Apple retail stores in Bordeaux and Lille were looted earlier this week amid unrest accompanying demonstrations against the high cost of living in France, Boursorama reports. Both locations were among numerous businesses targeted across the country. The same Bordeaux location, Apple Sainte-Catherine, was previously looted in December 2018 during unrest surrounding France's "yellow vest" demonstrations.
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Loop Capital has lowered its rating on Apple from "Buy" to "Hold," saying the company is unlikely to make up an estimated 13 million iPhone shipments cut from its plans for the second half of 2026, according to Investing.com.


The firm reduced its Apple stock price target from $370 to $330. Loop previously believed shortages of memory and processors had delayed shipments that Apple would recover in 2027. Its latest supply chain checks have led it to drop that assumption.

The firm now forecasts 79 million iPhone shipments in the December quarter, below initial estimates of 85 million. It also expects a lower average selling price, reducing its forecast from $1,239 to $1,123.

For 2027, Loop actually expects Apple to ship more iPhones than it previously forecast, with its estimate now at 260 million units. However, it expects those phones to sell for less on average, leading it to cut its iPhone revenue forecast from $315 billion to $285 billion. Rising memory costs could also squeeze Apple's profits.

Apple's widely reported split launch schedule makes the financial outlook harder to assess. The iPhone 18 Pro models arrived in September and the iPhone Duo launches October 23, but the standard iPhone 18, iPhone 18e, and iPhone Air 2 are not expected until the spring of 2027.

Counterpoint Research attributed much of Apple's third-quarter shipment decline to the missing standard model. Apple still secured a record third-quarter market share of 22%, despite the fact that global smartphone shipments fell 20% year over year.
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Apple Music subscribers can now stream directly to compatible Bluesound speakers and hi-fi equipment, allowing playback without sending audio via AirPlay 2.


Bluesound offers a range of high-end home audio products ranging from wireless speakers and soundbars to streaming components that connect to existing hi-fi systems. Its products use BluOS, a platform that lets users control music and link audio equipment across multiple rooms.

The new integration makes ‌Apple Music‌ accessible within the BluOS Controller app. Once a subscriber signs in, the player retrieves the music itself, freeing their iPhone or iPad from handling the audio stream. ‌AirPlay‌ 2 remains available.

For households with several BluOS products, the addition also brings ‌Apple Music‌ into the same system used to manage playback around the home. Users can play music across grouped devices or choose different music for individual rooms.

The update extends beyond Bluesound's own products to compatible BluOS equipment from NAD Electronics, PSB Speakers, DALI Loudspeakers, Cyrus, and Monitor Audio. Bluesound has not specified the streaming quality offered by the integration. The feature launched on October 20 via a free BluOS software update.
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Apple CEO John Ternus says improving the user's experience guides Apple's design decisions, whether that means adding practical features or an animation that simply makes a device more enjoyable to use.



TIME published an interview with Ternus last week, and released the video version on Tuesday with additional discussion about design.

In the video, Ternus was asked how Apple distinguishes a design choice that contributes to a product from one that merely attracts attention. He said teams work together to determine what will make a product better for its users, ruling out ideas that are frivolous or distracting.

That approach apparently still leaves room for playful details. Ternus pointed to the animation that appears when opening the iPhone Duo's inner display, explaining that it serves no functional purpose but can make the experience more satisfying. "Sometimes you just want a little whimsy," he said.

Ternus also discussed Kids Cue, which displays Peanuts characters such as Snoopy on the ‌iPhone Duo‌'s outer screen to draw a child's attention toward the camera during a photo. He said developing a different kind of iPhone gave Apple's teams an opportunity to explore ideas made possible by the new hardware. Asked how involved he remains with design, Ternus said:

I'm a mechanical engineer by background, and the team that the product designers work most closely with are the industrial designers. So, I've been working hand in hand with industrial designers at Apple since I started. And it's an amazing relationship.

I think what's so special about this place is design is at the center of it. Design means everything to us. And what's incredible is our designers, both on the software side and the hardware side, they really understand the engineering. And the engineers have a very deep appreciation for design. And so it's a really powerful collaboration.

The same focus on the experience purportedly informs Apple's approach to AI. Ternus said the technology creates opportunities to improve existing products and develop new ones, but users should be able to appreciate a feature without needing to understand that AI makes it possible. He identified personalized experiences, supported by access to information on the user's phone, as a particular focus for Apple.

