Apple News

Apple has acquired MotionVFX, a leading developer of professional plugins, visual effects, templates, and motion graphics tools primarily designed for its Final Cut Pro video editing software.

The deal, announced on March 16, 2026, brings the Polish company, founded by Szymon Masiak in 2009, into Apple’s fold. MotionVFX has long been a prominent third-party provider in the Apple ecosystem, creating high-quality add-ons such as transitions, titles, cinematic effects, tracking tools, AI-assisted features, and more for Final Cut Pro, as well as compatibility with Apple’s Motion, Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve, and in some cases Adobe Premiere Pro.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed by Apple or MotionVFX.

In a statement posted on its website, MotionVFX expressed enthusiasm about the move, noting alignment with Apple’s core principles.

“Apple’s products align with our own focus on quality, ease of use and great design,” the company said. It described the acquisition as “the beginning of something wonderful” and an opportunity to “continue to empower creators and editors to do their best work” as part of the Apple team.

The acquisition underscores Apple’s ongoing emphasis on strengthening its professional creative tools and services segment. Final Cut Pro remains a cornerstone of Apple’s pro apps lineup, and MotionVFX’s expertise in effects and motion design could help enhance the software’s capabilities, potentially integrating more advanced built-in tools, improving the experience for video editors on Mac, iPad, and beyond, or expanding the ecosystem of resources available to users.

MotionVFX has been a trusted partner in the Apple community for years, with its products frequently recognized and featured in discussions around Final Cut Pro workflows. The company has offered extensive libraries (sometimes numbering thousands of design elements) helping editors achieve polished, professional results more efficiently.

This move comes amid Apple’s broader push into services and creative software, where recurring revenue from apps, subscriptions, and enhanced pro tools plays an increasingly important role in the company’s financials.

MacDailyNews Note: No immediate changes to MotionVFX’s existing products or subscription offerings (such as its CineStudio and Design Studio plans) were detailed in the announcement. Video editors and Final Cut Pro users will likely watch closely for any future integrations or updates stemming from the acquisition.

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Apple kicks off celebrations for its 50th anniversary with a special performance by 17-time Grammy Award-winning artist and producer Alicia Keys at Apple Grand Central in New York City on March 13, 2026

On March 13th, Apple kicked off celebrations for its 50th anniversary with a special performance by 17-time Grammy Award-winning artist and producer Alicia Keys at Apple Grand Central in New York City. Keys delivered an incredible set of her timeless songs from the venue’s iconic steps. iPhone 17 Pro brought the energy and intimacy of the event to life.

Throughout the month, the company is commemorating the milestone around the world. Each gathering highlights human creativity and ingenuity in action, and showcases the remarkable things people can do when they have the right Apple products in their hands.

Apple Grand Central, New York

With multiple decades in the industry under her belt, Keys has never stopped thinking different.

Keys became one of the first artists to release her catalog in Spatial Audio on Apple Music and headlined an Apple Music Live performance. In 2024, Alicia Keys: Rehearsal Room was among the first Apple Immersive experiences for Apple Vision Pro, offering fans a unique glimpse into her creative process during an intimate rehearsal session.

Customers fill Apple Grand Central for a special event on March 13. Customers fill Apple Grand Central for a special event on March 13. Tim Cook and Alicia Keys greet the audience at Apple’s 50th anniversary celebration in New York City.

MacDailyNews Note: Apple Inc. (originally Apple Computer Company) was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne.

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AirPods Max 2 bring even better ANC, elevated sound quality, and intelligent features to the iconic over-ear design.

Apple today announced AirPods Max 2, bringing even better Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), elevated sound quality, and intelligent features to the iconic over-ear design. Powered by H2, features like Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation come to AirPods Max for the first time. The new AirPods Max also unlock creative possibilities for podcasters, musicians, and content creators, with useful features like studio-quality audio recording and camera remote.

AirPods Max 2 will be available to order starting March 25 in midnight, starlight, orange, purple, and blue, with availability beginning early next month.

“With the incredible performance of H2, AirPods Max are upgraded with up to 1.5x more effective ANC for the ultimate all-day listening experience,” said Eric Treski, Apple’s director of Audio Product Marketing, in a statement. “The sound quality is remarkably clean, rich, and acoustically detailed — and when combined with capabilities like Personalized Spatial Audio, AirPods Max 2 deliver a profoundly immersive experience.”

Active Noise Cancellation Gets Even Better

Thanks to H2 and new computational audio algorithms, AirPods Max 2 deliver ANC that’s up to 1.5x more effective than the previous generation. This reduces even more noise — like airplane engines or commuter trains — so users can fully immerse themselves in music, work, or phone calls.

