If you've been following iPhone 18 Pro reports recently, you'll know that there are two competing rumors from usually reliable sources about how Apple plans to integrate Face ID into the display, and both of them likely affect the fate of the Dynamic Island – and in turn the overall look of the display itself.


Last month, The Information's Wayne Ma said that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max would have "only a small hole cutout in the top-left corner to accommodate the front-facing camera."

Unless Apple opts to still periodically display the familiar pill-shaped interface element in its iOS 27 software, Ma's wording suggests that the devices might not have a Dynamic Island at all. Taking Ma's report as a cue, developer Filip Vabroušek has helpfully attempted to visualize what such an iPhone 18 Pro model could look like (see below – and ignore the iOS version shown).


All well and good, you might think. However, Counterpoint Research VP Ross Young this week lobbed a grenade into Ma's settled territory by claiming that the iPhone 18 Pro will still have some visible Face ID elements.

For this reason, Young believes that the devices will still have a Dynamic Island, albeit a "smaller" version compared to the one on the iPhone 14 Pro through iPhone 16 models. Vabroušek has again stepped in to give us a peek at this alternative implementation.



Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has also said that Apple will shrink the size of the Dynamic Island on at least some iPhone models launching next year, so there are now multiple sources who believe that iPhone 18 models will still have a smaller Dynamic Island rather than only a front camera hole.

So there you have it: two rival interpretations of what the iPhone 18 Pro's display could look like. It's quite a big deal for anyone who plans to upgrade their iPhone next year, considering how much time we spend staring at the screen.

As for the 20th anniversary iPhone, due in 2027, Young's roadmap also threw a spanner in the works by refuting claims by the likes of Gurman that it will be the first iPhone with a truly uninterrupted display with no cutouts.

Young now believes that the first iPhone with both under-screen Face ID and an under-screen front camera will be released all the way in 2030, suggesting that a truly all-screen iPhone remains a full five years away.
This article, "Here's What Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro Display Could Look Like" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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After a couple of weeks of radio silence in the Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc. case, Apple’s lawyers are now back with a vengeance in the Ninth Circuit. And this time, they’re not just pushing back on the original outcome, but also asking the Ninth Circuit to assign the case to a different judge if it is sent back to the district court.

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Image Playground is Apple's image generation app that launched last year. Most people may not have a lot of use for the cartoonish images that it produces in iOS 18, but you're going to want to take another look at it in iOS 26 because Apple has improved its algorithms.


People look more natural in the images generated by the app, with more realistic eyes and more variation in hair that better matches sample photos.

As a quick recap, ‌Image Playground‌ lets you type in any phrase to generate an image in one of three non-realistic styles. You can also select pre-determined scenes and props that Apple suggests, and generate images featuring your friends and family. It's these images where you will see the biggest difference in ‌iOS 26‌, because the content generated based on images of people has changed quite a bit.

Animation

In ‌iOS 18‌, photos generated using the Animation style have blunt hair with little variation, lots of contrast, and unnatural looking faces, but in ‌iOS 26‌, features are softer, hair is more varied, and it has more flow. Clothes also look more natural, though ‌Image Playground‌ doesn't often bother matching outfits.



‌Image Playground‌'s Animation style in ‌iOS 26‌ seems to take more liberty with image backgrounds, pose, and body shape, and it's better at small details like specific eyebrow shape.

Sketch

With the Sketch style, ‌Image Playground‌ is again better at matching facial expression, features, and hair style. The image on the right looks more like MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera than the middle image.

Illustration

Illustration has some of the same characteristics as Sketch, better capturing colors and inventing better backgrounds.

Animals and Landscapes

The changes to ‌Image Playground‌ can also be seen in images of animals, food, places, and more, in all three built-in styles.

Emotions

‌Image Playground‌ seems to be better at reflecting emotion, too. For this image, the modifier "sobbing" was added to the image. It didn't quite show tears, but there is more emotion in the ‌iOS 26‌ face on the right. There's even a dedicated "Expressions" menu, with options that include laugh, happy, mad, sad, shocked, thinking, thumbs up, and thumbs down.

ChatGPT Integration

ChatGPT image generation capabilities are included in ‌Image Playground‌ in ‌iOS 26‌, so there are an expanded range of styles to choose from. There are a few suggested options, including anime, oil painting, vector, print, and water color styles, all of which use ChatGPT rather than Apple's capabilities to create the image.


