Apple News
Apple TV to release ‘Pluribus’ S1E5 early this week
Apple has announced that the fifth episode of “Pluribus” will premiere ahead of schedule this week, landing on Wednesday instead of the originally planned Friday — well in advance of Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
As is standard with Apple TV releases, the episode is likely to drop at 9 p.m. ET on the night before the stated release date, so, in this case, Tuesday night.
Similarly, Apple TV is fast-tracking the ninth episode of “The Last Frontier,” bringing it out two days early this week.
— Apple TV (@AppleTV) November 24, 2025
MacDailyNews Take: But, now we’ll have to wait longer for the next episode!
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Apple focusing on ‘quality, underlying performance,’ and AI for iOS 27, macOS 27 next year
Following the major visual redesign in iOS 26 and the rollout of Liquid Glass across Apple’s ecosystem, the company is preparing a refinement-focused update reminiscent of Mac OS X Snow Leopard. For iOS 27 and 2026’s other flagship OS releases — including macOS 27 — Apple is prioritizing “quality and underlying performance.”
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Aiming to improve the software, engineering teams are now combing through Apple’s operating systems, hunting for bloat to cut, bugs to eliminate, and any opportunity to meaningfully boost performance and overall quality. Like Snow Leopard set the groundwork for future overhauls and new types of Macs, iOS 27 will lay the foundation for foldable iPhones and other new hardware.
On the AI side, more dramatic changes are brewing, including the long-awaited upgrade of the Siri voice assistant in iOS 26.4 and the weaving of artificial intelligence into additional apps in iOS 27. That includes a health-focused AI agent (tied to a Health+ subscription) next fall and an expansion of the AI-powered web search meant to rival both ChatGPT and Perplexity.
The AI upgrades are a gigantic priority, with engineering teams throughout the company developing them. Inside Craig Federighi’s software engineering group, Sebastien Marineau, the vice president of intelligent system experience, is working on the user-facing Apple Intelligence enhancements, and we already know that Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell is leading the Siri side of things.
The company also has teamed up with Alphabet Inc.’s Google to bring Gemini technology into its Apple Foundation Models.
MacDailyNews Take: Give us a choice of third-party AI, Apple. We’d like to be able to choose the best AI, not the third-best or worse.
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Apple is losing many hardware engineers to OpenAI’s Jony Ive AI device efforts
OpenAI is aggressively recruiting talent from Apple’s hardware engineering team. While Jony Ive’s design firm LoveFrom has long been staffed primarily by ex-Apple designers — effectively turning Apple’s once-legendary design group into a talent pipeline — the departures have now spread to hardware engineering.
The recent $6 billion acquisition by OpenAI of Jony Ive’s secretive AI device startup, io, has accelerated the exodus. Multiple engineers from Apple’s hardware division have reportedly jumped ship to join the effort.
As Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed earlier this year, the company is developing a new line of AI-powered hardware devices, with launches potentially slated for as early as next year.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
It’s already public that former Apple industrial design head Evans Hankey and former hardware engineering executive Tang Tan are part of the initiative. But the exodus doesn’t stop there: Apple is also losing many rank-and-file hardware engineers to OpenAI’s device efforts.
I’m told that in just the past month, OpenAI has hired more than 40 people for its devices group — with many of those engineers coming directly from the iPhone maker. Apple’s hardware engineering team, run by John Ternus, has been pursuing its own AI-driven hardware revival. That includes a slate of smart home devices, renewed robotics ambitions, the possibility of AI-enhanced AirPods equipped with cameras, and, of course, smart glasses.
From what I’ve heard, Apple is none too pleased about OpenAI’s poaching, and some consider it a problem. The hires include key directors (a fairly senior designation), as well as managers and engineers. And they hail from a wide range of areas: camera engineering, iPhone hardware, Mac hardware, silicon, device testing and reliability, industrial design, manufacturing, audio, smartwatches, Vision Pro development, software, and human factors. In other words, OpenAI is picking up people from nearly every relevant Apple department. It’s remarkable.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s current weak, myopic, and dithering leadership leads directly to this tidal wave of defections. If you’re interested in AI, would you rather work for Sam Altman or Tim Cook? If you’re interested in hardware design, would you rather work for Jony Ive or some random formerly low-level Apple designer who’s two weeks into the job until he leaves for OpenAI, too? A fish rots from the head down.
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CNN drops out of Apple News, for now
CNN has pulled its articles from Apple News, terminating its content-sharing partnership with the platform, according to a Sunday report from Semafor.
