Apple News
Project Indigo: Adobe releases free advanced computational photography camera app for iPhone
Adobe has unveiled Project Indigo, an innovative camera app designed exclusively for iPhone users, marking a significant leap in mobile photography. Developed by Adobe Labs, this free app harnesses advanced computational photography techniques to deliver high-quality images with a natural, SLR-like aesthetic. Available for iPhone 12 Pro and later models, with optimal performance on iPhone 15 Pro and newer, Project Indigo stands out by combining multiple frames—up to 32—to reduce noise and enhance dynamic range, all while offering full manual controls over settings like exposure, ISO, and focus. Integrated with Lightroom for seamless editing and featuring experimental AI tools, this app promises to redefine smartphone photography for both casual and professional users.
Adobe:
As Adobe explores ways to evolve mobile photography, and in order to address some of these gaps, we have developed a camera app we call Project Indigo. Today, we are releasing this for iPhone as a free mobile app from Adobe Labs, available in the Apple App Store – to share our progress and get feedback from the community. The app offers full manual controls, a more natural (“SLR-like”) look, and the highest image quality that computational photography can provide – in both JPEG and raw formats. It also introduces some new photographic experiences not available in other camera apps.
What’s different about computational photography using Indigo? First, we under-expose more strongly than most cameras. Second, we capture, align, and combine more frames when producing each photo – up to 32 frames as in the example above. This means that our photos have fewer blown-out highlights and less noise in the shadows. Taking a photo with our app may require slightly more patience after pressing the shutter button than you’re used to, but after a few seconds you’ll be rewarded with a better picture.
As a side benefit of these two strategies, we need less spatial denoising (i.e. smoothing) than most camera apps. This means we preserve more natural textures. In fact, we bias our processing towards minimal smoothing, even if this means leaving a bit of noise in the photo. You can see these effects in the example photos later in this article.
One more thing. Many of our users prefer to shoot raw, not JPEGs, and they want these raw images to benefit from computational photography. (Some big cameras offer the ability to capture bursts of images and combine them in-camera, but they output a JPEG, not a raw file.) Indigo can output JPEG or raw files that benefit equally from the computational photography strategy outlined here.
MacDailyNews Note: The Project Indigo app is free as part of Adobe Labs. The app runs on all Pro and Pro Max iPhones starting with iPhone series 12, and on all non-Pro iPhones starting from series 14. (That said, the app does some pretty heavy computing, so you’ll have a better experience on a newer iPhone.) It requires no Adobe sign-on at present and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store here.
More info and many sample images via Adobe here.
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Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro models to feature upper left pinhole front-facing camera, under display Face ID
According to a post on Weibo by Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station, in 2026, Apple will maintain the 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes (rounded up) for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, respectively. These sizes align with the current iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, and Apple is also expected to keep the same dimensions for the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models.
While the display sizes remain unchanged, the leaker confirmed two significant upgrades to the screens: Apple plans to integrate Face ID’s scanning technology beneath the display, leaving only a small pinhole for the front-facing camera as the sole interruption to the screen’s content.
The leaker is corroborating what has previously been reported by display industry analyst Ross Young and The Information. One additional detail the latter publication has revealed is worth noting: the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will position the pinhole to accommodate the front-facing camera in the top-left corner of the screen.
The same report said the devices will no longer have a pill-shaped cutout at the top of the screen, but it is unclear if the Dynamic Island will be discontinued.
It is also said that the next-gen C2 modem – Apple’s follow-up to the C1 – will debut in the iPhone 18 Pro, according to analyst Jeff Pu. This will likely offering mmWave support in the US and improved speed and efficiency.
Lastly, per Kuo, Apple’s A20 Pro chip will be built on TSMC’s cutting-edge 2nm process (N2), providing around 15% performance boost and 30% better power efficiency over the 3nm A19 series that is expected to be used in the iPhone 17 series.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, even if it’s no longer needed to occlude the inelegant kludge of large iPhone display cutouts, the Dynamic Island concept will remain – hidden when it’s not in use, à la Dock hiding on the Mac – as it’s very useful.
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China’s 618 shopping festival sees record-breaking sales, stellar performance for Apple
In 2025, China’s 618 Shopping Festival, the country’s second-largest e-commerce event, shattered records with a staggering gross merchandise value (GMV) of 855.6 billion yuan ($119 billion), a 15.2% increase from the previous year’s 742.8 billion yuan. This annual mid-year shopping extravaganza, originally launched by JD.com in 2008 to mark its founding anniversary, has evolved into a month-long retail phenomenon, rivaling Alibaba’s Singles’ Day in scale and impact. Spanning from mid-May to June 18, the 2025 edition saw an extended sales period, government subsidies, and aggressive discounts driving unprecedented consumer spending, with Apple emerging as a standout performer in the electronics sector.
The 618 festival, now encompassing platforms like JD.com, Alibaba’s Tmall and Taobao, and Pinduoduo, has become a critical barometer of China’s consumer sentiment. Despite economic challenges such as employment concerns and a sluggish property market, retail sales surged, bolstered by a 6.4% year-on-year increase in May, the fastest growth since December 2023. Government subsidies targeting high-ticket items like consumer electronics and home appliances played a pivotal role, with sales in these categories soaring 283% on Alibaba’s platforms during the initial checkout period (May 13-26) compared to Singles’ Day 2024, and 380% on JD.com in the first hour of its campaign.
Apple capitalized on this frenzy, leveraging deep discounts and strategic promotions to drive remarkable sales. The company, alongside competitors like Xiaomi and Huawei, was among the top brands surpassing 1 billion yuan in GMV on Alibaba’s platforms, with 217 brands exceeding 100 million yuan in sales by May 30. Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro led mobile phone sales rankings, fueled by discounts of up to 31%. For instance, the iPhone 16 Pro (128GB) dropped from 7,999 yuan ($1,100) to 5,499 yuan ($763) after subsidies and coupons. This aggressive pricing strategy addressed Apple’s declining market share in China, which fell to 15.7% in Q1 2025 from 19.7% the previous year, amid fierce competition from local giants like Huawei, whose sales surged 70%.
