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Apple TV unveils trailer for season two of ‘The Sisters Grimm,’ premiering October 2nd

Thu, 2026-09-24 05:00
Animated adventure series “The Sisters Grimm” will premiere globally on Apple TV on Friday, October 2nd.

Apple TV on Tuesday debuted the official trailer for the second season of the adventure-filled series, “The Sisters Grimm.” Earning a 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes for season one, the series returns with six episodes on Friday, October 2, 2026. Based on Michael Buckley’s New York Times bestselling book series, “The Sisters Grimm” is a journey of adventure and heart about sleuth-solving sisters descended from the Brothers Grimm who, while very different, make a pretty great team.

In season two, one year after their parents’ mysterious disappearance, sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm continue uncovering the secrets of Ferryport Landing, where fairy tales and fairy tale creatures are real, as they face new adventures and mysteries.

The series is led by a stellar voice cast, including Ariel Winter (“Modern Family”) as Sabrina, Leah Newman as Daphne, Laraine Newman (“Saturday Night Live”) as Relda, Abubakar Salim (“Raised by Wolves”) as Charming, Billy Harris (“Ted Lasso”) as Puck and Harry Trevaldwyn (“How to Train Your Dragon”) as Mirror.

Developed by Emmy Award nominee Amy Higgins (“Star vs. the Forces of Evil”) who serves as showrunner, and Emmy Award nominee Erica Rothschild (“Sofia the First”). Emmy Award-winning studio Titmouse (“Duck and Goose,” “Harriet the Spy,” “Frog and Toad”) produces the animation for “The Sisters Grimm.” The six-episode series is executive produced by Higgins, Buckley (“Robotomy”), Emmy Award winner Elliot Blake (“Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider”), Emmy Award winner Philip Alberstat (“The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie”), Steven Amato (“27 Mins”) and Theresa Park (“Roar,” “Expats”), alongside Titmouse’s Chris Prynoski (“The Legend of Vox Machina”), Shannon Prynoski (“Scavengers Reign”), Ben Kalina (“Big Mouth”) and Antonio Canobbio (“Digman!”). Sage Cotugno serves as supervising director.

The exciting slate of recent offerings for kids and families on Apple TV includes “My Brother the Minotaur,” from Academy Award-nominated animation studio Cartoon Saloon and award-winning children’s media company Dog Ears; “Wonder Pets: In the City,” from Emmy Award winner Jennifer Oxley and produced by Nickelodeon Animation; animated adventure trilogy “WondLa,” based on Tony DiTerlizzi’s New York Times bestselling book series “The Search for WondLa”; “Yo Gabba GabbaLand!,” inspired by the hit, Emmy Award-nominated cultural phenomenon “Yo Gabba Gabba!”; season two of Emmy Award-winning “Shape Island,” based on the internationally bestselling picture books by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen; “Goldie,” inspired by Emily Brundige’s award-winning 2019 short film of the same name; Television Critics Association Award-winning “Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical”; “Snoopy Presents: There’s No Place Like Home, Snoopy”; series “Camp Snoopy”; and many more.

Award-winning all-ages offerings now streaming globally on Apple TV include the BAFTA Award and Emmy Award-winning live-action animated hybrid special “The Velveteen Rabbit,” BAFTA Award and Humanitas Prize-winning “El Deafo”; BAFTA Award-winning “Lovely Little Farm”; DreamWorks Animation’s music-driven animated comedy “BE@RBRICK”; “Duck & Goose”; “Get Rolling With Otis”; Spin Master Entertainment’s “Sago Mini Friends”; Emmy Award-winning “Frog and Toad,” based on the Caldecott and Newbery Honor-winning books, Annie Award-nominated “Not a Box”; GLAAD Media Award-nominated “Pinecone & Pony”; The Jim Henson Company’s Emmy Award-winning “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock,” “Harriet the Spy” and “Slumberkins”; Sesame Workshop’s “Helpsters”; Scholastic’s “Puppy Place”; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, HITRECORD and Bento Box Entertainment’s “Wolfboy and the Everything Factory,” and Jack McBrayer and Angela C. Santomero’s Emmy Award-nominated “Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show.”

Live-action offerings include “Me,” an elevated, cinematic coming-of-age story from Barry L. Levy; Bonnie Hunt’s DGA Award and WGA Award-nominated “Amber Brown”; DGA Award-winning “Best Foot Forward”; “Surfside Girls”; WGA Award-winning “Life by Ella”; Sesame Workshop and Sinking Ship’s Emmy Award-winning “Ghostwriter”; and Emmy Award and Environmental Media Association Award-winning “Jane.” The collection also features “Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth,” the Emmy Award-winning television event based on the New York Times bestselling book and TIME Best Book of the Year by Oliver Jeffers.

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 919 wins and 3,827 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning and history-making comedies “The Studio” and “Ted Lasso,” global cultural phenomenon “Severance,” Apple’s most-viewed drama “Pluribus,” Academy Award Best Picture winner “CODA” and Academy Award winner “F1,” the highest-grossing sports feature of all time.

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 $14.99 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 4K or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV for free.

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Apple limits new camera texture and grain controls after compatibility wording change

Thu, 2026-09-24 03:30
iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max feature the most advanced camera Apple has ever made and deliver massive leaps in battery life and performance.

Apple has narrowed the availability of new Texture and Grain controls for Photographic Styles, restricting the tools to the latest iPhone 18 Pro models and the upcoming iPhone Duo after earlier wording suggested broader support.

MacRumors‘ Tim Hardwick reported that Apple’s original iPhone 18 Pro launch materials said the controls would be “available in iOS 27 on iPhone models that support the latest generation of Photographic Styles.” That language appeared in copies of the launch-day press release. Apple’s iOS 27 user guide also listed devices supporting the latest Photographic Styles as the iPhone 16 series, iPhone 17 series, iPhone Air, and iPhone 18 Pro models.

Apple has since revised the footnote on its Newsroom announcement. It now says Texture and Grain controls are available only for photos captured on iPhone 18 Pro models and with the Ultra Wide, Main, and Center Stage cameras on the iPhone Duo. The company also states in the iOS 27 user guide that changing a photo’s texture can be done “on iPhone 18 Pro models.”

It is unclear whether Apple originally planned to bring the feature to older compatible devices and later changed course, or whether the first wording was published in error. Apple has not commented on the revision.

