Apple News
Some iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max users report earpiece crackling and pops; likely a software issue
Some owners of Apple’s new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are reporting an intermittent crackling, ticking, or popping sound from the earpiece speaker, according to reporting by MacRumors’ Juli Clover.
Complaints have surfaced on the MacRumors forums and on Reddit. Users describe the noise as a crackle, a faint tick or pop, or random clicking. Many point to the earpiece rather than the bottom speaker. Both the iPhone 18 Pro and the larger Pro Max appear to be affected, though the issue does not seem to hit every unit.
The sound is not limited to one activity. Some people hear it consistently. Others notice it while using apps, scrolling websites, receiving notifications, when the keyboard appears, or during cellular calls. On affected phones, toggling Airplane Mode on and off, or changing screen brightness quickly, can also trigger it.
Apple released iOS 27.0.1 on September 28 to address a separate bug that could restart iPhone 18 Pro models when Face ID authentication fails. The release notes did not mention a speaker fix, and early feedback cited by Clover indicates the update has not resolved the crackling. Some buyers who returned an affected phone received a replacement with the same behavior.
What is causing the noise is still unclear. If it turns out to be a software issue, a later iOS update could address it. Apple has not publicly commented on the reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Likely a software issue: On October 3, 2017, Apple’s iOS 11.0.2 fixed a bug that made some iPhone 8 and 8 Plus earpieces produce a faint, high-pitched static or crackling noise during calls.
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Apple TV debuts trailer for ‘Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook,’ premiering November 6th
Apple TV on Thursday released the trailer for its new culinary docuseries “Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook,” premiering globally on November 6, 2026. The eight-episode series follows Nora Lum, aka Awkwafina, on a cross-country culinary road trip as she attempts to revive her family’s beloved Chinese restaurant.
Her family ran Lum’s, the iconic Cantonese restaurant in Flushing, New York. Nora inherited the family legacy. The cooking skills? Those still need work. Nora admits, “I can’t cook. Like, at all.” With help from acclaimed chefs, celebrated restaurateurs and her family, she sets out to build her kitchen skills, explore contemporary Asian American cuisine and reimagine Lum’s legacy for a new generation.
Along the way, Nora takes a crash course at the Culinary Institute of America, hits the road for Texas barbecue with Jimmy O. Yang, and learns from culinary icons Roy Choi and Martin Yan. In Hawai‘i, she explores the tiki culture that inspired her grandma’s restaurant, before taking on the challenges of serving at a restaurant in Los Angeles’ Chinatown. It all builds toward one high-stakes opening night and the toughest VIP diner of all: her grandma.
“Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook” is produced for Apple TV by Twofour and is executive produced by Nora Lum, David Brindley, Itay Reiss and Caroline Davies. This is the second collaboration between Twofour and Apple TV, following the celebrated, Emmy Award-nominated travel series “The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy,” starring Emmy Award winner Eugene Levy.
Apple TV offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 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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After a mid-shoot showrunner swap, Apple TV’s ‘Brothers’ arrives as a charisma vehicle with mixed reviews
Apple TV’s “Brothers” is the result of a production that lost its original showrunner with most of the season already in the can. That it’s still watchable and enjoyable to watch is a testament to the charisma of its two leads Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.
McConaughey and Harrelson play fictionalized versions of themselves: longtime friends whose bond frays when Harrelson’s family camps at McConaughey’s Austin ranch and McConaughey’s mother, Ma Mac (Holland Taylor), lets slip that the two men might actually be brothers. A possible McConaughey run for governor of Texas runs alongside the family chaos. Apple’s official trailer, posted August 25, leans hard into that “based on a true rumor” pitch:
The series was announced in 2023 with David West Read (Schitt’s Creek, The Big Door Prize) as writer and showrunner. In June 2025, with eight of a then-ordered 10 episodes already shot in Austin, production paused and the cast was sent home. Deadline and Variety reported that Read had left over creative differences about how to end the season. Lee Eisenberg — an Apple regular via Lessons in Chemistry, Little America, and WeCrashed, and a co-creator of Jury Duty — was in talks to take over the final episodes and likely reshoots. No public date was given for when he formally signed or when cameras rolled again.
The version that premiered is eight episodes, not 10. Both men still share creator credit with the stars; Eisenberg is the credited showrunner. Apple’s August press release lists the series as produced by Paramount Television Studios, with Eisenberg, McConaughey, and Harrelson among the executive producers, alongside Natalie Sandy, Read, Trish Hofmann, Bill Bost, Jason Winer, David Finkel, Brett Baer, and Jeremy Plager. The ensemble includes Natalie Martinez, Brittany Ishibashi, Lisa Gilroy, and the younger regulars Nolan Almeida, Ella Grace Helton, Noah Carganilla, Highdee Kuan, and Oona Yaffe. The first two episodes dropped September 23rd, with the rest weekly through November 4th.
Critics noticed the seams. On Rotten Tomatoes, Season 1 sits around 62% from 39 reviews — mixed, and soft for a pairing last seen together leading True Detective.
Daniel Fienberg at The Hollywood Reporter called it “good for a couple of chuckles, little more,” arguing the scripts would have looked thin on mid-’90s TGIF and that the stars’ chemistry is what keeps it watchable. Alison Herman at Variety wrote that the comic chemistry never turns the premise into a real show, with side plots sagging and the season drifting into schemes of the week. Vulture’s take was similar: a pedestrian comedy, more interesting as a meta curiosity — and as a brochure for McConaughey’s charisma — than as comedy. IGN scored it 5/10, “mediocre,” and “scattershot.” The New York Post called it self-indulgent and aimless. ScreenRant went to 3/10 and ranked the collaboration closer to Surfer, Dude than True Detective.
Warmer reviews do exist. Empire called it an amiable caper propped up by overqualified leads that only needed to be a hangout show. SEAT42F gave it an 8/10. Common Sense Media went 4/5, partly because separating fact from fiction is half the fun. TV Guide scored it 5.8 and said it improves as it goes, with Gilroy’s campaign manager a scene-stealer. Several reviews explicitly tie the uneven tone to the Read-to-Eisenberg handoff.