The extended festival timeline, starting on May 13, allowed brands like Apple to sustain consumer engagement over weeks, front-loading demand and smoothing consumption trends. Jacob Cooke, CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, noted that this prolonged period “helps sustain engagement across weeks and has contributed materially to May’s strong retail performance.” Apple’s performance was further amplified by platforms’ AI-driven personalization tools, such as Alibaba’s Quanzhantui, which optimized product recommendations and boosted conversion rates for over 1.4 million merchants.
Despite the festival’s success, analysts caution that a pause in subsidy programs could temper future gains, with funds reportedly depleted in some regions by June. However, consumer behavior during 618 2025 reflects a pragmatic shift, with some shoppers prioritizing necessity over stockpiling, a trend that may challenge brands relying solely on discounts.
For Apple, the 618 chopping festival underscored its ability to adapt to China’s competitive market, using price cuts and subsidies to reclaim consumer interest. With over 2.2 billion orders placed across JD.com’s platforms and 453 brands surpassing 100 million yuan in GMV on Alibaba, the 2025 618 festival cemented its status as a retail juggernaut, and Apple’s robust sales reaffirmed its enduring appeal in China’s dynamic e-commerce landscape.
MacDailyNews Take: Clearly, the reports of Apple’s death in China are greatly exaggerated.
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Apple’s hardware chief eyes using AI to design Apple Silicon chips
Apple aims to use generative AI to accelerate custom chip design for its devices, according to Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies. Srouji shared these plans last month in a speech in Belgium, where he received an award from Imec, a leading semiconductor R&D group collaborating with major chipmakers.
Reuters:
In the speech, a recording of which was reviewed by Reuters, Srouji outlined Apple’s development of custom chips from the first A4 chip in an iPhone in 2010 to the most recent chips that power Mac desktop computers and the Vision Pro headset.
He said one of the key lessons Apple learned was that it needed to use the most cutting-edge tools available to design its chips, including the latest chip design software from electronic design automation (EDA) firms.
The two biggest players in that industry – Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys – have been racing to add artificial intelligence to their offerings.
“EDA companies are super critical in supporting our chip design complexities,” Srouji said in his remarks. “Generative AI techniques have a high potential in getting more design work in less time, and it can be a huge productivity boost.”
MacDailyNews Note: Today is Juneteenth National Independence Day, a federal holiday in the United States of America, and the markets are closed. We will resume regular posting on Friday.
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Apple to launch premium-priced foldable iPhone in 2026 – Ming-Chi Kuo
Apple is set to launch a foldable iPhone starting in 2026, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The device is expected to feature a foldable display from Samsung Display, with production plans for up to 8 million panels next year. While the hinge and other components remain undecided, Kuo anticipates the folding iPhone will command premium pricing, positioning it as a high-end addition to Apple’s lineup.
1. Assembly supplier Foxconn is expected to officially kick off the project in late 3Q25 or early 4Q25. As of now, many component specifications (including the hinge, which has drawn considerable market attention) have yet to be finalized.
2. The foldable display is one of the few components with finalized specifications and serves as a good reference for estimating potential shipments. Samsung Display (SDC) plans to build annual production capacity for 7-8 million foldable panels to supply the 2026 foldable iPhone. Given that actual production in 2026 may span only a few months, panel shipments that year are likely to fall short of full capacity.
3. Recent market rumors suggest Apple has placed an order for 15–20 million foldable iPhones. Based on checks across multiple components, this volume likely reflects cumulative demand over the product’s 2–3 year lifecycle, rather than 2026 alone. This indicates that Apple’s foldable iPhone, expected to enter mass production in 2H26, may ship several million units annually in both 2027 and 2028, possibly due to its premium pricing.
4. It’s worth noting that all plans remain subject to change prior to the official project kickoff.
MacDailyNews Take: So, we’re now only 15 months or so away from the mythical foldable iPhone, for which we’ve been happily waiting quite a while:
As with fingerprint and facial recognition, when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, then foldable smartphones will have been done right. — MacDailyNews, January 17, 2019
We’ll happily wait for the day when foldable displays can be manufactured in the massive quantities required for a real iPhone, thanks. – MacDailyNews, February 20, 2019
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Apple software chief Craig Federighi: iPad shouldn’t run macOS, but it can be inspired by Mac
In a newly published interview, Apple software chief Craig Federighi says, correctly, that iPad shouldn’t run macOS, but it can be inspired by the Mac.
Federico Viticci for MacStories:
I came into this WWDC thinking – or, at the very least, hoping – that Apple would show a newfound commitment to the iPad and iPadOS, addressing the longstanding concerns of those who have been pushing iPadOS to its limits while keeping true to the essence of the device. It’s a careful balancing act, but having tried iPadOS 26 on my 13” iPad Pro for the past week, it seems clear to me that Apple delivered this year…
Apple didn’t go into detail about this at WWDC, but with the latest version of iPadOS, the company has scrapped the windowing engine that powered iPadOS 16’s Stage Manager (and subsequent iterations) and replaced it with a new one built around a window prioritization system. This new engine taps into several low-level frameworks of iPadOS and coordinates across the CPU, NAND, GPU, and battery to optimize window rendering and understand which windows should be prioritized based on user activity. The result is a more powerful and efficient system that, in my experience with the iPadOS 26 developer beta, allows for up to 12 windows to be active on-screen on my M4 iPad Pro. I’ve been able to play around with iPadOS 26 on both the 11” and 13” iPad Pro; while I still think that the smaller Pro model strikes a better balance between laptop-like features and tablet portability, multitasking power users will probably want to gravitate toward the larger model for more comfortable windowing…
Federighi says that Apple eventually realized there were two types of iPad users. “What we’ve seen is that there are users who are always going to want the simplest iPad it can be, and we want to preserve that for them: fully immersive, single window”, he begins. That’s the aforementioned crowd that is never going to be interested in any form of multitasking whatsoever.