Photographic Styles are tone presets that adjust color and warmth while aiming to preserve skin tones. Texture and Grain add extra creative control on top of those styles, but that extra layer is now framed as a current-generation camera capability rather than a software feature for every phone that already supports the latest Photographic Styles.

The change has drawn criticism from users who argue there is no obvious technical reason to withhold a software camera control from recent iPhones that already run iOS 27 and support the newest Photographic Styles. Apple has a long history of reserving some camera processing features for the newest hardware, even when older models remain software-supported.
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MacDailyNews Take: If you want all of the new features, you need the newest hardware, as usual.

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U.S. Justice Department urges Supreme Court to tighten contempt standard in Apple–Epic Games App Store fight

Thu, 2026-09-24 02:00
U.S. Supreme Court

The Justice Department on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to limit when federal judges can hold a company in civil contempt, intervening in Apple’s appeal of a ruling that found the iPhone maker violated an injunction won by Fortnite creator Epic Games.

The administration said it was supporting neither Apple nor Epic. Instead, it argued that contempt should apply only when a party’s conduct is clearly forbidden by the express terms of a court order, not by a judge’s later reading of the order’s “spirit.” That position would help Apple on a central issue in the case.

The justices agreed in June to hear Apple’s challenge to an April 2025 contempt finding by a California federal judge. Epic sued Apple in 2020, claiming the company’s App Store rules violated antitrust law. Epic obtained an injunction that required major changes to how Apple handles in-app and related payments. Epic later said Apple broke that order by imposing a 27% commission on certain purchases completed outside the App Store. The lower court agreed that Apple had violated the injunction’s spirit and held the company in contempt.

Apple and the Justice Department contend a court cannot punish conduct the injunction did not expressly prohibit. “Civil contempt is therefore appropriate only if the defendant’s conduct is clearly covered by the injunction’s express terms,” the department wrote. It also asked the Supreme Court to clarify that contempt is proper only when there is “no fair ground of doubt” that an order was violated. The government added that at least one aspect of Apple’s conduct did support a contempt finding; Apple has denied any violation.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has said Apple has spent years evading court and regulatory rulings and that the company intends to end those practices. Neither Apple nor the Justice Department immediately commented. The case is Apple Inc. v. Epic Games Inc., No. 25-1311. Apple is represented by Gregory Garre of Latham & Watkins; Epic by Gary Bornstein of Cravath, Swaine & Moore; and the United States by Solicitor General D. John Sauer.
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MacDailyNews Take: Clearly, the U.S. Justice Department is correct.

Again, it’s Apple’s App Store, not Epic’s. Apple has a right to charge developers for use of its App Store.

Apple’s 30% commission (reduced to 15% for many smaller developers) has always funded the secure infrastructure, rigorous app review process, fraud protection, payment systems, and ongoing platform development that benefit users and honest developers. Epic wanted all the upside of that ecosystem with none of the contribution.

The bottom line is clear: Epic Games wants to enjoy all of the benefits of Apple’s App Store, including access to well over one billion of the world’s most affluent users for free. That is illogical, unfair, and, basically, theft. – MacDailyNews, May 4, 2021

How much did it cost developers to have their apps burned onto CDs, boxed, shipped, displayed on store shelves prior to Apple remaking the world for the better for umpteenth time? Apple incurs costs to store, review, organize, surface, and distribute apps to over one billion users. — MacDailyNews, June 10, 2022

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Apple expands Tap to Pay on iPhone to eight more Latin American countries

Thu, 2026-09-24 00:30
Tap to Pay on iPhone

Apple has enabled Tap to Pay on iPhone in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Peru, letting more merchants accept in-person contactless payments with an iPhone and a supported app instead of a separate card reader.

The feature is live today through local payment platforms. Availability by market includes Mercado Pago in Argentina; SumUp and Symbiotic in Colombia; Geopagos, Symbiotic, and Visa Acceptance Solutions in Costa Rica; Azul and Visa Acceptance Solutions in the Dominican Republic; Geopagos and Symbiotic in Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama; and SumUp in Peru.

Tap to Pay on iPhone works on iPhone XS and later running the latest iOS. A merchant opens a compatible payment app, holds out the phone, and the customer taps a contactless credit or debit card, iPhone, Apple Watch, or other digital wallet. Apple says the service works with major networks including American Express, Mastercard, and Visa. No extra terminal hardware is required.

Apple also stresses privacy in its payments design, saying payment data is protected and that Apple does not know what was purchased or who bought it. Merchants in the newly added countries can start using the feature through the listed partner apps.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple first introduced the feature in 2022. It was already available in parts of Latin America, including Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. The latest expansion is aimed at shops, transit, restaurants, beauty businesses, and professional services that want a simpler way to take contactless payments.

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Apple developing screenless fitness band to challenge Whoop

Wed, 2026-09-23 23:00
WHOOP with Navigator band

Apple is working on a screenless health and fitness tracker designed to compete with Whoop’s wrist-worn bands, according to Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman. The project is part of a broader effort to rethink the Apple Watch lineup and expand into new wearable categories.

The company has been exploring the idea for several months and has moved into prototype development, people familiar with the matter told Gurman. The work has backing from senior leadership, including Executive Chairman Tim Cook and services chief Eddy Cue, who took over Apple’s health efforts late last year. Apple has not decided whether to ship the product.The project is still in an early internal stage known as a technology investigation. If Apple proceeds, a commercial device is not expected before 2028. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.

Prototypes described to Bloomberg News consist of a thin fabric band paired with a sensor-equipped computing module and no display. That design would trade the Apple Watch’s apps and notifications for a more focused health-and-fitness experience, closer to products from Whoop and Oura.

Apple remains a leading seller of smartwatches, particularly in the United States. Screenless trackers and smart rings have gained ground with users who want lighter devices, longer battery life, and fewer distractions. After Gurman’s report, shares of Garmin, which also sells fitness bands, fell as much as 2.5%.Cue has pushed Apple’s health team to study simpler, fitness-first interfaces used by newer rivals. The potential tracker has drawn particular interest from both Cue and Cook. Members of Apple’s Vision hardware team have also been involved in early engineering work.

