In a scorching ruling against Apple, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on Wednesday accused an Apple finance executive of providing false testimony under oath during the company's ongoing legal battle with Epic Games.


The judge stated that Alex Roman, Apple's vice president of finance, gave testimony that was "replete with misdirection and outright lies" regarding when Apple decided on its controversial 27 percent commission fee for purchases made outside the App Store.

"Contemporaneous business documents reveal that on the contrary, the main components of Apple's plan, including the 27 percent commission, were determined in July 2023," wrote Gonzalez Rogers in her ruling. "Neither Apple, nor its counsel, corrected the, now obvious, lies."

The ruling is significant enough that Gonzalez Rogers is referring the case to a U.S. attorney for possible criminal contempt proceedings against both Apple and Roman.

The reduced 27 percent fee (down from Apple's standard 30%) was established after the 2021 Epic Games lawsuit ruling. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected claims that Apple operated a monopoly. However, she ruled that Apple's anti-steering conduct was anti-competitive, and ordered the company to allow developers to link to alternative payment methods outside the App Store.

Apple complied by creating a system where developers can apply for a "StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement" to direct users to external payment options. However, Apple still demands a 27% commission on these transactions made within seven days of clicking the link.

That's set to change though after Wednesday's ruling. The court now says Apple cannot collect any fee or commission for purchases that consumers make outside of an app, nor can it track, audit, or monitor consumer activity.

The judge didn't mince words in her assessment of Apple's behavior, writing that "Apple willfully chose not to comply with this Court's Injunction" and did so "with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers" to maintain its revenue stream.

"That it thought this Court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation," she added. "As always, the cover-up made it worse. For this Court, there is no second bite at the apple."

The false testimony appears to have particularly aggravated the judge, who said in her ruling that the alleged deception compounded Apple's original violation of the anti-steering injunction.

In a brief statement, Apple said: "We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court's order and we will appeal."
This article, "Apple VP Referred for Criminal Contempt After 'Outright Lies' in Epic Games Ruling" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple plans to change its U.S. App Store rules in accordance with a ruling from the U.S Northern District of California, Apple said in a statement to MacRumors. The company does plan to appeal the decision, though.


"We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court's order and we will appeal," reads Apple's statement.

Apple was found to be in violation of a 2021 injunction that targeted its anti-steering ‌App Store‌ rules, and the company has been ordered to comply with that injunction immediately. The court has provided instructions on the changes that Apple needs to make.

• Apple cannot prevent developers from adding links or buttons that direct customers to make purchases outside of the ‌App Store‌.


• Apple cannot collect any fee or commission for purchases that consumers make outside of an app, nor can it track, audit, or monitor consumer activity.


• Apple cannot control the language, formatting, placement, or style that developers use to direct customers to purchases outside of an app.


• Apple cannot interfere with consumers' choice to leave an app with anything other than a neutral message about visiting a third-party site, so no "scare screens."


• Apple is prohibited from excluding certain categories of apps and developers from obtaining link access.


• Apple cannot prevent developers from using dynamic links that bring consumers to a specific product page in a logged-in state, nor can it prevent apps from providing product details, user details, or other information that refers to the user intending to make a purchase.

In the order, the court said that it "will not tolerate further delays" and that the ruling is effective immediately, so Apple will need to make these changes imminently.
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Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney today said that Fortnite will return to the U.S. App Store next week, and he offered a "peace proposal" with a pledge to bring Fortnite back to iOS worldwide if Apple follows certain steps.


"Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court's friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we'll return Fortnite to the ‌App Store‌ worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic," Sweeney wrote.

Earlier today, Apple was found to be willfully violating a 2021 anti-steering injunction that was put in place as part of its legal battle with ‌Epic Games‌. In a strongly worded ruling, the judge overseeing the case ordered Apple to immediately change its ‌App Store‌ rules.

Apple must drop all of its anti-steering policies. The company is no longer allowed to prevent developers from letting customers know about options to purchase subscriptions and content outside of the ‌App Store‌. Apple cannot control link placement, the language that developers use to direct customers to make purchases outside of an app, or the style that developers use for communicating non in-app purchase options.

Further, Apple is not able to charge fees or collect commission for any purchases made outside of an app.

The ruling is a significant blow to Apple. After the injunction was put into place in 2021, Apple had a three year reprieve as it appealed, but ultimately the company was required to make changes in 2024. Apple ultimately allowed developers a single link to direct customers outside of the ‌App Store‌, and collected between 12 and 27 percent in fees for purchases made from those links.

‌Epic Games‌ accused Apple of violating the anti-steering injunction after the new rules were put in place, and requested that the court find Apple in contempt. The judge sided with ‌Epic Games‌, and decided that Apple's solution did not go far enough to address its anticompetitive behavior.

Apple will not be able to delay making rule changes to the U.S. ‌App Store‌ based on the wording of the ruling, and ‌Epic Games‌ is proposing that Apple extend those changes worldwide. If Apple does so, ‌Epic Games‌ will drop all litigation.
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In a victory for Epic Games, Apple was today found to be in violation of a 2021 injunction that required it to allow developers to direct customers to third-party purchase options on the web using in-app links.


Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers, who has been handling the Apple vs. ‌Epic Games‌ dispute for the last five years, said that Apple is in "willful violation" of the injunction she issued to prohibit anticompetitive conduct and pricing. "Apple's continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated," reads the ruling.

For background, ‌Epic Games‌ in 2024 accused Apple of violating the 2021 anti-steering injunction. Apple did allow developers to put a single link in their apps that leads to a website where customers can make a purchase without using the in-app purchase system, but Apple continued to charge a commission, requiring developers to pay between 12 and 27 percent for purchases made using these in-app links.

‌Epic Games‌ asked that Apple be held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the order due to the fee and other strict rules surrounding the single link option available to developers. Apple, meanwhile, claimed that it was fully in compliance with the injunction, but the judge sided with ‌Epic Games‌. In fact, the ruling is not at all favorable to Apple, highlighting in stark language how the Cupertino company failed to comply with the order.

To summarize: One, after trial, the Court found that Apple's 30 percent commission "allowed it to reap supracompetitive operating margins" and was not tied to the value of its intellectual property, and thus, was anticompetitive. Apple's response: charge a 27 percent commission (again tied to nothing) on off-app purchases, where it had previously charged nothing, and extend the commission for a period of seven days after the consumer linked-out of the app. Apple's goal: maintain its anticompetitive revenue stream.

Two, the Court had prohibited Apple from denying developers the ability to communicate with, and direct consumers to, otherpurchasing mechanisms. Apple's response: impose new barriers and new requirements to increase friction and increase breakage rates with full page "scare" screens, static URLs, and generic statements. Apple's goal: to dissuade customer usage of alternative purchase opportunities and maintain its anticompetitive revenue stream.

In the end, Apple sought to maintain a revenue stream worth billions in direct defiance of this Court's Injunction.