But Federighi notes that they also saw another part of the iPad audience – those that wanted explicit control over everything, with as many options as they could have. “So we came to the point of saying, “Let’s recognize that audience.”
Under the new windowing engine, iPadOS 26 will default to full-screen apps until you enable the new ‘Windowed Apps’ mode in Settings or Control Center…
Federighi strongly believes in the Mac and iPad each having their own reasons to exist. “The Mac lets the iPad be iPad”, Federighi notes, adding that Apple’s objective “has not been to have iPad completely displace those places where the Mac is the right tool for the job” … “I don’t think the iPad should run macOS, but I think the iPad can be inspired by elements of the Mac”, Federighi tells me. “I think the Mac can be inspired by elements of iPad, and I think that that’s happened a great deal”.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last May, “Here’s hoping iPadOS… brings some useful improvements to the iPad experience which, btw, is not to replicate the Mac. If you want a portable Mac, get a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. iPadOS just needs to grow up and let iPad users work more efficiently and powerfully, in iPad ways.”
With iPadOS 26, iPad is now (or will soon be) in a great place, one of which we dreamed a decade ago:
Imagine an “iOS Pro” mode.
Turn on iOS Pro on your iPad Pro
1. Tap Settings > General, and make sure iOS Pro is turned on.
2. There is no step two.
Hey, we can dream, can’t we?
— MacDailyNews, December 29, 2015
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Apple debuts new Apple Arcade ad featuring Pac-Man, SpongeBob, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more
Apple on Wednesday debuted a new ad for Apple Arcade, “Hold That Train!” The ad features video game favorites Pac-Man, SpongeBob, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more.
Yes, with Apple Arcade, you can take hundreds of ad-free games with you on the train (or plane, automobile, etc.)
Apple Arcade is available for US$6.99 per month with a one-month free trial. Customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV receive three months of Apple Arcade for free.
Apple Arcade is part of Apple One’s Individual ($19.95), Family ($25.95), and Premier ($37.95) monthly plans, with a one-month free trial.
Arcade Originals are playable across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro. App Store Greats are available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro.
Plus, an Apple Arcade subscription gives a family of up to six unlimited access to all the games in its catalog.
MacDailyNews Note: Find out more about Apple Arcade here.
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Apple Intelligence on-device transcription is more than twice as fast as OpenAI’s Whisper
Apple Intelligence’s on-device transcription is revolutionizing speech-to-text performance, delivering speeds over twice as fast as OpenAI’s Whisper model. According to hands-on testing detailed by MacStories, Apple’s new speech APIs leverage optimized on-device processing to achieve lightning-fast transcription, setting a new benchmark for efficiency and responsiveness in voice-driven applications.
John Voorhees for MacStories:
It’s still early days for these technologies, but I’m here to tell you that their speed alone is a game changer for anyone who uses voice transcription to create text from lectures, podcasts, YouTube videos, and more…
What’s frustrated me with other tools is how slow they are. Most are built on Whisper, OpenAI’s open source speech-to-text model, which was released in 2022…
I asked [my son] Finn what it would take to build a command line tool to transcribe video and audio files with SpeechAnalyzer and SpeechTranscriber. He figured it would only take about 10 minutes, and he wasn’t far off. In the end, it took me longer to get around to installing macOS Tahoe after WWDC than it took Finn to build Yap, a simple command line utility that takes audio and video files as input and outputs SRT- and TXT-formatted transcripts.
Yesterday, I finally took the Tahoe plunge and immediately installed Yap. I grabbed the 7GB 4K video version of AppStories episode 441, which is about 34 minutes long, and ran it through Yap. It took just 45 seconds to generate an SRT file.
Next, I ran the same file through VidCap and MacWhisper, using its V2 Large and V3 Turbo models. Here’s how each app and model did:
I fully expect this combination to replace Whisper as the default transcription model for transcription apps on Apple platforms.
MacDailyNews Take: More than twice as fast while maintaining the same degree of accuracy is impressive!
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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Apple supplier Texas Instruments to make historic investment of more than $60 billion across seven American semiconductor fabs
Texas Instruments on Wednesday announced its plans to invest more than $60 billion across seven American semiconductor fabs, making this the largest investment in foundational semiconductor manufacturing in American history. Working with the Trump administration and building on the company’s nearly 100-year legacy, TI is expanding its American manufacturing capacity to supply the growing need for semiconductors that will advance critical innovations from vehicles to smartphones to data centers. Combined, TI’s new manufacturing mega-sites in Texas and Utah will support more than 60,000 American jobs.
“TI is building dependable, low-cost 300mm capacity at scale to deliver the analog and embedded processing chips that are vital for nearly every type of electronic system,” said Haviv Ilan, president and CEO of Texas Instruments, in a statement. “Leading U.S. companies such as Apple, Ford, Medtronic, NVIDIA and SpaceX rely on TI’s world-class technology and manufacturing expertise, and we are honored to work alongside them and the U.S. government to unleash what’s next in American innovation.”
“For nearly a century, Texas Instruments has been a bedrock American company driving innovation in technology and manufacturing,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, in a statement. “President Trump has made it a priority to increase semiconductor manufacturing in America – including these foundational semiconductors that go into the electronics that people use every day. Our partnership with TI will support U.S. chip manufacturing for decades to come.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook
“Texas Instruments’ American-made chips help bring Apple products to life, and together, we’ll continue to create opportunity, drive innovation, and invest in the future of advanced manufacturing across the U.S.,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement.