The report does not mean a product is guaranteed. Apple often investigates multiple form factors—including, in recent months, ideas such as different Watch sizes and even a round display—without committing to all of them. A dedicated screenless band would mark a notable shift: a wearable built primarily around continuous health data rather than a full smartwatch platform.
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MacDailyNews Take: Whoop makes a very nice product, but the Apple ecosystem is very powerful.

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watchOS 27.2 beta 2 brings back the Apple Watch App Switcher — with a new gesture

Wed, 2026-09-23 07:00
Apple Watch Series 12 delivers the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable, higher-frequency heart rate and heart rate variability sensing, and a readiness score.

Apple appears to be walking back one of the more frustrating watchOS 27 changes. According to 9to5Mac‘s Marcus Mendes, watchOS 27.2 beta 2 restores the App Switcher on Apple Watch, though not with the old double-click of the Digital Crown.

watchOS 27 dropped the long-standing shortcut that let users jump between recently used apps by double-clicking the Crown. That left no quick way to hop among recent apps, a change 9to5Mac’s Zac Hall flagged earlier this month when he asked Apple to restore the feature before the software shipped, or at least in a later update.

The company has not revived that Crown shortcut in beta 2. What it has restored is the App Switcher itself, tied to a new interaction. As first spotted in the Apple Den Discord and shared on X by user Bones, users can press and hold the bottom of the screen while inside an app to bring up the switcher.

From there, the experience is familiar. Turning the Digital Crown scrolls through recently used apps. Swiping left on an app and tapping the X removes it from the list.

Apple seeded watchOS 27.2 beta 2 to developers today, less than a week after beta 1. Like any beta change, this gesture is not guaranteed to survive into the public release, which is expected next month. Still, its appearance so soon after user complaints suggests Apple is paying attention and looking for a way to put multitasking back on the wrist.

MacDailyNews Take: Whether the final version keeps this press-and-hold gesture, restores the Crown shortcut, or lands somewhere in between remains to be seen. For now, testers on watchOS 27.2 beta 2 have a path back to the App Switcher that vanished in watchOS 27.

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Apple’s new Mac mini and Mac Studio are available today

Wed, 2026-09-23 06:00
Mac Studio delivers extensive pro connectivity, including up to six ports of Thunderbolt 5, support for up to eight displays, and now Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The new Mac mini features Apple’s new M6 and M5 Pro chips.

Starting today, the new Mac mini and Mac Studio, both powered by the latest Apple silicon, are now available. Customers can shop and discover the new Mac mini, Apple’s most versatile Mac, which features the all-new M6 and M5 Pro. The ultracompact do-it-all desktop is a powerhouse for a wide range of users — from everyday consumers and students to aspiring creatives and small business owners. With M6, Mac mini delivers up to 4x faster AI performance, 2x faster graphics and storage, and 40 percent faster CPU performance. Users will feel this performance in everything they do, whether it’s multitasking across productivity apps, running agentic AI workflows, or ripping through creative projects like music production and compiling code. Mac mini with M5 Pro offers even greater pro-level performance for complex projects like video production and game development. The new Mac Studio, Apple’s most powerful Mac, features M5 Max and the all-new M5 Ultra for pros tackling the world’s most demanding workloads. The ultimate pro desktop raises the bar with up to 4.3x faster AI performance, up to 1.8x faster graphics,4 and support for up to 512GB of unified memory, all in a quiet, compact design that sits right on a user’s desk.

Mac mini and Mac Studio are also powerful platforms for on-device AI, featuring next-generation GPUs with Neural Accelerators in every core, along with advanced CPUs, and Neural Engines. Combined with the power of macOS 27 and the latest Apple Intelligence features, including Siri AI, the new Mac mini and Mac Studio are a tremendous upgrade for existing and new-to-Mac users. Both are available now at Apple Store locations, on apple.com, and in the Apple Store app. Mac mini with M6 starts at $899, while Mac mini with M5 Pro is available at $1,699. Mac Studio with M5 Max starts at $2,499, while Mac Studio with M5 Ultra starts at $5,499.

Say Hello to the New Mac mini: Apple’s Most Versatile Mac

For everyday users, students, developers, creative enthusiasts, and businesses, Mac mini delivers a dramatic boost in performance and remarkable versatility, all in a super small design. Featuring a 12-core CPU with the world’s fastest single-threaded performance, a 12-core GPU with Neural Accelerators built into each core, and the all-new Dual 16-core Neural Engine, it blazes through everything from everyday productivity to advanced agentic AI workflows. Starting with 16GB of unified memory, configurable up to 32GB, and higher memory bandwidth up to 170GB/s, multitasking is faster than ever. With M6, Mac mini brings up to 4x faster AI performance, a supercharge to the leading desktop for always-on agentic computing. Mac mini with M5 Pro delivers even more pro-level performance with an up-to-18-core CPU and an up-to-20-core GPU, along with support for up to 64GB of unified memory with 307GB/s of memory bandwidth, empowering users to take on demanding creative and technical projects. Both models include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and upgraded 2.5Gb Ethernet, with a 10Gb option available. College students and educators can save on the new Mac mini with year-round education pricing starting at $799 for Mac mini with M6.

The New Mac Studio: Apple’s Most Powerful Mac

Engineered for professionals who tackle the most intense workloads, Mac Studio is the ultimate desktop for pro workflows and on-device AI. Mac Studio with M5 Max features an 18-core CPU, an up-to-40-core GPU with Neural Accelerators built into each core, and up to 128GB of unified memory, enabling musicians, photographers, software engineers, and designers to push the limits of real-time 3D, motion graphics, and AI workflows. Mac Studio with M5 Ultra takes performance to an entirely new level with an up-to-36-core CPU, an up-to-80-core GPU, and a staggering up to 512GB of unified memory with 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth, empowering filmmakers to color-grade uncompressed 8K footage in real time, VFX artists to render complex scenes, and AI researchers to run enormous LLMs entirely on device. Both models feature Thunderbolt 5 for blazing-fast transfer speeds up to 120Gb/s, so users can take advantage of superfast external storage, a PCIe expansion chassis, and powerful hub solutions. For the most advanced users pushing the limits of compute, Thunderbolt 5 with Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) also enables multiple Mac Studio systems to be clustered, now bringing up to 3x faster performance for distributed AI inference when compared to a single system. Mac Studio supports up to eight displays, or up to four Studio Display XDR at full 5K resolution and 120Hz, providing an expansive canvas for the most demanding projects.

macOS 27 Golden Gate

The new Mac mini and Mac Studio come to life with the recently released macOS 27, which includes Siri AI, a profoundly more capable and personal assistant; helpful Apple Intelligence features across everyday apps; and improvements that make the Mac even more responsive and reliable. Siri AI can draw on personal context to help users find what they need in the moment across their messages, emails, and photos; answer questions about virtually any topic; and get things done across apps. Siri AI is integrated into Spotlight and systemwide context menus, and users can ask Siri about what’s on their display with Visual Intelligence using a dedicated keyboard shortcut. Users can also write and edit with Siri almost anywhere they type.

