A new report on Apple’s partnership with Google to have Gemini power the new Siri appears to confirm speculation that the iPhone maker is paying around a billion dollars a year for the deal.

It also claims that ChatGPT provider OpenAI made a conscious decision to decline the opportunity to provide the intelligence behind Siri …

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Apple today announced expanded cross-border Apple Pay support for users in mainland China, allowing them to use Visa credit and debit cards issued by local banks to make contactless payments both in-store and online while traveling abroad.


Eight major Chinese banks now support the feature, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Merchants Bank. Additional banks including Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and China Construction Bank will add support in the coming months. Mastercard is also preparing to launch similar support for select cardholders.

"With this expansion of cross-border Apple Pay capabilities in mainland China, we're making travel more seamless and secure, giving users confidence in their payments wherever they go," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.

Apple first launched ‌Apple Pay‌ in 2014, and has expanded it to dozens of countries and territories around the world.
This article, "Apple Expands Cross-Border Apple Pay Support in China" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's upcoming iPhone 17e will feature a Dynamic Island instead of a notch at the top of the screen, but unlike the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup, the display itself will still refresh at 60Hz, according to a known Weibo leaker.


Apple made major improvements to the iPhone 17's display last year, introducing ProMotion display technology with up to a 120Hz refresh rate, similar to recent iPhone Pro models. 120Hz maximum refresh rates allow for smoother scrolling when viewing webpages and improvements for video, but it looks like the iPhone 17e is not getting the upgrade to keep costs down.

In a new post on the Chinese social media platform, "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 17e will retain a 6.1-inch OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate, but this time it will have a Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island would add the interactive area at the top of the screen that displays ongoing activities, incorporating the camera and other front-facing sensors.

The iPhone 16e features a "notch" at the top of the display, similar to the ‌iPhone‌ 13 and ‌iPhone‌ 14. That's because the ‌iPhone 16e‌ is based on the design of 2022's ‌iPhone‌ 14, so it could be that the ‌iPhone‌ 17e is based on 2023's ‌iPhone‌ 15, which gained the ‌Dynamic Island‌ and a more rounded frame.

Reiterating a previous claim, the leaker also said the second version of Apple's more affordable iPhone will feature an A19 chip, replacing the A18 used in the current iPhone 16e. The A19 chip is based on TSMC's third-generation 3nm process, N3P, and is around 5-10% faster than the A18 chip in terms of raw CPU performance.

Another Weibo leaker has claimed Apple will use a downclocked A19 chip in the iPhone 17e. If so, aside from Neural Engine improvements, it would be roughly comparable to Apple's A17 Pro chip.

Meanwhile, other rumors suggest the iPhone 17e will gain a magnetic ring so it can connect to MagSafe chargers, which is not an option with the iPhone 16e. To cut down on costs, the device may also be equipped with either the older C1 or C1X modem, but no N1 wireless chip, based on leaked Apple code.

Otherwise, the device is expected to retain a front-facing 12-megapixel camera, Face ID, and a rear 48-megapixel camera. The iPhone 17e could launch as soon as February, as the iPhone 16e did last year, but it could come later in the spring. The $599 starting price is not expected to change.
This article, "iPhone 17e to Gain Dynamic Island But Display Still Stuck at 60Hz" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The newest version of the Opera One browser improves on the interesting Tab Islands feature, brings a re-engineered AI assistant, and adds theme-specific soundscapes. Here are the details.

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Verizon today experienced a major outage, which it now says has been resolved. To make up for the inconvenience, the carrier has promised that all affected customers will be credited an unspecified amount, with more details to be shared soon.


"Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry," said Verizon.



iPhone users with Verizon service were generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage.

iPhone users typically see "SOS" in the status bar when a carrier experiences an outage.

Apple explains what "SOS" means in a support document:

If you see SOS or "SOS only" in the status bar, your device isn't connected to your cellular network, but you can still make emergency calls through other carrier networks. This feature is available in Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Verizon said that customers who are still having an issue should restart their devices to reconnect to the network.
This article, "iPhone SOS: Verizon Apologizes for Outage, Promises Customer Credits" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Hours after a coalition of digital rights, child safety, and women’s rights organizations asked Apple to “take immediate action” against X and Grok AI, xAI confirmed that Grok will no longer edit “images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis,” with significant carve-outs. Here are the details.