Judge Rogers said that the court "will not tolerate further delays," and "Apple will not impede competition." Apple must not impede developers' ability to communicate with users or levy a new commission on off-app purchases. The ruling is effective immediately. Here are the terms that Apple must adhere to:

1. Imposing any commission or any fee on purchases that consumers make outside an app, and as a consequence thereof, no reason exists to audit, monitor, track or require developers to report purchases or any other activity that consumers make outside an app;


2. Restricting or conditioning developers' style, language, formatting, quantity, flow or placement of links for purchases outside an app;


3. Prohibiting or limiting the use of buttons or other calls to action, or otherwise conditioning the content, style, language, formatting, flow or placement of these devices for purchases outside an app;


4. Excluding certain categories of apps and developers from obtaining link access;


5. Interfering with consumers' choice to proceed in or out of an app by using anything other than a neutral message apprising users that they are going to a third-party site;


6. Restricting a developer's use of dynamic links that bring consumers to a specific product page in a logged-in state rather than to a statically defined page, including restricting apps from passing on product details, user details or other information that refers to the user intending to make a purchase

The court is referring the case to the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California to "investigate whether criminal contempt proceedings are appropriate." Apple has also been sanctioned in the amount of the full cost of Epic's attorney fees through May 15, 2025.

Update: In a statement to MacRumors, Apple said the following: "We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court's order and we will appeal."
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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 218 includes fixes and updates for CSS, JavaScript, Lockdown Mode, Rendering, SVG, Web API, Web Extensions, Web Inspector, and WebRTC.

The current ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release is compatible with machines running macOS Sonoma and macOS Sequoia, 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.
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Meta this week sent out an email (via The Verge) to Meta Ray-Ban customers informing them about upcoming privacy changes to the smart glasses, which will increase the amount of data that Meta is collecting by default.


Meta says that voice recordings are stored by default when using Meta AI, and used to improve Meta products. Meta has eliminated the option to disable voice recording storage, and recordings need to be manually deleted in settings. Further, the "camera use" setting for Meta AI is now enabled by default.

From Meta's email:

• Meta AI with camera use is always enabled on your glasses unless you turn off "Hey Meta."


• Recordings of your voice are stored by default when using Meta AI and may be used to improve AI at Meta and other Meta products. The option to disable voice recordings storage is no longer available, but you can delete recordings anytime in Settings.


• You're still in control. You can turn off "Hey Meta" or delete Meta AI interactions anytime.

Photos and videos taken with the built-in camera are stored on a connected smartphone and are not used by Meta for training, unless those photos are used by a Meta product. If a photo or video is used with Meta AI, or if cloud processing is turned on and media is sent to Meta's servers, it can be used to improving Meta's services. Of course, uploading images and video to Instagram and other Meta apps also gives Meta the exact same access.

So if you say "Hey Meta, record a video," by default Meta records the voice command and stores the recording and an audio transcript of it, a feature that is now turned on by default and can't be turned off. If cloud processing is also on, or if you ask Meta AI a question about the video, Meta can access and use the video for AI training purposes.

Turning off Meta AI entirely on the Ray-Ban glasses and using manual controls for snapping photos and videos is the best method to ensure that Meta isn't collecting excessive data. More information is available in Meta's privacy policy.
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Apple this week sent out notices to people who may have been targeted with government-sponsored spyware attacks, reports TechCrunch. An Italian journalist and a Dutch activist said that they received notifications from Apple via iMessage and email.

Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple Account. This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do. Although it's never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks, Apple has high confidence in this warning - please take it seriously.

Apple said in its message that the notification was being sent to targeted users in 100 countries, and the company advised that those receiving the alert enable Lockdown Mode and ensure that their iPhones are updated to iOS 18.4.1. Apple also warned against opening links or attachments from unexpected or unknown senders.

We are unable to provide more information about what caused us to send you this notification, as that may help mercenary spyware attacker adapt their behavior to evade detection in the future. Apple threat notifications like this one will never ask you to click any links, install an app or profile, or provide your Apple Account password or verification code by email or over the phone.

Apple has been sending out notices like this to those targeted in state-sponsored attacks since 2021. Many state-sponsored surveillance campaigns use the Pegasus spyware from NSO Group, and Apple launched a lawsuit against NSO Group in 2021.

According to a support document on Apple's threat notification policy, Apple sends out alerts multiple times per year when attacks are detected, and to date, users in over 150 countries have been notified about potential attacks.
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Google and the United States Justice Department are back in court to fight over the remedies that will be implemented to address Google's search monopoly, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai today took the stand to defend Google.


The DoJ wants Google to divest its Chrome browser, refrain from making search engine agreements like the one Google has with Apple, and share "critical portions" of its search data with competitors at a "marginal cost," including how it ranks search results and query understanding information. According to Pichai, these remedies would essentially mean the end of Google search.

As outlined by The New York Times, Pichai said that if Google had to share data, the company wouldn't likely continue to invest in search. "The combination of all the remedies, I think, makes it unviable to invest in R&D the way we have for the past three decades, to continue to innovate and build Google search," he said. He suggested that Google would not be able to fund "all the innovation" that the company puts into search.

Pichai said that the data sharing requirement would be a "de facto divestiture" of Google's intellectual property. With that information, Pichai claimed that any company could "completely reverse engineer, end to end, every aspect of [Google's] technology stack." He said that the DoJ's proposal that Google share its data is "extraordinary" and "far reaching."

Google wants to be able to continue to make search engine deals like the one it has with Apple, according to Pichai, though he suggested those deals could be renegotiated on an annual basis and that those deals would not be exclusive. Google's upcoming deal to add Gemini to the iPhone along with OpenAI was cited as an example of Google's new deal making policy.

Judge Amit Mehta, who is overseeing the case, will consider testimony from both Google and the DoJ before he provides remedies. A decision is expected by August, and Google will undoubtedly appeal, so the case is likely to take many more years to play out.
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Apple has reaffirmed its commitment to making chips in the United States as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) begins construction on its third fabrication facility in Arizona.


The facility in Phoenix represents part of a $100 billion investment TSMC pledged in March to make over four years in the American semiconductor industry. The new plant follows the company's initial $65 billion commitment in Arizona and is being positioned as a key node in the effort to manufacture chips for Apple and other U.S.-based technology companies within domestic borders.

A new press release from the U.S. Department of Commerce quotes Apple CEO Tim Cook:

We're proud to support the high-skilled American jobs of tomorrow. As TSMC Arizona's first and largest customer, we're excited for the future of American innovation and the incredible opportunities it will create.

TSMC currently manufactures the majority of Apple's chips in Taiwan. Under current company policy and Taiwanese export restrictions, the most advanced fabrication technologies, including the 3-nanometer processes used to make the A18 and M4 chips, remain exclusive to facilities in Taiwan. The Arizona plants, by contrast, are limited to producing slightly older nodes. These fabs are expected to manufacture 4-nanometer chips such as the A16 Bionic and S9, used in the iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.

In an earnings call earlier this month, TSMC CEO Dr. C.C. Wei said that production yields at the company's first Arizona plant are now matching those in Taiwan. The second plant, announced in 2022, is currently ramping up operations and is expected to become fully operational by 2028. The third facility does not yet have a confirmed completion date.
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai today said that he hopes to reach a deal with Apple regarding built-in Gemini integration on iPhones by the middle of this year, according to Bloomberg. The report said that Pichai shared this remark in court today, during the U.S. Department of Justice's ongoing antitrust trial against Google.