Additionally, Apple Intelligence makes apps smarter and more useful. In Safari, it powers new tools that automatically organize a user’s tabs into topics; notify them of website changes, like product restocks or price drops; and enable the creation of custom extensions based on a description. Users can also easily create an automation in Shortcuts by simply describing it, or tap into advanced photo editing in the Photos app. Features users already rely on get even better with improvements to performance and search. Refinements to Liquid Glass deliver an even more focused and approachable experience. A new slider in Settings gives users the option to personalize Liquid Glass, adjusting it anywhere from ultraclear to fully tinted to match their preference, and app icons have been updated to be sharper and more defined.
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MacDailyNews Note: More details in Apple’s press release here.

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With new Macs, Apple aims to take on Microsoft and Nvidia in the race to cut AI costs

Wed, 2026-09-23 05:00
The new Mac mini features Apple’s new M6 and M5 Pro chips.

Apple is rolling out upgraded Mac mini and Mac Studio computers this week with a pitch aimed squarely at corporate buyers: local AI work can be cheaper than renting cloud capacity from Microsoft, Nvidia-backed systems, or token-based AI services.

According to Reuters‘ Stephen Nellis, the new machines — some configured at nearly $20,000 — are designed for intensive on-device tasks such as writing code or running complex business workflows without paying per token to providers like OpenAI or Anthropic. Apple is positioning the desktops against new Windows PCs expected to take center stage at a Microsoft event next month.

The company still faces a steep climb in offices. IDC’s Linn Huang put Apple’s share of the enterprise desktop and laptop market at about 4.6%, versus 91.3% for Windows. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was long skeptical of enterprise computing, but the company’s focus on power efficiency has given it an unexpected opening in AI desktops.

When Apple introduced its own silicon in 2020, it combined compute and memory in a unified architecture originally meant to stretch battery life. That design later proved well-suited to AI workloads. Demand for Mac Minis rose as open-source agentic tools gained traction, and Apple has added features such as RDMA over Thunderbolt so multiple Mac Studios can be networked together. At a recent event, the company showed four Studios running a trillion-parameter model to debug graphics code — work that would typically require a data center, yet the cluster ran from a single wall outlet.

“Once you have the machine on your desk, you’ve paid for it,” Apple hardware chief Johny Srouji said. “There’s no cost per token. You’re just using the machine again and again.” He also argued that models developed on Apple hardware can scale from iPhones and iPads up to high-end Mac Studios because the chips share common design principles.

Microsoft is pursuing a similar “unmetered intelligence” vision for on-device AI and said it is working with chip partners on Windows ML tools, with RDMA an active area of investment. Nvidia declined to comment; CEO Jensen Huang has said the company is focused on expanding what Windows PCs can do rather than competing directly with Apple. Nvidia’s core strength remains the data center.

MacDailyNews Take: Smart enterprise buyers buy Macs.

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GM isn’t bringing Apple’s CarPlay back to its EVs; new truck UI just makes iPhone Mirroring share the screen

Wed, 2026-09-23 04:00

Despite a wave of headlines suggesting General Motors reversed course on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the company is not restoring phone projection to vehicles that already lost it. The latest software update for gas-powered 2027 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups improves how those systems sit alongside GM’s own interface. It does not change the automaker’s EV policy.

In 2023, GM said it would drop CarPlay and Android Auto from future electric vehicles and push drivers toward a native experience built on Android Automotive with Google services. That plan largely held. Most current GM EVs — including the Chevy Equinox EV, Blazer EV, Bolt, Silverado EV, and several Cadillac and GMC electric models — still lack phone projection. The Cadillac Lyriq is a notable exception.

Gas-powered models never lost the feature. The new 2027 light-duty trucks therefore are not a restoration. They get a redesigned infotainment layout in which CarPlay or Android Auto appears in a large card or split-view panel next to native functions such as trailering data, tire pressure, maps, and Super Cruise status, instead of taking over the entire screen. GM executives have described the old full-screen switch as feeling like moving “from room to room.” The new approach keeps vehicle-specific information visible at the same time.

A GM spokesperson confirmed the distinction to journalist Joanna Stern: the company is not rolling phone projection to its EVs. The announcement applies only to the new gas-powered pickups, which have always supported CarPlay and Android Auto.

Correction: GM has confirmed it is NOT rolling phone projection to GM EVs. Instead this announcement is specific to JUST their new gas powered light-duty pickups, which have always supported Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

You know where I stand on this!

— Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) September 21, 2026

Confusion was understandable. CEO Mary Barra had previously indicated that phone projection might eventually leave gas vehicles as well. The company later said those models would keep it “for the foreseeable future.” Some coverage treated the truck UI as a broader cave after customer and dealer pushback. Surveys have found large shares of buyers — including many GM owners — treat the absence of CarPlay or Android Auto as a deal-breaker. GM still wants tighter control of the dashboard for data, subscriptions, and deeper vehicle integration, especially on EVs where native Google Maps can factor in range and charging.
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MacDailyNews Take: Not that any GM product was ever on our list, but for those who prefer inferior vehicles saddled with substandard tech, the practical picture is a split strategy: native-first software on most EVs, and a more cooperative split-screen approach on high-volume gas trucks that already had phone mirroring. Whether that coexistence later spreads — or whether EV owners ever get CarPlay back — remains unannounced. For now, GM’s position on electric models has not changed.

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Apple CEO John Ternus on the iPhone Duo and why Siri AI ‘is not your friend’

Wed, 2026-09-23 03:00
Apple CEO John Ternus

In his first major sit-down as Apple’s new chief executive, John Ternus sat with French host Mouloud Achour on Clique and talked through the product that defined his first keynote, the surprising path that put him in the job, and how Apple wants people to live with its devices.