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Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser that was first introduced in March 2016. Apple designed ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ to allow users to test features that are planned for future release versions of the Safari browser.


‌Safari Technology Preview‌ 235 includes fixes and updates for CSS, Canvas, Clipboard, Editing, Encoding, Forms, HTML, JavaScript, MathML, Media, Networking, Rendering, SVG, Web API, Web Inspector, WebAssembly, and WebRTC.

The current ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release is compatible with machines running macOS Sequoia and macOS Tahoe, the newest version of macOS.

The ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ update is available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences or System Settings to anyone who has downloaded the browser from Apple’s website. Complete release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.

Apple’s aim with ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while it is designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download and use.
This article, "Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 235 With Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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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 Stuff: Stuff helps you get everything out of your head and into a simple, elegant system—closing open loops and reducing mental stress. Use code 9TO5 at checkout for 50% off your first year.

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Appfigures’ annual report on the app economy shows that app downloads declined in 2025 compared to 2024, even as estimated gross revenue surged to a record high. Here are the details.

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Digg is officially back. After months in closed beta, the rebooted platform is now open to the public, relaunching with a focus on trust signals, transparency in moderation, and defenses against AI-driven spam.

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Last week, Apple officially announced that Chase is set to take over Apple Card, ending its deal with Goldman Sachs.

A new report from The Wall Street Journal, based on conversations with “20 people familiar with the matter,” goes in-depth on what Apple told people was an “unhappy marriage.”

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iOS 26.2 arrived last month, packing a bunch of brand new features, including an enhancement to AirDrop called ‘AirDrop codes.’ Here’s how the new feature works.

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Apple researchers have published a study about Manzano, a multimodal model that combines visual understanding and text-to-image generation, while significantly reducing performance and quality trade-offs of current implementations. Here are the details.

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Apple has confirmed that it will continue to offer a one-time-purchase version of Final Cut Pro for Mac for $299.99, but will that version receive every new feature?


In an interview with digital filmmaking news website CineD, Apple marketing manager Bryan O'Neil Hughes said both the one-time-purchase and Apple Creator Studio versions of Final Cut Pro for Mac will include the new "intelligent" features Visual Search, Transcript Search, and Beat Detection, but his comment did not explicitly confirm if both versions of the app will receive every additional "intelligent" feature in the future. We have reached out to Apple for comment, and we will update this story if we receive a response.

What we do know is that the one-time-purchase version of Final Cut Pro for Mac will miss out on some "premium content," according to Apple's website:

A one-time purchase will still be available, but access to some of the premium content is available only to Apple Creator Studio subscribers. If you already own Final Cut Pro, it will continue to be updated.

In the interview, Hughes went on say that both the one-time-purchase and Creator Studio versions of Final Cut Pro for Mac will continue to receive updates and "work as you expect," but we have still yet to see Apple explicitly confirm if both versions of the Mac app will have 100% feature parity forever. For now, though, it seems like customers with the one-time-purchase version will only miss out on "premium content."

Apple's website is more explicit about Logic Pro and MainStage, promising feature parity:

Logic Pro and MainStage have all the same features whether they are subscription or one-time-purchase versions.

Some other apps in the Creator Studio bundle, including Pixelmator Pro, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and Freeform, will be receiving some "intelligent" features that will not be available without a subscription, so it is a mixed bag.

For example, only Pixelmator Pro users with a Creator Studio subscription will be receiving a new Warp tool that allows you to twist and shape image layers.

Across the Keynote, Pages, and Numbers apps, Creator Studio subscribers will have access to a new Content Hub with high-quality photos and graphics, as well as new premium templates, themes, and more. Apple said its Freeform app will also be updated with "intelligent" features for Creator Studio subscribers later this year.

Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and Freeform do not cost money, but the apps will effectively be "freemium" now. Fortunately, Apple has ensured that all four of the apps will continue to receive other new features and updates without a subscription.

