99, down from $999.00 at Best Buy / Amazon


• M1 MacBook Air, 512GB - $1,099.99, down from $1,249.00 at Best Buy / Amazon

13-Inch M1 MacBook Pro
For the newest MacBook Pro models, Best Buy and Amazon have lowest ever prices on the new 2020 M1 13-inch MacBook Pro. You can get the 256GB notebook for $1,099.99, down from $1,299.00, in both Silver and Space Gray.

For more storage, the 512GB M1 MacBook Pro is on sale for $1,299.99, down from $1,499.00. This model is also available in both Silver and Space Gray at this price.

• M1 MacBook Pro, 256GB - $1,099.99, down from $1,299.00 at Best Buy / Amazon


• M1 MacBook Pro, 512GB - $1,299.99, down from $1,499.00 at Best Buy / Amazon

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundup: Apple Deals
This article, "Deals: Take Up to $199 Off Apple's M1 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air at Best Buy and Amazon" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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A record low discount has returned to Apple's 512GB M1 Mac mini today on Amazon. You can get this model for $799.00, down from its original price of $899.00.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This sale matches the previous all-time low price on the 512GB M1 Mac mini seen on Amazon, and it's available to ship out today. You'll find a matching sale over at B&H Photo, which offers free expedited shipping for orders placed in the United States.

$100 OFFM1 Mac mini (512GB) for $799.99

At this time, the 256GB M1 Mac mini is not seeing a steep discount at any retailer, with Amazon offering the lowest price at $659.00, down from $699.00. The best price on this model has been $599.00, so we recommend waiting for a better deal.

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, Mac miniBuyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Neutral)Related Forum: Mac mini
This article, "Deals: Get Apple's 512GB M1 Mac Mini for Record Low of $799 on Amazon ($100 Off)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lineup is seeing all-time low discounts across the board today, including the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro, 2020 13-inch MacBook Air, and 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

13-Inch M1 MacBook Air
Starting with the 2020 M1 13-inch MacBook Air, Amazon has the 256GB notebook for $899.00, down from $999.00. This price is available in all three colors of Gold, Silver, and Space Gray, but stock is dwindling on the latter two options.

$100 OFF13-inch MacBook Air (256GB) for $899.00

Additionally, Amazon is also selling the 512GB M1 MacBook Air at $1,099.00, down from $1,249.00. Both of these discounts represent all-time low prices, and they're shipped and sold directly from Amazon.

$150 OFF13-inch MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,099.00

13-Inch M1 MacBook Pro
For the newest MacBook Pro models, Amazon has lowest ever prices on the new 2020 M1 13-inch MacBook Pro. You can get the 256GB notebook for $1,099.99, down from $1,299.00, in both Silver and Space Gray.

$199 OFF13-inch MacBook Pro (256GB) for $1,099.99

For more storage, the 512GB M1 MacBook Pro is on sale for $1,299.99, down from $1,499.00. This model is also available in both Silver and Space Gray at this price.

$199 OFF13-inch MacBook Pro (512GB) for $1,299.99

16-Inch MacBook Pro
Moving to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, we're tracking record low prices on both storage options for this 2019 notebook. You can get the 512GB model for $1,999.99, down from $2,399.00. This sale is available in both Silver and Space Gray color options.

$399 OFF16-inch MacBook Pro (512GB) for $1,999.99

The 1TB 16-inch MacBook Pro is on sale for $2,299.99, down from $2,799.00. Like the other model, this is an all-time low price, but it's only available in Silver. Both notebooks are sold by Amazon and are ready to ship today.

$499 OFF16-inch MacBook Pro (1TB) for $2,299.99

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, MacBook Pro, MacBook AirBuyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Caution), 13" MacBook Air (Neutral)Related Forums: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air
This article, "Deals: Shop Record Low Prices Across Apple's Full MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Lineup (Up to $499 Off)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Today we're tracking a pair of deals on the M1 13-inch MacBook Pro from late 2020, with Amazon matching previous record low prices on both storage options for this model.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Starting with the 256GB 13-inch MacBook Pro, you can get this model for $1,099.99 in Space Gray on Amazon, down from $1,299.00. At the time of writing, the Silver model is out of stock for this sale.

$199 OFFM1 MacBook Pro (256GB) for $1,099.99

You can also get the 512GB 13-inch MacBook Pro on sale today, priced at $1,299.99, down from $1,499.00. Both Silver and Space Gray colors are available for this model, and they're shipped and sold by Amazon.

$199 OFFM1 MacBook Pro (512GB) for $1,299.99

Both of these discounts found today on Amazon match the previous all-time low prices on these M1 MacBook Pro models, making them the best sales online this week. You won't need any coupon code or have to wait for a discount at checkout, as both sales have been directly applied already by Amazon.

You can find the best monthly deals on all new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air notebooks in our "Best Deals" guide. Be sure to visit the guide and bookmark it if you're on the hunt for a new Apple notebook; we'll be updating it weekly as we discover new MacBook offers across the web.Related Roundup: Apple DealsRelated Forum: MacBook Pro
This article, "Deals: Find All-Time Low Prices on M1 MacBook Pro Models in Amazon's Newest Sales ($199 Off)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon, B&H Photo, and Adorama today are discounting the M1 MacBook Air to match previous record low prices for both 256GB and 512GB storage options. To start, you can get the 256GB model for $899.00 today on Adorama, down from an original price of $999.00.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Only Silver and Space Gray are available at this price on Adorama. You can also find this sale on Amazon, with a $50 automatic coupon applied at checkout on the Gold and Silver colors. Gold is available to ship in one to two business days, and Silver will be in stock soon, according to Amazon.

$100 OFFM1 MacBook Air (256GB) for $899.00

Likewise, the 512GB version of the M1 MacBook Air is seeing a notable discount to $1,099.00, down from $1,249.00. This is a record low price for the notebook, and it's available in all colors. For Silver and Space Gray, you'll find an automatic coupon that will be applied to your order at the checkout screen. The same sale can be found at B&H Photo on the Gold model.

$150 OFFM1 MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,099.00

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, MacBook AirBuyer's Guide: 13" MacBook Air (Neutral)Related Forum: MacBook Air
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Amazon today is offering the 512GB M1 MacBook Air for $1,099.00, down from $1,249.00. This is beating the previous sale price by about $50, and represents a new low price for this model of the 2020 MacBook Air.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

You can get the M1 MacBook Air at this price in both Gold and Silver. For the latter color option, you'll see the price reflected at the checkout screen once a $50 coupon is automatically applied.

$150 OFFM1 MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,099.00

The 256GB model is on sale as well, available for $899.00, down from $999.00. This is a sale price that we've been tracking for most of the summer, so it remains a solid deal if you are shopping for the entry level model of the MacBook Air.

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, MacBook AirBuyer's Guide: 13" MacBook Air (Neutral)Related Forum: MacBook Air
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Amazon this week has a sale on Apple's new 24-inch M1 iMac in two configurations. Sales start with the 7-core GPU with 256GB, priced at $1,249.99, down from $1,299.00. This sale is available in Blue and Silver.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This sale is a match of the previous record low price on this version of the M1 iMac. No other retailers are matching the sale as of writing, so you'll only find this deal on Amazon.

$49 OFFM1 iMac (7-Core GPU, 256GB) for $1,249.99

In another new sale, Amazon is also offering $49 off the M1 iMac with the 8-core GPU and 256GB of storage, priced at $1,449.99, down from $1,499.00. These iMacs are sold directly from Amazon and both are available to ship today.

$49 OFFM1 iMac (8-Core GPU, 256GB) for $1,449.99

You can keep track of ongoing sales on Apple's iMac line by visiting our Best iMac Deals guide. There, we keep track of the best iMac offers from Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, and other retailers, so be sure to check back often if you're shopping for an iMac for the first time, or thinking of upgrading.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, iMacBuyer's Guide: iMac (Neutral)Related Forum: iMac
This article, "Deals: Get $49 Off Apple's New M1 iMacs, Starting at $1,249.99 for 7-Core 256GB" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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In the wake of Prime Day, Amazon is still discounting the M1 MacBook Air to record low prices in both 256GB and 512GB storage options. To start, you can get the 256GB model for $899.99 today on Amazon, down from an original price of $999.00.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

As of writing, all colors are in stock and ready to ship from Amazon. The sale has also been applied automatically so you won't need to wait until the checkout screen to see the discount price.

$99 OFFM1 MacBook Air (256GB) for $899.99

Likewise, the 512GB version of the M1 MacBook Air is seeing a notable discount to $1,099.99, down from $1,249.00. This is a record low price for the notebook, and you'll see this price at the checkout screen once a coupon worth $50 is applied.

$149 OFFM1 MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,099.99

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundup: Apple Deals
This article, "Deals: Amazon Continuing to Discount M1 MacBook Air Models to All-Time Low Prices (Save Up to $149)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's 512GB M1 MacBook Air has returned to its all-time low price of $1,149.00, down from $1,249.00. This sale is available on Amazon, and only for the Gold color option. Stock appears to be low, although Amazon sometimes has more in stock than is reflected on the website.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apple updated the MacBook Air in November 2020 with the new Apple M1 chip, which has an 8-core CPU, a 7- or 8-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine for machine learning. These updates brought about improved performance, better battery life, and more. There's also a 256GB model, but we aren't seeing any notable discounts this week.

$100 OFFM1 MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,149.00

You can find the best monthly deals on all new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air notebooks in our new "Best Deals" guide. Be sure to visit the guide and bookmark it if you're on the hunt for a new Apple notebook; we'll be updating it weekly as we discover new MacBook offers across the web.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, MacBook AirBuyer's Guide: 13" MacBook Air (Neutral)Related Forum: MacBook Air
This article, "Deals: Amazon Discounts 512GB M1 MacBook Air to Match Record Low Price of $1,149 ($100 Off)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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At Amazon today you can get Apple's 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro (512GB) for $1,299.99, down from $1,499.00 on Amazon. You'll see this price at the checkout screen after an automatic coupon worth $50 is applied.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This sale is available in both Silver and Space Gray color options, and it's in stock and ready to ship. At a total of $199 off the original price, this is a match of the previous low price on this model of the MacBook Pro.

$199 OFFM1 MacBook Pro (512GB) for $1,299.99

If anyone's on the hunt for the entry level version of the M1 MacBook Pro, Amazon does have the 256GB model at its typical sale price of $1,149.99, down from $1,299.00. There's no checkout coupon for this one, and it's also being discounted in both colors.

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundup: Apple DealsRelated Forum: MacBook Pro
This article, "Deals: Apple's 512GB M1 MacBook Pro Hits $1,299.99 on Amazon ($199 Off, Lowest Price)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon today is taking $49 off Apple's new 24-inch M1 iMac in two configurations. Sales start with the 7-core GPU with 256GB, priced at $1,249.99, down from $1,299.00. This sale is available in Blue and Silver.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Amazon previously was discounting this model down to around $1,258.99, making today's sale a new all-time low on this model of the M1 iMac. No other retailers are matching the sale as of writing, so you'll only find this deal on Amazon.

$49 OFFM1 iMac (7-Core GPU, 256GB) for $1,249.99

In another new sale, Amazon is also offering $49 off the M1 iMac with the 8-core GPU and 256GB of storage, priced at $1,449.99, down from $1,499.00. These iMacs are sold directly from Amazon and both are available to ship today.

$49 OFFM1 iMac (8-Core GPU, 256GB) for $1,449.99

You can keep track of ongoing sales on Apple's iMac line by visiting our Best iMac Deals guide. There, we keep track of the best iMac offers from Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, and other retailers, so be sure to check back often if you're shopping for an iMac for the first time, or thinking of upgrading.Related Roundup: Apple Deals
This article, "Deals: Take $49 Off Apple's M1 iMac With New All-Time Low Prices" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Record low discounts have returned to Apple's 2020 M1 Mac mini on Amazon today, in both 256GB and 512GB storage options. For the 256GB model, you won't see the sale price until you reach the checkout screen and receive an automatic coupon on your order.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Starting with the 256GB M1 Mac mini, you can get this version for $599.99, down from $699.00. This is beating the previous Amazon low price of $639.00, and it's in stock and ready to ship today.

$99 OFFM1 Mac mini (256GB) for $599.99

You can also save $100 on the 512GB M1 Mac mini, available for $799.00, down from $899.00. This is another all-time low price on the M1 Mac mini, beating the previous record low of $829.00 on Amazon and other retailers.

$100 OFFM1 Mac mini (512GB) for $799.99

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, Mac miniBuyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Neutral)Related Forum: Mac mini
This article, "Deals: Save $100 on Apple's 2020 M1 Mac Mini, Starting at $599.99 for 256GB" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon today has introduced another discount on Apple's 512GB 27-inch 5K iMac with 6-core CPU. We've been tracking a discount down to $1,699.99 over the past few weeks, and now you can get this 2020 model for $1,599.99, down from $1,999.00, after an automatic coupon worth $299.01 is applied at checkout.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This is now the best price we've ever tracked for this model of the 27-inch iMac across all retailers. The iMac is ready to ship today with Amazon's typical free shipping for all Prime members.

$399 OFF27-inch iMac (512GB SSD) for $1,599.99

Additionally, the 256GB 27-inch 5K iMac is on sale for $1,499.99, down from $1,699.00. This model hasn't seen a discount in a few weeks, and now Amazon has introduced a sale alongside the 512GB model. You'll see the markdown at checkout after a $199.01 discount is automatically applied.

$299 OFF27-inch iMac (256GB SSD) for $1,499.99

You can keep track of ongoing sales on Apple's iMac line by visiting our Best iMac Deals guide. There, we keep track of the best iMac offers from Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, and other retailers, so be sure to check back often if you're shopping for an iMac for the first time, or thinking of upgrading.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, iMacBuyer's Guide: iMac (Neutral)Related Forum: iMac
This article, "Deals: Amazon Introduces Pair of Record Low Prices on Apple's 27-Inch iMacs (Save Up to $399)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Today we're tracking an ongoing record low price on Apple's 512GB 27-inch 5K iMac with 6-core CPU from 2020. You can get this model for $1,699.99 on Amazon, down from $1,999.00, after an automatic coupon worth $199.01 is applied at checkout.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This sale was introduced last month on Amazon and it remains the best discount we've ever tracked for this model of the 27-inch Intel iMac. Amazon's discount is so steep it's pricing the 512GB model down to the same level as the 256GB 27-inch iMac.

$299 OFF27-inch iMac (512GB SSD) for $1,699.99

The iMac is in stock and sold by Amazon, ready to ship today with Amazon's typical free shipping for all Prime members. You can keep track of ongoing sales on Apple's iMac line by visiting our Best iMac Deals guide.

There, we keep track of the best iMac offers from Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, and other retailers, so be sure to check back often if you're shopping for an iMac for the first time, or thinking of upgrading.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, iMacBuyer's Guide: iMac (Neutral)Related Forum: iMac
This article, "Deals: Amazon Discounts 512GB 27-Inch iMac to Lowest Price of $1,699.99 ($299 Off)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon this week is still hosting a record low deal on Apple's 512GB 27-inch 5K iMac with 6-core CPU. You can get this 2020 model for $1,699.99, down from $1,999.00, after an automatic coupon worth $199.01 is applied at checkout.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This sale is particularly notable because it knocks down the 512GB 27-inch iMac to the same price level as the 256GB model. It's also the best price we've ever tracked across all of the major Apple resellers online. The iMac is ready to ship today with Amazon's typical free shipping for all Prime members.

$299 OFF27-inch iMac (512GB SSD) for $1,699.99

You can keep track of ongoing sales on Apple's iMac line by visiting our Best iMac Deals guide. There, we keep track of the best iMac offers from Amazon, Adorama, B&H Photo, and other retailers, so be sure to check back often if you're shopping for an iMac for the first time, or thinking of upgrading.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, iMacBuyer's Guide: iMac (Neutral)Related Forum: iMac
This article, "Deals: Get Apple's 512GB 27-Inch iMac for Lowest Price of $1,699.99 ($299 Off)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Apple's M1 MacBook Air with a 256GB SSD has returned to its all-time low price of $899.99 today on Amazon, down from an original price of $999.00. This sale will be seen after an automatic coupon worth $50 is applied at checkout.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

As of writing, only the Gold color option is in stock and ready to ship from Amazon. Silver is delayed by over a month, but Space Gray will be "in stock soon" according to Amazon's stock estimation.

$99 OFFM1 MacBook Air (256GB) for $899.99

Likewise, the 512GB version of the M1 MacBook Air is seeing a notable discount to $1,099.99, down from $1,249.00. This is a record low price for the notebook, and it's only available at this price in Gold.

$149 OFFM1 MacBook Air (512GB) for $1,099.99

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.Related Roundups: Apple Deals, MacBook AirBuyer's Guide: 13" MacBook Air (Neutral)Related Forum: MacBook Air
This article, "Deals: Amazon Discounting M1 MacBook Air Models By Up to $149, Starting at $899.99 for 256GB" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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AppleInsider News Feed

Apple won't face a class action lawsuit over iOS 13's alleged cellular data use without user permission soon — but the suit isn't completely done yet.


An iPhone running iOS 13
A federal judge has rejected a proposed class action against Apple. The lawsuit accused Apple of using iPhone users' cellular data without permission.

The lawsuit, filed by Alasdair Turner in 2020, claims iOS 13 allowed Apple to send data over cellular networks even after users had turned off mobile access for specific apps. According to the complaint, this activity was mislabeled in the iPhone's settings as coming from "Uninstalled Apps."


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A questionable rumor claims Apple has developed a special iPhone 17 Pro color that will play on the iOS 26 Liquid Glass user interface elements.


Liquid Glass in iOS 26
One of the most obvious changes to iOS 26 is the use of Liquid Glass. If a leaker is to be believed, the aesthetic concept may go beyond just software elements.

In a Thursday Weibo post, Setsuna Digital says the iPhone 17 Pro "has a special color scheme" that is somehow related to Liquid Glass.


Rumor Score: 🙄 Unlikely


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ESPN is stepping back from Sunday Major League Baseball broadcasts after 35 years, and Apple may be ready to step up.


ESPN is stepping back from Major League Baseball
MLB now finds itself shopping one of its most recognizable media packages Sunday Night Baseball after ESPN opted out of a deal worth $550 million a year. That leaves a prime slot up for grabs, along with rights to the Home Run Derby and the early playoff rounds.

Apple is already in the game with "Friday Night Baseball" on Apple TV+, reportedly paying around $85 million for a smaller slate of regular-season matchups. Now, it could land a much bigger role.


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You'd think this would've existed by now, but...there's a new way to preserve your cash flow, save time, and get a powerful new MacBook every two years.


More and more entrepreneurs, financial advisors, and top professionals are switching to Upgraded. It's a MacBook Upgrade program that lets you spread the cost of a MacBook over 36 months and pay monthly with the option to upgrade every 2 years. Prices start at $33.28 per month for the MacBook Air and $52.17 a month for the MacBook Pro.

Check out the MacBook Upgrade Program

If you qualify for 0% APR, they literally take the cost of a MacBook plus AppleCare and divide it by 36 months. There are no extra costs or hidden fees.


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If Apple ever does bring Face ID to the Mac, newly revealed research shows how the company could also use its LiDAR to recognize a user's hand gestures.


The Saint interrogates a Mac — image credit; Apple
Face ID first came to Apple devices in 2017 with the launch of the iPhone X. It's now on every iPhone, and many iPads, but it has not come to the Mac.

This means that while a newly-revealed Apple patent application about gesture detection promises much for the future, there's an unstated extra element. The technology described would scan users, looking for gestures, and that means a camera sensor on the iMac, the MacBook Pro, or perhaps the MacBook Air.


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Apple's core iPhone 17 is expected to arrive with a new color palette. Here's what the new model should look like, when it launches in September.


iPhone 17 - Image Credit: AppleInsider
While the rumor mill is pretty certain about what the next iPhone models will look like, there's still some debate about the colors Apple will use.

With under two months before the introduction, the rumors and speculation about colors are starting to become more intense.


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Apple continues to work on maximizing the benefits and capabilities of the Apple Watch's Digital Crown, with more research surfacing regarding how the physical rotation could be supplemented or replaced by sensors that detect light or touch.


Future Digital Crowns may feature touch- or light-sensitive sensors
Apple arguably got the Apple Watch design so right that it has not had to fundamentally change it at all since its launch in 2015. That definitely includes the Digital Crown, which is both functional and aesthetically ties the whole device to the the history of watches.

However, Apple has also been continually investigating an alternative option. Future Apple Watches may retain a physical crown but Apple keeps looking at adding a light-sensitive surface on and around it.


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Surfshark's VPN deals this week deliver plans as low as $1.99 per month with bonus months included, matching the best prices we've seen on the popular virtual private network service.


Surfshark VPN plans are up to 87% off this week - Image credit: Surfshark
The latest offer from Surfshark sees the Starter plan drop to as low as $1.99 per month with an extra three months free when you pay upfront via a 2-year plan. Having a VPN service lined up for 27 months for only $53.73 can provide you with peace of mind without the hassle of dealing with monthly billing.




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TSMC is working to build two plants in Arizona faster, a move that could bring more Apple chip production to Arizona quicker — but don't expect the newest chips.


A worker passing a TSMC sign
The TSMC facility in Phoenix, known as Fab 21, is the chip foundry's first factory in Arizona dedicated to chip production. However, while two others are under construction, TSMC plans to have them up and running sooner than first thought.

According to Nikkei, TSMC intends to speed up construction of the two sites considerably. The factories will be accelerated "by several quarters," TSMC claims, with the intention of bringing them online faster.


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To mark World Emoji Day, the consortium that decides on new emojis has unveiled a selection of which ones will be formally announced in September, and then come to devices starting at some point in iOS 26.


Every year, the Unicode Consortium considers proposals for new emoji, and those proposals go through various stages before being ratified in September. This year, the Consortium has once more unveiled some future emoji, but also taken the further step of confirming these will all be included in its next official version of the standard.

It's common for more than a hundred new emoji to be added at the conclusion of each year's deliberations, and it's likely that the same is true for 2025 into 2026. The Unicode Consortium, however, has announced only eight so far:

• Apple Core



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Announced as part of iOS 26, due out in September, "Emoji Game" has instead been launched to mark July 17's World Emoji Day — and for iPhones running iOS 18.


Playing "Emoji Game" (screenshot edited for clarity)
Apple has marked World Emoji Day before, notably in 2017 when it unveiled new emoji — and in 2018, when profile pictures of Apple executives were all changed into Memoji. Now, though, it's gone further with the unexpected early release of a new game.

Emoji Game is part of Apple News+ and is one of that service's many puzzle games for subscribers. Note that as with all Apple News+ puzzles, Emoji Game is not available internationally.


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Apple is preparing to close its Apple Store in Partridge Creek, ahead of the opening of a new store in downtown Detroit.


Apple Partridge Creek - Image Credit: Apple
The closure of an Apple Store in an area is usually a sad affair. But, in the case of two locations in Michigan, one outlet closes in preparation for the opening of another in a more prominent location.

The Apple Store at The Mall at Partridge Creek, Clinton Township, Michigan will soon be closing down, Apple has confirmed. The iPhone maker told The Detroit News that the lease for the location will not be renewed.


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After months of conflicting reports, Apple is once again expected to bring a more scratch-resistant, anti-reflective display to the iPhone 17 lineup — at least partially.


iPhone 17 Pro may get display upgrade Apple reportedly scrapped
In March, we'd heard rumors that the iPhone 17 display would be improved. Specifically, the glass would be more scratch-resistant and less reflective.

