Another pure maintenance release of the random package for truly (hardware-based) random numbers as provided by random.org is now on CRAN. The random package provides true (physical) random number from sampling atmospheric noise. One possible use case is to seed an (algorithmic) quasi-random number generator for genuine unpredictability.

This release, the first in nine years, updates the package files, URLs, and continuous integration setup. We also ensure all posted URLs in the two vignettes (and other documentation) are reachable.

Courtesy of my CRANberries, there is also a diffstat report for this release.

This post by Dirk Eddelbuettel originated on his Thinking inside the box blog. If you like this or other open-source work I do, you can sponsor me at GitHub.

Apple's unusually timed announcement of new Mac mini and Mac Studio models this week was driven by unexpectedly strong enterprise appetite for AI hardware, according to The Information.


Apple normally releases new Mac models in the autumn, closer to October or November, making this week's announcement unusually early, falling just before the anticipated arrival of new iPhone models. The Information says that the AI-driven boom in ‌Mac Studio‌ and ‌Mac mini‌ sales is behind the early launch.

Apple noticeably promoted the ability to link multiple Mac Studios together into a single, more capable system for running large frontier AI models, a feature aimed at business and developer customers rather than everyday consumers.

Apple highlighted the ‌Mac mini‌ and ‌Mac Studio‌'s shift toward business buyers in June, with a "Business at the Park" event involving executives from major companies Ford, Disney, and Anthropic. The ‌Mac mini‌ was said to be the "darling" of the event.

Even so, enterprise's rush toward powerful desktop Macs more broadly took Apple by surprise. The company reportedly did not possess an engineering team dedicated to business customers or staff focused on developer relations, and lacked an enterprise AI strategy.

Businesses that approached Apple asking to buy access to the company's Private Cloud Compute infrastructure were reportedly turned down. Apple is instead leaning on partners such as WebAI and Mount Thor, which provide AI tools and execution environments built on Apple hardware.

A surge in demand for Mac hardware to run AI models has coincided with the global memory shortage, leaving many ‌Mac mini‌ and ‌Mac Studio‌ configurations out of stock for months. Some enterprise customers are reportedly turning to other hardware such as Nvidia's DGX Spark, a compact AI desktop launched late last year in a form factor similar to the ‌Mac mini‌'s, as Apple's own high end configurations remain difficult to get hold of.
This article, "Apple Caught Off Guard by AI Demand for Mac Mini and Mac Studio" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today further outlined what to expect from the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 set to be unveiled on September 9.


While it was initially rumored that Touch ID may be coming to the Apple Watch this year, Gurman reiterated that he does not expect the Series 12 or Ultra 4 to have any major design changes compared to the current Series 11 and Ultra 3 models.

Gurman does expect a ceramic case option to return for the Apple Watch Series 12. Today, he revealed that Apple has tested both white and dark gray ceramic case options, like those offered for the highest-end Apple Watch Series 3 in 2017.

Another sketchy rumor claimed that the Series 12 would have a band with an embedded health sensor, but Gurman did not mention that.

Instead, he expects more ordinary changes, including faster performance and improvements to health and fitness tracking. The Series 11 and Ultra 3 both have the same S10 chip that was used in the Series 10 and Ultra 2, so the S11 chip or newer should provide the first Apple Watch performance improvements in multiple years.

One new feature in testing allows the heart-rate sensor on the Apple Watch to continuously collect data throughout the day, he said. In his newsletter, he added that Apple is also working on revamping its Health and Fitness apps to show more wellness-related metrics "in a similar fashion to increasingly popular app offerings from Whoop and Oura."

An Apple Watch SE 4 is not expected this year.

A "big redesign" is in the works for the Apple Watch, but he said they are unlikely to arrive for another year or two. Even further ahead, he previously said that Apple continues to develop a blood sugar detection feature with a goal of releasing it by 2030.
This article, "New Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 Features Revealed" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple has internally prototyped, tested, and considered launching an Apple Pencil for the upcoming foldable iPhone, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. However, he said it is unlikely that the accessory will be released.


In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the Apple Pencil tested for the foldable iPhone is stubbier than the versions for iPads. He said the Apple Pencil for the foldable iPhone was designed to magnetically attach and charge on the side of the device.

Steve Jobs famously mocked smartphone styluses when he unveiled the original iPhone in 2007.

Apple is expected to unveil the foldable iPhone during its September 9 event, and it has been rumored that the device will be named iPhone Ultra.
This article, "Apple Pencil for iPhone Ultra Was Tested" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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In his newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that AirPods 5 will be released as early as this September, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, a foldable iPhone, the Apple Watch Series 12, and the Apple Watch Ultra 4. Apple is holding an event on Wednesday, September 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

He also reiterated that he expects an iPad mini with an OLED display and other new features to launch by the end of October.
This article, "Beyond iPhone 18 Pro: AirPods 5 in September, iPad Mini With OLED Display in October" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Here’s my monthly but brief update about the activities I’ve done in the FOSS world.