Audience reaction has split the same way: some viewers treat the caricatures as the point, others as a waste of the cast. The season finale is still weeks out, so the score can move. For now, “Brothers” reads as what the June 2025 pause suggested it might become — a star-driven comedy finished by a second showrunner, carried by two famous friends, and only intermittently sure of what kind of show it is.
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, after just two episodes, we like it!
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 TV expands library with new batch of free classic movies
Apple TV continues to bolster its streaming catalog by expanding beyond its usual lineup of original series and films. Subscribers can now stream a fresh batch of iconic licensed Hollywood movies at no extra cost.
Apple TV opened October 2026 by dropping another monthly batch of licensed films that subscribers can stream at no extra cost. The service, long focused almost entirely on originals, has spent the past few months rotating in popular catalog titles. Today’s addition brings 13 films, joining a handful of holdovers from earlier drops.
The new titles are available free with an Apple TV subscription (listed at $14.99 per month, or included in the Apple One bundle). Rights vary by country, so the lineup is strongest in the United States; viewers elsewhere may see a different selection. Prior months suggest these additions are often temporary—many films from earlier batches have already rotated off—so titles worth watching are best queued sooner rather than later.
Everything new this month
• American Gangster (2007) — Ridley Scott’s crime drama starring Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas and Russell Crowe as the detective pursuing him.
• Good Will Hunting (1997) — Gus Van Sant’s Oscar-winning drama with Matt Damon, Robin Williams, and Ben Affleck.
• Insomnia (2002) — Christopher Nolan’s thriller set in Alaska, starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams.
• 28 Days Later (2002) — Danny Boyle’s influential zombie outbreak film starring Cillian Murphy.
• Taxi Driver (1976) — Martin Scorsese’s classic starring Robert De Niro.
• Jurassic World (2015) — The reboot starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
• Black Hawk Down (2001) — Ridley Scott’s depiction of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.
• Going the Distance (2010) — Romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long.
• Fury (2014) — World War II tank drama starring Brad Pitt.
• Tropic Thunder (2008) — Ben Stiller’s Hollywood satire, also starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black.
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) — David Fincher’s adaptation starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig.
• Fallen (1998) — Supernatural thriller starring Denzel Washington.
• Blood Diamond (2006) — Edward Zwick’s drama set amid the Sierra Leone conflict, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou.
Still available from recent months
Holdovers noted by 9to5Mac include The Sixth Sense, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and The Rookie, along with others that have not yet rotated out. September’s larger batch of 15 titles (including Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Social Network, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Zero Dark Thirty) has largely left the free tier, consistent with the short windows seen so far.
MacDailyNews Note: All titles are accessible to active Apple TV subscribers at no additional charge. The full catalog of non-original titles is available primarily to U.S. and Canadian subscribers, with exact availability varying slightly depending on local region licensing agreements. Unlike Apple Originals, which remain on the service indefinitely, licensed studio titles are typically available for a limited time before cycling out for new releases.
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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Messages Suggestions are back in iOS 27.2, and early testing says they finally know when to stay quiet
Apple is restoring Messages Suggestions in the iOS 27.2 beta, bringing back a conversation shortcut that disappeared shortly before the public launch of iOS 27.
Suggestions are one-tap action buttons that appear under a message when the conversation points to a clear next step. Apple has described them as context-based prompts that can create a reminder or a note, add a mentioned event to the calendar, or help surface photos by recognizing keywords, locations, and people in a user’s library. The buttons sit beneath the relevant message rather than opening a separate AI panel.
The feature ran through the iOS 27 beta this summer, then was pulled before the fall release. Apple said at the time that it, along with another delayed capability, would arrive in a future software update.
Reporting from Ryan Christoffel at 9to5Mac says Suggestions are now back in the iOS 27.2 beta, with a change that may explain the delay. In his summer testing, the buttons often worked as expected, but they also showed up when a message did not clearly call for a note, reminder, or calendar entry. In the 27.2 beta, he has seen fewer suggestions, and when one appears the reason is obvious from the thread.
MacDailyNews Take: Christoffel, who called Suggestions one of his favorite AI additions in the earlier beta because it did not feel like AI, wrote that he hopes the tighter version makes the shipping release of iOS 27.2, expected in the coming weeks. Whether the reduced frequency holds for other users will only be clear once the beta is more widely tested and the update ships.
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Apple’s first touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro could arrive as soon as October
Apple is expected to introduce its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models in October or November, Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman said on the premiere of his new Power On podcast.
Speaking with Bloomberg News tech editor Vlad Savov on the October 1st episode, Gurman said he believes Apple will unveil long-rumored 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with touch-enabled OLED displays this fall.
“Apple, I believe, will introduce its first touchscreen MacBook Pro this fall, as early as October,” Gurman said. “It could slip to November, but as early as October.”
He added that Apple is testing the laptops with macOS 27.2, which is currently in beta. That update is expected toward the end of October, which MacRumors noted could line up with an announcement later this month.
Beyond the OLED touchscreen, other features tied to the models include Apple’s existing M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, a thinner design, and a Dynamic Island in place of the notch. MacRumors also pointed to earlier Gurman reporting that Apple has explored cellular Macs, which has led some to hope the new machines might include a custom C1X or C2 modem. That remains speculation, not a claim from the new episode.
The touchscreen models are expected to sit above the regular 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, which are reportedly set to move to M7 Pro and M7 Max chips next year. It is not clear whether the OLED versions will keep the MacBook Pro name or get a distinct label such as MacBook Ultra.
