Federal prosecutors charged more than a dozen people for their alleged roles in a sophisticated theft ring, while an executive in Japan was arrested over MacBook-related fraud in this week's Apple Crime Blotter.


The latest in an occasional AppleInsider feature, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.


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Apple's long-rumored Home Hub peripheral is now rumored to be debuting in the second half of 2025, and is allegedly being taken home by select Apple employees for real-world testing.


Various rumors have suggested that Apple will be making a big push into smart home accessories across the second half of 2025, including the existing Home Key feature for a future smart doorbell. Apple is also working with other manufacturers of smart home accessories to ensure HomeKit compatibility.

A new report from Bloomberg reiterates earlier claims that Apple intends to tie the rise of HomeKit accessories into a smart Home Hub, now with a device code name: J490.


Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible


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Apple is still working out how it can press forward with wearable devices, with it considering a possible switch away from bulky Apple Vision Pro headset instead creating the fabled Apple Glass by 2030.


The wearable device ambitions of Apple are somewhat troubled, with the Apple Vision Pro considered a commercial flop in its first release. While it has other ways it can progress forward on the concept, it's still taking time to work out the best way forward.

In Sunday's Bloomberg newsletter, Mark Gurman writes that Apple is at least looking into different form factors. After axing its project to create AR glasses as an external Mac display earlier in 2025, Apple is now thinking about standalone AR glasses once again.


Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible


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Following a court ruling that Google has abused its monopoly in search and online advertising, the judge in the case will consider proposed remedies from both the US Department of Justice as well as Google.


The DOJ originally brought an antitrust action against Google in late 2023 over its deals with Apple and others to make Google Search the default search engine in other browsers and platforms.

Judge Amit Mehta of the DC United States District Court ruled in August 2024 that Google is a monopolist. While it is not illegal for an entity to become a monopoly in its field, it is unlawful for a monopoly to limit consumer choice by creating barriers to fair competition.


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Apple is offering an alternative to its existing $75 welcome bonus for new Apple Card users, it can provide up to $200 in cash back over ten months, but you'll have to act fast.


Apple has posted a second current bonus offer for its Apple Card, giving up to $200 cash back for users who apply for a new Apple Card and make 10 purchases per month on it. While the windows for the sign-up closes on March 21, cardholders will get credit for purchases made between receiving the card and December 31, 2025.

The intention of the promotion appears to be to encourage new Apple Card holders to make using the card a routine choice, rather than for occasional use. There is no minimum spend on the qualifying purchases.


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A federal court has ruled in Apple's favor in the years-long fight against AliveCor, preventing a potential total import ban on the Apple Watch.


The ruling came in on Friday. In that ruling, a federal court of appeals invalidated AliveCor's claims that Apple had infringed on its patented information.

Apple is understandably pleased. It provided AppleInsider with a statement.


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Amazon's M3 iPad Air deals deliver the steepest preorder savings across Apple resellers.


Despite being announced on March 4, Apple's new M3 iPad Air is already on sale at Amazon, with the e-commerce giant knocking up to $70 off select models. Prices start at $559 for the 128GB 11-inch spec, while the 13-inch 128GB model is on sale for $749 in select colorways.

Save on M3 iPad Air


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Apple's update to the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could bring more than just a camera bump change. Here's what the rumor mill has said could be on the way for the premium models.


Apple is expected, as usual, to introduce a new line of iPhones in September, forming part of its usual fall product catalog refresh. For 2025, that will mean the introduction of the iPhone 17 generation.

Just like in previous years, expectations are for Apple to bring out multiple models, including a premium Pro tier, consisting of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.


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While Apple scheduled and pushed out plenty of artificial intelligence-powered features in the last several months, the next batch of improvements to Siri aren't going to arrive on time.


Like most other Big Tech companies, Apple has been making some pretty big strides in the AI space as of late. We've seen features like Genmoji, Image Playground, Writing Tools, and Visual Intelligence roll out over the past few months.