Pichai confirmed that he held a series of discussions with Apple CEO Tim Cook about Google Gemini integration on iPhones last year.

Apple is expected to announce iOS 19 during its annual developers conference WWDC, which kicks off Monday, June 9. That would align with the mid-2025 timeframe provided by Pichai, so it seems likely that iOS 19 will offer Google Gemini integration, should a deal be reached. iOS 19 should be released to the general public in September.

iPhone models with Apple Intelligence have already offered ChatGPT integration since iOS 18.2. With user permission, Siri can show ChatGPT answers directly in response to questions and other prompts. ChatGPT is also an option for Apple's system-wide Writing Tools feature, allowing users to generate text and images.

Google Gemini would have similar integration across Siri and Writing Tools on iPhone models that are compatible with Apple Intelligence, which includes the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and all iPhone 16 models.

Google Gemini is already available as an iPhone app.
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In Safari on iPhone, it's not unusual for the number of tabs you have open to quickly get out of hand. Here's how to temporarily clean things up without losing your tabs.


If you have no use for all your open tabs, you can simply select one, then press and hold on the tabs button in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This will bring up an option to "Close All [x] Tabs," X being the number open.

Using the close all tabs option is one solution for restoring order to your browser session, but that's no good if you're not finished looking at the open tabs, especially if you're busy researching a project or a vacation, let's say.

You could always bookmark the open web pages for later reference. But you don't have to bookmark each tab one by one – that could take a while depending on how many are open.

Fortunately, Safari lets you bookmark multiple tabs in a just couple of taps and save them all in a new or existing bookmark folder. Here's how it works.

Select one of your open tabs, and in the main browsing window, long press the Bookmark icon (it looks like an open book).


Once you've tapped this option, you'll be asked to save the tabs in a new bookmarks folder. You can also choose the location where you want the new folder to live.

To access your bookmarks in Safari at any time, simply tap the Bookmarks icon in the main browsing interface to reveal all of your saved favorites and folders.
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This year, Mother's Day lands on Sunday, May 11, and we're tracking quite a few offers from some of the best Apple-related accessory companies, as well as steep discounts on Apple products at Amazon. If you're planning on purchasing a gift for someone, we recommend looking at the below deals as soon as possible, considering shipping estimates vary for every company.

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

Amazon Sale

Amazon this week kicked off one of its biggest sales of the year so far, introducing record low prices on a number of Apple products. You can find the highlights in the list below, and be sure to check out our original articles on each sale for even more models and configurations being discounted.

• AirPods 4 - $99.99 ($29 off) / original article


• AirPods Pro 2 - $169.00 ($80 off) / original article


• Apple Watch Series 10 (42mm GPS) - $299.00 ($100 off) / original article


• 11th Gen iPad (128GB Wi-Fi) - $299.00 ($50 off) / original article


• 11-inch M3 iPad Air (128GB Wi-Fi) - $499.00 ($100 off) / original article


• 13-inch M4 MacBook Air (256GB) - $849.00 ($150 off) / original article

Apple Watch Bands

Woot recently brought back its sale on Apple Watch Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop bands, but with a twist. This time, when you buy any Solo Loop or Braided Solo Loop at a discount on Woot, you'll get up to two extra bands for free.


The way it works is when you purchase any Solo Loop band for the discounted price of $19.99 ($29 off), you will get two additional Solo Loop bands for free. When you purchase any Braided Solo Loop for the discounted price of $29.99 ($69 off), you will get one additional Braided Solo Loop band for free.



The catch here is that you won't be able to pick out the color of the bands. You start by selecting the size of the band and Apple Watch model, then Woot will randomly select three Solo Loop bands or two Braided Solo Loop bands to send to you.

Woot guarantees that each band will be a unique color and there will be no duplicate colors in each box. These are also in new condition and come individually packaged in their original Apple retail packaging, as well as with a one year Apple manufacturer limited warranty.

ZAGG

ZAGG is offering a straightforward 25 percent off sitewide for Mother's Day, including the usual array of Mophie chargers and protection accessories.



Specifically, you can get 25 percent off select products on ZAGG's website, excluding anything that has already been discounted. You don't need a coupon code and all sale prices will be reflected in your cart, and this sale will last through May 7.

Samsung

Samsung this week kicked off a new sale that includes savings on monitors, TVs, Galaxy products, and more. One of the best overall deals during this sale is on The Frame TVs, which are available for up to $1,600 off, depending on the size of the model you purchase. Every size is being discounted during this event, with the popular 65-inch The Frame TV available for $1,299.99, down from $1,999.99.


In terms of monitors, the best deal you'll find is on the 32-inch Smart Monitor M80D, which is available for $399.99, down from $699.99, an all-time low price.



This sale also covers the newest Galaxy S25 smartphones, The Frame TV, and Samsung's line of home appliances, including refrigerators and washer/dryers. We've accumulated some of these deals in the lists below, but be sure to check out Samsung's website for the full sale.

• The Frame - Save up to $1,600


• 65-inch QLED 4K TV - $999.99, down from $1,599.99


• 27-inch Odyssey G6 Gaming Monitor - $549.99, down from $799.99


• 43-inch Odyssey Neo G7 Smart Gaming Monitor - $699.99, down from $999.99


• 49-inch Odyssey OLED G9 (G93SD) Curved Gaming Monitor - $1,199.99, down from $1,699.99


• Large Capacity Side-by-Side Fridge - $1,099.00, down from $1,666.00


• 4-Door French Door Fridge - $1,799.00, down from $2,899.00


• Galaxy S25 Smartphone - Save up to $630


• Galaxy S25+ Smartphone - Save up to $630

AT&T

AT&T is discounting a large collection of smartphones for Mother's Day this year, including up to $1,000 in savings on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. You'll need to have an eligible trade-in, pick or upgrade to an eligible unlimited plan, and then you'll get up to $1,000 off in credits over 36 months.



AT&T also has the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 under a buy two, get $300 off deal. If you purchase any two Apple Watch models on an installment plan and add at least one new line, you can get up to $300 off in bill credits over 36 months.

More Sales

• Verizon - Save on iPhones and related accessories


• Belkin - Get a $10 power bank for free when spending $80 or more


• OtterBox - Get 20% off iPhone cases and accessories


• JBL - Save on JBL's best portable speakers and headphones


• Nomad - Get $10 off all Apple Watch accessories

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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A new lobbying group formed by Meta, Spotify, and Match Group is challenging Apple and Google's role in the mobile app ecosystem, arguing the company should bear legal responsibility for verifying users' ages and accusing them of anti-competitive business practices that disadvantage developers, Bloomberg reports.


The "Coalition for a Competitive Mobile Experience" is a coordinated effort by these major companies to influence federal and state legislation amid mounting pressure to implement digital safeguards for minors. The coalition intends to lobby lawmakers, engage with federal regulators, and support ongoing antitrust enforcement actions against Apple and Google.

The group's immediate concern is a growing legislative push to require age verification for users downloading mobile apps that may be unsuitable for minors. A law enacted in Utah in March requires app stores to verify a user's age and obtain parental consent before allowing minors to download certain applications. Additional proposals are reportedly being drafted at the federal level.