Today, TI is the largest foundational semiconductor manufacturer in the U.S., producing analog and embedded processing chips that are critical for smartphones, vehicles, data centers, satellites and nearly every other electronic device. In order to meet the steadily growing demand for these essential chips, TI is building on its legacy of technology leadership and expanding its U.S. manufacturing presence to help its customers pioneer the next wave of technological breakthroughs.
Ford and TI are working to strengthen American manufacturing, combining Ford’s automotive expertise with TI’s semiconductor technology to help drive innovation and secure a robust, domestic supply chain for the future of mobility. “At Ford, 80% of the vehicles we sell in the U.S. are assembled in the U.S., and we are proud to stand with technology leaders like TI that continue to invest in manufacturing in the U.S.,” said Jim Farley, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company, in a statement.
Medtronic and TI are partnering to improve lives when it matters most. “At Medtronic, our life-saving medical technologies rely on semiconductors to deliver precision, performance, and innovation at scale,” said Geoff Martha, Medtronic chairman and CEO, in a statement. “Texas Instruments has been a vital partner – especially during the global chip shortages – helping us maintain supply continuity and accelerate the development of breakthrough therapies. We’re proud to leverage TI’s U.S.-manufactured semiconductors as we work to transform healthcare and improve outcomes for patients around the world.”
NVIDIA is partnering with TI to unleash the next generation of artificial intelligence architectures. “NVIDIA and TI share the goal to revitalize U.S. manufacturing by building more of the infrastructure for AI factories here in the U.S.,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with TI by developing products for advanced AI infrastructure.”
SpaceX is increasingly leveraging TI’s high-speed process technology to connect its Starlink satellite internet service with TI’s latest 300mm SiGe technology manufactured in Sherman, Texas. “Our fundamental mission is to revolutionize global connectivity and eliminate the digital divide. Core to this mission is constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible,” said Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, in a statement. “SpaceX is manufacturing tens of thousands of Starlink kits a day – all right here in the U.S. – and we are making huge investments in PCB manufacturing and silicon packaging to expand even further. TI’s U.S.-made semiconductors are crucial for securing a U.S. supply chain for our products, and their advanced silicon manufacturing capabilities provide the performance and reliability needed to help us meet the growing demand for high-speed internet all around the world.”
Texas Instruments’ new 300mm semiconductor fabs in Sherman, Texas, SM1 and SM2.
Backed by the strength of TI’s American manufacturing presence
TI is a driving force behind the return and expansion of semiconductor manufacturing in America. The company’s more than $60 billion investment in American manufacturing includes building and ramping seven, large-scale, connected fabs. Combined, these fabs across three manufacturing mega-sites in Texas and Utah will manufacture hundreds of millions of American-made chips daily that will ignite a bold new chapter in American innovation.
Sherman, Texas: SM1, TI’s first new fab in Sherman will begin initial production this year, just three years after breaking ground. Construction is also complete on the exterior shell of SM2, TI’s second new fab in Sherman. Incremental investment plans include two additional fabs, SM3 and SM4, to support future demand.
Richardson, Texas: TI’s second fab in Richardson, RFAB2, continues to ramp to full production and builds on the company’s legacy of introducing the world’s first 300mm analog fab, RFAB1, in 2011.
Lehi, Utah: TI is ramping LFAB1, the company’s first 300mm wafer fab in Lehi. Construction is also well underway on LFAB2, TI’s second Lehi fab that will connect to LFAB1.
MacDailyNews Note: Texas Instruments (TI) supplies several types of chips for Apple products, primarily focusing on analog and embedded processing components. Based on available information, here are the key chips TI provides for Apple:
• Power Management Chips: TI produces power management integrated circuits (PMICs) for various Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, and the Apple Vision Pro. These chips manage power distribution, battery efficiency, and voltage regulation, ensuring optimal performance and energy efficiency. For instance, TI was reported to have started production of power management chips for the iPhone 5 as early as 2012, and they are a major supplier for the Vision Pro’s power management needs.
• Touchscreen Controllers: TI supplies touchscreen controller chips for Apple’s iPhones and iPads. These chips enable precise touch input detection, critical for the responsive displays in devices like the iPhone 4S and later models.
• Control Devices: TI provides control chips for Apple products, such as those used in iPads, which help manage various system functions. These are part of TI’s broader portfolio of embedded processors.
• Analog Chips: TI is a leading supplier of analog chips, which are used in Apple products to process real-world signals like sound, temperature, and pressure. These chips are integral for amplifying, filtering, and converting signals, supporting features like audio processing and sensor integration in devices such as iPhones, iPads, and the Apple Pencil Pro.
• Components for Specialized Devices: TI’s chips are also found in Apple’s Vision Pro, particularly for power management, and in the Apple Pencil Pro, where they contribute to high-performance functionality through specialized analog components.
In the past, and perhaps continuing today, Apple has been TI’s largest single customer, with a strong correlation between TI’s revenue spikes and iPhone launches. TI’s chips are manufactured in facilities like their new 300mm wafer fabs in Sherman, Texas, and Lehi, Utah, which produce analog and embedded processing chips critical for Apple’s ecosystem.
While specific chip models for the latest Apple products (e.g., iPhone 16 or Vision Pro) are not always publicly detailed, TI’s role in supplying power management, touchscreen controllers, and analog chips reportedly remains consistent across Apple’s product lineup, including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and newer devices like the Vision Pro and Apple Pencil Pro.
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Apple’s reimagined original series ‘Yo Gabba GabbaLand!’ returns for season two
Apple TV+ on Wednesday announced that the reimagined original kids and family series “Yo Gabba GabbaLand!” will return for season two on Friday, January 30, 2026. Inspired by the standout cultural phenomenon “Yo Gabba Gabba!,” the magical, all-new 10-episode second season welcomes back host Kammy Kam and beloved Gabba characters Brobee, Foofa, Muno, Toodee and Plex. They’ll be joined by a new star-studded lineup of ‘Super Music Friends’ and special guests to help kids and families learn life lessons through song, dance and joyful discovery.