However, one feature that we were promised hasn't materialized yet — the new, more personalized Siri. Siri was allegedly supposed to adopt a set of new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.4, but it looks like that won't be the case.


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Unsurprisingly, the performance of the new Mac Studio with M3 Ultra appears to be markedly faster than its predecessor, at least according to initial benchmarks.


Following the first benchmarks of the M4 Max in the new Mac Studio, initial figures are starting to appear for the M3 Ultra version. Compared to the previous Mac Studio's M2 Ultra, Geekbench shows improvements that will be significantly noticeable in the most demanding uses.

There will be more sets of figures for the Mac Studio's M3 Ultra once the machine is users' hands. However for now, the headline is that it is between 16% and 30% faster than its predecessor.


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B&H's world-class creative expo returns to New York City — and best of all, it's free to attend.


B&H has been committed to supporting audio and visual artists since 1973. In 2023, it held its first Bild Expo to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Now, Bild Expo returns for its second year, inviting creatives to connect across both skill levels and industries.


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Apple released so many new devices this week that there's barely time for any rumors as we figure out the Mac Studio's specifications and the MacBook Air's new color, on the AppleInsider Podcast.


By sheer volume, this must have been one of the very busiest weeks for new Apple releases, and yet the company practically downplayed them all. Apart from Tim Cook's teasing tweet, there was no event, no introductory video, and not even any new adverts. Yet for the people who need these devices, the new MacBook Air, iPad Air, and Mac Studio are strong updates.

You just have to wonder what's going on with the Mac Pro, which hasn't seen a refresh, and the base iPad, which has — but without Apple Intelligence.


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A known and generally reliable leaker has weighed in on iPhone 17 rumors, and believes that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will be a bit thicker, perhaps to accommodate a larger battery.


The new leak on Friday morning claims that the iPhone 17 Pro Max has increased in depth to 8.725 millimeters, versus 8.25 millimeters on the iPhone Pro Max. For scale, this is most commonly the thickness of lead in a mechanical pencil, or about the thickness of a fine grain of sand.

Not discussed in the leak is why the device may be thicker than the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The most likely reason is to increase the battery volume.


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Apple's Photos holds every image you make with your phone. Here's everything you need to know to get started using the Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.


Arguably one of the most highly-used apps on an iPhone or iPad, the Photos app is where all of your photographs and videos get stored. A treasure trove of memories, it is also made to help you manage your visual history, as well as to edit it to perfection.

Due to the number of features available, not many people will use the app to its full potential. It can handle everything from adjusting photographs how you want them, to managing collections, and even the synchronization of your content across multiple devices.


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The UK's Court of Appeal has rejected Apple's request to dismiss a $1 billion lawsuit over cutting the performance of an iPhone 6 and other models with chemically depleted batteries.


Consumer rights activist Justin Gutmann filed his case in 2022, through the UK's equivalent of a US class action lawsuit. According to a statement to AppleInsider from Gutmann's legal team, Apple's attempts to get the case dismissed on appeal have now failed.

"[The UK] Court of Appeal has given the go-ahead for the so-called 'Batterygate' lawsuit — a collective action brought on behalf of millions of UK users, which accuses Apple of intentionally 'throttling' iPhone batteries," says the statement. "Apple will now be forced to defend itself in court, after it tried but failed to get the 853 million pounds [$1.1 billion] claim thrown out."


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A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed the Apple TV+ movie "Tetris" ripped off a book about the game's history.


The drama-documentary film "Tetris" had reportedly struggled to find financing for years, before Apple TV+ bought it in 2020. It then went into production and was streamed on Apple TV+ from March 2023 — and was followed by a lawsuit.

Author Dan Ackerman alleged that Apple, The Tetris Company, and others, adapted his book about the game without payment or permission. According to Reuters, however, the case has now been dismissed.


