On this year's first episode of The MacRumors Show, we take a look at CES 2026, Apple Creator Studio, and the confirmation that Google Gemini will power the next-generation version of Siri.


Following ‌CES 2026‌, we talk through this year's tech showcase, which saw major announcements related to robotics, AI, and display technology, as well as plenty of new Apple accessories. We discuss some of our favorite products highlighted at the event, such as Strada and the Clicks Power Keyboard.

Apple this week announced a new bundle called "Apple Creator Studio" that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. Six apps are included with the subscription:

• Final Cut Pro on the Mac and iPad


• Logic Pro on the Mac and ‌iPad‌


• Pixelmator Pro on the Mac and ‌iPad‌


• Motion on the Mac


• Compressor on the Mac


• MainStage on the Mac

For college students, Apple Creator Studio costs $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year. If you set up Family Sharing, you can share an Apple Creator Studio subscription with up to five other family members with a linked Apple Account for free.

Pixelmator Pro was previously only available on the Mac, but it is now coming to the iPad. Apple Creator Studio subscribers will receive access to exclusive AI features and premium content across not only the Final Cut Pro and Pixelmator Pro apps, but also the iWork apps Numbers, Pages, and Keynote, and the Freeform app later this year.

Apple Creator Studio will be available through the App Store starting on Wednesday, January 28. Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage will each remain available for one-time purchase, and free versions of the Numbers, Pages, Keynote, and Freeform apps will continue to exist, but only Apple Creator Studio subscribers will receive access to some of the premium new AI features and content.

In other news, Apple this week released a statement confirming that Google Gemini will power the next-generation version of ‌Siri‌ that is slated to launch later this year, as was widely rumored. After a considerable delay, the new capabilities will deliver better understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls.

Apple's decision to lean on Google's artificial intelligence technology should result in the revamped ‌Siri‌ being more capable and advanced than it otherwise would have been, as Gemini's large language model is significantly larger than Apple's own model. Apple and Google added that Gemini will help power not only a more personalized version of Siri, but a range of future Apple Intelligence features.

The next-generation version of ‌Siri‌ is expected to be introduced with iOS 26.4, which will likely be officially released to the public in March or April.

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If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up to hear our discussion about all of Apple's major announcements and new products from 2025.

Subscribe to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on MacRumors, often joined by interesting guests such as Kayci Lacob, Kevin Nether, John Gruber, Mark Gurman, Jon Prosser, Luke Miani, Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp, Mike Bell, Sara Dietschy, iJustine, Jon Rettinger, Andru Edwards, Arnold Kim, Ben Sullins, Marcus Kane, Christopher Lawley, Frank McShan, David Lewis, Tyler Stalman, Sam Kohl, Federico Viticci, Thomas Frank, Jonathan Morrison, Ross Young, Ian Zelbo, and Rene Ritchie.

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This article, "The MacRumors Show: Apple Creator Studio and Gemini-Powered Siri" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple increasingly has to compete with other companies for chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), as surging demand for artificial intelligence reshapes capacity and customer priority.


According to a detailed report published by semiconductor analyst Tim Culpan on his blog Culpium, Apple is no longer guaranteed preferential access to leading-edge manufacturing capacity at TSMC, marking a notable change after more than a decade in which Apple's chips were central to the foundry's expansion strategy. Apple is now competing directly with AI-focused customers such as Nvidia and AMD for supply, particularly at the most advanced process nodes.

AI accelerators consume substantially more wafer area per unit than smartphone system-on-chips, meaning that even a smaller number of AI customers can absorb a disproportionate share of advanced manufacturing output. As a result, Apple's chip designs are no longer automatically prioritized across TSMC's two dozen fabrication plants.

Nvidia likely surpassed Apple as TSMC's largest customer by revenue in at least one or two quarters in 2025, but exact customer rankings are unknown. Apple ceased to be the primary driver of TSMC's revenue growth about five years ago.

The report suggests that Apple may face higher silicon costs for future chip generations as it competes with AI customers willing to pay premiums for priority access. While Apple is unlikely to be unable to ship products due to insufficient wafers, sustained pricing pressure with advanced nodes could influence product margins or pricing strategies over the next several years.
This article, "Apple Now Facing Unprecedented Competition for Chip Supply" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Spotify today announced a price increase in the United States, Estonia, and Latvia, marking the company's third U.S. price increase in less than three years.


The company revealed the changes in a post published on its website earlier today, stating that Premium subscribers in the affected markets will receive an email over the coming month explaining how the new pricing will apply to their accounts. Spotify said that the revised prices will take effect on subscribers' next billing date, while new customers will see the updated pricing immediately when signing up on spotify.com/premium.