Ternus, a 25-year Apple veteran and former hardware engineering lead, took over from Tim Cook on September 1, 2026. Days later he stood on stage and delivered the line every Apple event audience waits for: “one more thing.” That thing was the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable phone.

He said the company refused to copy the usual foldable formula of two phone-shaped screens taped together. “We didn’t want to just do what we’d seen other people do… and then you get this weird square thing.” Instead the team started from a large-screen experience they already knew from iPad and settled on a √2:1 aspect ratio that stays the same whether the device is open or closed. Open, it becomes a wide canvas for movies, games, and split-screen work. Closed, it still looks and feels like a phone.

The hardest parts, he said, were the hinge, the inner display, software that has to feel seamless on both screens, and managing two battery cells so the user only ever sees one. “It takes lots of time, lots of trials.” His favorite detail is the opening animation that sweeps across the screen. “It’s just sort of whimsical and fun… it brings a smile to your face.”

Ternus was candid about how the CEO job arrived. Cook and the board asked him if he would consider it. “The good news is I was sitting down,” he said, “because I never in a million years would have imagined that happening.” He talked it over with his wife. Her reply, he recalled: “You love Apple. Of course you have to do this.”

He chose the French show in part because he and Achour hit it off at WWDC, and because Apple has more than 2,500 employees in France after 40 years in the country. “There’s so much passion for design and culture in France that I think it’s just always been very symbiotic with Apple.”

On children and screens, Ternus rejected the idea that the people who design phones keep them away from their own kids. Devices open doors to creation and learning that did not exist when he was young — kids in elementary school now design and 3D-print objects after watching YouTube. The trade-off is real: apps fight for attention, and parents still have to protect sleep and outdoor time. Apple’s answer, he said, is the parental-control tools it has built because so many people inside the company are living the same problem.

He also restated Apple’s line on artificial intelligence: Siri AI is a tool, not a companion. “Siri AI is not your friend.”

The conversation kept returning to the same theme Ternus used on stage — the work of thousands of people, the obsessive attention to small details, and the belief that the team will “find a way” when a product is late and still broken. After 25 years, he said, that trust has replaced the anxiety he used to feel at the end of every program.

MacDailyNews Take: This interview is the first long look at Apple’s new boss in his own words: an engineer who still carries two phones in his pocket, still gets goosebumps saying “one more thing,” and still talks about products as real magic.

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M5 Max Mac Studio review: The SSD leap makes this the Mac desktop to buy

Wed, 2026-09-23 02:00
Apple’s new Mac Studio, the most powerful Mac ever, featuring M5 Max and M5 Ultra.

Apple’s 2026 Mac Studio with the M5 Max is not just another incremental chip refresh. According to Macworld’s Roman Loyola, the story is storage: SSD speeds jump so sharply that even owners of an M4 Max or M3 Ultra Studio from earlier this year should think about upgrading. CPU and GPU gains are real but more modest; the drive is the reason this machine feels like it has shifted into overdrive.

The base M5 Max Studio starts at $2,499 with an 18-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 36GB of unified memory, and a 512GB SSD. Loyola’s test unit was a heavily configured $6,899 machine: 18-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 128GB of memory, and a 4TB SSD. RAM and storage still cannot be upgraded after purchase.

Blackmagic disk tests show the new SSD as the standout. Apple brought the M5-series storage improvements from the MacBook Pro to the Studio, and Loyola says the difference is something you feel immediately in production work. Time saved on large files, exports, and scratch work is the practical argument for buying now rather than waiting.

CPU progress is more typical. In Geekbench 7, the M5 Max is about 22 percent faster in multi-core than the M4 Max it replaces, and about 8 percent faster in single-core. The previous-generation M3 Ultra still leads the M5 Max by roughly 9 percent in multi-core, which Loyola notes is a small gap given the Ultra’s extra silicon. Cinebench and video-export tests show similar patterns: solid gains over the M4 Max, smaller ones versus the M3 Ultra.

GPU and AI numbers are stronger selling points. Cinebench 2024 GPU scores rise about 33 percent over the M4 Max and 10 percent over the M3 Ultra. Neural Engine results in Geekbench AI jump well past both prior chips, which matters for local AI work. Gaming saw 30 percent-plus frame-rate gains in titles such as Total War: Warhammer III and Borderlands 3.

Connectivity is largely carryover with one useful bump. Thunderbolt 5 ports remain (80Gbps, up to 120Gbps with the right cable and device). Display support expands: up to five screens, including four Thunderbolt displays at 6K/60Hz or 4K/165Hz plus HDMI, or three-display setups at higher refresh and resolution than the M4 Max Studio allowed.The chassis, ports, and “buy your own keyboard, mouse, and display” setup are unchanged since 2022. The catch is price. The base M5 Max is $500 more than the outgoing M4 Max was at launch, though it matches Apple’s mid-2026 price hike. The M5 Ultra starts at $5,499. Memory upgrades above 36GB force a chip step-up that adds at least $600 before you pay for the RAM itself.

Loyola’s verdict: if you want the fastest Mac Apple sells in this form factor, the M5 Max Studio is it. The SSD is dramatic enough to justify an upgrade even from a recent Studio. It is expensive, and nothing inside is user-replaceable, but for professionals who live on storage throughput, display real estate, and AI workloads, he says accept no substitute.
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MacDailyNews Take:

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Apple opens claims for $250 million Siri settlement; eligible iPhone owners can file now

Wed, 2026-09-23 01:00

Apple customers who bought certain iPhones during a defined window can now file claims in the $250 million class-action settlement over delayed Siri and Apple Intelligence features.

The settlement administrator, Verita Global, has launched the official claims site at smartphoneaisettlement.com. Eligible class members are people in the United States who purchased an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025. That period runs from Apple’s WWDC announcement of the first Apple Intelligence features through the later delay of the more personalized Siri experience.

Qualifying models include the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16e, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Claimants must submit contact details and the serial number of the qualifying device. Payment can be requested by check, PayPal, Venmo, or ACH. The deadline to file is December 21, 2026. Incomplete, inaccurate, or late claims will be rejected.