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Indonesia's government has now granted Apple most of the certificates needed for the iPhone 16 ban to be lifted, but Apple still can't resume sales just yet.


As reported at the end of February 2025, Indonesia has now settled its dispute with Apple. The iPhone 16 will not, however, go back on sale immediately.

According to Reuters, that's because what has happened is that Apple has been granted the local content certificates that were Indonesia's main barrier to selling the iPhone 16. It's to do with the local content quota, which requires between 35% and 40% of the device's components to be made in Indonesia.


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While Activity Rings are a staple for fitness enthusiasts, there might be times when you need to pause them. Here's how you can do it in watchOS 11.


The Activity Rings on the Apple Watch are a great way to keep track of your daily movement, exercise, and standing goals. However, there are situations where keeping them active isn't practical.

For instance, maintaining your usual activity level could interfere with the recovery process if you're recovering from an illness or injury. Pausing the rings allows you to prioritize healing without feeling pressured to meet daily goals.


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Join King Charles III on Commonwealth Day to celebrate his love of music on Apple Music 1 as he plays hits from Bob Marley and RAYE.


The live internet radio stations on Apple Music are filled with all kinds of musicians and celebrities hosting shows on a rotating schedule. The next guest host is bringing royalty to the roster.

Apple shared that King Charles III will be on Apple Music 1 for a special even show called The King's Music Room for March 10, Commonwealth Day. He will be sharing stories about music and playing selections across genres like Afrobeats, disco, reggae, and 1930s ballads.


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Apple has been forced to enable sideloading for iPhone users in Brazil within the next three months or face daily fines for non-compliance.


On Wednesday, Judge Pablo Zuniga of the Brazilian federal court ordered Apple to allow third-party app marketplaces in the country within the next 90 days. If the company fails to adhere to the court's order, it could face a fine of more than $40,000 per day.

The judge said the iPhone maker "has already complied with similar obligations in other countries, without demonstrating a significant impact or irreparable damage to its business model."


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The ChatGPT app for macOS has been updated with the ability to write code directly into Xcode, which means it competes with Apple's Swift Assist and GitHub Copilot.


Third-party artificial intelligence tools have been available for a while to help with coding on macOS, but OpenAI is throwing its hat in the ring with the latest ChatGPT app update. Users can communicate with ChatGPT and share what's within Xcode and other IDEs thanks to the "work with apps" capability.

TechCrunch reports that the update comes with an "auto-apply" mode so ChatGPT can edit code without additional permission prompts every time. The function is shown in a video posted to social media by OpenAI team member Alexander Embiricos.


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With every generation, Apple's Max-series chips have pushed the boundaries of performance, and M4 Max in the new Mac Studio delivers the most significant leap yet in performance.


Apple's custom silicon has evolved dramatically, with each new generation improving performance, efficiency, and capability. The M1 Max, M2 Max, and M4 Max represent three iterations of Apple's most powerful chips for MacBook Pro, each refining the balance between speed and power consumption.

While the M1 Max was a game-changer when it launched in 2021, the M2 Max built on its foundation with modest but meaningful improvements in 2023. The latest M4 Max delivers the biggest leap yet, expanding memory support, adding AI-driven optimizations, and enhancing graphics performance.


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An exclusive discount drops the price on every Mac Studio configuration, from the standard M4 Max model to the M3 Ultra spec with 512GB of RAM.


Prices start at $1,859.07 after the 7% discount at Expercom through the link-activated deal. Every configuration is reduced, so if you're looking for additional RAM or the top-of-the-line M3 Ultra chip with a 32-core CPU and 80-core GPU, you can grab the discount.

Save on the Mac Studio


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Even as Apple has released a new Magic Keyboard for iPad Air, the company has also revealed that is has been researching a more Microsoft Surface-like traditional keyboard arrangement.


It feels as if we've always had the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro and the iPad Air, but it was only launched in 2020. Well after it was released, though, Apple was continuing to research this Surface-like alternative.

