We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.


One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a two-phase rollout starting with the iPhone 18 series. That means the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the long-rumored foldable iPhone ("iPhone Ultra") will be released in September 2026, followed by the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e in spring 2027.


Overall Design

iPhone 17 Pro Style

Rumors suggest the iPhone 18 Pro lineup will largely retain the same design as the iPhone 17 Pro models. Most rumors suggest the rear camera system will look identical to the current generation, featuring a raised "plateau" with three lenses arranged in a triangle – although recent dummies indicate a possible thickening of the plateau and the protrusion of individual lenses. Display sizes are also expected to remain unchanged, with the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max continuing to use 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch panels, respectively (the same dimensions introduced with the iPhone 16 Pro series). iPhone 18 Pro models could drop the current two-tone look of the rear casing found on the iPhone 17 Pro in favor of a more seamless aesthetic, while Apple has apparently updated the back-glass "replacement process" to minimize the color difference between the Ceramic Shield 2 glass and the aluminum frame, resulting in a more unified appearance.

Next-Level Battery Life

Thicker Chassis

The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, claims a Chinese leaker. The Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the ‌iPhone 18‌ Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. (The iPhone 17 Pro Max has the biggest ‌iPhone‌ battery to date at 5,088 mAh. Apple says it has a battery life of up to 39 hours.) According to another rumor, the body of the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be slightly thicker than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, raising the device's weight to around 243 grams. That would make the iPhone 18 Pro Max approximately 3 grams more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is currently the heaviest model Apple has produced. A larger battery is the most likely cause.

Smaller Dynamic Island

Under-Screen Face ID?

Rumors continue to circulate about whether the iPhone 18 Pro models will introduce under-display Face ID, but reports remain divided on when the technology will actually arrive. The feature would move the TrueDepth camera system beneath the display, eliminating the need for the current Dynamic Island cutout.

According to Wayne Ma of The Information, Apple is targeting a design without a Dynamic Island, replacing it with a single pinhole camera in the upper-left corner of the screen. However, other sources dispute that claim. Display analyst Ross Young believes under-display Face ID is possible for the iPhone 18 Pro, but says a smaller Dynamic Island will still be present. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has echoed this view, reporting that the new models will feature a slimmed-down Dynamic Island rather than removing it entirely. Apple is also said to be testing new camera miniaturization technology to reduce the size of the front-facing camera currently located within the Dynamic Island.

The Weibo leaker "Ice Universe" has claimed the Dynamic Island cutout on the iPhone 18 Pro models will be approximately 35% narrower than it is on the iPhone 17 Pro models. Specifically, they said it will have a width of around 13.5mm, down from around 20.7mm.

Meanwhile, Chinese leaker Instant Digital has offered yet another version of events, saying the Dynamic Island will shrink in size, but that under-display Face ID and camera technology won't debut this year. The latest word on the subject is that Apple is weighing two options for the iPhone 18 Pro's Dynamic Island, and a final decision has yet to be made. One option apparently retains the existing screen mold from the iPhone 17 Pro, while the other introduces a significantly smaller "Mini ‌Dynamic Island‌" enabled by moving the Face ID receiver and transmitter components beneath the display.

Upgraded Display

LTPO+

The iPhone 18 Pro models will reportedly use LTPO+ display technology, which should be more power efficient than the current LTPO technology in the iPhone 17 series. Such an upgrade could also contribute to longer battery life (see above), since LPTO+ enables finer control of OLED light emission, potentially allowing the display to optimize its operation based on environmental conditions. In other words, it will know better when to up screen brightness or reduce it, depending on surrounding light sources. The panels are reportedly being supplied by Samsung Display and LG Display.

A20 Pro Chip

2nm Process

The iPhone 18 Pro models will use Apple's A20 chip, based on TSMC's 2nm process for power and efficiency improvements. A move to 2nm fabrication increases transistor density, which will enable higher performance. The A20 series is expected to deliver roughly a 15 percent speed gain and about 30 percent better efficiency compared with the A19 series used in Apple's iPhone 17 models.

Apple's A20 chip will be packaged with TSMC's Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) technology, suggesting at least some A20 chips will have RAM integrated directly onto the same wafer as the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine, rather than sitting adjacent to the chip and connected via a silicon interposer. This could contribute to faster performance for both overall tasks and Apple Intelligence, and longer battery life from improved power efficiency.

C2 Modem

Replacing Qualcomm

Apple plans to include its next-generation C2 modem in the iPhone 18 Pro models, according to supply chain analyst Jeff Pu. The chip will succeed the C1 modem, which debuted in the lower-cost iPhone 16e as Apple's first in-house cellular modem, and the C1X modem chip in the iPhone Air, which Apple says is up to 2× faster than the C1. The C2 is expected to bring faster speeds, improved power efficiency, and support for mmWave 5G in the United States – a feature missing from the C1 and C1X.

Apple's modem roadmap is part of a long-term strategy to reduce reliance on Qualcomm, which currently supplies 5G modems for the rest of the iPhone lineup. The company has been working on developing its own cellular chips for years, aiming for deeper integration and greater control over power management and performance.

New Camera Sensor

Samsung-Made

Samsung is working on a new three-layer stacked image sensor, reportedly intended for the iPhone 18. The sensor, referred to as PD-TR-Logic, integrates three layers of circuitry, which would improve camera responsiveness, reduce noise, and increase dynamic range. The leak comes from a source known as "Jukanlosreve," who claims the sensor is being developed specifically for Apple's 2026 iPhone lineup. Sony has long been Apple's sole image sensor supplier, so Samsung's entry would be a big shift in the iPhone's camera supply chain.

Variable Aperture

DSLR-Style

Apple intends to equip this year's iPhone 18 Pro models with a variable aperture lens, according to reports. Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station claims the main rear camera – what Apple calls the 48-megapixel Fusion camera – on both iPhone 18 Pro models will offer variable aperture, which would be a first for the iPhone. A variable-aperture system physically adjusts the lens opening, letting more light in for low-light shots or narrowing the opening for brighter scenes and deeper depth of field.

The main cameras on the iPhone 15 Pro, 16 Pro, and 17 Pro all use a fixed ƒ/1.78 aperture, where the lens is permanently set to its widest setting. With a variable lens, the iPhone 18 Pro would allow users to manually shift the aperture, similar to on a DSLR camera. This would mean more control over depth of field, enabling sharper focus on subjects or smoother background blur. Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in November 2024 that Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models will get the feature.

5G Satellite Internet

Non-Terrestrial Data

According to a report by The Information, Apple plans to add support for 5G networks that operate via satellites rather than Earth-based towers as early as next year. This advancement would allow future iPhones to gain full internet connectivity through satellite, not just limited emergency features.