Debian

I barely did anything this month as I was mostly on vacation - summer break. Went to Iceland for 2 weeks and then watched the Dutch GP the following weekend - it was fab!

---

Ubuntu

I joined Canonical to work on Ubuntu full-time back in February 2021.

• Vacations mostly.
• Attended and drove a few sessions in the mid-cycle sprints.

---

Debian (E)LTS

This month I have worked 0 hours on Debian Long Term Support (LTS) and on its sister Extended LTS project as I was on vacation the whole month.

I’ll follow up with the two packages in September.

---

Until next time.
:wq for today.

Email is hard. SMTP was a simple mail transfer protocol except that now it's a relatively difficult mail protocol with things overlaid on top.

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. The ReactOS project develops an open-source operating system which is designed to be compatible with software and drivers created for Microsoft Windows. The project's latest release combines its two editions into one and introduces a new graphical system installer. "We are pleased to announce the release of ReactOS....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. Abora OS is general-purpose Linux distribution based on NixOS. The project's latest release, version 2026.08.28 (also tagged as version 4.0.0 and carrying the codename "Everest"), is available in five desktop editions and introduces non-destructive installs onto an existing partition. "Everest ships as five editions: Cosmic, Hyprland, GNOME, KDE....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. Liya Linux is an Arch Linux-based, rolling-release distribution. The project's latest snapshot, version 2026.08.29, introduces a new versioning scheme, removal of AI content and tools, and a switch from X.Org to XLibre. "AI-generated content and tools have been removed from the default Liya Linux experience. While AI can....

It turned out to be a big week for Apple news this week, as we not only got an official announcement about the upcoming iPhone event but also several hardware announcements including updated Mac mini and Mac Studio models.


Anticipation continues to build for Apple's first foldable iPhone coming at next month's event, while subscribers to the Apple TV streaming service are getting hit with another price increase, so read on below for all of the details.

Top Stories

Apple Event Announced for September 9: 'Surprise and Shine'

Apple this week announced that it plans to hold its annual iPhone-centric event on Wednesday, September 9, at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The event will begin at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, with select members of the media invited to attend.


The September 2026 iPhone event comes with the tagline "Surprise and Shine" and should see Apple announce the iPhone 18 Pro, the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max, and the foldable iPhone, which could be called the iPhone Ultra. There won't be an iPhone 18 this year because Apple is waiting until spring 2027 to launch the more affordable models.

Apple Announces New Mac Mini With M6 and M5 Pro Chips and More

Apple this week announced the next-generation Mac mini, which can be configured with an all-new M6 chip or the M5 Pro chip released earlier this year.


The M6 chip is equipped with a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, up from a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU in the M5 chip. In addition, the M6 chip features the first-ever dual Neural Engine with two 16-core engines, up from one in previous chips. The M6 chip has up to 170GB/s memory bandwidth, up from 153GB/s for the M5 chip.

Apple said the Mac mini with the M6 chip delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance, up to 4× faster performance for AI tasks in particular, up to 2× faster graphics performance, and up to 2× faster storage speeds compared to the previous-generation model with the 10-core M4 chip, 32GB of unified memory, and 2TB of storage.

Apple Unveils New Mac Studio With M5 Max and M5 Ultra Chips

Alongside the updated Mac mini, Apple also announced new Mac Studio models with the M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips, the latter of which is the company's most powerful chip ever.


The new ‌Mac Studio‌ features a next-generation SSD architecture built on PCIe Gen 6 that Apple says is up to twice as fast as before. The machine also gains Thunderbolt 5 ports with up to 120Gb/s of bandwidth, along with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 for the first time via Apple's N1 chip. The new ‌Mac Studio‌ also supports genlock over USB-C and can drive up to eight displays.

The M5 Ultra chip includes an up to 36-core CPU that contains 12 super cores and 24 performance cores. It delivers up to 1.25x higher single-threaded performance and up to 1.3x higher multithreaded performance than the M3 Ultra from the previous generation ‌Mac Studio‌.

Apple Releases New Polishing Cloth

Apple this week also updated one of its most meme-worthy products in recent years, with a new version of its Polishing Cloth. It might be just a hint softer and thinner, and it's priced at just $9, half the price of the original one.


Most of Apple's Magic Keyboards for Mac also got updates for the U.S. English versions this week, replacing text labels on edge keys like tab, caps lock, shift, return, and more with glyphs.

Gurman: iPhone Ultra Wows Early Testers, Except for Its Camera

Apple's upcoming foldable "iPhone Ultra" is winning over the few people who have had hands-on time with the device, though the camera setup may leave some users wanting, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.