"Hinged keyboard accessory having multiple installation modes for a tablet computing device," is a newly-revealed patent application, which follows on from a previous version applied for in July 2020. Despite being filed well after the Magic Keyboard would have been in development, though, this patent references over 40 other filings, dating back to 1993.


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Apple's Game Porting Toolkit is helpful for developers, former Apple software engineer Nat Brown explains, but it still has a lot of work to do to encourage more games to get made for macOS.


Nat Brown, formerly of a game technology team at Apple and previously of Microsoft and Valve, was deeply involved in producing the Game Porting Toolkit. A suite of tools to help developers bring games over from Windows and other platforms to run on a Mac.

Brown joined Apple in 2019, a time when Apple Silicon didn't exist, but he felt it was to be coming due to the development of iPhone hardware. "I was like, you know, if they're not doing this for the Mac, then somebody's broken," he tells the MacGameCast podcast.


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For eight years, Apple has sold iPhones starting at 64GB to hit a price point, but Apple Intelligence has made it accept what we all knew already — 128GB is the real minimum.


Back in 2017, the iPhone X brought us features that we wouldn't be without today, like Face ID and an edge-to-edge screen. None of this may ever go away, and certainly the thousand bucks price tag isn't going to shrink, but one thing has changed.

The iPhone X, along with the same year's iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, introduced 64GB as the starting storage capacity. There had been 64GB configurations before, starting with the iPhone 4S, but it was that 2011 model's maximum capacity.


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Let's face it — a new MacBook is expensive. Upgraded offers a smarter way to stay up to date. Instead of paying the full price upfront, you spread the cost over 36 months, with the option to upgrade after 24 payments. Plus, you don't have to worry about selling your old device on a site like Facebook Marketplace.

Apple's update to the Mac Studio line has shaken up the premium end of its product catalog. Here's the best desktop Mac you should buy for your budget in early 2025.


The March 2025 update of the Mac Studio has made some changes to the landscape of desktop Mac models. At least, it did so on the premium end of the scale, with the more budget-friendly side kept as it is.

The change now means that, if you have more budget available for a desktop Mac, you're going to get even more performance out of your purchase.


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Police in Australia are expanding their usage of CarPlay on the roads, with the in-car infotainment software now used to display information based on surrounding drivers' license plates.


CarPlay is commonly used by drivers to display app information on a car's built-in display, enabling them to manage music or see Apple Maps, for example. In Australia, the Police have been taking the concept further, using it for policing matters for a number of years.

In a new development, the Western Australia Police Force has seen an update to its PSCore mobile app to help with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR). Police vehicles in the country are commonly fitted with such systems, which display details about a nearby vehicle on a display, informing police officers of its history and ownership.


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Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the expected iPhone Fold will lack Face ID, but come with a 7.8-inch crease free display, in late 2026 or early 2027.


Recent rumors claimed that an initial manufacturing run of a folding iPhone would begin in late 2025, with mass production coming ahead of a launch in the second half of 2026. Analyst Kuo now claims that the launch will not be until late 2026 or early 2027, although he has previously predicted launches starting in 2024.

A new report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that it will be 2026 before an updated version of the Apple C1 modem with mmWave will enter mass production.


For all its power efficiency, the C1 5G modem does lack mmWave support. It's far from a surprise, though, that Apple is working on future versions of the modem, but now Ming-Chi Kuo claims that an mmWave C1 will not be ready for the iPhone 17 range.

The Keychron K10 Max is an incredibly sturdy and versatile wireless mechanical keyboard that is a welcome addition to both Mac and Windows workspaces.


In 2025, the world of mechanical keyboards is as vast as the Marvel Comics multiverse, with offerings of every shape, size, color, and feature. From custom keys to RGB lights to knobs and app integrations, the possible options are staggering.