With a new digital signal processing algorithm optimized for H2 and the microphone array on AirPods Max, Transparency sounds even more natural so users can stay aware of their environment and those around them.

AirPods Max 2 deliver ANC that’s up to 1.5x more effective than the previous generation, thanks to H2 and new computational audio algorithms.

Highest-Fidelity Listening Experience

AirPods Max 2 feature a new high dynamic range amplifier for even cleaner audio while maintaining the incredible sound signature of AirPods Max. Spatial Audio content sounds better than ever, with improved localization of instruments, more accurate and consistent bass response, and more natural-sounding mids and highs.

For the highest-quality audio across music, movies, and games, the new AirPods Max support 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio when connected with the included USB-C cable. Lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio enable music creators to fully utilize AirPods Max throughout their entire professional workflow on Logic Pro and other music creation apps. Using the USB-C cable, AirPods Max are the only headphones that let musicians both create and mix in Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking.

Reduced wireless audio latency also makes gaming even better. For those using AirPods Max 2 and playing in Game Mode, iOS, macOS, and iPadOS games feel even more responsive and immersive.

AirPods Max 2 feature a new high dynamic range amplifier for even cleaner audio while maintaining the incredible sound signature of AirPods Max.

Intelligent Features Come to AirPods Max

H2 ushers in an array of features that make AirPods Max 2 even more intelligent and convenient.

• Adaptive Audio adjusts the levels of ANC and Transparency in response to the environment automatically to optimize the audio experience.

• Conversation Awareness helps lower content volume and reduce background noise when a user starts speaking to someone nearby.

• Live Translation, powered by Apple Intelligence,3 helps users communicate across languages in person.

• Voice Isolation uses advanced computational audio powered by H2 to prioritize the voice during calls, while blocking out ambient noise.

• With camera remote, users can capture content at a distance by pressing the Digital Crown to take a photo and start or stop video recording while using the Camera app or compatible third-party camera apps on iPhone or iPad.

• Studio-quality audio recording allows interviewers, podcasters, singers, and other creators to record their content with higher-quality audio and more natural vocal texture.

• Loud Sound Reduction helps users prevent exposure to loud environmental noise while preserving the sound signature of what they’re listening to.

• Personalized Volume automatically fine-tunes the listening experience for users based on their preferences over time.

• Siri Interactions allow users to conveniently and privately respond to Siri announcements by simply nodding their head yes or gently shaking their head no.

AirPods Max 2 and the Environment

Apple 2030 is the company’s ambitious plan to be carbon neutral across its entire footprint by the end of this decade by reducing product emissions from their three biggest sources: materials, electricity, and transportation. AirPods Max 2 are made with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, 100 percent recycled polyester in the ear cushion, and 100 percent recycled gold plating and tin solder in all Apple-designed printed circuit boards. The paper packaging is 100 percent fiber-based and can be easily recycled.

Pricing and Availability

Customers in the U.S. and more than 30 other countries and regions can order AirPods Max 2 starting Wednesday, March 25, on apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app. They will arrive to customers, and will be in Apple Store locations, beginning early next month.

AirPods Max 2 start at $549.

AppleCare delivers exceptional service and support, with flexible options for Apple users. Customers can choose AppleCare+ to cover their new headphones, or in the U.S., AppleCare One to protect multiple products in one simple plan. Both plans include coverage for accidents like drops and spills, theft and loss protection on eligible products, battery replacement service, and 24/7 support from Apple Experts. For more information, visit apple.com/applecare.

New subscribers may get Apple Music free for three months with the purchase of AirPods Max 2. See apple.com/promo for details.

Live Translation may not be available in all regions or languages. For feature and language availability and system requirements, visit support.apple.com/en-us/121115.

MacDailyNews Take: Yum!

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Elle Fanning in “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” premiering April 15, 2026 on Apple TV.

Last week, at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, Apple TV celebrated the upcoming launch of “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” with a star-studded opening-night premiere at the SXSW Film & TV Festival. The eight-episode Apple Original series will premiere globally on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 with three episodes, followed by new episodes every Wednesday through May 20, 2026.

Writer and executive producer Eva Anderson, executive producer Michelle Pfeiffer, writer, showrunner and executive producer David E. Kelley, executive producer Elle Fanning, Thaddea Graham, and executive producer Matthew Tinker attend the world premiere of Apple TV’s comedic drama series, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” at the opening night of the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival at the Paramount Theatre on March 12, 2026 in Austin, Texas. “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” premieres globally on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.