Apple is paying $250 million while admitting no wrongdoing. After legal fees, the expected payout is about $25 per eligible device. That amount can drop if more people file than anticipated or rise as high as $95 per device if fewer claims come in.Payouts will not arrive immediately. A final approval hearing is scheduled for September 29, 2027, and payments are expected to begin at least 60 days after that date.
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MacDailyNews Take: If you bought one of the listed iPhones in the United States during the eligibility window, visit the official settlement website, gather your device serial number, and file before the December 2026 deadline.

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Microsoft’s Nadella to join Apple’s Cook, OpenAI and Nvidia CEOs at Trump-Xi White House State Dinner

Wed, 2026-09-23 00:00
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella is planning to attend a White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, according to a person familiar with the planning, joining other top U.S. technology executives, Bloomberg News reports.

The dinner is scheduled for September 24th. Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook is also set to attend, Bloomberg News reported earlier. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Qualcomm Inc. CEO Cristiano Amon are also expected to be there.

The dinner itself is expected to be staged under a tent on the White House grounds. Trump has long argued that a permanent ballroom would spare the White House from putting up temporary structures for large state events, but the new ballroom is currently under construction and is not available for next week’s banquet. The White House ballroom is expected to be finished in summer 2028, with Trump putting the scheduled opening at around September 2028.

Cook left the chief executive role at Apple on September 1st and became executive chairman. He has aid he intends to stay involved in government relations, including dealings with the White House and China. Apple remains heavily dependent on China as both a manufacturing base and a major consumer market.

U.S. officials have separately said Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, and Alphabet Inc. chief Sundar Pichai will be at the event. The person familiar with the planning asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Microsoft declined to comment.

The gathering would put some of the most prominent figures in artificial intelligence, chips, cloud computing, and consumer technology in the same room as President Donald Trump and Xi as Washington and Beijing discuss trade, technology, and AI.The meeting comes amid a sharper industry debate over how fast AI should advance. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently called for an industry-wide slowdown, citing risks such as large-scale cyberattacks. The Trump administration has argued that additional regulation or a U.S. pause would give China an advantage. China has criticized Amodei’s comments as fearmongering.
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MacDailyNews Take: Again, nothing is getting paused. Humans don’t work like that.

There is no way to “slow down” the progress of AI. There will always be countries and companies pushing forward regardless of whatever unverifiable rules and regulations some countries attempt to impose. It’s simply human nature.

Any proposed “pause” runs contrary to human nature and, as in all endeavors that attempt to do so, will fail. – MacDailyNews, September 17, 2026

As we wrote in 2007, “Business models that fly in the face of human nature are doomed to failure.”

“Systems of government that fly in the face of human nature are doomed to failure, too.” — MacDailyNews, October 10, 2019

“Anything that flies in the face of human nature is unsustainable and will therefore fail at some point.” – MacDailyNews, March 29, 2023

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Apple opens Apple Music Hall, a state-of-the-art live music venue in London

Tue, 2026-09-22 23:00
Apple Music Hall, a state-of-the-art live music venue in London’s storied Battersea Power Station, is designed to connect artists and fans through bespoke, intimate performances.

Apple on Monday announced the opening of Apple Music Hall, a brand-new state-of-the-art live music venue in London’s storied Battersea Power Station, designed to connect artists and fans through bespoke, intimate performances unlike anywhere else.

“Apple’s deep love for music dates all the way back to the very beginning, from the launch of the iPod to the long-running iTunes Music Festival to the debut of Apple Music,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and International Content, in a statement. “Today, with the opening of Apple Music Hall, we are once again taking an unprecedented step further in our commitment to artists and fans by supporting live music in ways only Apple can do.”

Taking inspiration from the iconic Battersea Power Station, Apple Music Hall incorporates heritage brickwork, fluted arches, and bronze balconies reminiscent of the historic oriel windows.

A Live Music Venue Unlike Any Other

Apple Music Hall will offer artists and music fans alike an exceptional live concert experience alongside the River Thames. Taking inspiration from the iconic Battersea Power Station, the new venue incorporates heritage brickwork, fluted arches, and bronze balconies reminiscent of the historic oriel windows. A giant glass wall further enhances the visual connection with the historic building, offering a panoramic view of the concourse and the river beyond.

The 600-capacity venue is designed intentionally to close the gap between intimacy and production value and allow for an unprecedented level of creative control. Every seat feels close to the performer, yet the infrastructure offers what an artist requires for an arena tour, with a 38-foot-wide stage that can be reconfigured for traditional front-facing sets or more in-the-round experiences. Additionally, the venue is equipped with a 48-speaker spatial sound system positioned all around the audience. When an artist performs in spatial, it will enable fans to hear that performance in an immersive environment.

Behind the stage, Apple Music Hall operates as a full production facility. Two dedicated recording and mix studios are built to professional standards so that every performance can be captured as a multitrack recording and mixed in Spatial Audio, live or after the fact. The venue is also hardwired for 16 or more cameras that feed a purpose-built broadcast control room with infrastructure that supports iPhone video capture running in parallel alongside traditional broadcast cameras.

At Apple Music Hall, artists can perform an intimate live show and walk out with a finished Spatial Audio recording, a broadcast-ready mix, and multicamera video.

In short, an artist can perform an intimate live show for fans at Apple Music Hall and walk out with a finished Spatial Audio recording, a broadcast-ready mix, and multicamera video — all from a single show. Performances out of Apple Music Hall will also be livestreamed globally so fans outside of London can tune in to enjoy these one-time-only shows from their favorite artists.

“At Apple Music, we care deeply about music, the artists who make it, and their life stories,” said Zane Lowe, Apple Music’s global creative director and lead anchor for Apple Music 1, in a statement. “We’re always looking for new opportunities to connect the artists and the fans because we are fans. What better way to celebrate this relationship than a new music venue where we get to experience amazing music in an amazing space and share it with the world. Great music and memories will be made at Apple Music Hall.”

For more information about Apple Music Hall, including how to access tickets for upcoming shows, fans can visit applemusichall.com or follow @applemusichall on Instagram and TikTok.

Brand-New Apple Music Radio Studios in London

Since its inception, Apple Music Radio has been a defining feature of the service — a place where fans and artists meet in real time. From global premieres and intimate interviews to in-depth specials and surprise performances, Apple Music Radio has distinguished itself through expertly curated, artist-led storytelling that makes listeners feel closer to the music they love. Apple Music Radio streams 24/7 and is available for free around the world.