The output is similar to what you get if you use ChatGPT 4o for image generation, and you can make those cute anime-style images that have been floating around the internet.


There's also an open-ended "Any Style" option to create images with ChatGPT, and that adds more range to what's possible with ‌Image Playground‌. ChatGPT can essentially mimic any style that you ask it to, and it can generate realistic images, which is not something that Apple's image generation technology does.


As with standard ‌Image Playground‌ image generation, you can make a text-based request or upload an image to ChatGPT and ask it to use that as the basis for an image. Images that you upload and text requests can be combined.

Creating images with ChatGPT uses up tokens, and if you have a free account, you probably won't be able to create more than one or two images. Taking advantage of ChatGPT image creation features in ‌Image Playground‌ beyond that requires a paid account.

Genmoji

‌Image Playground‌ in ‌iOS 18‌ does not support creating Genmoji, and that's a separate feature located in the Messages app. In ‌iOS 26‌, you can use ‌Image Playground‌ for ‌Genmoji‌.


‌Genmoji‌ is a style that you can select, and choosing it opens up an interface where you can choose an emoji or multiple emoji to customize. One of the new ‌Genmoji‌ features in ‌iOS 26‌ is the option to combine emoji to make new emoji rather than starting from scratch with a character, and this capability is available in ‌Image Playground‌ in addition to the Messages app.

You can tap multiple emoji to create a new one, or choose an emoji and then add text-based descriptions to make tweaks. There is no option to use photos for ‌Genmoji‌. The ‌Genmoji‌ that you make are added to your emoji keyboard and they can be used in Messages.

Labeling

When you send someone an image generated with ‌Image Playground‌ in ‌iOS 26‌, like over AirDrop, it is labeled as a generated image in the file name.
This article, "iOS 26 Brings Major Improvements to Image Playground" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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While a lot of the focus is on the all-new iPhone 17 Air, Apple is also planning some design changes to the iPhone 17 Pro coming later this year. New images posted to social media today provide us with what could be our best look yet at the redesigned camera bump on the iPhone 17 Pro…

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Have you been working your way through Hades on mobile via Netflix? You’d better hurry up, before it’s too late. As first spotted by Engadget and confirmed by Netflix, 21 high-profile indie games are being removed from the service starting next month. See the full list below.

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Nomad today announced the launch of the Leather Mag Wallet for iPhone, which includes an integrated Tracking Card that works with Apple's Find My app.


The Leather Mag Wallet attaches to the back of a MagSafe ‌iPhone‌ using a magnetic connection, and it serves as an alternative to Apple's own Leather Wallet with ‌MagSafe‌. Nomad made the wallet from vegetable-tanned Horween leather that will develop a unique patina over time.

Nomad's Mag Wallet is able to hold up to four standard credit cards, and it connects to ‌Find My‌ so if it comes off of the ‌iPhone‌ and is lost, it can be found with the ‌Find My‌ app. ‌Find My‌ network integration is included, so if you are out of range, it will be able to connect to Apple products owned by others to relay its location. ‌Find My‌ also includes features for playing a sound and getting a notification when the wallet is left behind.

There is a rechargeable battery inside and the Mag Wallet can be charged using any Qi or ‌MagSafe‌ charger. The battery lasts for up to five months. The wallet can be attached to any ‌MagSafe‌ ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPhone‌ in a ‌MagSafe‌ case, and it comes in black and brown colors.

The Leather Mag Wallet can be purchased from the Nomad website for $79.
This article, "Nomad Launches iPhone Wallet With Find My Integration" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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After a rocky stretch, Apple managed to bounce back last month with a 15% jump in iPhone sales, driven largely by renewed demand in the U.S. and China.

In China, especially, Apple had been losing ground to local brands benefiting from government subsidies on lower-cost phones. Now, it appears Apple is joining the subsidy program itself.

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When leaker Kosutami claimed that Apple was planning a May or June launch of the next-generation AirTag, that broadly tracked with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman’s earlier report from November that Apple was aiming for a “around the middle” of 2025 release.

But now that we’re fast approaching the end of June and there are still no new AirTag, we have an update on Apple’s new release target for the long-awaited next generation of its tracker.

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As previewed in April, Google Fi Wireless is rolling out support for visual voicemail on the iPhone. With this update, voicemail will no longer be available in the Fi app.

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Apple last updated its Apple TV 4K set-top box in late 2022. So when is the next model coming? The wait won’t be long. Here’s when to expect the new Apple TV 4K to launch.