If Apple meets the 2026 target, the first devices to feature 5G satellite internet would likely be the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the long-rumored foldable iPhone. Apple partners with Globalstar for its iPhone satellite features, but there is currently no service that delivers full 5G satellite internet directly to a smartphone. That said, Amazon and Globalstar announced in April a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire the satellite operator. Amazon's Leo satellite network will power existing iPhone features – with scope for additional feature support as part of a forthcoming infrastructure upgrade.

Simplified Camera Control

New Design

Apple is reportedly working to simplify the Camera Control button's design on iPhone 18 models in order to reduce costs. The current Camera Control button on iPhone 17 models uses both capacitive and pressure sensors beneath a sapphire crystal surface. The capacitive layer detects touch gestures, while the force sensor recognizes different pressure levels for taps, presses, and swipes.

However, according to the Weibo-based account Instant Digital, Apple will remove the capacitive sensing layer and retain only pressure sensing recognition in the second iteration to achieve all Camera Control functions on the iPhone 18. The simplified version is not about reducing functionality in the button, but about saving money. The current solution is said to be very expensive for Apple and is generating costly after-sales repairs.

We don't expect Camera Control to go away anytime soon – Apple apparently sees it as a key feature, so much so that it has reportedly made deliberate engineering compromises to ensure that the first foldable iPhone features the button.

New Colors

Three in Testing

In February 2026, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple is testing a deep red finish for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Rumors of purple and brown finishes have also circulated, but Gurman believes those are just variants of the same red idea. Since then, we've seen aligned rumors that the devices will come in light blue, dark cherry, dark gray, and silver.

The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max were previously available in Deep Purple, and Apple has never released an iPhone in a genuinely brown color. According to a Chinese leaker, Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models won't come in black this year. If the rumor is true, it will be the second consecutive year Apple has ditched what was arguably its most classic color option for the Pro lineup.
This article, "11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Social network Reddit recently began blocking mobile visitors to its website while pushing them to download the official Reddit app, and it's fair to say that the move is not going down well with users.


If you visit reddit.com on your iPhone today, you may see a new popup that can't be dismissed, asking you to "get the app to keep using Reddit."

A Reddit spokesperson told Ars Technica that it was "a test for a small subset of frequent logged-out mobile users that prompts them to download the app after visiting the site." They continued: "These users are already familiar with Reddit and we've seen that the experience is much better for them in the app. The app offers a more personalized experience and users can more easily find communities that match their interests."

Users have since taken to subreddits like r/bugs and r/help to voice their displeasure at being blocked out of the website on mobile. "Are my days of anonymously browsing over?" asked one user.

Futurism's Victor Tangermann wrote about the aggressive ad last week, suggesting the change was the latest indication of the platform's "enshittification" – a neologism coined by author Cory Doctorow that describes tech companies deliberately degrading their services in order to maximize profit.

Despite consistent user growth and 121 million daily active users, Reddit has struggled to find a path to monetization since it went public on the stock exchange two years ago. The site's principal revenue is advertising, which explains the push to log users into its mobile app, where it can consistently track their activity.

In 2024, the company also signed a controversial contract with OpenAI that allowed the ChatGPT maker to train its AI models on user-submitted posts. (It's currently in legal battles with Perplexity and Anthropic over alleged unlawful use of its data.)

Over half the population of the U.S. visits Reddit each week, according to the Financial Times, but most of that discovery comes from Google searches, which suggests the so-called "front page of the internet" is walking a tightrope between monetizing interactions and stifling engagement growth.


It's not the first time Reddit has alienated some of its users. In 2023, it stopped letting users opt out of ad personalization. Then again in the same year, ahead of its IPO, the company started charging developers for accessing its API, which led to the shutdown of several popular Reddit clients, including Apollo.
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Apple hasn't fully abandoned the Vision Pro, but anyone hoping for a successor will be waiting at least two more years, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.


Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman resisted suggestions that Apple has walked away from the headset entirely. The well-connected reporter says the company continues to develop new technologies and materials behind the scenes with the goal of eventually producing a cheaper, lighter enclosed headset. That said, no such product is apparently in active development, and the long-rumored "Vision Air" was canceled last year.

If a new Vision Pro-style device does materialize, Gurman says he wouldn't expect it for "around two more years at least," given that the bulk of Apple's mixed-reality hardware talent has been pulled onto other projects like lightweight smart glasses.

Indeed, Apple's smart glasses project is now the focus, and former Vision Products Group members have been reassigned to that team, as well as shoring up its Siri chatbot development, not to mention other AI wearables such as the AirPods with cameras and a planned AI pendant.

The Vision Pro's troubled retail launch was recently extensively covered in a book by New York Times labor reporter Noam Scheiber, who argues that Apple's decade-long erosion of its retail workforce directly contributed to the disappointing launch of the $3,499 headset.

Apple refreshed the Vision Pro in October 2025 with an updated model featuring an M5 chip.
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Apple is prioritizing larger batteries and more advanced health sensors over fingerprint authentication for the Apple Watch, according to a new claim from a prominent Chinese leaker.


In a new Weibo post, Instant Digital pushed back on recent speculation about biometric recognition coming to Apple's wearable lineup, claiming instead that the company remains content to let users unlock their devices via their paired iPhone.

Adding Touch ID sensors would introduce extra cost and eat into precious internal space that could otherwise be used for battery capacity, which is a tradeoff Apple apparently isn't willing to make at this stage, suggests the leaker.

Last August, MacRumors confirmed lines of code uncovered by Macworld that suggested Touch ID could arrive on the Apple Watch Series 12 or Apple Watch Ultra 4. That discovery led to suggestions that Apple could put the Touch ID sensor under the display or potentially integrate it into the side button, similar to its implementation on the iPad mini and iPad Air.

As things stand, the 2026 Apple Watch models are not expected to feature major design changes, and a design update is unlikely to happen until 2028 at the earliest. When it does, Apple could introduce noninvasive blood glucose monitoring technology, but currently the feature remains in the early stages of development.
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WhatsApp has started rolling out its paid WhatsApp Plus subscription to iOS, following beta testing of the new personalization-focused tier amongst a small group of users, reports WABetaInfo.


The plan is light on practical features, and is aimed more at heavier users who want to customize various aspects of the WhatsApp experience. It gives you access to premium sticker packs with fullscreen overlay animations (visible to recipients without the plan) and 18 accent colors that replace the app's default green across the interface. There are also 14 alternate app icons to choose from, ranging from minimal outlines to glittery and artistic designs.

The plan also raises the pinned-chat limit from 3 to 20, adds 10 new ringtones, and allows bulk theme, alert tone, and ringtone settings across chat lists.