Writing in his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman says people who have used the device – which is reportedly referred to internally as the iPhone Ultra – like how it fits in your pocket, as well as the feel and durability of its hinge mechanism. Testers have also apparently praised the new iPad-like app layouts that take advantage of the larger internal display when the phone is unfolded.

Beyond productivity, video, and gaming, Gurman says Apple's foldable device also performs well as a camera viewfinder. However, the device lacks a telephoto lens, which could cost Apple some sales given the expected price.

Apple TV Streaming Service Receives Price Increase

For the fourth time since its launch, Apple has increased the price of its Apple TV streaming service in the United States, raising monthly pricing by $2 and annual pricing by $20 starting today. As a result of the Apple TV price increase, the Apple One Individual bundle has also gone up in price.

• Apple TV (Monthly): $14.99 per month (up from $12.99 per month)


• Apple TV (Annually): $119 per year (up from $99 per year)


• Apple One (Individual): $21.95 per month (up from $19.95 per month)

Apple TV also received a price increase in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico today, according to Apple, but no other countries are affected in this round of increases.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!
This article, "Top Stories: Apple's 'Surprise and Shine' Event, Plus New Mac mini and Mac Studio" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple introduced the M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini this week, and Amazon currently has the first pre-order discounts on these models ahead of their September launch. Below, we're also tracking a new record low price on the AirTag 2 during Amazon's Labor Day event.

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.

Mac Mini Pre-Orders

• What's the deal? Take up to $29 off Mac mini pre-orders


• Where can I get it? Amazon


• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

Amazon this week introduced the first cash discounts on Apple's brand new Mac mini, with discounts including two of the M6 models as well as the M5 Pro model. All of these deals are pre-order discounts on the 2026 Mac mini, which officially launches on September 22.

Amazon Labor Day Sale

• What's the deal? Save on popular accessories at Amazon


• Where can I get it? Amazon


• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

There's a big accessory sale happening on Amazon this week, with the year's best prices on Anker chargers, Samsung monitors, Sonos audio products, and much more.

AirTag 2

• What's the deal? Take up to $19 off AirTag 2


• Where can I get it? Amazon


• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

Apple's AirTag 2 is on sale for $79.99 this week on Amazon, down from $99.00. This deal is on the 4-Pack of the AirTag 2, and it's a new record low price for the accessory, beating the previous low by about $9.

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.

---

This article, "Amazon Offers Early Savings on 2026 Mac Mini, Plus Record Low on AirTag 2" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. The openKylin project has announced the release of openKylin 3.0, a major upgrade of the project's Linux distribution for desktops and servers, with a custom desktop environment called UKUI and available for x86_64, AArch64 and Loong64 architectures: "OpenAtom openKylin (hereafter referred to as "openKylin") version 3.0 is officially....

Thirty years ago I became a Debian developer. Twelve years ago I left the project. I left because it seemed that the Debian ship had become too slow to turn, too barnacled with a series of individually OK decisions that each added a little bit of friction and a little less flexability. That made Debian strongly what it is, but prevented it from fruitfully exploring the vast possibility space of what it could be.

Debian will probably resolve today to allow LLM use in Debian development. I'm writing before the vote results are in, but will only post this afterwards. (Update: as expected) It's not my place any longer to try to steer the ship. But I'm still a passenger and I still have opinions, and I still pass by well-worn parts of the rigging that I put up decades ago, and remember what I was trying to accomplish back then.

When I think about LLMs in Debian development, I mostly think about debhelper and what it accomplished. The debian/rules files back when I joined the project were long and complex, full of weird boilerplate, and often you'd copy one and modify it to try to get something that could build a package without too much work. Debhelper first regularized the boilerplate, so packages had rules files that were a succession of dh_ commands, and then it scapped almost all of the boilerplate, reducing the files to the minimum possible. What was left was 3 lines of unncessary boilerplate, there only to satisfy a legalistic reading of a policy document. Changing that to eliminate the boilerplate was already impossible, even though the actual benefit would have been large over the many thousands of packages in the distribution.

What LLMs in Debian development will do, I fear, is eliminate any incentive to scrap boilerplate or reform policies that require a lot of other senseless human effort. If I had had access to LLMs 30 years ago, I might have just had them generate the rules files, replate with complexity. So they will make Debian even more firmly what it is, and ever less likely to explore what it could become.

Unfortunately, one of the things that Debian is, is almost unable to manage packaging modern dependency trees. While more recent distributions like Guix can recursively import dependencies from a dozen programming languages' package repositories, with a result that is generally acceptable to add to the distribution, Debian's policies don't make that very possible for a progam to accomplish. Perhaps some will use LLMs to do that. If they succeeed, Debian will become dependent on proprietary software for development, while still needing people in the loop, doing even less appealing scut-work.

I could speak of other harms, but that alone is enough that I'm sure that, if I had not left the project twelve years ago, I would be leaving it soon. As a passenger, I imagine I'll spend time aboard still from time to time, but it's certainly time to hop off in different places and look around and relish the different ways.