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Several of Apple's iCloud services are experiencing issues at the current time, with the System Status page reflecting problems with ‌iCloud‌ Mail, ‌iCloud‌ Storage Upgrades, ‌iCloud‌ Web Apps, iWork for ‌iCloud‌, and Photos.


‌iCloud‌ Web Apps and iWork for ‌iCloud‌ are both listed as having an outage at the current time, and Apple says that some users may be experiencing problems.

The other services are shown with a yellow "Issue" warning, but they have the same note about some users experiencing problems with the service. The outages have been ongoing since 2:36 p.m. Eastern Time.

Update 5:53 p.m. ET: Apple added Find My and ‌iCloud‌ account sign in to the list of services experiencing problems.

Update 6:41 p.m. ET: The ‌Find My‌ issue has been resolved, but the other services are still having issues.
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If you have fun shooting 360 video with a , but isn’t exactly a fan of the editing process after, here’s some good news: GoPro just rolled out two new tools for its Quik mobile app aimed at making 360 editing a bit less of a hassle.

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iCloud is currently down for some Apple users, impacting key apps and services like Photos, Mail, iWork, and more. Here’s what we know so far about the outage.

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

Sponsored by Bitwarden: Check out Bitwarden Password Manager, featuring a new Apple Watch authenticator integration, secure autofill on Safari and iOS apps, and enterprise-grade security tools that help you manage credentials with confidence.

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Apple Invites, the new app that debuted earlier this year for organizing events, has just been updated to add a lot more background options than before.

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Apple today updated its Invites app, adding a new event background options for customizing the look of event invitations that are sent out. Apple says that the added background options are ideal for planning a pool day, drinks with friends, or a watch party for the big game.


There are several new backgrounds in the "Photographic" section, including clouds, a lime slice in soda water, lemon slices in punch, a frosty beer, watermelon slices, a pool inner tube, a disco ball, orchid flowers, bamboo shoots, a zoomed in shot of a chrysanthemum, a colorful set of pickleballs, tennis balls, footballs, soccer balls, basketballs, golf balls, a beach with clear water, a green bokeh background, brocade fabric, grass, colorful flowers, rainbow sparkles, a multi-colored light pattern, and champagne glasses.


Apple launched the Invites app back in February, and this is the second update the app has received. In May, Apple added the option to include links in event invitations.

Invites is an event planning app that supports creating custom invitations with unique background images, fonts, and relevant information like directions and the weather. It also has easy-to-use event managing and RSVP tools.

While Invites is free, it is an iCloud+ service, so an ‌iCloud‌+ subscription is required to create an event. ‌iCloud‌+ plans are priced starting at $0.99 per month, and they include additional ‌iCloud‌ storage and features like Private Relay.

Though an ‌iCloud‌+ subscription is needed for creating an event, anyone can RSVP to an invitation, including those without iPhones.

The Invites app can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]
This article, "Apple's Invites App Gets More Backgrounds" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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In the smart home world, Philips Hue already has some of the more expensive options, and now those prices are going even higher thanks to US tariffs.

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In the smart home world, Philips Hue already has some of the more expensive options, and now those prices are going even higher thanks to US tariffs.

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iOS 26 introduces several new AirPods features that are currently being beta tested by developers, and Apple just released a new firmware build for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 users.

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Apple today provided developers with new beta firmware for the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, with an 8A293c version number. The firmware is only available to developers at the current time, and a device running iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or macOS 26 is required to install the update. This is the second beta so far.


The new firmware adds several features that Apple is debuting alongside ‌iOS 26‌, ‌iPadOS 26‌, and macOS Tahoe.

The ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 and ‌AirPods 4‌ support improved audio quality for phone calls and video calls, plus studio-quality audio recording for interviews, podcasts, and videos. There's also an option to use the AirPods as a camera remote with the Camera app to take photos or start a video recording.

With the latest updates, Apple added a firmware update installation option that's available from the AirPods settings interface when the AirPods are connected to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
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Apple has a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster coming to theaters this weekend—F1 The Movie—and your iPhone’s Wallet app might have just told you about it. Here’s why this is causing backlash.

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Apple today sent out an ad to some iPhone users in the form of a Wallet app push notification, and not everyone is happy about it.


An unknown number of iPhone users in the U.S. today received the push notification, which promotes a limited-time Apple Pay discount that movie ticket company Fandango is offering on a pair of tickets to Apple's new film "F1: The Movie."