The subscription costs €2.49 per month in Europe and $29 in Mexico, but that may not be reflective of the price in other regions. Eligible users may also see a one-week or one-month free trial, depending on the country. If you have a WhatsApp Business account, though, you won't see the subscription option -- it's for regular users only.

WhatsApp's core functionality remains changed, so users with no interest in the plan don't lose anything. Messaging, voice and video calls, status updates, and end-to-end encryption are still free for everyone. WhatsApp Plus is basically an optional add-on providing extras rather than restricting existing features.

The rollout is limited to a small group of iOS users on the latest App Store version, but broader availability is expected over the coming weeks.
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SpaceXAI has released Grok Voice mode for Apple CarPlay, allowing CarPlay users to ask the chatbot questions and make requests directly from their vehicle dashboard, handsfree.


Previously, Grok for iPhone displayed a placeholder app in CarPlay saying the handsfree support would be coming soon. Grok comes built-in on Tesla vehicles, but now almost any other car can access it.

Apple started permitting third-party voice-driven conversational apps to integrate with ‌CarPlay‌ in iOS 26.4, but developers must add support for the feature and obtain a special entitlement from Apple.

Apple requires apps to use its voice control template for CarPlay. Whenever voice-based services are active, apps must display the voice control interface and can include up to four action buttons. However, Apple says chatbot apps should not show text or imagery in response to queries.

Grok Voice mode joins ChatGPT and Perplexity, which arrived on CarPlay in March and April, respectively.


‌CarPlay‌ has supported third-party apps for years, but Apple restricts the types of apps permitted on the platform to reduce driver distractions. Apple maintains a list of approved app categories, including audio, communication, EV charging, and navigation apps.
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Apple and Meta have opposed a Canadian bill that the companies say could force them to create backdoor access to encrypted user data, should it pass through the country's parliament.


Proposed by Canada's ruling Liberal Party, Bill C-22 contains provisions that could be similar ​to a UK data access provision order sent to Apple last year, depending on how they are implemented.

Back in February 2025, the British government demanded that Apple give it blanket access to all encrypted user content uploaded to the cloud. Apple refused, and instead pulled its Advanced Data Protection iCloud feature from the United Kingdom.

U.S. officials later said Britain had dropped the request after the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, raised concerns that it could violate a cloud data treaty and tap into US citizens' data.

Apple now finds itself in a similar standoff across the Atlantic. Canadian law enforcement ​officials say Bill C-22 would help them investigate security threats earlier and act more quickly. But Apple has pushed back against the proposed legislation. The company provided Reuters with the following statement:

"At a time of rising and pervasive threats ‌from malicious ⁠actors seeking access to user information, Bill C-22, as drafted, would undermine our ability to offer the powerful privacy and security features users expect from Apple. This legislation could allow the Canadian government to force companies to break encryption by inserting backdoors into their products – something Apple will never do."

Meta also argued that the bill contained "sweeping powers, minimal oversight, and lack of clear safeguards" that could end up making Canadians less safe, rather than more.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has consistently insisted that providing back-door access past its encryption for authorities would open the door for "bad guys" to gain access to its users' data. Cyber security experts agree that it would only be a matter of time before bad actors discover such a point of entry. Apple's stance was enhanced in 2016 when it successfully fought a US order to unlock the iPhone of a shooter in San Bernardino, California.

The Canadian bill is currently being debated in the House of Commons.
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Spotify has launched a new feature that lets users save AI-generated audio briefings called Personal Podcasts directly to their Spotify library. It uses a new command-line tool for desktop that works with AI coding agents like OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code.


After you install the Save to Spotify CLI from GitHub and sign into your Spotify account, you can prompt the agent to generate a custom audio piece, like a daily news digest, a study guide pulled from class notes, or a weekly itinerary. Once generated, it appears alongside your music and regular podcasts in Your Library.

Here's how Spotify frames it. From the company's newsroom post:

People are already starting to use their agents to create personal audio that guides their day: from summaries of class notes before an exam to briefings of what's on their calendar. And they're asking for a way to listen to it on Spotify, where they already listen to everything else.

Now, we're making it possible to save and play Personal Podcasts on Spotify. Your agent can generate a daily briefing, private to you, and it's saved alongside everything else in Your Library. And as always with Spotify, it's seamlessly integrated across the devices you use.

Spotify offers a few use case examples to get you started, such as a morning briefing that flags upcoming meetings, checks the weather, and recommends a commute podcast, or a progressively deeper audio series built from saved articles and personal notes for learning a new subject.

The feature remains in beta but is available worldwide to eligible Free and Premium subscribers, though Spotify cautions that there are usage limits during the testing period.

The CLI tool launch follows Spotify's release last month of a Claude integration that lets users connect their Spotify account to the chatbot and ask for personalized music and podcast recommendations directly in a conversation.
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Apple is considering dropping the cheapest MacBook Neo configuration as one possible response to the rising cost of building the popular laptop, according to Taiwan-based tech columnist and former Bloomberg reporter Tim Culpan.


The Neo currently starts at $599 for a 256GB model, with a 512GB version at $699.

Writing in his latest Culpium newsletter, Culpan says cutting the entry-level 256GB model is among the options Apple is weighing as component costs climb. Such a move would push the Neo's effective starting price up by $100 without raising the price of any individual configuration.

Apple recently made a similar move with two of its other Mac models. Apple stopped offering the Mac Studio with 512GB of RAM in March, and it dropped the Mac mini's lowest 256GB storage option last week, making the latter's starting price increase from $599 to $799 in the United States. The moves were made due to higher-than-expected demand and a worldwide shortage of memory chips bumping up costs as AI data center build-outs squeeze supply.

Culpan says the pricing strain around the Neo is tied to Apple's push to ramp up manufacturing. Shipping estimates on Apple's website currently sit at two to three weeks across the lineup following stronger-than-expected demand, and the company is said to have instructed suppliers to increase production capacity to 10 million units, roughly double the original forecast of 5 to 6 million.

To meet its revised production goal, Apple needs a new supply of A18 Pro chips from TSMC. The Neo uses the same chip as the iPhone 16 Pro, but existing inventory was reportedly depleted by the early demand. TSMC is also said to have limited spare 3nm capacity, with AI-related orders consuming much of its output.

Apple's costs are being further complicated by the fact that the initial Neo batch used lower-bin A18 Pro chips with one GPU core disabled. However, a fresh production run would produce more fully functional chips, increasing the per-unit cost even before any expedited manufacturing premiums are applied.

If Apple ultimately decides against dropping the $599 MacBook Neo configuration, Culpan says the company is alternatively considering introducing new color options for the current-generation Neo to cushion a potential price hike.
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Apple is considering adding new colors to its MacBook Neo lineup as a way to cushion customers against a possible price increase, according to Taiwan-based tech columnist and former Bloomberg reporter Tim Culpan.