The companies are currently in talks over a new agreement that would bring CNN content back to Apple News, the report added.
CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend, ending the cable news brand’s contract to share its content on the popular news app, Semafor has learned. The two companies are continuing to discuss a new deal that would restore CNN’s stories to Apple News.
As social media platforms have leaned away from filling users’ feeds with links to written content, Apple News and its paid counterpart, Apple News+, have become increasingly important distribution and monetization levers for news publishers. Apple News drives millions of views and impressions a month to many news organizations, while participation in Apple News+, which offers users content from hundreds of paywalled publications for about $10 a month, has yielded millions in annual revenue for publishers.
For CNN, the hardball tactics with Apple reflect the company’s increasing push for digital monetization, and more aggressive posture towards sharing its content with tech platforms. CNN rolled out a new paid subscription offering earlier this month, and has been putting more of its reported stories behind a paywall.
MacDailyNews Take: No big loss for Apple News.
Let’s check out CNN’s “leverage” in these negotiations with Apple::
U.S. Cable News, Nielsen, week of November 10, 2025:
Prime Time Average Total Viewers
• Fox News: 2,223,000
• MSNBC: 966,000
• CNN: 572,000
Total Day Average Total Viewers
• Fox News: 1,460,000
• MSNBC: 624,000
• CNN: 444,000
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Vince Gilligan’s ‘Pluribus’ sets all-time record for biggest Apple TV drama series launch
Vince Gilligan’s highly anticipated sci-fi series “Pluribus” has stormed to the top as Apple TV’s most-watched drama launch ever.
According to Apple, the “Breaking Bad” creator’s new show has shattered the previous record set by “Severance” Season 2, delivering the platform’s biggest global debut for a drama series across more than 100 territories. The strongest viewership came from the U.S., UK, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Germany, Mexico, India, and France.
Nellie Andreeva for Deadline:
In the U.S., the viewership high mark has been corroborated by the Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings, measuring minutes for Episodes 1 and 2 of drama originals over premiere weekend. Pluribus, starring Rhea Seehorn, debuted with two episodes Friday, Nov. 7.
While official Nielsen data will not be available for a couple of weeks, Luminate reported earlier this week that Pluribus logged 6.4M hours with its first two episodes over the first seven days of release in the U.S., a strong showing that landed the series at #4 for the week behind shows that all had significantly more episodes available.
There also has been anecdotal evidence, with reports of the Apple TV app crashing from high demand after the first two episodes of Pluribus were put up on the platform.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote of Pluribus on October 22nd, “Big potential.” Now, that potential is being realized!
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Apple launches limited-edition MagSafe-compatible Hikawa Phone Grip & Stand
Apple has launched the Hikawa Phone Grip & Stand, a limited-edition MagSafe-compatible iPhone accessory created in collaboration with Los Angeles-based designer Bailey Hikawa to mark the 40th anniversary of accessibility initiatives at Apple.
This adaptive grip magnetically attaches to any MagSafe-equipped iPhone, snaps on securely yet removes effortlessly, and doubles as a versatile stand offering two viewing angles in both portrait and landscape orientations.Drawing inspiration from modern sculpture, the triangular silicone design — featuring curved ridges and a central opening — was developed with direct feedback from people living with disabilities that affect grip strength, dexterity, muscle control, and hand use. The result is an ergonomic accessory that supports multiple holding styles while minimizing strain and fatigue.
Available exclusively through Apple’s U.S. online store in two finishes:
• High-visibility Chartreuse
• Recycled speckled Crater (Apple-exclusive colorway)
MacDailyNews Note: Priced at just $69.95, the Hikawa Phone Grip & Stand is Apple’s second limited-edition iPhone accessory released this month, coming just after the designer iPhone Pocket cross-body pouch (starting at $149.95). Check out the Hikawa Phone Grip & Stand here.
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Google launches unauthorized Pixel-to-iPhone file sharing via Apple’s AirDrop
Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., has announced that its newest Pixel phones can now send images and other files directly to iPhones using Apple’s proprietary AirDrop feature — a direct challenge to one of the most prominent barriers in Apple’s tightly controlled ecosystem.
AirDrop, a wireless file-sharing technology introduced by Apple more than ten years ago, is deeply integrated into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, enabling quick and seamless transfers between iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
“When it comes to sharing moments between family and friends, what device you have shouldn’t matter — sharing should just work,” Google said in a surprise announcement on Thursday. Apple had no part in the feature’s development, a Google spokesperson said in response to a Bloomberg News inquiry.
