Apple News
watchOS 27 adds three new Apple Watch apps: Siri, Find My, and Readiness
watchOS 27 brings three new apps to the Apple Watch, according to 9to5Mac’s Ryan Christoffel: a dedicated Siri app, a unified Find My app, and a Readiness app limited to newer hardware.
The Siri app arrives as part of a broader AI overhaul of the assistant. Users can still summon Siri with the Digital Crown, but the app gives them another place to start a conversation and, more usefully, a place to review past ones. Because the updated Siri keeps a cross-device history, the Watch app surfaces conversations from the iPhone, Mac, and other Apple devices, not only those started on the wrist.
Find My is also redesigned. In watchOS 26, location features were split across three apps—Find Devices, Find Items, and Find People. watchOS 27 folds those into a single Find My app with a map-centered view. A menu in the top-left corner switches between what you’re looking for, while the interface otherwise stays consistent, covering the same ground as the three older apps in a more compact layout.
The third addition, Readiness, is only for Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. As described in the App Store listing cited by Christoffel, the app analyzes recent activity, vitals, and sleep to estimate how ready the wearer is for the day. It returns a score with one of four labels—Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It—plus explanations of the factors behind the score and links into related apps. Complications and Smart Stack widgets surface the score at a glance, and more detail is available in the Fitness app on iPhone.
MacDailyNews Take: In a nutshell, the three apps extend conversational AI history to the wrist, simplify locating people and items, and add a recovery-style daily score on the newest watches.
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Apple TV debuts trailer for the second season of sports comedy ‘Stick’
Apple TV on Thursday unveiled the trailer for season two of the beloved sports comedy “Stick,” starring and executive produced by Owen Wilson and created by Jason Keller. The 10-episode second season premieres Wednesday, November 4, 2026 with two episodes, followed by one episode weekly until December 30, 2026 on Apple TV.
“Stick” is a feel-good comedy about a found family and their relationships, set within the world of golf as it has never been shown before. Wilson stars as Pryce Cahill, an over-the-hill, ex-pro golfer whose career was derailed prematurely 20 years ago. After the collapse of his marriage and getting fired from his job at an Indiana sporting goods store, Pryce hedges his bets, and future, entirely on a troubled 17-year-old golf phenom named Santi (Peter Dager).
In season two, Santi takes the next step in his pursuit of professional golf, only to discover how quickly the game changes when talent becomes expectation. As Santi chases his dream, Pryce finds himself wondering what might still be possible for him. Urged on by his former rival Clark Ross (Timothy Olyphant), Pryce does something nobody expects: he bets on himself, launching an improbable comeback in hopes of becoming the oldest golfer ever to win a major. But the road back proves far harder than he imagined. And the closer Pryce gets to the golfer he once was, the more he is forced to confront why he never fulfilled the promise everyone once saw in him. With brilliant new coach Amanda (Rhea Seehorn) and trusted caddie Mitts (Marc Maron) in his corner, Pryce sets out to prove — to the golf world and, more importantly, to himself — that maybe he really was as good as everyone always said he was.
Led by an ensemble cast that includes Wilson, Dager, Maron, Mariana Treviño, Lilli Kay, Judy Greer and Olyphant, the second season of “Stick” welcomes Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Seehorn, alongside John Higgins, Billy Zane, Rex Linn, Sasha Alexander, and Missi Pyle, and features return guest appearances from legendary broadcasters Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman, and golf enthusiasts Matt Scharff and Dan Rapaport.
Hailing from Apple Studios, “Stick” is showrun by Keller, who also serves as executive producer alongside Wilson, Ben Silverman for Propagate Content and Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady. The series is also executive produced by Christopher Moynihan, Rodney Ferrell, Howard T. Owens, Drew Buckley, Lee Eisenberg and Bill Callahan.
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 3,832 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 smart home ‘second-party’ lineup reaches beyond LG, with Schneider also in the mix
Apple’s planned smart-home push appears to include a new class of partner-built accessories, not just products from LG. According to AppleInsider’s Wesley Hilliard, code tied to a “second-party” product table lists devices from both LG and Schneider Electric, with setup perks that go beyond ordinary Matter support.
Hilliard reports that the table, surfaced by code researcher pdfu, covers ten products so far. The LG entries include a smart thermostat, a GEMS smart thermostat, a smart deadbolt, a GEMS smart door lock, and temperature/humidity sensors in standard and GEMS versions. Schneider’s entries include two thermostat variants, a temperature/humidity sensor, and a fourth accessory that may be a sensor variant.
Those products are described as receiving special treatment in Apple’s software, including NFC pairing and a setup animation. The designation implies the devices are built with closer ties to Apple Home than typical third-party Matter gear, while still shipping under the partner’s brand rather than Apple’s.
That reading fits earlier reporting that Apple and LG co-developed a broader accessory set — cameras, a video doorbell, a floodlight camera, a lock, a thermostat, and sensors — with LG handling manufacturing and support. Those LG products have been tied to early 2027 availability, not an immediate launch.
Hilliard notes the Schneider entries do not by themselves prove a wide program, but they suggest the effort is larger than a single partner. The code is already appearing in current betas, which raises the chance Apple will outline the initiative at its October 13th event, expected to focus on a refreshed HomePod mini, an Apple TV update, and a new home hub. LG accessories are still expected later, so any announcement would likely mark the start of the program rather than immediate retail availability.
