This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: iPhone 18 Pro color rumors, iOS 27, iPhone Air 2 camera upgrade, M5 Macs, and more. Here are this week’s Apple rumors.

Starting next year, WhatsApp will finally add support for usernames, rather than relying exclusively on phone numbers. In a new update shared with businesses, Meta has detailed the rollout schedule and technical transition plan.

Benjamin and Chance discuss all the new features in iOS 26.2, including some fancy Podcast AI updates and a puzzling decision to remove Apple Watch Wi-Fi syncing in the EU. Also, Apple launches a browsable App Store on the web, and is set to pay $1bn annually to Google to use Gemini models as the underpinning of new Siri. 

And in Happy Hour Plus, the pair react to the new Apple TV intro, and get hyped for the premiere of Vince Gilligan’s new series, Pluribus.

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A few days after its counterparts, Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2 developer beta 1. Here’s what to expect.

Ready to try Apple’s upcoming iPhone features and don’t want to wait? Apple just dropped the first iOS 26.2 public beta, and it has a ton of new features. Here’s everything new.

Members of Apple’s public beta program have a host of new updates to install today. Apple has just released public beta 1 for tvOS 26.2, watchOS 26.2, and more.

Apple kicked off a new round of 26.2 beta releases for developers earlier this week, and now the first public betas are here too, including iPadOS 26.2. Here’s everything new.

Apple’s Passwords app launched last year in iOS 18 as a new pre-installed password solution across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and more. I’ve been using the app since launch, and iOS 26 brings one welcome Passwords change that I’ve found myself needing regularly in the past year.

There are already some seriously notable Black Friday deals live right now, but perhaps none better than the new all-time lows on the M4 MacBook Air lineup. Yesterday we caught a few configurations at $250 off, but now Amazon is offering just about every single model at its best price to date starting from $750. Those offers join a chance to land Apple Pencil Pro as low at $67 via Amazon Resale – one of the lowest prices ever – as well as up to 50% off Beats USB-C cables, and Apple Watch Series 10 from $280. Scope out everything in detail below.

AirPods Pro 3 are, in many respects, a fantastic upgrade from their predecessor. But for myself and some other users, design changes made them more uncomfortable than AirPods Pro 2. Fortunately, my experience has been improving.

A new iOS 26.2 feature for Apple Podcasts has made the built-in podcast app very hard to resist, despite the abundance of third-party alternatives on the App Store.

As part of an investigation into whether Apple complies with the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU has said that it suspects the company of failing to protect its customers from scams. The Cupertino company is also accused of not providing enough safety measures for children who use its devices.

The iPhone maker has responded with an exceptionally strongly-worded letter, accusing the EU of hypocrisy and cynically attempting to distract attention from the failings of its own laws …

Apple TV+ recently became just Apple TV and introduced a vibrant new logo and intro as part of the brand refresh. It turns out that colorful new intro to Apple TV content was created on camera using real glass…

Apple just announced that its annual Swift Student Challenge will return starting February 6 for three weeks, and new Develop in Swift tutorials and Meet with Apple code-along sessions are now available to help prepare. Alongside the announcement, Apple is highlighting four apps from three former winners.

Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.2 this week, with changes for Apple News, Apple Podcasts, Liquid Glass, and more.

As it turns out, iOS 26.2 also brings a big improvement to Apple Music: support for offline lyrics.

There’s good news today for HomeKit fans on a budget: IKEA has announced the launch of 21 new smart home products, all of them Matter-compatible.

The new lineup comprises 11 different smart bulbs, five types of sensor, three remote controls, and a new smart plug …

We yesterday took a look at the new Motorola Edge 70, the company’s take on the iPhone Air, and today brings another Android contender, the Huawei Mate 70 Air.

Although 1mm thicker than the iPhone Air and 30% heavier, it does pack four cameras and twice as much battery into an extremely sleek-looking device …

While there is evidence to suggest that the iPhone Air has proven less popular than Apple had hoped, it seems the company hasn’t given up on it yet.

A leaker with a decent track-record says that the company is currently exploring a second-gen iPhone Air with two cameras instead of just one …

Recently, Anker announced a new collaboration with Black Myth, and they’re slowly rolling out a number of limited-edition themed products around that. First of which is their 14-in-1 DL7400 desktop dock, which I’ll be going hands on with.

Following the release of the first developer betas of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 earlier this week, Apple is now preventing the update from being installed on devices with the C1 modem. Here are the details.

Ole Obermann, who was appointed co-lead of Apple Music in May, has been confirmed as one of the speakers at Web Summit 2025, which kicks off next week in Lisbon. Here’s what to expect.

Following years of exclusivity in Japan, the official Nintendo Store app is now available in multiple countries, including the US. Here’s what you can do with it.

iOS 26 is packed full of new features, but one that lots of users might appreciate is flying under the radar. Thanks to a new setting added in iOS 26, you can finally stop AirPods’ audio from automatically getting hijacked by other Bluetooth speakers, including your in-car speakers.

Last September, Apple and Amazon were cleared in an iPhone and iPad price-fixing lawsuit. Now, they’re seeking reimbursement for their attorneys’ fees. Here are the details.