MacDailyNews Note: The podcast’s main focus was broader than the laptop. In the 35-minute premiere, Gurman and Savov discussed Apple’s long-awaited smart-home push and whether its AI-powered devices — and a significantly more capable Siri AI — can give people a reason to leave competing platforms. They also debated whether the iPhone 18 is worth buying and whether Apple’s influencer strategy trades harder questions for friendlier coverage. Gurman fielded listener questions on the touchscreen MacBook Pro and on whether hardware chief John Ternus will eventually drop prerecorded presentations for a live keynote. Listen to the full podcast here.
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Halide 3.2 gives iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max fully manual aperture control
Halide Mark III has been updated to version 3.2 with dedicated support for the iPhone 18 Pro’s variable aperture system, removing the four-stop limit in Apple’s Camera app and letting users pick any ƒ-stop across the lens’s full range.
Apple’s stock Camera app restricts iPhone 18 Pro owners to four aperture settings from ƒ/1.48 to ƒ/4.0. That system is meant to improve low-light performance by about 50 percent and give more optical control over depth of field. Halide 3.2 drops the preset restriction so any value inside that range can be selected.
The update offers two ways to use the control. In Aperture Priority, the user sets the ƒ-stop and Halide chooses shutter speed and ISO for a correct exposure. In Manual mode, all three settings can be set by hand, including ISO, which Apple’s Camera app still does not expose as a manual control. The developers have said they are considering ƒ-stop presets in a later update based on feedback.
Version 3.2 also adds two film simulations. Dawn is described as filmic warmth in the mid-tones and highlights, with rich but gentle shadows and subtle complementary cool colors. Quicksilver is a high-contrast, muted-color look meant to evoke a silver-retention process, positioned as a midpoint between color and black-and-white. The update also adds a 16:9 shooting mode.
Halide 3.2 is available on the App Store. In the U.S. it is priced at $69.99 as a one-time purchase or $19.99 a year.
MacDailyNews Note: Lux Optics, the makers of Halide, detailed the release in their announcement: Halide 3.2: The App for Aperture.
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Apple Music launches in Albania, Brunei, Burkina Faso, and Pakistan
Apple Music is now available in four more countries, lifting the service to 172 countries and regions.
The additions showed up Wednesday, September 30th, when Apple updated its media-services availability list. Aaron Perris on X was first to flag the change: Albania, Brunei, Burkina Faso, and Pakistan.
Apple has launched Apple Music in:
Albania
Brunei
Burkina Faso
Pakistan pic.twitter.com/xUpju3JYxh
— Aaron (@aaronp613) September 30, 2026
Subscribers in those markets can now stream the full Apple Music catalog, which requires a paid plan — $11.99 a month after a free month, or as part of an Apple One bundle where that bundle is offered.
The timing lines up with a wider services push. Albania, Burkina Faso, and Pakistan were already on Apple’s recent list of places where iCloud+ includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade at no extra charge. Brunei is the exception: the Apple TV subscription service is still unavailable there, even as Apple Music arrives.
The same day, Apple put a major Android update into beta. Apple Music 7.0 for Android adopts the Liquid Glass look, with a floating bottom navigation bar and a new mini-player.
The expansion also follows Apple Pay’s rollout in India and sits against a softer stretch for Services growth. Hardware still drives most of Apple’s revenue, but adding countries is how the company keeps enlarging the pool of people who can pay for Music, TV, Arcade, and the bundles that sit on top of them.
MacDailyNews Take: Congrats, Albania, Brunei, Burkina Faso, and Pakistan!
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Apple seen selling about 6 million iPhone Duo foldables this year – Counterpoint Research
Apple is on track to sell roughly 6 million units of the iPhone Duo, its first folding-screen smartphone, in 2026, according to Counterpoint Research — a figure more typical of the still-niche foldable market than of Apple’s usual handset volumes.
Counterpoint senior analyst Ivan Lam said the estimate depends on how quickly Apple can ramp production of the new design. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 and is set for an October release, sitting at the top of the lineup. Preorders are scheduled to open October 16th, with availability on October 23rd, after the device was unveiled earlier in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro family.
The forecast is one of the first public reads on sell-through for the foldable, as opposed to earlier supply-chain talk of production targets. Separate reporting has put Apple’s hoped-for availability in 2026 in a range of about 6 million to 8 million units, which would leave little slack if manufacturing slips and demand meets Counterpoint’s outlook.
Even at that scale, the Duo would be material inside the category. Market researcher IDC estimates global foldable shipments will rise 13% to 22.9 million units this year with Apple’s help, and that the segment would have declined without the Duo. Counterpoint has previously framed a roughly 6 million-unit year as enough for about a quarter of global foldable shipments, placing Apple second behind Samsung after only a partial selling season.
The launch also sits next to a stronger-than-expected start for the iPhone 18 Pro line in China. Counterpoint said Pro-edition sales were up 12% versus the iPhone 17 Pro’s early run — the first cycle in which Apple shipped the Pro models without a matching base-model upgrade, pushing upgraders toward higher-priced phones. That helped Apple take about 33% of China’s smartphone market even as Chinese brands absorbed much of a 17% year-on-year decline over the summer.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple will sell as many million iPhone Duo units this year as they can make, box, and ship.
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iPhone 18 Pro demand jumps nearly 20% in India as Apple eyes double-digit market share
Apple’s latest flagship is finding an enthusiastic audience in India, even as prices remain high. Demand for the iPhone 18 Pro has risen by nearly 20% compared with the iPhone 17 Pro at the same point last year, according to reports, suggesting that premium pricing is not deterring buyers in one of Apple’s fastest-growing markets.
The iPhone 18 lineup went on sale on September 18 and drew long lines in major cities. Some customers traveled for hours to reach Apple Stores in places such as Mumbai, with waits stretching as long as 10 hours. Many buyers appear motivated less by specific new features and more by the desire to own Apple’s newest iPhone.
Counterpoint Research director Tarun Pathak expects Apple’s volume market share in India to reach 10% in 2026 — the company’s first full calendar year in double digits. That would represent a sharp rise from just 4% in 2022.