Overall, the introduction of the Creator Studio bundle makes for a more confusing landscape with less feature parity in some apps, and customers who dislike subscriptions have been voicing their disappointment. Keeping one-time purchase options around helps alleviate some concerns, but not everyone is happy with this direction.

Apple Creator Studio launches on Wednesday, January 28, with U.S. pricing set at $12.99 per month or $129.99 per year — read our earlier coverage to learn more.
This article, "Will Final Cut Pro on Mac Get Every New Feature Without a Subscription? Here's What Apple Says" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Netflix is officially getting into podcasting, with video podcasts from a Spotify deal recently launching, and now the company has unveiled its first original podcasts that are coming soon.

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If you’re having problems with your cellular connection today, you’re not alone. Verizon, appears to be experiencing a major outage. The carrier says its teams are “fully deployed and are focused on the issue.”

Verizon has also now promised credits for affected users … here’s the latest.

Update, 10:24pm ET

Verizon says the outage is resolved:

The outage has been resolved. If customers are still having an issue, we encourage them to restart their devices to reconnect to the network. For those affected, we will provide account credits. Details will be shared directly with customers. We sincerely apologize for the disruption.

more…

Reacting to Apple Creator Studio – another case of subscription fatigue, or a decent deal? Jeff and Fernando make the case for and against Apple’s latest services endeavor.

9to5Mac Overtime is a weekly video-first podcast exploring fun and interesting observations in the Apple ecosystem, featuring 9to5Mac’s Fernando Silva & Jeff Benjamin. Subscribe to Overtime via Apple Podcasts and our YouTube channel for more.

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Apple Creative Studio is a mighty good value for an impressive suite of pro apps. It also makes up a rather polarizing set of app icons, based on the internet’s reaction to yesterday’s news. However, it turns out those app icons won’t be forced upon all users of apps that are included in the suite.

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Verizon is experiencing a major outage across the U.S. today, with hundreds of thousands of customers reporting issues with the network on the website Downdetector. There are also complaints across Reddit and other social media platforms.


iPhone users and others with Verizon service are generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage. iPhone users may see "SOS" in the status bar, as the device cannot connect to Verizon's network.

AT&T and T-Mobile customers may be indirectly impacted by Verizon's outage.

Apple explains what "SOS" means in a support document:

If you see SOS or "SOS only" in the status bar, your device isn't connected to your cellular network, but you can still make emergency calls through other carrier networks. This feature is available in Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Verizon is aware of the outage, and it is working on a fix.

"We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers," said Verizon, in a social media post, shortly after 1 p.m. Eastern Time. "Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience."


At 2:14 p.m. Eastern Time, Verizon said it is still investigating the issue.

"Verizon engineering teams are continuing to address today's service interruptions," said Verizon. "Our teams remain fully deployed and are focused on the issue. We understand the impact this has on your day and remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible."

We will update this story when the outage is fully resolved.

Update: Verizon has promised that all affected customers will be credited an unspecified amount, with more details to be shared soon.

Update 2: Verizon says the outage has been resolved.
This article, "Verizon is Down: iPhones Show 'SOS' Mode Due to Network Outage [Resolved]" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple’s big Siri upgrades are expected to ship as part of iOS 26.4, and a new report indicates they might come with a very convenient new feature for Apple Notes users.

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Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is now ready to roll starting off with Apple’s mid-range M4 Mac mini at $110 off the list price. We also have the most affordable 13-inch M5 iPad Pro at $150 off alongside a new all-time low on the official Apple Milanese Loop in black and a solid discount on its latest green Ultra Trail Loop. From there, we spotted Anker’s impressive display-equipped 3-in-1 Qi2 25W MagSafe Charging stand at 30% off and the ULTRALOQ Bolt NFC smart lock with Apple Home Key down at $132. Get a closer look down below. 

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While the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro was updated with an M5 chip in October, we are still waiting for higher-end MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and there are some signs that might point towards a late January launch this year.


First, Apple's new Creator Studio bundle of creative apps launches on Wednesday, January 28. Given that Creator Studio includes many professional Mac apps, such as Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro, Macworld speculated that the week of January 28 would be a fitting time for Apple to release new MacBook Pro models too.