The comments follow a report earlier this month that Ternus has made product design a major priority since becoming CEO in September, visiting Apple's design studio several times a week. The interview ended with a question about what Ternus wants to preserve as CEO:

The opportunities in the products, that stuff will change. It'll evolve as it does as new technologies come, but the way we work, I don't want that to change.

The full interview also covers Apple's updated parental controls, Ternus's transition to CEO, and his interest in motor racing.
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The UK's competition regulator has proposed changes to make it easier and cheaper for companies to offer alternatives to Apple Pay on the iPhone (via Reuters).


The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says Apple's fees and restrictions make it too difficult for rivals to launch contactless payment apps. Its proposals would give developers more ways to access the iPhone's NFC technology, which allows users to pay by holding their device near a payment terminal.

Apple opened up NFC access to developers in the UK in 2024, but companies must sign an agreement with Apple and pay fees. They also have to use the iPhone's Secure Element, which is a chip that stores sensitive information such as payment credentials.

The CMA wants Apple to also support host card emulation (HCE), an alternative that lets payment apps work without using the Secure Element. It also proposes rules that it expects would substantially lower Apple's access fees, although it would still allow the company to charge something.

Apple already offers HCE access for free in the European Union under commitments agreed in 2024. The CMA highlights that rival payment apps have since launched in the EU, while no competing wallet-type product has launched in the UK under Apple's current terms.

Apple told Reuters that developers can already offer contactless services using its technology:

We do not believe the CMA should require ​Apple to adopt an approach with lower privacy and security protections. We will continue to engage constructively to reach ​an outcome that is in the best interest of our users.

The CMA said the evidence it reviewed did not suggest either approach was inherently insecure. The proposals are open for consultation until November 17, 2026. The CMA will make a final decision after reviewing responses.
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WhatsApp is developing an optional in-app browser for its iPhone app that would let users open any link shared in chats without leaving the app, according to WABetaInfo.

A new "In-app browser" option under Settings and Chats would let users enable the feature or continue opening links in their default browser. Users would also be able to clear cookies, cache, and other browsing data. The feature would also expand existing support for certain business links.
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More premium games are launching on the App Store this year than last, Apple's ‌App Store‌ Worldwide head Carson Oliver told Polygon, including more franchises coming from PC and consoles.


Oliver said:

We've seen incredible growth of games coming to the App Store, in general, with more premium games releasing on the App Store this year than last. While many of those are indies, we're also seeing more console and PC franchises coming to mobile, as it is a burgeoning audience for those games.

Oliver singled-out "Balatro," "Stardew Valley," "Slay the Spire," and "Bloons TD 6" as games finding success on mobile, and singled out cozy games, management simulations, and roguelikes as particularly successful categories.

Oliver suggested that part of the opportunity comes from players whose first gaming device was an iPhone. Having grown up playing with touch controls, those users give independent developers an audience accustomed to games designed around a touchscreen.

For an entire generation of players, their very first gaming device wasn't a console or a PC, it was an iPhone with a touchscreen. These users embrace direct touch as their primary controller, making iPhone and iPad the ultimate canvas for indie innovation.

The interview followed Apple's Indie Games Week promotion, which highlighted seven new and upcoming iPhone and iPad games, including "Sifu," "Vampire Crawlers," "No Man's Sky," and "Little Kitty, Big City."

With games such as Vampire Crawlers being sold directly on the ‌App Store‌, Polygon asked where Apple Arcade fits into the company's plans. Oliver described subscriptions and individual purchases as options developers can use alongside one another:

We want to give developers a trusted place to reach users around the world, support them at each stage, and help them build successful businesses. To achieve that goal, we provide developers with flexible business model options. That means a breakthrough phenomenon like Balatro can thrive as a premium download, and it can also find a home as part of the Apple Arcade service. The important thing is that we give developers the flexibility to make the best choice for every game and players the freedom to play how they want.

Oliver also discussed how Apple helps smaller studios get noticed, pointing to the ‌App Store‌'s editorial team:

From day one, the App Store was built to level the playing field for discovery and distribution, so that an indie title can sit shoulder-to-shoulder with the biggest entertainment franchises.