MacDailyNews Take: The approach echoes Apple’s earlier pattern of working with outside manufacturers on accessories it shapes, but does not sell under its own name. Unlike the original HomeKit model, which required special hardware and later relaxed into software and Matter/Thread compatibility, these “second-party” products look intended to expose more of Apple Home’s features without forcing users into a separate companion app for core controls.
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It’s official: Apple to hold ‘Welcome home’ product event on October 13th
Apple has set October 13th for a product launch under the tagline “Welcome home,” pointing to a long-delayed push into the smart home.
On Thursday, October 8th, Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, posted a short teaser on X. The clip shows hands stitching the company’s retro rainbow logo into fabric, then cuts to the line “Welcome home. October 13.” At the same time, the company sent media invitations to an “Apple Experience” in Tribeca, New York, scheduled for 9:00 a.m. ET that day. Apple has not said whether the session will include a full keynote livestream or mainly hands-on time with new hardware.
Welcome home. October 13. https://t.co/ChelGSDOTI
— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) October 8, 2026
What’s expected
Reporting from MacRumors, 9to5Mac, and Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman centers on three home products that have been delayed, in part while Apple waited on a more capable version of Siri.
The centerpiece is a new smart home hub, often referred to in coverage as a HomePad or under the internal code name J490. It is described as a cross between an iPad and a HomePod: a roughly 6-inch square display meant for multiple people in a household. Voice is expected to be the main way to interact with it, with Siri AI handling control of lights and other accessories, FaceTime calls, video, news, weather, and calendar items. A camera and presence sensor are rumored to recognize who is in the room and surface a personalized layout of widgets and apps.
Two form factors are widely expected: a wall-mountable version and a tabletop model with a half-dome speaker base reminiscent of the iMac G4. Apple is said to picture buyers placing one in several rooms. Pricing has been floated around $350, though that figure is unconfirmed.
Alongside the hub, Apple is expected to refresh two existing products that have gone years without major updates:
• HomePod mini. The first revision since the 2020 original. Reports point to new colors (including green, pink, and blue in software leaks), an N1 networking chip for stronger Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a faster S-series processor built to run Siri AI.
• Apple TV 4K. The first new model since 2022. Expectations include an A19 or A19 Pro chip, more RAM, the same N1 networking chip, and an updated Siri Remote, with the existing design largely unchanged.
What’s not expected
Macs that Gurman and others have said are still planned before the end of the year are not expected at this launch. An OLED iPad mini has also been in development rumors, but it is not tied to the October 13 home event. A larger HomePod update and a higher-end hub with a motorized arm have been described as later projects.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple has not confirmed any product names, prices, or specs. The “Welcome home” framing and the New York invitation are the only official details; everything else comes from prior supply-chain and software-code reporting that lined up with the date weeks before Joswiak’s post.
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Apple TV lands crime drama ‘Dustfall’ starring Anna Torv
Apple TV on Thursday announced that it has landed “Dustfall,” the gripping six-episode crime drama starring Emmy Award nominee Anna Torv (“The Last of Us,” “Mindhunter”), from Soapbox Pictures and Moonriver Television. “Dustfall” is written for the screen by Dianne Taylor (“After the Party”), based on the Davitt Awards Readers’ Choice-winning novel “The Unbelieved” by Vikki Petraitis and directed by Emma Freeman (“The Family Next Door,” “The Newsreader”). Apple TV will premiere “Dustfall” in 2027, excluding in Australia, where it screens on ABC and ABC iview, and is subject to premiere rights held by the BBC and ZDF in their respective territories. Apple TV acquired the series from distributor Federation International.
“Dustfall” is a propulsive, atmospheric tropic noir that follows a seasoned detective, Antigone “Tig” Pollard (Torv) whose deep sense of justice is challenged by a world where victims are doubted, predators hide in plain sight and the legal system too often falls short. Tig is called in to investigate a harrowing sexual assault case that spirals darker after a key suspect turns up dead. As Tig hunts for the truth, she’s forced to confront long-buried secrets from her own adolescence.
The cast also stars BAFTA Award and Emmy Award nominee Juliet Stevenson (“Truly, Madly, Deeply”), Peter Fenton (“Love Is a Four-Letter Word”), Bert LaBonté (“Last Seen”), Zoe Phillips (“East of Eden”), Kate Box (“Deadloch”), Lila McGuire (“Goolagong”), Harry Gilchrist, Ling Cooper Tang (“Troppo”), Gemma Chua-Tran (“Heartbreak High”), Alice Ansara (“Black Snow”), Martin Sacks (“The Survivors”), Theo Haitana (“Heart of the Man”), Conrad Coleby (“All Saints”), Ben Knight (“Bay of Fires”), Kirsty O’Connor (“A Little Resistance”), Jay Ryan (“Territory”), Ed Wightman (“Last Days of the Space Age”), and Luke J. Morgan (“NCIS: Sydney”).
“Dustfall” is adapted for television by Taylor, Stuart Page (“Total Control”), Belinda Chayko (“The Survivors”), and Beatrix Christian (“Black Snow”). The series is directed by Freeman, who also executive produces alongside Xavier Marchand (“A Gentleman in Moscow”) and Daisy Gilbert (“Nautilus”) for Moonriver, Deb Balderstone (“Ticket to Paradise”) for Soapbox Pictures, and Torv, as well as Brett Sleigh and Rachel Okine for ABC.