Then, in April, an anonymous source alleged that Apple abandoned the plans for that same anti-reflective, scratch-resistant display.


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A MacBook Pro price war is heating up, with today's sale discounting the 14-inch model with an upgrade to 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage by a substantial $250. Plus, save up to $450 on even more configurations.


Grab a MacBook Pro with 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD for $1,749.
Save $250: Pick up Apple's M4 14-inch MacBook Pro with 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD for $1,749 at Amazon and B&H Photo.

Save $250 on Apple's current 14-inch MacBook Pro in Silver with a bump up to 24GB of unified memory and 1TB of storage.


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OpenAI has rolled out a new record mode feature for ChatGPT on macOS, allowing paid users to record and transcribe audio directly in the desktop app.


ChatGPT Record Mode now live on Mac for Plus users
Announced in early June in an update video, ChatGPT's record mode is a new feature designed to transcribe and analyze audio recordings. This can include meetings, brainstorms, and even voice notes.

OpenAI first made the announcement on X, as spotted by 9to5Mac.


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The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max launch is very soon. Here are the colors Apple's 2025 flagship phones are expected to launch with.


iPhone 17 Pro - Image Credit: AppleInsider
In the months leading up to the traditional September introduction of a new iPhone collection, the rumors about the physical aspects solidify. But, speculation about what colors those smartphones will launch with continues to percolate.

The closer to launch, the louder those color claims get. Historically speaking, it's around the two-months mark that they reach their height and are generally accurate.


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The iPhone Fold is expected to be very thin, with a Chinese leaker claiming the flexible smartphone could have a frame that's just 4.8mm thick.


Render of a possible iPhone Fold - Source AppleInsider
The iPhone Fold is an engineering challenge for Apple, but one that it seems to be meeting. One of those challenges is making it thin, without being too thick while folded up, something a leaker believes Apple has solved.

In a Wednesday post to Weibo, serial leaker Instant Digital said that the frame for the folding iPhone is measured at 4.8mm. For comparison, the iPhone 16 is 7.8mm thick, while the M4 iPad Pro is 5.1mm thick.


Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible


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Razer has a new Thunderbolt 5 dock that promises faster speeds and simpler setups with gamer RGB lighting, and it will work with just about any Mac made for the last eight years.


Razer's new Thunderbolt dock
On July 15, the company introduced the Razer Thunderbolt 5 Dock, which delivers up to 120Gbps burst bandwidth (80Gbps sustained bidirectional), supports triple 4K displays at up to 144Hz, and provides up to 140W of charging via USBC.

Both products use Intel's new Thunderbolt 5 standard, which can more than double practical Thunderbolt 4 bandwidth.


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The rumor mill has been churning for a while about a 2025 refresh of the Apple TV 4K. Here's what to expect from the first update for the hardware in three years.


A new Apple TV 4K is coming
As Apple prepares to take the smart home more seriously, Apple TV 4K is central to that plan. It's the best device to watch Apple TV+ in your living room, it acts as a Home Hub for Apple Home, and it's now core to your party with a new karaoke mode.

The last time the Apple TV was updated was in 2022, though the update was relatively minor. Rumors have been swirling for some time about a refreshed model, so let's revisit what we've heard.


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AirPods have become one of Apple's biggest accessory hits, but the company faces the tough challenge of driving repeat sales in a market that's showing signs of fatigue.


AirPods Pro
A Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) report claims about 40% of iPhone owners use Bluetooth earbuds, with roughly 60% of them choosing AirPods. That equates to about 25% of iPhone users overall.

While a quarter of Apple's massive installed base is nothing to dismiss, it's also not the kind of saturation that guarantees easy future growth.


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Apple TV+ hit drama 'Severance' is returning for a third season, but while no date has been announced, it's in development.


Adam Scott in "Severance" — image credit: Apple TV+
The hugely successful "Severance" has just powered Apple to its largest-ever number of Emmy nominations, and Apple TV+ head of programming has been talking about its next season.

Speaking to Variety about whether this next season will take three years like the last one, Apple TV+ head of programming said hopefully not.


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The internet is a necessary tool, but it's a double-edged sword that takes more than it gives and can leave your data exposed to bad actors. Here's how to eliminate threats with data removal.


Incogni can protect you from bad actors. Image source: Incogni
If you've ever created an account online and provided details like your home address, name, phone number, email, or other details, those have probably leaked. Data breaches occur regularly at everything from major corporations to small businesses, so don't expect your data to be safe just because it's held by an established name like Home Depot.

Save 55% with code APPLEINSIDER55


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You need a browser that gets security updates. If you're still using macOS macOS Big Sur, soon your only choices will be Firefox and Microsoft Edge.


Chrome and Safari (left) have abandoned or are abandoning support for macOS Big Sur
Here's how crucial it is to use a browser that still get updates. Apple recently defended making developers use its WebKit browser engine specifically on the grounds that browsers are such a target for security issues.

So for safety and privacy as much as for any new features, all users should always use the latest version of whichever browser they choose. But now Google has announced that the current Chrome version 138 "will be the last release to support macOS 11."


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US regulator ITC is recommending that BOE smartphone displays, such as those in some iPhones, should be banned, following a preliminary ruling in Samsung's case against its rival — but Apple is not expecting to be involved.


BOE makes displays for the iPhone 16e
Back in 2023, both Samsung Display and China's BOE were filing multiple suits against one another, each concerning alleged theft of technologies. As part of this, Samsung Display also filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), and that regulator has now made a preliminary ruling.

According to ET News, the ITC has sided with Samsung over the allegation that BOE has violated trade secrets concerning the manufacture of OLED screens. Specifically, the ruling says that Samsung Display "has proven by a preponderance of evidence" that BOE has been making OLED panels through "misappropriation of trade secrets."


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There is a spectacular tool to customize your desktop on Windows called Wallpaper Engine. It doesn't run on Mac, but there are three excellent alternatives that we've tried and like.


The stock macOS wallpaper menus are pretty good. You can do better.
Mac, like Windows, offers users quite a few options when it comes to wallpapers. Users can select from a plethora of built-in wallpapers to quickly and easily decorate their digital workspace.

The range is quite large from the start, ranging from the dynamic wallpapers that change from sunrise to sunset, to a still from one of the many video screensavers Apple includes.


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Apple is continuing to expand access to its AirPods Pro 2 hearing aid features, with a growing number of countries now cleared to use the tools for hearing support.


The AirPods Pro 2 can be used as hearing aids - Image Credit: Apple
In September 2024, Apple introduced a slate of new, clinical-grade hearing aid and hearing aid features to the AirPods Pro 2. The features included a hearing health test, allowing AirPods Pro 2 to function as hearing aids, which Apple calls "clinical grade" for moderate hearing loss.

Apple has recently expanded the list of countries that can use these features, as discovered by MacRumors.


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"Severance" has secured Apple TV+ a massive number of nominations for the 77th Emmy Awards, with the workplace thriller getting the most for the 2025 awards.


An Apple TV+ teaser image for the second season of "Severance"
Apple TV+ tends to do very well at getting nominations for awards, and for the 77th Emmy Awards, that trend continues. For the 2025 edition of the accolades, a lot of the nominations stem from its biggest hit, "Severance."

"Severance" secured a total of 27 nominations, including nods for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, Adam Scott for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Britt Lower for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.


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Ireland has claimed over $15 billion from an Apple escrow account, finally putting the nails in the coffin of a nearly decade-long tax dispute with the European Union.


Apple is transferring over $15 billion to Ireland
Ireland's Department of Finance confirmed in May 2025 that it will move the entire escrow fund into the state's treasury. Apple originally deposited the money in 2018 after a European Commission ruling, but Ireland couldn't use the funds while appeals continued.

The final balance is slightly below the initial 14.3 billion euro ($15.5 billion). However, investment gains over the past year have offset earlier losses, according to The Irish Times.


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A game developer has accused Apple of undermining the cultural value of games by threatening to pull an app that hasn't seen a single update for seven years from the App Store.


Wheels of Aurelia is facing removal from the App Store
Apple is repeatedly under fire for its App Store policies, but occasionally the complaints against it are questionable. One developer in Italy is declaring that Apple's warning it will delist a game from the App Store is an affront to culture itself.

Santa Ragione, a developer of Horses and Saturnalia, was told that its game Wheels of Aurelia will be removed from the App Store on July 25, 2025. Speaking to Game Developer, the studio took the news extremely poorly.


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To mark the release of new cables and new colors for the Beats Pill speaker, Apple is hosting a three-day event in Los Angeles with music, prize draws, and an exclusive drink.


Beats is throwing a party in LA — foreground image credit: Beats
In the last many months, Beats has launched its Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, as well as new branded cables, and the latest in a long line of different colors for the Beats Pill speaker. Now it's holding an event to promote them all, and it's running 11:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Pacific Time from Friday to Sunday, July 18 to July 20, 2026.

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If Apple research pans out, the display of a future Apple Watch, iPhone, or any other product with a screen, may be able to contain a camera and camera flash which are externally visible only when needed.


Future Apple Watches may contain cameras that are hidden until needed
The sole thing that stops the Apple Watch a wrist-worn video communicator popularized by a great deal of entertainment, is that it lacks a camera. Apple has been working on this, though, and has now been granted a newly revised patent that in part describes embedding a camera and flash within a display.

"Electronic devices with two-stage displays," is concerned with producing a screen that has layers of different display technologies. It's ostensibly for any conceivable device with a screen — and Apple lists the broadest possible range of those — but much of the patent describes the Apple Watch.


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The Games app is a new addition coming to iOS 26 in the fall. Here's what it does, how it works, and who it's for.


The Games app arrives with iOS 26
There are a bunch of new features with iOS 26, but one that had us particularly interested was the new Games app. You'll find it automatically installed after updating to iOS 26, upon its release this fall.

This new dedicated app is a sort of central hub for all your gaming needs. It is an evolved version of Apple's GameCenter, you could say.


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The U.S. government is asking a federal court to enforce an IRS summons to Apple for user data, that will be used in a Swiss tax investigation. The defendant isn't pleased.


An Apple Account contains a lot of personal information
Federal prosecutors want a California judge to reject a petition aiming to block the Internal Revenue Service from demanding Apple turn over account records linked to Cristian Caruso. He holds Swiss and Italian citizenship and is under investigation for possible Swiss tax liabilities.

Caruso filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to stop the summons. The IRS is seeking records from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino. They include subscriber names and addresses, session times, connection records, payment methods, and IP addresses spanning 2016 to 2023.


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Apple will not let go of an idea where a single key on the MacBook Pro keyboard could be taken out, used as a precision mouse, and then popped back in again.


A removable key that doubles as a mouse is not intended to replace the trackpad
"Deployable Key Mouse," is a newly-granted patent, yet Apple must be really serious about this idea because it was previously granted a near-identical patent for an application filed in 2022 — and in 2020.

These granted patents — all with the same title — sound less like Apple's typical futuristic plans, though, and more a throwback to the pre-trackpad days of the 1980s.


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The lowest AirPods price of the year has been extended the week after Prime Day, with Amazon marking the top-selling earbuds down to $89.


Grab AirPods 4 at Prime Day prices - Image credit: Apple
Save up to $40: Apple AirPods are on sale from just $89.99 at Amazon.

It's back — the return of Prime Day pricing on Apple AirPods is in effect this week.


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Creators who need to expand storage on their iPhone have another option in Transcend's ESD420, a pocket-sized SSD with a MagSafe-compatible attachment point.


Transcend SSD
The ESD420 is capable of speeds up to 20Gbps over USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 when used with compatible hardware. It uses SLC cache technology for read and write performance up to 2,000MB/s.

Apple devices don't support USB 3.2 Gen 2.2, so transfers on iPhone or Mac will be limited to 10 gigabits per second max. Transcend says the ESD420 supports 4K ProRes video recording directly from iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max models.


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Apple's latest research shows that using a combination of Apple Watch sensors and all Apple Health data, results in a remarkably accurate pregnancy detector.


Existing Apple Watch health sensors can be combined to predict pregnancy
From its most recent academic paper from its Heart and Movement Study, Apple researchers have been testing how combinations of factors can be used to determine health, and most effectively, pregnancy. "Beyond Sensor Data: Foundation Models of Behavioral Data from Wearables Improve Health Predictions," is broadly about all health sensor data that can be measured through devices such as the Apple Watch, and then combined.

It's a development of the study's previous research into topics ranging from menstrual cycles to hearing loss. But one result from the paper is that combining wearable sensors with physical measurements such as step counts, can make for a pregnancy detector.


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The iPhone 17 is again rumored to ship with an A19 chip as an analyst not known for accuracy catches up with other leakers on the processing and memory rumors.


Render of a possible iPhone 17 design - Image Credit: AppleInsider
Apple currently uses a two-tier approach when it comes to iPhone chips, with the Pro models getting the Pro version of the system-on-chip for that year. However, after claiming Apple will shake things up with its chip strategy for 2025, an analyst has returned to the fold.

In May, GF Securities analyst Jeff Pu recanted an earlier report and went against practically every other leaker on the core iPhone 17. Pu believed that the base model will use the A18 chip, the same one used in the iPhone 16 lineup.


Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely


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On July 17, the futuristic, neon-lit world of Cyberpunk 2077 will finally make its way to the Mac, bringing Apple gamers an exciting but long-overdue experience.


CyberPunk 2077: Ultimate Edition will be playable on the Mac starting July 17.
The Mac release of CyberPunk 2077 comes more than four years after the PC version of the game debuted, back in 2020. Still, the open-world action-adventure role-playing game is on track for its previously announced 2025 launch date, avoiding the delays that have plagued other triple-A titles such as Assassin's Creed: Shadows.

Set in the power-focused megalopolis known as Night City, the game lets players assume the role of a mercenary by the name of V. But wait, there's more! CyberPunk 2077: Ultimate Edition encompasses not only the base game, featuring Keanu Reeves as legendary rockstar Johnny Silverhand, but also the thriller expansion Phantom Liberty, starring Idris Elba as Solomon Reed.


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A project is trying to cut the cost of making machine learning applications for Nvidia hardware, by developing on an Apple Silicon Mac and exporting it to CUDA.


Nvidia's hardware is often used to process machine learning applications
Machine learning is costly to enter, in part due to the expensive hardware it uses to service queries at speed. While Nvidia's chips and components are favored due to their performance, Apple is trying to make it easier for developers to use that hardware.

Work is being carried out on Apple MLX, the company's open-source machine learning framework, to add CUDA backend support, spots Ycombinator. CUDA is Nvidia's software layer for working with its graphics processing units (GPUs) on graphics cards, which is also used to handle processing tasks such as machine learning.


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As part of its already-announced US manufacturing effort, Apple is committing $500 million to a rare earth recycling firm, to develop new materials that it will use in future devices including the iPhone.


Apple's new deal will create US jobs — image credit: MP Materials/Apple
It's already been reported that the iPhone 16 could benefit from redesigned magnets for MagSafe, and also that Apple has looked at using magnets to help cool overheating devices. Now Apple has announced a plan to work with Texas firm MP Materials on a range of projects to increase the firm's use of US-made rare earth magnets.

"American innovation drives everything we do at Apple, and we're proud to deepen our investment in the US economy," Tim Cook said in a statement. "Rare earth materials are essential for making advanced technology, and this partnership will help strengthen the supply of these vital materials here in the United States."


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The European Union has dropped its plan for a tax on Big Tech firms, likely as part of attempting to secure a more favorable trade deal with Trump.


Negotiations are being held in Brussels over EU tax proposals as well as a US deal — image credit: European Union
While Trump has dramatically fallen short of his promised 90 deals in 90 days, he has managed ones with the UK, Vietnam, and also China. Trump's administration is now negotiating with other countries and regions including the European Union, with the his latest moving deadline for deals being August 1, 2025.

Ahead of any EU/US deal, Politico has reported that the European Commission has cancelled a proposed digital tax. This was originally part of the EU's proposed taxes that would bring it income over its next seven-year spending program.


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Despite reportedly developing its own design for an iPhone Fold screen that does not crease, Apple is again said to be using one developed by Samsung Display.


Render of a possible iPhone Fold - Source AppleInsider
In February 2025, it was reported that Apple had significantly improved on previous folding screens and how they normally form a clear crease after continued use. Now analyst Ming-Chi Kuo backs up the claim that Apple has its own design, but says the firm won't be using it.

Specifically, in a note on his blog, Kuo says that Apple is now expected to use Samsung Display's design in order to ensure mass production can begin on schedule to launch the iPhone fold in the second half of 2026.


Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely


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Apple will permanently shutter one of its Australian locations later this year, choosing to instead direct customers to a newly revamped store.


Apple Hornsby | Image Credit: Apple
Apple Hornsby opened in 2011 and now, fourteen years later, will cease operations in October. The closure will coincide with the reopening of Apple Chatswood Chase.

The news, spotted by MacRumors, was shared by EFTM on Monday. When it reopens, Apple says the renovated store will feature support from more than 120 team members, an express pick-up zone, and, of course, free Today at Apple sessions.


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"Resident Evil: Survival Unit" is now available for pre-order on the App Store, months ahead of the game's anticipated late 2025 release date.


Resident Evil: Survival Unit is set to launch on December 31, 2025. Image Credit: residentevil-survivalunit.com
Capcom's iconic horror franchise has received yet another installment, this time a game for iPhone and iPad called Resident Evil: Survival Unit. The game was announced on July 10, and you can already pre-order it on the App Store, provided you're fine with waiting until December 31, 2025.

As spotted by 9to5mac, a YouTube livestream was held the day after, revealing more details about the game. Its story takes place between Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. However, the game presents "a parallel storyline distinct from the original titles," and it looks like the gameplay will be significantly different as well.


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Apple posted a slight gain in global iPhone shipments in Q2, navigating falling demand in China with growth elsewhere.


Apple shipped more iPhone models worldwide in Q2 2025
Preliminary numbers from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker show Apple shipped 46.4 million iPhones worldwide in Q2. That was up 1.5% from 45.7 million units in 2024.

The overall smartphone market grew 1% year over year. In total, the market reached 295.2 million units despite economic pressures and weak consumer demand in China.


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Apple has moved on to the third round for the current-gen developer betas, with new builds of iOS 18.6, iPadOS 18.6, macOS 15.6, watchOS 11.6, tvOS 18.6, and visionOS 2.6 now available for testing.


Examples of Apple Intelligence at work.
This is a second beta-testing track for Apple, running alongside the main milestone update version, putting iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26 through their paces.

• iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 beta 3 is build 22G5073b, replacing 22G5064d



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The simple Settings or Control Panel of the Mac has been lovingly documented in a superbly detailed and visual guide to design — and through it, also the history of Apple itself.


A Mac Portable's Finder, in emulation — image credit: Marcin Wichary, Mihai Parparita
This is what the web is for. As absorbing as reading about, say, the history of the Mac is, a new site uses the web to present an utterly exquisite account of an issue you never knew you would care so much about.

Marcin Wichary, author of "Shift Happens," the equally beautiful book about keyboards, and Infinite Mac's Mihai Parparita, have created "Frame of Preference". Subtitled "A history of Mac settings, 1984-2004." It's a website detailing — really, really detailing — just about every pixel of what was the Mac's Control Panel and is now better known as Settings.


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Amazon's popular Prime Day iPad deal is back, with the 2025 iPad 11-inch discounted by $70. But inventory is limited, so the sale price may not last for long.


Amazon's $279 Prime Day iPad deal has been extended.
Apple's 2025 iPad is equipped with an 11-inch Liquid Retina display and A16 Bionic chip — perfect for students, families, and everyday use. It's now available for $279.00 in blue at Amazon, reflecting a $70 discount off MSRP (and matching last week's popular Prime Day deal).

Buy iPad 11 for $279.99


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Lens protection covers for the iPhone 17 range hint at the array of colors that will arrive at launch, including a surprising orange Pro option.


Camera lens protectors allegedly revealing iPhone 17 colors - Image Credit: Sonny Dickson/X
As the September launch of Apple's new iPhones gets closer, the rumors about Apple's color selection start to intensify. Now, a leaker has offered images of a component that provides precious clues of what to expect from the new colorways.

The image shared by Sonny Dickson via X on Monday includes a selection of camera lens protector. They are covers designed to go around the camera lens on the back of the iPhone.


Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely


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I’m Marco Arment, creator of Overcast, technology podcaster and writer, and coffee enthusiast.

Ten years ago, Apple’s Phil Schiller surprised Apple enthusiasts and developers by walking out on stage at John Gruber’s The Talk Show Live WWDC event and giving an open, human, honest interview to a somewhat jaded community.

I wrote this in response:

Both Apple and Phil Schiller himself took a huge risk in doing this. That they agreed at all is a noteworthy gift to this community of long-time enthusiasts, many of whom have felt under-appreciated as the company has grown.

[…]

Phil’s appearance on the show was warm, genuine, informative, and entertaining.

It was human.

And humanizing the company and its decisions, especially to developers — remember, developer relations is all under Phil — might be worth the PR risk.

This started a ten-year run of interviews by Apple executives on The Talk Show every year at WWDC that proved to be great, surprisingly safe PR for Apple.

No executive ever said something they shouldn’t have (they’re pros), no sensational or negative news stories ever resulted from them, and Apple’s enthusiastic fans and developers felt seen, heard, and appreciated.

*     *     *

For unspecified reasons, Apple has declined to participate this year, ending what had become a beloved tradition in our community — and I can’t help but suspect that it won’t come back. (A lot has changed in the meantime.)

Maybe Apple has good reasons. Maybe not. We’ll see what their WWDC PR strategy looks like in a couple of weeks.

In the absence of any other information, it’s easy to assume that Apple no longer wants its executives to be interviewed in a human, unscripted, unedited context that may contain hard questions, and that Apple no longer feels it necessary to show their appreciation to our community and developers in this way.

I hope that’s either not the case, or it doesn’t stay the case for long.

This will be the first WWDC I’m not attending since 2009 (excluding the remote 2020 one, of course). Given my realizations about my relationship with Apple and how they view developers, I’ve decided that it’s best for me to take a break this year, gain some perspective, and decide what my future relationship should look like.

Maybe Apple’s leaders are doing that, too.

Today, on the tenth anniversary of Overcast 1.0, I’m happy to launch a complete rewrite and redesign of most of the iOS app, built to carry Overcast into the next decade — and hopefully beyond.

Like podcasts better than blog posts? Listen to ATP #596 for more!

What’s new

• Much faster, more responsive, more reliable, and more accessible.
• Modern design, optimized for easily-reached controls on today’s phone sizes.
• Improvements throughout, such as undoing large seeks, new playlist-priority options, easier navigation, and more.

What’s not

• Most features. Overcast is still Overcast!
• The audio engine. It’s the best part of Overcast, and still leads the industry in sound quality, silence skipping, and volume normalization. (More soon!)
• The business. I’m still a one-person operation, with no funding or external ownership, serving only my customers.
• My principles. I always want to make the best podcast app, and I’ll never disrespect your time, attention, or privacy.

What’s gone

Streaming. Most big podcasts now use dynamic ad insertion, which causes bugs and problems for streaming playback.¹ Downloading episodes completely before they begin playback is much more reliable.

Tapping a non-downloaded episode will now open the playback screen, download it, then start playback. It works similarly to the way streaming did before, but playback begins after the download completes, not after a portion of it is buffered.

On today’s fast networks, this usually only takes a few extra seconds.

And in the near future, I’ll be adding smarter options and more control over selective downloading of episodes to further improve the experience for people who don’t automatically download every episode.