Red carpet attendees included series stars and executive producers Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer, cast member Thaddea Graham, showrunner, writer and executive producer David E. Kelley, writer and executive producer Eva Anderson, director and executive producer Dearbhla Walsh, director Kate Herron, executive producer Dakota Fanning, and book author and executive producer Rufi Thorpe. Also in attendance at the premiere were wrestling consultants Summer Rae and Chris Jericho, cast members Lindsey Normington, Kailena Mai, and Annalise Basso, costume designer Mirren Gordon-Crozier and production designer Richard Bloom.

Hailing from A24 and multi-Emmy Award winner David E. Kelley, and based on Rufi Thorpe’s bestselling novel of the same name, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” stars and is executive produced by Academy Award, Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee Elle Fanning; Golden Globe Award winner and Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Michelle Pfeiffer; and Academy Award and Emmy Award winner Nicole Kidman.

Elle Fanning in “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” premiering April 15, 2026 on Apple TV.

“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” is a bold, heartwarming and comedic family drama following recent college dropout and aspiring writer, Margo (Fanning), the daughter of an ex-Hooters waitress (Pfeiffer) and ex-pro wrestler (Nick Offerman), as she’s forced to make her way with a new baby, a mounting pile of bills and a dwindling amount of ways to pay them. The ensemble cast is also led by Emmy Award winner Offerman, Thaddea Graham, Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden, Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Greg Kinnear, Michael Angarano, Rico Nasty, and Lindsey Normington.

Nicole Kidman in “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” premiering April 15, 2026 on Apple TV.

“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” is produced for Apple TV by A24. Kelley serves as showrunner, writer and executive producer alongside Elle Fanning, Dakota Fanning and Brittany Kahan Ward for Lewellen Pictures; Kidman and Per Saari of Blossom Films; and Matthew Tinker for David E. Kelley Productions. Pfeiffer, author Thorpe, Eva Anderson, and Boo Killebrew also executive produce. BAFTA Award and Emmy Award winner Dearbhla Walsh directs the pilot and serves as an executive producer. Additional directors include Kate Herron and Alice Seabright.

Michelle Pfeiffer (left) and Elle Fanning in “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” premiering April 15, 2026 on Apple TV.

The series marks the most recent collaboration between Kelley and Apple TV, following the Emmy Award-nominated global hit drama “Presumed Innocent,” which is now in production on its second season.

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 your 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 772 wins and 3,337 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,” Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA” and Academy Award nominee “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 $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV for free.

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Apple’s history-making film “F1” won Best Sound at the 98th Annual Academy Awards.

Sunday night, at the 98th Annual Academy Awards, Apple’s history-making film “F1” won Best Sound from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This Academy Award win marks the latest honor for “F1” following its record-breaking box office run as the highest-grossing sports feature of all time. The film is now streaming globally on Apple TV.

In addition to four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, the Apple Original Film from Jerry Bruckheimer and Joseph Kosinski has also been recognized as one of the National Board of Review Top 10 Films of 2025, landed two Critics Choice Award wins for Best Editing and Best Sound, and a Best Sound win at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, in addition to wins at the Cinema Audio Society Awards; Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards; British Film Designers Guild Awards; African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Film Awards; and the Irish Film & Television (IFTA) Awards. The film has received nominations for the Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA, Golden Globes, Producers Guild of America Awards, Costume Designers Guild Awards, Art Directors Guild Awards, ACE Eddie Awards, the Casting Society’s Artios Awards, Grammy Awards, Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards and NAACP Image Awards, among many others.

This year’s Academy Award win follows Apple’s history-making wins at the 2022 Academy Awards, when “CODA” became the first motion picture starring a predominantly Deaf cast in leading roles to win Best Picture, and the first-ever film from a streaming service to land Best Picture. “CODA” star Troy Kotsur was the first Deaf male actor to win Best Supporting Actor, and writer-director Siân Heder landed her first-ever Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2023, beloved Apple Original Film “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. In 2024, Apple made history again when “Killers of the Flower Moon” landed landmark representation for Indigenous artists, as Lily Gladstone became the first Native American to land a nomination for Best Actress, and Indigenous artists Robbie Robertson and Scott George were recognized with first-ever nominations in the Best Original Score and Best Original Song categories, respectively. Martin Scorsese also made history as the most-nominated living director, bringing his total to 10 total lifetime Academy Award nominations for Best Director.