“Dustfall” is a Soapbox Pictures and Moonriver co-production for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in association with the BBC, ZDF, and Screen Australia, and distributed worldwide by Federation International. The series is set and filmed on the Gold Coast in Australia.
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 3,832 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning and history-making comedies “Widow’s Bay,” “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, The King’s Trust launch initiative to support young creatives
Apple and The King’s Trust are building on their longstanding partnership by launching an immersive new education program to help young people build careers in the creative industries. The Apple x King’s Trust Creative Labs will offer young people meaningful engagement with Apple experts across industries as they explore a variety of career pathways, equipping them with the technology, resources, skills, confidence, and expertise needed to realize their potential.
A first cohort of up to 20 young people ages 18 to 30 will join specialized workshops to learn valuable, industry-aligned skills using Apple technologies. The immersive educational experience began this week with music industry and creative workshops, aligned to the recent opening of Apple Music Hall at Battersea Power Station in London, with more sessions and cohorts to come over the course of the next year.
Prophet Guillory — Apple Music’s head of Artist Services, Tools, and Community — speaks with lab participants.
Apple has long supported educational programming for learners of all ages and backgrounds in the UK and around the world. Its offerings aim to help participants gain needed skills, access a wide range of resources, and succeed in the workforce.
“At Apple, we believe education is a powerful force for equity and opportunity,” said Alisha Johnson Wilder, Apple’s senior director of Global Community Impact, in a statement. “For years, we’ve been proud to work alongside The King’s Trust to spark creativity and open doors for young people across the UK. With the launch of the Apple x King’s Trust Creative Labs, we’re taking that commitment further, connecting the next generation of creators and innovators directly with our experts, technology, and mentorship to help them build vital skills, discover their passions, and thrive in the workforce.”
This year marks the 50th anniversary of The King’s Trust. Since it was founded by His Majesty The King, as the Prince of Wales, in 1976, it has helped 1.3 million young people across the UK reach their potential by developing life skills, preparing for employment, accessing job opportunities, and launching their businesses. At least $15 billion of social value can be attributed directly to the impact of The Trust’s programs over the last 50 years, and many of the participants it has supported over the last five years have moved into work, education, or training.
“Together with Apple, we have already opened up valuable opportunities for thousands of young people across the UK through our longstanding partnership,” said Jonathan Townsend, The King’s Trust’s UK chief executive, in a statement. “We are proud to build on this work with the Creative Labs program, an exciting new chapter in our partnership that will help even more young people develop the confidence and creative digital skills they need to take their next steps toward employment. We cannot wait to see how they use these experiences to realize their potential and discover where their talents can take them.”
Young artists get hands-on with Apple technology while taking part in the first Apple x King’s Trust Creative Labs session.
Since 2019, Apple’s support has enabled The King’s Trust to expand STEAM programming to schools in every region across the country through the Achieve program. Using Apple’s coding education resources, young people work collaboratively and think strategically to develop apps that address the needs and goals of their communities. Additionally, The King’s Trust’s 12-week Team program offers young adults access to Apple technology and learning resources to support their efforts to earn a Personal Development and Employability qualification.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple is also working with The King’s Trust to develop resources that build AI literacy, creativity, and agency among educators and young people, and to support educators to integrate the latest technologies within their teaching practices.
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Thinner iPhone Air 2 could match unfolded iPhone Duo at 5.2 mm, leak claims
Apple’s next ultra-thin iPhone Air could shrink to the same 5.2 mm thickness as an unfolded iPhone Duo while packing a larger battery, according to a new leak reported by MacRumors’ Tim Hardwick.
The claim comes from the Korean Naver blog account “yeux1122,” which says the iPhone Air 2 will be about 0.4 mm thinner than the current model even as battery capacity rises. Apple lists the original iPhone Air at 5.6 mm thick (more precise measurements put it at 5.64 mm), so a 0.4 mm cut would land the successor near 5.2 mm — roughly a 7 percent reduction. That figure lines up with the thickness Apple quotes for the iPhone Duo when it is fully open.
The Duo, which Apple introduced in September 2026 as its first foldable iPhone, measures 5.2 mm unfolded and 11.3 mm closed, and weighs 254 grams. Apple has called the open Duo the thinnest iPhone it has made. The current Air, by contrast, is a non-folding titanium slab that weighs about 165 grams and is only fractionally thicker than the open Duo. Matching that open thickness in a conventional phone would erase the Air’s one remaining dimensional disadvantage against Apple’s own foldable.
A separate earlier rumor, also noted by Hardwick, puts the Air 2’s battery at 3,500 mAh, up from the 3,149 mAh cell in the present Air — an increase of roughly 11 percent in raw capacity. Fitting both a thinner chassis and a larger battery is the notable engineering claim; ultra-thin phones usually trade internal volume, and therefore endurance, for slimness. The leaker’s track record is mixed, so the numbers remain unverified.
MacDailyNews Take: The Air 2 is expected in the first half of 2027, alongside the standard iPhone 18 and the lower-cost iPhone 18e, under Apple’s split release schedule that put the iPhone 18 Pro models and the Duo on stage in September 2026. Other circulating reports have suggested additions such as a second rear camera and improved thermal cooling hardware.