Writing in his latest Culpium newsletter, Culpan says that the runaway success of the entry-level laptop has left Apple paying more for the components inside it. As a result, he says new finishes are one option being weighed by Apple to keep enthusiasm high if those costs end up getting passed on to buyers. Starting at $599, the Neo is currently sold in Citrus, Blush, Indigo, and Silver.

Apple does not appear to have settled on which colors might join the lineup, and the report does not name any specific shades the company may be considering.

The pricing pressure is said to stem from Apple's decision to dramatically scale up production. After Neo demand outstripped initial expectations, Apple has reportedly asked suppliers to prepare capacity for 10 million units of the debut model, up from an earlier target of 5 to 6 million.

Shipping estimates on Apple's website currently sit at two to three weeks across the lineup in the U.S. and many other countries, with Quanta and Foxconn said to be racing to fill orders from factories in Vietnam and China.

However, meeting the doubled production target requires a fresh batch of A18 Pro chips from TSMC. The Neo uses the same system-on-chip as the iPhone 16 Pro, and Apple quickly exhausted its existing inventory filling early orders. The original run was made on TSMC's N3E process at least two years ago, and it is believed that TSMC has no spare 3nm capacity to allocate, as AI customers are sucking up much of the available output.

What's worse for Apple is that the first batch of A18 Pro chips were "binned" versions with minor defects that, rather than scrapping, were repurposed for the Neo by switching off one of the six GPU cores.

That means a new production run will result in top-tier chips rather than defective ones, which means a higher per-unit cost that Apple will have to pay even before TSMC adds a premium for expedited production.

DRAM prices have also climbed sharply since the Neo first went on sale—again driven by AI data center build-out—which has pushed the laptop's bill of materials higher still.

Culpan reports that Apple has not ruled out raising the Neo's price as a response.
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Apple is expected to finalize OLED panel approvals for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max this month, with Samsung Display and LG Display likely to dominate panel supply, reports The Elec.


This year, China's BOE has reportedly been closed out of the premium tier supply chain, despite having landed some panel orders for the iPhone 17 Pro models.

The setback is said to be down to quality and yield issues with its lower-temperature polycrystalline oxide-plus (LTPO+) technology compared to its South Korean counterparts.

Indeed, it's the key upgrade at the center of the supply shake-up.

South Korean publication ETNews previously reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models will use LTPO+ display technology, which would likely be more power efficient than the current LTPO technology in the iPhone 17 series.

Such an upgrade could also contribute to longer battery life, since LPTO+ enables finer control of OLED light emission, potentially allowing the display to optimize its operation based on environmental conditions.

The ETNews report from January also mentioned that the iPhone 18 Pro models will use under-screen infrared technology from Samsung, which could enable some Face ID components to move under the display.

That could allow Apple to shrink the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 18 Pro models -- but whether it will do is seemingly still up for debate. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro models in September.
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New alleged CAD renders of Apple's iPhone 18 Pro are doing the rounds on social media, offering the latest twist in the to-shrink-or-not-to-shrink Dynamic Island saga.


An X user called @earlyappleleaks has posted the above image, claiming that "the new CAD confirms the smaller Dynamic Island of the iPhone 18 Pro."

CAD renders are often leaked from factories and represent the technical schematics that phone manufacturers share with case makers and accessory companies months before a phone launches. Whether this particular one is kosher is unknown, since the leaker is relatively new to the scene and needs time to build a reputation.

The last notable image they shared was of an alleged iPhone 18 Pro prototype with a smaller Dynamic Island, and what appears to be a Face ID sensor visible under the display. Under-display Face ID components would allow for a slimmed down Dynamic Island.

Over the past year, there have been mixed rumors about whether the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ models will continue to feature a ‌Dynamic Island‌ or have a hole punch camera with under screen Face ID and no ‌Dynamic Island‌, but the latest information suggests it's too early to say goodbye to the ‌Dynamic Island‌.

Along with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, several prominent leakers on Weibo and other social media sites have said Apple will make the iPhone 18 Pro's Dynamic Island smaller, but won't eliminate it. We heard similar rumors about a smaller iPhone 17 Pro ‌Dynamic Island‌ last year, but it ended up being the same size.

Most of the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ rumors about under-display Face ID and no ‌Dynamic Island‌ circulated earlier in 2025, so Apple either considered the feature for the 18 Pro lineup and pushed it back, or those rumors were off-base. There also may have been confusion over what's moving under the display and what isn't.

More recently, Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station claimed the iPhone 18 Pro won't have a smaller Dynamic Island at all, with the slimmed down Dynamic Island delayed until the iPhone 19.

We'll know for sure in a few months. Apple is expected to announce the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ models alongside its first foldable iPhone this fall, with the standard ‌iPhone 18‌ arriving early next year as part of a new split-cycle launch strategy.
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Apple's iPhone 17 was the best-selling smartphone globally in the first quarter of 2026, capturing 6 percent of worldwide unit sales, according to Counterpoint Research's latest Global Handset Model Sales Tracker.


The iPhone 17 series dominated the top three spots, with the iPhone 17 Pro Max in second place and the iPhone 17 Pro in third. The previous-generation iPhone 16 also held on at sixth place, suggesting there's still strong demand for the model, following its blockbuster sales run throughout last year.

Counterpoint senior analyst Harshit Rastogi credited the iPhone 17's success to upgrades that brought the base model closer to the Pro variants, including higher 256GB base storage, improved cameras, and a faster 120Hz display refresh rate. Not only did the iPhone 17 post double-digit year-over-year growth in China and the U.S., it also tripled its sales in South Korea for the quarter.

Samsung's Galaxy A series filled the remaining five spots, led by the budget-friendly Galaxy A07 4G as the best-selling Android phone of the quarter. Xiaomi's Redmi A5 filled out the list in tenth place.


Taken together, the top 10 devices accounted for 25% of global smartphone sales -- the highest first-quarter concentration ever recorded, according to Counterpoint. In the meantime, the standard iPhone 17 is set to enjoy a six-month-longer flagship run than usual, with the iPhone 18 expected to see a launch in spring 2027.
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Instagram will remove end-to-end encryption for direct messages between users from May 8, 2026. When the date comes around, Meta will potentially be able to see the contents of all messages between users on the social media platform.


Encrypting messages has been an optional feature in Instagram since 2023, but in March of this year the social media platform quietly updated a help page to say the feature would no longer be available for direct messages between users from May 8.