I lost a parent yesterday, and I'm trying hard not to think of the results today as having lost a child, though I spent 18 years helping Debian grow up. That would be too unbearably painful. I respect that Debian is navigating a choice that may have no right answer. Whichever particular compromise is arrived at today, it will still be up to individuals to make choices about what they do and accept. Debian has always been more than the sum of its policies, not just a ship, but a crew. I will always love you.

An updated version of the corels package is now on CRAN! The ‘Certifiably Optimal RulE ListS (Corels)’ learner provides interpretable decision rules with an optimality guarantee—a nice feature which sets it apart in machine learning. You can learn more about corels at its UBC site.

This released fixes an issue discovered on one of the test machines used by Brian Ripley. If and when C compiler flags are set locally that are in fact upsetting the C++ compiler, then the build fails. While not an issue for years and not reproducible on (vanilla) Debian, Ubuntu or Fedora machines it does indeed balk at his end as e.g. the flag -Werror=implicit-function-declaration he sets for C is incompatible with the current C++ compiler. The fault was our: CFLAGS was passed on to PKG_CXXFLAGS letting C options seep into C++ deployment. This has been corrected: we only deal in C++ flags now.

Courtesy of my CRANberries, there is also a diffstat report for this release.

This post by Dirk Eddelbuettel originated on his Thinking inside the box blog. If you like this or other open-source work I do, you can sponsor me at GitHub.

A science project that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs built for his 8th-grade science fair sold at auction for $34,375.


Jobs was attending Cupertino Jr. High when he designed the project, which is titled "What is the SCR?" The lot includes a display board built from plywood with three explanatory panels and a 10-page report with the same title.

The left panel has a wooden model of a "typical silicon-controlled rectifier with its four alternate layers of P- and N-Type semiconductor material," while the center test circuits demonstrate the basic principles and characteristics of the silicon-controlled rectifier, as well as how it is most widely used. The right panel has a diagram and description of a 25-amp silicon-controlled rectifier.

The project is labeled with Jobs' name, and the accompanying report is titled "What is the Silicon-Controlled Rectifier by Steve Jobs, Science, Mrs. Yakel, Feb. 29, 1968."

A note included on the project instructs judges to plug in Circuit II and the oscilloscope to see it operate, and it asks them to "please unplug!" the device after testing it.

Jobs' science fair project came from John Chovanec, Jobs' stepbrother. Chovanec's mother, Marilyn, married Paul Jobs in 1990 and continued to live in the Jobs family home in Los Altos. After Paul Jobs died in 1993, Steve Jobs declined to collect some of his personal belongings that remained in the home. Chovanec apparently asked Jobs to collect the items several times and at one point said he would keep the items himself instead. "Fine, but I don't want to be bothered about it again," Jobs reportedly responded.

Chovanec previously sold other items from Jobs' early years, including posters, magazines, bow ties, a desk, and more. A 1977 Apple Computer poster sold for $659,900, while an Apple–1 Byte Shop wooden case owned by Jobs sold for $254,375. The bow ties sold for $113,580.
This article, "Steve Jobs' 8th Grade Science Project Sells for $34,375" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. The EndeavourOS project has a new release, which is acting as a filler between two major releases. EndeavourOS 2026.08.15 "Titan Nova" fixes some keyboard setup issues, improves support for NVIDIA GPUs, and removes the Budgie desktop environment as an install-time option. "Titan Nova's live environment and offline installer....

In May, Apple agreed to pay $250 million to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit over Siri AI's delayed launch, and eligible iPhone users could receive up to a $95 payout. Today, a new court document revealed when customers will likely be able to begin submitting claims.


If the dates proposed by Apple's lawyers are approved by the judge, eligible customers would begin to be notified about the settlement on Monday, September 21 this year, and claim submissions would likely begin around that date. The claims period would end on Monday, December 21, giving customers around 90 days to take action.

Earlier this month, the judge set the final approval hearing for February 24, 2027, so payments to customers are not expected to begin until next year. For now, no action is required from customers, as the settlement website with a claims form has yet to go live. We will continue to provide updates on the case as they become available.

Below, we have answered some key questions regarding the lawsuit.

Why Was Apple Sued?

In June 2024, Apple previewed new Siri capabilities powered by Apple Intelligence, including understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. For example, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info from the Mail and Messages apps.

Apple advertised those Siri features in product presentations, on its website, in a TV commercial starring actor Bella Ramsey, and elsewhere.


In March 2025, Apple delayed the launch of the personalized version of Siri, leading to the company being hit with a class action lawsuit alleging false advertising.

In a statement, Apple touted a range of other Apple Intelligence features it had already released. Nevertheless, Apple agreed to settle the lawsuit "to stay focused" on "delivering the most innovative products and services to our users."