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Apple supplier TSMC posts record third-quarter revenue
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reported record third-quarter revenue of T$1.49 trillion ($46.71 billion) on Thursday, a 50% increase from a year earlier and slightly ahead of market expectations, as demand for artificial-intelligence chips continued to lift the world’s largest contract chipmaker.
Revenue for July through September compared with T$989.92 billion in the same period last year, according to Reuters calculations based on the company’s figures. An LSEG SmartEstimate compiled from 19 analysts had pointed to about T$1.46 trillion.
The result also topped the range TSMC gave in July, when it forecast third-quarter sales of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion. The company issues guidance only in U.S. dollars. September sales alone rose 54.6% from a year earlier to T$511.86 billion.
TSMC is a major supplier to Apple and Nvidia. It did not give further detail or an updated outlook in the brief monthly revenue statement. Full third-quarter earnings are due next Thursday, when the company is expected to refresh its view for the current quarter and the rest of the year. Analysts tracked by LSEG expect net profit to rise about 64% year on year to T$740.8 billion.
The report landed on the same day Samsung Electronics projected quarterly operating profit above 100 trillion won (US$74.4 billion) — a first for a technology company — citing strong memory sales tied to AI demand. TSMC, Asia’s most valuable listed company with a market capitalization of about $2.1 trillion, saw its Taipei-listed shares close down 1.35% before the revenue figures were released. The broader Taiwan market fell 1%. The stock is still up 64.52% this year, roughly in line with the wider market.
MacDailyNews Take: AI-related business is good.
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Apple TV brings Dolby Atmos to Formula 1, starting with the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin
Apple TV is adding Dolby Atmos to its Formula 1 coverage, beginning with the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin later this month.
Until now, Apple’s F1 streams have been carried in 5.1 surround. Atmos is meant to make the broadcast more immersive for viewers whose TVs or audio systems support it, placing engine noise, passing cars, and pit-lane sound around the listener — including overhead — rather than locking them to fixed channels.
The Austin weekend runs October 22–25, with the race on the final day. Apple has not said whether Atmos will cover practice and qualifying or only the race itself. The company has framed Austin as the start of its Atmos plans, but it is not yet clear whether every race after that will get the same treatment.
Apple’s Oliver Schusser told The Hollywood Reporter that sports viewing has seen little innovation and that there is room to improve the fan experience. Dolby’s John Couling told Business of Speed that Apple can draw on Formula 1’s existing trackside sensors and microphones, so circuits do not need new hardware — a setup that should be easier to repeat elsewhere.
Apple already has a track record with race audio. The sound team that won an Oscar for best sound on the Apple Original Film F1: The Movie which worked with roughly 150 microphones placed around tracks. Live Atmos is an attempt to bring some of that presence to the broadcast.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, Atmos only appears on gear that supports it. Standard stereo setups will sound the same as before. AirPods 3 and newer — including recent AirPods Pro and AirPods Max models — can render the mix as Spatial Audio when paired with an Apple TV 4K.
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Apple CEO Ternus’ $8.5 million stock sale was tax math, not a market call
Apple’s new chief executive, John Ternus, sold about $8.5 million of company stock on October 2nd. The headline number looks large, and it is his first reported open-market sale since he succeeded Tim Cook on September 1st. The Form 4 filing shows a routine compensation event, not a discretionary exit.
On October 1st, 99,878 restricted stock units from a 2023 performance award vested on a schedule set years earlier. Vesting is taxable income whether or not the executive sells anything. Apple withheld 49,054 shares to cover that tax bill. Those withheld shares are not part of the sale. Of the shares that remained, Ternus sold 25,412, at prices between $331.38 and $334.05, for roughly $8.46 million. After the vest, the withhold, and the sale, he still held more Apple stock than he did before the award settled.
The trades ran under a Rule 10b5-1 plan Ternus adopted on May 21, 2026 — months before he became CEO. That rule lets insiders lock in future sales in advance, so the execution date is not a judgment on news that day. The plan adoption date matters more than the sale date.
The same calendar hit other executives. Under a plan adopted May 28th, Cook, now executive chair, sold 191,753 shares for about $63.8 million after 374,541 units vested, and still held 3,237,843 shares. Senior vice president Deirdre O’Brien sold 46,389 shares for about $15.5 million. Several officers selling on the same day after one company-wide vest is what a shared pay calendar looks like. Those awards also paid above target: Apple’s three-year total shareholder return was 90.67%, ranking in the 76th percentile of the S&P 500.
Apple’s fiscal third-quarter revenue rose 16.4% to $109.42 billion, and earnings per share of $2.02 beat the $1.89 estimate. Net income grew 27.1%, and Services brought in $30.74 billion. Shares closed at $333.63 on October 6, up 0.22%.
Investors who read Form 4s should separate the codes: an “S” is an open-market sale, an “F” is tax withholding. Here the sale was half of a post-tax vest, pre-scheduled under a 10b5-1 plan, mirrored by Cook and O’Brien, and followed by a larger stake than Ternus held the day before. That is compensation mechanics and certainly not a signal to sell.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple stock remains undervalued.
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Apple to report Q426 earnings on Monday, November 2nd
Apple will report FY26 Q4 earnings on Monday, November 2, 2026 after market close, right around 1:30 p.m. PDT / 4:30 p.m. EDT.
Apple’s conference call to discuss fourth fiscal quarter results and business updates is scheduled for Monday, November 2, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. PDT / 5:00 p.m. EDT. It will be the first earnings call led by CEO John Ternus alongside CFO Kevan Parekh.