The coalition's members argue that Apple and Google, as gatekeepers of the iOS App Store and Google Play Store respectively, are best positioned to implement uniform age verification protocols across devices and markets. By contrast, Apple and Google have maintained that responsibility should lie with individual app developers, who are directly collecting and processing user data within their apps.

In recent years, Apple has introduced features aimed at limiting children's exposure to harmful content, including communication safety tools and default app restrictions for child accounts, but the company has been reluctant to assume primary responsibility for verifying user identities at the download stage.

Beyond age verification, the coalition aims to highlight broader concerns over Apple's app distribution practices. These include the company's 15–30% commission on digital transactions, mandatory use of its in-app purchase system, and restrictions on alternative app marketplaces or payment methods.
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Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years.


At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become the slimmest iPhone in the lineup by some margin. For comparison, the current iPhone 16 Pro measures 8.25mm thick.

Achieving this level of thinness is unlikely to come without compromise. Dummy models shared by AppleTrack suggest that Apple has made some subtle adjustments to accommodate internal components in the tighter chassis. Most notably, the USB-C port on the bottom edge is no longer centered front-to-back. Instead, it appears shifted closer to the rear of the device, which is likely to accommodate display components within the enclosure.

There are other signs of Apple's re-engineering efforts. The speaker grilles, for example, show a pared-back design, with only two holes on either side of the port compared to the typical five. That reduction reflects the same space-saving measures required to fit in a battery, processor, display components, and speakers within a much slimmer frame.


To save even more space, Apple is said to be equipping the iPhone 17 Air with a single rear camera. The company is also expected to remove the physical SIM card slot entirely, adopting eSIM-only support globally – a shift first seen in U.S. iPhones with the iPhone 14.

One of the most interesting internal changes is the inclusion of Apple's new custom-designed C1 modem, first introduced in the iPhone 16e. The ultra-efficient chip should play a big role in maintaining battery life in such a thin frame. Despite its size, sources suggest the iPhone 17 Air will offer battery performance on par with current iPhone models.


Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 17 series during its usual fall event, which may also see the debut of third-generation AirPods Pro.

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OpenAI has reversed a recent update to GPT-4o, the model powering ChatGPT, following widespread complaints about the chatbot's strange behavior.


Deployed late last week, the update made ChatGPT excessively agreeable and unnaturally effusive in its praise, and the responses quickly became the subject of mockery on social media.

CEO Sam Altman announced Tuesday that the company had completed the rollback for free users and was working to restore the previous version for paid subscribers. "We're working on additional fixes to model personality and will share more in the coming days," Altman wrote on X (Twitter).

In an official blog post, OpenAI acknowledged they "focused too much on short-term feedback, and did not fully account for how users' interactions with ChatGPT evolve over time." The result was responses that were "overly supportive but disingenuous."

The company noted that "ChatGPT's default personality deeply affects the way you experience and trust it," and that "sycophantic interactions can be uncomfortable, unsettling, and cause distress."


OpenAI's solution goes beyond the rollback, and the company is implementing a four-point plan. This includes refining training techniques, building honesty guardrails, expanding pre-deployment testing, and enhancing evaluations to prevent similar issues.

The company also plans to give users more control over ChatGPT's behavior, including new ways to provide real-time feedback and the option to choose from multiple default personalities in the future.
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Google has announced that first- and second-generation Nest Learning Thermostats will lose support in October 2025, disabling their connected features (via ArsTechnica).


After October 25, 2025, these devices will no longer receive software updates or connect to Google's cloud services. Users won't be able to control them via the Google Home app or voice assistants, though basic temperature control and on-device scheduling will continue to function.

The affected models include the original 2011 North American Learning Thermostat – pioneered by iPod creator Tony Fadell – and its 2012 successor, and the 2014 European model.

U.S. users can upgrade to newer Nest models, and owners can get a $130 discount if they upgrade to the fourth-generation Nest, which was released last year for $280. In Canada, the discount is CA$160.

European owners face a tougher choice, as Google confirmed it won't develop new thermostats for European heating systems. Instead, European customers are being offered a 50 percent discount on the Tado Smart Thermostat X.

This decision follows Google's recent discontinuation of other Nest products amid job cuts in its platform and devices division. Google is no longer making new Nest Protect Smoke & CO alarms and is ending sales of the Nest x Yale Lock.

Despite the upcoming end-of-life, the thermostats have exceeded Google's standard five-year support commitment, with some approaching 15 years of service by the cutoff date. Still, many Nest owners will be disappointed with the limited lifetime of a device they probably didn't expect to replace anytime soon.
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Apple is making another round of leadership changes across two key divisions ahead of its earnings report on Thursday, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.


The company's Apple Music division will now be co-managed by longtime Apple executive Rachel Newman and former TikTok music veteran Ole Obermann. Both will report to Oliver Schusser, who has taken on additional responsibilities over the past year including Apple TV+ and sports initiatives.

The restructuring appears designed to ease Schusser's workload as he continues to oversee the Beats brand and international services while reporting to Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of online services.

On the global affairs front, Apple is adjusting how it manages government relations teams worldwide. The heads of Europe and Asia will now report directly to Lisa Jackson, a former Obama administration official who reports to CEO Tim Cook. Previously, these teams reported to Nick Ammann, vice president of global policy.

Ammann, who still reports to Jackson, will now oversee the India and China government affairs teams. He'll also remain Apple's main liaison with the Trump administration, a role he held during Trump's first presidency.

The reshuffling follows other recent leadership adjustments at Apple, including changes to its retail division, and reorganizations of its Siri and robotics teams.
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Researchers at cybersecurity firm Oligo today outlined a series of AirPlay vulnerabilities that impact millions of Apple devices (via Wired) and accessories that connect to Apple devices. While Apple has addressed the flaws in security updates that have come out over the last several months, some third-party devices that support ‌AirPlay‌ remain vulnerable.


Dubbed "Airborne," the ‌AirPlay‌ vulnerabilities allowed attackers to take control of devices that support ‌AirPlay‌ to spread malware to other devices on any local device that the infected device connects to. An attacker would need to be on the same Wi-Fi network as the intended victim, putting public Wi-Fi spots, businesses, and other high-traffic areas at more risk.

Oligo researchers said that the ‌AirPlay‌ flaws could lead to "sophisticated attacks related to espionage, ransomware, supply-chain attacks, and more." The vulnerabilities could be used independently or chained together for a "variety of possible attack vectors," such as Remote Code Execution, user interaction bypass, Denial of Service attacks, Man-in-the-Middle attacks, and more.

Apple worked with Oligo to identify and fix the vulnerabilities. Oligo found 23 separate security flaws, and Apple issued 17 CVEs to address them. Information on each vulnerability is outlined on Oligo's website. Apple also deployed fixes for its ‌AirPlay‌ SDK for third-party manufacturers.

The same Airborne vulnerabilities also impact CarPlay, which could allow hackers to hijack the automotive computer in a car. This attack vector would require the attacker to be directly in the car and connected to either the car's Bluetooth or an in-car USB port, which makes it unlikely.