“We accomplished this through our own implementation,” the spokesperson said, adding that Google engaged a third-party security firm and that the setup was “thoroughly vetted by our own privacy and security teams.”
“This feature does not use a workaround; the connection is direct and peer-to-peer, meaning your data is never routed through a server, shared content is never logged, and no extra data is shared,” wrote Dave Kleidermacher, vice president of platforms security and privacy at Google, in a separate blog post.
To receive files from friends and family using Android phones, iPhone users must configure their AirDrop settings to show them as a recipient to “everyone for 10 minutes.” Like any regular AirDrop transfer, users can accept or deny an incoming request based on the name of the sender that appears on their screen. For the time being, a device from Google’s recently released Pixel 10 line is required.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple should shut this down via software update immediately. And, furthermore, Apple should cease attempting to work with perpetual iPhone copycat Google on underpinning Siri with Google’s inferior Gemini AI and use a better AI instead. Since Apple product and services users deserve the very best, we recommend that Apple grow a pair and use the best AI available: xAI’s Grok.
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Walmart makes the leap from NYSE to Nasdaq in biggest-ever exchange transfer
The Nasdaq just landed one of the most old-school names imaginable: Walmart.The retail behemoth announced Thursday that it’s ditching its decades-long home on the New York Stock Exchange and moving its primary listing to the tech-focused Nasdaq—explicitly citing artificial intelligence as one of the factors in its decision to join the innovation-heavy index.
Reuters:
The move by Walmart, which has a market value of about $852 billion, marks the biggest-ever exchange transfer on record and a coup for Nasdaq over its long-time crosstown rival. Walmart is the NYSE’s fourth largest listing by market capitalization, according to data from LSEG.
The retailer’s shift is a coup for Nasdaq, and while it cuts against the tech/non-tech divide, Walmart said the move underscores its “technology-forward approach” and its push to redefine industries. The stock is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Dec. 9.
Nearly every major U.S. company now has an AI strategy and is investing in the technology, blurring the line over what counts as a tech firm.
The New York Stock Exchange’s marquee listings include Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan, while Nasdaq is home to technology behemoths Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia
MacDailyNews Take: The Nasdaq just keeps on growing!
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Apple significantly improves its Shortcuts app with Apple Intelligence
Apple’s often-overlooked Shortcuts app — the powerful tool for creating custom automations on iPhone, iPad, and Mac — just received a major upgrade thanks to Apple Intelligence.
New AI-powered actions let you summarize text, proofread, generate images, clean up lists, or even run custom prompts through on-device models, Apple’s cloud, or ChatGPT (no subscription required). As WIRED explains in this piece, these additions finally make it easy to build smart, real-world shortcuts that handle messy inputs and turn them into useful outputs — transforming Shortcuts from niche hobby into everyday superpower.
Head to Apple Shortcuts, create a new shortcut, and you’ll see “Apple Intelligence” as one of the listed applications that’s supported. There are a few Actions related to text, allowing you to do things like proofread, summarize, and make a list from text. You also get the ability to create an image, if you want.
For my money, though, the most useful Action offered is “Use Model,” mostly because of how open-ended it is. With this you can choose between three models—the totally offline and private model running on your device, a server offered by Apple using the same models, or even ChatGPT (no subscription or API key necessary)…
I don’t think the chatbot will ultimately be the primary way most of us actually use AI in the coming years. Apple’s Shortcuts, which empowers the user to build things using the technology, is the version of this technology I would like to see catch on—a feature that makes existing tools a little bit better.
MacDailyNews Note: Learn more about Apple’s powerful Shortcuts app here.
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What’s new in macOS 26.2? Three new features coming to your Mac
Apple is gearing up to release macOS Tahoe 26.2 next month, bringing three new features to the Mac. From a clever video call enhancement that lights up your face in low-light conditions, to powerful Thunderbolt 5 clustering for building AI supercomputers at home, and smarter “Urgent” alarms in Reminders that won’t let you snooze critical tasks — these updates blend everyday usability with pro-level power.
Ryan Christoffel for 9to5Mac:
Edge Light for video calls: Edge Light is a video effect that essentially aims to replicate the experience of using a ring light while on video calls. It adds a virtual light around the edges of your Mac display to illuminate your face if you’re in a dark room.