Join Apple here on November 2, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. PDT / 5:00 p.m. EDT to listen to the conference call live.
Apple’s official guidance in the Q3 2026 (fiscal) earnings conference call primarily emphasized expected revenue growth for the Q426 quarter of 9% to 11% year-over-year. With Q4 2025 revenue of $102.5 billion, that range implies roughly $111.7 billion to $113.7 billion.
This outlook factored in foreign-exchange headwinds and supply constraints on iPhone, Mac, and iPad, while assuming iPhone revenue growth in the mid-teens. Other elements included:
• Gross margin in the 47–48% range (down from the prior quarter, which had benefited from tariff refunds).
• Continued pressure from higher memory pricing.
The September quarter ran from June 28th through September 26th, so the results will include the first nine days of sales for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which went on sale September 18th, along with Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5. The iPhone Duo, set to go on sale October 23rd, will not be in these numbers and will fall into the December quarter instead.
Investors will be listening for holiday-quarter expectations, comments on supply and memory costs, and Ternus’ first read on the business as CEO.
MacDailyNews Note: As usual, we’ll bring you Apple’s results as soon as they are released, right around 1:30 p.m. PDT / 4:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, November 2, 2026 and then follow with live notes from Apple’s conference call at 2:00 p.m. PDT / 5:00 p.m. EDT.
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Next-gen Apple TV 4K expected to pair an A20 Pro-class chip with Siri AI
Apple’s long-delayed Apple TV 4K refresh is widely expected to arrive as a software-and-silicon upgrade rather than a redesign, with reports centering on Siri AI and a much faster processor — possibly as high as an A20 Pro — after nearly four years on the current A15 Bionic model.
The third-generation Apple TV 4K launched in October 2022 with an A15 Bionic and 4GB of memory. Since then, Apple has held the set-top box while it prepared Apple Intelligence and a rebuilt Siri. Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman has described the new Apple TV, along with a refreshed HomePod mini, as being in advanced testing, with the delay tied to shipping the hardware alongside the new assistant rather than as an incremental box.
Chip reports have moved upward as the wait stretched. Early expectations focused on the A17 Pro, the oldest chip that can run Apple Intelligence. In September 2026, code uncovered by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris pointed to model identifier AppleTV18,1 and an A19 or A19 Pro, which would imply 8GB or 12GB of memory. Some later reporting has gone further and named the A20 Pro used in the iPhone 18 Pro line as a possible fit, arguing that Apple may want extra headroom for on-device models and games after such a long gap. Apple has not confirmed the chip.
Either way, the jump from the A15 would be large. A modern A-series chip brings a more capable Neural Engine for on-device AI, hardware-accelerated ray tracing for Apple Arcade and other games, and more efficient video decode. Extra memory is the practical requirement for Siri AI.
Siri AI is the feature for which Apple appears to have been waiting. Code in tvOS 27 and the tvOS 27.2 beta has referenced foundation models, Siri data collection for model improvement, and a Siri Messages framework that could support Smart Replies and reading messages from a linked iPhone. On the television, the practical pitch is simpler: better content search, app launching, recommendations, and world-knowledge questions, plus tighter ties to HomeKit. Recent betas also hint that a HomePod in a home-theater group could pass Siri AI requests to the Apple TV.
Other expected changes sit under the same polished black chassis. Leaked product images show a familiar exterior. Connectivity reports point to Apple’s N1 wireless chip, which would add Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. A revised Siri Remote, internally referenced in code, is also expected; whether it gains Ultra Wideband or Find My support is unclear.
Timing is the other open variable. Several reports have pointed to an October 13th home-product push that could include the Apple TV 4K, a new HomePod mini, and Apple’s smart-home hub. Pricing is unconfirmed. Apple raised the current Wi-Fi model to $199 and the Ethernet model to $249 earlier in 2026, and those figures are the baseline most observers are using.
MacDailyNews Take: None of this is official. The consistent thread across leaks is that the next Apple TV 4K is meant to make the living-room box an Apple Intelligence device, with a newer chip — A19-class in the strongest code evidence, A20 Pro in some reports — and its attendant increased memory as the hardware that makes Siri AI possible.
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Mac admins are shipping AI-written code and configs at machine speed, but taking days to undo the mess
Enterprise Mac administrators are embracing AI to write scripts, troubleshoot problems and create device configurations, but the systems they rely on to manage those changes aren’t keeping pace. New research from Fleet Device Management finds a widening gap between how quickly AI can help IT teams make changes and how long it takes to recover when something goes wrong.
Fleet’s “Apple in the Enterprise” report, which surveyed more than 250 enterprise IT practitioners managing Apple devices, finds that Mac administration has evolved into an engineering discipline, while legacy device management infrastructure struggles to keep pace.
According to the report, 86% allow AI-written output to reach production devices following some form of review. In the past 30 days, 61% have used AI to author a mobile device management (MDM) profile or configuration, 62% to write scripts and code and 68% for troubleshooting or log analysis.
At the same time, nearly 70% are unable to roll back a bad configuration change within an hour, and 43% need more than a day. About a quarter (26%) can recover the same day but only with manual intervention.
“AI can help push changes out in seconds, while a mistake can drain hours of valuable IT time and resources,” said Allen Houchins, CIO, Fleet, in a statement. “Automating work with AI isn’t inherently bad, but human accountability and judgment is still critical. Teams need a clear record of what changed and a fast way to undo it when something goes wrong. Speed is only an advantage if the pace of recovery matches.”
