Samsung launched new foldable smartphones earlier this month, including the Galaxy Z Fold8. If you didn't know it was a Samsung device, you might look at it and think it's Apple's foldable because it matches rumors about the iPhone Ultra so well.


The Z Fold8 is likely to be the closest competitor to the foldable ‌iPhone Ultra‌, which makes iFixit's teardown of Samsung's smartphone an interesting read. Will Apple's foldable have some of the same troubles as the Z Fold8, or has Apple solved the issues plaguing foldable smartphones?

Hinges have been a failure point on foldable smartphones, and it's a design problem Samsung hasn't been able to solve. The Fold8 has a dust-and-water ingress rating of IP48, so it's resistant to water, but not to dust. It's hard to keep dust away from a smartphone, and when dust gets inside, it gums up the hinge mechanism and it fails.


iFixit did a dust test on the Z Fold8, putting particulates in the hinge. It resulted in "truly awful crunching and grinding noises" and then the device stopped opening normally. Dust that made its way into the hinge did stay out of many of the sealed portions of the phone, but if a foldable smartphone isn't folding, there's still a major issue.

An IP4X dust rating means the Z Fold8 is resistant to particles 1mm in size and greater, but as iFixit found, many sand and dust particles are smaller than that. iFixit said beach sand measured 0.16mm, and the powder it used was 0.04mm.

Samsung used a new hinge design for the Z Fold8 and added a titanium-reinforced display structure that helps the screen open flatter, but it couldn't get rid of the crease entirely. Creases in foldables can become more visible over time as the device is opened and closed, and a recent Tom's Guide review said the crease in the Z Fold8 became more visible after just seven days.

iFixit was not impressed with the repairability of the Z Fold8, and it earned a repairability score of 4/10. The bezel around the inner display broke into pieces as it was removed, and there's no way to get to the hinge without removing the display. Batteries also aren't easy to replace because doing so requires removing the outer display. "It's an expensive, painful repair even when everything goes right," said iFixit.


The Z Fold8 has a tablet-like look and feel with a 5.5-inch screen when closed and a 7.6-inch screen when open. Most of Samsung's prior foldables have been tall and narrow, but this one is closer to an iPad mini, and its dimensions nearly match those rumored for Apple's foldable.

Apple waited to make a foldable iPhone because it wanted a device that had a minimal crease. Rumors suggest it is using a display panel created by Samsung Display and liquid metal for the hinge, along with optically clear adhesive to make the crease disappear as much as possible.

iFixit will likely do the same hinge test when the foldable iPhone comes out, and we'll know whether Apple "solved" the crease and hinge issue or will be dealing with the same problems. The foldable ‌iPhone Ultra‌ will be introduced at Apple's annual September event alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models.

Google's new Pixel 11 Pro Fold has an IP68 dust-and-water-resistance rating with a gearless hinge design, so it will presumably fare better than the Z Fold8 in a dust exposure test. It launches on August 20.
This article, "iFixit's Galaxy Z Fold8 Teardown is a Preview of Apple's Foldable Challenges" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today opened its Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) in Houston, Texas. It's located in the same Houston facility where Apple makes AI servers and will start manufacturing the Mac mini this year.


Small and medium businesses can visit the 20,000-square-foot facility for free training and educational sessions, taking advantage of interactive labs, tools, and equipment, including a holographic lab table. Apple says participants can learn the "same innovative processes" used to make Apple devices.

"In less than nine months, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into this Houston facility. We stood up a factory, started production, and shipped the first advanced AI servers off the line. Today, we're thrilled to open our new Advanced Manufacturing Center, a place where businesses, workers, and students can learn the same innovative processes that we use to make Apple's most groundbreaking products. And we're pleased to begin Mac mini production later this year," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We believe in American workers and American ingenuity, and we are moving at an incredible pace because we want to build more than great products. We want to build the future of American manufacturing."

Apple experts will hold sessions on topics like advanced manufacturing principles for final assembly and design considerations for printed circuit board assembly, and lead interactive workshops that use the site's representative production facility and equipment. Apple says participants will learn to identify and adapt to production challenges in real time.

In the future, the AMC will offer hands-on training to local college students.

The location is part of Apple's pledge to spend $600 billion to support manufacturing in the United States. Businesses interested in visiting the AMC can sign up for notifications about future sessions on Apple's website.
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Apple has approached publishers to establish content deals that would give Siri AI access to current news and information, reports The Wall Street Journal.


Apple is proposing multiyear agreements where publishers would receive payment when their content is used, which is different from standard AI deals. Typical deals between AI companies and news organizations have set fees for broad content access. Apple has discussed a nine-figure budget for the payments.

The Wall Street Journal says Apple previously inked deals that included AI training rights. Apple has also worked with publishers for its Apple News+ service since 2019, though some publishers were unhappy with the content deals and ended their partnerships.