The feature, however, is also far more intelligent than using a traditional ring light. Using the Neural Engine in your Mac, Edge Light can detect your face, size, and where you’re located in the frame to ensure accurate lighting. The Image Signal Processor, meanwhile, is able to fine-tune the light to precisely adjust the brightness of Edge Light to match your exact environment.
Thunderbolt 5-powered Mac clusters: Devindra Hardawar writes at Engadget: Apple is introducing a new low-latency feature that lets you connect several Macs together using Thunderbolt 5. For developers and researchers, it’s a potentially useful way to create powerful AI supercomputers that can run massive local models. That allows four Mac Studios, which can each run up to 512GB of unified memory, to run the 1 trillion parameter Kimi-K2-Thinking model far more efficiently than PCs with power-hungry GPUs.
While we’ve seen Thunderbolt Mac clusters before, they were limited by slower Thunderbolt speeds, especially if they required a hub (which could reduce speeds to 10 Gb/s). Apple’s new feature allows for the full Thunderbolt 5 connectivity of up to 80Gb/s. The clustering capability also isn’t just limited to the pricey Mac Studio, it will also work with the M4 Pro Mac mini and M4 Pro/Max MacBook Pro. Developers won’t need any special hardware to build clusters, just standard Thunderbolt 5 cables and compatible Macs.
Urgent reminders: It’s a simple toggle in the details view that will trigger an alarm on your iPhone or iPad when the time comes. You’ll then be able to snooze it for nine minutes or mark it complete. That’s right: the macOS feature works alongside your iPhone or iPad to ensure you don’t miss an important alert.
MacDailyNews Take: All three are excellent additions to the Mac and – thanks to Continuity – beyond that run the gamut from casual to pro Mac users!
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Apple TV announces new culinary adventure series ‘The Unlikely Cook with Awkwafina’
Apple TV on Thursday announced “The Unlikely Cook with Awkwafina,” a new eight-episode unscripted food series starring and executive produced by award-winning comedian, writer, and actor Nora Lum, aka Awkwafina (“Quiz Lady,” “The Farewell”). In the series, Nora embarks on a deeply personal cross-country journey as she explores contemporary Asian American cuisine, starting with her family’s remarkable legacy.
Nora’s family ran Lum’s, the iconic Cantonese restaurant in Flushing, New York, and the very first in a now thriving Chinatown. But despite growing up in the family business, she can’t cook. At all. She could ruin an instant ramen.
“I’ve never been trusted around a kitchen, so I thank everyone involved for opening that part of my house up to me,” said Awkwafina in a statement. “Food has been a huge part of my family’s history, and to be able to explore and reconnect with that legacy has been an incredibly rare and very special opportunity.”
With help from acclaimed chefs, restaurateurs and her characterful family, she travels the country to explore what it takes to master Asian food in the kitchen and whether she will ultimately reimagine Lum’s legacy for today.
The series is produced for Apple TV by Twofour and is executive produced by Lum, David Brindley, Itay Reiss, and Caroline Davies. This is the second collaboration between Twofour and Apple TV, following the celebrated, Emmy Award-nominated travel series “The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy,” starring Emmy Award winner Eugene Levy.
Apple TV offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 640 wins and 2,915 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning and history-making comedies “The Studio” and “Ted Lasso,” and Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV for free.
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Nvidia’s strong results show AI bubble fears are unfounded
Bubbles rarely pop gradually — they tend to burst. Yet the recent cooling of AI hype has, paradoxically, delivered a welcome reprieve for Nvidia.
Shares of the AI chip giant surged 5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company reported fiscal third-quarter results that eased some investor jitters. The rally provided a sharp rebound from a 10% slide over the prior three weeks, a decline fueled by mounting anxiety over the seemingly limitless capital pouring into artificial intelligence — with no slowdown in sight nearly three years after ChatGPT ignited the boom.
That unease has rippled far beyond Nvidia. The Nasdaq Composite has dropped 5% so far this month, while other AI-heavy names — Advanced Micro Devices, Oracle, and infrastructure player CoreWeave — have suffered even steeper losses. For once, a little air coming out of the AI enthusiasm bubble has actually worked in Nvidia’s favor.
Dan Gallagher for The Wall Street Journal:
All that clearly got Nvidia’s attention. “There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble,” Chief Executive Jensen Huang said Wednesday on the company’s earnings call—marking the first time he or any other Nvidia executive has uttered that phrase during the company’s calls, according to a transcript search by AlphaSense. “From our vantage point, we see something very different.”