What’s next

• The last few missing features from the old app, such as Shortcuts support, storage management, and OPML. These are absent now, but will return soon.
• More options for downloading and deleting episodes.
• Upgrading the Apple Watch app to the new, faster sync engine. (The Watch app is currently unchanged from the previous one.)

And, of course, more features, including some of your most-requested features over the last decade.

Getting this rewrite out the door was a monumental task. Thank you for your patience as I work through this list!

Why?

Most of Overcast’s core code was 10 years old, which made it cumbersome or impossible to easily move with the times, adopt new iOS functionality, or add new features, especially as one person.

That’s why there haven’t been many new features or changes in years.

You saw it, and I saw it. I wasn’t able to serve my customers as well as I wanted.

For Overcast to have a future, it needed a modern foundation for its second decade. I’ve spent the past 18 months rebuilding most of the app with Swift, SwiftUI, Blackbird, and modern Swift concurrency.

Now, development is rapidly accelerating. I’m more responsive, iterating more quickly, and ultimately making the app much better.

Thank you all so much for the first decade of Overcast.

Here’s to the next one.

1. Dynamic ad insertion (DAI) splices ads into each download, and no two downloads are guaranteed to have the same number or duration of ads. So, for example, if the first half of an episode downloads, then the download fails, and it downloads the second half with another request, the combined audio may jump forward or back at the halfway mark, losing or repeating content. ↩︎

Overcast’s latest update (2022.2) brings the largest redesign in its nearly-eight-year history, plus many of the most frequently requested features and lots of under-the-hood improvements. I’m pretty proud of this one.

For this first and largest phase of the redesign, I focused on the home screen, playlist screen, typography, and spacing. (I plan to revamp the now-playing and individual-podcast screens in a later update.)

The home screen is radically different:

Home screen, before (left) and after (right).

• Playlists now have strong visual identities for nicer and easier navigation. Each playlist has a customizable color, and a custom icon can be selected from over 3,000 SF Symbols to match modern iOS design and the other icons within Overcast.

  And playlists can be manually reordered with drag-and-drop.

• Recently played and newly published episodes can now be displayed on the home screen for quick access, much like the widget and CarPlay experience.

• Podcasts can now be pinned to the top of the home-screen list.

  Pinned podcasts can also be manually reordered with drag-and-drop.

I’ve also rethought the old stacked “Podcasts” and “Played Podcasts” sections to better match people’s needs and expectations. Now, the toggle atop the podcast list switches between three modes: podcasts with current episodes, all followed podcasts, and inactive podcasts (those that you don’t follow and therefore won’t get any more episodes from, or haven’t posted a new episode in a long time).

The playlist screen’s structure remains mostly the same, while refining the design for the modern era:

Playlist screen, before (left) and after (right).

Here, it’s more apparent that I’ve replaced the system San Francisco font with an alternate variant, San Francisco Rounded, to increase legibility and better match the personality of the app.

I’ve also added highly demanded features:

• By far, Overcast’s most-requested feature is a Mark as Played feature. That’s now available as a checkmark button on episode rows, as well as a left-side swipe action.
• The second-most-requested feature is a way to view all starred episodes. Special playlists for Starred, Downloaded, and In Progress can now be created.

The light and dark themes now each have a customizable tint color from the modern iOS UI-color palette, including these favorites from beta testers:

And throughout the app, I’ve made tons of tweaks and bug fixes, including:

• Notifications and background downloads are now much more reliable.
• Episode downloads can now be individually deleted or re-downloaded.
• Links can now be opened in Safari. (under Nitpicky Details)
• Performance is now significantly better with very large playlists and collections.
• Fixed bugs with episode-duration detection, CarPlay lists, Mac-app sharing, and much more. So much is better in this update that I can’t even remember it all.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped me beta-test this massive update.

As always, Overcast is free in the App Store. Go get it!

Losing Steve affected me more than it probably should have, given that I never met him or had any correspondence with him.

But losing him was devastating — not just to my world, but the world.

He was a sort of virtual father figure: I was always hoping that maybe Steve would notice something I did.

We all wanted his attention and approval, and that drove us to do better work — even those of us who never worked at Apple.

Nobody replaced him in this role. Nobody can.

But as an outsider who had no personal relationship with him to mourn, it has been most depressing to consider how much of his work the world missed out on.

He wasn’t taken from us after a long, complete life — he was taken in his prime.

He had so much more to offer the world.

After the dust settles from the developer class-action settlement, the South Korean law, the JFTC announcement, and the Apple v. Epic decision, I think the most likely long-term outcome isn’t very different from the status quo — and that’s a good thing.

Allowing external purchases

Here’s what I think we’ll end up with:

• Apple will still require apps to use their IAP system for any qualifying purchases that occur in the apps themselves.
• All app types will be allowed to link out to a browser for other purchase methods.

• Most apps will be required to also offer IAP side-by-side with any external methods.¹

  Only “Reader apps” will be exempt from this requirement.²

• Apple will have many rules regarding the display, descriptions, and behavior of external purchases, many of which will be unpublished and ever-changing. App Review will be extremely harsh, inconsistent, capricious, petty, and punitive with their enforcement.³
• Apple won’t require price-matching between IAP and external purchases.

These few but important corrections reduce Apple’s worst behavior and should relieve most regulatory pressure.

The result won’t look much different than the status quo:

Most big media apps (qualifying as “reader” apps) won’t offer IAP, but will finally be allowed to link to their websites from their apps and offer purchases there.

Many games will offer both IAP and external purchases, with the external choice offering a discount, bonus gems, extra loot boxes, or other manipulative tricks to optimize the profitability of casino games for children (commissions from which have been the largest portion of Apple’s “services revenue” to date).

Most importantly, many products, services, and business models will become possible that previously weren’t, leading to more apps, more competition, and more money going to more places.

External purchase methods will evolve to be almost as convenient as IAP (especially if Apple Pay is permitted in this context), and payment processors will reduce the burden of manual credit-card entry with shared credentials available across multiple apps.

The payment-fraud doomsday scenarios argued by Apple and many fans mostly won’t happen, in part because App Review will prevent most obvious cases, but also because parents don’t typically offer their credit cards to untrustworthy children; and for buyers of all ages, most credit cards themselves provide stronger fraud prevention and easier recourse from unwanted charges than the App Store ever has.

No side-loading

I don’t expect side-loading or alternative app stores to become possible, and I’m relieved, because that is not a future I want for iOS.

When evaluating such ideas, I merely ask myself:

“What would Facebook do?”

Facebook owns four of the top ten apps in the world. If side-loading became possible, Facebook could remove Instagram, WhatsApp, the Facebook app, and Messenger from Apple’s App Store, requiring customers to install these extremely popular apps directly from Facebook via side-loading.

And everyone would.

Most people use a Facebook-owned app not because it’s a good app, but because it’s a means to an important end in their life. Social pressure, family pressure, and network lock-in prevent most users from seeking meaningful alternatives. People would jump through a few hoops if they had to.

Facebook would soon have apps that bypassed App Review installed on the majority of iPhones in the world.

Technical limitations of the OS would prevent the most egregious abuses, but there’s a lot they could still do. We don’t need to do much imagining — they already have attempted multiple hacks, workarounds, privacy invasions, and other unscrupulous and technically invasive behavior with their apps over time to surveil user behavior outside of their app and stay running longer in the background than users intend or expect.

The OS could evolve over time to reduce some of these vulnerabilities, but technical measures alone cannot address all of them.

Without the threat of App Review to keep them in check, Facebook’s apps would become even more monstrous than they already are.

As a user and a fan of iOS, I don’t want any part of that.

No alternative app stores

Alternative app stores would be even worse. Rather than offering individual apps via side-loading, Facebook could offer just one:

The Facebook App Store.

Instagram, WhatsApp, the Facebook app, and Messenger could all be available exclusively there.

The majority of iOS users in the world would soon install it, and Facebook would start using leverage in other areas — apps’ social accounts, stats packages, app-install ads, ad-attribution requirements — to heavily incentivize (and likely strong-arm) a huge number of developers to offer their apps in the Facebook App Store, likely in addition to Apple’s.

Maybe I’d be required to add the Facebook SDK to my app in order to be in their store, which they would then use to surveil my users.

Maybe I’d need to buy app-install ads to show up in search there at all.

Maybe I’d need to pay Facebook to “promote” each app update to reach more than a tiny percentage of my existing customers.

And Facebook wouldn’t even be the only app store likely to become a large player on iOS.

Amazon would almost certainly bring their garbage “Appstore” to iOS, but at least that one probably wouldn’t go anywhere.

Maybe Google would bring the Play Store to iOS and offer a unified SDK to develop a single codebase for iOS and Android, effectively making every app feel like an Android app and further marginalizing native apps when they’re already hurting.

Media conglomerates that own many big-name properties, like Disney, might each have their own app stores for their high-profile apps. Running your own store means you can promote all of your own apps as much as you want. What giant corporation would resist?

Don’t forget games! Epic and Steam would come to iOS with their own game stores. Maybe Microsoft and Nintendo, too.

Maybe you’d need to install seven different app stores on your iPhone just to get the apps and games you already use — and all without App Review to keep them in check.

Most developers would probably need to start submitting our apps to multiple app stores, each with its own rules, metadata, technical requirements, capabilities, approval delays, payment processing, stats, crash reports, ads, promotion methods, and user reviews.

As a user, a multiple-app-store world sounds like an annoying mess; as a developer, it terrifies me.

Apple’s App Store is the devil we know. The most viable alternatives that would crop up would be far worse.

Course correction

The way Apple runs its business isn’t perfect, but it’s also not a democracy.

I loved this part of Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ decision in Apple v. Epic, as quoted by Ben Thompson’s excellent article that you should read:

Apple has not offered any justification for the actions other than to argue entitlement. Where its actions harm competition and result in supracompetitive pricing and profits, Apple is wrong.

I interpret “entitlement” without a negative connotation here — Apple is entitled to run their platform mostly as they wish, with governmental interference only warranted to fix market-scale issues that harm large segments of commerce or society.

As a developer, I’d love to see more changes to Apple’s control over iOS. But it’s hard to make larger changes without potentially harming much of what makes iOS great for both users and developers.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers got it right: we needed a minor course correction to address the most egregiously anticompetitive behavior, but most of the way Apple runs iOS is best left to Apple.

1. If the South Korean law holds, IAP may not be required — but only in South Korea. With this exception, I expect the rest of these rules to be enforced the same way globally. ↩︎

2. Apple defines “reader” apps as “[allowing] a user to access previously purchased content or content subscriptions (specifically: magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video).”

   This includes many apps that Apple’s services compete with, such as Netflix, Spotify, and Kindle, that raise anticompetitive concerns among regulators and legislators when forced to give Apple 30%. ↩︎

3. App Review has higher-level queues for managerial review of controversial rules or edge cases, typically identifiable from the outside by an app stuck with “In Review” status for days or weeks, and often ending in a phone call from “Bill”.

   I’d expect any app offering external purchases to have a very high chance of being escalated to a slower, more pain-in-the-ass review process, possibly causing it not to be worthwhile for most small developers to deal with.

   I have no plans to add external purchases to Overcast for multiple reasons, including this — but mostly because, for my purposes, I’m satisfied with Apple’s IAP system. ↩︎

Apple’s leaders continue to deny developers of two obvious truths:

• That our apps provide substantial value to iOS beyond the purchase commissions collected by Apple.
• That any portion of our customers came to our apps from our own marketing or reputation, rather than the App Store.

For Apple to continue to deny these is dishonest, factually wrong, and extremely insulting — not only to our efforts, but to the intelligence of all Apple developers and customers.

This isn’t about the 30%, or the 15%, or the prohibition of other payment systems, or the rules against telling our customers about our websites, or Apple’s many other restrictions. (Not today, at least.)

It’s about what Apple’s leadership thinks of us and our work.

*     *     *

It isn’t the App Store’s responsibility to the rest of Apple to “pay its way” by leveraging hefty fees on certain types of transactions. Modern society has come to rely so heavily on mobile apps that any phone manufacturer must ensure that such a healthy ecosystem exists as table stakes for anyone to buy their phones.

Without our apps, the iPhone has little value to most of its customers today.

If Apple wishes to continue advancing bizarre corporate-accounting arguments, the massive profits from the hardware business are what therefore truly “pay the way” of the App Store, public APIs, developer tools, and other app-development resources, just as the hardware profits must fund the development of Apple’s own hardware, software, and services that make the iPhone appeal to customers.

The forced App Store commissions, annual developer fees, and App Store Search Ads income are all just gravy. The “way” is already paid by the hardware — but Apple uses their position of power to double-dip.

And that’s just business. Apple’s a lot of things, and “generous” isn’t one.

But to bully and gaslight developers into thinking that we need to be kissing Apple’s feet for permitting us to add billions of dollars of value to their platform is not only greedy, stingy, and morally reprehensible, but deeply insulting.

*     *     *

Apple further extends the value argument, and defends their justification for forced commissions, by claiming responsibility for and ownership of the customer relationship between all iOS users and each app they choose to use.

This argument only makes sense — and even then, only somewhat — when apps are installed by a customer browsing the App Store, finding an app they hadn’t previously heard of, and choosing to install it based on App Store influence alone.

But in the common case — and for most app installations, the much more common case — of searching for a specific app by name or following a link or ad based on its developer’s own marketing or reputation, Apple has served no meaningful role in the customer acquisition and “deserves” nothing more from the transaction than what a CDN and commodity credit-card processor would charge.

The idea that the App Store is responsible for most customers of any reasonably well-known app is a fantasy.

It isn’t the App Store that has enabled all of the commerce on iOS — it’s the entire world of computing and modern society, created by a symbiotic ecosystem in which Apple played one part alongside many others. The world was already moving in this direction, and had Apple not played its part, someone else would’ve. The App Store is merely one platform’s forced distribution gateway, “facilitating” the commerce no more and no less than a web browser, an ISP or cellular carrier, a server-hosting company, or a credit-card processor.

For Apple to continue to claim otherwise is beyond insulting, and borders on delusion.

*     *     *

At WWDC next week, these same people are going to try to tell us a different story.

They’re going to tell us how amazing we are, how important our work is, and how much they value us. And for thousands of Apple employees who’ve made the great products and platforms that we love, including the hundreds of engineers presenting the sessions and working the labs, it’ll be genuine and true.

But the leaders have already shown us who they really are, what they really think of us, and how much they value our work.

Please forgive some sloppiness in my metaphors or phrasing — my writing skills are pretty rusty — and I’ll return the favor to anyone who responds.

A summary of today’s changes to 3.1.3 Other Purchase Methods:

Your app must use Apple’s in-app-purchase (IAP) system for all purchases made in the app.

Unless they’re purchases for goods or services that are consumed outside the app, in which case you are prohibited from using IAP.

Unless those goods or services consumed outside the app are magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, or video, in which case, you are required to use IAP.

But if your app only “reads” previously purchased magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, or video, and doesn’t mention the possibility of purchases anywhere in the app, you don’t need to use IAP.

Unless you offer account creation, in which case, you are required to use IAP.

Unless you only offer free account creation, in which case, you don’t need to use IAP.

But if you offer paid upgrades from free accounts within the app, you are required to use IAP.

Except for accounts that were created outside the app, which can offer paid account upgrades and don’t need to use IAP.

If you’re selling “experiences” between people, you don’t need to use IAP.

Unless those “experiences” include three or more people, or aren’t consumed live, in which case, you are required to use only IAP.

If your purchase is for services, features, or game items, you are required to use only IAP.

Unless you operate on multiple platforms, in which case, you can also offer purchasing outside the app. But you can’t tell anyone about it.

Unless you get their contact info somewhere else, in which case, you can tell them about it, but not in the app.

You are required to use IAP even if you sell your app or service directly to other people.

Unless you only sell it to businesses or groups for their employees or students to use, in which case, you still must use IAP, but you can include your own payment method as well.

Unless those groups are families, or unless those employees or students are somehow “consumers”, in which case, you must only use IAP.

Do I have that right?

*     *     *

How about an alternative that’s clear, fair, reasonable, and consistently enforceable?

Apps may offer other payment mechanisms in their app, as long as terms are clear and customers aren’t misled, and may or may not choose to implement in-app purchase based on its merits.

In one stroke, antitrust and regulatory pressure disappear, developer relations are significantly repaired, and Apple can go back to spending its time, resources, PR, and political capital on making their products better and customers happier.

The latest update to Overcast includes a feature that I’m especially proud of that took over a year to build.

Voice Boost 2 is an all-new audio engine that includes professional-grade, mastering-quality loudness normalization.

When I first introduced Overcast in 2014, Voice Boost was one of its headlining features:

Voice Boost is a combination of dynamic compression and equalization that can make many shows more listenable and normalize volume across all shows. This makes amateur-produced podcasts (including many of my favorites) more listenable in loud environments, like cars, where you’d otherwise need to crank the volume so loudly to hear the quiet parts that you’d blow your ears out when the loudest person spoke.

Voice Boost 2 achieves the same goal as the original Voice Boost, but with dramatically more sophisticated methods, leading to more consistent results and much better sound quality.

Goals

When I wrote the original Voice Boost with only a rudimentary understanding of audio processing, it was a single configuration of Apple’s AudioUnits that applied a fixed set of parameters to all podcasts, regardless of their audio characteristics. It was an effective but blunt tool, relying on aggressive level compression and a strong EQ to make the compression less noticeable.

Since then, I’ve edited over 500 podcasts, learned a lot more about how to master them properly, and developed a much better understanding of audio signal processing.

I set out to develop a better, smarter, and more refined Voice Boost that took advantage of everything I’d learned, with these audio goals:

• The effect should be much more subtle: mostly just consistent volume, plus slightly smoother tone.
• It should analyze the input audio and apply just enough processing to achieve a consistent volume level, modifying already-good audio as little as possible.
• It should sound good, and consistent, regardless of the volume dynamics of its input.
• Quality should be so good that I can even play high-quality music through it¹ and not notice any artifacts.

And these technical goals:

• Like Smart Speed and the original Voice Boost, it had to work as a streaming process, easily toggled on and off at will, without needing to scan the entire file first or look very far ahead.
• The code had to be pure C, with highly optimized and vectorized code, so it wouldn’t be a major power drain on older phones and could potentially run on much lower-power devices as well.
• I had to write every component from scratch, without using AudioUnits, because I wanted to understand and control everything, ensure the highest performance and sound quality, and avoid Apple’s platform-specific API limits.²
• It had to be modular and easily customizable, like a channel strip in an audio editor, so I could adjust the processing during development and testing, offer user customization down the road, and use the same engine to build myself a modular podcast-preproduction tool to save time in my weekly workflow (which I’ve been using for over a year).³

Live LUFS normalization

Since Voice Boost is mostly about high-quality volume analysis and loudness normalization, I went straight to the top, implementing the ITU BS.1770–4 standard that gives us the LUFS measurement seen in high-end audio editors.

Overcast now measures and adjusts podcast levels using this broadcast-standard perceptual loudness algorithm, at full quality, with no preprocessing.

Voice Boost 2 normalizes all podcasts to –14 LUFS — a level I chose because it closely matches the volume of Siri and most iOS turn-by-turn navigation voices, so when you’re listening to a podcast while driving, navigation interruptions are less jarring.

Most professionally produced podcasts are already mastered to similar volume levels, so Voice Boost 2 won’t overcompress them with aggressive processing — it’ll only apply as much correction as necessary to make them all the same volume.

A brief tutorial on clipping and distortion

This is about to get nerdier, but bear with me. (Yes, nerdier than ITU broadcast-loudness standards.)

Given a loudness measurement for the incoming audio, quieter podcasts need to be amplified to reach the target. But perceived loudness isn’t the peak of the incoming audio stream — it’s more of an average. Quiet-sounding audio can still have brief moments of loud peaks.

When increasing the volume of digital audio, the biggest challenge is not “clipping” during the peaks — not having any part of the signal pass above the volume ceiling of 0 dB. (It’s a negative scale. This is also why the LUFS value above, which is closely related to the decibel scale used here, is negative.)

Here’s the highest the signal should go, showing the individual audio samples (green dots) that can be processed by a podcast app before the DAC transforms them into audio (smooth green line):

It’ll sound right as long as the audio doesn’t cross above that top line (0 dB). Increase the volume even slightly too far, and some of the samples just slam into it and stay there, losing the tops of their smooth curves:

And that sounds terrible.

But I can’t just cap all the samples right below the limit and call it a day — that’s called a brickwall limiter — because then the shape of the audio line will actually represent different frequencies, telling the DAC to add noise that wasn’t really there.

Here, the bottom of each image shows the frequency breakdown:

The unclipped signal (left) shows only its original frequency of about 2100 Hz, but a basic brickwall limiter (right) results in the unwanted introduction of a bunch of extra frequencies.

That’s distortion. (If this is interesting to you, learn more about audio sampling theory here.)

Lookahead limiter

Avoiding audible distortion requires a lookahead limiter, which looks… ahead (😎) at the audio coming down the pipeline, and smoothly ramps the volume amplification down as a loud peak is approaching, then back up again afterward, just enough to avoid clipping and audible distortion, but so quickly that you don’t notice.⁴

After Voice Boost 2’s complete 32-bit audio processing pipeline, the last stage is a lookahead limiter, configured such that it can’t clip, no matter what audio comes through.

This gives vast flexibility in volume processing without sacrificing quality.

Voice Boost 2 also incorporates a dynamics compressor, but over time, I’ve kept reducing its strength as I’ve found it less necessary. Proper LUFS processing with a great lookahead limiter provides excellent volume normalization with almost no compression needed afterward.

True-peak detection

There’s one more way to introduce clipping that needs to be guarded against.

Digital audio is represented by samples that represent a point in time (green dots, again) on a sound wave (green line). But the sampled points don’t always land at the exact peaks of those waves:

The most common way to measure the peak of a waveform is to find the greatest absolute sample value. By this method, the top waveform peaks here would measure about –6 dB and –1.5 dB, respectively.

But the actual peak amplitudes of these waves is –1 dB! A simple limiter could still output clipped audio because it’s not seeing the true peaks.

Voice Boost 2’s limiter performs true-peak detection, rather than simply measuring sample peaks, to avoid this type of clipping and further reduce distortion.

Mastering-quality processing for everyone

Voice Boost 2 is a mastering-quality audio-processing pipeline that applies broadcast-standard loudness normalization, light compression and EQ, and a true-peak lookahead limiter to your podcasts, in real time, without sacrificing quality or battery life.

And it runs at less than 1% CPU usage on an iPhone SE.⁵

I intend to expose some of its customizability to customers in future updates, but I wanted to develop and ship the best default settings first to keep the app simple and usable to everyone. Now that it’s available to everyone, I may still subtly tweak the defaults in response to feedback. But as I’ve refined the settings during the beta period to be more universal, less customization has been necessary.⁶

Having achieved its goals of being more consistent and less aggressive, Voice Boost 2 is intentionally transparent. It’s not promoted more in the app or even labeled “Voice Boost 2”. It’s still Voice Boost — just better now.

If I did my job well, you’ll hardly notice it at all. You’ll have no idea that your podcasts are being remastered in your pocket.

But I’ll know. And the handful of you who really care will know. And that’s enough for me.

Voice Boost 2 is in today’s update (2020.1), along with these new features:

• AirPlay 2: Overcast can now play to HomePods and other AirPlay 2 devices much more responsively, with full-blown Smart Speed and Voice Boost, on iOS 13.1 and above.⁷
• Skip intros/outros: There’s a new per-podcast setting to skip a given number of seconds from the start and/or end of its episodes.
• Clip-sharing from private feeds. In retrospect, this restriction was unnecessary, so I lifted it.
• Restored iOS 12 compatibility. Going 13-only so soon was a mistake. Hear why on Under The Radar 181 and 183.