Oligo recommends that users upgrade to the latest versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and visionOS, to protect themselves from these vulnerabilities. Other devices that support ‌AirPlay‌ may still be vulnerable, so users should take steps like disabling the ‌AirPlay‌ Receiver feature on Macs and restricting ‌AirPlay‌ to the current user instead of all users.

Oligo CTO Gal Elbaz told Wired that there could be tens of millions of third-party ‌AirPlay‌ devices that are still vulnerable to attack. Because ‌AirPlay‌ is supported in such a wide variety of devices, there are a lot that will take years to patch--or they will never be patched," he said.
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Facebook parent company Meta today announced the launch of Meta AI, its first standalone AI app. Meta AI has already been integrated into Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook, but now it is also available in a dedicated app.


The Meta AI app is built with Llama 4, and Meta says the app is its first step toward building a more personal AI that's designed around voice conversations. After downloading the Meta AI app, Meta AI will ask you personal questions so that it can get to know you, which Meta claims will provide "more helpful" answers. Meta AI is "easy to talk to," and has been created to be "natural to interact with."

The Meta AI voice features can be used in the background while multitasking, so you can use other apps while continuing to speak to the AI. Voice conversations will feel personal, relevant, and conversational in tone. The voice conversation feature is available in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand as of now.

The app integrates image generation and editing too, both of which can be done through a voice or text conversation with the AI assistant. Llama 4 is able to search the web for finding product recommendations and delving into topics for research, with Meta providing "conversation starters" to inspire searches.

Meta says that it is using its decades of work on personalizing experiences on social media to make Meta AI more personal. It is able to remember facts about you, and it can pick up details based on context. It is also able to draw on information you've already shared on Meta platforms, like your profile and content that you like to engage with to provide more personalized responses.

The new Meta AI app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
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Bird Buddy, known for its line of camera-equipped bird feeders and accessories, today launched new nature tech products, Wonder Blocks and Petal. The devices are designed to let users attract and view all manner of insects, from butterflies to bees.


Wonder Blocks is a modular system that create an ecosystem for pollinators, and there are several different components that are part of the setup. The system includes smart planters, a hummingbird feeder, a butterfly feeder, a butterfly shelter, a bee habitat, a bee observatory, a stream for providing insects with water, an observation pole, and a frame for holding all of the components. Petal is an AI camera that attaches to the Wonder Blocks setup so that users can watch the pollinators that visit their homes.

The camera, which is equipped with a solar panel, is able to recognize more than 2,000 species of butterflies, bees, birds, and plants in real time, and it can be equipped with either wide or macro lens options. As with the Bird Buddy, camera footage is turned into more viewable snapshots that are viewable in the associated app.

For the Petal camera, footage is turned into "beautifully narrated nature clips." The camera is able to identify creatures, but it can also detect behavior patterns and environmental changes to alert users about nesting or plant stress. It also visualizes biodiversity activity and provides an impact score on the contribution the user is making to their local ecosystem. While the Petal camera can be mounted to the Wonder Blocks setup, it is also possible to mount the cameras anywhere in an existing garden.


There are three different versions of the Wonder Blocks available to order. The Wonder Planter is a self-watering planter that has an integrated Bee Habitat that can integrate with a full Wonder Blocks system or work on a standalone basis. The Wonder Blocks are the main modular habitat with an observation pole, feeding stations, and more, while the Wonder Blocks Hero is the full-featured setup with The Frame and multiple cameras.

The Wonder Blocks and Petal have already raised more than $1.2 million on Kickstarter, where the project has launched. The first products are set to launch in June 2026, so only pre-orders are available right now.

The Petal camera alone is $129, while the Petal Duo bundle with wide and macro lenses is $249. The Habitat with no camera is $149, and the Wonder Blocks set with Petal camera is $299. A Hero set with two cameras and extra accessories is also available $499.
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Apple is working on an updated version of the low-cost Apple Watch SE, and the displays for the new model have entered production, according to display analyst Ross Young.


Young says that the new ‌Apple Watch SE‌ 3 will be available with 1.6-inch and 1.8-inch display sizes, which suggests little in the way of an upgrade over the current ‌Apple Watch SE‌ models. The ‌Apple Watch SE‌ 2 comes in 40mm and 44mm size options, and Apple could stick with those sizes for the next-generation models.

The ‌Apple Watch SE‌ has historically been based on an existing Apple Watch model, and the current version is based on the Apple Watch Series 6. Apple could continue with another model based on the Series 6 design, but there are other options. The display sizes could be off somewhat due to rounding issues and Apple could be planning for a larger Series 7 design with 41mm and 45mm sizes, or the new ‌Apple Watch SE‌ could get an entirely new design.

There were rumors that Apple was working on an ‌Apple Watch SE‌ with a hard plastic casing in a variety of fun colors, though it's not clear if Apple followed through with that design plan. If Apple did opt for an SE design that does not follow existing Apple Watch models, it's possible that the ‌Apple Watch SE‌ could have 1.6 and 1.8-inch displays in a smaller, slimmed down chassis that's closer to 38mm and 42mm size options. In this scenario, the next ‌Apple Watch SE‌ would be smaller than the current ‌Apple Watch SE‌, but with a larger display area and slimmer bezels for a more modern look.

Apple has been marketing the ‌Apple Watch SE‌ as a low-cost option for children, so a smaller ‌Apple Watch SE‌ 3 seems plausible as it would better fit smaller wrists.

We'll learn more about the ‌Apple Watch SE‌ as its launch approaches. We're expecting the new device to come out in September alongside upgraded Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 models.
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Mozilla recently updated the Firefox browser to add support for tab groups, a feature that Firefox users have been wanting for years. According to Mozilla, tab groups have been the most requested idea on the Mozilla Connect community platform, and it was actually the first request that Mozilla received when launching Connect in 2022.


With the Firefox tab group implementation, users are able to drag and drop tabs into organized groups and label them by name or color, with groups listed in the right side of the Firefox browser's top menu. Tab groups are available starting with Firefox version 137, and all users will see the feature by May 6.

Safari already supports tab groups, with the option to save a number of open browser tabs into a tab group that can be revisited later. It's helpful for vacation planning, comparison shopping, project research, and other tasks where it's helpful to have multiple tabs.


Mozilla is experimenting with smart tab groups, an AI option that suggests names and groups based on the tabs that are open, and that could launch in the future.

Mozilla has instructions on creating and managing tab groups in Firefox on its website.
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Apple today launched a new page that highlights content from popular music artists, actors, and athletes across three of its biggest services.


The new "Snapshot on Apple" page has a scrolling carousel of celebrities, including Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar, Ariana Grande, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Brie Larson, Shohei Ohtani, Lionel Messi, Stephen Curry, Serena Williams, and many others. There are also pages for the bands Coldplay and BTS.

Each page includes some basic details about the person or band, and showcases their related content across the Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Podcasts apps. For example, Billie Eilish's page highlights her songs in Apple Music, her Apple TV+ documentary from 2021, and her appearances on a variety of podcasts.

"Your favorites, at a glance," the page says. "Discover more about the artists, actors, and athletes you love across Apple."