In the United States, Spotify is increasing the cost of every major Premium tier. The Individual Premium plan will rise from $11.99 to $12.99 per month. The Student plan will increase from $5.99 to $6.99 per month. Multi-user plans are seeing larger increases, with the Duo plan, which supports two accounts, moving from $16.99 to $18.99 per month, and the Family plan increasing from $19.99 to $21.99 per month. Spotify attributed the changes to what it described as periodic adjustments across its markets:

Occasional updates to pricing across our markets reflect the value that Spotify delivers, enabling us to continue offering the best possible experience and benefit artists.

This latest increase is the third time Spotify has raised U.S. subscription prices since mid-2023. In July 2023, Spotify implemented its first U.S. price hike since launching in the country in 2011, increasing the Individual Premium plan from its long-standing $9.99 monthly price. A second increase followed in June 2024, bringing the Individual plan to $11.99 per month. The January 2026 change moves that price another dollar higher, continuing a pattern of more frequent adjustments after more than a decade of unchanged pricing.

Outside the United States, Spotify has also raised prices in recent years. The company increased subscription costs in multiple international markets in August 2025, and previously raised prices in regions including the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
This article, "Spotify Increasing Subscription Prices in the US Again" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple is planning to use advanced liquid metal and improved titanium alloys for its first foldable iPhone, according to new supply-chain information.


According to the Korean Naver user known as "yeux1122," citing a material company source, the hinge used in Apple's first foldable ‌iPhone‌ will be made from liquid metal, an "amorphous" material Apple has been exploring for over 15 years. The main body of the device will apparently use a revised titanium material that improves strength while reducing overall weight when compared with existing titanium ‌iPhone‌ frames, despite having virtually the same surface area.

Apple's relationship with liquid metal goes back years, tracing back to a 2010 deal with Liquidmetal Technologies. Apple received a "perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license" to commercialize Liquidmetal-related intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products.

Around the same time, Apple started using the material in small ‌iPhone‌ and iPad parts such as the SIM ejector tool. In subsequent years, Apple repeatedly renewed or extended aspects of its arrangement with Liquidmetal Technologies, but the material remained difficult to scale for high-volume structural components and it has never seen significant use. Liquid metal has continued to surface in Apple patent filings and rumors over the years.

Liquid metal lacks a crystalline structure, meaning that it offers high strength, resists permanent bending, and holds up well under repeated mechanical stress. Those characteristics have led Apple to repeatedly explore liquid metal in patents covering hinges and other moving parts, especially for foldable devices where the material's fatigue resistance and spring-like behavior are essential to hinge durability.

For the body of the device, titanium provides a stronger strength-to-weight ratio than aluminum or stainless steel, but foldable designs add further constraints because of their larger size and the need to manage weight around the hinge. Changes to both the titanium alloy itself and the manufacturing process to increase strength while reducing weight for a given surface area could help remedy this. The foldable ‌iPhone‌ is likely to be Apple's fourth attempt at a titanium ‌iPhone‌, so it has had several generations to iterate on the alloy's composition to optimize particular properties.

Apple's first foldable ‌iPhone‌ is expected to debut in the fall of this year alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and ‌iPhone 18‌ Pro Max. It is rumored to feature a wide, book-style folding design with a 7.8-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch outer display, a crease-free display, the A20 chip and Apple's C2 modem, two rear cameras, Touch ID, and more.
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Apple is confronting a newly intensified supply-chain challenge for future chips as the AI boom has created a global shortage of a key material, Nikkei Asia reports.


Apple is said to be struggling to secure sufficient supplies of high-end glass cloth fiber, a material that plays a critical role in the printed circuit boards and chip substrates used in iPhones and other devices. The most advanced forms of this glass cloth are apparently produced almost entirely by one supplier, Nitto Boseki.

Apple began using Nittobo's premium glass cloth in chips years before AI computing drove widespread demand for similar materials. As AI workloads have expanded, however, companies such as Nvidia, Google, Amazon, AMD, and Qualcomm have moved aggressively into the same supply pool, placing unprecedented pressure on Nittobo's limited capacity.

In response, Apple has taken several unusual steps to protect its supply chain. The company reportedly sent staff to Japan last autumn and stationed them at Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, which produces substrate materials and relies on Nittobo's glass cloth. Apple is also believed to have approached Japanese government officials for assistance in securing supply.

Apple is additionally working to qualify alternative suppliers, though progress has been slow. Apple has engaged with smaller Chinese glass fiber producers, including Grace Fabric Technology, and asked Mitsubishi Gas Chemical to help oversee quality improvements. Other potential entrants from Taiwan and China are attempting to scale production, but industry sources said achieving consistent quality at the required level remains difficult.

Each glass fiber must be extremely thin, uniform, and free of defects, as the glass cloth is embedded deep inside the chip substrate and cannot be repaired or replaced after assembly. Because of this, major chipmakers have been reluctant to adopt lower-grade materials, even temporarily.

Apple has discussed using less-advanced glass cloth as a stopgap, but doing so would require extensive testing and validation and would not significantly ease supply constraints for 2026 products. Similar concerns are affecting other chipmakers.
This article, "Apple Struggling With Key Material Shortage as AI Chips Drain Supply" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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