But wait, there’s more “Yo Gabba Gabba!” groove on the way! Apple TV+ also announced that the full, four-season library of the original Emmy Award-nominated series “Yo Gabba Gabba!” will launch globally on Friday, June 20. Celebrated for its irresistibly catchy music, including hit songs such as “Clean It Up,” “I Like to Dance” and “Jumpy Jump Jump,” the series’ vibrant characters and playful animation have delighted kids and parents around the world. The full collection invites audiences back into the iconic world of DJ Lance Rock and friends as they dance, sing and learn alongside an unforgettable lineup of special guests.
“Yo Gabba GabbaLand!” has remained highly praised for its “colorful cast of charming monsters,” “energetic ensemble,” “infectious music and fun guest stars.” Created by Emmy Award nominees Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz (co-creators of “Yo Gabba Gabba!”), “Yo Gabba GabbaLand!” is produced in partnership and collaboration with WildBrain and Yo Gabba Gabba, LLC, co-owners of the brand. Jacobs and Schultz also serve as executive producers on the series for Yo Gabba Gabba, LLC, alongside Josh Scherba and Stephanie Betts for WildBrain.
The complete first season of “Yo Gabba GabbaLand!” and season four of “Yo Gabba Gabba!” are now streaming globally on Apple TV+.
The exciting slate of recent offerings for kids and families on Apple TV+ features the latest family musical special “Lulu Is a Rhinoceros,” based on the beloved children’s book of the same name by father-daughter duo Jason and Allison Flom; the music-driven animated comedy series “BE@RBRICK,” from DreamWorks Animation; “Goldie,” inspired by Emily Brundige’s award-winning 2019 short film of the same name; Peanuts series “Camp Snoopy”; the second season of beloved animated series “Frog and Toad,” based on the Caldecott and Newbery Honor-winning books; “Me,” an elevated cinematic coming-of-age story from Barry L. Levy; and “Wonder Pets: In the City,” from Jennifer Oxley.
Award-winning all-ages offerings now streaming globally on Apple TV+ also include the BAFTA Award and Emmy Award-winning live-action animated hybrid special “The Velveteen Rabbit,” BAFTA Award and Humanitas Prize-winning “El Deafo,” BAFTA Award-winning “Lovely Little Farm,” “Duck & Goose,” “Get Rolling With Otis,” Spin Master Entertainment’s “Sago Mini Friends,” GLAAD Media Award-nominated “Pinecone & Pony,” The Jim Henson Company’s Emmy Award-winning “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock,” “Harriet the Spy” and “Slumberkins,” Sesame Workshop’s “Helpsters,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt, HITRECORD and Bento Box Entertainment’s “Wolfboy and the Everything Factory,” Jack McBrayer and Angela C. Santomero’s Emmy Award-nominated “Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show,” Peanuts and WildBrain’s Emmy Award-nominated “Snoopy in Space” and “The Snoopy Show,” and Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series “Stillwater.” Live-action offerings include Bonnie Hunt’s DGA Award and WGA Award-nominated “Amber Brown,” DGA Award-winning “Best Foot Forward,” “Surfside Girls,” WGA Award-winning “Life By Ella,” Sesame Workshop and Sinking Ship’s Emmy Award-winning “Ghostwriter,” Emmy Award and Environmental Media Association Award-winning “Jane,” and Scholastic’s “Puppy Place.”
Also featured are “Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth,” the Emmy Award-winning television event based on the New York Times bestselling book and TIME Best Book of the Year by Oliver Jeffers, and specials from Peanuts and WildBrain including Emmy Award-nominated “Snoopy Presents: It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown,” “Snoopy Presents: Lucy’s School,” Humanitas and Emmy Award-nominated “Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), With Love,” “Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie,” “Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin,” Emmy Award-winning “Snoopy Presents: Who Are You, Charlie Brown?” and “Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne.”
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 earned 578 wins and 2,624 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and historic Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, 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 $9.99 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, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
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Apple Original Films celebrates the premiere of ‘F1 The Movie’ at Radio City Music Hall
In advance of the global theatrical release of “F1 The Movie” on June 27, Apple Original Films hosted the film’s star-studded New York premiere at Radio City Music Hall. Director Joseph Kosinski was joined by stars Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem, Sarah Niles, Tobias Menzies and Kim Bodnia, along with producers Jerry Bruckheimer, Lewis Hamilton, Jeremy Kleiner, Dede Gardner, and Chad Oman, executive producers Daniel Lupi, Stefano Domenicali and Toto Wolff, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, Apple’s Vice President of Services Eddy Cue, and Apple’s Heads of Worldwide Video Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht. Creative artisans Claudio Miranda (Cinematography), Julian Day (Costume Design), Ben Munro (Production Design), Lucy Bevan (Casting), Emily Brockmann (Casting), Ehren Kruger (Screenplay) and Hans Zimmer (Score) were also in attendance. “F1 The Movie,” distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, will debut in theaters and IMAX globally on June 27, 2025.
Additional guests attending the premiere included Gayle King, Jon Hamm, Ben Stiller, Tramell Tillman, Jurnee Smollett, Edouard Philipponnat, John Mayer, Chris Stapleton, and more.
FORMULA 1 driver Charles Leclerc, Tim Cook, and FORMULA 1 driver George Russell attend the red carpet arrivals for the world premiere of Apple Original Films’ “F1 The Movie” in Times Square. “F1 The Movie” will be released in theaters and in IMAX in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures on June 27, 2025.
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.
From Apple Original Films and the filmmakers from “Top Gun: Maverick” comes the high-octane, action-packed feature film “F1 The Movie,” directed by Joseph Kosinski. The film is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Kosinski, famed FORMULA 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Chad Oman.