That difference was marked mainly by the company’s quarterly data-center sales climbing 66% year over year and topping $50 billion for the first time. That beat Wall Street’s projections for a business segment that is now larger than what most other chip companies produce in total annual revenue. The company’s adjusted operating margin rose by a percentage point from the quarter that ended in May, despite its efforts to boost production of its technically ambitious Blackwell family of AI systems.
“The No. 1 take is they are a machine,” said Sean O’Hara, president at Pacer ETFs.
The law of large numbers hasn’t seemed to catch up to Nvidia yet. Huang last month projected $500 billion in sales for just two generations of the company’s AI chips over a two-year period ending next year. Nvidia typically refrains from projecting beyond a single quarter ahead, but it suggested Wednesday that such an aggressive target could actually prove conservative.
MacDailyNews Take: Plenty of room to run.
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Apple TV mysteriously pulls French thriller ‘The Hunt’ just days before premiere
Apple TV has abruptly removed its upcoming French-language thriller series The Hunt (original title: Traqués, formerly A l’ombre des forêts) from the platform mere days before its scheduled global debut on December 3, 2025.
The six-episode series, created and directed by César Award-nominated filmmaker Cédric Anger (Next Time I’ll Aim for the Heart), stars acclaimed actors Benoît Magimel (Pacifiction) as Franck and Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) as his wife Krystel. Produced by Gaumont (the studio behind hits like Lupin), The Hunt was poised to be Apple TV+’s latest international original, following in the footsteps of French successes such as Liaison and Drops of God.
The premise promised a tense, survival-driven story: Franck and his longtime friends head out for a routine weekend hunting trip in the forests, only to encounter a rival group of hunters who inexplicably turn violent, targeting them with gunfire. After retaliating and barely escaping, the friends attempt to keep the incident secret – but soon realize they are being stalked and hunted for revenge.
Apple had built considerable hype around the show. In September 2025, the company released first-look images and confirmed the December 3 premiere date, with the first two episodes dropping together followed by weekly releases through December 31. Trailers were uploaded to YouTube, and the series appeared prominently in the Apple TV app’s “Coming Soon” sections worldwide.Now, all that has vanished without a trace – or at least, almost all of it.
As of November 20, The Hunt is no longer listed in the Apple TV app. Most promotional materials, press releases, and references have been scrubbed from Apple’s official TV press site. Trailers on the main Apple TV YouTube channels have been deleted or set to private, though some remain accessible on regional channels in Australia, Canada, and Mexico. One lingering June 2024 press release under the show’s original French title still exists, like a digital ghost refusing to be exorcised.
Apple has offered no official statement on the sudden removal, leaving speculation to run rampant. This isn’t the first time the streamer has yanked a high-profile title at the eleventh hour. Just weeks ago, the premiere of another series, Savant, was postponed shortly before launch – amid unconfirmed rumors linking the decision to sensitivity around real-world events, including the reported assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Whether The Hunt‘s disappearance stems from similar concerns remains unknown. The show’s violent themes involving firearms and revenge in a hunting context could potentially raise eyebrows in some quarters, but no evidence has surfaced tying it to any specific incident or backlash.
For now, only questions remain: Will The Hunt resurface with a delayed premiere? Has it been indefinitely shelved or even canceled outright? Apple’s silence only fuels the mystery, turning what was meant to be a chilling on-screen thriller into a real-life enigma.
MacDailyNews Take: Makes us want to see The Hunt even more now -maybe that’s the point?
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Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2025: Tyler, The Creator
Tyler, The Creator was announced today as Apple Music’s Artist of the Year, recognizing the hip-hop visionary’s outstanding impact on both music and culture in 2025.
Tyler’s output through the end of 2025 reinforced his position as one of the most gifted creatives of his era. Across Apple Music, Tyler had his best year ever in terms of worldwide plays, listeners, and hours listened, with fans around the world logging more than 4.5 billion minutes of listening time between November 2024 and October 2025.
Tyler began the year with his most ambitious and successful tour in support of his most personal album to date — the just-released CHROMAKOPIA. That extraordinary feat in world-building and character exploration became his most successful album ever on Apple Music by first-day and first-week plays. But he wasn’t done creating. He wrote, recorded, and released another album mid-tour: DON’T TAP THE GLASS, a brief yet satisfying blast of urgent, stripped-down rap that’s wildly different from its predecessor, and shot to No. 1 on Apple Music’s overall charts in more than 55 countries the day it was released.