As AI plays a bigger role in device management, Fleet argues that managing configuration as code gives IT teams greater control over changes and makes mistakes easier to reverse. Some teams are already working this way: 28% use human review for AI-generated changes and version control to track them, creating a clear record and path to rollback.
The report also shows that the shift in Mac administrators’ roles increasingly resembles software engineering: 57% of respondents regularly use LLM assistants, 46% use a code editor and 42% work with CI/CD runners. AI assistants are now used even more frequently than MDM consoles (53%). As a result, nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents already see a defined career path from administrator to senior and staff engineer.
“Mac admins are basically engineers now, whether their job description calls them that or not,” said Mike McNeil, CEO and co-founder of Fleet, in a statement. “They’re writing code, using AI and shipping changes to production, but they usually don’t have the safety net engineers take for granted. Software teams have Git. They can see what changed, review it and revert it. Device management should work the same way. Then, IT can actually take advantage of AI without relinquishing control.”
MacDailyNews Take: Seems like having instant rollback in place before pushing profiles would be prudent.
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Critics call Apple TV’s new comedy series the year’s quietest triumph
Apple TV’s strongest new arrival this year may not be an original at all. “Small Prophets,” the six-episode comedy from “Detectorists” creator Mackenzie Crook, landed on the service on October 7th after a celebrated run on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, and early American reviews are treating it as the streamer’s standout of 2026.
The Hollywood Reporter says the series “may be the finest show to hit Apple this year,” with the caveat that the ranking depends on how one feels about “Widow’s Bay.” The Verge called it “extremely strong in basically every regard,” a low-key mix of sweet and silly that has no real equivalent elsewhere. Elsewhere it has been described as a “jewel-like, unhurried masterpiece” that is funny, profound, and capable of breaking and mending the heart in the same stretch. It holds a rare perfect critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and earlier won Best Series in the International Panorama at Series Mania.
The premise is small on the surface and strange underneath. Pearce Quigley plays Michael Sleep, a Manchester-area hardware-store worker whose life has stayed on hold since his partner, Clea, disappeared seven years ago. He visits his father, Brian (Sir Michael Palin), spars with a nosy neighbor and a difficult boss, and keeps a house still full of Clea’s boxes. Then an old alchemical recipe enters the picture: tiny prophetic homunculi, grown in jars, that may be able to tell him what happened to her.
Lauren Patel plays Kacey, the co-worker who becomes an unlikely ally. Crook writes, directs, and co-stars as Gordon, Michael’s boss. Sophie Willan, Jon Pointing, and Paul Kaye round out the ensemble.
What reviewers keep returning to is the tone. Crook’s show is droll rather than broad, whimsical without tipping into twee, and grounded in ordinary grief even as the alchemy grows stranger. Quigley’s performance is being singled out as one of the year’s best: sarcastic and shut-in on the surface, funny and oddly lovable once the show lets him in. Palin’s turn as the father has drawn similar praise. Episodes run about half an hour, which suits the unhurried pace.
The pickup itself is unusual for Apple. Rather than commissioning the series, the streamer acquired worldwide rights after the BBC run, the first time it has bought an existing English-language show this way. In Britain it was the year’s biggest new scripted launch for the broadcaster, drawing as many as 9.2 million viewers, and the BBC has already ordered a second series, due in 2027 and moving to BBC One. Outside the U.K., the first two episodes are streaming now, with the rest arriving weekly through November 4. British Apple TV subscribers will have to wait until 2027.
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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Amazon, Google face new smart home rival as Apple preps smart home blitz
Apple is preparing its most direct challenge yet to Amazon and Google in the connected home, lining up a new hub and a slate of security and climate devices developed with LG Electronics, according to people familiar with the plans.
The products — a doorbell, deadbolt lock, thermostat, indoor camera, outdoor camera and floodlight camera — are designed to work with an Apple smart-home ecosystem the company has been rebuilding for years, Bloomberg News reported. The hardware is expected alongside a long-delayed smart-home hub, an updated HomePod mini and a new Apple TV, with an introduction targeted for October 13th.
If the schedule holds, the launch would mark Apple’s first full-scale push into a category Amazon’s Ring and Alphabet’s Nest have dominated with doorbells, cameras, locks and thermostats. It would also be one of the first major product expansions under Chief Executive John Ternus, and a formal reboot of HomeKit, the platform Apple introduced in 2014 that never matched the reach of Alexa or Google Home.
At the center of the effort is a tabletop hub, internally code-named J490, described as a roughly six-inch square display on a tiltable arm reminiscent of the early-2000s iMac G4. A wall-mountable variant, J491, is also in development. The device runs a new interface drawn from iOS, tvOS, and watchOS, built around Apple’s rather capable Siri AI. It is expected to handle device control, FaceTime, intercom, media and household personalization, using the front camera and voice recognition to switch the screen to the person standing in front of it.
The LG-developed accessories are meant to give that hub something to control beyond lights and plugs. The deadbolt is said to support ultra wideband, so it can unlock as an authorized iPhone approaches — an extension of the proximity features Apple already uses in AirTag, car keys and Home Key. Cameras and the doorbell would put Apple in direct competition with Ring’s security lineup and Nest’s cameras and doorbells, categories where both rivals sell hardware and recurring cloud-storage plans.
