India has proposed extending tax breaks until 2041 for foreign companies that supply machinery to their contract manufacturers, handing a win to Apple as it expands iPhone production in the country, Reuters reports.

Introduced in February, the exemption previously ran only until 2031, and Apple had long since lobbied against being taxed on the high-end iPhone machinery it owns in India. The draft bill still has to be passed by both houses of parliament.
This article, "India Moves to Extend Tax Break Apple Lobbied For" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Apple last month filed a new legal complaint with the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) over the British government's demand for access to encrypted iCloud backups belonging to UK users, according to an order issued by the court and reported by the Financial Times.


The Home Office previously agreed to drop its original demand for a backdoor covering UK and U.S. customers alike, after a diplomatic row with Washington. The British government subsequently issued a new technical capability notice (TCN) to Apple last year, limited to users in the UK.

Technical capability notices are issued under the UK's Investigatory Powers Act, which the government says is necessary to investigate terrorism and child sexual abuse. They can force companies to hand UK security services access to customer data, even when that data is encrypted.

The court notified Privacy International of Apple's new complaint. The group, along with Liberty, had already brought a separate complaint against such notices at the IPT, with that case due to be heard in December.

Apple has long argued that any such backdoor would weaken security for all its customers. Apple and the Home Office are both legally barred from discussing TCNs.
This article, "Apple Launches New Legal Challenge Against UK Backdoor Demand" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Apple wants its future glasses and headsets to double as health and fitness devices, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.


In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said the ambition traces back to Vision Pro's early development, when Apple weighed a number of ambitious health and fitness features for the headset. Among the ideas Apple explored was a Vision Pro-native take on Fitness+, designed to have wearers work out and follow along with classes while the headset's body-tracking sensors monitored their form. That project stalled and was ultimately scrapped, according to Gurman, both because of technical limitations and because the headset was simply too heavy to wear comfortably during a workout.

Apple has apparently carried that ambition into its smart glasses project once the company shifted its spatial computing focus away from Vision Pro. He draws a parallel to AirPods, which Apple transformed from simple earbuds into a functioning hearing aid system. Sensors embedded in the glasses, he suggested, could eventually let Apple capture movement data in a similar way, opening the door to fitness-tracking functionality later down the line.

Gurman noted that this won't be part of the glasses when they debut next year; he expects the health capabilities to arrive gradually, over a period of years rather than at launch.

He pointed out that the Vision Products Group, Apple's team responsible for glasses and future headsets, is looking to hire a "strategic product design leader" tasked with helping "define the future of health, well-being and fitness experiences across vision products." Whoever fills the role will need to "translate ambiguous opportunities at the intersection of spatial computing, wearables, consumer health and human behavior" into an actual product direction.

The listing also calls for a candidate with "experience developing and validating digital health or fitness products" and "familiarity with sensor-driven experiences." Put together, Gurman argues, the posting confirms Apple's intent to eventually place its glasses alongside AirPods and Apple Watch as health platforms.

Apple's first smart glasses are expected to launch late next year, following a potential unveiling at WWDC.
This article, "Apple's Smart Glasses Could Become Its Next Health Device" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

Apple's first camera-equipped AirPods could launch as soon as next month, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.


Apple has reportedly spent years working on camera-equipped AirPods under the code name "B798," as part of a broader AI wearables push that also encompasses smart glasses and a wearable AI pendant. That model had been on track for a 2026 release before slipping to 2027.

In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that a separate camera AirPods project, code named "B790," has been progressing alongside B798. He noted this isn't unusual for Apple, saying the company "famously creates competing versions of the same product internally." He added that the B790 hardware is closer to production. Pieces of it have turned up in iOS 27's code, and it is reportedly listed internally as a candidate to ship before the year is out.

It is not the first sign of B790's existence. Developer Sam Henri Gold found traces of the same codename buried in the second iOS 27 developer beta last month. Gurman did not mention what separates the B790 hardware from the more advanced B798 model, and it's still an open question whether Apple will ultimately ship both.

Rather than taking photos or video, the sensors in Apple's camera AirPods are expected to hand Siri a live view of a wearer's surroundings, tying into existing Visual Intelligence tools. Because a camera-equipped model is expected to cost more than the current $249 AirPods Pro 3, Gurman previously said Apple is weighing "AirPods Ultra" branding rather than calling them "AirPods Pro 4."

If the B790 model does arrive this year, a September debut alongside new iPhones is the most likely scenario, while the fuller featured B798 version remains slated for late 2027.
This article, "AirPods With Cameras Could Arrive Sooner Than Expected" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums