As of today, end-to-end encryption for Instagram direct messages is no longer available. DMs that you send to people on Instagram will no longer feature full encryption, and your conversations are not protected from Meta.


Meta can potentially see what's in messages shared between users on Instagram, and that information can be shared with law enforcement agencies worldwide.

End-to-end encryption has been an opt-in messaging feature on Instagram since 2023, but Meta quietly removed it. Meta told The Guardian earlier this year that it is removing the encryption feature because not enough people adopted it. At the same time, Meta did not turn it on by default, nor did the company alert users that it was an option. Sending an encrypted message required turning it on for each individual conversation by tapping into a buried per-conversation setting. Meta also never rolled the feature out to all Instagram users.

"Very few people were opting in to end-to-end encrypted messaging in DMs, so we're removing this option from Instagram in the coming months," Meta said. Meta suggests that people who want end-to-end encryption should use WhatsApp, which is another messaging app that it owns. iMessage and other apps like Signal that are not Meta-owned also offer end-to-end encryption.

Law enforcement agencies and child safety advocates have long pushed for Meta to remove encryption, but Meta could also be getting something out of the feature's removal. It's possible the company will be able to use direct messaging content for advertising algorithms or training chatbots. Meta says that content in DMs is not used for targeted ads right now, but there is wording that allows for product improvement.

Meta's decision to remove Instagram's end-to-end encryption comes 11 days before the Take It Down Act takes effect. The actf will require platforms to remove non-consensual intimate imagery like deepfakes within 48 hours of a takedown notice, but with E2EE in place, Meta can't access the content needed to comply.

Instagram users who have end-to-end encrypted chats have been given instructions on how to download media or messages that they want to keep.

Last year, Meta started using private generative AI conversations to personalize content and customize ad recommendations for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger users, so there seems to be little limit on the data that it will use to generate revenue. WhatsApp and Messenger continue to have end-to-end encryption for the time being.
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After more than a year of discussion, Apple and Intel established a preliminary agreement that will see Intel manufacturing processors for Apple devices, reports The Wall Street Journal.


Intel would make chips based on Apple chip designs, much like TSMC. Prior rumors on Intel's Apple talks have suggested Intel could make some of the lower-end processors used in Apple devices, including the lowest-end M-series chip used in select iPad and Mac models.

Before Apple adopted Apple silicon, it used Intel-designed chips for its Macs, but had to deal with continual chip delays. Apple now designs its own Arm chips that are manufactured by TSMC, allowing it to provide updates at a more regular cadence.

Intel makes its own chips, but it also makes chips for other companies. Apple has not previously eyed Intel as a supplier because it has lagged behind other chip makers like TSMC and Samsung, and because of the history between the two companies. Intel replaced CEO Pat Gelsinger with Lip-Bu Tan last year, and Tan has led an effort to revitalize Intel's chip manufacturing business.

Tan has been focusing on Intel's most advanced process node, 14A, which will reach production in 2028. Intel has been seeking customers for its 14A 1.4nm node. Intel also makes 18A chips built on a 1.8nm node, along with chips built on older process nodes.

Apple has been working to diversify its supply chain, because Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is currently its sole Apple silicon manufacturer. During Apple's latest earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said iPhone 17 models had been constrained during the quarter because Apple could not get enough A19 and A19 Pro chips from TSMC.

TSMC is one of the world's largest chip manufacturers, and along with making chips for Apple, it makes chips for other companies like Nvidia. With the AI boom and huge demand for AI servers, TSMC has more limited capacity for chips made for consumer devices, and Apple has less leverage to convince TSMC to make its chips.
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Apple today seeded new release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming five days after the first RC. It's not clear what's changed in the second RC, but Apple typically sends out another candidate if there are bugs that need to be addressed.


Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting Software Update.

iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 do not include new Siri capabilities, suggesting any ‌Siri‌ updates are being held until iOS 27. The Maps app has a Suggested Places feature for recommending locations to visit nearby based on trends and recent searches, plus Apple is laying the groundwork for ads in the Apple Maps app.

Apple is continuing to test end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and Android users. Apple included the feature in the iOS 26.4 beta, but removed it before the update launched to the public.

There is a new Pride wallpaper to go along with the Pride Apple Watch band for this year.

More detail on what's new in iOS 26.5 can be found in our iOS 26.5 beta features guide. iOS 26.5 is likely to see a launch next week.
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For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Plugable to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a MacBook Neo and a Plugable ‌MacBook Neo‌ accessory kit that includes the UD–6950PDH USB-C Docking Station, USBC–9IN1E USB-C Hub, and the PS–30C1 30W power adapter.