The base iPhone 18 Pro costs the equivalent of about $1,700 in India. Apple and partners have softened the sticker shock with zero-interest financing that lets eligible customers spread payments over a year, keeping monthly installments below 10% of the phone’s price. For some consumers, the high price itself reinforces the device’s premium status.
Apple recorded weaker Indian sales in the June quarter, but that dip was attributed to supply constraints rather than fading demand. Sales had otherwise grown for four years. Meanwhile, makers of lower-priced smartphones reportedly saw a sharper decline this year.
India is also becoming a more important manufacturing base for iPhones, and recent tax breaks could further strengthen Apple’s position. The current surge in iPhone 18 Pro demand suggests Apple’s high-end strategy is connecting with aspirational buyers, though the company will need to keep balancing premium pricing with accessible payment options if the momentum is to last.
For now, the early numbers point to another strong cycle for Apple in India.
MacDailyNews Take: iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are strong!
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DoorDash debuts iMessage AI agent that lets you text your usual order via Apple’s Messages
DoorDash is pushing food delivery deeper into everyday messaging with a new AI agent that takes orders inside Apple’s Messages app, according to Bloomberg News‘ Natalie Lung.
The company opened a U.S. waitlist Wednesday for the text-to-order tool, which lets customers type natural-language requests such as “order my usual protein bowl to the office” without opening the DoorDash app. The agent matches the phone number in the conversation to a DoorDash account, pulls order history and preferences, and can complete checkout with a stored payment method.
Users can ask for a specific dish, request a local recommendation, or simply say “order my usual.” DoorDash said the agent searches nearby restaurants, builds a suggested cart, and can send photos of recommended items. It is also designed to handle group orders with mixed dietary needs. In some cases it can work from a photo of a fridge to suggest recipes and missing ingredients.
The feature builds on Ask DoorDash, the in-app assistant the company launched earlier this year. DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang discussed the broader agent strategy at the company’s Dash Forward event in San Francisco. The company is also opening a waitlist for an enterprise MCP (model context protocol) aimed at corporate ordering, and Fang said DoorDash is talking with Meta and other AI players about meeting users in the apps they already use.
The consumer Messages pilot is limited to U.S. iOS users for now, with Android support planned later. DoorDash has cautioned that the AI can make mistakes and that customers should review carts before paying. Early testers have reported occasional mismatches on prices or photos compared with the main app; the company said waitlist users will get an updated version.
The move comes as delivery platforms race to embed agentic shopping so customers do not have to hunt through menus. DoorDash is positioning the iMessage agent as a way to stay ahead of Uber Eats and Grubhub while also testing delivery drones with select Northern California restaurants.
MacDailyNews Note: U.S. customers can join the waitlist at doordash.com/text.
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Why Apple will finally deliver the smart home to the world
For more than a decade, the “smart home” has been an unmitigated disaster – a fragmented, frustrating hobbyist’s maze that only a sadomasochist could love.
Five different apps. Three separate clouds. A cheap plastic smart speaker that works right up until your internet hiccups. And, worst of all, always-listening, always-watching spy cameras piping feeds from your living room straight into the server farms of advertising companies whose entire business models depend on strip-mining your personal privacy.
That’s why, despite boasting market evaluations in the $160–186 billion range, the smart home category remains massive on paper, yet completely broken in practice.
What this market has desperately lacked isn’t another cheap $15 plastic plug from Shenzhen. It’s a company that ordinary families can actually trust, that builds hardware you can set up in seconds, and then lets you get on with your life.
That company, of course, as usual, is Apple.
From half-committed to dominant
When Apple introduced HomeKit in 2014, followed by HomePod and Apple TV as home hubs, the tech press naturally yawned. When Matter and Thread arrived to bring order to the protocol wars, Cupertino still looked half-committed compared to Amazon’s bargain-bin Echos and Google’s spyware-laden Nest Hubs.
That era is officially over.
Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman reports that Apple is finally dropping the hammer on October 13th with a full-court smart-home offensive. Headlining the launch is code-name “J490” (widely dubbed “HomePad”) alongside an updated HomePod mini and a powered-up Apple TV, all driven by a vastly superior, context-aware Siri.
Described as a sleek, six-inch square display—thin as an iPhone and available in countertop and wall-mount variants—HomePad instantly recognizes individual household members and customizes its display on the fly.
This isn’t just another speaker with a cheap screen slapped on. It is the central, shared control plane for the modern home.
Mass market starts with what’s already in your pocket
Amazon and Google fanboys love to point at speaker market share and catalog listings. That’s the old, outdated scoreboard.
The mass market doesn’t start in the clearance aisle at Best Buy. It starts when a user unlocks their front door with an Apple Watch, tells Siri in the kitchen to dim the lights, and never has to touch a clunky, privacy-challenged third-party app again.
Apple already possesses the ultimate trojan horse: the global hardware distribution engine of the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and HomePod. The home doesn’t need another fragmented ecosystem; it simply needs the devices people already carry to talk to it seamlessly.
While Amazon pushed discounted Dots to pump its numbers, Apple Home has quietly become the fastest-growing platform in key global markets. Growth anchored by 1.5+ billion high-end smartphone user base is a juggernaut that bargain-bin speakers simply cannot stop.
Privacy isn’t a feature — it’s the whole ballgame
People might foolishly put a bargain-bin smart bulb in their hallway, but nobody in their right mind wants an always-listening ad engine sitting on their nightstand or monitoring their children’s rooms.
Apple sells premium hardware and services. Amazon and Google sell you.
HomeKit was built from day one around local control: automations execute directly on your HomePod or Apple TV inside your house, end-to-end encryption is mandatory, and HomeKit Secure Video keeps your security feeds off shady, insecure third-party clouds. When your broadband goes down, your lights and locks still work. That isn’t a feature for tech nerds, it’s the foundational requirement of actual household infrastructure.
With HomePad’s reported ability to recognize who is in the room and hide sensitive personal data from guests or strangers, Apple is putting privacy front and center. Families will buy it. Enterprises will mandate it. Regulators will champion it.