A tipster alerted us to the page's existence today, and we can confirm that snapshot.apple.com is a new address. Unfortunately, the page currently has a very basic design, with no search functionality. Apple has yet to officially announce the page, and it is unclear how or where the company plans to promote it.
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Apple's Pro Display XDR has now been on the market for over five years, and while persistent rumors hint at a second-generation model, surprisingly little definitive information has emerged about Apple's plans for its premier external monitor. Here's everything we know so far.


In December 2022, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple was developing an updated iteration of the Pro Display XDR, this time incorporating an Apple silicon chip, presumably to enable additional functionality. The Studio Display contains an A13 Bionic chip to power its built-in webcam, spatial audio, and always-on Siri.

Since the original Pro Display XDR lacks any of these smart capabilities, it stands to reason that its successor could gain a built-in camera, microphone array, high-fidelity speakers, and perhaps even support for new software features like Center Stage video framing, Face ID for Mac, or automatic color calibration based on ambient lighting conditions.

Hardware improvements are also expected. A second-generation Pro Display XDR could feature a higher refresh rate, Thunderbolt 5 connectivity for faster data throughput, and even a shift to OLED or hybrid OLED/QD-OLED panels. OLED technology would offer significantly better contrast ratios, deeper blacks, and lower power consumption, making it even better at professional color work.

In July 2023, Gurman reaffirmed that Apple was continuing development on several next-generation external monitors, but cautioned that releases were unlikely before late 2024 at the earliest.

In November 2024, a report from Display Supply Chain Consultants analyst Ross Young said that the next Pro Display XDR may adopt the same quantum-dot display technology now seen in the latest MacBook Pro models. According to Young, these newer quantum-dot films offer an equal or better color gamut and superior motion performance compared to the older KSF phosphor film used in the current Pro Display XDR and previous ‌MacBook Pro‌ models. Young's report suggested that the Pro Display XDR 2 could boast even more precise color accuracy, faster response times, and better consistency.

Earlier this year, Gurman noted that a new Pro Display XDR was currently "less of a priority" for Apple, given its niche market and premium price tag. Nonetheless, he revealed in March that Apple is actively developing a new display codenamed J527, intended to launch alongside a second-generation Studio Display. This mystery monitor could turn out to be the long-awaited Pro Display XDR successor.

Since then, no further leaks about the device have surfaced. While the launch timeline remains uncertain, it is plausible that Apple could unveil the second-generation Pro Display XDR alongside refreshed high-end Macs—particularly a new Mac Pro model. The current Pro Display XDR was released alongside the 2019 ‌Mac Pro‌.
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Amazon kicked off a ton of steep discounts on Apple products earlier this week, and they include the AirPods Pro 2 for $169.00, down from $249.00. Free delivery options provide an estimated delivery date of around May 4, while Prime members should get the headphones sooner in most cases.

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Compared to past sales, this is a match of the best price we've tracked so far in 2025 and it's an overall solid second-best price on the AirPods Pro 2. Amazon also has the AirPods 4 available for $99.99 during this sale, an all-time low price.



Other Amazon discounts include record low prices on 11th generation iPad, Apple Watch Series 10, M4 MacBook Air, and M3 iPad Air. 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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Apple's iPhone 18 lineup will introduce a major leap in memory performance, according to new information shared today by Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station. Apple is reportedly planning to equip the 2026 models with a high-capacity six-channel LPDDR5X memory configuration, significantly upping the memory bandwidth for future AI features and multitasking.


Expanding the memory bandwidth should enable faster app switching, smoother multitasking, and significantly improved AI capabilities – all areas Apple would likely to heavily invest in as part of its broader Apple Intelligence strategy. Paired with the A20 Pro chip, which will reportedly be built using TSMC's third-generation 3nm process, the iPhone 18 Pro models would stand to benefit the most.

The Weibo account Digital Chat Station has a decent track record with Apple product rumors, and they have previously shared accurate information about unreleased hardware from the broader semiconductor supply chain. Still, Apple's precise hardware plans could still evolve ahead of the iPhone 18's launch late next year.

Before then, if supply chain shortages can be overcome, the iPhone 17 series is expected to see a move to 12GB of RAM as standard across all models. That transition is likely to set the stage for the more aggressive hardware upgrades rumored for 2025.
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OpenAI has announced several updates to ChatGPT, including a suite of shopping-focused tools that turn the chatbot into a full-featured product discovery and comparison engine.


The update brings visual search results, personalized recommendations, and improved product filtering to the existing ChatGPT interface. Users can browse and compare products from across the web by simply describing what they're looking for.

Queries like "best 4K monitor under $500" now return cleaner, scrollable product cards complete with images, star ratings, pricing, and summaries pulled from user reviews. Tapping on a product brings up more details, along with a direct link to the retailer's website for purchase.

OpenAI says the results are organic and free from advertising or affiliate influence, wherease traditional search engines and shopping aggregators typically prioritize sponsored listings. Product suggestions are tailored based on user preferences, such as budget, style, and category interests, although OpenAI notes that certain personalization features may be restricted in countries with stricter privacy rules, like the UK and EU.

The update also includes a new "Ask about this" button that lets users dig deeper into specific products directly from search results.

The new features are available for all ChatGPT users, including those on the free tier, with no account required to try them. OpenAI says the rollout is global and should be visible across platforms, including web and mobile apps.


In addition to the shopping search features, ChatGPT can now include multiple citations for a given response, allowing users to learn more or verify information across more sources. OpenAI says users can also now search faster with trending searches and autocomplete suggestions.

Lastly, WhatsApp users can now send a message to 1-800-ChatGPT (+1-800-242-8478) to get up-to-date answers and live sports scores.

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Apple supplier Pegatron has warned that U.S. stores could face "empty shelves" within two months due to ongoing uncertainty around tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.


Pegatron chairman T.H. Tung told Reuters that the on-again, off-again nature of the levies has created confusion for U.S. retailers and disrupted supply chain decisions.

"Within two months, shelves in the United States might resemble those in third-world countries, where people visit department stores and markets only to find empty shelves, all because everyone is waiting and seeing," Tung said.

The Taiwan-based manufacturer, which assembles MacBooks, iPads, and Apple Watches, explained that U.S. importers are hesitant to ramp up shipments during the current tariff pause because they're uncertain whether the 10% levy might eventually be repealed.

This comes after the Trump administration recently paused some tariffs targeting countries where Pegatron has manufacturing bases, including Vietnam, Indonesia, and India. However, a 10% levy on nearly all goods imported into the U.S. remains in effect.

Despite the challenges, Tung said that Pegatron won't alter its long-term manufacturing plans based on short-term tariff fluctuations.

"Just because Trump raises tariffs doesn't mean the rest of the world will do the same. Taiwanese contract manufacturers are sticking to their overseas plans," he said. "We won't immediately adjust our long-term plans just because of two or three months of tariff changes."

Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly had a phone call with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to explain how tariffs would cause iPhone prices to increase. Cook's efforts appeared to pay off when the Trump administration exempted iPhones, Macs, Apple Watches, iPads, and other electronics from the bulk of tariffs on Chinese goods.