With end-to-end encryption enabled, the contents of messages are protected from the moment they leave the sender's device to the moment they reach the receiver's device. In other words, nobody, including Meta, can see what is sent. When May 8 rolls around, that extra layer of security will be removed.

On its help page, Instagram says users that are affected by the change will see instructions in the app on how they can download any media or messages that they may want to keep. However, the company hasn't explained why encrypted chats must be downloaded before the cutoff date or what will happen to them afterwards.

In March, a spokesperson for Meta told The Guardian that the decision to abandon encryption was due to low uptake. "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," the spokesperson said. "Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp."

Meta has come under sustained pressure over the years from law enforcement and child safety groups to remove encryption, but there's likely more to it than that. With Meta able to see messages between users, it could potentially run advertising algorithms or train chatbots on their contents.

It's an odd twist for a company who in 2019 aggressively promoted tightening encryption standards on its social media and messaging apps. As things stand, end-to-end encryption for group Facebook Messenger chats remains opt-in, while it continues to be the default setting for all WhatsApp conversations and calls.
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OpenAI is said to be fast-tracking development of its first "AI agent phone," with the company now aiming to mass produce the device as early as the first half of next year, according to industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.


Late last month, Kuo revealed OpenAI's work on a smartphone, contradicting earlier reports that the company had no plans to enter the mobile market. Kuo said MediaTek and Qualcomm are the chosen chip partners and Luxshare Precision Industry is the exclusive manufacturing partner, with mass production scheduled for 2028.

Reasons for Kuo's revised 1H27 production target are now said to include OpenAI's planned initial public offering (i.e. a compelling hardware product could strengthen its story to investors if it goes public) and intensifying competition in AI agent phones. Kuo says MediaTek appears "better positioned to become the sole processor supplier," with the device set to use a customized version of the Dimensity 9600, which will apparently be built on TSMC's N2P node in 2H26.

The device's "headline spec" will allegedly be its image signal processor, featuring an enhanced HDR pipeline that improves real-world sensing - or what the AI "perceives" through the camera. The phone will also use two AI processors for handling different tasks (e.g. vision and language simultaneously), fast memory and storage, and security features to isolate processes.

"If development stays on track, combined 2027-2028 shipments could reach around 30 million units," says Kuo, who argues that fully controlling both the operating system and the hardware is the only way for the company to deliver a comprehensive AI agent service. Kuo expects AI agents to change how people interact with a phone, shifting the focus from launching individual apps to completing tasks within a seamless context-aware interface.

Quite where this leaves Jony Ive's non-phone AI device prototype isn't entirely clear. Shortly after its acquisition of Ive's startup io Products in May 2025, OpenAI engaged in something of a marketing blitz to promote Ive's first upcoming product for the company, describing it as a "third core device" after a MacBook Pro and an iPhone. According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, it would be the "coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen." And crucially, it wouldn't have a screen - because phones have screens, and Ive and Altman want to wean people off those.

The original goal was to release the device later this year, but in November that roadmap got pushed back to "less than two years." The last we heard, Ive's first OpenAI device was revealed to be a smart speaker with a camera, set to come out in early 2027.

Other OpenAI products reportedly in development include smart glasses, a smart lamp, and potentially earbuds, but the roadmap is supposed to be further out for those. If any of these devices eventually launch, OpenAI will become a direct hardware rival against several Apple product lines - Apple is rumored to be also working on smart glasses, as well as AirPods with cameras, an AI pendant, and a smart home hub with enhanced Siri capabilities.
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For the rumored 20th-anniversary iPhone, Apple continues to test a solid-state haptic button system that will replace traditional mechanical buttons and enhance the uninterrupted look of the device's display, claims Chinese leaker "Instant Digital."


According to the Weibo-based leaker, the buttons have already passed tests for use when wearing gloves or having wet hands, in extreme temperatures, and when the phone has a case on.

The leaker also claims that the 20th-anniversary iPhone will be equipped with an ultra-low energy microprocessor allowing the solid-state buttons to remain functional even when the handset is powered off or the battery has run out.

It's not the first time Instant Digital has said solid-state buttons will feature on the device. The leaker made the same claim in October 2025, saying that Apple's solution would include haptic feedback for the Side button, volume buttons, Action button, and Camera Control button.

Apple is reportedly working on a display that curves down around all four edges of the device for a borderless visual experience - and solid-state haptic buttons could help in Apple's apparent desire to create a device that looks like a slab of glass with no cutouts and no bezels.

That said, Apple's adoption of solid-state buttons has been repeatedly rumored for an iPhone, but with nothing to show for it. Back in 2022, several reports suggested Apple intended to bring solid-state buttons to the iPhone 15 Pro in 2023 as part of "Project Bongo." However, the plan was reportedly canceled at a late stage. They were then rumored to come to the iPhone 16 Pro, before being shelved indefinitely.

In the same Weibo post, the leaker went on to list other features that have been repeatedly rumored for the 2027 device, such as a dual-layer OLED panel, under-display Face ID, and an under-display front-facing camera. They also mentioned a 6,000mAh battery, under-display audio (eliminating the earpiece slit), reverse wireless charging, and a next-generation Ceramic Shield - although it's unclear whether these last few items are more of a wish list of features rather than being based on new supply chain information.

Instant Digital has a generally good track record for Apple rumors and has provided some accurate information ahead of time, such as the imminent launch of 2023's Yellow iPhone 14, as well as the frosted back glass of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.

The 20th anniversary iPhone will presumably come out in the fall of 2027.
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Apple has held "exploratory" talks with Intel and Samsung about manufacturing the main processors for its devices in the United States, reports Bloomberg ($).


Apple is said to have had early-stage talks with Intel about using its chipmaking services, while Apple executives have reportedly visited a Samsung plant under construction in Texas that will also make advanced chips.

The talks are said to be preliminary, and no orders have been made so far, according to the report's sources who asked not to be identified. Apple is also said to have concerns about using technology that is not made by its longtime chip partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), so the talks could still go nowhere.

Apple is said to be seeking potential additional suppliers beyond TSMC as a way to avoid recent shortages almost entirely driven by the current build-out of AI data centers.

Heavy demand for Mac mini and Mac Studio models - sought-after because of their suitability for running local AI models - is also said to have been another factor. On an earnings call last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that Mac mini and Mac Studio supply is constrained, and he said it may take "several months" for Apple to achieve supply-demand balance.

Neither Intel nor Samsung can reliably provide the kind of production and scale that TSMC offers, so it's not clear how much, if anything, will come out of the discussions. Apple has already worked with TSMC to help expand its plant in Phoenix, which is now producing a limited number of chips for Apple and expects to make 100 million chips for the company in 2026.
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For watchOS 27, Apple is testing new Apple Watch faces, and one of them is a simpler version of an existing Apple Watch Ultra watch face that could be coming to standard Series models.


Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple is testing multiple new faces for watchOS 27, code-named "Orchid." One of them is said to be a "simplified take" on the Modular Ultra design.

From the report:

It has the same large clock as the Ultra face but removes the option for a big complication in the center, the row of three smaller complications above the time and information placed around the bezel. The result is a large clock that fills the top two-thirds of the display, with a row of three smaller complications beneath it.

Gurman believes the new face is an attempt to bring the Ultra look to the standard Series watches in a way that dials down the density while still offering more at-a-glance information.

In its current form, the Modular Ultra offers seven complications and six options for the size and layout of the time. With the training bezels providing Vitals and training load, it's arguably the most info-dense face there is.

Separately, Gurman reported last week that watchOS 26.5 will include a new Pride Luminance watch face, with the update expected to drop this month.


Update: Apple has unveiled its 2026 Pride Edition Sport Loop, a Pride Luminance watch face for the Apple Watch, and a matching wallpaper for the iPhone and iPad.
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Apple will not be able to delay a district court battle over fee calculations while it waits to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in on the latest developments in its long-running dispute with Epic Games.


On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier decision letting Apple keep its current zero-fee link-out commission structure in place while it appeals to the Supreme Court. The reversal means Apple now has to return to a lower court to work out what fees it can charge developers who steer customers to outside payment options.

Apple won the pause earlier this month by arguing that it shouldn't have to overhaul its fee structure twice if the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in its favor. Apple stopped collecting commissions from links to external purchase options in U.S. apps when ordered to do so last year, and the company wanted to keep the no-commission setup while waiting on the Supreme Court.

In response, Epic Games immediately filed two motions: one said it hadn't been given time enough to prepare a response to Apple's stay request, and another asking the court to reject the original request.

The three-judge panel granted Epic's motion for reconsideration. The judges said Apple hadn't shown that the Supreme Court was likely to take the case, and pointed out that the high court already chose not to hear Apple's challenges once back in 2024. They also rejected Apple's claim that being forced into lower-court hearings would cause real harm.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney shared the news in a post on X, adding that "Apple's delaying tactics have come to an end!"


The case now heads back to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in California, who will determine what commission Apple can collect on purchases made through external links, if any. Apple can still petition the Supreme Court while those proceedings move ahead.

The dispute traces all the way back to the original Epic Games trial, which Apple largely won. However, one exception was a 2021 ruling from Judge Gonzalez Rogers ordering Apple to relax its "anti-steering" rules and let developers point users to outside payment options.

Apple complied with the ruling, but only slightly lowered its fees, which led few developers to even bother adding links. Epic subsequently returned to court, and the judge found Apple in willful violation of the original injunction. Consequently, it barred Apple from collecting any commission on external links.

Apple appealed and dropped the link fees while the case moved forward, arguing that the ruling was unconstitutional and that it should receive compensation for its technology. In December 2025, the appeals court delivered a mixed ruling: Apple had violated the injunction, but the company should still be able to charge something reasonable for its technology. That sent the question of what that fee should look like back to the district court.

Apple is now hoping the Supreme Court will go further and throw out the district court's ruling altogether, but in the meantime, Apple will head back to court to determine the reasonable fee that it will be able to charge for purchases made using external links in apps.
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Memory could account for as much as 45 percent of an iPhone's component costs by 2027, up from around 10 percent today, according to a JPMorgan analysis cited by the Financial Times ($).


Apple buys memory for roughly 250 million iPhones a year and has historically been one of the largest customers in the category. But Apple has reportedly now gone from a position where it could set terms to one where it now has to compete with rivals for supply.

The principal reason is the heavily subsidized AI build-out that's underway.

In a race to make data centers that can handle more compute for frontier AI models, AI infrastructure buyers like Nvidia are now reportedly outbidding consumer electronics makers for limited supply from the likes of Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Meanwhile, cloud companies are reportedly making upfront payments worth billions of dollars to secure capacity.

It's a marked break from the industry norm of committing to volumes with suppliers first and negotiating prices later.

The pressure is already reshaping Apple's product plans, and the rumored split-launch cycle for the iPhone 18 series is said to be part of that new reality. Apple is expected to stagger the iPhone 18 launch, holding the lower-priced model until spring 2027 rather than shipping the full lineup in the usual fall window. Instead, only the iPhone 18 Pro models will be launched in September, with a foldable iPhone expected to be unveiled around the same time.

Apple hardware engineering chief John Ternus takes over from Tim Cook as CEO on September 1, and Cook will transition to his new role as Apple's first executive chair, where he is expected to take a direct role in day-to-day operations. Meanwhile, Ternus's first big decision will be whether Apple absorbs the increasing cost of memory or passes it onto consumers.

Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan reckons the decision could come down to whether Apple holds prices to please consumers or accepts a margin hit, especially in markets like India and China where it competes with local smartphone makers. "By the time September rolls around, Apple has two choices: one, they reprice [products] higher, or two, they say 'let's go ahead and gun for market share,'" Mohan told the FT. He thinks there is a decent chance that Apple will opt for market share.
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The popular Notepad++ coding editor is now available as a native macOS app, following an unofficial open-source community port of the original Windows codebase. The Notepad replacement runs as a universal binary, so it works on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs.


Notepad++ has been one of the most popular text editors on Windows for more than 20 years. Until now, Mac users who switched from Windows, or who worked across both platforms, had to choose between giving up the editor and running it through a Wine or CrossOver compatibility layer. Now those users have no such dilemma.

The editing experience is identical to the Windows version, right down to the Scintilla engine, tabbed editing, syntax highlighting for 80+ languages, search and replace, macro recording, and plugin support. The only difference is that the menus, dialogs, file pickers, keyboard shortcuts, and windowing all use native macOS Cocoa APIs.

Notepad++ for macOS is maintained by Andrey Letov, who wrote the Objective-C++ Cocoa UI that replaces Notepad++'s Win32 front-end. The unofficial app is available to download from the Notepad++ for Mac website. It's completely free and released under the GNU General Public License, so there are no ads, subs, or hidden costs.

(Thanks, Mike!)
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Apple's Vision Pro has hit another medical-use milestone, with a New York ophthalmologist becoming the first surgeon to perform cataract surgery using the spatial computing headset.


Dr. Eric Rosenberg of SightMD completed the initial procedure in October 2025 and has since performed hundreds of additional cases using ScopeXR, a surgical platform he co-developed for Apple's mixed reality device.

ScopeXR streams live feeds from 3D digital surgical microscopes directly into the Vision Pro, which lets the surgeon view the operative field in stereoscopic 3D while overlaying preoperative diagnostic data. The platform also supports real-time remote collaboration, allowing surgeons to virtually join procedures and see exactly what the operating surgeon sees.