Plugable makes a wide range of accessories for Apple devices, and it is perhaps best known for its hubs and docks. There are several dock and hub options that work well with Apple's new low-cost ‌MacBook Neo‌, and Plugable's solutions are affordable.

The UD–6950PDH USB-C 14-in–1 Dock is priced at $180, and it adds multiple ports to the ‌MacBook Neo‌ or another Mac. There's a 5Gb/s USB-C port that also provides power for accessories, four 5Gb/s USB-A ports (one of which can power peripherals), microSD and SD card reader slots, a 100W USB-C port for charging a connected MacBook, a 1Gb/s Ethernet port, two HDMI ports, two DisplayPorts, and a K-Lock for security.


The dock supports two 4K 60Hz displays connected via HDMI or DisplayPort, and it uses DisplayLink software to get around display limitations on the ‌MacBook Neo‌ and other Macs. Even though the ‌MacBook Neo‌ only supports one external 4K display natively, with the dock, it can power two displays.


For those who only need a single display, Plugable has the $50 9-in–1 USB-C Hub. It connects to the ‌MacBook Neo‌ or another Mac via USB-C, adding several useful ports. Unlike the dock, it does not need an external power source because it is bus-powered.


The hub has a 10Gb/s USB-C port, an HDMI 2.0 port, microSD and SD card slots, a USB 2.0 port, two 10Gb/s USB-A ports (one offers 15W charging for accessories), a USB-C port for 125W passthrough charging to the connected Mac, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. Plugable currently has a 15% discount on the 9-in–1 Hub on Amazon.


Plugable's ‌MacBook Neo‌ accessory lineup is rounded out with a compact $24 USB-C Charger Block, which comes in either black or white. The power adapter provides 30W for the ‌MacBook Neo‌, which is ideal. It uses GaN technology so it's small in size, and it has collapsible prongs, making it ideal for travel. Plugable is offering a 16% discount on the power adapter on Amazon this week.


We have a ‌MacBook Neo‌ and a Plugable accessory kit to go along with it for one lucky MacRumors reader. To enter to win, use the widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner(s) and send the prize(s). You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, following us on Threads, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older are eligible to enter. All federal, state, provincial, and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.


Plugable Giveaway (U.S. Only)The contest will run from today (May 8) at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on May 15. The winner will be chosen randomly on or shortly after May 15 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.
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Starting today, Apple will require customers in the U.S., Canada, and Chile to verify their status as a student or educator to get educational discounts. Apple is adopting the UNiDAYS verification system that it uses in other countries, with a new process to accommodate homeschool families.


Apple is also adding the Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to its Education Store, which means students and teachers are now eligible for up to a 10 percent discount on Apple's most popular wearable.

Students and educators in the three countries can use the UNiDAYS app or website to verify their academic status with an email address from an educational institution, a student or staff photo ID, or another valid educational document.


Eligible customers who homeschool can also be verified by UNiDAYS. Verification requires an identity document like a driver's license or passport, and a homeschool document, such as a Letter of Intent or Letter of Acknowledgement. Most customers will be verified instantly, with UNiDAYS providing a decision in under 24 hours when manual review is required.


Once confirmed through UNiDAYS, students and educators in the U.S., Canada, and Chile will be able to purchase the Apple Watch and other Apple devices at Apple's discounted educational prices. Apple's Education Store offers special pricing on Macs, iPads, and the Studio Display, along with accessories like the Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil.

Apple did not previously have an established academic status verification system in the U.S. or Canada, which meant that anyone could technically purchase from the Education Store. Apple's sales policies said that it routinely audited customer purchases to verify purchase conditions were followed. Apple briefly used UNiDAYS in the U.S. in 2022 to verify student status, but it was removed after a few days following complaints about issues with the verification process.

Apple's Education Store discounts are available to employees of K–12 institutions, faculty and staff of higher education institutions, students attending or accepted to higher education institutions, and parents purchasing on behalf of children attending or accepted to a higher education institution.

In addition to the U.S., Canada, and Chile, Apple has added the Apple Watch to the Education Store in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, France, Germany, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, and the UK.

Apple also expanded UNiDAYS verification requirements to Australia, Hong Kong, and Turkey yesterday.
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OpenAI today launched Codex for Chrome, a Chrome extension that lets Codex work directly in the browser on Macs and PCs.


With the extension, Codex can use the browser to test web apps, get context across multiple tabs, use web DevTools, and more without taking over the browser from the user.

OpenAI says that after it launched Computer Use in the desktop Codex app, it saw that most common workflows happened in the browser. The Chrome extension should make it faster and easier for Codex to help with browser-based work that plugins or APIs can't handle.