Some of the iPhone users who received the push notification have complained about it across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, X, and other online discussion platforms.

"As far as I can tell, Apple is now just sending me ads to my screen now as push notifications, something I hate with an absolute passion and disable across the board in every app that tries this," said one person who received the notification.

Some people are especially upset about receiving a push notification ad through the Wallet app because it is a very important app for personal finances, so simply turning off notifications for the entire app is not a feasible solution.

Worse, Apple seems to be ignoring the guidelines that apply to App Store apps. The company says push notifications should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless users have explicitly opted in to receive them for said purposes.

The full text of Apple's guideline:

Push Notifications should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless customers have explicitly opted in to receive them via consent language displayed in your app's UI, and you provide a method in your app for a user to opt out from receiving such messages.

Apple did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

Apple has been heavily promoting F1: The Movie, which debuts in theaters on June 25 in Europe and on June 27 in the U.S. and Canada. However, the company may have gone a step too far here based on online reaction from some iPhone users.

One silver lining is that the iOS 26 beta adds an "Offers & Promotions" toggle to the Wallet app, allowing users to opt in or out of receiving special offers and discounts available from Apple and its unspecified partners. However, Apple sent out to the push notification ad to iPhone users on iOS 18 too, and those users seemingly did not explicitly opt in to receive such an ad. For that reason, some people are disappointed in Apple.
This article, "iPhone Users Upset About Apple Promoting F1 Movie With Wallet App Notification" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iOS 26 is a major software release not only for iPhone, but also adjacent platforms like CarPlay and AirPods. And there’s one AirPods feature in particular that could very well be Apple’s preparation for AirPods Pro 3 gaining cameras.

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Apple has joined China's national digital product subsidy program through its own direct sales channels for the first time, enabling eligible customers in Beijing and Shanghai to receive government-backed discounts on select iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and Macs (via South China Morning Post).


Apple customers in Shanghai can access the subsidies by purchasing qualifying devices in one of the city's eight Apple retail stores, while Beijing residents can receive the discount through Apple's online store, provided they use a Beijing shipping address.

The program offers subsidies of up to 2,000 yuan (approximately $278) on certain Apple products, with eligibility criteria determined by product type and price. Devices priced below 6,000 yuan (roughly $835) receive a 15% discount, capped at 500 yuan, while some higher-value items such as Macs are eligible for a bigger discount.

Previously, Apple products were available under the subsidy program only through authorized third-party platforms such as JD.com and Alibaba's Taobao marketplace. This therefore marks the first time Apple's own online and retail stores have participated directly in the scheme.

Data from market analytics companies have painted a consistent picture of Apple's smartphone shipments in mainland China falling in 2025, making Apple the only one among the country's top five smartphone vendors to record a decline this year. By contrast, Xiaomi and Huawei have grown dramatically.
This article, "Apple Joins China Subsidy Program in Effort to Counter Declining Sales" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Today’s Apple deals are now ready to roll starting off with another shot at saving $150 off the sticker price on Apple’s latest 24GB M4 Mac mini with the 512GB SSD. Next we move over to some clearance pricing on the M3 MacBook Air lineup – M4 models are still $150 off, but you’ll now find 24GB M3 variants at $450 off the list. The same goes for iPad Air – current M3 configs are $100 off but we have up to $400 off M2 variants right now. All of that and more awaits below. 

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The second developer beta of macOS Tahoe is now available for testing, and it includes a handful of smaller new features and changes on the Mac.


Below, we recap everything new that has been found in macOS Tahoe beta 2 so far.

Redesigned Finder App Icon

Crisis averted: Apple has restored the Finder icon's design to its former glory on the second beta.

On the first macOS Tahoe developer beta, the app icon's colors were inverted, with blue appearing on the right side and white appearing on the left side. That change disappointed some people, and Apple has evidently listened to that feedback.

Redesigned Migration Assistant App Icon

The second beta also gives a fresh coat of paint to the Migration Assistant app icon.

Menu Bar Background Option

Apple removed the frosted background from the menu bar by default on macOS Tahoe, as part of the Liquid Glass redesign. If you miss it, though, the second beta adds a "Show menu bar background" option to the System Settings app under Menu Bar.

AirPods Beta Firmware

As spotted by Federico Trevisani, the second macOS Tahoe beta lets you enroll in beta testing of AirPods firmware updates directly on a Mac.