Apple finally announced "Siri AI" at WWDC 2026 in June, and the revamped assistant is available to test on the iOS 27 beta ahead of a September release.

Am I Eligible?

To be eligible to submit a claim, you must reside in the U.S. and have purchased any iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 model between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025.

The full list of eligible iPhone models:

• iPhone 15 Pro


• iPhone 15 Pro Max


• iPhone 16


• iPhone 16e


• iPhone 16 Plus


• iPhone 16 Pro


• iPhone 16 Pro Max

It is unlikely that individuals who submit a claim will still need to have physical possession of an eligible iPhone model. However, there is a possibility that proof of purchase or other information will be required, such as the device's serial number. Exact requirements will be outlined on the settlement website, which is still not live.

How Much Will Apple Pay Me?

According to the terms of the settlement, each person who files an eligible claim will receive a per-device payment of $25, but this amount could increase up to $95 if the total number of claims submitted is lower than anticipated.

Where and When Can I Submit a Claim?

Later this year, a settlement website is expected to go live with an online claims form.
This article, "Apple's Siri Settlement: Here's When iPhone Owners Can Submit Claims" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple announced new Mac mini machines this week, and the lower-end models include the first M6 chip. The M6 era will be a little complicated, because few Macs are going to get it. We won't have M6 Pro or M6 Max chips, which shakes up the Mac lineup for the next couple of years.

Devices With M6

The ‌Mac mini‌ is the first Mac with an M6, but the chip is going to come to a couple of other products in the lineup.

• MacBook Pro - The 14-inch entry-level MacBook Pro could be updated with an M6 chip in October 2026.


• iMac - The 24-inch iMac is also expected to get the M6 chip, likely around the time the ‌MacBook Pro‌ is updated.


• MacBook Air - The MacBook Air could get the M6 chip in early 2027.


• iPad Pro - The next iPad Pro could get the M6 chip.


• iPad Air - A future version of the iPad Air is likely to adopt the M6. Apple usually keeps the ‌iPad Air‌ processor one generation behind the ‌iPad Pro‌.

M6 Pro and M6 Max

Apple isn't going to make M6 Pro or M6 Max chips, according to Bloomberg, so the M6 will be the first standalone Apple silicon chip that won't have more powerful variants.

Instead of manufacturing M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, Apple is speeding up its chip development timeline to bring the M7 Pro and M7 Max to market more quickly. The M7 Pro and M7 Max will have technologies that support on-device AI and GPU-intensive software, so they better meet growing demand for processors with those capabilities.

M5 Makes Up the Gap

Macs that would have used an M6 Pro or M6 Max chip are going to be stuck with the M5 Pro and M5 Max until the M7 family is ready. That means the high-end OLED "MacBook Ultra" we're expecting in late 2026 or early 2027 is going to use the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips that are in the current ‌MacBook Pro‌ models. It's also possible it will get the M5 Ultra.

The new ‌Mac mini‌ also got the M5 Pro instead of an M6 Pro chip. The new Mac Studio announced alongside the ‌Mac mini‌ uses M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips.

Short Life Span

The M6 isn't going to be around for long, because Apple plans to launch the M7 in the first half of 2027. The M7 Pro and M7 Max will follow at the end of the year.

M6 Features

The M6 is Apple's first chip built on a new 2-nanometer process that increases transistor density on a smaller die. The process change improves performance and efficiency.

It has a 12-core CPU with what Apple says is the world's fastest CPU core, a larger 12-core GPU with Neural Accelerators for each core, a new Dual 16-core Neural Engine, and up to 170GB/s memory bandwidth.

The GPU has updated shader core architecture, Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and 50 percent higher geometry rates for complex graphics.
This article, "Which Macs Will Get an M6 Chip and Which Won't?" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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As noted by Daring Fireball's John Gruber, developer Jeff Halter has released a new Afterglow app that allows you to run classic After Dark screen savers on modern macOS versions.

"Afterglow is an emulator built specifically for running After Dark modules -- the original 68k module code, not a remake or port -- with no dependencies on ROMs or classic Mac OS," said Halter, who has several fun nostalgic projects, such as After Dark space shooter Lunacy and HyperCard player Stacks.
This article, "This New App Brings 1990s 'After Dark' Screen Savers to Modern macOS" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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It's been an unusually big week for Apple announcements. On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the new Mac mini and Mac Studio, the M6 and M5 Ultra chips, and invites to Apple's September event.


Apple confirmed on Wednesday that its annual iPhone event will take place on Wednesday, September 9 at Apple Park, starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, with select members of the media invited to attend. The event's tagline is "Surprise and Shine." Apple is expected to introduce at least six new products, including the the Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, iPhone 18 Pro, ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max, and the first foldable iPhone. Pre-orders should follow shortly after, and along with release dates for iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 Golden Gate.