"We are now able to bring the world's best surgeon into any operating room, at any hour, from anywhere on the planet," said Dr. Rosenberg in a company press release. "From residents performing their first cases to surgeons facing unexpected complications, this technology democratizes access to expertise and that will save vision."

It's another example of Apple's move toward enterprise and professional use cases for Vision Pro, with widespread consumer adoption beleaguered by the headset's $3,499 starting price and bulky form factor. Apple has increasingly leaned into specialized applications in fields like medicine, aviation training, and industrial design - markets where the device's capabilities can justify its cost, in other words.

The headset was never expected to be mass-market from day one, according to Apple. Even so, enthusiasm is said to have cooled far faster than anticipated. Based on the latest reports, there are now no Apple Vision headsets in active development, with the company's focus pivoting to lightweight smart glasses, where Meta has already seen success. Last October, Apple introduced an updated Vision Pro model featuring the M5 chip, the first hardware revision of the device.
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Apple's 20th-anniversary iPhone will use a new type of curved screen technology that more effectively hides the display bezels from the user's line of sight for a purer viewing experience, claims a Chinese leaker.


Apple is reportedly planning a radical redesign for the 20th-anniversary iPhone that could feature a display that curves around all four edges of the device. To achieve this, Apple will reportedly use an equal-depth quad-curved panel supplied by Samsung, and it sounds like it's going to be quite different from typical curved screens.

According to leaker Ice Universe, "It is not a traditional quad curved display, nor is it anything like the curved screen solutions we have seen on Android phones over the years." This is said to be down to its extremely subtle curvature, but there are apparently other factors that could come into play.

"What truly creates the visual impact may be a sophisticated combination of optical refraction, light guiding structures, and carefully engineered visual illusion," said Ice Universe, writing in a post on X. "The end result could be a display where the bezel nearly disappears from sight, while edge viewing remains natural and undisturbed."

Apple will also reportedly adopt a Samsung-made OLED technology called COE (Color Filter on Encapsulation) to make the 20th-anniversary iPhone's display brighter and thinner than previous panels. Apple may refer to it as a "Liquid Glass Display," in a nod to its latest software interface redesign, claims the leaker.


To mark the 20th-anniversary of the iPhone in 2027, Apple ideally wants an uninterrupted display with no cutouts for the most visual impact, but concealing the Face ID system and selfie camera under the panel is going to be a challenge.

Display analyst Ross Young has said that Apple won't have under-display ‌Face ID‌ ready to go for a 2027 iPhone, but other leakers think it's possible. If Apple can't get everything under the display, we may see under-display ‌Face ID‌ and then a small hole-punch cutout on the front for the front-facing camera.
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OpenAI has announced the release of GPT-5.5, the latest upgrade to the company's family of models powering its ChatGPT and Codex apps.


OpenAI describes GPT-5.5 as better at multi-step work, claiming it can plan, use tools, and verify its own output with less hand-holding. The model is said to offer gains in agentic coding, computer use, and early-stage scientific research.

GPT-5.5 Thinking offers "faster help for harder problems," according to OpenAI, while GPT-5.5 Pro is being pitched as a research partner for tougher questions where accuracy matters more than speed.

OpenAI argues that its latest model is more token-efficient, so Codex tasks should – in theory – finish with less overhead despite the bump.

ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise subscribers get GPT-5.5 Thinking, while the more powerful GPT-5.5 Pro model is limited to ChatGPT Pro, Business, and Enterprise. In Codex, GPT-5.5 spans Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, Edu, and Go plans. API access is said to be coming "very soon."
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For its 20th-anniversary iPhone, Apple is tapping Samsung to produce a custom micro-curved OLED display that is brighter and thinner than existing panels, according to new supply chain information out of China.


Apple is reportedly considering a radical redesign for the 20th-anniversary iPhone that could feature a completely bezel-less display that curves around all four edges of the device.

To that end, Apple is said to be seeking from Samsung an equal-depth quad-curved panel design that uses "micro-curves" to keep the curve very shallow, as opposed to the aggressively curved "waterfall" edges of some existing Samsung panels.

Apple's preference for slightly rounded edges may ensure that the device feels softer in the hand and that swipes from the edge of the display feel more natural. It could also prevent distortion of on-screen content around the edges.

The latest supply chain information comes from Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station, who also says that Apple wants a "pol-less" display from Samsung – in other words, a panel design that removes the polarizer layer that sits on top of most current OLED screens.

That claim lines up with a September 2025 report out of Korea that said Apple will adopt a Samsung-made OLED technology called COE (Color Filter on Encapsulation) to make the 20th-anniversary iPhone's display brighter and thinner than previous panels.

COE displays remove the polarizing film from an OLED panel, applying the color filter directly onto the encapsulation layer of the display.

The technique reduces the thickness of the overall display stack, and it lets more light through to improve brightness while reducing power draw. Reflections are harder to deal with when there's no polarizing film, but in its latest iPhones, Apple added a new anti-reflective coating that is expected to be improved for future versions of the iPhone.

Apple is also said to be employing a crater-shaped light diffusion layer in the display to even out the brightness so that the screen looks uniformly lit across all areas.

2027 will mark the 20th-anniversary of the iPhone, and Apple reportedly wants to create a high-end all-glass model that doesn't have cutouts in the display.

Display analyst Ross Young said that Apple won't have under-display ‌Face ID‌ ready to go for a 2027 iPhone, but other leakers think it's possible. If Apple can't get everything under the display, we may see under-display ‌Face ID‌ and then a small hole-punch cutout on the front for the front-facing camera.

The latest rumors suggest that Apple is still testing an under-display iPhone camera for 2027, so it remains a possibility.
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Following the latest update of Apple's Invites app, hosts can now manually edit the guest list to update guest responses and adjust the number of additional guests.


This v1.8.0 update appears to have focused on delivering a more streamlined experience for managing and sharing events. Within Messages, a new Invites iMessage app allows users to quickly share an existing invite without needing to leave the conversation.

Elsewhere, the dashboard has been expanded with an All Events view, bringing both upcoming and past events into a single, unified interface. Sharing options have also been improved for hosts, who can now generate and download an image of their invite card.

Additionally, music integration has been enhanced through the Apple Music Shared Playlist feature, which now provides personalised playlist suggestions based on listening habits.

Finally, hosts can now specify a time zone for their event, and the update also contains bug fixes and performance improvements.

Apple Invites is available on the iPhone, and on the web at iCloud.com/invites. Guests can RSVP in the iPhone app, or on the web from any device.
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Apple has published a new ad to appeal to customers in the market for an iPhone and Apple Watch pairing, highlighting the insights it can offer for your health.