First, connect your AirPods to your Mac. Next, open the System Settings app and click on the Bluetooth menu. Then, select the (i) symbol next to your AirPods. On the ensuing page, scroll down to the bottom and click on "AirPods Beta Updates. Finally, there is a toggle to enable beta firmware updates on your AirPods. Firmware updates will be installed when your AirPods are in their charging case and near the Мас.

Apple currently offers AirPods beta firmware updates to developers only. However, that will soon change. Apple plans to start offering public betas of AirPods firmware updates in July for the first time, beginning with the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2.

The latest firmware beta for the ‌AirPods 4‌ and AirPods Pro 2 adds support for improved audio quality for phone calls and video calls, plus studio-quality audio recording for interviews, podcasts, and videos. There is also an option to use AirPods as a camera remote with the Camera app to take photos or start a video recording, and these AirPods models can automatically pause audio if it is detected that you fell asleep.

Other Changes

• Apple's release notes for the second macOS Tahoe developer beta mention the same new Recovery Assistant feature that was added to iOS 26. Apple: "Recovery Assistant is a new way to recover your device if it doesn't start up normally. It can look for problems and attempt to resolve them if found."


• We have not independently confirmed this yet, but a Reddit user claims that you can now use Apple Intelligence when booting macOS Tahoe from an external drive, by default. On the first beta, and macOS Sequoia, this was only possible through a manual process that involved the use of Terminal.


• There is a new "Your Mac has been updated" notification.
• Developers can test that their Mac apps no longer depend on Rosetta 2, which will be phased out starting with macOS 28.

The first macOS Tahoe public beta will be available in July, and the update will likely be released to the general public in September.
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watchOS 26 is the next major software update for Apple Watch, bringing Apple Notes to your wrist, updates to the Workout app, and more. Another big watchOS 26 highlight: upgrades to Control Center. Here’s what’s coming.

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In the iOS 26 beta, Apple has redesigned the alarm screen in the Clock app, giving it a cleaner look with a larger time display and significantly bigger buttons. When the alarm goes off, you'll now see two large, equal-sized buttons for Stop and Snooze placed side by side at the bottom of the screen.


While the redesign fits with Apple's broader visual refresh in iOS 26, it also seems to address a problem the company had already solved: reducing the chances of you hitting Stop instead of Snooze when you're half-awake and fumbling for your phone. Ironically, internal testing once showed that making both buttons the same size actually made that mistake more likely.

According to Jack Fields, a former Apple engineer and head writer at Kernel Extension, the new layout contradicts internal research he was involved in during his time at the company. That testing included a version of the Clock app that logged user interactions to a heat map, tracking exactly where people tapped the screen upon waking.

"It was recording where our sleepy hands were smacking around on the screen in order to see how accurate we were in turning off the alarms," says Fields. What they found was perhaps counterintuitive: when Stop and Snooze were made the same size and placed close together, users were 30% more likely to hit Stop by accident. In other words, it actually increased the chances of oversleeping.

That's why recent versions of iOS feature a prominent, centered Snooze button and a much smaller Stop button tucked further down the screen. "By making the Stop button such a small hit target, it ensures you're awake enough to actually stop it," Fields explains.

"This new design is... interesting," he adds. "It goes against any studies I was a part of, so I'm curious what data they have to support the change. It's terrifyingly large now."

It's worth remembering this is beta software, and Apple could tweak the layout before the final release. But for now, the update makes you wonder whether a more symmetrical, simplified UI is always better, or (at least in this case) is it more likely to make you tap the wrong thing, just faster?

In a related change you may have missed, Apple also now allows users to customize snooze length, choosing a length of time between 1 minute and 15 minutes. (Previously, tapping snooze always snoozed an alarm for nine minutes.) Now that's a change we can certainly get behind.
This article, "Apple's New Alarm Design in iOS 26 Might Make You Oversleep" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Yesterday evening, TechCrunch reported on a series of new legal filings made by OpenAI in the ioY trademark lawsuit that led to the scrubbing of the ‘io’ brand on OpenAI’s website.

The documents, filed by OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman as well as ex-Apple employees Evans Hankey, Tang Tan, and Marwan Rammah (now all at io Products), reveal as much about the company’s ambitions as they do about what it hopes to keep under wraps. Here are a few key takeaways.

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Today marks 15 years since Apple released the popular iPhone 4 and launched FaceTime, its proprietary video calling service.