However, the exemption may only be temporary. The day after the announcement, Trump stated that there was "no tariff exception" and that no one would be "getting off the hook," suggesting that Apple and other tech companies will be "moving to a different tariff bucket."

Apple has been diversifying its manufacturing locations away from China since Trump's first term, and has recently ramped up plans to build out its iPhone manufacturing base in India and manufacture U.S.-bound devices in the country by the end of 2026.
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All upcoming iPhone 17 models will come equipped with 12GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, according to the Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station.


The claim from the Chinese leaker, who has sources within Apple's supply chain, comes a few days after industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all be equipped with 12GB of RAM.

Kuo also said even the base-model iPhone 17 could be equipped with 12GB of RAM, but it will depend on whether supply chain shortages can be overcome. He said that Apple will make a final decision on the amount of RAM it will offer in the regular iPhone 17 model by May. Even if the base-model iPhone 17 sticks with 8GB of RAM, Kuo said he expects all models in next year's iPhone 18 lineup to have 12GB of RAM.

Currently, all iPhone 16 models come with 8GB of RAM, so going to 12GB would be a major increase. More RAM enables larger and more capable AI models to run locally, improving the speed, responsiveness, and complexity of tasks without relying heavily on cloud services. A fifty percent increase in allocable RAM would also allow for smoother multitasking, with AI processes operating in the background without slowing down active apps.

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 17 lineup around its usual September timeframe.
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On April 28, 2003, Apple introduced the iTunes Store, its iconic digital marketplace for downloading music. 22 years later, most of us don't purchase songs and albums individually anymore, and the iTunes Store doesn't exist as it once did, but played a major role in Apple history.

Early Years

When it launched, the iTunes Store was only for the Mac, but it expanded to Windows PCs before the end of 2003. It was a one-stop shop for music that could be loaded onto an iPod, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs inked deals with a number of different record labels to get it up and running.

In the first 18 hours following the launch of the iTunes Store, Apple sold ~275,000 tracks, with songs priced at $0.99 at the time. Less than a week after launch, Apple sold 1 million songs, and at the two week mark, Apple was at 2 million songs sold.

By 2008, five years after the iTunes Store launched, Apple's iTunes Store was the biggest music vendor in the United States. In 2010, it was the largest music seller in the world, bringing in over a billion dollars.

Pricing

The iTunes Store sold songs for $0.99 in the United States, though some were more expensive at $1.29. Albums were priced at $9.99 by default, but distributors were able to set higher prices. Apple regularly offered iTunes promotions, including weekly free songs.

Beyond Music

Before the App Store launched in 2008, the iTunes Store also housed apps, plus it was home to digital books before the launch of the iBooks Store. Apple also used the iTunes Store for distributing podcasts, TV shows, and movies.

The Rise of Streaming Music

In the 2010s, interest in streaming music started to pick up, cutting into music purchases. Streaming services like Rhapsody, Yahoo Music, and Pandora launched earlier in the decade, but more people became interested in streaming music when Spotify launched in the United States in 2011.

Beats Music launched in 2014, and was quickly purchased by Apple when Apple acquired the Beats brand. Apple ended up turning Beats Music into Apple Music, a Spotify competitor that launched on June 30, 2015. By 2016, just 24 percent of the music industry's revenue came from digital music sales, with streaming services bringing in over 50 percent of total revenue.

The iTunes Store Today

You'll still find the iTunes Store app on your iPhone, but it's a little harder to find on the Mac. It's available as a dedicated section in the Apple Music app for those who still purchase music.

TV shows and movies were split out into the TV app, while podcasts were split into the Podcasts app as part of changes made in macOS Catalina back in 2019. The Windows version of the iTunes Store stuck around longer, but in 2024, Apple launched dedicated ‌Apple Music‌, Apple TV, and Apple Devices apps for Windows users to replace iTunes.
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Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors.


Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard anything else about an upgraded display coating since then, and it's sounding like that's because it didn't work out.

Apple planned to use the anti-reflective coating for the higher-end ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ and the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max models, which would have made them the first iPhones with an anti-reflective display. Apple ran into problems scaling up the display coating process, and it is currently no longer a planned feature for the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ models.

The process for adding the anti-reflective coating to the iPhone display was too slow when taking into account the millions of devices that Apple produces, so even though it was only planned for the Pro models, it still seems that it wasn't feasible this year.

Current ‌iPhone‌ models have a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating, but Apple hasn't focused heavily on anti-reflective technology. For the Mac and iPad Pro, Apple offers a nano-texture display that cuts down on glare, but that's not something that has been expanded to the ‌iPhone‌. It's possible Apple pivoted to nano-texture or a simpler coating, but it's also possible it's just been scrapped entirely for now.

With the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung debuted a Gorilla Glass Armor display panel, which cuts down on reflections by up to 75 percent. The technology improves contrast in bright lighting conditions and makes colors seem more true to life even in the sun or in rooms with bright lights.


If the iPhone 17 models don't end up with the planned anti-reflective display properties, Apple could introduce the display improvement in a future ‌iPhone‌ as the manufacturing process improves.
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Amazon is kicking off the week with discounts across the entire M3 iPad Air lineup, offering $100 off these tablets. Prices start at $499.00 for the 128GB Wi-Fi 11-inch M3 iPad Air, down from $599.00. Across the board, these are all new all-time low prices on the M3 iPad Air.

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

Every deal has been automatically applied and does not require you to clip an on-page coupon in order to see the final sale price. We've rounded up every discount available on Amazon in the lists below, and they include both 11-inch and 13-inch models.




Our list below focuses on Wi-Fi models, but you'll also find many cellular models on sale at $100 off right now. The 128GB cellular 11-inch iPad Air is available for $649.00 and the 128GB cellular 13-inch iPad Air is available for $849.00, both $100 discounts.

11-inch M3 iPad Air

• 128GB Wi-Fi - $499.00, down from $599.00


• 256GB Wi-Fi - $599.00, down from $699.00


• 512GB Wi-Fi - $799.00, down from $899.00


• 1TB Wi-Fi - $999.00, down from $1,099.00

13-inch M3 iPad Air

• 128GB Wi-Fi - $699.00, down from $799.00


• 256GB Wi-Fi - $799.00, down from $899.00


• 512GB Wi-Fi - $999.00, down from $1,099.00

Amazon is offering similarly major discounts on other Apple devices this week, including AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2, 11th generation iPad, Apple Watch Series 10, and M4 MacBook Air. 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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Apple today provided developers with the fourth betas of upcoming visionOS 2.5, tvOS 18.5, and watchOS 11.5 updates for testing purposes. The software is available a week after Apple seeded the third betas.


The betas are available to registered developers, and can be downloaded from the Settings app on each device.

No notable new features have been found in any of the software updates so far, suggesting Apple is focusing on under-the-hood performance improvements and bug fixes.
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Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming macOS Sequoia 15.5 update to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released the third ‌macOS Sequoia‌ 15.5 beta.


Registered developers can opt-in to the ‌macOS Sequoia‌ beta through the Software Update section of the System Settings app. An Apple ID associated with an Apple Developer account is required to get the beta.

‌macOS Sequoia‌ 15.5 appears to be a minor update so far, and no notable new features were found in the first three betas.