Momentum around the Apple Original Films slate continues to grow since the debut of Apple TV+ five years ago. In addition to Apple making history as the first streaming service to land the Academy Award for Best Picture with “CODA,” Apple Original Film “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” also earned the Academy Award for Best Animated Short, and “Killers of the Flower Moon” landed 10 historic Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Apple TV+ recently premiered worldwide streaming hits “The Gorge,” starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy, “Wolfs,” starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt,“The Instigators,” starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, as well as Academy Award-winning director Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” and “Echo Valley,” the thriller from BAFTA Award winner Michael Pearce, starring Academy Award winner Julianne Moore and multi-Emmy Award nominee Sydney Sweeney which premiered globally on Apple TV+ on June 13, 2025. Apple Original Films will also debut the highly anticipated film “Highest 2 Lowest,” the latest feature reuniting Spike Lee with Denzel Washington for the fifth time, premiering in theaters on August 22 and on Apple TV+ on September 5.
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 earned 578 wins and 2,624 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and historic Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, 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 $9.99 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, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
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Apple supplier Jabil plans $500 million venture to build American AI data centers
Apple supplier Jabil, a global leader in engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions, today announced it intends to invest approximately $500 million over the next several years to expand its footprint in the Southeast United States to support cloud and AI data center infrastructure customers. This significant commitment will enable new large-scale manufacturing capabilities, capital investments, and workforce development.
Jabil is in the final stages of site selection and expects it to be operational by mid-calendar year 2026.
“To secure America’s future in artificial intelligence, it’s crucial that we build the hardware that powers AI innovation right here at home. Domestic manufacturing isn’t just an economic priority; it’s a matter of national security. We’re proud to expand Jabil’s U.S. factory network, scaling our capabilities to better support the growing needs of our data center customers,” said Matt Crowley, Executive Vice President, Global Business Units, in a statement.
This strategic investment builds on Jabil’s recent acquisition of New Hampshire-based Mikros Technologies, a leading provider of liquid cooling and thermal management solutions. Mikros Technologies serves a wide range of industries, including AI data center infrastructure, energy storage, and semiconductor testing.
“This initiative is a key element of our long-term strategy to diversify our commercial portfolio and strengthen Jabil’s presence in the U.S.,” said CEO Mike Dastoor in a statement. “While the geopolitical landscape remains dynamic, our position as a U.S.-based company with a significant domestic footprint enables us to help the world’s leading brands navigate challenges with agility and resilience.”
Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jabil has 30 sites across the United States, with proven experience and investments in automation, robotics, and process optimization. These facilities support demand for production at scale across industries.
MacDailyNews Take: Excellent.
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Apple’s AI partner OpenAI lands $200 million deal with U.S. military to address ‘national security challenges’
Apple Intelligence provider OpenAI has secured a $200 million contract to provide artificial intelligence support to the U.S. Defense Department.
Thomas Barrabi for The New York Post:
The deal was announced months after OpenAI first revealed that it would collaborate with tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey’s defense firm Anduril to develop AI for “national security missions.”
“Under this award, the performer will develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The ChatGPT maker’s move to work with the US military marked a departure from the company’s earlier position. The company’s terms of service once contained language stating that its AI products were prohibited for use in “military and warfare” circumstances – but the wording was removed last year.
MacDailyNews Note: In its “Introducing OpenAI for Government” official blog post, published on Monday, OpenAI states:
Today we’re launching OpenAI for Government, a new initiative focused on bringing our most advanced AI tools to public servants across the United States. We’re supporting the U.S. government’s efforts in adopting best-in-class technology and deploying these tools in service of the public good. Our goal is to unlock AI solutions that enhance the capabilities of government workers, help them cut down on the red tape and paperwork, and let them do more of what they come to work each day to do: serve the American people.
OpenAI for Government consolidates our existing efforts to provide our technology to the U.S. government—including previously announced customers and partnerships as well as our ChatGPT Gov product—under one umbrella as we expand this work. Our established collaborations with the U.S. National Labs, the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, NIH, and the Treasury will all be brought under OpenAI for Government.
Through OpenAI for Government, we are offering U.S. federal, state, and local governments access to:
• Our most capable models within secure and compliant environments, including through ChatGPT Enterprise and ChatGPT Gov
• Custom models for national security, offered on a limited basis
• Hands-on support
• Insight into what’s coming next so government customers can plan ahead and anticipate new ways to apply our tools to their most important work
We are proud to share that our first partnership under this new OpenAI for Government initiative will be a pilot program with the U.S. Department of Defense through their Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO). This contract, with a $200 million ceiling, will bring OpenAI’s industry-leading expertise to help the Defense Department identify and prototype how frontier AI can transform its administrative operations, from improving how service members and their families get health care, to streamlining how they look at program and acquisition data, to supporting proactive cyber defense. All use cases must be consistent with OpenAI’s usage policies and guidelines.
Across these efforts, we’re aiming to improve both the day-to-day experience of public service and to help government employees feel more empowered, more efficient, and more supported in their critical missions. We are already seeing how OpenAI can help public servants at the state level spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on high-impact work. For example, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania employees participating in an OpenAI pilot program(opens in a new window) found ChatGPT helped reduce the time spent on routine tasks by about 105 minutes per day. And, at the federal level, we’re already seeing how it can improve the quality of services delivered. At Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia National Labs we are deploying OpenAI models to accelerate scientific research, bolster national security readiness, and drive public sector innovation.
We are just getting started, and we look forward to helping U.S. government leaders harness AI to better serve the public. We are committed to working in close partnership with agencies, advancing their missions with powerful tools that are safe, and secure.
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Apple wins appeal to overturn $300 million U.S. patent verdict
Apple successfully persuaded a U.S. appeals court to overturn a $300 million jury verdict, which had ruled that the company infringed wireless standard-essential patents held by IP management firm Optis Wireless Technology.
Reuters:
The decision marks the second time that a nine-figure U.S. patent verdict for Optis has been overturned in the case.