Numerous companies jockey for position as leaders in the industry. As consumers in this market, every year brings us opportunities to find the perfect keyboard for our lifestyles and workspaces.


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Fans of Tweetbot for Twitter and Ivory for Mastodon have reason to get excited all over again as the developers at Tapbots tease a Bluesky client called Phoenix.


When Elon Musk took over Twitter, no one could have predicted the chaos that ensued. The mass firings, restructuring, and user-aggressive changes led Twitter to a fast user-count decline as the less-popular X emerged.

As X struggles for relevancy, the death of Twitter — and the Mac app in the process — did create some interesting new options. Tapbots is back to make another excellent client for an emerging player in the space.


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If you've ever wanted to create a new note in the Apple Notes app almost instantly, your iPad can do that — with the help of an Apple Pencil. Here's how.


The Instant Note feature on iPad allows users to create a note in the Apple Notes app incredibly quickly. An Instant Note allows access to all the features of the program — including new features added in iPadOS 18.

You must be running at least iPadOS 15 in order to use the Instant Note feature. Whether you've arrived late to class and the lecture has already started, someone is imparting important information to you over a phone call, or you've just had a brilliant idea, you can get it down right away.


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Every 2025 M4 MacBook Air is discounted thanks to exclusive AppleInsider pricing, making it a great way to save on Apple's newest laptop release.


To save on the new M4 MacBook Air line, head over to Apple Premier Partner Expercom using this exclusive pricing link and look for the special AppleInsider price above the Add to Cart button.

Save on M4 MacBook Air


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Apple released the M3 Ultra alongside M4 generation chips — but here's why we probably won't see the M4 Ultra.


On Wednesday, Apple announced its new Mac Studio. As anticipated, it launched with an M4 chip — the M4 Max, specifically.

But it also launched with the M3 Ultra. This left many people, including AppleInsider staff, wondering what Apple's reasoning was.


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Apple will never sell a cheap upgrade to anything, but choices the firm has made about the MacBook Air mean even it can't wring all that much more cash out of buyers.


Apple would never say this publicly, but so often you know it has released a version of a device solely to hit a price point. It wants to be able to say you can get a MacBook Air for under a thousand bucks, for instance, so it makes that more or less true.

Usually less. Usually the configuration you get for the lowest price of any Apple device is at the very best just about adequate, and usually not even that.


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Apple's update to the MacBook Air line has changed part of the entire MacBook lineup, and what consumers should buy. Here's which model you should buy for any budget, in early 2025.


Apple's ecosystem is constructed in a way that makes it extremely easy to find a product that fits your particular budget. Be it the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air or a fully-loaded 16-inch MacBook Pro, it can cater to a wide array of price points and computing needs.

With Apple's introduction of new MacBook Air models in early 2025, this has made a considerable change to the value end of the scale. Consumers are being provided more performance than ever before for Apple's budget-friendly options.


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The new M4 MacBook Air fixes what's been a key problem with the line, and now supports up to two external monitors — and does so without the limitations of the previous M3 edition.


The newly launched MacBook Air brings with it a significant improvement for users of multiple monitors. While the previous M3 model featured support for two monitors, it was only possible to use both when the MacBook Air's lid was closed.

So while users gained the wider screen real estate of two external monitors, they lost the use of their MacBook Air internal display. Now the M4 MacBook Air supports two monitors of up to 6K resolution each, plus the built in 13.6-inch or 15.3-inch screen.


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Apple's M3 Ultra is its most powerful chip yet, delivering speed, advanced AI capabilities, and efficiency. Here's how it breaks down.


The M3 Ultra is built using Apple's UltraFusion architecture, which links two M3 Max dies over 10,000 high-speed connections. The design allows the chip to operate as a single unit, delivering performance while maintaining energy efficiency.

With a 32-core CPU, 80-core GPU, and double the Neural Engine cores, the M3 Ultra is designed to handle demanding tasks.


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