Developers can now direct users in-app to pay for subscriptions outside of the App Store, but the road is not smooth, and there are some pitfalls.


Apple in the US now has to allow developers in the App Store to direct users to their own websites, or other third-party payment systems. While its conclusion seems exaggerated so far, The Information, claims that there is a gold rush as developers seize the change to avoid paying what they call an Apple tax.

"We work so hard to build this product, giving value to customers, and then Apple takes away 30% of our subscriptions," Otter CEO Sam Liang said. "It's completely insane."


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A new leak claims to have the complete compatibility list of Apple TV models that will be able to support the tvOS 26 upgrade that will be announced at #WWDC25.


The WWDC leaks continue with a compatibility list for the Apple TV and tvOS 26, following one for the Apple Watch, and a surprising one for the HomePod. This particular leak says that tvOS 26 will be available to users of these models:

Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely


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Apple will be concentrating its Apple Intelligence launches at WWDC 2025 on developer tools, and wide-ranging translation for users, including live translation via AirPods.


This latest of many pre-WWDC leaks concerns the much-anticipated next announcements regarding Apple Intelligence. After last year's launch, it had been expected that WWDC 2025 would be light on Apple Intelligence news.

However, according to Bloomberg, Apple has two major focuses for Apple Intelligence this time, and two more minor ones.


Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely


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It feels like we're seconds away from WWDC, which rumors say will either be feature-packed or very lightweight. In the meantime, Apple is giving out awards and defending the App Store, on the AppleInsider Podcast.


Apple is about to unveil its new redesign for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad, as WWDC 2025 opens with Tim Cook's keynote video on June 9, 2025. There are rumors swirling around about everything from homeOS to visionOS, but along the way there are also other areas where Apple may need to make more of a splash than usual.

That includes Apple Intelligence, though some rumors say this year will barely mention it. And maybe this isn't the stage for Apple to lay out why regulators are wrong to try controlling its App Store, it is definitely the stage where the company can show developers just what is so great about delivering apps on the iPhone and more.


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A TikTok video maker filmed a prank of pretending to take cash from people's iPhones using Tap to Pay. It didn't end well for the prankster.


Whether it's Tap to Pay on iPhone when you're with a merchant, or you're just paying a friend who also has an iPhone, there is a distinctive sound. That sound, but not the actual payment, is now central to what's claimed to be an increasingly common prank of pretending to take money from strangers.

The prankster holds their iPhone close to the stranger's one, plays the sound, and then typically thanks that person for their generous donation. There's usually someone else filming all of this for a hilarious TikTok video — but there isn't usually a police presence nearby.


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Ahead of Apple unveiling the next version of watchOS, a new leak claims to have the list of which Apple Watch models will be able to run it.


If it's true that Apple will rebrand all of its operating systems to end in the number 26 — to match their main year of use — then it will be especially useful for the Apple Watch. For right now, you can have an Apple Watch Series 10 and be running watchOS 11.

Although that said, come September 2025 you could be sporting an Apple Watch Series 11 which is running watchOS 26.


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While the figures are close, Apple's announced adoption rate for iOS 18 puts it just below the average for the last decade's releases — even though Apple Intelligence was supposed to boost its popularity.


By January 2025, iOS 18 appeared to be ahead of its predecessor, reaching 76% of all compatible iPhones a month before iOS 17 did the year before. Even that figure was perhaps surprisingly low, however, since Tim Cook had announced vastly faster upgrading at the start in October 2024.

"[This is a] really early stat, which is only three days worth of data," he said at the time, "but users are adopting iOS 18.1 at twice the rate that they adopted 17.1 in the year ago quarter."


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Apple's retail expansion in India continues, with the latest being a new brick and mortar store planned for the country's newest shopping mall in Mumbai.


Following Tim Cook and Deirdre O'Brien opening Apple's first store in Mumbai in 2023, the company is now, as expected, preparing to open a second Apple Store in the city. According to The Hindu Business Line, Apple has signed a lease for 10 years and 10 months for 12,616 square feet in Sky City Mall, Borivali East, Mumbai.