Work on new features for ‌macOS Sequoia‌ is winding down, as Apple will soon transition to macOS 16. The next-generation version of macOS is set to be unveiled at WWDC in June.
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Apple today seeded the fourth betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released the third betas.


iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update.

So far, iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 are relatively minor updates, introducing just a few new design changes. There are more options for reverting the Mail app back to the prior design, including removing contact photos, and AppleCare info is easier to find. The update also likely has bug fixes and performance improvements that are less obvious.

Apple is transitioning to iOS 19 and iPadOS 19, which are set to be previewed in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference.
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On iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, the Voice Memos app includes a recording feature that lets you record a second audio layer – like vocals, narration, or an extra instrument – over an existing memo, all without needing headphones. Keep reading to learn how it's done.


Thanks to the A18 Pro chip's advanced audio processing, iPhone 16 Pro models can play an original Voice Memo recording through the speakers while simultaneously isolating and capturing new audio cleanly. Whether you're capturing a quick harmony, adding context to a saved memo, or simply experimenting with sound, layering recordings like this offers a seamless way to capture richer ideas.

Once finished, layered recordings can be edited, separated, and fine-tuned directly on the iPhone or easily transferred to apps like Logic Pro for more advanced mixing. For musicians, podcasters, or anyone who regularly records voice notes, it's a bit like having a mini studio setup right in your pocket. Here's how to make your first layered recording.

Add a Second Layer to a Recording

1. Open the Voice Memos app (in the Utilities folder) on your iPhone.


2. Tap the recording you want to add a vocal layer to, then tap the waveform icon to view the waveform.


3. Tap the plus (+) button.


4. When you're ready to record the second layer, tap the red record button.

The recording will appear in Voice Memos' list of recordings with a layered symbol (two overlapping tiles) next to it.

Mix the Layers

While viewing the waveform, you can easily mix the layers by tapping the settings button in the top-left corner and dragging the Layer Mix slider.

Separate the Layers

You can also separate the two layers to edit or play them separately: Simply tap the More button (three encircled dots) in the top-right corner, then tap Separate Layers. If you then tap Done, you'll see the two layers appear as separate recordings in the list. From there, you can select them, edit them, and play them separately.

Things to Know

While creating layered recordings is exclusive to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, playback is more widely supported. Any device running iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, macOS Sequoia 15.2, or later can play layered recordings without issue.


It's worth noting that layered recordings are saved in the QuickTime Audio (QTA) format. Devices on earlier software versions, such as iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, or macOS Sequoia 15.1, won't display layered memos. However, if you separate the layers, each track is converted into an individual .m4a file, making them accessible across older devices. Also, keep in mind that only the original layer can be transcribed or recorded in stereo – additional layers are captured in mono.
This article, "Get Creative With Sound by Layering Tracks in Voice Memos" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report.


The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to follow before the devices enter mass production.

This is a routine but key milestone for Apple to have achieved ahead of the iPhone 17 series launching in the usual month of September.

Following the EVT stage, there is still a window for Apple to make some smaller iPhone spec changes, if necessary. For example, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently claimed that Apple would make a final decision on whether to include 8GB or 12GB of RAM in the iPhone 17 base model by May. At a minimum, Kuo expects the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max to be equipped with 12GB of RAM.

Read our iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, and iPhone 17 Pro roundups to learn more about the upcoming devices and their rumored feature sets.
This article, "iPhone 17 Reaches Key Milestone Ahead of Mass Production" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon has been offering a string of great discounts over the past day, introducing low prices on AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2, 11th generation iPad, and Apple Watch Series 10. Today, it's continuing this trend with new record low prices across the entire M4 MacBook Air lineup, with $150 off every model in every color available on Amazon.

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

Starting with the 13-inch models, Amazon has up to $150 off all three of the new configurations of this notebook. Prices start at $849.00 for the 256GB model, then raise to $1,049.00 for the 16GB/512GB model and $1,249.00 for the 24GB/512GB model. All of these are new all-time low prices, beating the previous lows by more than $50.





Moving to the larger display models, Amazon has both 512GB versions of the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air on sale this week, as well as the 256GB model. The 16GB/512GB model is available for $1,249.00 and the 24GB/512GB model is on sale for $1,447.00. Similar to the 13-inch models, these are all new record low prices.





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, "Amazon Takes $150 Off Every M4 MacBook Air, Now Starting at $849" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's Beats brand is launching its Beats Pill speaker in two new colors today: Navy Blue and Blush Pink. The colors join the original Matte Black, Statement Red, and Champagne Gold colors that debuted last June. Beats introduced special-edition Light Gray and Dark Gray versions in a collaboration with Kim Kardashian back in October, but those have since been discontinued.


The catch with the latest Beats Pill colors is that they are retailer exclusives, with Navy Blue being available only from Walmart and Blush Pink only from Target in the United States. The Blush Pink model will be coming to John Lewis in the UK and Walmart in Canada this summer, but it appears the Navy Blue model will remain U.S.-only.


Compared to the previous Beats Pill+ that was discontinued in 2022, the revamped Beats Pill features a redesigned speaker system with a 20º upward tilt for better sound projection, a removable lanyard, USB-C and Bluetooth connectivity, up to 24 hours of battery life, and IP67 water and sweat resistance.

Amplify Mode and Stereo Mode let you sync up two Beats Pill speakers for either bigger overall sound or separate left and right channels, while USB-C support means you can charge a recent iPhone or other devices from the speaker. The Beats Pill can also be used as a speakerphone for connected devices, with a noise-learning algorithm and full duplex support ensuring high-quality calls.


As part of the launch of the new colors for the Pill, Beats is introducing a pair of new "Pill People" shorts featuring WNBA star Angel Reese as the pink Pill Person and former F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo as the blue Pill Person.


The new Navy Blue Beats Pill from Walmart and Blush Pink Beats Pill from Target are available starting today at the same $149.99 price point as the standard colors.
This article, "Beats Pill Debuts in New Navy Blue and Blush Pink Colors" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.


In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold" new iPhone Pro model that makes greater use of glass in its design.

Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says the new models are "extraordinarily complex" and will involve "new parts and production techniques" that are best supported by Apple's established manufacturing hubs in China. The facilities have the experience and infrastructure required for the advanced engineering challenges the anniversary models will likely present.

The report comes amid Apple's ongoing efforts to diversify its manufacturing footprint. Last week, The Financial Times reported that Apple plans to assemble all U.S.-bound iPhones in India by the end of 2026, in response to escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China and the Trump administration's latest round of tariffs.

However, shifting production of the 20th anniversary models to India appears unlikely. As Gurman points out, Apple has never launched a major new product design outside of China during its first cycle, and there is little indication that will change in the near term.

The foldable iPhone is rumored to feature a book-like design that folds horizontally, revealing an internal display similar in size to an iPad mini. Reports suggest the device could have a premium price tag upwards of $2,000. Details about the anniversary iPhone are scarcer, but it could take the form of an all-screen design featuring an under-screen camera system.
This article, "20th Anniversary iPhone Likely to Be Made in China Due to 'Extraordinarily Complex' Design" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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