Apple also announced today that all of Apple Music Radio’s London-based hosts and shows will now broadcast live out of Battersea with the opening of its new radio studios.

In the new space, hosts will continue to bring intimate interviews, in-depth specials, and surprise performances to fans around the world.

Since its inception, Apple Music Radio has been a defining feature of the service — a place where fans and artists meet in real time. From global premieres and intimate interviews to in-depth specials and surprise performances, Apple Music Radio has distinguished itself through expertly curated, artist-led storytelling that makes listeners feel closer to the music they love. Apple Music Radio streams 24/7 and is available for free around the world.

In the new space, hosts will continue to bring intimate interviews, in-depth specials, and surprise performances to fans around the world.
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MacDailyNews Note: Apple Music celebrates musicians, songwriters, producers, and fans with a catalog of over 100 million songs, expertly curated playlists, and the best artist interviews, conversations, and global premieres with Apple Music Radio. With original content from the most respected and beloved people in music, autoplay, time-synced lyrics, lossless audio, and immersive sound powered by Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, Apple Music offers the world’s best listening experience, helping listeners discover new music and enjoy their favorites while empowering the global artist community. Apple Music is available in over 167 countries and regions on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod, CarPlay, Apple Vision Pro, and online at music.apple.com, plus popular smart speakers, smart TVs, and Android and Windows devices. Apple Music is ad-free and never shares consumer data with third parties. More information is available at apple.com/apple-music.

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Apple’s Cook calls Australia’s social media rules ‘world-leading,’ PM says

Tue, 2026-09-22 07:00

Apple Executive Chair Tim Cook regards Australia’s restrictions on social media as “world-leading,” Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Sunday after meeting Cook at the company’s headquarters in California.

Speaking from Apple Park in remarks broadcast in Australia, Albanese said Cook “gave us a lot of time this morning” and praised the government’s work on online safety. “He regards the work that we’ve done on social media to be world-leading,” Albanese said.

Australia became the first country to ban social media accounts for children under 16 when the law took effect in December 2025. This month the government announced a further step: giving users the option to choose the content that appears in their feeds. Other governments have followed in 2026, with the European Commission the latest to propose a ban for children under 13.

Asked about Albanese’s comments, an Apple spokesperson pointed to a post by Cook on X. In it, Cook said he was grateful to share “some of our newest innovations, including strong and intuitive controls to help keep kids safe online.”

It was great to welcome @AlboMP to Apple Park this morning to talk about the incredible work of our teams and our longstanding commitment to Australia. I was grateful to share some of our newest innovations, including strong and intuitive controls to help keep kids safe online. pic.twitter.com/EQKmIkP3uC

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 19, 2026

Albanese’s U.S. visit comes amid a broader Silicon Valley debate over the pace of AI development and the need for safeguards. The Australian leader said AI carries risks that must be managed and called for discussion of a global framework “because it is moving very quickly, and we need to make sure that humans remain in control.”

Those comments contrast with President Donald Trump’s recent stance. Trump has rejected claims that AI poses an existential threat, described calls for tighter oversight as a coordinated effort that would advantage China, and maintained that existing criminal and regulatory authorities are already adequate.

The meeting underscores how Australia’s early, strict approach to youth online safety has drawn attention from one of the world’s largest technology companies, even as platforms and governments continue to clash over enforcement, age verification, and the balance between protection and access.
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MacDailyNews Take: For many years we have social media a societal cancer: addictive feeds, engagement algorithms, and attention farming that reward outrage, isolate kids, and coarsen civic life. Australia’s under-16 ban and feed-choice plan are blunt instruments. They are also a recognition that leaving children unsupervised on these products is not “innovation.” Apple selling stronger parental controls is useful. It does not make social media healthy. Smart users will keep treating the worst of these platforms like the plague they are.

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Judge blocks OpenAI from seeing Apple’s confidential settlement with Elon Musk’s X Corp and SpaceXAI

Tue, 2026-09-22 06:00
Elon Musk

A federal judge has denied OpenAI access to the secret settlement that pulled Apple out of an antitrust fight with Elon Musk’s companies, leaving ChatGPT’s maker to defend the case alone.

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas reviewed the agreement in private and ruled that it contains nothing relevant to the claims still pending against OpenAI. He also emphasized a long-standing court preference for keeping settlements confidential so parties will actually settle. The terms stay sealed.

X Corp and SpaceXAI sued Apple and OpenAI in 2025, alleging the two locked up markets for generative AI and smartphones. The core complaint was Apple’s integration of ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence and how rival apps, including Grok, appeared in the App Store. Apple has said the OpenAI deal was not exclusive. Both companies have denied wrongdoing. OpenAI has described the litigation as part of a broader campaign by Musk, who co-founded OpenAI and later left.

On September 14, Musk’s companies dismissed their claims against Apple with prejudice, which bars them from bringing those same claims again. They made clear the case against OpenAI would continue. OpenAI, which said it was not a party to the Apple deal and did not know its terms, asked the court to force disclosure, arguing the agreement could undermine the remaining claims and help its defense. Discovery in the case had already closed.

Pittman disagreed. After an in-camera review, he found the settlement did “not present information relevant to the issues to be decided at summary judgment or trial.” OpenAI plans to seek summary judgment and received extra time to prepare that motion. A trial has been discussed for January.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple settled, signed the papers, and left the building. OpenAI is still standing in the hallway demanding to read the other kids’ note. A federal judge looked at the secret deal and said there’s nothing in it that helps ChatGPT’s case. Confidentiality exists so actual companies can end fights instead of turning every handshake into a press cycle. Apple’s out of this. Free and clear. OpenAI’s still in.

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iFixit Teardown: iPhone 18 Pro’s new ‘winking eye’ camera is a marvel — and a repair dead end

Tue, 2026-09-22 05:00
iPhone 18 Pro innards via a Lumafield Neptune CT scanner

Apple’s first variable-aperture iPhone camera is a feat of miniature engineering. It is also, iFixit says, essentially unfixable at the component level.

In a teardown published September 20, 2026, iFixit opened the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max and zeroed in on the year’s headline camera feature: a six-blade mechanical iris in the main lens. The blades are about as thin as a human hair and are driven by electromagnets, independently of the optical image-stabilization system. When technicians heated and pried the lens stack apart, one of those blades shot across the room. That, the team wrote, is a preview of what a real repair would look like.