Dubbed “the greatest that never was,” Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was FORMULA 1’s most promising phenom of the 1990s until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, he’s a nomadic racer-for-hire when he’s approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of a struggling FORMULA 1 team that is on the verge of collapse. Ruben convinces Sonny to come back to FORMULA 1 for one last shot at saving the team and being the best in the world. He’ll drive alongside Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), the team’s hotshot rookie intent on setting his own pace. But as the engines roar, Sonny’s past catches up with him and he finds that in FORMULA 1, your teammate is your fiercest competition — and the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.

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 773 wins and 3,337 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.
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MacDailyNews Take: Congrats to all of those responsible for sound on “F1!”

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Apple CEO Tim Cook

LLM Siri is Apple’s major, next-generation overhaul of Siri that shifts the assistant to a foundation built on large language models (LLMs), similar to the technology powering Grok, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other modern AI chatbots. Unfortunately, due to myopic “leadership,” Apple missed the Generative AI (GenAI) revolution and has been struggling to catch up every since. Apple’ future home automation and other products depend on a Siri that actually works, so the LLM Siri delays are causing rippling product delays.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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For more than a year, Apple has been trying to break into the smart home market and create its next big moneymaker. But repeatedly now, the company has struggled to do so because of its shortcomings in AI.

Apple has built an impressive new smart home device dubbed J490 that is still under wraps. As I’ve reported a number of times, it looks like a square 7-inch iPad that can be affixed to a half-dome-shaped speaker or onto a wall. It features a watchOS-like interface with apps, but the highlight is a personalized Siri experience. The idea is to have the device recognize your face when you walk up to it and then show personalized content. It was originally planned for release in March 2025 but was delayed when the new Siri overhaul slipped last year.

Apple then aimed to bring the device to market this month, when the personalized version of Siri was supposed to launch as part of iOS 26.4. Unfortunately, the new Siri is now running behind again and probably isn’t launching until closer to the end of the year. With the latest delay, the new hardware is getting postponed again.

The current plan is for a September debut, but given the ongoing struggles in AI, should anyone be completely confident it will arrive in six months? Probably not.

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MacDailyNews Take: Going from the visionary Steve Jobs to Tim Cook was, for stability, smart for the first five years or so. But, having glorified operations manager Cook sit there iterating Job’s products for fifteen years? Well, the chickens have been roosting at Apple Park for quite some time now.

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Apple’s “Liquid Glass” universal design language

Apple’s Liquid Glass user interface isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Apple’s new design language stems from a multi-year development process that began with visionOS. Given the extensive timelines and deep integration across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and other platforms (as seen with the unified rollout in 2025–2026 versions like iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe), any significant pivot or reversal from Liquid Glass would almost certainly require years to plan, develop, and implement.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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To that end, the latest internal versions of iOS 27 and macOS 27 don’t reflect major design changes, and there’s no sign that another overhaul is currently in active development.

Liquid Glass was a massive undertaking across Apple’s entire design organization, and I haven’t been able to find any evidence suggesting there were designers internally opposed to it during development. Apple’s executive team was also fully behind the interface.

In interviews during WWDC last year, Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak and software engineering head Craig Federighi were both effusive about the new design language. “Glass has some really useful properties when it comes to user interfaces,” Federighi told Joanna Stern. “It just looks super cool.” Joswiak added that users “love” the visionOS interface that inspired it.

And if Apple has actually entered what some think is a new design era, it’s been a bumpy start. The first icons rolled out under the current regime — the ones for Apple’s new Creator Studio apps bundle — are some of the most underwhelming from the company in a while.…

There are legitimate concerns about readability and the way certain transparent elements overlap with text and icons. And while the design works particularly well on the iPhone and iPad, it still needs refinement on the Mac and Apple Watch.

For that reason, I expect years of gradual improvements — much like what Apple went through following the introduction of iOS 7.

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MacDailyNews Take: It’ll take time, but it’ll get there. Liquid Glass has already improved during the first beta rounds. The decision to speed up the spread of Liquid Glass (developed over years for visionOS) across Apple’s platforms was recent, due to Apple’s AI misses, stumbles, and delays.

Liquid Glass is a six-month rush job because it’s meant to be a shiny object to distract from the current lack of Apple Intelligence innovations as that catch-up work continues, BUT, Liquid Glass shows much promise!

Yes, Liquid Glass sometimes presents legibility issues, but those can be solved and, likely, are being solved as you read this.

When, not if, Apple launches a Siri — or whatever name with which they, hopefully, rebrand it; “Siri” is just too tarnished at this point — that is not an abject neglected embarrassment (reportedly by WWDC next June, at the very latest), Liquid Glass will be much further along and a lot of the current readability issues will have been tackled. – MacDailyNews, September 17, 2025

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