According to OpenAI, Codex has more than 4 million weekly active users, an increase of 8x since the beginning of the year. The Chrome extension is part of OpenAI's broader effort to make Codex more useful for work people do daily, while keeping it useful for developers.

The Chrome extension can be installed through the Codex Plugins menu.
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Perplexity today launched a new Mac app with support for its hybrid local-cloud AI agent Personal Computer, plus it expanded Personal Computer access to Pro and Enterprise users, so it is no longer limited to just Max subscribers. Perplexity describes Personal Computer as a "personal orchestrator" that hybridizes local and server environments for security and productivity.


Personal Computer is available in the new Mac app, which Perplexity says gives users access to queries, conversations, and dictation. While all Mac users can download the new app, access to Personal Computer still requires a paid subscription.

Personal Computer can access the Mac's file system and native Mac apps to create and execute entire workflows, plus it can access the web. It can see active apps and work across any Mac app, but files are created in a secure sandbox, and its actions are auditable and reversible.

When paired with the Comet browser, Personal Computer can operate web-based tools without the need for direct connectors.

Pressing both Command keys on a Mac activates Personal Computer, and it responds to text or voice commands and displays useful quick actions automatically. Personal Computer can do things like complete each task on a to-do list, sort a messy downloads folder, compare local files against information on the web, and more.

Though it has access to what's on a user's Mac natively, Personal Computer processes intense tasks on Perplexity's servers, so a high-performance Mac isn't needed to run it. Personal Computer works on any Mac with macOS 14 Sonoma or later, though Perplexity says running Personal Computer on a Mac mini creates the best experience because it allows the agent to run continuously.

Perplexity's older Mac app will be deprecated in the coming weeks.
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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 243 includes fixes and updates for Accessibility, Animations, CSS, Editing, Encoding, Forms, HTML, JavaScript, Media, Networking, PDF, Rendering, SVG, Scrolling, Spatial Web, UI, Web API, Web Extensions, Web Inspector, WebAssembly, WebGPU, and WebRTC.

The current ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release is compatible with machines running macOS Sequoia and macOS Tahoe, 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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Apple was not able to narrow the scope of a UK lawsuit accusing it of locking 40 million UK consumers into iCloud, to the detriment of third-party cloud storage providers. British consumer group Which? first filed the lawsuit in late 2024, and is asking for £3 billion for UK Apple customers.


Apple wanted to exclude non-paying ‌iCloud‌ users from the lawsuit, but the tribunal denied Apple's request in a 2 to 1 majority. The lawsuit will go to trial, and will cover both paying and non-paying ‌iCloud‌ customers.

Apple users get 5GB of free storage for photos, messages, and other content on the iPhone, but are encouraged to subscribe to Apple's higher-tier ‌iCloud‌ storage options when the 5GB limit is exceeded. Which? claims that Apple favors its own cloud storage option, and makes it difficult for customers to use alternative cloud storage providers.

Which? sued Apple on behalf of all Apple ‌iCloud‌ users in the UK, regardless of whether they pay for an ‌iCloud‌ subscription plan. Normally, a customer that has not lost anything would not be eligible for a damages payment, but Which? has taken a unique approach.

The tribunal said the lawsuit raises a "novel" legal question, because it is not aware of another case where damages have been requested for "forgone consumer surplus." Forgone Consumer Surplus (FCS) is a legal theory that in this case argues people who were priced out of an ‌iCloud‌ subscription because of Apple's alleged market abuse have suffered a tangible loss because they did not have the opportunity to buy a service they wanted at a fair price in a competitive market.

The 200GB ‌iCloud‌ tier that costs £2.99 might have only cost £1.99 at a "fair" price, for example. Which? argues that a customer who would have theoretically paid £1.99 for the service but was not able to do so because the actual £2.99 price was unaffordable suffered a £1 loss, even though the customer paid nothing. Lawsuits for damages are usually more straightforward, covering paying customers who experienced clear harm from inflated pricing.

While two members of the tribunal sided with Which?, the other took Apple's side. The justice who argued against FCS warned that the case could lead to a flood of cases with secondary claims from non-purchasers based on hypothetical willingness-to-pay calculations.

Apple owes no damages at this point, and is now facing a trial to determine whether it abused its position and gave ‌iCloud‌ preferential treatment on iOS.

All UK consumers who are eligible are automatically included in the claim unless they opt out. Eligible consumers include those who obtained ‌iCloud‌ services from November 8, 2018, to the present. Which? estimates that Apple could owe UK customers an average payout of £70.

Which? wants Apple to settle the claim without litigation by offering consumers their money back and opening up iOS to let users choose a cloud provider.
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