The end of “programmer-level” home setup
The smart home failed the mainstream because it asked normal human beings to become software engineers. If this sensor triggers, and it’s after sunset, but only if user X isn’t home, then run scene Y. Tech enthusiasts loved it; everyone else gave up after their second light bulb.
With Apple’s deep integration across iOS, the house stops being a collection of manual toggles and becomes a space that intelligently anticipates your life:
• Apple Watch feeds sleep and workout context.
• iPhone & Home Key handle arrival and secure access.
• Apple TV & HomePod handle local Thread border routing and local processing.
• On-device AI breaks down camera clips, categorizes security alerts, and handles energy orchestration natively.
A wall-mounted HomePad paired with an AI-driven Siri turns the house from a glorified remote control into a truly effortless environment.
This is how Apple takes the smart home worldwide: not by racing to the bottom, but by supplying the trust, the hardware finish, and the privacy foundation that no online shopping or ad company on Earth can replicate.
Amazon and Google spent the last decade teaching people to yell commands at cheap plastic speakers. Apple is about to teach the smart home how to actually work.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer, and contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
[Post updated October 1, 2026 at 9:45am EDT)
MacDailyNews Take: That is how the smart home stops being a hobby and becomes furniture. And furniture, sold at Apple’s standard of finish, is how you reach the world.
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Apple Pay launches in India
Apple Pay is now available for users in India across iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, with support for Mac coming soon. The launch brings Apple customers an easy, secure, and private way to pay in stores, in apps, and on the web at retailers of all sizes — all without the need to type in PINs or use OTPs at checkout. Customers with Axis Bank-issued Visa and Mastercard credit cards can add their cards to Apple Pay and use them at thousands of in-store and online merchants across India, as well as anywhere that accepts NFC transactions.
“India is home to a dynamic and digitally savvy population that continues to embrace a cashless future while expecting the highest standards of security and privacy, and we’re so excited to bring Apple Pay to users in India today,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, in a statement. “Apple Pay makes everyday payments with a card easy, secure, and private — from simply tapping to pay in stores without an extra app, PIN, or OTP to checking out online without repeatedly entering payment information.”
“We are at a significant inflection point in payments, where technology, security and changing customer expectations are reshaping how people transact. At Axis Bank, our aspiration is to remain at the forefront of this transformation by building payment experiences that are progressive, trusted and deeply relevant to our customers,” said Amitabh Chaudhry, MD & CEO, Axis Bank, in a statement. “The introduction of Apple Pay advances this ambition, bringing greater choice and flexibility to our Credit Card customers, with support across the Mastercard and Visa networks. As payments become increasingly embedded in customers’ everyday digital lives, our focus is on bringing together innovation and trust, while making every interaction more intuitive and relevant. More importantly, this reflects our vision of a more connected and sophisticated payments ecosystem, where technology enables convenience and confidence in every transaction.”
“As India’s digital economy accelerates and consumers seek seamless and secure payment experiences, the introduction of Apple Pay for our Axis Bank-issued Mastercard credit card holders ushers in a new era of contactless commerce, giving Indian consumers greater confidence and peace of mind with every transaction,” said Gautam Aggarwal, Mastercard’s president of India and South Asia, in a statement. “With Mastercard’s tokenisation technology, every Apple Pay transaction is protected by a unique, cryptographically secured token, ensuring card details are never shared with merchants, safeguarding consumers against fraud.”
“The launch of Apple Pay in India marks an important milestone in the evolution of the country’s digital payments journey,” said Suresh Sethi, Visa’s group country manager of India and South Asia, in a statement. “By bringing together Apple’s intuitive consumer experience with Visa’s trusted global network and tokenisation capabilities, Apple Pay brings consumers in India a simpler, safer, and more seamless way to pay. Together, we are expanding consumer choice and helping shape the next generation of commerce in India.”
Delivering a Secure and Private Payment Experience
Security and privacy are at the core of Apple Pay. When customers use a card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device or on Apple servers, nor are they shared by Apple with the merchant. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted, and securely stored in the Secure Element, an industry-standard certified chip designed to store the payment information safely on the device.
Apple does not retain transaction information that can be tied back to the user. Their transactions stay between the user, the merchant, and their bank or card issuer. If a user’s iPhone is lost or stolen, they can use the Find My app to quickly locate, lock, or suspend payments from that device.
How to Use Apple Pay
Apple Pay is easy to set up. Customers can add a card directly to Apple Wallet via the latest version of the Axis Bank app. Alternatively, simply open the Wallet app on iPhone, tap the plus sign, and follow the steps to add an eligible card. Once a user adds a card to their Apple device, they can start using Apple Pay right away.
Using Apple Pay in stores is seamless and easy. Simply double-click the side button or Home button; authenticate using Face ID, Touch ID, or a device passcode if prompted; and hold the top of the iPhone or display of the Apple Watch near the contactless reader to pay.
Users can also make purchases with Apple Pay on iPhone and iPad — with support for Mac coming soon — for faster and more convenient payments in apps or on the web without having to create accounts or repeatedly type in contact information, card details, or shipping and billing information.
When using Apple Pay, users will continue to earn the rewards and benefits offered by their cards.
At launch, Apple Pay will be accepted by millions of merchants across India, including at Apple Store locations, Blinkit, Chaayos, Comet, Croma, Interflora, Ixigo, Le15 Patisserie, Reliance brands, Tata 1mg, Zomato, and more. Apple has worked closely with payment service providers (PSPs) — like BillDesk, Cashfree, Juspay, Mswipe, Paytm, PayU, Pine Labs, Razorpay, and more — to bring Apple Pay to their merchant networks in India, with even more merchants and apps coming over time.
Today Apple Pay is available in more than 90 countries and regions, and works with more than 11,000 bank and network partners worldwide.
MacDailyNews Take: Congrats, India!