Apple announced the new Mac mini on Tuesday, offering M6 and M5 Pro chip options. The machine gains an N1 networking chip, bringing Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and moves to 2.5Gb Ethernet as standard, up from 1Gb, with a 10Gb option. Thunderbolt 5 is restricted to the M5 Pro model, which gets three Thunderbolt 5 ports while the M6 model keeps Thunderbolt 4. Genlock support over USB-C also helps to sync a display's refresh timing to a camera such as the iPhone 17 Pro. Pricing starts at $899 with 16GB and 256GB, rising to $1,699 for the M5 Pro at 24GB and 512GB. Pre-orders are now open, with launch on September 22.

The M6 is Apple's first 2nm chip. Its 12-core CPU is split into 2 super cores, 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores, making it the first Apple chip to combine all three core types in one design. Super cores are Apple's top tier, optimized for single-threaded speed. The 12-core GPU features a Neural Accelerator in each core for the first time in a ‌Mac mini‌. The GPU also adds an updated shader architecture, Dynamic Caching, and hardware-accelerated ray tracing, while an all-new Dual 16-core Neural Engine doubles peak compute over the previous generation, with system frameworks able to drive both engines at once. Memory starts at 16GB and tops out at 32GB, running at up to 170GB/s. M5 Pro scales further, to an 18-core CPU, a 20-core GPU and up to 64GB at 307GB/s.

The new Mac Studio arrived alongside the ‌Mac mini‌, with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chip options. The M5 Max offers an 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores, an up-to-40-core GPU with Neural Accelerators in every core, and up to 128GB of memory at 614GB/s, with the GPU running up to 50% faster than the previous generation. Both configurations move to a next-generation SSD architecture on PCIe Gen 6 for up to twice the storage performance, and gain up to six Thunderbolt 5 ports at 120Gb/s, and the same genlock support as the ‌Mac mini‌. Apple's N1 chip also brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 to the ‌Mac Studio‌. Pricing starts at $2,499 for the M5 Max at 36GB and 512GB, and $5,499 for the M5 Ultra at 96GB and 1TB, with the 512GB memory option not arriving until late October.

The M5 Ultra is Apple's first quad-die chip, using a next-generation version of UltraFusion to join two dual-die M5 Max chips into a single processor. The result is a CPU with up to 36 cores, 12 super and 24 performance, delivering 1.25x the single-threaded and 1.3x the multithreaded performance of the M3 Ultra. Its up-to-80-core GPU is the most powerful Apple silicon GPU ever made and the first on an Ultra chip to feature Neural Accelerators. Second-generation Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading and third-generation ray tracing lift graphics up 40% over the M3 Ultra, and the chip features a 32-core Neural Engine. Memory reaches 512GB at 1.2TB/s, which is a 50% bandwidth increase.

Other announcements this week included a new, softer Apple Polishing Cloth at $9, down from $19, and refreshed U.S. Magic Keyboards for the Mac, now featuring glyphs instead of edge text. Apple Support's 1-800-APL-CARE line is also now answered by a generative AI assistant in the U.S. and Canada.

The MacRumors Show has its own YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up with new episodes and clips.



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If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up to hear our discussion with YouTuber Michael Fisher about key rumors about the "iPhone Ultra" and how the device could compare to rivals.

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This article, "The MacRumors Show: Apple's Surprisingly Big Week of Announcements" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple TV has bought the worldwide rights to "Small Prophets," breaking with how it normally operates in acquiring an existing English-language hit rather than commissioning a show of its own from the start.



‌Apple TV‌ has typically developed or, at the very least, commissioned shows in-house and given them their premiere on the service, regardless of where they may eventually end up. This was the model behind the BBC's "Trying," which ‌Apple TV‌+ produced first and later licensed to the BBC once its own run had finished.

Apple has also picked up individual foreign-language titles in the past, such as the French-Japanese drama "Drops of God." "Small Prophets" marks new ground since it is an English-language series and it had already become a broadcast hit elsewhere before Apple stepped in.

The acquisition, reported by Deadline, follows a run on BBC Two that produced the strongest 28-day launch numbers for a comedy on the channel since 2022, a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and the International Panorama award at this year's Series Mania festival.

"Small Prophets" will stream on ‌Apple TV‌ worldwide starting on October 7, with the exception of the UK, where the show debuted on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two earlier this year. Viewers in the UK will be able to continue watching it on iPlayer before it eventually moves to ‌Apple TV‌.

The show is written, created, and directed by Mackenzie Crook, best known for appearing in "The Office" and "The Detectorists."

Small Prophets follows Quigley as the eccentric Michael Sleep, an ordinary man who, since his darling Clea disappeared seven years ago, has worked in a DIY store, while visiting his elderly dad Brian and hoping for Clea to return. One day, Brian shares an old recipe for a potion so a skeptical Michael can create homunculi – magical spirits that can predict the future – to learn if he will see Clea again.

