Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit that claims the company deliberately conceals the use of potentially harmful chemicals in certain Apple Watch bands. However, Apple asserts that the bands are safe to wear.


On Tuesday, a class action lawsuit filed by the Northern District of California, first spotted by The Register was levied against Apple. The lawsuit claimed that some Apple Watch bands the company manufactures contain a high level of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

According to the lawsuit, three Apple Watch bands have high concentrations of PFAS: the Apple Watch Sport Band, the Nike Sport Band, and the Ocean Band. Because Apple describes these bands as made from fluoroelastomer, the lawsuit alleges that Apple knowingly conceals the presence of PFAS, which is linked to adverse health effects.


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Amazon has issued a weekend iPad deal on the 10th Generation, with an on-page coupon bringing the price back down to $279.


Take advantage of a Friday price drop on Apple's iPad 10th Generation, with the standard 64GB Wi-Fi model dropping to $279 at Amazon. Most accounts will see a $299 price on Amazon's product page, with a bonus $19.01 on-page coupon available when you check the appropriate box.

Get the $279 deal


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"Severance" director Ben Stiller has shared a video of Apple CEO Tim Cook's new morning routine, as he goes from being an outie to an innie, in the now famous Lumon elevator.


"Severance" has played host to skits before, with Stephen Colbert including an extended sequence of him working at Lumon Industries. But for season 2 of the Apple TV+ hit, it was no longer enough to get a comedian in on the act, the show had to go right to the top.



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Apple Vision Pro may represent the latest in technological innovations from Apple, but it also acts as an excellent time machine for exploring VR and 3D content spanning back decades. Here are the apps to check out.


Humanity has been toying around with the idea of escaping to different realities through technology for decades. Science fiction has depicted everything from goggles to holodecks, and archaic forms of VR and 3D have been around for decades.

Apple Vision Pro is the latest attempt that's packed to the brim with incredible technology, but since it's a general computer with apps and a browser, users can access more than just native content. Everything from planetarium dome videos to VR that predates the PlayStation can be run on Apple's hardware.


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As technology and politics get ever more intertwined, it's time to discuss iPhone 17 rumors, TikTok changes, and the Mac mini as a fashion accessory.


It's been a busy week for politics and while the AppleInsider podcast will be a musical before it's a political show, certain worldwide events in the last few days have had an impact on technology. The most high-profile has been what's happening with TikTok in the US and the rest of the world, but there's also the country that is going to adopt a digital wallet for its citizens' driving licenses — but won't use Apple's existing solution.

Plus, amazingly, it's been three months since the M4 Mac mini came out and now it's time to see whether the initial hype and fuss proved to be warranted. If you bought one, there's now also an unofficial way to greatly increase its storage, too, though there are as many issues over warranties as there are over the tools you need.


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Apple has issued a rare statement concerning its CarPlay project, saying that despite delays, the company continues to work with several car makers to bring it to market.


This is another rare move from Apple, following its 2022 unusual sneak peek at what it calls the next generation of CarPlay. While various car manufacturers have expressed support for the new system, nothing actually drove out of the showrooms by Apple's planned date of the end of 2024.

Now the company has finally removed that 2024 date from its website, and also issued a statement.


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For iOS 18, Apple has introduced a new Focus Mode called Reduce Interruptions, which aims to use Apple Intelligence to prioritize notifications to cut them down, yet not have you miss anything important.


A strength of Apple Intelligence is that rather than some separate ChatGPT-like app, its features are woven into all aspects of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. But that also makes it confusing when Apple promotes some feature but doesn't say where it fits.

"For example," said Craig Federighi at the WWDC 2024 launch, "your iPhone can prioritize your notifications to minimize unnecessary distractions while ensuring you don't miss something important."


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Apple has announced its new Advanced Commerce API, designed to provide app developers the ability to manage large catalogs of in-app purchases or subscriptions.


The announcement was published on Apple's developer page, along with the eligibility requirements. The Advanced Commerce API aims to help app developers with exceptionally large content catalogs and creator experiences, as well as those who have subscriptions with optional add-ons within their apps.

The iPhone maker's new API will enable a new way of managing in-app purchases, meaning that developers will no longer need to rely on App Store Connect. Developers will be able to use either, or both, to manage their in-app purchases, assuming they receive access to Apple's Advanced Commerce API.