Note: Apple Pay requires iPhone XR or later with iOS 18 or later. Available on Apple Watch Series 6 or later with watchOS 11 or later. Apple Watch must be paired with iPhone XR or later. For more information, see apple.com/in/apple-pay.
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Apple TV unveils trailer for ‘Small Prophets’ comedy series, premiering October 7th
Apple TV on Wednesday debuted the season one trailer for “Small Prophets,” the acclaimed six-episode comedy from BAFTA Award-winning creator, writer and director Mackenzie Crook (“Detectorists”). The series will premiere on Apple TV with the first two episodes on October 7, 2026, excluding the U.K., where it will be available to Apple TV subscribers in 2027. New episodes will premiere every Wednesday through November 4, 2026.
The series features a host of beloved comedy stars, including Mackenzie Crook, Pearce Quigley (“Detectorists”), Lauren Patel (“Waterloo Road”), BAFTA Award winner Sir Michael Palin (“Monty Python”), BAFTA Award winner Sophie Willan (“Alma’s Not Normal”), BAFTA Award nominee Jon Pointing (“Big Boys”) and Actor Award nominee Paul Kaye (“Game of Thrones”).
“Small Prophets” is a comic tale of the eccentric Michael Sleep (Quigley) who, since his darling Clea disappeared seven years ago, has lived a very ordinary life. He works in a DIY store, visits his dad Brian (Palin) and hopes for Clea to return. One day Brian shares an old recipe involving rainwater, horse manure and more than a little alchemy. With recipe in hand, Michael sets out (albeit with some skepticism) to create homunculi — magical spirits that can predict the future — in the hope they have the answer to his burning question: “will I ever see Clea again?”
Michael gets help from his young coworker Kacey (Patel), an unlikely friendship that blossoms partly (but not wholly) through their mutual dislike of store manager Gordon (Mackenzie Crook). Their friendship adds to the frustration and intrigue of his nosy neighbors (Willan, Pointing) who are obsessed with trying to find out what the hell is going on in the garden shed.
Hailed as a “jewel-like, unhurried masterpiece that is funny, profound and manages to break and mend your heart in equal measures,” the “truly fantastic” first season of the series that is “full of gorgeous surprises” holds a rare, perfect 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and won the Best Series Award, International Panorama at Series Mania in March 2026. Celebrated as “completely lovely” and “compulsory viewing,” “Small Prophets” is “richly steeped in Crook’s glorious brand of gentleness, his ability to imbue the ordinary with extraordinariness,” and is an “impossible marvel of TV making.”
“Small Prophets” was filmed and set in and around Manchester. The series incorporates visually stunning animation elements throughout a story of friendships and hope, the magical and the mundane, and where secrets and lies lurk in a suburban cul-de-sac.
The series is produced by Treasure Trove and Blue House Productions, and is created, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook. Executive producers are Mackenzie Crook and Lisa Thomas for Treasure Trove Productions, and Christine Gernon and Emma Strain for Blue House Productions. Apple TV acquired “Small Prophets” from international distributor Sphere Abacus.
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 3,829 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 plans October 13 smart-home offensive with new AI hub, HomePod mini, and Apple TV
Apple is preparing to make its long-delayed push into the smart-home market on October 13th, according to Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman, in a product expansion that would be one of the first major category moves under new Chief Executive Officer John Ternus.
At the center of the plan is a smart-home hub internally code-named J490, Gurman reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Apple also intends to announce the first update to the HomePod mini since that speaker’s 2020 debut and its first new Apple TV set-top box since 2022.
The hub is expected to take the form of a compact, roughly square display — about 6 to 7 inches — available in versions that sit on a counter or mount on a wall. It is designed to act as a household control point: managing connected accessories, handling video calls and intercom functions, showing photos and calendars, playing music, and running a new operating system built around Apple’s upgraded Siri AI. Facial recognition is meant to identify who is standing in front of the screen and personalize the interface, content, and responses.
The refreshed HomePod mini and Apple TV are expected to keep familiar designs while receiving faster processors so they can run the same more capable Siri models. Together, the three products would give Apple a coordinated hardware lineup in a category long dominated by Amazon and Google, after years in which Apple mostly leaned on HomeKit and third-party accessories.
The timing follows the public arrival of Siri AI with iOS 27. Earlier reporting by Gurman had described the hub as hardware that was largely ready while Apple waited for the assistant to catch up; the device has reportedly been in wider testing in employees’ homes. Apple has also been working to expand HomeKit and partner with third-party manufacturers around the new platform.
The October 13th date would put the announcement in the heart of the holiday selling season and shortly after Apple’s first foldable iPhone cycle under Ternus. A more ambitious follow-on product — a higher-end display on a moving robotic arm — has been described in earlier Gurman reporting as a later-stage project, not part of this first wave.
Apple did not immediately comment on the report. If the devices ship as planned, they would mark the company’s clearest attempt yet to make the home, not just the pocket, a core Apple surface.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve been waiting for the new Apple TV hardware, among other things, for what seems like forever!
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Apple TV hits highest weekly viewership ever after Emmy sweep, ‘Ted Lasso’ return, and ‘Mayday’ debut
Apple TV recorded the biggest week of viewing in its seven-year history during the week of September 14, as a record Emmy haul collided with new releases and a wider distribution push.
The streamer reported a 67 percent year-over-year jump for that week. Apple did not publish raw subscriber or hours-watched totals, instead citing comparative gains and third-party rankings. Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva first reported the company’s claims and the supporting Luminate and Nielsen data.
The timing was unusually stacked. Apple took home 28 Primetime Emmys on September 14 — 29 including the commercials category — the most of any platform this year and the most in Apple TV history. Freshman horror-comedy Widow’s Bay led that haul with 14 awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series, the most wins ever for a comedy in a single season. Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus added six more, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Rhea Seehorn.