Plano, Texas-based Optis and its affiliates sued Apple in 2019 in Marshall, Texas federal court, arguing that the tech giant’s iPhones and other products violated their patent rights in technology related to the LTE wireless standard.
A jury found in 2020 that Apple owed $506 million for infringing Optis’ patents. U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap ordered a new trial on damages in 2021 after finding the award may not have been in line with Optis’ responsibility to license the standard-essential patents on fair and reasonable terms.
A new jury awarded Optis $300 million in damages after the retrial later that year.
The Federal Circuit on Monday overturned the award and remanded the case for a new trial on both infringement and damages. A three-judge panel said Gilstrap improperly worded the jury verdict form by combining all of the patents at issue into a single infringement question.
MacDailyNews Take: Patent trolls are an unrelenting scourge.
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How Tim Cook’s Apple may have undermined America’s lead in technological innovation and even its national security
In a thought-provoking new book, the intricate relationship between Apple’s manufacturing strategies and China’s rapid economic ascent takes center stage. By offshoring much of its production to China, Apple not only transformed global supply chains but also turbocharged China’s technological and industrial development. However, this corporate strategy raises critical questions about its long-term consequences, with the book suggesting that such offshoring may have eroded America’s edge in technological innovation and potentially compromised its national security.
Planeloads of some of America’s best engineers flying to China to train its workforce in how to do advanced manufacturing. A jaw-dropping level of investment in China’s development, which puts the Marshall Plan to shame. When Apple came to China, the company proved instrumental in helping the country become a manufacturing juggernaut. And now one of America’s most valuable companies is awkwardly dependent on the production capabilities of a country that has become one of America’s biggest adversaries.
A new book from Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee, titled Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company, offers the wild story of how Apple became so deeply entangled with China.
For much of its early history, Apple had manufactured its products in America. After the company was founded in 1976, McGee writes, it employed Steve Jobs’ sister Patty to hand assemble its first computer’s circuit boards… When the money started pouring in, Apple set up a more legitimate factory in the Bay Area. While it did work with overseas suppliers on certain parts and products, the company was much slower and less willing than other computer companies to completely outsource and offshore production…
In 1999, Terry Gou, the head of a then little-known Taiwanese company named Foxconn, made a fateful phone call to a young operations executive who’d just joined Apple: Tim Cook… Foxconn had for years been a small-time supplier of cheap component parts for Apple, but it had recently proven itself in making the external housing for Apple’s Power Mac G4 desktop. Gou dreamed of a much grander relationship with the American company…
That’s when he called Tim Cook, whom he had previously worked with when Cook was at Compaq, an American computer company that was a big Foxconn client…
“Internal documents obtained for this book reveal that Apple’s investments in China reached $55 billion per year by 2015, an astronomical figure that doesn’t include the costs of components in Apple hardware.”
But money may not have even been Apple’s most valuable investment in China. It may have been teaching a massive workforce how to do advanced manufacturing. “Apple itself estimates that since 2008 it has trained at least 28 million workers — more people than the entire labor force of California,” McGee writes.
“This rapid consolidation reflects a transfer of technology and knowhow so consequential as to constitute a geopolitical event, like the fall of the Berlin Wall,” McGee argues.
But, really, it’s less like the fall of the Berlin Wall, which ushered in greater freedom and democracy. It’s more like if Corporate America had supercharged the economy of the Soviet Union.
MacDailyNews Take: Yup, although it’s nothing our regular readers haven’t been hearing from us for many years.
In 2016, Apple’s “Operations Genius,” Tim Cook, secretly signed a secret agreement with the human rights-abusing Chinese Communist Party estimated to be worth more than $275 billion. Cook promised that Apple would do its part to develop China’s economy and technological prowess via infrastructure investments, business deals, and worker training in exchange for the CCP quashing its surge of what promised to be crippling regulatory actions against Apple, The Information reported last December.
Many years before that, some two decades ago, it was Cook who spearheaded Apple’s move to make products “Designed in California,” but “Assembled in China.”
Since Cook, 62, made his $275 billion secret deal with the CCP five years ago, and as he now nears retirement age, Apple has made precious little headway in diversifying its production away from capricious, authoritarian China.
Why?
If the $275 billion wasn’t to buy Apple half a decade to free itself by diversifying its production away from China, mitigating risk, what was it for?
Longtime Apple analyst Gene Munster on Tuesday estimated that it would take as long as a decade for Apple to reduce its current near-total reliance on China to meaningful levels…
Tim Cook painted Apple into this corner. It worked marvelously well, until it didn’t.
A publicly traded company CEO’s job is to act in the best interest of its shareholders.
But, Apple’s operations don’t scream “genius” today. They scream “RISK!” But, you know, the market just loooves risk…
Apple shareholders and, in turn, Apple’s rubber-stamping Board of Lackeys, should hold one person responsible if this spiraling China dilemma continues deteriorate: Timothy D. Cook.
So, what’s Cook’s plan for getting the company out of this boxed-in predicament into which he placed it? Certainly Apple shareholders have a right to know. Hopefully, Cook has a better plan than simply cashing out and dumping this nightmarish quandary into the lap of Apple’s next CEO.
The time to accelerate plans to move production out of China was November 9th 2016, but, hey, six years late is better than never! – MacDailyNews, December 4, 2022
It’s smart for both Apple and Foxconn to diversify assembly outside of China. There’s no sense having all of your eggs in one basket. — MacDailyNews, April 2, 2019
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Goldman Sachs reiterates ‘Buy’ rating on Apple stock
Goldman Sachs recently identified a group of stocks with strong growth potential, according to its analysts. The firm considers these companies resilient and urges investors to buy them promptly, with Apple stock ranking among the top recommendations.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt via Apple 3.0:
The firm made the following comment:
We are Buy-rated on AAPL as we believe that the market’s focus on slower product revenue growth masks the strength of the AAPL ecosystem & associated revenue durability & visibility… Valuation is attractive relative to AAPL’s historical multiple — both on an absolute & relative basis — and compared to key tech peers.