Apple has reasons to move now, and reasons the timing has reportedly been delayed several times. The hub was once expected in 2024, then spring 2026, and slipped again while Apple reworked Siri. Amazon and Google spent those years embedding newer assistants — Alexa+ and Gemini for Home — into speakers, displays and cameras, and both already support Matter and Thread, the interoperability standards Apple is also expected to lean on. Samsung’s SmartThings platform has a different advantage: televisions and appliances already in millions of homes.
Apple’s counter is the installed base it already owns. iPhones, Apple TV devices, and HomePods can act as controllers, and the company has long sold privacy and on-device processing as the difference versus cloud-heavy rivals. The risk is price and breadth. Earlier reporting has put the hub near $350, well above typical Amazon Echo Show and Nest Hub prices, and HomeKit’s certified-device list remains far smaller than Alexa’s or Google’s. An iPhone is still expected to be required for setup.
Apple has not commented on the reports. Until the expected October 13th event, the lineup remains unconfirmed, but, after a decade on the edge of the category, Apple is seemingly trying to turn the home into another place where its hardware, its assistant, and its services set the terms, rather than leaving that role to Amazon and Google.
MacDailyNews Take: Breadth of devices is overrated: People only need a few smart doorbells, cameras, locks, plugs, sensors, and thermostats from which to choose, not fifty of each. Too many options just add confusion for average people who are just trying to make their homes smarter. Apple’s advantage is privacy, security, and ease-of-use, which includes the larger Apple ecosystem in which billions of users already operate.
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Apple and LG co-develop doorbell, lock, and thermostat for smart-home push
Apple is preparing a broader smart-home lineup that includes a video doorbell, thermostat, and other accessories co-developed with LG Electronics, according to Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman.
The devices are meant to sit alongside Apple’s own upcoming hardware: a new smart-home hub, an upgraded HomePod mini, and a refreshed TV set-top box. Those Apple products are set to be introduced on October 13th, Gurman reported, citing people familiar with the plans. The LG-linked accessories are running behind that schedule and are not expected to reach buyers for at least a few more months.
Beyond the doorbell and thermostat, the partnership covers a smart deadbolt lock, an indoor security camera, an outdoor security camera, and a floodlight camera, the people said. Even though Apple and LG worked on the products together, they will carry the LG brand. LG is handling manufacturing and product support, while Apple is shaping design, features, and engineering.
Gurman described the arrangement as part of a pattern Apple has used with “second-party” suppliers, including Foxconn’s Belkin and Logitech, in which products developed with Apple ship under another company’s name. The approach lets Apple expand an ecosystem without taking on the full cost of making and supporting a wide accessory line.
Recent regulatory filings have already surfaced product names. LG has sought approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and UL Solutions for items labeled the LG Video Doorbell Wired, LG Floodlight Cam, LG Outdoor Cam Plug-In, LG Indoor Cam Plug-In, LG Smart Deadbolt Lock, LG Smart Thermostat, and LG Temperature Sensor. LG asked that photos and more precise details stay confidential until early next year. The filings do not mention Apple.
Many of the devices support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, and Matter. The lock also includes ultra-wideband, which can enable automatic unlocking as an authorized user approaches the door, according to the report.
For Apple, the push is a formal reboot of HomeKit, the platform it launched in 2014 that has lagged Amazon and Google. The company is counting on the new devices and Siri AI to revive the category. Gurman has also reported that Apple is planning further home products of its own, including a privacy-focused home-monitoring device, a hub variant that mounts the screen on a robotic arm, and an in-home security monitoring service.
For LG, better known for TVs and appliances, the lineup is a rare expansion into connected security and climate control: its first indoor camera in nearly a decade, and its first recent outdoor camera, thermostat, floodlight camera, and doorbell. It would also be LG’s first smart lock sold outside South Korea.
That puts both companies closer to Amazon’s Ring and Google’s Nest. Apple and LG declined to comment, Gurman reported. The two have a long history — LG Display supplies screens for many Apple products, Apple has integrated services into LG TVs, and nearly a decade ago Apple co-developed external monitors with LG after briefly leaving that market.
MacDailyNews Take: LG will be the first of many, hopefully.
And, now, a blast from the past:
LG is the former “Lucky GoldStar,” as it was known in the United States before rebranding to “LG.” In other words: for years, they made some of the world’s worst craptronics; so bad, in fact, that they had to change their name. – MacDailyNews, December 18, 2007
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Apple Music gets new logo
Apple Music is set to get a new logo, according to MacRumors’ Tim Hardwick, who reports that the redesigned mark has already appeared in the third developer betas of iOS 27.2 and macOS 27.2.
The logo matches the one Apple used last month when it announced Apple Music Hall, its 600-capacity venue at London’s Battersea Power Station. At the time, Hardwick notes, it was unclear whether the mark was limited to the hall’s press materials and its site, applemusichall.com, or whether it signaled a broader brand change. Its presence in the system betas now points to the latter: the streaming service’s official logo is being updated.