The ‌iPhone‌ 4 first became available to customers on June 24, 2010, following its unveiling by then-CEO Steve Jobs at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference earlier that month. It was the first ‌iPhone‌ to feature a high-resolution "Retina" display, with a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, making individual pixels imperceptible at a standard viewing distance. Apple described it at the time as offering "four times the pixel density of previous displays," resulting in crisper text and sharper images.

The device introduced a new industrial design made from stainless steel and glass, with squared edges that diverged significantly from the rounded plastic form factor of previous iPhones. It also featured Apple's first custom-designed system-on-a-chip, the A4, which debuted in the original iPad. The A4 provided improved performance and battery life compared to the ‌iPhone‌ 3GS. The ‌iPhone‌ 4 also marked the debut of the front-facing camera on an ‌iPhone‌, enabling selfies for the first time, as well as ‌FaceTime‌ video calling.

The ‌iPhone‌ 4 shipped with iOS 4, which introduced several new software features including background functionality for third-party apps, home screen folders, and a unified Mail inbox. It was also the first iOS version to drop support for an ‌iPhone‌, the original model.

One of the most infamous issues surrounding the ‌iPhone‌ 4 was the so-called "antennagate" controversy. Due to the external stainless steel antenna band doubling as a signal receiver, some users experienced signal degradation when holding the device in a way that bridged the antenna gaps. Apple addressed the issue in a press conference in July 2010, offering free bumper cases to affected customers and explaining that most smartphones exhibited similar signal attenuation under certain conditions.

Despite the controversy, the ‌iPhone‌ 4 was Apple's most successful smartphone launch at the time. The company reported pre-orders of over 600,000 units on the first day alone, and long queues were seen outside Apple Stores on launch day across the United States and other countries. The model went on to become one of the best-selling iPhones of its era and remained available in various forms until 2014, including as a low-cost option with reduced storage.

‌FaceTime‌ was initially limited to Wi-Fi connections and available only between ‌iPhone‌ 4 devices running iOS 4. With the device already signed into the user's Apple ID, making a call was simple and initiated directly from the Phone or Contacts app. In 2011, Apple expanded ‌FaceTime‌ support to the ‌iPad‌ 2 and the Mac. ‌FaceTime‌ Audio was introduced with iOS 7 in 2013.

In iOS 12, Apple added support for Group ‌FaceTime‌ with up to 32 participants, and in 2021, ‌FaceTime‌ links brought limited compatibility with Android and Windows via web browsers. While Apple initially described ‌FaceTime‌ as "an open industry standard," the company never published the protocol, and the feature has remained exclusive to Apple platforms.
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As spotted by Federico Trevisani, the second macOS Tahoe beta lets you enroll in beta testing of AirPods firmware updates directly on a Mac. A similar interface was already introduced on the iPhone and iPad with the first iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 betas.


First, connect your AirPods to your Mac. Next, open the System Settings app and click on the Bluetooth menu. Then, select the (i) symbol next to your AirPods. On the ensuing page, scroll down to the bottom and click on "AirPods Beta Updates. Finally, there is a toggle to enable beta firmware updates on your AirPods. Firmware updates will be installed when your AirPods are in their charging case and near the Мас.


Apple currently offers AirPods beta firmware updates to registered developers only. However, that will soon change. Apple plans to start offering public betas of AirPods firmware updates in July for the first time, beginning with the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2.

Apple already released a developer beta of an upcoming firmware update for the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 earlier this month. With the new firmware, the ‌AirPods 4‌ and AirPods Pro 2 gain support for improved audio quality for phone calls and video calls, plus studio-quality audio recording for interviews, podcasts, and videos. There is also an option to use AirPods as a camera remote with the Camera app to take photos or start a video recording. Plus, these AirPods models can automatically pause audio if it is detected that you fell asleep.
This article, "You Can Now Enable AirPods Firmware Update Betas on macOS Tahoe" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon today has low prices across nearly the entire M4 MacBook Air lineup, with $150 off both 13-inch and 15-inch models. Many of the notebooks in this sale are seeing delivery estimates around late June.

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 13-inch models, Amazon has $150 off all three configurations of this notebook. Prices start at $849.00 for the 256GB model, then raise to $1,049.00 for the 16GB/512GB model and $1,249.00 for the 24GB/512GB model. All of these are solid second-best prices on the M4 MacBook Air.