Those trophies translated into a sharp halo effect. Apple said Widow’s Bay viewership jumped 280 percent week over week after the ceremony, with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, India, Poland, and Spain leading the surge. Luminate data lined up with that claim: the series sat outside the U.S. Top 50 for September 4–10, then climbed to No. 13 for September 11–17. Pluribus rose 200 percent week over week, though that increase came off a smaller base after the series ended in December and did not reenter Luminate’s Top 50.
New programming did as much work as the awards. Mayday, the Cold War buddy comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh and directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, premiered September 4 and became Apple TV’s biggest film debut over its first 18 days. In the U.S., Luminate ranked it No. 1 for September 4–10 with 8.7 million views and No. 2 the following week. The film, from Apple Studios, Skydance, and Reynolds’ Maximum Effort, has drawn generally positive reviews.
Ted Lasso Season 4 was the other pillar. Jason Sudeikis’ comedy, now following Ted as he coaches a second-division women’s team three years after Season 3, is Apple’s most-watched returning comedy over its first 54 days, the company said. Nielsen’s most recent weekly streaming report, covering September 7, put Ted Lasso at No. 7 overall with 734 million minutes viewed. The season premiered August 5 and remains near the top of Apple TV charts worldwide as it heads toward an October 7 finale.
The stellar series Slow Horses also benefited. Season 6 was up 25 percent versus Season 5 over its first seven days and returned to Luminate’s Top 50 at No. 43 after missing the prior week. Apple still calls it the service’s No. 1 title in the U.K.
A product change may have widened the funnel. On September 15, Apple expanded iCloud+ so paid subscribers in more than 170 countries get Apple TV at no extra cost. That rollout began the day after the Emmys and during the record week.
MacDailyNews Take: Nielsen’s figures for the week of September 14 were not yet out when Apple made the claim. Even without them, the combination of a historic awards night, a high-profile movie launch, a returning flagship comedy, and bundled access gave Apple TV its strongest argument yet that prestige award wins can still move the needle on a service known for quality over quantity.
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Apple rolls out new AirPods beta firmware
Apple on Tuesday released a new beta firmware update for its AirPods lineup, making build 9B5042a available to developers and public beta testers.
Supported Models & Details
The pre-release firmware is compatible across multiple generations of Apple audio devices:
• AirPods Pro: AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3
• AirPods: AirPods 4, AirPods 5
• AirPods Max: AirPods Max, AirPods Max 2
As is typical with AirPods beta releases, Apple has not provided release notes or detailed specific feature additions, performance enhancements, or bug fixes included in this build.
MacDailyNews Note: To test the new build, users must enable beta updates on a connected companion device running iOS, iPadOS, or macOS:
- Connect the AirPods to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac running a current OS version.
- Navigate to Settings and select your AirPods.
- Toggle on the option for Beta Firmware.
Once enabled, firmware installations occur automatically over the air. Place the AirPods in their charging case, connect them to a power source, and keep them near your connected Apple device. Because there is no manual “Update” button for AirPods software, the installation process typically completes over a few hours.
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New CEO John Ternus wants Apple to get back to work
Just weeks into the job, Apple’s new chief executive is already trying to shake the company out of its long-running rhythm. John Ternus, the longtime hardware engineering chief who succeeded Tim Cook on September 1st, is pushing Apple to move faster, launch more often, strip out layers of management, and put engineers closer to the top of the organization.
That account comes from Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman, who reports that Ternus, a product person, has begun discussing an overhaul internally: accelerate product development, broaden the device lineup, and build a leaner company with a sharper engineering focus after operations manager Cook’s 15-year iterative slog.
The first visible change is the calendar. Apple has long clustered its biggest announcements around spring and fall. Ternus has told colleagues the company needs to introduce products more quickly and become more experimental if it is going to stay competitive. The idea is not an instant rewrite of how Apple designs hardware — those cycles are deeply established — but a shift toward more frequent releases throughout the year rather than two big seasonal waves.
The product pipeline already points that way. After the recent foldable iPhone Duo launch, work is underway on additional hardware next year, including camera-equipped AirPods, smart glasses, and a redesigned iPhone tied to the device’s 20th anniversary, along with refreshes such as a new HomePod mini, iPad mini, and Apple TV.
The organizational piece is more immediate. Ternus wants fewer middle-management layers between working engineers and senior executives. Over the past two weeks, Apple’s hardware engineering group has dismissed a number of engineering program managers — the people who for decades have managed timelines and coordinated work across teams. The cuts reached several program managers and about half a dozen directors, one of Apple’s most senior employee ranks. Those affected were given a short window to find other jobs inside the company; anyone who does not will be laid off later this year.
Smaller cuts have already hit other groups, and some early-stage projects judged less essential have been scaled back or canceled, including work in Siri, Vision Pro, and AI-related software engineering. Internally, the mood is described as more hands-on and hectic, with product managers being pressed to deliver more devices, more often, on shorter timelines.
None of this is a sudden conversion. At 51, Ternus has argued for a leaner Apple for years. While running hardware engineering, he told employees at an all-hands meeting that the company should hire fewer people, demand more from the engineers it already has, and cut organizational bloat. He once showed a slide of annual headcount growth and said Apple should be accomplishing more with fewer employees.
Cost-cutting is part of the same brief. Apple considered laying off about 5,000 AppleCare customer-service workers over the summer on the theory that AI agents could take over phone and web support; those plans were put on hold. Even so, employees in several divisions expect more reductions later this year or early next, even as some 2027 planning still assumes higher budgets and headcount. A smaller cultural signal: some teams were told they could not bring plus-ones to upcoming holiday parties for the first time in years.
Ternus is not only looking at expenses. With services chief Eddy Cue and CFO Kevan Parekh, he has discussed new services and ways to pull more revenue from products and offerings Apple already sells. More frequent hardware launches, the thinking goes, would also widen the base of customers who then buy subscriptions and other services.
