Leaks have indicated Apple has an internal robotics team working on building new home products. But now, via a recently published video, Apple has actually offered its own glimpse into what our robot future could look like.

Benjamin and Chance review the newly-launched Apple Invites app and despite how well made the app is, debate whether anyone will actually use it. Also, AltStore makes headlines about hosting the first ‘Apple approved’ NSFW app, Apple reportedly cancels another AR hardware initiative and TikTok spreads fake news about the iOS 18.3 support for T-Mobile Starlink service.

And in Happy Hour Plus, Benjamin and Chance bemoan the lack of advancement in CarPlay in recent years, and suggest a few easy wins Apple could add to the platform. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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Apple’s Passwords app debuted in iOS 18 as a one-stop hub for all your password needs. But the app also, interestingly, has a feature that can replace one of Apple’s best existing Wi-Fi tools.

After testing last year, Google app on iOS has rolled out an Auto Dark Mode for its built-in web browser.

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.

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Apple just shipped iOS 18.3 last week, but it seems that another software release is on its way soon. Internal 9to5Mac visitor logs show that Apple is currently testing an iOS 18.3.1 update. Here’s what that means.

While you certainly don’t want to miss out on the new all-time low now live on AirPods 4, never mind the best prices of the year on AirPods Pro 2, we have a fresh batch of discounts to save you ton today. First up, Apple’s 24GB 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro is now $260 off at Amazon to deliver the best price of the year. And next we have another sweet deal on the most affordable unlocked iPhone 15 Pro – Amazon Premium Renewed units with a 1-year warranty are now $305 off the original price – alongside Geek Squad refurbished Apple Watch Ultra 2 models at $269 off. Those offers join discounts on Apple gift cards and the Natural Milanese Loop alongside everything else in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Lost luggage can be a nightmare, but AirTags make the process of finding that luggage much simpler. And thanks to the new Find My feature introduced in iOS 18.2, you can now share your luggage’s location with airlines. Today, Virgin Atlantic has announced it now supports the new AirTag feature. Here’s how that works.

Apple is starting to feel some impact from the new U.S. administration’s shifting priorities in the global landscape, especially around economic issues like tariffs. Here are the two major threats Apple is facing, and why investors don’t actually seem to be worried.

Leica is known for making absolutely beautiful, minimalist cameras and jaw-droppingly great lenses with pricing in the “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” range.

There’s no doubt that the newly-launched Leica LUX grip for iPhone ticks the beautiful box – but also the Leica pricing one …

If 27-inch 5K displays aren’t your thing, BenQ’s 32-inch 4K monitor is a fun option I’ve been testing and loving. The BenQ 32-inch Ergo Arm Programming Monitor with MoonHalo is designed to maximize comfort during long coding (or writing) sessions.

Consumer electronics from China are getting more expensive for both consumers and businesses, as Trump’s 10% import tariffs take effect. Additionally, removal of a small-value exemption on existing tariffs means some products are now subject to import taxes as high as 45%.

Courier companies are also applying their own collection fees on top of the tariffs, further increasing costs – and some companies are pausing imports while they figure out what to do …

Reddit banned more than 90 subreddits yesterday, later restoring them and blaming it on a bug, but some moderators are worried about what the move might signal for the future.

The banned subreddits were all ones allowing NSFW content, but while that is commonly thought of as adult entertainment, it also includes communities as diverse as r/cubancigars and  r/transgender_surgeries …

A new conversational Alexa is expected to be revealed at an Amazon media event on February 26, with press invitations sent out yesterday.

A report citing Amazon insiders says that the all-new Alexa will be powered by generative AI, dramatically boosting its capabilities and putting even more pressure on Apple to launch a smarter Siri …

Apple officially launched Apple Invites on Tuesday, giving iPhone users a new way to create rich digital invitations for real events.

One day later, Apple released Apple Invites version 1.0.1 with some improvements to the original version of the app.

Speaking of Jason Snell, he and I played a round of Clockwise with Rosemary Orchard and Dan Moren today. Check out the podcast episode below.

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were fantastic smartphones in 2016 and 2017, but they did experience a so-called “Loop Disease” in some instances. For that reason, a class action lawsuit was filed years ago and eventually approved last year. A year later, former iPhone 7 customers are starting to receive their settlement payments.

You’ve probably heard someone say “but can it run Doom?” That’s because running Doom on the most unexpected platforms and devices has become a fun challenge among developers. Now someone has done something really surprising: they’ve run Doom on an Apple Lightning to HDMI adapter.

OpenAI announced in December a new integration with WhatsApp, which lets users chat with ChatGPT right from the Meta-owned messaging app. Now the company is taking this integration further, as OpenAI is adding support for images and voice messages to ChatGPT on WhatsApp.

Speaking of Apple Vision Pro, there are some nice pieces reflecting on the product’s first year.

Did you know that Apple provides a discount to veterans and military members? Apple Vision Pro has finally been added to the Veterans and Military Purchase Program at a discounted price.

Vision Pro has officially entered its second year on the market. Apple’s spatial computer was chosen as 9to5Mac’s 2024 Product of the Year, but it still has a lot to prove heading into year two. Here are three coming upgrades that could spark a growth year for Vision Pro.