Apple’s public Apple Music website and web player still carry the current logo. Hardwick writes that those surfaces are expected to switch over as the company rolls out the software updates later this month, shortly after the launch of the iPhone Duo. By then, the new mark should be visible across Apple Music’s apps and related branding.
iOS 27.2 beta 3 uses the new Apple Music logo https://t.co/Y2OaON5Bg3
— Aaron (@aaronp613) October 5, 2026
The new Apple Music logo is starting to appear in macOS 27.2 beta 3! https://t.co/nWZAW5dobf
— ldt (@madeby_ldt) October 5, 2026
MacDailyNews Take: It’s cleaner and the font and style better fits with the iconic Apple logo.
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Apple raises Apple One Family and Premier prices in select European countries
Apple has raised the monthly price of its Apple One Family and Apple One Premier bundles in a limited set of European countries, according to MacRumors’ Joe Rossignol. Affected subscribers began receiving email notices on October 5, 2026. The new rates apply immediately for new sign-ups, while existing subscribers will see the higher charge on their next renewal date.
The Family plan increased in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. Premier rose in only three of those markets: Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. In Spain and Portugal, both Family and Premier went up by €2 a month, with increases in other currencies described as similar in scale. The Individual plan was left unchanged.
Apple One Individual includes 50GB of iCloud+ storage plus Apple TV, Apple Music, and Apple Arcade. Family steps storage up to 200GB and keeps the same three services. Premier adds 2TB of storage, Apple Fitness+, and Apple News+.
MacDailyNews Note: Rossignol noted that this is at least the third round of Apple One price increases in 2026, a pattern that supports Apple’s services revenue. Family and Premier had already gone up earlier this year in the U.S., Australia, Canada, the U.K., and other countries, while Individual rose in the U.S., Brazil, Chile, and Mexico.
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Green-bubble chats get closer to Apple’s iMessage as iOS 27 adds RCS replies and reactions
Apple’s Messages app in iOS 27 now handles two features that will help Android RCS chats – one that iMessage users have taken for granted for years: inline replies and proper Tapback reactions.
The changes, reflected in Apple’s iOS 27 user guide, mean an iPhone user can long-press a message in an RCS thread and reply to that specific bubble. The reply shows inline for everyone in the conversation, whether they are on iPhone or Android, instead of landing as an unanchored message that only makes sense if you scroll back and guess the context.
Tapbacks get the same treatment. Until now, reacting to a photo or video from an Android contact often produced a separate text on the other side — something like “Jane loved an image” — rather than a heart or thumbs-up sitting on the media. In iOS 27 those reactions render as reactions. Apple’s guide now lists read receipts, typing indicators, Tapbacks, inline replies, and high-resolution photos and videos among the RCS features Messages supports.
Both pieces belong to the RCS Universal Profile 2.7 specification. Apple had not shipped them until now. The features showed up in iOS 27 betas over the summer — testers noted proper emoji reactions and threaded replies as early as beta 2 in June — and are part of the public release.
They land on top of a larger security change from earlier in the year. In May, Apple said end-to-end encrypted RCS had begun rolling out in beta with iOS 26.5 for supported carriers, in parallel with Google Messages. Apple and Google led the cross-industry work with the GSMA; encryption uses the Messaging Layer Security protocol in RCS Universal Profile 3.0, is on by default, and is marked with a lock icon in the thread. It only applies when both sides and their carriers support it.
Taken together, the 2026 updates narrow the practical gap between the inferior green-bubble RCS and superior blue-bubble iMessage. Editing and unsending messages are also in the newer RCS profiles and have not clearly arrived on iPhone yet; 9to5Mac has noted those as possible later additions. iMessage remains Apple’s fully encrypted default between Apple devices, and group features, effects, and Apple Intelligence tools such as one-tap suggestions and the new Drawing app in Messages are still iMessage-side experiences.
MacDailyNews Take: For mixed iPhone–Android chats, though, the everyday annoyances are a bit smaller: you can answer the message that was actually sent, and a reaction no longer dumps a sentence into the thread.
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Apple TV 4K may gain four-HomePod surround sound, software clues suggest
Apple appears to be preparing a four-HomePod surround-sound setup for Apple TV 4K, according to MacRumors‘ Joe Rossignol, who reports that fresh software evidence has surfaced ahead of an expected product announcement.
Rossignol writes that a leaker known as “pdfu,” who previously said Apple had tested connecting four HomePods to an Apple TV 4K in front-left, front-right, rear-left, and rear-right positions, has found more related code in the third beta of audioOS 27.2, Apple’s internal name for the HomePod operating system. Among the findings, the leaker said Siri can match a speaker to its surround system.
Separately, MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris found two new SF Symbols in the third beta of macOS 27.2 that depict four speakers arranged in a room. The symbols do not name the HomePod, but one looks like a top-down view of the speakers and the other refers to a home-theater setup. Their addition at this stage is being read as another sign that the feature is real.
Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman has said Apple plans to unveil a new HomePod mini and a new Apple TV 4K on Tuesday, October 13th, with a full-size HomePod refresh still expected later. It is not clear whether four-speaker surround would need new hardware. According to Rossignol’s report, pdfu previously said Apple tested both four second-generation HomePods and a mix of two second-generation HomePods in front with two unreleased rear speakers. It is also unclear whether current Apple TV 4K models would be included or whether the feature would be limited to the next model.
MacDailyNews Note: Today, Apple TV 4K can use a pair of HomePods or HomePod mini units as its default stereo output. With new HomePod and Apple TV models reportedly close, and with matching clues in software code and system symbols, Rossignol concludes that Apple is likely to show the feature soon unless something changes at the last minute.
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