Apple Inc. is not only a tech giant but also a very solid dividend payer. The stock’s dividend yield may be low at 0.52%, but it maintains a 13-year streak of dividend growth.
MacDailyNews Note: Goldman Sachs’ price target for Apple (AAPL) is $253. Make it so, Mr. Market!
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Adobe launches ‘Firefly’ mobile app for generating AI videos, images on iPhone
Adobe on Tuesday released a standalone Firefly app for Apple’s iOS and Google’s derivative Android in an attempt to put a larger spotlight on its artificial intelligence-powered image generation and editing tools.
Chris Welch for Bloomberg News:
The new app offers capabilities such as generative fill, generative expand, text to image, text to video, and image to video.
The generative fill tool makes it easy to remove distracting elements of a photo — or add something to the image that wasn’t originally present. Generative expand uses AI to stretch a photo to better fit various aspect ratios, which can be useful for social media posts…
Generated videos are five seconds in length.
The Firefly app is free to download but Adobe requires credits for generating content.
MacDailyNews Note: Plans start at $9.99/mo. More info here. The Apple App Store download link is here.
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Apple targets spring 2026 for long-delayed Siri AI upgrade, aiming for iOS 26.4 release
In June 2024, Apple promised that, “coming with the first set of Apple Intelligence features,” Siri would become more natural, contextually relevant, and personal. All that ever arrived was a glowing light that wraps around the edge of the screen when active, prompting at least one class action lawsuit. Now, the company is targeting spring 2026 for the long-delayed release.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Apple is working to ready the features (the ability to tap into personal data, reference on-screen content, and have precise control over apps and actions) in time for iOS 26.4. That update is scheduled for sometime in the spring (March or April). At the moment, there’s confidence internally that the company can make this happen.
The move involves a shift to a new architecture dubbed Siri LLM that will be used for all of the assistant’s functionality. Last year, Apple tried to use two different systems (one for legacy queries and one for the new features), but combining the two caused problems. That led to the Siri enhancements not working up to a third of the time. And the perception from testers — including software chief Craig Federighi himself — was that the performance was even worse than that, I’m told.
It’s also alarming how close Apple was to releasing this flawed product. Earlier this year, the company was still racing to get the new Siri out by April. When Apple then pushed back the goal until May, it thought a month would be enough time to address the problems. Obviously, the company vastly underestimated the scope of the challenge.
MacDailyNews Take: Sigh. Siri is a textbook case of knowing you need to do something – in this case rebuild Siri from the ground up – and knowing it for years (Apple has been urged to rearchitect Siri for years, even from Siri’s co-creator), but putting it off because it’s a lot of work, will cost a lot, or both, and then being forced to do it anyway, late, after it royally fails. It’s simply bad, myopic management.
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U.S. judge rules Apple must face consumer lawsuit over iCloud storage
On Monday, a California federal judge ruled that Apple must face a proposed class action lawsuit alleging the company illegally monopolized the digital storage market, leading to overcharges for its iCloud service.
U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee in San Jose, California, said the plaintiffs in the case had sufficiently alleged Apple violated antitrust law by requiring iPhone customers to use its iCloud data storage service to back up core data and device setting files.
Lee’s new order revived the plaintiffs’ lawsuit after she dismissed an earlier version of it. She said the consumers added substantial new allegations about the importance of data storage for all iPhone files, including restricted ones like settings data.
A Los Angeles resident who said she was paying $2.99 monthly for an iCloud storage plan filed the lawsuit last year.
Apple allows third-party storage for photos and videos but not for some users’ data files that are needed to “restore” an Apple device.
MacDailyNews Take: Yet another settlement looms.
MacDailyNews Note: The case is Felix Gamboa v. Apple Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:24-cv-01270.
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Apple plans to meld Mac and iPad into a 19-inch foldable device
Apple plans to merge the Mac and iPad into a revolutionary 19-inch foldable device, slated for release in 2028, according to Bloomberg News’ Mark Gurman. This device aims to combine the versatility of a tablet with the power of a laptop, featuring a crease-free display that unfolds to the size of two iPad Pros side by side, blurring the lines between iPadOS and macOS to create a seamless, hybrid user experience.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
I expect future iPads and Macs to both have touch screens (with vibrant OLED displays), run the same apps and have similar user interfaces. The main difference will be the form factor. Touch will remain the primary input method for iPads, with keyboards and trackpads being secondary. With Macs, it will be the reverse. And of course, Macs will continue to have larger screens, better battery life and more processing power.
At the same time, we’ll also see some true convergence. Apple is planning to meld the two devices together for a roughly 19-inch touch-screen foldable product planned for 2028.
MacDailyNews Take: This sounds like a more elegant design than our over eight-year-old “MacPad” idea:
Here’s an idea: Apple could sell iPad Pros as they do now, and for those wanting a “Mac,” Apple could sell them the macOS-powered display-less keyboard/trackpad/cpu/RAM/SSD/battery base unit. Attach your iPad for the display and off you go, you Mac-headed truck driver! Plus, you get to use the iPad’s battery, too, extending battery life to provide a truly all-day battery for portable Mac users. Detach the display and you get your iOS-powered iPad back, same as always.
Too outside the box? We’d love to be able to take our iPad Pro, mate it with this theoretical Mac base unit, and turn it into a portable Mac. Right now, we carry iPad Pros and MacBooks in our backpacks. Guess what’s redundant? Right, the displays. We don’t need to carry two screens on the road. The iPad Pro’s screen would do just fine, thanks.
Buy the Mac base on its own (for those who already have 12.9-inch iPad Pros) or buy it as part of a package (get a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro at a nice discount when you buy it with the Mac base).
— MacDailyNews, January 7, 2017
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