‌Siri‌ AI is set to launch this fall in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27. ‌Siri‌ AI is a major departure from the prior version of ‌Siri‌, and Apple has an incentive to ensure accurate news headlines. An iOS 18 notification summary feature turned out to be an embarrassment after Apple Intelligence generated false headlines that misled users. Apple ended up removing news summaries for more than a year while it made improvements.
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan today granted Apple a one-day stay in its legal fight with Epic Games, giving Apple more time to outline the fees it wants to charge developers for linking out to purchase options on the web.


Just yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied Apple's request for a stay in the proceedings, giving Apple 24 hours to deliver its fee proposal. Apple then submitted an emergency filing to the Supreme Court, arguing that fee calculations should be paused until the justices hear the case and make a decision on the contempt ruling. If the contempt ruling is thrown out, fee proceedings won't be necessary.

Bloomberg says the short stay is meant to give the high court more time to consider Apple's request. Without the pause, Apple would have needed to submit its proposed fees to the court by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday. Apple now has until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, unless the Supreme Court gives the company a longer reprieve. Kagan already denied a similar stay request earlier this year.

The fight over fees is part of an ongoing dispute with Epic Games that started in 2020. Apple won the initial legal fight and wasn't declared a monopolist, but the company was ordered to change its anti-steering rules to let developers link to non-App Store purchase options. Apple did so, but charged fees that were almost identical to standard App Store fees.

‌Epic Games‌ accused Apple of violating the injunction, and the court agreed. Apple was found in contempt of court for willfully violating the original ruling, and barred from collecting fees on links in the U.S. ‌App Store‌.

An appeals court ruling upheld the contempt decision, but said Apple was due reasonable fees for its intellectual property. The case was sent back to district court to determine what a reasonable fee might be. Apple then appealed to the Supreme Court, and the justices agreed to hear it.

Apple wants the Supreme Court to throw out the contempt ruling, negating the order barring it from collecting fees and the subsequent appeals court order mandating reasonable fee calculations. Apple has argued that regulators worldwide are watching to see what a U.S. court considers a reasonable rate, so fee proceedings set a reference point even if the contempt ruling is thrown out.

Apple has not collected fees from link-outs in the U.S. since April 2025, and the company would rather continue to collect no money while it exhausts all appeals than have the court establish a rate.
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Google raised the price of its latest smartphones compared to last year, and the increase may hint at what Apple will do with the iPhone 18 Pro models.


All of Google's Pixel starting prices are $100 higher than they were last year.

• Pixel 11 - $899, up from $799


• Pixel 11 Pro - $1,099, up from $999


• Pixel 11 Pro XL - $1,299, up from $1,199


• Pixel 11 Pro Fold - $1,899, up from $1,799

The 41mm Pixel Watch 5 is now $399, up from $349, and the 45mm model is now $429, up from $399.

With the price hikes, Google increased the base storage for some of its devices, which Apple did with the iPhone 17 Pro. The Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro now start with 256GB instead of 128GB, so pricing is technically the same as last year's 256GB model. The Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold started with 256GB last year and still do, so those devices have straight price increases.

Google also cut RAM in some models to mitigate costs. The base Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL have 12GB RAM instead of 16GB RAM. Last year, all Pixel 10 Pro devices had 16GB RAM, but this year, Pixel users need to pay at least $1,219 for 11 Pro and $1,419 for the 11 Pro XL to get 16GB RAM.

A customer buying the Pixel 11 Pro will now pay $100 more for a 128GB storage increase and 4GB less RAM than the 10 Pro last year.

Google is heavily emphasizing trade-in offers, which has the effect of distracting customers from the price increase. Google's product page lists trade-in discounts before actual pricing, stating the Pixel 11 Pro is priced "From $499" with trade-in, while the Pixel 11 Pro XL is "From $699." Purchase pages for the new devices don't even reveal full pricing for a chosen model until a customer declines a trade-in. Google also shows carrier discounts and monthly payment options.

Apple already focuses on trade-in offers and monthly financing when launching new iPhones, but whether it will go as far as Google remains to be seen. Apple recently announced the Apple Upgrade program in partnership with Klarna, offering fee-free 12-month through 36-month payment plans for purchases.

Google told Engadget that despite the decrease in RAM, this year's models will perform faster than the comparable 2025 models.

Pixel's full stack approach allows us to optimize the way on-device models load and execute, keeping our hardware lean, fast, and highly responsive. In fact, through software and silicon optimization, you can expect faster and smoother performance from this year's Pro models when compared to last year's comparable 256GB SSD SKUs.

Analysts think the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ models could be up to $300 more expensive than the iPhone 17 Pro models, but Apple also negotiated lower prices for other components, which could help absorb some of the increased price it has to pay for RAM.

Both Apple and Google have been affected by memory price hikes that Apple CEO Tim Cook likened to a "100-year flood." He said there have been "exponential increases in memory prices," leading the company to raise the cost of its iPads and Macs. Memory chips for consumer devices are in short supply because chip manufacturers are prioritizing chips for AI data centers. The lack of supply has caused RAM prices to skyrocket.

iPhone prices have not increased yet, even though other manufacturers like Samsung have raised prices. Multiple rumors suggest iPhones will be more expensive starting in September. Apple could use the same tactic as Google and increase base storage while hiking prices, but so far it doesn't look like the company will lower the amount of RAM in the Pro models.

The ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ and Pro Max already start with 12GB, and Apple likely can't make major changes without impacting the Apple Intelligence and Siri AI features it is rolling out this fall.
This article, "Google's $100 Pixel Price Hike and Trade-In Push Hint at Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Plans" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Google today announced new products that compete with Apple devices like the iPhone and the Apple Watch. There are new Pixel smartphones with AI capabilities, a new foldable, and new wearable devices.

Pixel 11 Pro Fold

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is thinner and lighter than the prior-generation Pixel Fold. It has a 6.5-inch OLED display when closed, and an 8-inch ‌OLED‌ display when open. When unfolded, it's 5.1mm thick, and when closed, it's 10.2mm thick.


The Pixel 11 Pro Fold and other new Pixel models have a "HiLight" feature with LED lights around the flash. HiLight glows in different colors for incoming calls or when talking to Gemini. Other features:

• Thinner bezels


• Up to 2,000 nits brightness for HDR and 3,600 nits peak brightness for the inner display, 120Hz refresh rate


• Obsidian and olive colors


• Glass fiber composite back cover that Google says is "nearly impossible to crack"


• Gearless hinge with larger bend radius and thicker glass layer for better durability


• Improved crease performance


• Faster charging speeds and 4,806mAh battery


• 2nm Tensor G6 chip with 16GB RAM


• 48-megapixel main camera with larger sensor, 10.5-megapixel ultrawide camera, and 10.8-megapixel telephoto camera with up to 30x zoom

Pricing on the Pixel 11 Pro Fold starts at $1,899, and it can be pre-ordered from the Google Store.

Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL

• 6.3 or 6.8-inch display


• 3,600 nits peak brightness


• Anti-scratch Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover glass


• HiLight LED feature


• Matte glass back


• 50-megapixel wide camera, 48-megapixel ultrawide camera, 48-megapixel telephoto camera with up to 120x zoom


• 42-megapixel front-facing camera


• 8K video recording


• 2nm Google Tensor G6 chip with up to 16GB RAM

Pricing on the Pixel 11 Pro starts at $1,099, and pricing on the Pixel 11 Pro XL starts at $1,299. Pre-orders are live now.

Pixel 11

• 6.3-inch display


• 3,000 nits peak brightness


• Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover glass


• 40 percent thinner camera bar


• 48-megapixel wide camera, 13-megapixel ultrawide camera, 10.8-megapixel telephoto camera with up to 30x zoom


• 2nm Google Tensor G6 chip with 12GB RAM

The Pixel 11 is priced starting at $899 and it can be pre-ordered now.

Pixel Watch 5

The Pixel Watch 5 uses the same round display Google's smartwatches are known for, with an improved 3,000-nit brightness level. There are new watch faces and complications, including new generative watch faces.


The device has more accurate GPS route tracking, more accurate sleep tracking, new Gemini integrations, and personalized strength coaching. It has context-aware updates on the watch face, surfacing info when it's needed. Raise to Talk engages Gemini, with core actions done on-device.

There are new one-handed gestures for confirming, selecting, and sending content, which are similar to some of the gestures available on the Apple Watch. Google says the Pixel Watch 5 can detect when the wearer stops breathing and can summon help with a new breathing emergency detection feature.


The Pixel Watch 5 is priced starting at $399.

New Software Features

• Gemini Intelligence - Google says Gemini Intelligence can do more multistep tasks across apps. There's a new Rambler voice input feature that removes filler words and corrects run-on sentences, and a sign-to-text feature that supports American Sign Language. There are new location-based insights that show you info based on where you are, and contextually relevant suggestions in text conversations.


• Magic Capture - One tap records video that the Pixel edits, crops, and unblurs into a collection of images and video.


• Camera Looks - Mirrors the iPhone's Photographic Styles feature, letting users choose an aesthetic (Natural, Shadows, or Vanilla) at the point of capture.


• Circle to Search - Circle to Search works in the Camera viewfinder, so you can circle something and get AI info on it.


• Live Translate - Google's new devices translate videos and audio in real time.


• Health Guardian - An AI Health Guardian monitors insulin resistance trends, blood pressure patterns, and sleep breathing quality trends.

Pixel Tag

Google also debuted a $29 Pixel Tag that competes with the AirTag. It links to the Google item tracking network that leverages Android devices to find items. It has much of the same feature set as the ‌AirTag‌, with details available in our full article.

More Info

Google's new product lineup will launch on August 20, just a few weeks ahead of when Apple will unveil its latest smartphone models. We're expecting Apple to announce the iPhone 18 Pro, ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max, foldable iPhone Ultra, and new Apple Watch models.

More on the new announcements can be found on Google's website.
This article, "Google Kicks Off Fall Hardware Season With New Pixel 11 Smartphones" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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