If the aperture sticks, owners should expect to replace the entire main camera assembly. A blade-level fix is not realistic for shops or DIY repairers. iFixit called the mechanism the phone’s first “winking eye” — and made it the title of the teardown.

The rest of the phone is a mix of familiar strengths and new complications.Apple moved the Face ID infrared camera under the display, shrinking the Dynamic Island. Under a microscope, every other row of pixels is missing above the sensor so infrared light can pass through. An IR-pass filter sits beneath the OLED; it does not quite reach the edge of the opening, creating what iFixit described as an “eclipse” effect. The selfie camera and dot projector remain in the island.

Cooling got a major redesign. The A20 Pro package puts the die beside the memory instead of stacking memory on top of the hot silicon. That lets the chip sit against a vapor chamber iFixit says is much larger than last year’s — Apple has claimed about three times the surface area. Thermal material presses the SoC directly onto the chamber, which now spans a large portion of the chassis.

Batteries are bigger than in the iPhone 17 Pro lineup. Capacities reported from teardowns and Apple’s regional listings: about 4,056 mAh (Pro with SIM tray), 4,288 mAh (Pro, eSIM-only), 5,391 mAh (Pro Max with SIM), and 5,567 mAh (Pro Max, eSIM-only). The glue-free battery tray and modular camera modules carry over from recent Pros.

The worrying find was not the camera. On three of the four units iFixit opened, the plastic display frame cracked during removal. That frame is not sold separately; damage typically means a full display module. A cracked frame can keep the screen from sitting flush and may hurt water resistance. Other public teardowns have not shown the same breakage, and Apple has used a similar frame since the iPhone 15 Pro. iFixit said four phones are not enough to call it a widespread defect. Heat from the new cooling system may also be pulling warmth away from the adhesive while technicians try to loosen the display. They plan more tests, including isopropyl alcohol to soften glue more evenly.

Most serious repairs still start by taking off the screen. The USB-C port remains buried. Those constraints, plus the unserviceable iris, keep the phones in familiar territory.

iFixit’s provisional repairability score: 7 out of 10 for both the Pro and Pro Max — the same as the 16 and 17 Pro models — pending parts availability and more display-removal testing.

MacDailyNews Take: The 18 Pro line is more thermally ambitious and photographically more mechanical than last year’s phones. The iris is the star of the teardown and the clearest reminder that shrinking camera physics into a sealed slab still leaves some parts you can admire, but not readily mend.

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Siri AI is live, and a lot of people are still waiting — or complaining

Tue, 2026-09-22 04:00
Apple’s all-new Siri AI. An even more capable AI assistant with expanded intelligence to be more helpful every day.

Siri AI shipped this month with iOS 27 as Apple’s rebuilt assistant: personal context, multi-step tasks, and a new home on the iPhone. That launch is one of the most-discussed Apple topics of the week for a blunt reason because Apple put parts of the feature on a waitlist. Users and Apple sites are cataloging misses: slower replies, odd Watch behavior, and moments where the old Siri would have simply worked.

The timing matters. New CEO John Ternus told the keynote audience the iPhone already is the ideal AI device. The home hub Apple is testing in employee houses was held for years until this assistant was ready. If Siri AI feels gated or brittle on the phone people already own, the next hardware story gets harder to sell. The company can point to a real software rewrite. The public conversation is still about the gap between the keynote and the first week of use.

MacDailyNews Take: Give it some time to roll out fully. We’re off the waitlist here: Siri AI is already a huge improvement over the previous version. It’s not even in the same universe.

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iPhone Duo pre-orders open October 16th as Apple asks buyers to judge them on the crease

Tue, 2026-09-22 03:00
Apple’s revolutionary iPhone Duo

Apple’s first foldable phone is now on a fixed calendar: pre-orders start Friday, October 16th, and the iPhone Duo goes on sale October 23rd in about 70 countries, starting at $1,999. That timeline is doing as much work as the hardware. Stores already have demo units and Apple’s new hardware chief has invited the one fight foldable makers usually dodge.

Tom Marieb told interviewers that Apple should be held accountable if the crease becomes more visible over time.

Hold us accountable to that, please. The choice of a matte finish — apart from it being beautiful — is part of that equation. When you look at glossy displays, their specularity makes it very easy to pick up topology differences. That’s part of the reason we picked the matte finish — it’s not only beautiful in terms of preventing glare, but it’s also more forgiving of [topology] changes over time. – Tom Marieb, Apple VP of Hardware

The inner 7.6-inch panel uses a matte nano-texture that is meant to cut glare and disguise the fold line. The hinge, he said, was built to close with the weight of a luxury car door. That is marketing language with a warranty-shaped dare attached. Samsung has spent years living with crease photos. Apple is betting a finish, a hinge, and a public challenge will make the first iPhone fold feel finished rather than late.
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MacDailyNews Take: Strong. Another nice quote from Marieb when discussing Ceramic Shield 2 durability:

Personally, when I see someone put a screen protector on their iPhone, it makes my skin crawl, because we work so hard to make beautiful front screens.

Can’t wait for iPhone Duo!

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Apple Pay launch in India is imminent

Tue, 2026-09-22 02:00
Apple Pay

Apple Pay’s long-delayed arrival in India is now close enough that Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman lists it as imminent. India remains one of the largest markets where Apple’s tap-to-pay system still does not work. That is about to change.

Separate reporting this week has pointed to an October start with Axis Bank credit cards first, with talks continuing with larger issuers including HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. The first phase is expected to be card-based contactless payments through Visa and Mastercard, not a full UPI rollout. UPI dominates everyday digital payments in India. Apple is likely to add that rail later, if at all in the opening wave, because the licensing and technical path is more complicated than tokenized cards.

The commercial details are still being negotiated, including fees. The pattern matches Apple’s usual country-by-country approach: launch with one or two banks, then expand. For iPhone owners in India, the practical change is simple. Instead of opening a separate payments app, they would authenticate a tap with Face ID or Touch ID using a card already in Wallet. For Apple, the launch closes a conspicuous gap in a huge market where its smartphone share has been rising.

MacDailyNews Take: The first version may start with a smaller set of banks and card payments, but it still puts Apple Pay in front of an already tens-of-millions-strong iPhone base in India — and gives Apple a foundation upon which to build.

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