Back when Apple first opened retail stores, it aimed to have ones that were around 6,000 square feet. By 2012, that was proving inadequate and an average store was 8,400 square feet.


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New regulatory filings show that Apple has produced two updated MagSafe charging pucks, which both support the Qi 2.2 standard that means the iPhone 17 could theoretically charge wirelessly at almost double the speed previously possible.


The new chargers are an update to the existing 25W MagSafe charger that was released alongside the iPhone 16 range. The Qi 2.2 standard supports a maximum 50W charging speed, though these two new models appear to be rated at 45W.

As first spotted by 91mobiles in a filing with the Taiwanese regulatory authority's NCC database, the two chargers are the same design as the previous 25W model. They are round pucks, measuring approximately 100mm or just under four inches.


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Previously unknown details of California's deals with local firms have been released, showing that Apple has been paid millions in tax refunds by Cupertino to stay in the area.


If it weren't widely reported in detail before, it was at least public knowledge that Californian regions such as Cupertino pay back some sales tax to local companies. What hasn't been clear before is how much that payback amounts to.

According to Bloomberg, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) under a new state law, showed that Apple received $64.7 million from Cupertino since 2013. Going back to a previous 1998 deal, Bloomberg research estimates that Apple has received almost $120 million.


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Epic Games chief Tim Sweeney complains that "Fortnite" should not have been off the App Store for so long, ignoring the fact that he willfully violated Apple's terms of service.


Back in 2020, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store, while makers Epic Games cried foul and made out that this was big brother-style interference, done with no notice or warning. It was soon revealed that Epic Games had not only knowingly violated its App Store contracts, but had also spent months planning the violation, the protest, and its accompany video.

Subsequently, Apple won every scintilla of its legal case against Epic Games, bar one concerning anti-steering. And Apple managed to mishandle that one loss that the company was ultimately forced to allow the game back onto the App Store.


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Apple is researching how AirPods could use sensors like the ones used in Face ID to read the user's lips and process what the user wants, even if there isn't a spoken request.


Apple has been looking into the idea of AirPods detecting gestures for more than five years, including how such detectors could learn a user's unique movements. In 2024, the first significant result of this research came with how AirPods Pro could detect when a user nods or shakes their head.

Now in a newly granted patent, Apple has revealed that it is aiming to go further. The "Wearable skin vibration or silent skin gesture detector" patent proposes using what it calls self-mixing interferometry to recognize more nuanced gestures.


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The expected fifth season of Apple TV+ espionage drama "Slow Horses" has been announced, with Gary Oldman returning in the lead role.


Some 15 months after Apple ordered a fifth season of the thriller, it has now been revealed to begin streaming from September 24, 2025. It's based on "London Rules," Mick Herron's sixth novel in the "Slough House" series, which was published in 2018.

The six-episode season continues the story of Jackson Lamb (award-winning Gary Oldman) and his team of spies, all rejects from the UK's MI5. In "London Rules," Apple says that a "series of increasingly bizarre events" occur across the city — and somehow Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) has a girlfriend.


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A new report from a leaker with a mixed track record says that the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air may get a high-refresh rate display, but it won't be ProMotion.


ProMotion is the display technology that allows for the screen to refresh at different rates, to accommodate different needs. So for games or video, the screen or portions of it, can be faster and more responsive, while at other times it saves battery power with slower refreshing.

The feature was introduced with the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022, and has remained a Pro model feature. But since February 2024, persistent rumors have said that ProMotion will come to every model in the iPhone 17 range.


Rumor Score: 🙄 Unlikely


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Starting with whether it will be called macOS 26 or macOS 16, there are so many rumors about what the next update to the Mac operating system will bring. Here's what's expected, and most likely to happen.


The only certainty is that the next major update to macOS will be announced on June 9, 2025, during the WWDC keynote. Beyond that, it is now looking highly likely that this successor to macOS 15 Sequoia will be called macOS 26 — and it's strongly rumored that it will be announced as macOS Tahoe.

If Apple does name macOS after a region in California, it will be continuing the now 12-year-long tradition. Previously, the then-called OS X was named after cats for around 11 years.


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