These singularly vivid and wildly divergent visions of hip-hop come from a generational artist at his most fearless — all within the span of a year that included headlining slots at Governors Ball, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, and Osheaga. The year will also see the 11th edition of L.A.’s own Camp Flog Gnaw — the festival Tyler built himself.
“Tyler continues to prove that anything is possible. His creativity has been incredible all year,” said Zane Lowe, Apple Music’s global creative director and lead anchor for Apple Music 1, in a statement. “His creative risk-taking is only matched by the care he takes to present it, and he inspires his peers and fans now, just as he will continue to inspire generations to come.”
“To everyone who listens to my music, thank you,” said Tyler in a statement. “I appreciate you so much. This year, for my career, was the biggest so far. To be this year’s Apple Music Artist of the Year, it’s sick. I appreciate the love. I appreciate the recognition. It means a lot to me, especially for the music and things that I make. Please keep supporting folks who are a bit out of the box for how they do things; it means a lot to us.”
To cap it off, Tyler’s vision and cultural imprint extend far beyond music. He will soon make his feature-film debut in Marty Supreme, the Josh Safdie-directed period drama starring Timothée Chalamet, and he closes out 2025 with five new GRAMMY nominations for both CHROMAKOPIA and DON’T TAP THE GLASS.
As Apple Music’s Artist of the Year, Tyler will receive a physical award that represents the extraordinary craftsmanship integral to creating music. Each Apple Music Award features Apple’s custom silicon wafer suspended between a polished sheet of glass, and a machined and anodized aluminum body. In a symbolic gesture, the same chip powering the devices that put over 100 million songs at listeners’ fingertips also sits at the very heart of the Apple Music Awards.
Celebrate Tyler’s Artist of the Year appointment with a special selection of playlists dedicated to the songs and voices that have shaped the last 12 months. And users that have Tyler, The Creator in their recent Shazam history can keep an eye out for a special message from the artist on their Home Screen.
MacDailyNews Take: Congratulations to Tyler, The Creator, Apple Music’s 2025 Artist of the Year.
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Apple’s 2025 Black Friday Shopping Event: Get up to $250 Apple Gift Card with eligible purchases
Apple has officially unveiled its annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping event for 2025, running from Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1. As is tradition, the company isn’t slashing prices directly but is instead offering Apple Gift Cards of varying amounts with the purchase of eligible products — up to a maximum of $250 on high-end Macs.
The promotion applies to purchases made through the Apple Online Store, the Apple Store app, or at physical Apple retail locations in the United States and most other countries where Apple operates (gift card values may vary slightly by region).
Gift Card Value Eligible Products $250 MacBook Pro models with M4 Pro or M4 Max chip $200 15-inch MacBook Air $175 13-inch MacBook Air $150 Any M4 iMac $100 Mac miniiPad Air (11-inch or 13-inch) $75 iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Plus
AirPods Max $50 iPhone 16e
Entry-level iPad (A16 chip)
iPad mini
Apple Watch Series 11
Apple Watch SE (latest generation)
AirPods Pro (latest generation)
HomePod
Select Beats wireless headphones $25 AirPods (standard 4th generation)
Apple TV 4K
Beats Pill speaker
Magic Keyboard for iPad
Apple Pencil Pro
Important Fine Print
• The gift card is emailed after your purchase and cannot be applied as an instant discount on the current transaction.
• It can be used for future Apple hardware, accessories, App Store purchases, subscriptions (Apple Music, iCloud+, etc.), or in-app purchases.
• Newest flagship products are excluded — no gift card with iPhone 17 series, M5-equipped Macs, or the latest high-end iPad Pro models.
• The offer cannot be combined with educational pricing, refurbished products, or most other promotions.
Are Apple’s Own Deals the Best?
In many cases, no. Third-party retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Target frequently beat Apple’s gift-card values with straight cash discounts, especially in the week leading up to and during Black Friday.
For example:
• Current street pricing on the 15-inch MacBook Air is often $250 off — more than the $200 gift card Apple is giving.
• AirPods models and older iPhones routinely see deeper percentage discounts elsewhere.
If you’re set on buying directly from Apple (for trade-ins, AppleCare+ bundling, or carrier financing), the gift card can still add value — especially if you were planning another Apple purchase soon. Otherwise, checking deal aggregators like 9to5Toys or MacRumors is highly recommended for the lowest outright prices.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s four-day shopping event starts in just over a week. Mark your calendars for November 28–December 1, 2025, and happy holiday shopping!