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Epic Games is launching an additional 19 games for its third-party app store in the EU, once some bugs are worked out, and it has also promised to pay the Core Technology Fee for apps on its store.


After the European Union Digital Markets Act mandated that Apple allow third-party app stores, Epic Games jumped on the bandwagon. It launched the store with Fortnite and a slim selection of other titles in August 2024.

According to The Verge, Epic Games is making moves to make its alternative app store more appealing with 19 new third-party titles and some financial incentives for developers. The announcement arrives after it failed to meet a goal of 100 million alternative app store users, reaching only 29 million.


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Despite widespread adoption, Walmart has doubled down and gone on record saying it will not accept NFC-based payments like Apple Pay — in the U.S., at least.


Walmart has more than 4,500 stores in the United States, and exactly zero of them accept Apple Pay. Or Google Pay. Or even tap-to-pay with your credit or debit card.

This is because the big box retailer has decided to eschew NFC-based payments altogether. And it looks like it's going to stay that way, too.


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Apple has released a new developer beta firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, but it's not clear what the update contains.


Thursday's developer beta increases the build number to 7E5067b, up from the previous 7B21 and 7B20 updates. This beta software release is available for Air Pods 4 and AirPods Pro 2, both the USB-C and Lightning models. The software won't be released for AirPods Max or other non-H2 devices.

Apple periodically releases beta software updates for nearly all its platforms, including AirPods. While beta updates for Apple's mobile and desktop operating systems are released much more frequently, developers still rely on beta software for AirPods to test new features ahead of launch.


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Samsung's latest smartphone launch, the Galaxy S25, is the South Korean tech company's latest attempt to win the mobile AI war. Here's how the entry-level model compares against Apple's iPhone 16.


On January 22, Samsung launched an update to its flagship smartphone line. The Samsung Galaxy S25, along with the Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25 Ultra, are set to become the biggest smartphones on Android, and possibly in AI.

During the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung promoted its smartphones as a way for anyone to quickly use AI while on the move. Promises were made of natural context-aware mobile experiences, an intuitive interface, and high performance.


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Apple's latest installment of quarterly earnings is on January 30 after market close, and there are five key points that Apple needs to make to satisfy investors.


Morgan Stanley has proven to be one of the more accurate and reasonable firms that cover Apple. In a new note released on Friday by the firm, analyst Erik Woodring notes that the earnings setup feels very similar to a year ago. Like a year ago, he is expecting a street beat, but a lower than expected second quarter revenue predictions.

Specifically, the firm remains bullish on its overweight rating and maintained $273 price target. Woodring expects revenue of $124.0 billion, and $2.31 earnings per share. This all implies a 3.7% revenue growth — which is roughly in line with what Wall Street expects as a whole.


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Amazon wants you to enjoy a stress-free tax season with deals on TurboTax for Mac, allowing you to get a head start on filing your tax return. Deluxe, Premier, and Business versions are all on sale.


Amazon's TurboTax deals apply to both Windows and Mac versions, with discounts up to 44% off. Prices for the Deluxe version start at $36.99, while Premier is marked down to $64.99 and Home & Business has fallen to $75.99.

Save on TurboTax


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The nominees for the 97th Academy Awards have been announced and Apple TV+ is not going to take home another Best Picture Oscar, or anything else — because it didn't try.


Nobody can ever take away from Apple that it was the first-ever streamer to win a Best Picture Oscar for "CODA." It's not going to repeat that in 2025, but unlike Netflix, Apple truly didn't try very hard this time.

That's clear not from the lack of nominations, but from the Oscars shortlist — and before that, from Apple's own PR attempts. Every year studios mount campaigns known as "For Your Consideration," trying to get the Academy's voters to at least watch key films, and Apple pushed four titles.


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It might not be "new year, new me" for the iPhone yet, as scattered reports across social media show that the iPhone is, yet again, failing to wake people up.


Nothing starts the day off on the wrong foot like missing your alarm when you've got somewhere to be or something to do. Unfortunately for some iPhone owners, that seems to be the exact situation they've found themselves in.