Alongside editorial recommendations, Apple recently introduced Creative Assets, which gives developers more control over their games' presentation in the store:

We also provide indie developers with tools and services to break through to new audiences and drive engagement. For example, we just launched Creative Assets. This new feature lets indie game developers tell their game's story in a richer way by showcasing artwork of their choosing in two of the most important places players find games: search results and product page headers.

Oliver said Apple's development tools are also reducing the work required to bring existing games to its platforms:

Technologies like Game Porting Toolkit 4, MetalFX, and our open-source Unity plug-ins dramatically cut the time, effort, and cost required for developers to bring PC and console games to Apple devices.

The full interview is available on Polygon.
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Apple could face additional payments on top of a $5.7 billion patent verdict, with Taction Technology asking a federal judge for more damages, interest, and royalties on future iPhone and Apple Watch sales.


The request follows a September jury verdict that Apple's Taptic Engine infringed two Taction patents covering haptic feedback, the technology that produces taps and vibrations in devices. Apple disputes the verdict and is seeking to have it overturned or obtain a new trial.

According to Reuters, Taction says the $5.7 billion award covers sales from 2021 through to late March 2026. It now wants compensation for approximately six more months of sales that were not included in the jury's initial calculation.

Taction is also asking for interest on the damages at an annual rate of 7%, citing California law. That could increase the amount by hundreds of millions of dollars. Separately, it wants interest to continue accumulating after the court enters its final judgment until Apple pays.

The company's request also extends to future sales. Taction wants Apple to pay royalties on devices using the disputed technology until the patents expire on September 24, 2035. Under its proposal, Apple would report U.S. sales every quarter and pay within 30 days of the quarter ending.

Moreover, Taction argues that newer models, including the iPhone 18 Pro and Apple Watch Series 12, should also be covered because their relevant technology has not changed enough to escape the patent claims. To support that position, it points to Apple's earlier litigation against Samsung, in which Apple argued that royalties should extend to newer products with essentially the same infringing technology.

Apple maintains that its Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction's technology. It has also challenged the size of the jury's award, arguing that the evidence did not support the $5.7 billion calculation, and has said it will appeal.
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Bethesda's beloved role-playing game "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" has reached multiple generations of consoles since its 2011 debut, but it never officially came to the Mac. A new unofficial project called SkyrimMT now aims to make playing and modding it on Apple silicon Macs easier than ever.


Mac owners have found ways to play Skyrim over the years, including installing Windows through Boot Camp on Intel Macs and using compatibility software such as CrossOver. Boot Camp is unavailable on Apple silicon Macs, leaving players dependent on other solutions to run the Windows game.

SkyrimMT's appeal is in bringing that process together in an app built specifically for Skyrim. Its automated setup installs the required compatibility software and guides users through signing in to Steam and installing their copy of the game. It supports Skyrim Special Edition and Anniversary Edition.

Its native mod manager supports browsing Nexus Mods, installing Nexus Collections and Wabbajack modlists, and importing Mod Organizer 2 setups. Common additions such as Skyrim Script Extender and SkyUI can also be installed through the app. Users can maintain separate mod profiles, inspect conflicts, sort load orders, and restore earlier configurations from snapshots.

Under the hood, SkyrimMT runs the Windows game through Wine and uses DXMT to translate its Direct3D 11 graphics to Apple's Metal.

SkyrimMT requires an Apple silicon Mac running macOS Ventura 13 or later, approximately 25GB of free storage, and a Steam copy of the game. The open-source app is available from the project's GitHub releases page.
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Apple has showcased four design projects created using its products for this year's "Designers of Tomorrow" exhibition in Paris.


The exhibition explores the theme of presence through furniture and lighting. Architect Salem S. Charabi used a MacBook Pro to sketch and model a lantern, while designer Yoonjeong Lee used an iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil to develop ideas for a combined table and lamp.

Isabel Rower used an iPhone to document her work and Keynote to experiment with visual ideas for a chair featuring ceramic bead fringe. Parafernalia founders Genki Matsumura and Sebastián Zorrilla used Procreate, Messages, and FaceTime to collaborate between Monterrey and Mexico City on a steel piece that opens into a table and stools.

Now in its second year, the program is organized with Design Miami and curated by Rodman Primack. Apple's Molly Anderson helped select the participants as a member of the jury. The exhibition opened at Hôtel de Maisons on October 20. See Apple's full press release for more information.
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