Michael gets help from his young DIY store co-worker Kacey and their unlikely friendship blossoms through a dislike of store manager Gordon, while his nosy neighbors obsess about what Michael is doing in the garden shed.

The show, set in and around suburban Manchester and is seeped in Crook's trademark gentleness... includes animated elements to show the more magical elements of the story.

Deadline compared "Small Prophets" to "Ted Lasso," which recently began its fourth season as ‌Apple TV‌'s biggest premiere ever, favoring a gentler, more serialized storytelling style over a traditional sitcom.
This article, "Apple TV Buys an Existing Hit for the First Time Ever" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Pre-orders of Apple's iPhone 18 Pro may not open until Saturday, September 12, a day later than the company's usual schedule, according to a new report.


Apple is set to hold its annual iPhone event on Wednesday, September 9, where the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ models, its first-ever foldable iPhone, and the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 are all expected to be announced.

Under Apple's typical launch plan, pre-orders begin the Friday immediately following the event, with devices shipping the following Friday. This year, that would place pre-orders on Friday, September 11, but Macworld reports that its German sister publication, Macwelt, has heard from a reliable source that Apple will instead push pre-orders back to Saturday, September 12.

There is precedent for this as the shift is reportedly tied to the date itself. September 11, 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and Apple has moved pre-orders away from that date before. In 2015, when the standard pre-order Friday also landed on September 11, Apple delayed iPhone 6S and 6S Plus pre-orders to Saturday, September 12.

The timing within the day is also said to be changing. Apple's pre-orders traditionally open at 5 a.m. PT, but the source says this year's window will instead start at midnight PT on Saturday.

The delayed pre-order date is expected to apply to the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌, Apple Watch Series 12, and Apple Watch Ultra 4, alongside any other hardware Apple introduces at the event. Apple's foldable iPhone could follow at a later date, with pre-orders potentially not opening until late September.

Earlier this year, Macwelt reported that Apple would announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, but that announcement didn't actually come until March 2. That being said, Saturday, September 12 looks like a solid bet for the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌'s pre-order date, though the reported midnight PT start time is worth taking with a pinch of salt for now. Apple's iPhone event takes place in just under two weeks, on September 9.
This article, "iPhone 18 Pro Pre-Orders May Start at an Unusual Time" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's annual fall event takes place on Wednesday, September 9, when it is expected to unveil new iPhone 18 Pro models, the first foldable iPhone, an Apple Watch Series 12, a fourth-generation Apple Watch Ultra, and potentially AirPods 5. Apple may also make some additional new products available at its "Surprise and shine" event, but there are a handful of rumored upcoming devices that we don't expect to make an appearance this month.


To help set expectations ahead of Apple's "Surprise and shine" event, here are the products that Apple is unlikely to announce in September, but rather later on in the year or in 2027.

iPhone 18

Strange as it sounds, Apple's fall event this year will be missing a new regular iPhone. The successor to the iPhone 17 isn't expected until spring next year, as part of Apple's reported split-launch strategy. Going forward, Apple will dedicate its annual September event to its more expensive Pro-model iPhones and successive generations of its upcoming foldable iPhone.

The iPhone 18 could adopt Apple's upcoming 2-nanometer A20 chip. As for memory, information is mixed. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects the device to have 9GB of RAM, 1GB more than the iPhone 17, while analyst Jeff Pu believes Apple will upgrade it with 12GB. If the iPhone 18 is limited to 9GB RAM, it will not support all Apple Intelligence features.

All iPhone 18 models could include a 24-megapixel front-facing camera, up from 18 megapixels. There are reports that Apple will use an improved display, which could also feature a smaller Dynamic Island.

iPhone Air 2

The iPhone Air that came out in September 2025 alongside the iPhone 17 lineup didn't sell as well as expected, and a second version is no longer believed to be coming in September 2026. Despite some debate about the future of the iPhone Air, the latest rumors suggest a new model is still in development, and will likely arrive in spring 2027 alongside the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e.

Apple is said to be adding a second camera to the next iPhone Air to make it more appealing to consumers and to justify its $999 starting price. Apple also wants to improve battery life, either through an increased battery size or improvements to efficiency. Given that the design of the new model is similar to the current design, there may not be room for a larger battery. The device will use an A20 Pro chip built on Apple's new 2nm process, so it could feature better efficiency.

New Apple Watch SE 4

The current Apple Watch SE 3 is Apple's most affordable Apple Watch option. Apple updated it in September 2025, but we are not expecting a new model in 2026, and there's no word yet on when a new version is coming.

New Macs

Apple reportedly plans to release an updated 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 chip in late 2026, followed by a major high-end MacBook Pro redesign in late 2026 or early 2027. Reportedly dubbed "MacBook Ultra," the new 14-inch and 16-inch models are expected to feature M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, an OLED display, a touch screen, a Dynamic Island, and a thinner design.