As usual, all of this is free for everyone in Overcast.

1. Those awesome Trey Anastasio acoustic shows are pretty quiet. ↩︎

2. Apple doesn’t make all of their audio APIs available on all platforms: some are Mac-only and never came to iOS, and watchOS has an even smaller subset than iOS. The more I can accomplish in my own code, the less I depend on Apple’s choices for which APIs they make available to developers. ↩︎

3. It’s just a command-line tool for now. You don’t want it. (But if you do… someday, maybe.) ↩︎

4. This all happens in milliseconds. ↩︎

5. At 1X, with Smart Speed enabled.

   Smart Speed was actually entirely rewritten as part of Voice Boost 2, but it’s less interesting. It performs the same job as before, but much more efficiently, and taking advantage of the measured loudness when Voice Boost is also enabled. ↩︎

6. For instance, I also built a de-esser into Voice Boost 2, but it slowly became unnecessary as I improved the other processing, so it’s not currently enabled. ↩︎

7. Smart Speed is a big deal here, I think — I’m not aware of any other podcast apps with silence-skipping over AirPlay 2.

   (Or LUFS normalization, or true-peak lookahead limiters.) ↩︎

In light of today’s rumor that a Pro Mode may be coming that seems to offer benefits in the opposite direction,¹ I wanted to re-make the case for a Low Power Mode on macOS — and explain why now is the time.

Modern hardware constantly pushes thermal and power limits, trying to strike a balance that minimizes noise and heat while maximizing performance and battery life.

Software also plays a role, trying to keep everything background-updated, content-indexed, and photo-analyzed so it’s ready for us when we want it, but not so aggressively that we notice any cost to performance or battery life.

Apple’s customers don’t usually have control over these balances, and they’re usually fixed at design time with little opportunity to adapt to changing circumstances or customer priorities.

The sole exception, Low Power Mode on iOS, seems to be a huge hit: by offering a single toggle that chooses a different balance, people are able to greatly extend their battery life when they know they’ll need it.²

Mac laptops need Low Power Mode, too. I believe so strongly in its potential because I’ve been using it on my laptops (in a way) for years, and it’s fantastic.

I’ve been disabling Intel Turbo Boost on my laptops with Turbo Boost Switcher Pro most of the time since 2015.

In 2018, I first argued for Low Power Mode on macOS with a list of possible tweaks, concluding that disabling Turbo Boost was still the best bang-for-the-buck tweak to improve battery life without a noticeable performance cost in most tasks.³

Recently, as Intel has crammed more cores and higher clocks into smaller form factors and pushed thermal limits to new extremes, the gains have become even more significant. Here’s some thermal testing from my 8-core 16-inch MacBook Pro:

16-inch MacBook Pro (Late 2019, 2.4 GHz 8-core i9)   Power Temp. Geekbench 5 single/multi xcodebuild Normal 82W 90°C 1260/7386 39 sec. No Turbo 31W−62% 65°C 669/5206−46/29% 62 sec.+59%

With Turbo Boost disabled, peak CPU power consumption drops by 62%, with a correspondingly huge reduction in temperature. This has two massive benefits:

• The fans never audibly spin up. When Turbo Boost is enabled, the fans annoyingly spin up every time the system is under a heavy sustained load. Disable it, and it’s almost impossible to get them to be audible.
• It runs significantly cooler. Turbo Boost lets laptops get too hot to comfortably hold in your lap, and so much heat radiates out that it can make hands sweaty. Disable it, and the laptop only gets moderately warm, not hot, and hands stay comfortably dry.

I haven’t done formal battery testing on the 16-inch, since it’s so difficult and time-consuming to do in a controlled way that’s actually useful to people, but anecdotally, I’m seeing similar battery gains by disabling Turbo Boost that I’ve seen with previous laptops: significantly longer battery life that I’d estimate to be between 30–50%.

This comes at a cost to performance, but:

• It’s not noticeable on most workloads.
• Parallel workloads are affected far less than single-threaded tasks, and most modern heavy workloads are parallelized.

• This is an 8-core laptop that’s competitive with my iMac Pro! It’s much faster than most people need (myself included) most of the time, so I can spare some performance to get other benefits.

  A fast laptop isn’t very useful if your hands are too sweaty to type, the battery dies in the middle of a flight, or the loud fans ruin your audio recording.

• When I really want to maximize performance, Turbo Boost Switcher Pro lets me quickly toggle it in the menu bar, so switching between modes is easy.

The vast majority of the time I’m using it, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is a much better laptop with Turbo Boost disabled.

It’s still fast enough to do everything I need (including significant development with Xcode), while remaining silent and cool, with incredible battery life.

But soon, I bet I won’t be able to do this anymore.

Turbo Boost Switcher Pro relies on a kernel extension that’s grandfathered into Apple’s latest security requirements, but it can never be updated — and when macOS Catalina loads it for the first time, it warns that it’ll be “incompatible with a future version of macOS.” I suspect that this is the last year I’ll get to run the latest OS and be able to turn off Turbo Boost at will, making all of my future laptop usage significantly worse.

Please, Apple, make this feature official: give us a Low Power Mode for macOS that disables Turbo Boost to keep our laptops cool, quiet, and long-lasting at times when those are more important to us than speed.

1. My guess is that “Pro Mode” doesn’t raise the peak performance, but instead raises the fan speeds to allow longer sustained operation at high Turbo Boost speeds. ↩︎

2. Low Power Mode has been so successful on iOS that Apple also thought it worthwhile to add a Low Data Mode to iOS 13, offering similar control over data usage. (Mac owners can get similar functionality with the excellent TripMode.) ↩︎

3. As I wrote back then, disabling discrete GPUs and Photos analysis are other obvious contributors to a good Mac Low Power Mode. ↩︎

After my first day with the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, I’m very optimistic about it.

🎧  Hear more on today’s Accidental Tech Podcast!

Two years ago, I wrote a wishlist to fix the MacBook Pro, and the 16-inch doesn’t actually deliver most of it. But time and technological progress are slowly getting Apple off the hook:

• The ports are unchanged. We’ll still need dongles. But USB-C is gradually becoming more common, and dongles are slowly — very slowly — getting less shitty.
• The Touch Bar isn’t optional. But a new hardware Esc key removes one of its biggest drawbacks, and accidental input should be reduced by the increased spacing between the Touch Bar and the top row of keys.
• The power brick still lacks its previous conveniences. There’s still no cable management, safety breakaway, or charging LED. But third parties are slowly filling some of these gaps.
• The headphone jack is still on the right (wrong) side, despite most single-sided headphone cables entering the left earcup. But the need for wired headphones is decreasing over time.

Addressing those would be nice, but as I wrote then, they paled in comparison to one huge issue: the butterfly keyboard.

The MacBook Pro must return to scissor keyswitches. If Apple only changes one thing about the next MacBook Pro, it should be this. It’s far more important than anything else on this list. […]

The Magic Keyboard’s scissor switches feel similar, but with a bit more travel, and all of the reliability and resilience of previous keyboard generations. […]

The Magic Keyboard only needs one change to be perfect for the MacBook Pro: returning to the “inverted-T” arrow-key arrangement by making the left- and right-arrow keys half-height again. This arrangement is much more natural and less error-prone because we can align our fingers by feeling the “T” shape, a crucial affordance for such frequently used keys that are so far from the home row.

That’s exactly what they’ve done, and I couldn’t be happier.

The new 16-inch MacBook Pro is a great computer in most other ways, but so were the MacBook Pros from the last few years. They were fast, powerful, capable workstations… but the butterfly keyboard took away from it all.

Not anymore.

I’m on cloud nine. Look at this glorious keyboard! An Esc key! Inverted-T arrow keys! A millimeter of key travel! Enough spacing between the keys for our fingers to accurately orient themselves! And keystrokes will probably work, 100% of the time, for years!

Five years ago, nobody would’ve considered any of these noteworthy, and readers would’ve suspected you weren’t of sound mind if you included them in a review.

Five years ago, laptop keyboards were fine. Everyone was pretty much satisfied with the ones they had, they worked, and we never had to talk or think about them.

Today, finally, we begin heading back to that world.

The butterfly keyboard was an anomaly — it was a huge departure from everything else we’d ever used, mostly not in good ways.

The new keyboard is very similar to the recent desktop Magic Keyboard, and I expect it to have a wide appeal, just as the Magic Keyboard does. It has slightly less travel and spacing, but the overall feeling is very similar — and it’s nothing at all like the butterfly keyboard.

I absolutely love it — not because it’s the most amazing keyboard in the world, but because it’s completely forgettable in the best possible way. It just feels normal again.

There’s a lot more to love about the 16-inch MacBook Pro. The screen and battery are bigger, but the size and weight barely increased. It’s almost as fast as my iMac Pro, and the new thermals can sustain higher performance. The speakers and microphone got huge, unexpected improvements.

And I didn’t get everything I wanted. But many of my wishlist items fall outside of what Apple is likely to ever do, and all of them are much less important than making the computer’s primary input device functional, acceptable, and reliable. Now we have the luxury of being able to complain about less-urgent wishes.

The biggest change is that I finally don’t feel like it’s constantly fighting me. Its design doesn’t feel spiteful. It’s a computer that doesn’t seem to hate being a computer. I’m not afraid to use it in the world, and I’m not avoiding using it because it’s unpleasant. The butterfly keyboard was the opposite, it never got better, I never got used to it, and good riddance to it.

Following in the footsteps of the fantastic iMac Pro, updated Mac Mini, and upcoming Mac Pro, the release of the 16-inch MacBook Pro ends a painful chapter of neglect and hubristic design of the Mac. Apple has finally turned the ship around.

We haven’t had long enough to fully test it yet. There may be flaws or shortcomings discovered over time — there usually are (and always have been). But frankly, it could catch fire twice a week and it would still be my favorite laptop Apple has made since 2015. Fortunately, upon initial usage, nothing bad really jumps out.

The new MacBook Pro has no massive asterisks or qualifications. It’s a great computer, period, and it feels so good to be able to say that again.

For the first time in years, without any major exceptions, we can see that Apple loves computers as much as we do.

🎧  Much more detail and discussion in the podcast!

Today’s Overcast update (2019.6) brings some great new features.

But first, I need to set low expectations for iOS 13, watchOS 6, and macOS Catalina updates this fall. Halfway through the summer, I’ve made much less progress than expected, having been overwhelmed by the required OS changes, my own technical and design debts, and unusually rough betas.

Rather than shipping a big iOS update, a standalone Watch app, and a Mac app on day one, these will probably come incrementally over the next year.

Fortunately, I haven’t stopped improving the app in the meantime.

Per-podcast customization, longer clips

You can now set download-vs.-stream and auto-delete behavior per podcast, one of the most frequently requested features over the last few years. (Sorry it took so long — it required a lot of server-side work for uninteresting reasons.)

I’ve also raised the clip-sharing length limit to 90 seconds. When I debuted this feature, I had to guess how it would be used and received, and 60 seconds seemed like a good limit. In practice, that’s sometimes a bit too short to capture a complete thought. 90 seconds should be better — most clips won’t need to be that long, but it’ll be nice to have the headroom when you need it.

“Suggestions for You” replacing Twitter

Overcast has had a Twitter-powered social-recommendations feature since version 1.0 in 2014, which made sense at the time: I didn’t have any popularity data to generate recommendations from, and social networks were nicer places to be than they are today.

But after five years, only 10% of active users have connected a Twitter account in Overcast, and only 0.2% of new podcast subscriptions have actually been added via Twitter recommendations.

Not only was the feature not providing much value to the 10% of people who enabled it, but the other 90% of Overcast’s customers haven’t been getting personalized recommendations at all.

In the meantime, I’ve accumulated five years of popularity data, so I tried writing my own recommendation engine. It worked — and it’s better.

Overcast now offers its own data-driven recommendation engine, and I’ve removed Twitter integration entirely.

Podcasts in the new “Suggestions for You” section of the Add Podcast screen are based on the shows you subscribe to, and what else their subscribers subscribe to, which gives much better recommendations without involving any social networks.

Most importantly, it works for all of Overcast’s customers.

*     *     *

As always, Overcast is free in the App Store. Give it a try.

Something big changed at Apple around the beginning of 2017.

They had encountered significant turbulence in the product line over the preceding years, especially Macs. It was a rough time to be a pro Mac user.

The “trash can” 2013 Mac Pro addressed only a fraction of the needs solved by the previous “cheese grater” towers, aged quickly without critical upgrade paths, and suffered from high GPU-failure rates from its cooling solution — all because its design prioritized size and appearance over performance and versatility in the one Mac model that should never make that tradeoff.

Over the next few years, it became clear that the Mac Pro was an embarrassing, outdated flop that Apple seemed to have little intention of ever updating, leaving its customers feeling unheard and abandoned. I think Apple learned a small lesson from it, but they learned a much bigger one a few years later.

The current MacBook Pro generation launched in late 2016, and I think Apple was truly caught completely by surprise when the new Touch Bar, sparse USB-C-only port offerings, high prices, and highly polarizing butterfly keyboard were met with harsh criticism, mixed reviews, and high failure rates. This one really hurt: while the Mac Pro is a niche machine for the highest-end and most-specialized needs, the popular MacBook Pro is the lifeblood of the Mac.

By the end of 2016, in addition to the generally buggy, neglected state macOS seemed to be perpetually stuck in, Apple had replaced its entire “pro” Mac lineup with controversial, limiting products that seemed optimized to flex Apple’s industrial-design muscles rather than actually addressing their customers’ needs.

The only company that can make computers for our OS seemed incapable of making good computers anymore. Each update threatened to remove or break things we needed or loved. Their newest designs felt punitive, rather than feeling like a celebration of computing.

Then, in April 2017, out of nowhere, Apple held a Mac Pro roundtable discussion with the press to announce that they were in the early stages of completely redesigning the Mac Pro.¹

The follow-up briefing a year later promised that the new Mac Pro would be released in 2019, and publicized the existence of a “Pro Workflow Team” of real pro users working inside Apple to inform the direction of their pro hardware and software.

It sounded like they’d gone from not listening to their customers at all to an institutionalized process of listening. And the newly designed Macs released since then have been great.²

The late-2017 iMac Pro, which I’m using to write this, is the best Mac I’ve ever owned by far. It’s versatile, incredibly powerful, beautiful, and silent. It’s so good that I’ll probably never really need a Mac Pro again,³ and if this was the only new “Mac Pro”, I’d be mostly fine with that.

The late-2018 Mac Mini replaced a pitiful, punitive, neglected relic with a practical, powerful mini-Mac-Pro. Apple could’ve let it die, or replaced it with a tiny, no-port marvel of uselessness, but instead, they made a computer so good that I started and ended a YouTube mini-career just to review it.

And the 2019 Mac Pro, finally unveiled last week, looks to be absolutely killer — it’s the first true successor to the tower Mac Pro, which saw its last real update almost a decade ago in 2010.⁴ It’s big, bulky, ludicrously fast, and almost obscenely upgradeable — exactly what a Mac Pro needs to be, and far better than any of us expected.

The new Mac Pro is, truly, a celebration of computing.

Even more importantly than any hardware releases, macOS itself has also seen massive engineering effort recently. For the first time in a decade, the Mac was a major focus of WWDC, with great new APIs poised to usher in a huge wave of fresh software.

To be fair, this story hasn’t ended yet. The Mac Pro isn’t actually out yet (and will be very expensive), they still need to resolve the problematic MacBook Pro with its next generation (rumors are promising), and the lack of standalone Apple displays under six thousand dollars really hurts the Mac Pro story.⁵

But I’m optimistic for the first time in years.

It’s hard to tell when Apple is listening. They speak concisely, infrequently, and only when they’re ready, saying absolutely nothing in the meantime, even when we’re all screaming about a product line as if it’s on fire. They make great progress, but often with courageous losses that never get reversed, so an extended silence because we’re stuck with a change forever is indistinguishable from an extended silence because the fix isn’t ready yet.

But there has clearly been a major shift in direction for the better since early 2017, and they couldn’t be more clear now:

Apple is listening again, they’ve still got it, and the Mac is back.

1. Based on what we’ve learned since, they had likely started the project a very short time before holding the roundtable. ↩︎

2. I’m excluding the 2018 MacBook Air because it feels like a stopgap that wasn’t originally planned to exist — the no-Touch-Bar 13” MacBook “Escape” seemed intended to replace it — that was rushed into the 2016-era generation mid-cycle, rather than being the first of a new design. Even so, with the large exception of the butterfly keyboard, it’s quite good. ↩︎

3. This doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t buy one. ↩︎

4. The 2010/“2012” Mac Pro was so good, and so upgradeable, that it’s still in surprisingly widespread use today for needs that weren’t possible or compelling on the “trashcan” successor. ↩︎

5. And the MacBook Pro. A very common setup for developers — Apple’s largest identified segment of pro users — is a 15” MacBook Pro connected to an external monitor, for which a good solution no longer exists. Developers would be much better served by a $1,500-ish standalone version of the iMac’s 5K display than a $6,000 XDR reference monitor for professional video colorists. ↩︎

Sharing podcasts has never been easy, but I’ve always tried to lead the way with Overcast, with publicly shareable episode links and optional recommendations from your Twitter friends since version 1.0 in 2014.

Podcast sharing has been limited to audio and links, but today’s social networks are more reliant on images and video, especially Instagram. Podcasts need video clips to be shared more easily today.

I’ve seen some video clips from tools specific to certain podcast networks or hosts, but they were never available to everyone, or for every show. So people mostly just haven’t shared podcast clips, understandably, because it has been too hard.

Not anymore.

▶️ ↩️

This remark on Unco by Stephen Hackett inspired me to finally solve this problem in a way that worked easily, for all podcasts, for both podcasters and listeners to use.

With today’s 2019.4 update¹, you can now share audio or video clips, up to a minute each, from any public podcast. Simply tap the share button in the upper-right corner.

You can generate an audio clip, or portrait, landscape, or square video, using your current Overcast theme setting.

In order to help spread podcasts further, I didn’t want to be heavy-handed in the Overcast branding — not everyone wants to advertise for one specific podcast app when promoting their shows. So the “Shared with Overcast” badge is optional, and if you’d like, you can also add an Apple Podcasts badge.

Finally, I wanted to extend the same app-agnosticism to Overcast’s share links. While this design still needs a lot of modernization, I’ve done a small refresh:

Now, for non-logged-in visitors, Overcast’s public sharing pages display badges for other podcast apps and the RSS feed for any podcast listed in Apple Podcasts.

It’s important for me to promote other apps like this, and to make it easy even for other people’s customers to benefit from Overcast’s sharing features, because there are much bigger threats than letting other open-ecosystem podcast apps get a few more users.

For podcasting to remain open and free, we must not leave major shortcomings for proprietary, locked-down services to exploit.² Conversely, the more we strengthen the open podcast ecosystem with content, functionality, and ease of use, the larger the barrier becomes that any walled garden must overcome to be compelling.

One of the most common shortcomings we hear is that podcasts are hard to share. Hopefully, Overcast’s new clip-sharing feature changes that, and other apps build similar features soon.

So go get Overcast and start sharing your favorite moments. It’ll help me, of course, but more importantly, it’ll help your favorite shows gain listeners, and it’ll strengthen the amazing, open, standards-based world of podcasting.

1. Like Slopes and Castro, I’ve changed to a date-based version-numbering scheme — 2019.4 is the fourth update released in 2019, the next version will be 2019.5, and so on — partly because version numbers don’t really matter anymore, but mostly because I no longer wanted to delay completed features until a major-version change or worry that I didn’t do enough to justify a certain number. ↩︎

2. YouTube was able to dominate video because it made everything easy in a medium that (at the time) was very hard to do elsewhere. If a proprietary service takes a very hard aspect of podcasting and makes it very easy, it may rapidly rise to prominence.

   Other major shortcomings I’m concerned about: the difficulty of getting sponsorships for small shows (“AdSense for podcasts”), and the complexity of creation and publishing (“Tumblr for podcasts”). This is probably why Spotify bought Anchor. ↩︎

▶️

The first thing someone does in a podcast app is add some podcasts, and most active Overcast users add at least two new podcasts each month.

Over 80% of podcasts are added to Overcast by searching, with the vast majority as searches for a specific podcast by name (rather than searching for generic keywords, such as “business”).

Good search is a critical, differentiating feature of any podcast app.

I’m not satisfied if the podcast you’re looking for is somewhere in the middle of a long list — I want it to be the first one, displayed quickly, after typing the fewest characters possible. I’ve been building toward this by analyzing years of popularity statistics and anonymous search data.

Instant Search is the next step in Overcast’s search evolution. It combines a small local cache with a highly optimized search service to give the most relevant results immediately as you type, even after only a single letter.¹

It’s a dramatic, delightful improvement to a critical, frequently used feature. This was a lot of fun to build, and I’m proud of it.

See for yourself! Overcast is free on the App Store.

1. If Instant Search isn’t instant right after you update, the cache hasn’t fully downloaded yet. It’s downloaded weekly, only on Wi-Fi, and is less than 5 MB. ↩︎

Watch my video review of the new iPad Pro in both sizes.

Rather than try to be comprehensive, I focused on what matters most to me: size choice between the 11” and 12.9”, the Smart Keyboard Folio from my perspective as a frequent 10.5” Smart Keyboard user, the new Pencil, and why “getting work done” isn’t important to me.

Watch the video review

I hardly ever think about my Mac Mini, but it serves a vital role for my family as our home-theater mixer, Plex server, ScanSnap server, Apple Photos backup, and Backblaze host for our NAS.¹ Almost every port on the back is in use, and it runs 24/7, reliably, in total silence.

Until last week, I thought it would be the last Mac Mini that Apple ever made.

And when rumors started swirling about an imminent Mac Mini update, I assumed the worst: if it came at all, it would be a tiny box with a slow, ultra-low-power processor and almost zero ports, optimizing for small size instead of versatility.

I don’t think this was an unreasonable fear after the 2014 Mac Mini update, which made many key aspects much worse without making anything much better. It seemed clear then, and for the following four years that it went without an update, that Apple held the Mac Mini and its customers in very low regard.

Not anymore.

The 2018 Mac Mini is real, and it’s spectacular.

It makes almost nothing worse and almost everything better, finally bringing the Mac Mini into the modern age.

Ports! Glorious ports!

Number one — and this is a big one these days, especially for this product — is that it’s not any less useful or versatile than the outgoing Mac Mini, including the generous assortment of ports. If the previous one served a role for you, the new one can probably do it just as well, and probably better and faster, with minimal donglage.²

It’s the same size as the old one, which is the right tradeoff. I know zero Mac Mini owners who really need it to get smaller, and many who don’t want it to get fewer ports or worse performance.

The point of the Mac Mini is to be as versatile as possible, addressing lots of diverse and edge-case needs that the other Macs can’t with their vastly different form factors and more opinionated designs. The Mac Mini needs to be a utility product, not a design statement. (Although, even as someone tired of space-gray everything, I have to admit that the Mini looks fantastic in its new color.)

The base price has increased to $800, and that’s not great. It’s partly justifiable because it’s much higher-end than before — the processors are much better, the architecture is higher-end and includes big advances like the T2, and all-SSD is standard — but it’s still an expensive product in absolute terms.