Titled simply "Health with iPhone + Apple Watch," the half-minute ad focuses on a woman waiting in line at a cafe who begins receiving unsolicited health and fitness advice from other people in the queue, as well as local residents, drivers, and passersby – and even accompanying pets.

An Apple Watch notification about her new cardio fitness trend cuts through the cacophony, and she subsequently looks into the Health app on iPhone to learn that her cardio fitness is above average. "Listen to your body. Not everybody," says the onscreen slogan, as she grabs her coffee and goes about her day. The YouTube blurb reads:

With iPhone and Apple Watch, you get science-based insights about your health. You see data on things like your heart rate, cycle tracking, cardio fitness, and sleep quality. So you can be more aware of what your body is telling you.

Apple Watch Cardio Fitness determines cardiorespiratory fitness as measured by VO2 max. VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen that the body is able to use during exercise, and it can be improved through physical activity. Apple introduced the feature in 2020.

Cardio Fitness is a category in the Health app on iPhone, and fitness level is classified as high, above average, below average, or low relative to people in your same age group and of the same sex. Users can also track how their cardio fitness levels have changed over the past week, month, six months, or year, and if fitness levels fall into the low range, they can get a notification on Apple Watch that includes guidance on improving it.
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The interest rate on Apple Card's savings account was today lowered from 3.65% to 3.50%.


Push notifications regarding the cut were sent to ‌Apple Card‌ users on Thursday. Savings account interest rates often fluctuate with changes made by the Federal Reserve, and when rates are lowered, banks cut their annual percentage yield (APY). That said, today's cut doesn't appear tied to a specific Federal Reserve move.

Apple introduced its savings account in April 2023, partnering with Goldman Sachs. Designed for ‌Apple Card‌ holders, the account is exclusively available to U.S. residents aged 18 and above. It can be managed through the iPhone's Wallet app, offering a user-friendly experience with no fees, minimum deposits, or balance requirements.

The account allows users to earn interest on their Daily Cash cashback balance, as well as on funds transferred from linked bank accounts or Apple Cash balances. Initially capped at $250,000, the maximum balance has since been increased to $1,000,000.

In January 2026, JPMorgan Chase reached a deal to take over operation of the Apple Card, with the transition expected to take approximately two years.

Alongside its new Apple Card partnership, JPMorgan Chase will reportedly launch a new Apple savings account, but existing users with Apple savings accounts at Goldman Sachs will not be automatically transitioned and will need to decide whether they want to stay at Goldman Sachs or open new accounts with Chase. Apple has a FAQ about the transition.
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Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook has named the botched 2012 launch of Apple Maps as his "first really big mistake" in the role, according to a Bloomberg report covering the town hall meeting that was held Tuesday with his recently announced successor, John Ternus.


The Maps app launched with mislabeled landmarks, faulty directions, and a user experience that fell well short of Google Maps at the time. "The product wasn't ready, and we thought it was because we were testing more of local kind of stuff," Cook told staff.

Reflecting on the debacle, Cook said it was "valuable," noting that he expressed regret to users at the time and suggested they use competing navigation apps instead.

From the report:

"We apologized for it, and we said, 'Go use these other apps. They're better than ours.' And that was some humble pie," Cook said. "But it was the right thing for our users. And so it's an example of keeping the user at the center of the decisions that we made."

Cook added: "Now we've got the best map app on the planet. We learned about persistence, and we did exactly the right thing having made the mistake."

The fallout led to the first major management shake-up of Cook's tenure, with software chief Scott Forstall – a close Steve Jobs collaborator – pushed out in the aftermath. (Fun fact: Forstall was recently invited back to Apple Park to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary.)

On the bright side, Cook singled out the Apple Watch and its expanding health features as the work he's most proud of. He recalled receiving his first note from a user whose life had been saved by the device. "It caused me to just stop in my steps," he said.

Cook conceded that his list of mistakes would be "extraordinary in length" (the never-released AirPower charging mat and Apple's abandoned car project would surely be high up there) but the CEO has successfully avoided the kind of product recalls and cancellations that have plagued other consumer device companies over the last 15 years.

Cook became CEO in August 2011 and hands over the reins to Ternus, currently chief of hardware engineering, on September 1, 2026.
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Apple is expected to bring several camera enhancements to the iPhone 18 Pro models this year, but there have been no fixed rumors suggesting these upgrades will require measurable, visible changes to the device's rear camera plateau. And yet a new series of dummies suggests exactly that.


YouTube channel Max Tech's Vadim Yuryev recently shared images of dummy units for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max – as well as Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone. Dummy units are typically created by third-party case makers based on information that leaks out of Apple's partner factories.

Yuryev says the dummy units have "much thicker cameras... The black glass on the cameras protrudes a bit more too." He also says the camera plateau itself is "a bit thicker" than on the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and he provided the above image for comparison. The silver unit is the iPhone 18 Pro Max dummy, while the blue is an iPhone 17 Pro Max dummy. Other than the rear triple lens camera system, the two device's dimensions are said to be extremely similar – same thickness, but a slight height (.36mm) and width (.39mm) increase on the 18 Pro Max unit.

Yuryev says he stands by the accuracy of the iPhone 18 Pro dummies, claiming they should be "spot on" like the iPhone 17 Pro dummy units he received last year, presumably from the same source – which we believe to be Sonny Dickson.

The Main camera in the iPhone 18 Pro could have a variable aperture, which would provide users with more control over how their photos look. iPhone users would be able to manually adjust how much light gets to the sensor, cutting down on overexposure and providing new customization options for lighting and depth of field.

The Telephoto lens in the iPhone 18 Pro models could also feature a larger aperture, allowing for more light in poor lighting conditions.

At least one of the iPhone 18 Pro models could also feature a new three-layer stacked image sensor developed by Samsung. The advanced image sensor would make the camera more responsive, plus it could cut down on noise, increase dynamic range, and more.

Will any of these upgrades necessitate a larger camera module? Theoretically, but no leak has explicitly said the lenses on either 18 Pro model will stick out more or that the camera plateau will get thicker. It's especially surprising given that the industry is actively targeting flat or near-flush camera systems in future devices, but Apple could well be taking a different tack.

We'll know for sure when the devices arrive around mid-September alongside the company's first foldable iPhone.

Update: Since this story was published, Yuryev has shared some more comparative dimensions: The total thickness of the iPhone 18 Pro Max including camera plateau is said to be 11.54mm (vs. 11.23mm on the iPhone 17 Pro Max), while total thickness including camera lens bumps is 13.77mm (vs. 12.92mm on the iPhone 17 Pro Max).
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