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Real Madrid working with Apple to create 2026 immersive documentary
Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has confirmed that the club is collaborating with Apple on an immersive documentary set for release in 2026.
Produced exclusively for the Apple Vision Pro, the project aims to let fans experience the Santiago Bernabéu atmosphere as if they were there in person.
Guillermo Rai and Nnamdi Onyeagwara for The Athletic:
In an interview with GQ, Perez said: “Apple is a company that represents the union between innovation, design and excellence. And for Real Madrid, it has been essential to find a technology partner that shares that same vision.
“Apple and Real Madrid are working together on a project that I have been pursuing for many years: to allow any fan to experience the excitement of the Bernabeu as if they were here, in the stadium itself.”
The film was recorded during the 1-0 victory over Juventus in the Champions League group stage on October 22.
Speaking in 2024, Perez said on working with Apple: “The issue of season tickets is something that doesn’t have much of a solution.
“There are 34,000 non-season ticket holders (there are about 100,000 members in total). We can’t fit any more in, or we’ll have to build the Infinite Stadium.
“I’m thinking about doing it with Apple, for example. It’s very easy. The thing is, some people watch it at home with glasses and, I have to say, it looks better than in the stadium. They would have a seat at home, a Madrid season ticket. And that’s what I’m working on.”
MacDailyNews Take: Immersively attending live sporting events and concerts remotely is a natural use case for Vision Pro.
Little birdie: One selling point of Apple's mixed-reality headset will be attending live and recorded concerts remotely. Buy a ticket, for significantly less than in-person, & the headset will "as much as possible, be like being there – with extras like changing seat positions." pic.twitter.com/GV0B5b5gP6
— MacDailyNews (@MacDailyNews) May 18, 2023
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Why Apple is beating the market even as the tech sector sells off
Apple’s stock is suddenly looking like a safe haven in a stormy tech market—precisely the opposite of what investors complained about for years.
What used to be the biggest criticism (“Apple has no real AI story”) has flipped into its biggest advantage. While the rest of the “Magnificent Seven” and other AI-heavy names get hammered, Apple is quietly outperforming both the tech-centric Nasdaq Composite and the broader S&P 500 so far in November.
The reason is straightforward: when the hot AI trade cools off, money rotates out of the usual suspects and into the one mega-cap tech name that isn’t viewed as an AI stock. In a risk-off tape for technology, not being tied to the AI boom has paradoxically become a feature, not a bug.
“Apple shares have shown resilience compared to their mega-cap peers as they have significantly less exposure to the AI cycle,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria told MarketWatch in emailed comments.
Microsoft’s stock MSFT is getting close to joining Nvidia, Amazon.com, and Tesla shares in correction territory, which is defined as a 10% drop or more off a recent closing high. And Meta’s stock is already in a bear market, meaning it’s off more than 20% from its recent closing high. But Apple and Alphabet shares stand out, down less than 3% from their recent highs.
While people use their iPhones to access AI tools, “the current iPhone upgrade cycle is showing that [Apple] does not need AI in order to drive demand,” Luria continued. “An aging iPhone base is translating to the best upgrade cycle in years, which is helping deliver the current resilience.”
MacDailyNews Take: As we can see with Apple missing GenAI, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
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Apple’s iPhone sales are growing at the fastest rate in four years
“It’s becoming more clear that demand for the new iPhone Air is soft. Recent third party estimates suggest the new form factor accounts for around 5% of iPhone sales, longtime Apple analysts Gene Munster writes on GeneMunster.com. “Before it went on sale, I and the Street had estimated it would account for 15% of sales. Despite that headwind, the iPhone is growing at its fastest rate in four years, largely thanks to a massive upgrade pool showing up, albeit nine months late.”
Gene Munster for GeneMunster.com:
Despite Apple positioning the Air as a Pro level device, it has noticeable gaps in camera features and battery life. Yes, its aesthetics are impressive, but the functionality still lags the Pro line.
What matters most is that both the Air and Pro introduced eye catching new hardware designs. New hardware designs have typically boosted revenue growth. When the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launched in 2014 with larger 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch displays compared to the iPhone 5’s 4 inch display, it powered a super cycle. iPhone revenue in FY14, the iPhone 5 cycle, grew 12% y/y. The 6 and 6 Plus drove revenue up 52% in FY15.