Apple lent me a high-end configuration for review — 6-core i7, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD — which would cost $2499 (much of which is the SSD). This would’ve sounded crazy to spend on a Mac Mini a few years ago, but when it’s specced up like this, it’s targeting a much higher-end market than the previous model could. Compared to similarly specced iMacs and MacBook Pros, the pricing is generally reasonable.

And this can truly be a pro desktop, with just one exception.

Benchmarks

The big story to me is how incredibly fast this thing is. Granted, I’m testing the fastest CPU offered, but damn.

Geekbench results are very strong. The i7 Mac Mini scored better on single-core performance than every other Mac today (!) at 5912, and its multi-core score of nearly 24,740 beats every Mac to date except the iMac Pro and the old 12-core 2013 Mac Pro.

“Performance-competitive with pro Macs” was not high on my prediction list for a Mac Mini update, but here we are.

As the rate of CPU advancement has slowed dramatically over the last few years, Apple has found other ways to improve performance. The T2 is great for lots of security reasons — I wouldn’t buy a new Mac these days without it — but what you’re seeing here is its strength as a ridiculously fast SSD controller.

This Mac Mini builds my app, Overcast, much faster than my maxed-out 13-inch MacBook Pro, and about as quickly as my 10-core iMac Pro! Obviously, to achieve this result with only 6 cores, it’s not maxing out the CPU 100% of the time — it hits it in bursts while juggling a lot between the SSD and memory — but the result is that it’s incredibly fast as a development machine.

The Blackmagick Disk Speed Test shows that the raw SSD performance is effectively identical to the other T2 Macs shipped to date, and a huge improvement over the four-year-old Mac Mini.

A lot of people use Mac Minis as media or Plex servers, so I ran an H.265 transcoding test with ffmpeg. This maxes out all CPU cores, so the results predictably scale with the core count: the 6-core Mac Mini was much faster than the 4-core MacBook Pro, but the 10-core iMac Pro beat them both.

But if an app supports the T2’s hardware HEVC encoder,³ it can go much faster. And since every T2 so far performs identically, all T2 machines — from the 2018 MacBook Air to the iMac Pro — encode HEVC this way at the same speed, and all in complete silence because they’re barely touching the CPU.

I wasn’t able to notice any quality differences between the videos encoded with x265 and the T2’s hardware acceleration.

The only spec that lets it down is the Intel GPU. It’s fast enough for common tasks, but if your workload benefits from a strong GPU, you’re better off going for an iMac or a 15-inch MacBook Pro, or considering an eGPU setup.

Many Mac lines rely on Intel’s integrated GPUs to fit their physical and thermal needs, and Intel has been incredibly inconsistent over the last few years in delivering updated CPU-GPU combinations that would be suitable for many Macs.

We often blame Intel’s CPU roadmap (or Apple’s seeming indifference) for the lack of updates to certain Mac lines, but Intel’s GPU offerings are often the bigger issue. This is Intel’s fault, but it’s Apple’s problem — and Apple passes that problem right along to its customers.

But that’s it — aside from price, that’s the only downside. The GPU sucks. Everything else is awesome.

If you don’t need a strong GPU — and honestly, most Mac Mini use-cases don’t — this is a solid pick for a general-purpose Mac, even at the base-level configuration. Spec it up, and it’s more like a mini-Mac Pro.

A few assorted notes, with apologies for stealing Gruber’s format:

• It’s silent at idle. The i7’s fan noise does become clearly audible when it’s under heavy load: it’s in the ballpark of a modern MacBook Pro, but quieter.

  Interestingly, I disabled Turbo Boost to simulate the base i3 model’s thermals, and couldn’t get the fan to spin up audibly, no matter what I did. Those who prioritize silence under heavy loads should probably stick with the i3.

• This is the first non-iMac desktop Mac that lets you plug in a 5K display, at full quality, without dual cables or other unreliable hacks. We finally have 5K Retina Mac options beyond the iMac! Unfortunately, we still don’t have any great standalone 5K displays. (The LG UltraFine isn’t.)

• You can upgrade the RAM again! I never would’ve guessed this was coming, and I believe it’s the first time in a long time that an Apple product’s direct successor became more upgradeable and serviceable.

  I still recommend getting it with the right amount of RAM from Apple if possible, since third-party RAM has historically been a mess of unreliability and finger-pointing, but if you need that, it’s back. (The security screws inside — TR6? — still need some iFixit tools to get past.)

I Can’t Believe The Mac Mini Is This Awesome, I Can’t Even Say “Again” Because It Never Was

A new Mac Mini could’ve been so much worse. At many times in its past, it has seemed unloved, neglected, and downright punitive — a similar pattern to Apple’s other headless desktop, the Mac Pro. It seemed for a while that Apple lacked any interest in making Macs anymore, especially desktops.

Last year, with the introduction of the absolutely stellar iMac Pro, Apple showed us a glimpse of a potential new direction. It was downright perfect — a love letter to the Mac and its pro desktop users, and a clear turnaround in the way the company views the Mac for the better.

We didn’t know until now whether the iMac Pro’s greatness was a fluke. But now we have another data point: the last two desktops out of Apple have been incredible. After this, I have faith that they’re going to do the new Mac Pro justice when it finally ships next year.

The new Mac Mini is a great update, out of nowhere, to a product we thought would never be updated again.

Of course, with Apple’s track record on the Mac Mini, it may never be updated after this. This is either the first in a series of regular updates with which Apple proves that they care about the Mac Mini again, or it’s the last Mac Mini that will ever exist and we’ll all be hoarding them in a few years. We can’t know yet.

But today, this is a great update, a wonderful all-arounder for lots of potential needs, and just a fantastic little computer.

1. I do this via iSCSI, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It breaks and requires a new $200+ iSCSI initiator with almost every macOS update — which is why my Mac Mini still runs Sierra. In the near future, I’ll just directly attach some giant external hard drives to the Mac Mini and stop using the NAS. ↩︎

2. Unless you used optical audio, audio input, or the SD-card reader. (Shit, I use optical in and out.) ↩︎

3. ffmpeg can do it by specifying -c:v hevc_videotoolbox instead of -c:v x265. I also needed -vtag hvc1 for the output MP4s with either codec to be playable on macOS.

   Compressor uses the T2’s HEVC acceleration when encoding 8-bit HEVC, but not 10-bit. ↩︎

Quick, what time is it?

If that took you a bit longer than usual to tell the time on the Apple Watch’s new default Infograph face, you’re not alone:

• John Gruber finds it “far too busy”
• Jason Snell finds it “pretty and packed with features”, but misses hour numerals
• Zac Hall removes almost everything to improve legibility
• David Smith wrote his own complications (!) to improve contrast

I’ve configured mine acceptably, but Utility is still far more legible for telling the time at a quick glance:

Infograph, Utility

Infograph suffers from two major issues:

• The center complications reduce the contrast between the dial and hands, often making the hands hard to locate. This is avoidable with customization, although the defaults should be much more conservative.
• It takes too much cognitive effort (and therefore time) to distinguish the current hour. This is simply a flawed design.

It’s faster and easier to read analog time with the 1–12 numerals displayed on a watch, but many people prefer the cleaner look of a watch that uses lines, dots, or other shapes as hour markers instead. (Watch people call these “indices”.)

And it’s absolutely possible to design a highly legible dial with hour indices in many different styles. Here are some classics and modern takes:¹

Across a wide variety of brands, styles, and price points, a few key design principles are clear:

• The hour markers for 12 (and often 3/6/9) are more prominent.
• The hour indices are much larger than the minute markings.
• The hour hands nearly touch the hour indices.

These all improve legibility by making it as fast and easy as possible to know which hour is being indicated (and minimize the chance of an off-by-one error), first by orienting your eyes to the current rotation with the 12 marker, then by minimizing the distance between the hour hand and the indices it’s between.

Apple Watch’s analog faces all fail to achieve these principles:²

Color, Simple, Explorer

Color, Simple, and Explorer have easily distinguished hour markers, but Explorer’s are a bit too far from its hour hand.

None of them have distinguished 12 markers to aid in orientation.

While Explorer omits minute markings altogether, Simple bafflingly uses 30-second markings in place of its minute track, making time-telling even harder. I’ve never seen another watch with sub-minute markings identical to its minute markings.

Activity Analog, Utility, and Infograph without most complications

Activity Analog’s hour markers are faint and far from its hour hand, and the central activity rings quickly eliminate the hands’ contrast against the dial as they progress.

Utility (when configured without numbers) improves legibility slightly with its bold hour indices, but they’re still too small and too far from its hour hand, and there’s no differentiation for the 12 index.

Infograph is similar, but even worse: its hour indices are more faint, it uses 30-second markings instead of minute markings, and its default Calendar display wipes out the top three indices. (At least you can tell which way is up.)

Even with almost no complications, the basic essence of the Infograph dial has poor time legibility.

When it’s being used as Apple seems to intend, time-telling at a glance is so difficult that many people have actually suggested setting the digital time as the center complication, at which point the hands are just a nuisance and we should stop pretending it’s an analog face.

It’s great for Apple to offer a wide variety of Apple Watch faces, but most of them are short-lived novelties at best. We’re three years and four generations into the Apple Watch, and almost every Watch owner I know still uses the same handful of “good” faces.

If you want digital time with a good deal of complications, Modular is your only good choice (or Infograph Modular on the Series 4).³ If you want analog time with numerals, Utility is the only good option. If you want indices instead of numerals — probably the most popular analog watch style in the world — I don’t think there is a good option.

By now, we’ve seen Apple’s design range that they’re willing to ship as Watch faces, and while it seems broad at first glance, it’s actually pretty narrow.

And we’re restricted to the handful of good watch faces that Apple makes, because other developers aren’t allowed to make custom Watch faces.

The Apple Watch is an amazing feat of technology. It’s a computer. It can display anything. With no mechanical or physical limitations to hold us back, any watch-face design from anyone could plausibly be built, enabling a range of creativity, style, and usefulness that no single company could ever design on its own.

But they won’t let us. In a time when personal expression and innovation in watch fashion should be booming, they’re instead being eroded, as everyone in the room is increasingly wearing the same watch with the same two faces.

Open this door, Apple.

1. You can even see which model the Apple Watch’s hand shape comes from, which is not a coincidence. ↩︎

2. For Apple Watch faces offering multiple hour/minute styles, I selected the best one that didn’t have hour numerals, and most complications were disabled. ↩︎

3. Special shout-out to my favorite digital face, Solar. ↩︎

I apologize for the low battery level. Busy day.

It all started with the watchOS volume widget.

You see, Overcast’s previous Apple Watch app really sucked. I did my best with the capabilities of watchOS 1–4, but I couldn’t give people what they really wanted:

1. Standalone podcast playback on the Apple Watch without an iPhone. I briefly offered it through some bad hacks, but had to remove it.
2. Volume control on the Watch, which is increasingly important with the popularity of AirPods.

That’s why I nearly jumped for joy during the watchOS 5 announcement in June, when Apple unveiled most of my list of watchOS changes needed to make good podcast apps.

After a very busy summer, standalone Apple Watch playback is back in Overcast, and it’s actually good this time!

It’s not perfect:

• No cellular. Apple hasn’t released a good way to do cellular audio streaming in watchOS, and the bad ways wouldn’t be very useful.
• Sending podcasts to the Watch is slow. Overcast shrinks them to reduce the transfer time, but when (and how quickly) podcasts transfer is tightly controlled by watchOS to preserve battery life. Transfers still sometimes wait forever or silently fail.

Programmers like me can’t accept that something is just slow, so I’ve decided to make transfer speed irrelevant. Nobody cares how slowly podcasts transfer if it happens while they’re asleep!

Auto-Sync to Watch automatically tries to send your most recent podcasts to your Apple Watch whenever it gets a chance.¹ You can still send episodes manually from the queue button on an episode (≡⁺), but in my testing, I never needed to. Just pick up your Watch and go, and it’ll already have plenty of podcasts for your outing, all without having to manually sync anything or wait for slow transfers.

The Overcast 5.0.1 update, due out in a few days, makes Watch transfers even more reliable. (Sorry. Found a better way after 5.0 was approved.)

And Watch-crown volume control! Finally, the best way to use Overcast from your Apple Watch isn’t to delete it, letting the Now Playing app show up instead.

That’s where the other half of my summer workload began.

The watchOS volume widget offers minimal customization: just the color of the circle. I couldn’t make the line width a little narrower to match the rest of Overcast’s thin-line aesthetic. But that iOS 7-era thin-line aesthetic looked dated, and I’d wanted a design refresh for a while.

I decided to start modernizing the app’s design, screen by screen. I couldn’t do it all in one summer, so I started with the screen that needed the most help: Now Playing.

The previous Now Playing screen in Overcast 4.

The biggest problem of the previous design was the center artwork area, a scrollable set of “pages” that had speed and effects controls offscreen to the left, and the episode notes offscreen to the right.

Nobody ever found them. I’ve been getting emails almost every day from people asking where the speed controls were because they set them once and couldn’t find them again, or saying how they’d really like my app more if it offered speed controls. The only indication in the interface was three “page dots” below the scrollable area, but that wasn’t enough.

The new design maintains the same scrollable pages, but now as obvious, tactile cards. In my testing, everyone figured these out immediately.

Put differently, it’s like you’re navigating this through a phone-shaped window in the middle:

This design is not only more discoverable, but it allows me to fit more controls on screen, and in more reachable areas. Unlike the previous design, I can also fit the same controls on all devices, from the iPhone SE to the iPad Pro.

Designing a good Now Playing screen for a music or podcast app that’s nice, clean, and highly discoverable is incredibly difficult. I think I’ve finally found a good balance.

I’ve given chapters (when present) their own card with durations and inline progress bars. I’ve also finally revamped the sleep timer to ditch the ugly alert sheet, give it a proper UI for fast input, and show the remaining time in more useful ways:

There are lots of other improvements throughout the app as well. Some of the highlights:

• Search your podcasts and current episodes from the main screen, or go into a podcast’s screen to search its entire archive.
• Refreshed the podcast screen a little. (More to come.)
• Siri Shortcuts support, of course.

Plus smaller fixes and improvements:

• CarPlay performance is much better, especially for people with large collections.
• Podcasts now display their estimated release frequency (daily, weekly, etc.) if it can be inferred.
• Tap-to-load on images now loads all images from the same domain at once.
• Tons of bug fixes and performance improvements.

Overcast 5 requires iOS 12 and watchOS 5, and as always, it’s free.

Update your devices, then go get Overcast!

1. Up to 20 episodes are auto-synced today. This number will change as I refine the balance of resource usage. Auto-Sync to Watch is on by default and can be turned off in Nitpicky Details. ↩︎

Laptop battery life is decreasingly relevant to me as more airplanes offer power outlets. But sometimes you lose that lottery, as I did on my latest 8-hour daytime flight.

Apple’s “Up to 10 hours” claim doesn’t apply to my work,¹ which is usually a mix of Xcode, web browsing, and social time-wasting, so I knew I’d have to seriously conserve power.

Sometimes, you just need Low Power Mode: the switch added to iOS a few years ago to conserve battery life when you need it, at the expense of full performance and background tasks.

There’s no such feature on Mac laptops, but there should be. It could:

• Disable the discrete GPU on 15-inch models unless required for hardware reasons²
• Pause Photos syncing and analysis
• Pause Spotlight indexing
• Reduce the frequency of Time Machine backups
• Don’t download or install software updates
• Don’t download new content in iTunes
• Auto-dim the screen after a shorter time
• Let third-party apps detect Low Power Mode and reduce their background operations to only essential work

And the big one:

• Reduce the processor’s maximum wattage or disable Turbo Boost

Back in 2015, I experimented with disabling Turbo Boost and discovered that it reduced performance by about a third, but also boosted battery life by almost as much. Since then, I’ve been running Turbo Boost Switcher Pro to automatically disable Turbo Boost when I’m running on battery power, and it has been wonderful: I made it through that 8-hour flight only because Turbo Boost was off.

Over the last few days, I’ve run battery tests on my 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro with the (awesome) 2.7 GHz i7 and my 2015 2.2 GHz 15-inch³ to see how far I could push the battery life using Volta, which can disable Turbo Boost and/or set wattage limits on the CPU.

My test was based on the “Heavy” script from last time, but using xcodebuild every few minutes with Overcast’s current codebase (which is larger and includes some Swift). Improvements are in green and performance reductions are in red:

15-inch 2015 MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz quad-core i7)   Battery life Geekbench single/multi xcodebuild Normal 3:36 3963/13864 43.9s No Turbo 5:06+42% 2796/9917−29/28% 63.4s+44% 13-inch 2018 MacBook Pro (2.7 GHz quad-core i7)   Battery life Geekbench single/multi xcodebuild Normal 3:09 5412/18983 34.3s 28W 3:28+10% 5401/16326−0/14% 37.4s+9% 18W 4:05+29% 5248/14133−3/26% 43.5s+27% 12W 4:44+50% 4818/11835−11/38% 48.2s+41% No Turbo 5:05+61% 3624/13324−33/30% 48.9s+43% 6W 6:24+103% 4065/7596−25/60% 76.1s+121%

It’s impressive how much faster this new 13-inch model is than the best laptop ever made due to significant CPU and SSD improvements.

Dropping the wattage to 6W, the thermal limit of the fanless 12-inch MacBook, interestingly (but not surprisingly) makes it perform effectively identically to the best 12-inch MacBook in Geekbench. This is an extreme option, but one I’d occasionally take if offered. It roughly doubles compilation times, but also doubles the battery life.

This ratio holds for most other configurations: the gain in battery life is about as large as the loss in heavy-workload performance. That’s a trade-off I’d gladly make when I need to maximize runtime.

The best bang-for-the-buck option is still to just disable Turbo Boost. Single-threaded performance hurts more than with wattage-limiting, but it’s able to maintain better multi-threaded performance and more consistent thermals, and gets a larger battery gain relative to its performance loss.

And Volta, which offers both wattage limits and Turbo disabling, requires disabling System Integrity Protection to install an unsigned kernel extension, which I really don’t recommend. Turbo Boost Switcher, which doesn’t offer wattage control, works with SIP using a signed extension and its Pro version has more convenient features for automatic toggling.

For now, I’m going to continue to happily run Turbo Boost Switcher Pro to selectively give myself better battery life, and I recommend it for anyone else with the same need.

But what I ultimately want is for a true Low Power Mode built into macOS that could provide this sort of CPU throttling and software changes, which would ultimately achieve even greater gains.

1. Whose work does get 10 hours out of a MacBook Pro? None of the use-cases on the marketing page — Photography, Coding, Video Editing, 3D Graphics, and Gaming — are likely to achieve even half of that in practice. ↩︎

2. I’ve heard that 15-inch models are wired such that the discrete GPU is required when external displays are connected. Otherwise, whether it’s used or not is a software decision, and gfxCardStatus can override it in certain conditions. ↩︎

3. It’s not brand new, so it’s not a perfect comparison, but the battery only had 90 cycles before this test. ↩︎

Overcast 4.2 is out now. It enhances privacy in two major areas:

Anonymous sync by default

Overcast has offered anonymous sync accounts since 2014. They’re fully functional, but they lack email addresses or passwords, so they can’t log into the website. A login token is stored in iCloud so the account can be accessed after a restore or upgrade, or from other devices you own.

Previously, the login screen pushed email logins. But with four years of perspective, feedback, and usage data, I now think that’s the wrong move. Only a single-digit percentage of customers use the website, and the iCloud token-sync method solves cross-device logins for almost everyone.

Your personal data isn’t my business — it’s a liability. I want as little as possible. I don’t even log IP addresses anymore.

If I don’t need your email address, I really don’t want it.

68% of Overcast accounts have email addresses today. To reduce that as much as possible, I’ve made major changes to account handling:

The previous login screen (left) and the new one.

In Overcast 4.2, the login screen now prominently encourages anonymous accounts by default.

If you already have an account in iCloud, it’ll pop up a dialog box over this screen asking if you want to use it.

And the first time you launch 4.2, people with email-based accounts will be encouraged to migrate them to anonymous accounts:

The migration prompt that shows on the first run.

Finally, you can now change your account between email-based and anonymous whenever you want.

Blocking ad-tracking images

In most podcast apps, podcasts are downloaded automatically in the background. The only data sent to a podcast’s publisher about you or your behavior is your IP address and the app’s name. The IP address lets them derive your approximate region, but not much else.

They don’t know exactly who you are, whether you listened, when you listened, how far you listened, or whether you skipped certain parts.

Some large podcast producers are trying very hard to change that.

I’m not.

Big data ruined the web, and I’m not going to help bring it to podcasts. Publishers already get enough from Apple to inform ad rates and make content decisions — they don’t need more data from my customers. Podcasting has thrived, grown, and made tons of money for tons of people under the current model for over a decade. We already have all the data we need.

One of the ways publishers try to get around the limitations of the current model is by embedding remote images or invisible “tracking pixels” in each episode’s HTML show notes. When displayed in most apps, the images are automatically loaded from an analytics server, which can then record and track more information about you.

In Overcast 4.2, much like Mail (and for the same reason), remote images don’t load by default. A tappable placeholder shows you where each image will load from, and you can decide whether to load it or not.

I believe I’ve done this in the most secure way possible — I’m actually displaying the show notes using a strict Content Security Policy — and I would love to hear from anyone who finds a way to inject auto-loading remote images or execute arbitrary JavaScript in show notes.

Bug fixes

Overcast 4.2 also includes a bunch of minor fixes, and two big ones:

• Fixed the major slowdowns and high battery usage that resulted from extremely large podcast artwork.
• Password-protected episodes are now supported on password-protected feeds.

Get it now in the App Store!

This month, SpongeBob SquarePants makes a splash in Snake.io+ and Crossy Road Castle with special events available exclusively on Apple Arcade.

Today, Apple News+ debuted Emoji Game, an original puzzle that challenges subscribers to use emoji to complete short phrases.

Apple TV+ today earned a record-breaking 81 Emmy Award nominations across 14 hit Apple Original titles for this year’s 77th Emmy Awards.

Today Apple announced a new investment of $500 million with MP Materials.

Apple today announced Jeff Williams will transition his role as chief operating officer later this month to Sabih Khan.

Apple Arcade is adding four exclusive games and rolling out fun updates to fan-favorite hits on the service.

Apple and Major League Baseball (MLB) today unveiled the August schedule for “Friday Night Baseball.”

As Apple Music marks 10 years, Apple unveils a brand-new state-of-the-art space in Los Angeles dedicated to artist-driven content.

Apple Sports today added tennis to its growing list of supported sports.

Apple today shared an update on new ways to help parents protect kids and teens online when using Apple products.

With the release of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and watchOS 26, Apple is enhancing its services with powerful new features.

At WWDC25, Apple unveiled Apple Games, an all-new destination for players to jump back into the games they love and have more fun with friends.

Apple today previewed iOS 26, a major update that brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps users rely on every day.

Apple today previewed watchOS 26, offering a beautiful new look and even more intelligence for a more personalized experience.

Apple today previewed tvOS 26, making Apple TV even more immersive, enjoyable, and convenient.

Apple today previewed macOS Tahoe 26, which introduces a stunning new design and powerful capabilities that enable users to get even more done.

Apple previewed a new software design, crafted with Liquid Glass, that makes apps and system experiences more expressive and delightful.

Apple today previewed visionOS 26, an expansive update packed with groundbreaking spatial experiences and new features for Apple Vision Pro.

Apple today announced new Apple Intelligence features that elevate the user experience across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro.

Apple today previewed iPadOS 26, the biggest iPadOS release ever, taking a huge leap forward and pushing the unique capabilities and versatility of iPad even further.

Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.

”Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition” reached Mac on Thursday. Explore Night City and take on the role of V in this award-winning RPG.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

On World Emoji Day, it’s time to give some respect to the little digital images used to express emotion

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Find out how easy it is to use PDF Editor, PDF Book Reader to edit or read PDFs on iPhone, Mac, iPad and other Apple devices.

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Apple Arcade SpongeBob SquarePants crossover events will appear all over iPad and iPhone games this summer.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Apple Watch SE is already the most affordable wearable Apple makes, and a deal knocks up to 32% off the already low price.

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The new "Emoji Game" on Apple News+ turns out to be a bit of Christmas in July. Apple put it out early for World Emoji Day.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

On July 17, 2002, Apple shipped an iMac G4 with a 17-inch screen. The widescreen LCD display soon became the envy of computer users.

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World Emoji Day happens on July 17 every year -- but why? The holiday's story takes a circuitous path through Apple history.

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You can now use ChatGPT's Mac app to transcribe meetings, brainstorming sessions and voice note

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With Apple suppliers supposedly resolving yield problems, the iPhone 17 Pro might just come with an antireflective display.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

The new Razer Thunderbolt 5 Dock offers requisite blazing-fast data speeds, but also built-in support for SSD storage expansion.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Measuring just under 4 inches long by 2 inches wide, you can slip this cordless keychain power bank for iPhone and Apple Watch anywhere.

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On July 16, 2014, Apple agreed to pay $450 million to resolve the Department of Justice's antitrust case regarding e-book pricing.

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A new iPad deal offers big discounts on multiple models of Apple's tablet, including the entry-level iPad 11 with 128GB storage.

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In today's computer-setup action, Apple's tiny desktop machine on a Satechi Mac mini hub gives a 2017 iMac a break.

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Multiple iPhone models might be blocked from import into the U.S. as two iPhone display makers fight in court.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

A new report corroborates recent iPhone Series 17 color leaks, citing internal Apple documents. It's the most diverse selection in years.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

The Satechi OntheGo USB-C Lanyard Cable makes carrying around an iPhone easy, and charging it, too.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

This Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds deal nets you 20% off the excellent noise-cancelers. That's far cheaper than AirPods Pro 2, even on sale.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Apple may exclusively use a titanium frame on the iPhone 17 Air, switching to aluminum for its Pro models.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

This Windows 11 sale allows you to upgrade your PC to Windows 11 Pro for less than $10.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Whether for marketing materials or unique artwork, Imagiyo gives you total control. You can even use it as an NSFW AI image generator.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

An internal hinge that will play an important role in ensuring that folding iPhone won’t be marred by an unsightly screen crease.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Apple TV+ hit "Severance" leads Emmy nominations with 27 and first-year comedy "The Studio" breaks a record set by "Ted Lasso."

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

On July 15, 2015, Apple introduced the sixth version of its iPod touch music player. The super-skinny sixth-gen iPod touch rocked.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

An analyst corrects himself: The base iPhone 17 may pack major hardware upgrades after all, with Apple using the A19 chip.

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Apple's high-end, noise-canceling earbuds already provide incredible value, and this AirPods Pro 2 deal makes them even more affordable.

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In our hands-on Contour RollerMouse Red Wireless review, we find the ergonomic input device compelling but pricey.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Apple plans to buy $500 million of American-made rare earth magnets from Texas-based MP Materials to go into iPhone, MacBook and more.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

New betas of iOS 18.6 and macOS Sequoia 15.6 went to developers on Monday. That’s despite Apple already unveiling their eventual replacements.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

On July 14, 1995, the MP3 file format received its name as the new .bit file extension changed to .mp3. It enabled the iPod's success.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

OWC HDMI adapters

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

There are top-quality portable SSDs available at way below their list prices thanks to Amazon Prime Day. We found great deals!

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Leaked camera lens covers suggest iPhone 17 Pro color surprises -- five hues, including a popular dark blue and a brand new copper-orange.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Today's Mac Studio setup pairs an LG 5K display for mac with a Studio Display. The user couldn't be happier.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Rumors indicates Apple came up with a “significant evolution” for the Dynamic Island that’s part of the display in most iPhone models.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

You may not have to wait long for Apple to unveil the iPhone 17, with the company possibly holding the event in the starting September 8.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

On July 13, 2006, Apple released the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, combining a portable music player and activity tracker for the first time.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Don’t miss a great deal on the Navee ST3 Pro Electric Scooter, which I highly recommend because I enormously enjoy riding mine.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Apple already has the iPhone 17e on its drawing board, according to rumors. Here’s when to expect it, and what hardware changes are coming.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

The new true-crime drama “Smoke” on Apple TV+ that stars Taron Egerton made it into the top 10 most popular streaming series.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

The iPhone 4 suffered a major blow when a "Consumer Reports" review failed to recommend the new smartphone. "Antennagate" was real.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Setting up a new Mac? I always install these free Mac apps first to boost productivity and improve system control.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

The iconic 2013 “trash can” Mac Pro joins Apple's vintage product list, so you'll get limited hardware repair support for it.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Recent leaks of color-matched camera rings from Asia reveal the nine colors in iPhone 17 models we should expect to see in September.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

The KYY 14” Portable Monitor challenges the idea that bigger is always better. A smaller screen is more portable… and more affordable, too.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

New "Foundation" season 3 brings the threat of mind-controlling warlord The Mule. Watch the first episode now!

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In "Chief of War" season 1, Jason Momoa leads Hawaiian warriors against the forces of Western colonization. Watch the new trailer!

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On July 11, 2008, Apple's second smartphone went on sale. The iPhone 3G launch brought many innovations -- and a serious price cut!

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“Murderbot” season 1 did well enough in the ratings that Apple TV+ committed to season 2. And the whole first season is ready to watch now.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Now streaming, "The Wild Ones" documentary series looks like a wild, high-tech ride toward saving endangered animal species.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Apple's next iPad Pro refresh, rumored to launch this October, could again stand out for debuting with a new M-series chip.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

A rumor says Apple won’t get the next-generation MacBook Pro with the upcoming M5 processor out this autumn, as had been expected.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Prime Day Anker deals on laptop chargers, power banks and docks are pretty sweet. We pick some of the very best options.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

We'll show you the best Amazon Prime Day deals on Apple gear, from AirPods to iPads to MacBooks to the Studio Display. And Beats, too.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

An unofficial community about Apple and all of its devices and software.

Welcome to the Daily Advice Thread for /r/Apple. This thread can be used to ask for technical advice regarding Apple software and hardware, to ask questions regarding the buying or selling of Apple products or to post other short questions. Have a question you need answered? Ask away! Please remember to adhere to our rules, which can be found in the sidebar. Join our Discord and IRC chat rooms for support: Discord IRC Note: Comments are sorted by /new for your convenience. Here is an archive of all previous Daily Advice Threads. This is best viewed on a browser. If on mobile, type in the search bar [author:"AutoModerator" title:"Daily Advice Thread" or title:"Daily Tech Support Thread"] (without the brackets, and including the quotation marks around the titles and author.) The Daily Advice Thread is posted each day at 06:00 AM EST (Click HERE for other timezones) and then the old one is archived. It is advised to wait for the new thread to post your question if this time is nearing for quickest answer time. submitted by /u/AutoModerator [link] [comments]

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With macOS 26, Apple has announced a dramatically new look to their UI - liquid glass. This link from Apple blogger Basic Apple Guy contains an interesting collection of Apple's design evolution of its system icons. It's so interesting to see how the icons and design has evolved but it still maintains that familiar Apple essence. Do you have any favorites? Mine is probably the Dictionary and Books icons. submitted by /u/Vocabulist [link] [comments]

Small write up of a simple kernel panic trigger in latest macOS and iOS submitted by /u/Thebantyone [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/chrisdh79 [link] [comments]

Reddit’s little corner for iPhone lovers (and some people who just mildly enjoy it…)

Welcome to the weekly stickied WSIB thread. Have any questions about buying, selling, trading, or giveaways? Ask away! Please remember to adhere to our rules, which can be found in the sidebar. As usual, if you have a serious issue with the subreddit, please contact the moderators directly. This thread is also for questions about preorders and shipments of devices Note: Comments are sorted by /new for your convenience. Here is an archive of all previous "What Should I Buy" threads. This is best viewed on a browser. If on mobile, type on the searchbar [title:"What Should I Buy" author:"AutoModerator"] (without the brackets, and including the quotation marks around the title and author.) submitted by /u/AutoModerator [link] [comments]

General advice for those concerned about their battery from the Support FAQ Wiki: Battery health Battery health depends on usage and a variety of other factors. It is normal to see a decrease in battery health by 7-10% per year, resulting in a battery health of 80-85% after 2 years. This number can fluctuate, remain the same, or decrease quickly over a small period and should not cause undue concern. Apple recommend battery replacement when your device falls below 80% battery health if you notice reduced battery life. If it falls below 80% within the first year you may be eligable for a free battery replacement. It fails after your warranty, it's a $69-$89 USD replacement cost for a battery. Contact Apple Support here. You can find more information about battery health and performance from Apple here. You can check the cycles count with Coconut Battery for Mac or iCopyBot for Windows. Battery life Issues relating to battery life can be categorised in three ways: Normal battery life that is to be expected due to use Reduced battery life caused by a recent update, iOS indexing, an iOS bug, or a third-party application Reduced battery life, or other abnormalities such as overheating or sudden power-off, caused by device or battery aging If you experience issues with your battery: Check your battery health. If it is below 80% or you are experiencing issues you suspect are related to device or battery age, see Apple Support. If you have a new or recently updated/restored device, wait a number of days for background process to complete. If you continue to have issues, wait for a further iOS update. If you are on iOS Beta, you can expect to have a decreased battery life. Review the advice below on maximising battery life Consider restoring your device. If issues persist, contact Apple Support. Maximising battery life - the amount of time your device runs before it needs to be recharged. Use low power mode (This reduces mail fetch, turns off background app refresh and increases the auto lock timer) Remove apps from background app refresh Ensure auto lock is on Turn off auto brightness and manually reduce brightness Use dark mode if your device has an OLED display Clearing background apps from the app switcher does not improve battery life Maximising battery lifespan - the amount of time your battery lasts until it needs to be replaced. Avoid extreme temperatures If you notice that your iPhone gets hot when charging, remove it from its case Store your iPhone in a cool place, switched off, and half-charged if not using it for long periods - and charge it every 6 months when in storage submitted by /u/AutoModerator [link] [comments]

Hey everyone, I'm a recent graduate who just started working in the sports industry — something I’ve been working toward for a while and really passionate about. But here’s the weird part: not having an iPhone is seriously affecting my work. Most of my colleagues use iPhones, and a lot of the day-to-day communication happens over iMessage and AirDrop. I'm on Android, and it’s making everything harder — from missing out on group chats to being unable to quickly share files or videos on the go. I've even been left out of last-minute updates just because "they forgot I’m not on iMessage." It's honestly stressing me out because it feels like something as small as my phone choice could impact how I’m perceived or included at work. submitted by /u/krizz2003 [link] [comments]

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I use earphone which has 3.5mm jack, so I use "lightning to 3.5mm" adaptar to use my earphone. In the last 1 year, I had to change the adapter 4 times, because each adapter works well around 6 months before having internal malfunctioning (such as: one of the earbuds not working, due to malfunction in the adapter). What is the solution to it? The malfunctioning always in the wire of the adapter (the earphone remains perfection fine) submitted by /u/Thin-Insurance4662 [link] [comments]

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My concern is that I woke up to this message. So I haven't been messing with any settings, overnight or in recent history. I understand this feature is glitchy, but it's unclear to me if there's a glitch for false activations? Because if not, then someone in Bangladesh is maybe having some success on a phone I returned 2 years ago? My question is - should I be concerned if neither I nor anybody in my circles made any changes to my settings and this security delay still triggered? submitted by /u/-Chareth-Cutestory [link] [comments]

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My poor 13PM is giving up. How did this happen? submitted by /u/i3li [link] [comments]

Is there any difference between android and IPhone C type cables? submitted by /u/Takrar [link] [comments]

Will it cover it if i broke my screen before getting apple care? submitted by /u/sycorech [link] [comments]

I don't know if it's a software bug or a hardware defect but sometimes the screen of my iPhone 16 pro Max flashes. I lock the phone and I no longer have a problem. Is it a software bug or a defect? I'm on iOS 18.5 I even hesitate to switch to the 18.6 beta to see submitted by /u/Orystal [link] [comments]

Friends of mine have had a several bad experiences with Garmin, we were thinking of buying a used iphone 14 to use as an emergency Garmin inreach replacement. We are all Android users but this seems like an inexpensive way to get emergency coverage in an extreme emergency. Any thoughts? submitted by /u/emc8783 [link] [comments]

So i recently used a samsung powerbank with 25w charging speed on my 14 pro max and its charging way too fast i mean i can start counting when the charge goes up. Even the samsung phones doesnt charge that fast. Is it supposed to happen like that? And the phone does heat up a lot while charging. submitted by /u/lifeisabout-balance [link] [comments]

Like it says in the title, my IPhone 8+ touch screen occasionally stops registering touch. It’s not frozen, as the home button still works, but touch stops working seemingly randomly. The only solution I’ve found so far is to force restart the phone which fixes the problem temporarily, but it always happens again either minutes or hours after the restart. The first time I encountered the problem was a few days after I replaced the screen, but the fact that restarting resolves the issue for a while led me to believe it wasn’t a hardware issue or it would be persistent, but my knowledge on the subject is minimal. Any ideas on what the cause or fix might be? submitted by /u/SkoFalcs [link] [comments]

Every app that can take and have access to my photos, voice messages requires permission but the phone hasn’t got such settings for the apps submitted by /u/Sea-Table9254 [link] [comments]

I'm trying to add the Voice Memos app to the plus sign in iMessages. Does anyone know how to do that? I can rearrange them, but can't figure out how to add an app. submitted by /u/Due-Performance9244 [link] [comments]

For me to be able to use Discord i have face id lock on it but my face id is water damaged and idk how to get in. Ive tried searching but noone seems to have my issue. Thanks in advance submitted by /u/Full-Concentrate-933 [link] [comments]

Ki submitted by /u/bomberman885 [link] [comments]

Hi, I’m on vacation and I downloaded an eSIM that didn’t work so I switched to another service for a day and downloaded another eSIM (now I have 3 esims, my original one and the two I got on vacation). For some reason the new one stopped working so I tried to delete it and reinstall but now I can’t install any eSIM no matter what method I try ( QR, manually, using app) and I’m left with zero esim but their names still shows. Any help ? submitted by /u/SaladTiny [link] [comments]

An iphone 14 with the https://www.getcasely.com/products/garden-party-mushroom-floral-case did not survive a drop from my pocket. https://imgur.com/a/Z7N2KT4 When I contact casely.. i was offered a replacement case and was told that their classic version is not meant to protect against a fall. submitted by /u/Mindless-Window-3817 [link] [comments]

Hi, So I have an iPhone 16 Pro Max on iOS 18.5 and a few BT speakers. One is fine - when I’m playing music on lets say 30p volume, the notifications just play through my phone and not the speaker. But I also have another speaker and when there is a notification, it is played through the speaker at insane volume (like 80p or the same I have my phone set up). submitted by /u/javak810i [link] [comments]

For the Mini lovers, would you still be interested if a new iPhone, “Mini” sized, was released in the form of a foldable phone? submitted by /u/CA_dot [link] [comments]

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I’ve noticed yesterday that the orange mic dot was always on, even after closing all my apps. Today I went into my settings and disabled access to the microphone from all apps that had access but the dot won’t disappear. I’m at a loss here, and honestly a bit freaked out. Is there any solution to this? Thank you! Iphone 15 pro, ios 18.5 submitted by /u/Tight-Trick6371 [link] [comments]

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With Apple Intelligence, you can now remove distracting objects from your photos with the Clean Up tool. Learn more about iPhone 16: https://apple.co/407Tyfl Learn more about Apple Intelligence: https://apple.co/4eGwlad Audio Description: https://youtu.be/1UOS4Tft3Xw “KATOOSSA” by Yacine Boularès #AppleIntelligence #iPhone16 #iphone16pro Welcome to the official Apple YouTube channel. Here you’ll find news about product launches, tutorials, and other great content. Our more than 160,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

The cast and crew take us behind the scenes of Big Man for a look at how the film was brought to life with iPhone 16 Pro. Using Cinematic mode, 4K 120 fps slow motion and the ability to shoot in Apple Log. Director Aneil Karia and Director of Photography Stuart Bentley BSC explain how filmmaking becomes more accessible than ever with iPhone 16 Pro. Watch Big Man in full: https://youtu.be/AUrLMJQf2Bw Learn more about iPhone 16 Pro: https://apple.co/3G296dA Audio Descriptions: https://youtu.be/zQwsabVWzoY #ShotOniPhone #iPhone16Pro #Stormzy #MerkyFilms Welcome to the official Apple YouTube channel. Here you’ll find news about product launches, tutorials, and other great content. Our more than 160,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Big Man tells the fictional story of Tenzman, a world-weary musician, and the two bright, joyful kids who come into his life by chance. Soon the trio find themselves on a journey together — one that will reveal a better way forward for them all. A new film shot on iPhone 16 Pro by director Aneil Karia. Learn more about iPhone 16 Pro: https://apple.co/3G296dA Audio Descriptions: https://youtu.be/AFivb-EzYIs #ShotOniPhone #iPhone16Pro #Stormzy #MerkyFilms Welcome to the official Apple YouTube channel. Here you’ll find news about product launches, tutorials, and other great content. Our more than 160,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

This fall, visual intelligence will turn all those screenshots into events in your calendar that you actually show up to. Learn more at www.apple.com/os. Audio Descriptions: https://apple.co/4mTvN4p “Only You” by Ginger Root #Apple #WWDC25 #visualintelligence #iOS26 #macOS26 #calendar

This fall, Apple Intelligence will translate your conversations live on FaceTime, in text messages, and on calls. Learn more at www.apple.com/os. Audio Descriptions: https://apple.co/4kJOPsg “Only You” by Ginger Root #iPadOS26 #WWDC25 #Apple #iOS26 #macOS26 #AppleIntelligence #LiveTranslation

See you never. This fall, iOS26 will automatically throw those sketchy unwanted messages into a junk drawer for you. Learn more at www.apple.com/os. Audio Descriptions: https://apple.co/43U1dyO #Apple #WWDC25 #MessagesScreening #iOS26 #macOS26

No friendship breakups over here. This fall, you’ll be able to take polls in your group chats in Messages and split bills with your friends with Apple Cash. Learn more at www.apple.com/os/ Audio Descriptions: https://apple.co/43Yxh4R “Only You” by Ginger Root #Apple #WWDC25 #Messages #iOS26 #macOS26 #AppleCash

Meet our next chapter in software design, built with the sleek and expressive material Liquid Glass. This universal design puts greater focus on your content, creating a more personal experience that brings joy and delight across all our platforms while still feeling instantly familiar. Learn more at https://www.apple.com/os/ Audio Descriptions: https://youtu.be/ae9l-WL88mw #Apple #WWDC25 #LiquidGlass Welcome to the official Apple YouTube channel. Here you’ll find news about product launches, tutorials, and other great content. Our more than 160,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

This fall, you’ll be able to multitask with a ton of windows, access files from your Dock, navigate with a menu bar, and do so much more on your iPad. Learn more at www.apple.com/os/. “Only You” by Ginger Root #iPadOS26 #WWDC25 #Apple

Apple’s new look is coming soon. Learn more at www.apple.com/os. Audio Descriptions: https://apple.co/45MsrtK “Only You” by Ginger Root #LiquidGlass #WWDC25 #Apple #iOS26 #macOS26 #iPadOS26 #watchOS26

Woah. Here’s your guide to some of the big announcements from this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Watch the full keynote here: https://youtu.be/0_DjDdfqtUE Learn more at https://www.apple.com/os/ Audio Descriptions: https://youtu.be/xvEOwgprayg “Only You” by Ginger Root https://apple.co/Ginger-Root-Only-You #Apple #WWDC25 #LiquidGlass #AppleEvent Welcome to the official Apple YouTube channel. Here you’ll find news about product launches, tutorials, and other great content. Our more than 160,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Watch the WWDC25 keynote introducing our broadest design update ever and a more helpful Apple Intelligence. You’ll also learn about exciting features coming with iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, visionOS 26, and tvOS 26. To watch the event interpreted in American Sign Language (ASL), please click here: https://youtu.be/UGFo6TF6d9U Audio Descriptions: https://apple.co/4l17UpS Tune in to the Platforms State of the Union livestream here: https://youtube.com/live/51iONeETSng For more on the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, click here: https://apple.co/45ajSsF Subscribe to the Apple Developer channel to stay up to date on the latest Apple software, technologies, and platforms: https://www.youtube.com/@AppleDeveloper 00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:48 iOS 00:41:35 watchOS 00:48:48 tvOS 00:53:35 macOS 01:06:23 visionOS 01:14:17 iPadOS 01:26:05 Developers “Round and Round” by Ratt https://apple.co/Ratt-Round-and-Round “AJ's Vibe (Flipped by Black Milk)” by Robert Glasper https://apple.co/Robert-Glasper-AJs-Vibe-Flipped “Kimpton” by Barry Can't Swim, O’Flynn https://apple.co/BCS-OFlynn-Kimpton “Opus No. 1” by Tim Carleton https://apple.co/Tim-Carleton-Opus-Number-One “Dance on the World” by Maribou State, North Downs https://apple.co/Maribou-State-North-Downs-Dance “ILY” by Kapo, Myke Towers https://apple.co/Kapo-Myke-ILY "The Chase” by Hearts2Hearts https://apple.co/Hearts2Hearts-The-Chase “Girl Like Me" by PinkPantheress https://apple.co/PinkPantheress-Girl-Like-Me “The Mirror” by Polo & Pan https://apple.co/Polo-Pan-The-Mirror “Montmorency Falls” by Green Ring https://apple.co/Green-Ring-Montmorency-Falls “JUMP “ by Mura Masa https://apple.co/Mura-Masa-JUMP “Revolving door (Wreckno Remix)” by Tate McRae https://apple.co/Tate-McRae-Wreckno-Revolving-door “Vacay” by Aminé https://apple.co/Amine-Vacay “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan https://apple.co/Chappell-Roan-Pink-Pony-Club “Approachable” by Gurriers https://apple.co/Gurriers-Approachable “6 out of 5 stars” performed by Allen Stone https://apple.co/Allen-Stone Want to keep enjoying the sounds of WWDC25? Check out the entire playlist on Apple Music. https://apple.co/WWDC25-Playlist #WWDC25 #AppleEvent #AppleKeynote Welcome to the official Apple YouTube channel. Here you’ll find news about product launches, tutorials, and other great content. Our more than 160,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Magnifier on Mac makes the physical world more accessible for anyone with low vision. If you’re in a setting like a classroom, Magnifier connects to your iPhone camera so you can zoom in on a screen or whiteboard. You can also adjust brightness, contrast, color filters, and even perspective to make text and images easier to see. With Magnifier on Mac, you can now bring whatever is important into focus. Learn more: https://apple.co/3SGBwfO Audio Descriptions: https://youtu.be/sds0siWaI_E “Frankie” by Barrie https://apple.co/4knfefe #Apple #Accessibility #MacBookAir #MagnifierForMac Welcome to the official Apple YouTube channel. Here you’ll find news about product launches, tutorials, and other great content. Our more than 160,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Use your iPhone from your Mac with iPhone Mirroring. Mac to school. Learn more: https://www.apple.com/education/college-students/ Audio Descriptions: https://youtu.be/8zntxJCWkIk #MacBookAir #MacBook #Mac Welcome to the official Apple YouTube channel. Here you’ll find news about product launches, tutorials, and other great content. Our more than 160,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Transfer files seamlessly between iPhone and Mac with AirDrop. Mac to school. Learn more: https://www.apple.com/education/college-students/ Audio Descriptions: https://youtu.be/cyJ6fd8g3nQ #MacBookAir #MacBook #Mac Welcome to the official Apple YouTube channel. Here you’ll find news about product launches, tutorials, and other great content. Our more than 160,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Apple is expected to hold its annual iPhone announcement event during the week of September 8, 2025, with September 9 or 10 emerging as the most likely dates. In a social media post today, Dickson shared images of alleged lens covers for the rear cameras on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models, with the following five color labels: black, gray, silver, dark blue, and orange. Join the Eney closed beta to experience a new category of AI companions —where your Mac tasks become simple conversations with an intelligent companion that truly understands your needs. https://macpaw.com/eney?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=influencer&utm_campaign=eney_beta_macrumors 📲 Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/14/iphone-17-pro-all-new-color-rumored/ https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/05/iphone-17-pro-max-vs-pro/https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/14/iphone-17-dynamic-island-changes/ https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/16/all-new-iphone-17-and-17-pro-colors-leaked/ 🌐 Connect with Dan: 𝕏: https://twitter.com/danbarbera Instagram: https://instagram.com/danbarbera1 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@macrumors Dan's YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/danbarbera1 🎙️ Follow The MacRumors Show Podcast: https://youtube.com/@themacrumorsshow ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 - iPhone 17 Event Date 00:40 - A New Orange iPhone 17 Pro?? 02:16 - Sponsor: Eney 03:39 - ALL 15 iPhone 17 Colors 04:41 - Dynamic Island Changes 05:37 - New Design Changes The most popular Apple News & Rumors site on the Internet. Welcome to MacRumors, your ultimate destination for in-depth and insightful Mac reviews, where we go beyond the surface to bring you a comprehensive look at everything Apple & Mac! 🍎✨ 🖥️💻Thorough Reviews: We meticulously test and evaluate each product, exploring the features, performance, and understanding its capabilities. 🔍 In-Depth Analysis: Dive deep into the intricacies of Apple's latest technologies and innovations. 🌐 Mac News & Rumors: Stay up-to-date with our coverage of the latest tech news, and be the first to know about upcoming new Apple product releases, updates, and developments. 🔧 Apple Accessories: Enhance your Mac experience with our reviews and recommendations for must-have accessories. 💡 Tips & Tricks: Unlock the full potential of your Mac with our tips and tricks that make your user experience easy. Subscribe now and join our community of Mac enthusiasts!

A new hands-on video of an iPhone 17 Air dummy model has surfaced, providing a closer look at the rumored design of Apple's thinnest iPhone ever. According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 17 Air will measure just 5.5mm at its thinnest point, surpassing the 6.9mm record held by the iPhone 6. However, to achieve this impressively thin and lightweight design, the device is expected to have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including worse battery life, only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, and an A19 chip instead of an A19 Pro chip. 📲 Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/08/iphone-17-air-dummy-model-video/ 🌐 Connect with Dan: 𝕏: https://twitter.com/danbarbera Instagram: https://instagram.com/danbarbera1 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@macrumors Dan's YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/danbarbera1 🎙️ Follow The MacRumors Show Podcast: https://youtube.com/@TheMacRumorsShow The most popular Apple News & Rumors site on the Internet. Welcome to MacRumors, your ultimate destination for in-depth and insightful Mac reviews, where we go beyond the surface to bring you a comprehensive look at everything Apple & Mac! 🍎✨ 🖥️💻Thorough Reviews: We meticulously test and evaluate each product, exploring the features, performance, and understanding its capabilities. 🔍 In-Depth Analysis: Dive deep into the intricacies of Apple's latest technologies and innovations. 🌐 Mac News & Rumors: Stay up-to-date with our coverage of the latest tech news, and be the first to know about upcoming new Apple product releases, updates, and developments. 🔧 Apple Accessories: Enhance your Mac experience with our reviews and recommendations for must-have accessories. 💡 Tips & Tricks: Unlock the full potential of your Mac with our tips and tricks that make your user experience easy. Subscribe now and join our community of Mac enthusiasts!

As Apple gears up to debut its first-generation foldable iPhone next year, Samsung is on its seventh generation. Samsung today introduced its latest foldable smartphones, debuting the ultra thin Galaxy Z Fold7, the Galaxy Z Flip7, and a new, lower cost Z Flip7 FE. Positioned as Samsung's premium flagship foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold7 is thinner and larger than the foldable smartphones that came before it. When closed, the Fold7's AMOLED display is 6.5 inches, but when open, it's now 8 inches. It's noticeably thinner than the Fold6, measuring in at 8.9mm thick when folded and 4.2mm when unfolded. That's not too far off from rumors about Apple's foldable ‌iPhone‌, which could be 4.5mm when it's open and 9mm when closed. Galaxy Z Fold7: https://howl.link/vnc6c0gjyzbi6 Galaxy Z Flip7: https://howl.link/cp3q9n6h4qz8d Galaxy Z Flip7 FE: https://howl.link/b2orxq8bt1fsh 📲 Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/08/samsung-galaxy-z-fold7/ 🌐 Connect with Dan: 𝕏: https://twitter.com/danbarbera Instagram: https://instagram.com/danbarbera1 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@macrumors Dan's YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/danbarbera1 🎙️ Follow The MacRumors Show Podcast: https://youtube.com/@TheMacRumorsShow ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:17 - Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 04:32 - Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 07:42 - Z Flip7 FE 08:45 - Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic The most popular Apple News & Rumors site on the Internet. Welcome to MacRumors, your ultimate destination for in-depth and insightful Mac reviews, where we go beyond the surface to bring you a comprehensive look at everything Apple & Mac! 🍎✨ 🖥️💻Thorough Reviews: We meticulously test and evaluate each product, exploring the features, performance, and understanding its capabilities. 🔍 In-Depth Analysis: Dive deep into the intricacies of Apple's latest technologies and innovations. 🌐 Mac News & Rumors: Stay up-to-date with our coverage of the latest tech news, and be the first to know about upcoming new Apple product releases, updates, and developments. 🔧 Apple Accessories: Enhance your Mac experience with our reviews and recommendations for must-have accessories. 💡 Tips & Tricks: Unlock the full potential of your Mac with our tips and tricks that make your user experience easy. Subscribe now and join our community of Mac enthusiasts!

Samsung first showed off its OLED M9 Smart Monitor back in January at CES, but now the 32-inch Mac-compatible display is launching. We were able to check it out early to see how it performs with a Mac. 🛍 Order Samsung's latest M-series displays: https://howl.link/gclkgbs59lo3n 📲 Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/08/samsung-m9-smart-monitor-hands-on/ 🌐 Connect with Dan: 𝕏: https://twitter.com/danbarbera Instagram: https://instagram.com/danbarbera1 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@macrumors Dan's YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/danbarbera1 🎙️ Follow The MacRumors Show Podcast: https://youtube.com/@TheMacRumorsShow The most popular Apple News & Rumors site on the Internet. Welcome to MacRumors, your ultimate destination for in-depth and insightful Mac reviews, where we go beyond the surface to bring you a comprehensive look at everything Apple & Mac! 🍎✨ 🖥️💻Thorough Reviews: We meticulously test and evaluate each product, exploring the features, performance, and understanding its capabilities. 🔍 In-Depth Analysis: Dive deep into the intricacies of Apple's latest technologies and innovations. 🌐 Mac News & Rumors: Stay up-to-date with our coverage of the latest tech news, and be the first to know about upcoming new Apple product releases, updates, and developments. 🔧 Apple Accessories: Enhance your Mac experience with our reviews and recommendations for must-have accessories. 💡 Tips & Tricks: Unlock the full potential of your Mac with our tips and tricks that make your user experience easy. Subscribe now and join our community of Mac enthusiasts!

Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects an all-new, more-affordable MacBook model powered by an iPhone chip to launch next year. The new MacBook will be equipped with the A18 Pro chip, according to Kuo. If so, it would be the first Mac to ever use an A-series chip from an iPhone. (In 2020, Apple did briefly offer developers a Mac mini with the iPad Pro's A12Z chip, to help them prepare for the Mac's transition from Intel processors to Apple silicon). 📲 Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/02/macbook-a18-pro-chip-rumor-recap/ 🌐 Connect with Dan: 𝕏: https://twitter.com/danbarbera Instagram: https://instagram.com/danbarbera1 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@macrumors Dan's YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/danbarbera1 🎙️ Follow The MacRumors Show Podcast: https://youtube.com/@TheMacRumorsShow The most popular Apple News & Rumors site on the Internet. Welcome to MacRumors, your ultimate destination for in-depth and insightful Mac reviews, where we go beyond the surface to bring you a comprehensive look at everything Apple & Mac! 🍎✨ 🖥️💻Thorough Reviews: We meticulously test and evaluate each product, exploring the features, performance, and understanding its capabilities. 🔍 In-Depth Analysis: Dive deep into the intricacies of Apple's latest technologies and innovations. 🌐 Mac News & Rumors: Stay up-to-date with our coverage of the latest tech news, and be the first to know about upcoming new Apple product releases, updates, and developments. 🔧 Apple Accessories: Enhance your Mac experience with our reviews and recommendations for must-have accessories. 💡 Tips & Tricks: Unlock the full potential of your Mac with our tips and tricks that make your user experience easy. Subscribe now and join our community of Mac enthusiasts!

When you're away from home and want to play your Nintendo Switch 2 on a larger display, you can do so if you have a USB-C iPad. All you need is an app and a couple of accessories to get everything connected, as you will see in this video. ⬇️ What you need ⬇️ USB C Video Capture Card - https://amzn.to/4nD0fjJ or https://amzn.to/3IaXCVU Orion App for iPad - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hdmi-monitor-orion/id6459355072 🌐 Connect with Dan: 𝕏: https://twitter.com/danbarbera Instagram: https://instagram.com/danbarbera1 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@macrumors Dan's YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/danbarbera1 🎙️ Follow The MacRumors Show Podcast: https://youtube.com/@TheMacRumorsShow The most popular Apple News & Rumors site on the Internet. Welcome to MacRumors, your ultimate destination for in-depth and insightful Mac reviews, where we go beyond the surface to bring you a comprehensive look at everything Apple & Mac! 🍎✨ 🖥️💻Thorough Reviews: We meticulously test and evaluate each product, exploring the features, performance, and understanding its capabilities. 🔍 In-Depth Analysis: Dive deep into the intricacies of Apple's latest technologies and innovations. 🌐 Mac News & Rumors: Stay up-to-date with our coverage of the latest tech news, and be the first to know about upcoming new Apple product releases, updates, and developments. 🔧 Apple Accessories: Enhance your Mac experience with our reviews and recommendations for must-have accessories. 💡 Tips & Tricks: Unlock the full potential of your Mac with our tips and tricks that make your user experience easy. Subscribe now and join our community of Mac enthusiasts!

Smartphone maker Nothing today introduced the Headphone (1), the company's first set of over-ear headphones. The new audio accessory was created in partnership with high-end speaker company KEF. Like most of the Nothing products, the Headphone (1) features a transparent design that lets you see the internal components inside. The see-through look does not work quite as well as it does for a smartphone, and the Headphone (1) will definitely draw attention. Check out Nothing Headphone (1) - https://us.nothing.tech 🌐 Connect with Dan: 𝕏: https://twitter.com/danbarbera Instagram: https://instagram.com/danbarbera1 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@macrumors Dan's YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/danbarbera1 🎙️ Follow The MacRumors Show Podcast: https://youtube.com/@TheMacRumorsShow ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:43 - Sound Quality 03:49 - Design & Button Controls 05:40 - Comfort 06:45 - Audio & Battery 07:16 - Who Should Buy These? The most popular Apple News & Rumors site on the Internet. Welcome to MacRumors, your ultimate destination for in-depth and insightful Mac reviews, where we go beyond the surface to bring you a comprehensive look at everything Apple & Mac! 🍎✨ 🖥️💻Thorough Reviews: We meticulously test and evaluate each product, exploring the features, performance, and understanding its capabilities. 🔍 In-Depth Analysis: Dive deep into the intricacies of Apple's latest technologies and innovations. 🌐 Mac News & Rumors: Stay up-to-date with our coverage of the latest tech news, and be the first to know about upcoming new Apple product releases, updates, and developments. 🔧 Apple Accessories: Enhance your Mac experience with our reviews and recommendations for must-have accessories. 💡 Tips & Tricks: Unlock the full potential of your Mac with our tips and tricks that make your user experience easy. Subscribe now and join our community of Mac enthusiasts!

Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. 📲 Read more: [WEBSITE LINKS HERE] 🌐 Connect with Dan: 𝕏: https://twitter.com/danbarbera Instagram: https://instagram.com/danbarbera1 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@macrumors Dan's YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/danbarbera1 🎙️ Follow The MacRumors Show Podcast: https://youtube.com/@TheMacRumorsShow ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:10 - New Product in Apple's Codebase? 00:28 - NEW Health Features 01:20 - New Case and Design Changes 01:54 - 2nd Generation Ultra Wide Band Chip 02:07 - H3 Chip Upgrades A LOT 02:47 - Live Translation The most popular Apple News & Rumors site on the Internet. Welcome to MacRumors, your ultimate destination for in-depth and insightful Mac reviews, where we go beyond the surface to bring you a comprehensive look at everything Apple & Mac! 🍎✨ 🖥️💻Thorough Reviews: We meticulously test and evaluate each product, exploring the features, performance, and understanding its capabilities. 🔍 In-Depth Analysis: Dive deep into the intricacies of Apple's latest technologies and innovations. 🌐 Mac News & Rumors: Stay up-to-date with our coverage of the latest tech news, and be the first to know about upcoming new Apple product releases, updates, and developments. 🔧 Apple Accessories: Enhance your Mac experience with our reviews and recommendations for must-have accessories. 💡 Tips & Tricks: Unlock the full potential of your Mac with our tips and tricks that make your user experience easy. Subscribe now and join our community of Mac enthusiasts!

Apple, iPhone, iPad, Mac News and Rumors

OpenAI today launched ChatGPT agent, a new agentic model that is able to think proactively and complete computer-based tasks on the user's behalf.


The ChatGPT agent is in the same family as o3. It combines several existing ChatGPT features, and it can do things like research and generate reports, execute code using Terminal, generate slides and spreadsheets, and connect to external data sources and applications.

OpenAI gives several examples of how ChatGPT agent can be used:

• Look at my calendar and brief me on upcoming client meetings based on recent news.


• Plan and buy ingredients to make Japanese breakfast for four.


• Analyze three competitors and create a slide deck.

The ChatGPT agent uses its own virtual computer, and it will navigate websites, filter results, prompt users to log into websites when needed, and deliver summaries of its findings. It is designed to seek permission before taking any "actions of consequence," and OpenAI says that users can interrupt tasks to add extra instructions, and stop tasks at any point.

ChatGPT agent is rolling out starting today for Pro, Plus, and Team users. Just select "agent mode" from the dropdown menu in the composer during a conversation. ChatGPT users are able to transition between conversations and action requests within the same chat.

Pro users will get access by the end of today, while Plus and Team users will get access over the next few days. OpenAI plans to add the functionality for Enterprise and Education users in the coming weeks. Pro users have access to 400 messages per month, and other paid users will get 40 messages monthly with additional usage available through flexible credit-based options.Tag: OpenAI
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Video hosting and sharing platform Vimeo today announced the launch of an updated Apple TV app, bringing Vimeo back to the Apple TV App Store for the first time in two years.


The updated Vimeo app has been rebuilt, and it is available on ‌Apple TV‌ units that are running tvOS 18 or higher. The Vimeo app supports discovering, searching for, and watching videos that have been uploaded to Vimeo.

It includes a Library, and Watch Later list, and a section for On Demand purchases, as well as Staff Picks. Enhanced playback with chapters, speed controls, and multi-language options, and 4K support is available.

While the Vimeo app was missing from the ‌Apple TV‌ ‌App Store‌, Vimeo users had to AirPlay from the Vimeo app on an iPhone or an iPad to watch videos on a bigger display. Vimeo says that its community has been asking for the return of the ‌Apple TV‌ app for watching premium, ad-free content.

Vimeo is free to use, but it offers paid Starter, Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise plans starting at $20 per month for video creators.
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In an interview this week with CNBC's Alex Sherman, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed that Apple, NBC, and ESPN have each bid on the media rights to MLB's "Sunday Night Baseball" package, for the 2026 through 2028 seasons.


Manfred said he plans to choose a winning bidder for "Sunday Night Baseball" within the month, and the rights could be split up between two bidders.

ESPN held the rights to "Sunday Night Baseball" through the 2028 season, but the network and MLB mutually opted out of the $550-million contract earlier this year, so ESPN's rights now expire after the 2025 season. Apple is now looking to pick up those final three seasons, along with NBC, and even ESPN is looking to renegotiate a deal.

Apple TV+ already streams MLB's Friday Night Baseball games, and the service could offer Sunday Night Baseball too if Apple wins the rights.

Following the 2028 season, all regional and national MLB media rights will be expired, and the league is hoping to table a bigger all-in-one package of rights. Apple would likely be very interested in such a package, as it would allow the company to offer an MLB equivalent of MLS Season Pass through the Apple TV app. However, MLB is much bigger than MLS, so it remains to be seen if MLB would be willing to go all-in with Apple.

Apple continues to push into sports content, with the company reportedly likely to secure the rights to Formula 1 racing. In the past, the company unsuccessfully bid on NFL's "Sunday Ticket" package, and on the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.Tags: Apple TV Plus, MLB
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In celebration of World Emoji Day, the Unicode Consortium this week confirmed the new emoji characters that will be added to Unicode 17 in the fall.


Emoji characters that are coming include trombone, treasure chest, distorted face, hairy creature (aka Bigfoot or Sasquatch), fight cloud, apple core, orca, and ballet dancers.

After Unicode 17 is released later this year, artists at Apple will begin creating new emoji characters in the Apple emoji style. It takes several months for Apple to introduce new emoji after a Unicode update, so we can expect to see these characters next spring.

Apple will add the emoji to an iOS 26 update next year, likely in iOS 26.4. Apple most recently added new emoji in iOS 18.4, an update that came out in late March.

iOS 18.4 introduced the Unicode 16 emoji, which included bags under eyes, fingerprint, leafless tree, root vegetable, harp, shovel, and splatter.


The Unicode Consortium releases Unicode updates on a yearly basis, adding new emoji characters each time. Anyone can submit an emoji proposal that the Consortium will consider.Tag: Emoji
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It looks like Apple's foldable iPhone will have some "crease-free" competition.


Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Samsung's next-generation Galaxy Z Fold 8 will use the same laser-drilled metal display plate as the foldable iPhone, with the component to be supplied by South Korean company Fine M-Tec.

Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 7 still has a visible crease in the middle of its inner screen. However, Kuo said that Apple's stricter crease-free requirement for the foldable iPhone has essentially raised the bar for foldable devices, so it sounds like next year's Galaxy Z Fold 8 will feature a "crease-free" screen as well.

Earlier this week, Kuo said the laser-drilled metal plate can disperse the stress generated by bending, allowing for a "crease-free" screen.

The foldable iPhone's inner screen will be supplied by Samsung, according to Kuo, but it is the Fine M-Tec plate that will enable the "crease-free" feat.

Kuo said Apple is aiming to start mass production of the foldable iPhone in the second half of 2026, so the device should finally launch next year. He expects the device to have a 7.8-inch inner display, a 5.5-inch outer display, two rear cameras, one front camera, and a Touch ID power button instead of Face ID.Tags: Foldable iPhone, Ming-Chi Kuo, Samsung
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Apple today shared a new iPhone 16 ad that highlights the Clean Up feature that's available in the Photos app. In the spot, a man snaps a photo of a woman with her cat, and then removes the cat from the image using Clean Up.


Both the cat and the woman are upset with the change, so he undoes it, demonstrating the reversible nature of the feature.

Clean Up is an Apple Intelligence tool that is able to remove unwanted and distracting objects from a photo. It is accessible through the editing interface in the ‌Photos‌ app. You can swipe over whatever you want removed in an image, and the Clean Up tool will do its best to replace it by cloning the background and other elements of the photo.

‌Apple Intelligence‌ is available on the iPhone 15 Pro models, the ‌iPhone 16‌ models, and it will be available on the upcoming iPhone 17 models.Tag: Apple Ads
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A new rumor out of China today has sparked speculation that Apple may be readying a unique new iPhone 17 Pro color that somehow reflects the new design language of its iOS 26 software.


Weibo-based leaker Instant Digital on Thursday hinted that the iPhone 17 Pro has a "special" color variant that is said to be "connected to the iOS 26 Liquid Glass design."

The leaker, who only claims to have heard of it but not seen it, seems to believe that the color is what previous leaks have simply referred to as white, "but it appears differently depending on the lighting."

While speculative, a white base material that subtly shifts hues depending on light and angle could add a dynamic, refractive quality to the color. Combined with the Liquid Glass UI aesthetic of iOS 26, a shimmering surface could potentially create a sense of motion or unity with the glassy elements of the software interface.

The account Instant Digital has accurately leaked Apple information before, such as the Yellow finish for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2's Titanium Milanese Loop. But its track record isn't perfect.

On Wednesday, a Macworld report claimed to reveal all of the colors that each iPhone 17 model will come in. Allegedly based on an "internal document," the report listed white as a color option for all models, including the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Other colors that have now been rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models by multiple sources include a new copper-like orange, black, gray, and dark blue. Whether Apple chooses different names for the colors it ultimately goes with remains to be seen.

Curiously, the leaker Majin Bu recently shared images of third-party lens covers purportedly reflecting Apple's iPhone 17 colors. A white color was not shown, but another, identified as "Transparent," appeared in its place. When asked why the transparent accessory is included in the images, Bu has equivocated, but the leaker has since alluded to another "surprise" color that Apple is currently still testing, without giving anything else away.

In a change to last year's all-titanium iPhone 16 Pro models, Apple is believed to be using a part-glass, part-aluminum design for the iPhone 17 Pro chassis. This could potentially usher in all-new color choices for Apple's high-end iPhone 17 models. What they look like in reality is something we'll learn in just a couple of months. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17 series in September.Related Roundup: iPhone 17 ProTag: Instant DigitalRelated Forum: iPhone
This article, "Rumor Hints at 'Liquid Glass' iPhone 17 Pro Color Tied to iOS 26 Design" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Development studio CD Projekt Red today released acclaimed role-playing action game Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition for the Mac, and it looks like the developers have gone all-out to make the experience as impressive as possible for Mac gamers with the right hardware.


The 2020 triple-A game has been Metal API-optimized for a variety of Macs with Apple silicon, from the first M1 models right up to the latest M4 models. The only caveat is that Cyberpunk 2077 requires a minimum of 16GB of RAM to play, so 8GB M1 and M2 chips don't get a look in.

The open-world action-adventure role-playing game lets players take on the role of V, a cyber-enhanced mercenary ready to do whatever it takes to make a name for themselves in Night City — a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour, and body modification. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition features the base game, starring Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand, and the critically acclaimed spy-thriller expansion Phantom Liberty, starring Idris Elba as Solomon Reed. It also contains every update released for the game so far, including the brand new Update 2.3 — which introduces new quests, new vehicles, AutoDrive, extra Photo Mode options, and more.