Apple is also said to be readying new iMac models with an upgraded chip and new color options. The new version is likely to be an updated 24-inch model with an M6 chip, replacing the existing M4 model that arrived in October 2024.

While it isn't impossible, we're unlikely to see any Macs debut on September 9. Apple typically uses its fall event to focus on new iPhone and Apple Watch models. The company usually unveils new Macs in October via press release or a separate event.

Possibly, Maybe

In addition to new iPhone 18 Pro models, Apple Watch models, and AirPods, Apple is expected to prepare other products for release this year. Still, the company is unlikely to draw too much attention away from its flagship smartphones, and may choose to save the following products for a separate event or launch them via press release in October or November:

• iPad mini


• Apple TV


• HomePod mini


• Home hub

What are you looking forward to most from Apple this year? Let us know in the comments.

This article, "What NOT to Expect at Apple's 'Surprise and Shine' September 9 Event" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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As a result of Apple TV receiving a price increase today, the Apple One Individual plan has also gone up in price.

In the U.S., for example, the Apple One Individual plan now costs $21.95 per month, up from $19.95 per month. Apple One Family and Apple One Premier are not affected, but those plans already went up in price last month alongside an Apple Music price increase.

Today's Apple TV and Apple One price increases affect the U.S., Brazil, Chile, and Mexico only.
This article, "Apple One Just Went Up in Price" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today informed MacRumors and others that the Apple TV streaming service is receiving a price increase in the U.S. starting today.


As a result of the Apple TV price increase, the Apple One Individual bundle has also gone up in price, with all of today's changes outlined below.

• Apple TV (Monthly): $14.99 per month (up from $12.99 per month)


• Apple TV (Annually): $119 per year (up from $99 per year)


• Apple One (Individual): $21.95 per month (up from $19.95 per month)

Apple TV also received a price increase in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico today, according to Apple, but no other countries are affected.

The higher prices are effective immediately for new subscribers, while existing subscribers will be notified approximately one month prior to being charged the new price, according to Apple. Existing subscribers should look out for an email from Apple over the coming days and weeks ahead of their next subscription renewal.

Apple TV initially cost just $4.99 per month in the U.S. when it launched in 2019, but the price has increased four times. The monthly price rose to $6.99 in 2022, to $9.99 in 2023, to $12.99 in 2025, and now to $14.99.

Apple One Family and Apple One Premier did not receive price increases today, but those plans already went up in price in July alongside an Apple Music price increase. Apple One Individual had avoided a price increase at that time.

This article, "Apple TV Streaming Service Receives Price Increase" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon today has introduced the first cash discounts on Apple's brand new Mac mini, with discounts including two of the M6 models as well as the M5 Pro model. All of these deals are pre-order discounts on the 2026 Mac mini, which officially launches on September 22.

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.

You can get the 16GB RAM/256GB SSD Mac mini for $879.99, down from $899.00, and the 16GB RAM/512GB SSD model for $1,069.99, down from $1,099.00. Both of these devices come with the new M6 chip, and Amazon also has $29 off the M5 Pro Mac mini right now.





In terms of upgrades, Apple said the Mac mini with the M6 chip delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance, up to 4× faster performance for AI tasks in particular, up to 2× faster graphics performance, and up to 2× faster storage speeds compared to the previous-generation model with the 10-core M4 chip, 32GB of unified memory, and 2TB of storage.

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, "Apple's M6 Mac Mini Gets First Pre-Order Discounts at Amazon" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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You can get the 44mm GPS Apple Watch SE for just $199.99 today on Amazon, down from $279.00. This is a steep discount on the wearable that beats the previous all-time low price by about $30, and matches the record low price of the 40mm GPS model of the smartwatch.

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.

This is the Apple Watch SE with the Midnight Aluminum Case and Midnight Sport Band in the Medium/Large size. As of writing, this is the only model we're tracking on sale, and this is a very rare deal so anyone interested should check it out before Amazon takes it away.



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, "Apple Watch SE 3 Hits New Low Price of $199.99 on Amazon" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple CEO Tim Cook today pledged that the company will make a donation toward relief and rebuilding work in Nepal and Tibet, where flash floods and mudslides have killed hundreds of people.


On Wednesday, part of a Himalayan glacier collapsed, briefly damming a river before a surge of water and mud hit communities downstream. Many people are dead or missing, and roads, bridges, and homes near the Nepal–Tibet border have been destroyed.



This marks Apple's fifth disaster relief pledge in just over two months, after the company supported Indonesia's earthquake recovery earlier this month and previously stepped in for crises in Venezuela, Southern Europe, and Japan.

Cook makes this pledge in the final days of his tenure as CEO. John Ternus takes over the role on September 1, when Cook will shift into the newly created executive chairman position, where he is expected to continue representing Apple on policy matters.
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