Apple has three new Home products launching this year, and the first one is especially exciting. It’s a new smart display that I’m calling ‘HomePad,’ and it meets a key need that Apple’s smart home ecosystem has always had.

Craft is a robust and beautiful documents app with AI integration primarily through ChatGPT. Now Craft has shipped an AI-focused update that actually shows off the power of on-device, offline AI…

From the moment the was released, I knew I wanted Satechi’s stand hub for the Mac mini. I had the original model that worked with the previous form factor Mac mini, and it was great. It added an abundance of ports and storage. And now, after months of waiting, Satechi recreated the hub but with a new M4 Mac mini form factor. Was it worth the wait? Here is the hands-on review.

Ted Lasso season 4 is happening, but there’s a lot we don’t yet know about it. According to one source, however, there’s a big change in focus coming for the Apple TV+ series.

One of the promises of the App Store is that anything you download has gone through a vetting process by Apple. Occasionally though, iPhone apps with malicious code slip through the cracks, and today, researchers at Kaspersky have reported on new malware they discovered in App Store apps—which they say is ‘the first known case.’

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.

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Over the past few years, Apple has been offering more self-repair options than ever before. One evidence of this is the Self Service Repair Store, where you can buy tools and parts for repairing your own Apple devices—even recent ones like an iPhone 16 Pro. And now for the first time, you can buy tools to repair the recent M4 Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and iMac.

Contrary to what you may have heard on TikTok, Apple did not just “install” Elon Musk’s Starlink on every iPhone.

The short explanation is that the iPhone is capable of using Starlink, just like any mobile service provider. More specifically, though, Starlink support on iPhone is limited to a single carrier for customers in the United States for now.

It’s not a direct partnership between Apple and Starlink. Instead, T-Mobile is using its 1900MHz (band 25) spectrum to provide additional coverage using Starlink, and the iPhone supports band 25. There’s nothing special in iOS 18.3 beyond supporting the latest version of T-Mobile’s network. Apple itself has not partnered with Starlink in any capacity.

However, if T-Mobile customers want to opt out of using Starlink on iPhone, there’s a way to disable using the functionality.

Your fresh batch of Apple deals has arrived. Firstly, AirPods Pro 2 in brand new condition have dropped a touch lower to $169, while open-box listings from Best Buy with a full warranty are now at a wild $116 shipped (if you’re fast). Those deals join ongoing all-time low pricing on AirPods 4, but we are also now tracking Jet Black Apple Watch Series 10 units at up to $110 off as well as the unlocked Amazon premium renewed 1TB iPhone 15 Pro in black at $630 off the original price and the return of all-time low pricing on Apple’s official Navy Alpine Loop. All of that and more awaits below in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Apple Invites is a brand new iPhone app that just launched yesterday. After a day of testing it out, here are five features in the Invites app that you might have missed.

Disney has long been planning to launch a new flagship ESPN streaming service—separate from the existing ESPN+ streamer—and its fall launch is fast approaching. Today during Disney’s quarterly earnings report, CEO Bob Iger teased what to expect from the new ESPN service and confirmed its launch timing.

Update: SuperDuper developer Dave Nanian reports that Apple has fixed the issue in macOS 15.3.

One or more backup bugs in macOS 15.2 Sequoia is affecting Apple’s own Time Machine utility, as well as third-party apps SuperDuper and CarbonCopyCloner. Initially the problem appeared to affect bootable backups only, but it now appears that it is either more general than this, or there is more than one bug affecting Mac backups …

So-called macOS Stealers – malware that seeks to extract personal data like passwords and credit card numbers from your machine – is expected to be significantly more prevalent this year.

A new annual report on the state of malware says that Mac owners could be at almost as much risk as Windows PC users this year …

We’re expecting to see an M5 chip powering this year’s MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro. That chip has now entered mass production, according to a new supply-chain report.

Not much is known about it for sure, though it is expected to have enhanced AI performance, and it’s also been suggested that it may have a somewhat different design to previous M-series chips …

Most Apple products sold in the US could see price raises, after Trump imposed 10% import tariffs on all imports from China. While Apple has been working on diversifying its supply chain, the majority of its products are still assembled in China.

Trump did a similar thing in his first term, applying tariffs to thousands of products. That time, Apple was successful in lobbying for exceptions, but the new policy appears to be a blanket 10% across all products arriving from China …

China is considering opening an antitrust investigation into Apple’s App Store commissions, mirroring those already carried out in the US, EU, and elsewhere.

However, it’s likely that the Chinese government is simply raising the possibility as a form of leverage in the latest trade war instigated by the Trump administration …

CardioBot is a health companion app for iPhone and Apple Watch that shows users how they can live a healthier life. The app has now been updated with new features, including “Activity Coaching” and fully interactive graphics. Read on as we detail everything that’s new with the update.

Meta last year introduced significant enhancements to the Threads timeline, as users gained the option to create custom feeds and choose which feed they want to see by default. Now Meta is announcing another new feature for Threads: the ability to share custom feeds with others.