To make the most of your machine, the CD Projekt Red team has created "For this Mac," a dynamic preset that assigns settings and resolution based on your Mac's hardware capabilities "to deliver an optimal balance between visual quality and performance."

For example, the Minimum configuration (M1 chip and 16GB of RAM) runs at 1,440 x 900 or 1,600 x 900 resolution with a target FPS of 30, while the Recommended preset requires an M3 Pro chip and 18GB of RAM, and produces an 1,800 x 1,125 or 1,920 x 1,080 resolution with a target FPS of 60.


Users with higher spec Mac models can look forward to enabling two special configurations: High Fidelity requires an M2 Ultra or M3 Max chip and 36GB of RAM, and produces 2,294 x 1,432 or 2,560 x 1,440 resolution with a target FPS of 60. Meanwhile, Very High Fidelity requires an M3 Ultra or M4 Max chip and 36GB of RAM, and produces 2,294 x 1,432 or 2,560 x 1,440 resolution with a FPS target of 60.

In addition, Apple XDR Display owners and owners of other HDR-equipped monitors will get HDR support in the game, while AirPods owners can enable Spatial Audio and head tracking. Lastly, users who want to play with Ray Tracing on can enable it manually in Settings ➝ Graphics, under the Quick Preset menu. Ray Tracing is available on M3 and newer chips.

I loved taking a look inside the world of Cyberpunk 2077 when I stopped by the @CDPROJEKTRED studio in Warsaw. Now it’s your turn—Cyberpunk is available on the Mac App Store starting today! The sharp visuals and smooth performance make Night City feel so real. pic.twitter.com/nmGJNYfFtF

— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) July 17, 2025

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition supports cross progression across all platforms, and includes the Phantom Liberty expansion as well as all subsequent patches. The title requires macOS 15.5 or later, as well as 92GB of storage when downloaded from GOG, Epic Games Store, or Steam, and 149GB of storage when downloaded from the Mac App Store. Prices vary depending on the store, but GOG currently is offering a 53% discount on the game's usual $87.69 price that ends on July 23. Note that players who already own a copy on these storefronts can download it for free on their Apple silicon Mac.
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Amazon is discounting the 40mm GPS Apple Watch SE to $169.00 today, down from $249.00. This is a match for the best price that we've ever seen on the Apple Watch SE, and it's available in Starlight, Silver, and Midnight Aluminum color options.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Amazon has six 40mm GPS Apple Watch SE at this price, including multiple sizes of the Sport Band model. Most are in stock and available to be delivered by the end of July.

$80 OFFApple Watch SE (40mm GPS) for $169.00

Additionally, you can get the 44mm GPS Apple Watch SE at the low price of $199.00 today on Amazon, down from $279.00. This one is available in Midnight, Silver, and Starlight Aluminum colors, and in both Sport Loop and Sport Band options.

$80 OFFApple Watch SE (44mm GPS) for $199.00

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.


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You may have missed it, but select Apple Watch models are gaining a new Wrist Flick gesture in watchOS 26 that allows users to dismiss notifications and return to their watch face with a simple wrist movement.


The gesture works by turning your wrist over and back, using the accelerometer and gyroscope to detect the motion. With the gesture, you can dismiss incoming notifications, mute calls, silence alarms and alerts, and return to the watch face without needing to use your other hand.

Wrist Flick joins the existing Double Tap gesture as another one-handed control option for Apple Watch users. The feature can be toggled on or off in Settings ➝ Gestures ➝ Wrist Flick.

The new gesture is only available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 – the same models that support the Double Tap gesture.

Apple doesn't say exactly why older models don't support the feature, despite having the same sensors, but it does use a new machine learning model, suggesting that only the newer chips found in recent Apple Watch models are powerful enough to handle it.


The watchOS 26 beta is currently available through the Apple Developer Program, with a public beta coming later this month, followed by a general release in the fall.

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Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device.


Below, we've collated the key details that have been leaked about Apple's foldable iPhone so far.

Overall Design

Book-Style

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple's foldable iPhone is similar in style to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold, which uses a book-style folding mechanism, rather than the clamshell design of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects the foldable ‌iPhone‌ to measure between 9 and 9.5 mm when folded, and around 4.5 to 4.8 mm when unfolded. More recently, Weibo-based leaker Instant Digital has said that the foldable iPhone will have a thickness of at least 4.8mm.

Display Sizes

Dual Screens

When folded, users will interact with a 5.5-inch outer display that is similar to a typical iPhone screen, while unfolding it will reveal a larger 7.8-inch iPad-style screen. The inner display is said to be virtually crease-free, thanks to Apple's use of a metal plate that can disperse and control the stress generated by bending the display. These dimensions have been corroborated by two reputable sources. According to one rumor, the inner folding display will have a 4:3 aspect ratio and use a 2,713 x 1,920 resolution, while the outer display will use a 2,088 x 1,422 resolution.

Chassis and Hinge

Durable Materials

The foldable iPhone reportedly has a titanium chassis, with the hinge constructed from a combination of titanium and stainless steel, according to Kuo. Apple is said to be using liquid metal in the hinges to improve durability and help eliminate screen creasing. Liquid metal, manufactured using a die-casting process, has been chosen by Apple to address these two common issues with foldable devices, according to the analyst.

Cameras

Front and Rear

The foldable iPhone is expected to include a dual-lens rear camera, with a front-facing camera for both folded and unfolded states, according to Kuo. Prolific Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station claims that the rear dual lenses will be 48 megapixels each. Other sources have claimed that the inner display features an under-screen camera (USC), while the outer display – in the device's folded state – will have a punch-hole camera.

Authentication

Touch ID

Kuo believes the phone will forgo Face ID authentication, and instead use a Touch ID side button as a means to save precious internal space. Apple has previously integrated Touch ID into the side button of the iPad, iPad Air, and iPad mini.

Battery Life

High-Density Cells

Apple is putting a heavy focus on improving power efficiency by slimming down key components like the display driver to make room for more battery cells, according to a Korean blog that has leaked accurate details about unreleased products before. The phone will reportedly use high-density battery cells – the same ones that Kuo believes will be used in Apple's upcoming ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air.

Pricing

Premium Segment

Multiple reports suggest the foldable iPhone will be priced between $2,000 and $2,500 in the United States, which could make it the most expensive iPhone ever. More recently, analysts at investment banking firm UBS believe the phone will be between $1,800 and $2,000. Regardless of the price, the foldable is expected to tap into Apple's loyal fanbase, some of whom will view it as a "must-have device" if its quality meets expectations.

Launch Date

Late 2026

According to industry analyst Jeff Pu, the device entered the New Product Introduction (NPI) phase at Foxconn in March. Foxconn is expected to officially start producing Apple's foldable iPhone late in the third quarter of 2025 (late September), or early in the fourth quarter (October). An exact launch date is currently unknown, but both Kuo and Pu say mass production is planned for the second half of 2026. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has said he expects the device to be launched next year.Tag: Foldable iPhone
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OpenAI has expanded access to Record Mode in ChatGPT for macOS, bringing the AI-powered transcription feature to Plus subscribers after its initial rollout to business users last month.


The new capability adds a simple "Record" button to the input window in the desktop app that allows you to capture both microphone and system audio during meetings or calls.

When recording stops, ChatGPT processes the audio on OpenAI's servers, generating structured notes complete with summaries, action items, and timestamped references. Microphone and system audio permissions must be enabled by the user first.

Sessions are limited to 120 minutes, with the original audio deleted after transcription. It's likely to be a convenient addition for some paying ChatGPT users, but the feature raises privacy considerations that the company openly acknowledges:

"Please make sure you check local laws and always get the right consents before recording others," the company warns in its documentation.

Plus users, the mic is yours.

Record mode is now available to ChatGPT Plus users globally in the macOS desktop app. https://t.co/xmReUOx473

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) July 16, 2025

OpenAI also says that notes and transcripts from record mode can be referenced in new chats and my be used to improve its models, though this can be disabled in the app's settings. Team, Enterprise, and Edu workspaces are all automatically excluded from model training by default.

The feature remains exclusive to macOS for now, with no immediate plans announced for Windows or mobile platforms. Team, Enterprise, and Education workspace administrators can disable the feature through ChatGPT's settings if needed.Tag: ChatGPT
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Apple's all-new "Emoji Game" for Apple News+ subscribers is now available for users running iOS 18.4 or newer.


The Emoji Game was initially unveiled at WWDC earlier this year as an iOS 26 feature, but to coincide with World Emoji Day today, Apple has released the game for all ‌Apple News‌+ subscribers running iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, or newer.

The game shows words and blank spots with a selection of emoji and emoji combinations below, and the player needs to drag an emoji into the blank spot to fill in the word. If the word is "disappear," for example, you would drag a pear to the blank spot in the word. Pear could also be used to finish off the word "fruitful." The Emoji Game also uses Genmoji to offer unique emojis.

The game is limited to ‌Apple News‌+ subscribers. ‌Apple News‌+ is priced at $12.99 per month, but the whole family can use the service. Apple has been aiming to increase the number of games that are available, and the app also features Crossword, Quartiles, and Sudoku.

New Emoji Game puzzles will be released on a daily basis. The game is currently available in the U.S. and for English-speaking users in Canada. It can be accessed from the Following tab in the News app. Results can be tracked on Game Center leaderboards.Tag: Apple News
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The AirPods market appears to be flatlining in the United States, but the launch of AirPods Pro 3 later this year could boost sales, a new report claims.


According to a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), approximately 44% of iPhone owners in the United States now report owning Bluetooth earbuds, up from 41% in the previous year. Of those, 59% say they use AirPods. This represents a small gain from 57% the year before, effectively bringing the figure back to its 2023 level. This means AirPods are used by roughly 26% of all ‌iPhone‌ owners in the United States today.

While the data reflects a recovery in Apple's share of the Bluetooth earbuds market among ‌iPhone‌ users, it does not indicate meaningful growth beyond previous highs. The size of the market is increasing slowly, and Apple is maintaining its portion, but not expanding it.

AirPods face growing challenges from competitors including Samsung, Sony, and Bose, as well as a wide array of low-cost alternatives. Apple released the AirPods Pro 2 in September 2022, featuring the H2 chip, improved noise cancellation, enhanced Find My integration, and more.

‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 were offered at a substantial discount during Amazon Prime Day earlier this month, with the price reduced from $249 to $149. Best Buy and Walmart quickly matched the pricing, despite Apple maintaining its full price on its website and in stores.

The $100 discount represented one of the steepest markdowns ever for the current-generation model. CIRP speculated that Apple and Amazon may have sought to clear out existing inventory ahead of the anticipated launch of a new model. The more likely explanation was apparently a desire to drive high-volume sales through temporary margin flexibility.

The AirPods Pro 3 are likely to be announced later this year, perhaps alongside new ‌iPhone‌ and Apple Watch models in September. The new model is expected to feature improved ANC, enhanced sound, design tweaks, and heart rate monitoring.

The refresh is expected to target both new customers and existing users with degrading batteries or older models. CIRP says that, as one of the most frequently reordered items on Amazon, AirPods provide Apple with an opportunity to capitalize on a faster-moving product line amid slowing ‌iPhone‌ upgrades.Related Roundup: AirPods ProTags: AirPods Pro 3, CIRPBuyer's Guide: AirPods Pro (Don't Buy)Related Forum: AirPods
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We have just under two months to go until the debut of Apple's iPhone 17 models, and rumors have been ramping up in recent weeks. We went through everything we know so far, pulling out the most exciting rumors and highlighting some other changes that aren't going to be so great.


Top Tier

• Ultra Thin iPhone 17 Air - The iPhone 17 Air is 2025's most exciting iPhone rumor, because it's the first real redesign that we've seen to the ‌iPhone‌ in years. We got to try Samsung's competing super thin Galaxy S25 Edge, and it's nice holding such a lightweight smartphone.


• That Orange Color - The iPhone 17 Pro is rumored to come in an orange-like shade. It's probably going to be more muted than we've seen and copper in tone, but it's still a cool color we haven't seen before.


• 24-Megapixel Selfie Camera - Better selfies and FaceTime video quality? Nothing to complain about there. The 24-megapixel camera is rumored for all ‌iPhone 17‌ models.


• More RAM - The ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 17 Air‌ models are expected to have 12GB RAM, up from 8GB. More RAM is always a plus for games and future AI features.


• iPhone 17 Pro Battery Life - According to rumors, the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max will have the biggest battery of any ‌iPhone‌ to date with a capacity of ~5,000mAh, so it should last even longer than the 33 hour maximum of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Pretty Awesome

• iPhone 17 Colors - The standard ‌iPhone 17‌ is supposed to come in green and purple, two colors that we haven't seen for a while.


• Bigger iPhone 17 - The standard ‌iPhone 17‌ will be 6.3 inches, so it'll match the size of the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌.


• ProMotion - There have been rumors that all four ‌iPhone 17‌ models will support 120Hz ProMotion refresh rates this year. If that happens, it's one less thing distinguishing the Pro models, but a plus for buyers who get the standard model.


• Two-Tone Pro Design - The ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ models are rumored to have a two-material design with more metal and less glass at the back. Anything that makes the ‌iPhone‌ harder to break is a plus.


• 48-Megapixel Telephoto - The ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ is supposed to get an upgraded 48-megapixel Telephoto lens for improved zoomed-in shots.


• A19 Chip - The ‌iPhone 17‌ and 17 Air could get an A19 chip, while the 17 Pro models get an A19 Pro. It's still a 3-nanometer chip, but it'll be faster and more efficient.


• Improved Cooling - The ‌iPhone 17‌ models are supposed to feature better heat dissipation, which will let the A19 chips run faster with less thermal throttling.


• Better Display Coating - The ‌iPhone 17 Air‌ and ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ could have an anti-reflective display that's more scratch resistant. Anything that improves durability is a plus.

So-So

• The Camera Bar - The ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ and the ‌iPhone 17 Air‌ are both rumored to have a horizontal camera bar that goes all the way across the back of the ‌iPhone‌. Apple's version will surely look better in real life than in renders and dummy models, but who really wants a bigger camera bump?


• Titanium to Aluminum - Apple is apparently going to drop titanium for aluminum for the 17 Pro models. Aluminum is lighter than titanium, but it feels like a step backward in quality.


• iPhone 17 Air C1 Modem - The ‌iPhone 17‌ and 17 Pro will get Qualcomm modems, but the ‌iPhone 17 Air‌ is rumored to have Apple's C1 modem. It doesn't support the fastest mmWave 5G speeds.


• Relocated Apple Logo - With the larger camera bar, the two-material design, and some rumored MagSafe changes, the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ models may have an Apple logo that's lower on the device. In mockups, it's included in the design of the ‌MagSafe‌ ring, and it looks odd.


• Apple Wi-Fi 7 Chip - Apple's using its own Wi-Fi 7 chip in all four ‌iPhone 17‌ models. This may bring battery life improvements, but it's mostly an under-the-hood change that lets Apple cut out external suppliers.


• Mechanical Aperture - ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ models could have a mechanical aperture that will let users adjust the amount of light reaching the lens. It's useful for depth of field in DSLRs, but the utility in a smartphone remains to be seen, especially because Apple already has software-based tools for adjusting depth of field.


• 8K Video Recording - 8K video recording could be available on the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌. That's a cool feature, but there are a limited number of people who need to record in 8K. It's also going to take up a ton of space, and will probably require filming with an external SSD.

Lame

• Price Increases - Base ‌iPhone‌ pricing might go up due to tariffs. Apple's facing high prices in China, and several other countries where it manufactures iPhones. Price hikes aren't a sure thing, but probable.


• iPhone 17 Air Color - The ‌iPhone 17 Air‌ will supposedly come in black, white, light blue, and light gold, with that blue being similar to the super light M4 MacBook Air blue. Needless to say, these are boring choices.


• Single-Lens iPhone 17 Air Camera - Due to space constraints, the ‌iPhone 17 Air‌ is only getting a single-lens camera. It won't have the Ultra Wide lens for macro images or wider-angle shots, which limits versatility.


• iPhone 17 Air Battery Life - With a super thin chassis, the ‌iPhone 17 Air‌ needs a smaller battery. Apple is making optimizations, but it won't be on par with the 17 and 17 Pro.


• iPhone 17 RAM - Right now, rumors suggest the standard ‌iPhone 17‌ is only going to have 8GB RAM, while the other models get 12GB. With AI evolving so rapidly, it's less than ideal to handicap one of the 2025 smartphones.

Do you agree with our rankings? Let us know what you're most looking forward to in the comments below. For more rumors, check out our iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, and iPhone 17 Pro roundups, which we update regularly.
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Google plans to unveil its latest Pixel smartphones at an event that will take place on Wednesday, August 20. Google's new devices will be introduced just a few weeks before we're expecting Apple to unveil its latest iPhone models.


Google's lineup is expected to feature the company's latest foldable smartphone, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. There will also be a Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL, for a four-device smartphone lineup.

Rumors suggest that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold won't be as thin and light as Samsung's latest Galaxy Z Fold7, but Google might be first to improved weatherproofing for a foldable smartphone. The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold could have an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, which would make it superior to the Z Fold7's IP48 water and dust resistance.

Few other changes are expected, but the display will increase in size a bit, and it might be a little brighter. Google is also going to add a bigger battery for some modest battery life improvements.

The new Google foldable will have a faster 3-nanometer Tensor G5 chip, as will the rest of the Pixel 10 smartphones that are in development. The G5 will be manufactured by TSMC instead of Samsung, which should bring notable improvements over last year's G4. The Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL aren't going to see major design or size changes, and they'll be similar to last year's Pixel lineup. Google is also expected to unveil new AI features, specifically AI photo editing options.

Google's Pixel 10 devices will compete with Apple's iPhone 17 models, though Apple won't have a foldable device until next year at the earliest.Tags: Google, Google Pixel
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Apple has addressed yield issues with the scratch resistant anti-reflective display layer that it wants to use for some iPhone 17 models, and now it looks like the iPhone 17 Pro and ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max might feature the upgraded technology.


A reliable source that spoke to MacRumors said Apple suppliers have been able to achieve a high enough yield on the anti-reflective glass to support mass production. The ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ and Pro Max will get the new display technology, but it won't be coming to the ‌iPhone 17‌ or the iPhone 17 Air.

For context, we first heard rumors about the anti-reflective display layer in 2024. It's supposedly more scratch resistant than the current Ceramic Shield, so the ‌iPhone 17‌ models that use it may be able to better hold up to wear and tear.

Earlier this year, Apple was having problems with scaling the display coating process, and it seemed like the feature was going to be canceled as a result. Adding the anti-reflective layer was too laborious, and it was slowing down production. The process has since been improved, and the new display is once again a possibility.

Current iPhone models have a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating and the Ceramic Shield, but Apple hasn't focused on anti-reflectivity for the ‌iPhone‌ display like it has for iPad and Mac displays.

Samsung's latest smartphones feature Gorilla Glass Armor, a technology that cuts down on reflections by up to 75 percent and improves contrast in bright lighting conditions. Apple could introduce similar functionality to keep up with the improvements that Samsung has debuted.Related Roundup: iPhone 17 ProRelated Forum: iPhone
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Apple's long-rumored foldable iPhone will likely have a starting price between $1,800 and $2,000 in the U.S., analysts at investment banking firm UBS said this week. If so, the foldable iPhone would cost more than a MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,599.


With a starting price of at least $1,800, the foldable iPhone would be the most expensive iPhone model ever released, topping the Pro Max at $1,199 and up.

In the U.S., Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold 7 starts at $1,999.99, so the foldable iPhone could be priced in line with competing devices.

In related news, the foldable iPhone's thickness has potentially leaked.

In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the foldable iPhone will have a thickness of at least 4.8mm. Earlier this year, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the device would be as thin as 4.5mm when unfolded, but perhaps Apple will not quite hit that mark.

Instant Digital has more than 1.4 million followers on Weibo, and the account has accurately leaked Apple information before, such as the Yellow finish for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2's Titanium Milanese Loop. However, like most sources, the account does not have a perfect track record.

By comparison, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 measures 4.2mm when unfolded. So, regardless of which source is correct here, the first foldable iPhone would be slightly thicker than Samsung's latest offering. Of course, Samsung has been releasing foldable smartphones since 2019, so Apple will be entering the market years later.

Earlier this week, Kuo said Apple is aiming to start mass production of the foldable iPhone in the second half of 2026, so the device should launch next year. He said the device will have a 7.8-inch inner screen with a "crease-free" design, a 5.5-inch outer screen, two rear cameras, one front camera, and a Touch ID power button instead of Face ID.Tags: Foldable iPhone, Instant Digital, UBS
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Last week, Amazon introduced a few discounts across the M4 MacBook Air lineup for Prime Day, and many of these deals are still available today. You'll find both 13-inch and 15-inch models on sale, and some will require you to clip an on-page coupon in order to see the final sale price at checkout.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Starting with the 13-inch models, Amazon has up to $162 off two configurations of this notebook. Prices start at $849.00 for the 256GB model, then raise to $1,236.50 for the 24GB/512GB model. All of these are solid second-best prices on the M4 MacBook Air.

$150 OFF13-inch M4 MacBook Air (256GB) for $849.00
$162 OFF13-inch M4 MacBook Air (24GB/512GB) for $1,236.50

Moving to the larger display models, Amazon has both 512GB versions of the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air on sale this week, as well as the 256GB model. The 16GB/512GB model is available for $1,249.00 and the 24GB/512GB model is on sale for $1,414.50. Across the board, these are all second-best prices on the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air.

Note: You won't see the deal price until checkout.
$150 OFF15-inch M4 MacBook Air (256GB) for $1,049.00
$150 OFF15-inch M4 MacBook Air (16GB/512GB) for $1,249.00
$184 OFF15-inch M4 MacBook Air (24GB/512GB) for $1,414.50

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.



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Razer has just released its Thunderbolt 5 Dock Chroma, a premium docking station designed for creative professionals and gamers seeking expanded connectivity options. The $399.99 device supports up to three 4K displays at 144Hz or a single 8K display at 60Hz.


The dock features four Thunderbolt 5 ports, three DisplayPort 2.1 connections, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, Gigabit Ethernet, and a 3.5mm audio combo jack. An SD card slot supports UHS-II speeds, while an M.2 PCIe Gen 4 slot allows up to 8TB of SSD storage expansion inside the dock itself.

Thunderbolt 5's 120Gb/s bandwidth enables rapid data transfers, and the dock can also deliver up to 140W power delivery for laptop charging. There's also an included 0.8-meter TB5 cable for connection via USB-C.


The device's anodized aluminum housing measures 206.5mm x 85mm x 30.84mm and weighs 524 grams, and if you like a bit of color on your workstation, Razer's signature RGB lighting adds some visual appeal.

The reality is that Thunderbolt 5 adoption currently remains limited in the Windows ecosystem, but Apple's latest Macs have embraced the standard, including MacBook Pro models with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, along with the M4 Pro-powered Mac mini. Razer's dock also offers backward compatibility with Thunderbolt 4/USB 4, and Mac owners can use Razer's Synapse macOS utility to control the Chroma.


Available directly from Razer's website, the $399.99 Thunderbolt 5 Dock Chroma can be had in optional Black and Mercury White colors.Tags: Razer, Thunderbolt 5
This article, "Razer Launches Thunderbolt 5 Dock Chroma With 10 Ports and Up to 8TB Internal SSD Expansion" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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