The conversation about the strength of the iPhone next year should be balanced with what that means for the out year, 2027. The bad news is the strength of the iPhone 17 cycle raises the bar for the 18 cycle in FY27. If I’m right that upgrades are playing a big role in FY26 iPhone demand, a year from now that upgrade pool will begin to lose momentum. This translates to the iPhone in FY26 should be up 10% compared to an average growth of 1.5% in FY22 through FY24. The bottom line: the upgrade pool creates a difficult comp for FY27.
Next Fall, it is rumored that Apple will come out with another new form factor, a foldable phone. I put the odds of that at less than 25%. Even if a foldable phone did come out next fall, which would be a material catalyst for form factor buyers, I don’t think supply would ramp fast enough to move the needle. More importantly, the Air’s performance to date was a reminder to me that while the form factor punch is a wild card, the upgrade muscle is strengthening.
MacDailyNews Take: As Gene notes, “In FY21, iPhone sales grew 39% compared to down 3% in FY20 and down 14% in FY19.” So, the strength we’re seeing now – and expect to see throughout FY26 – is powered by a large pent-up pool of upgraders of four- to five-year-old iPhone 12 models.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook, Elon Musk attend President Donald Trump’s black-tie dinner for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
(Photo: Associated Press)
High-profile guests at President Donald Trump’s black-tie dinner honoring Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday night included the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and other business executives and billionaires whose combined net worth totals $719 billion.
Siladitya Ray and Mary Whitfill Roeloffs for Forbes:
Billionaire Jensen Huang and Lisa Su, the CEOs of chip giants Nvidia and AMD, attended months after both companies signed deals to supply their advanced semiconductors to AI company Humain—which the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF owns.
Tech and finance billionaires Marc Benioff of Salesforce, Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Tim Cook of Apple and Vlad Tenev of Robinhood also attended.
David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance Corporation and son of mega billionaire Larry Ellison, was there amid reports the Saudi sovereign fund could partly fund his company’s bid to acquire rival Warner Bros. Discovery (the company has since denied the claim).
Also among the invitees were General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and Chevron CEO Mike Wirth.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who signed the world’s most expensive soccer contract with Saudi soccer club Al-Nassr two years ago and has surpassed $1 billion in career earnings, lended his star power to the dinner.
The dinner was the first time Musk has been at the White House since he left his role as a special government employee heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in May.
Musk is the richest person in the world with an almost $468 billion net worth as of Wednesday, according to Forbes estimates. Two of the other attendees are also among the world’s 100 richest people: No. 8 Huang ($161.6 billion) and No. 36 Steve Schwarzman ($43.9 billion). Karp is worth $15.2 billion, Armstrong is worth $11.2 billion, Benioff is worth $8.6 billion, Tenev is worth $6.5 billion and Tim cook has a $2.6 billion valuation. Su, the only female executive in attendance, is worth $1.5 billion.
MacDailyNews Take: A very high net worth room. More info and photos in the full article here.
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Apple’s iPad is more Mac-like than ever – is it ready to replace your Mac?
With iPadOS 26, Apple has at last delivered a software foundation that matches the iPad’s formidable silicon. Long-awaited additions — resizable floating windows, proper background processing, a grown-up Files app, and deeper Stage Manager improvements—transform what the tablet can do. Tasks that were frustrating or outright impossible are now routine. For students, note-takers, and many knowledge workers, the iPad is suddenly a legitimate laptop replacement. Yet the perennial question lingers: Can the iPad truly replace your Mac?
Khamosh Pathak for Lifehacker:
Can an iPad replace your MacBook? The answer to that question is more personal than ever. Subjectively, I can say not yet. While the new windowing system and background processes are a great start, it still lacks the core features that make a Mac so helpful. For someone like me who relies on desktop-class apps, dynamic websites, and loves the hundred little utilities that are only possible on the Mac, the iPad really can’t replace my MacBook…
I can see podcasters and even content creators take up an iPad as their main computer. It really depends on your workflow. For light workflow like editing documents, managing PDFs, taking notes, emails, and online meetings, the iPad is very much comparable to the Mac. And thanks to its cellular connectivity, it might even have an edge for people who are always on the road. If you like the idea of a light-weight tablet that’s built-really well, or if you’re a creative, the iPad can make a lot of sense for you.
For everyone else, I would recommend you pick up at least an M4 MacBook Air, which goes on sale regularly and costs less than an iPad Pro.
MacDailyNews Take: The bottom line is that, ghanks to iOS 26, more people than ever can replace their Mac with a modern iPad.
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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