The contrast with the Cook years is intentional. Cook built an operational giant and, via financial engineering(massive buybacks) a roughly $5 trillion company. Ternus, a 25-year Apple veteran who oversaw hardware across iPhone, Mac, Watch, iPad, and AirPods and helped drive Apple silicon, is betting that an engineering-first, less layered company can ship more ambitious products without waiting for the next September event. Cook remains executive chairman and a government-relations presence; how far the two men stay aligned on strategy will be one of the tests of the foreseeable future.
For now, the message from the new CEO is blunt: fewer layers, more products, tighter teams, and less patience for the old cadence. Apple is being told to get back to work.
MacDailyNews Take: Better late than never!
You know, some people get upset when we point out that Tim Cook is a boring, reactive caretaker who’s not really the best person to be running Apple today or for at least the past several years.
Operations manager Cook should have been a 3-5 year stopgap after Steve Jobs’ untimely passing, running the iteration playbook, providing continuity for the company while it found a real CEO. Instead, he hung on — and keeps hanging on — well past his sell-by date.
Sigh.
You can be upset with us for having the temerity to call it like we see it, but the fact remains that Apple would be doing significantly better today with a visionary who’d have seen AI on the horizon, who’d have recognized the intrinsic importance of Siri and therefore invested in it instead of criminally neglecting it, and who wouldn’t have squandered the company’s gigantic leads in things like personal assistants and podcasting. – MacDailyNews, August 22, 2024
Apple needed new blood years ago, but the old blood simply won’t let go. – MacDailyNews, January 22, 2025
See also: Steve Jobs never meant for Tim Cook to still be Apple’s CEO in 2025 – MacDailyNews, July 9, 2025
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Apple’s Final Cut Camera now supports variable aperture on iPhone 18 Pro
Final Cut Camera, the professional filming app for iPhone, receives a major update with version 2.4, adopting a new design, adding support for variable aperture on iPhone 18 Pro, and giving creators even more pro options with the release of iOS 27. The new version is available as a free software update beginning today, September 29.
Redesigned from the ground up, Final Cut Camera gives creators even easier access to popular settings like shutter angle, ISO, and white balance, along with customizable overlays, including false color and clipping indicators for proper exposure, and improved focus peaking with sensitivity control. A new tally light indicates when recording is underway, and a two-finger tap now clears the viewfinder so users can focus on the shot.
Final Cut Camera gives creators even easier access to popular settings like shutter angle, ISO, and white balance. A new tally light indicates when recording is underway, and a two-finger tap now clears the viewfinder so users can focus on the shot.
With iPhone 18 Pro, users can take advantage of the new Fusion Main camera with variable aperture — the most advanced camera Apple has ever made — which brings aperture control to iPhone for the first time. Final Cut Camera allows creators to precisely dial in their aperture settings, or choose between shutter priority and aperture priority modes, to record stunning videos. The update also unlocks Cinematic mode effects for regular video, including footage captured in ProRes and Apple Log, allowing creators to adjust focus points and depth of field while editing in Final Cut Pro.
The update unlocks Cinematic mode effects for regular video, including footage captured in ProRes and Apple Log, allowing creators to adjust focus points and depth of field while editing in Final Cut Pro.
With iOS 27, Final Cut Camera adds support for professional video scopes, clean SDI out, and genlock offset. Now creators can accurately monitor their video using the RGB Parade — which displays the red, green, and blue color channels to help check color balance and exposure — and the histogram. With clean SDI out, creators can send a clean video signal using an HDMI-to-SDI converter for broadcast-quality streaming. And with genlock offset, creators can compensate for image artifacts from a recorded display or for latency differences between their iPhone and other genlocked cameras.
Creators can now accurately monitor their video using the RGB Parade — which displays the red, green, and blue color channels to help check color balance and exposure — and the histogram.
MacDailyNews Take: Learn more about Final Cut Camera here.
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Apple releases updates to Apple Creator Studio
Apple today introduced updates to Apple Creator Studio, the powerful collection of creative and productivity apps. Pixelmator Pro for iPad adds edge-refinement tools for advanced selections; native video captured on iPhone 18 Pro can now have Cinematic mode effects applied during editing using Final Cut Pro and Motion; and Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform gain new templates and creative tools.
All-New Templates for New Ideas
Pixelmator Pro adds two new template collections on Mac and iPad, including designs for sports and action-packed projects, and templates for launching a new creative idea, business, or product. A new Podcasts category introduces cover artwork designed to make shows stand out, sized appropriately for major podcast platforms.
Pixelmator Pro for iPad also brings Select and Mask from Mac, giving creatives dedicated controls for precise mask and selection refinements — including the ability to preserve fine detail along complex edges like hair or fur.
End-to-End Cinematic Video
Final Cut Pro and Motion on Mac bring new ways to add Cinematic mode effects to video captured natively on iPhone 18 Pro. Editors can adjust focus points and depth of field directly in the Final Cut Pro timeline. Compressor lets editors convert video with Cinematic mode effects back into the previous Cinematic mode format, and adds new HEVC and MPEG-4 export presets for social sharing.
Time-Saving Features to Boost Productivity
Apple Creator Studio subscribers get new, professionally designed templates and themes in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. And intelligent slide generation in Keynote now automatically creates images tailored to a presentation.
Keynote, Pages, and Numbers users can more easily collaborate and get help in the moment, with the ability to request access to a shared presentation, document, or spreadsheet. Pages for Mac also adds Screen View, which optimizes content for reading and focused writing, and Numbers adds new trigonometry, statistics, and logic functions for solving complex problems in a spreadsheet.
Freeform gains several highly requested features. Boards now automatically adapt to Dark Mode, and folders let users organize boards into collections and invite others to collaborate. Writing Tools with Apple Intelligence can rewrite, proofread, and summarize handwritten notes; users can also request access to collaborate on shared files, or automate adding content using Shortcuts. Freeform becomes even more powerful in visionOS 27, letting users pull multiple items from a board — including images, videos, sticky notes, shapes, and 3D models — into their space, and view 3D models together as a group.
MacDailyNews Take: Happy updating!
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