Second, Apple's next quarterly earnings call is scheduled for Thursday, January 29, and the company has introduced new products shortly before these calls on numerous occasions over the years and touched on them in the opening remarks.

Third, there is precedent, as Apple unveiled MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips with a press release in January 2023.

Again, all of this is speculation, so do not set your expectations too high. But, sometimes where there is smoke there is fire.

Beyond the M5 chip, the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro received only one notable change last year: PCIe 5.0 storage. Apple says this results in up to 2× faster SSD read and write speeds compared to the previous-generation model.

The higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are likewise expected to have few other changes.

Bigger changes to the MacBook Pro are expected with the two-generations-away models, in either late 2026 or at some point in 2027. Rumored upgrades include an OLED display with touchscreen capabilities, a thinner design, built-in cellular connectivity, and M6 chips manufactured with TSMC's advanced 2nm process, for even greater year-over-year performance gains. For that reason, it will probably be wise to skip the MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips unless you really need to upgrade.
This article, "Will Apple Announce New MacBook Pros This January?" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Google’s goal with Gemini is to make a “personal, proactive, and powerful” assistant. The Gemini app today is adding “Personal Intelligence” in beta. This lets Gemini use the data Google already has about you to “supercharge” and personalize responses.

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Best Buy kicked off a new Winter Sale this week, with notable markdowns on Apple devices, TVs, headphones and speakers, monitors, appliances, and much more. This sale is set to last through January 19, and you don't need to be a My Best Buy Plus or Total member to see the deals.

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

In terms of Apple devices, you can find solid deals on MacBook Air, AirPods Max, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, Beats accessories, and more. In most cases Best Buy is offering same day pick-up on these products, and there are several free shipping options as well.



Some of the biggest discounts you'll find in Best Buy's Winter Sale are on TVs, with as much as $1,300 off select models. Best Buy has Samsung's popular line of The Frame TVs on sale, including the 65-inch 2025 model for $1,199.99 ($600 off) and the 65-inch The Frame Pro for $1,899.99 ($300 off), both of which match the low prices we tracked over the holidays at Samsung's own website.

Apple

• 20W USB-C Power Adapter - $14.99 ($4 off)


• AirPods Max - $449.99 ($100 off)


• 13-inch M4 MacBook Air - $799.00 ($200 off)


• 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro - $1,449.00 ($150 off)


• 13-inch M5 iPad Pro (1TB Nano-Texture) - $1,799.00 ($200 off)

TVs

• 55-inch Toshiba C350 4K Smart Fire TV - $199.99 ($200 off)


• 65-inch Samsung U7900 4K Smart TV - $329.99 ($140 off)


• 65-inch LG UA7050 4K Smart TV - $329.99 ($160 off)


• 75-inch LG LED 4K Smart TV - $449.99 ($240 off)


• 65-inch Samsung OLED 4K Smart TV - $899.99 ($1,100 off)


• 98-inch Hisense QLED 4K Smart Google TV - $999.99 ($1,300 off)


• 65-inch Samsung The Frame TV (2025) - $1,199.99 ($600 off)


• 65-inch LG OLED 4K Smart TV - $1,399.99 ($1,300 off)


• 65-inch Samsung The Frame Pro - $1,899.99 ($300 off)

Monitors

• 27-inch LG 120Hz Monitor - $104.99 ($145 off)


• 27-inch Samsung Curved 100Hz Monitor - $139.99 ($60 off)


• 34-inch LG UltraWide 100Hz Monitor - $199.99 ($100 off)


• 27-inch Alienware OLED Monitor - $479.99 ($70 off)


• 49-inch Samsung Odyssey OLED Curved Monitor - $999.99 ($700 off)

Audio

• Beats Pill - $99.99 ($50 off)


• Beats Solo 4 Headphones - $149.99 ($50 off)


• Beats Studio Pro Headphones - $249.99 ($100 off)


• Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones - $279.00 ($150 off)


• Sony Bravia Theater Bar 6 - $499.99 ($200 off)

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, "Best Buy's Winter Sale Includes Big Discounts on Apple Devices, TVs, Monitors, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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