Stop us if you've heard this before. A quick check on X shows plenty of iPhone owners reporting that their alarms are not going off or are going off silently. A smaller subset of people are reporting that their alarms are going off at the incorrect time.


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The United Kingdom's competition regulator is investigating Apple and Google once again, with the CMA assessing the "strategic market status" of the two companies in mobile ecosystems.


The Competition and Markets Authority is launching an investigation into the mobile business, once again taking on the dominance of Apple and Google in the smartphone market. As it flexes its new powers to investigate big tech companies like Apple, it's taking on the two companies responsible for the two biggest mobile operating systems.

According to Statcounter, iOS has 47.7% of the mobile operating system market share in the UK as of December 2024. Android is reported at 51.9%.


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A class action lawsuit has been filed against Apple over the use of fluoroelastomer in several Apple Watch bands, saying the company is hiding how it is using dangerous chemicals.


As long ago as 2015, when it filed a patent regarding Apple Watch bands, Apple has been aware of health concerns over the fluoroelastomer material it uses in some bands such as the basic Sport Band. At the time, it was claimed that the particular fluoroelastomer recipe used had been strenuously tested to prevent rashes and other skin reactions.

Ten years later, the company is being sued for the use of this material, and accused of promoting a health device that is unhealthy. The suit targets Apple's Sport Band — which comes as standard with an Apple Watch — plus the Ocean Band, and the Nike Sport Band.


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It's been a few months since Apple launched the black Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the all-new Apple Watch Series 10. Here's how they compare after three months of daily use.


We wore the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for an entire year. Once the new Apple Watch Series 10 was released, we made a chance to the new wearable instead.

This has given us lots of insight into the two models and how they actually compare after prolonged use. We'll go beyond just the specs on a website.


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The Indian government wants its own state-backed apps to be pre-installed on every iPhone and Android phone, but Apple and Google are expected to refuse.


India's government has a thing about pre-installed apps, having previously told Apple it should let its experts examine them before any updates are allowed. That was reportedly in a private discussion in 2023, and appears to have gone nowhere — which might be what happens with the new demand too.

According to Bloomberg, India's latest private discussions with Apple and Google revolve around the government's own apps. It wants its own state-backed suite of apps to be supplied pre-installed on all phones, and also to be downloadable from third-party App Stores without "untrusted source" warnings.


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Having Safari be able to open the same tabs on all your Apple devices is hugely convenient, yet Apple hides the feature away. Here's how to find and make use of it.


This is specifically about what are called iCloud tabs — and they are not the same as Tab Groups. If you use Tab Groups in Safari on one Apple device, the feature is on with the same tabs on all your devices.

In theory, iCloud tabs is always on too, but you have to dig further to find it, and you have to make sure that it is enabled.


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New Samsung Galaxy S25 devices are up for preorder, as Samsung unveils discounts to compete with iPhone 16 incentives.


Announced on Jan. 22, the Samsung Galaxy S25 series includes the S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra — all of which are eligible for preorder deals.

Get the S25 deals


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A proposed class-action lawsuit against Apple, which alleges that the company underpays its female staff, is going forward after all.


Even though Apple claims it takes the issue of gender discrimination seriously, with the company even having an entire webpage dedicated to diversity, the iPhone maker has faced serious criticism. In June 2024, a class-action lawsuit against Apple alleged that the company systematically underpays its female employees across multiple divisions, including AppleCare, engineering, and marketing.

According to the class-action lawsuit, Apple based its employee pay on "prior pay and pay expectations to set starting salaries," meaning that women are paid less from the get-go. The company's performance evaluations are also said to favor men, who are often rewarded with bonuses and raises based on talent, while their female coworkers are not provided with the same treatment.


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The purported specifications of the iPad 11, iPhone SE 4, and 2025 iPad Air models have appeared online, and contradictions include the iPad 11 not getting Apple Intelligence support.


On Wednesday, an anonymous social media account with a verifiable track record published detailed information on multiple unreleased Apple products. Earlier in the day, the leaker claimed that the fourth-generation iPhone SE, the iPad 11, and the 2025 iPad Air models would all ship with iOS 18.3 preinstalled.

The leaker has since returned with even more information on these devices, but some of their recent claims raise more questions than answers.


Rumor Score: 🙄 Unlikely


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