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 $1,248.99 and the 24GB/512GB model is on sale for $1,449.00. Across the board, these are all second-best prices on the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air.





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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This article, "Amazon Takes $150 Off M4 MacBook Air, Starting at $849" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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When a serious emergency occurs, a picture can be worth a thousand words. It can be incredibly helpful to first responders to see ahead of time what they will be faced with when they arrive.

It is technically possible to send photos and video to 911 operators, but it’s a convoluted process. That’s set to change later this year …

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Apple’s big iPhone 17 unveiling is just a few months away, with a launch event likely in early September. Here are four new camera features expected to arrive with the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.

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Update: Avelo Running is closer to arriving with an already funded Kickstarter campaign that doubled its goal within hours of launching. Learn much more about the project and pledge your support to join the race.

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Avelo Running is a fitness-focused startup that recently came out of stealth to unveil their first product. What the company is building has the potential to be the perfect running companion for Apple Watch. Any runner with a smartphone can benefit, though, without bringing a phone or watch along for the run.

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Apple TV+ has halted production for its upcoming untitled “brothers” comedy starring Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, The Lost Bus) and Woody Harrelson (True Detective, Natural Born Killers). Here’s what happened.

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One of the most common blind spots in small business security is access management for various company resources. Today’s IT teams are moving fast (and often understaffed), solving customer problems, and juggling shifting responsibilities as the business grows and evolves. Many SMBs also don’t have a dedicated IT team. They might be fixing things by committee or just trusting that vendors have these problems solved. Behind the scenes, there’s usually little visibility into who still has access to which tools, accounts, or SaaS apps.

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When Jony Ive and Sam Altman teased their upcoming AI hardware device, we noted how mysterious they were being about its form factor.

While some were suggesting that it was a wearable, I said I felt pretty sure it wasn’t, and that’s now been confirmed by a court filing. A 9to5Mac reader last month made a plausible suggestion, and the latest development seems to me to add weight to the idea …

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More details have leaked about former Apple design chief Jony Ive's secretive collab with OpenAI to create a new AI consumer product. The gadget – pitched as a "third core device" that would sit in your pocket, or on your desk alongside a MacBook Pro and iPhone – apparently won't be an in-ear device or a wearable. How do we know?


Earlier this week, OpenAI was forced to remove from its website mentions of io (the hardware startup it acquired, co-founded by Ive) to comply with a trademark lawsuit by a Google-backed company called iyO, which is developing custom-molded earpieces that connect to other devices.

To back up its claim that OpenAI wilfully infringed on its trademark, iyO submitted court filings that include emails showing that executives from io and OpenAI knew about its in-ear device – dubbed "the world's first audio computer" – and even requested a demo of iyO's product.

However, io co-founder and former Apple executive Tang Tan submitted court filings this month responding to the allegation. In the June 12 court declaration, Tan concedes that the company "surveyed the existing commercial offerings" and that "as part of these early efforts, io purchased a wide range of earbuds, hearing aids, and at least 30 different headphone sets from a variety of different companies."

However, Tan says the first device it plans to launch "is not an in-ear device, nor a wearable device." The filings also say the device is "at least a year away from being offered for sale."

The new tidbit goes against a recent prediction by industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said that users will be able to wear the device around their necks, "like a necklace." Even before the court filings, Kuo's claim seemed speculative at best, given that Ive apparently isn't keen on making something you'd wear on the body.

Previous leaks have revealed that the gadget will be pocket-sized, contextually aware of your surroundings and life, and completely screen-free. Altman apparently told OpenAI staff it's "the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen" after testing Ive's prototype at home.

OpenAI acquired Ive's startup io for $6.5 billion, with Altman suggesting the deal could add $1 trillion in value to the company. The goal is to ship the device by late 2026, and OpenAI has ambitious plans to reach 100 million units "faster than any company has ever shipped 100 million of something new before."

If you've been eagerly awaiting more concrete details about mysterious AI device, the new info is likely to disappoint. Other than that, it's hard to know what to expect, especially given it's been several years since Ive oversaw the design of a consumer electronics product. Here's hoping it has better durability than a butterfly keyboard.
This article, "Jony Ive's OpenAI Device Won't Be Wearable, Court Filings Reveal" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Congressional staffers working in the House of Representatives have been told that WhatsApp security risks means they must no longer use the app on government devices.

The ban was imposed by the Office of Cybersecurity, which has previously barred the use of TikTok and a number of AI apps …

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