AI agents are coming to CarPlay, but they're not getting the keys Apple is formally making room for AI agents in the car, adding a new voice-based conversational app category to CarPlay in iOS 26.4.CarPlayApple's February 9, 2026 update to the CarPlay Developer Guide introduces a new CarPlay entitlement category for voice-driven conversational apps. The move creates an official path for third-party AI assistants to operate inside CarPlay rather than relying solely on Siri.The change arrives as generative AI becomes more embedded across Apple platforms. CarPlay is next, but Apple is setting clear boundaries. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
AI agents are coming to CarPlay, but they're not getting the keys Apple is formally making room for AI agents in the car, adding a new voice-based conversational app category to CarPlay in iOS 26.4.CarPlayApple's February 9, 2026 update to the CarPlay Developer Guide introduces a new CarPlay entitlement category for voice-driven conversational apps. The move creates an official path for third-party AI assistants to operate inside CarPlay rather than relying solely on Siri.The change arrives as generative AI becomes more embedded across Apple platforms. CarPlay is next, but Apple is setting clear boundaries. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
AI agents are coming to CarPlay, but they're not getting the keys Apple is formally making room for AI agents in the car, adding a new voice-based conversational app category to CarPlay in iOS 26.4.CarPlayApple's February 9, 2026 update to the CarPlay Developer Guide introduces a new CarPlay entitlement category for voice-driven conversational apps. The move creates an official path for third-party AI assistants to operate inside CarPlay rather than relying solely on Siri.The change arrives as generative AI becomes more embedded across Apple platforms. CarPlay is next, but Apple is setting clear boundaries. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
AI agents are coming to CarPlay, but they're not getting the keys Apple is formally making room for AI agents in the car, adding a new voice-based conversational app category to CarPlay in iOS 26.4.CarPlayApple's February 9, 2026 update to the CarPlay Developer Guide introduces a new CarPlay entitlement category for voice-driven conversational apps. The move creates an official path for third-party AI assistants to operate inside CarPlay rather than relying solely on Siri.The change arrives as generative AI becomes more embedded across Apple platforms. CarPlay is next, but Apple is setting clear boundaries. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Apple Music tests new AI ‘Playlist Playground’ feature Apple has introduced a new AI-powered feature to Apple Music with the beta release of iOS 26.4: "Playlist Playground." This tool allows…
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Extremely Long App Review Time I've seen a lot of posts about long wait times for App Review but I've also seen a lot of people have their apps reviewed / updated in a normal time frame My first app that I submitted is now on day 16 of "waiting for review", is anyone else also just stuck waiting for […]
Setting up the same agenetic file structure with my skills, MCP, etc., is so freaking exhausting anytime I create a project. Is there a reusable way for me to load my skills, MCP servers and other agentic tools each time I start up iOS project? submitted by /u/Rare_Prior_ [link] [comments]
Apple Mail has a hidden feature that solved my biggest inbox problem I’ve used Apple’s Mail app for years across my iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but the recently added inbox categories were a mixed bag for me until I started regularly using one hidden feature.
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iOS 26.4 adds support for voice-based AI apps to CarPlay Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Apple was preparing to update CarPlay with support for voice-based interactions in AI apps like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. As of this week’s release of iOS 26.4 beta 1, that support has officially arrived.
Here’s how it works.
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End of an era: Apple’s tvOS 26.4 removes standalone iTunes Movies and TV Shows apps from Apple TV In Apple's upcoming tvOS 26.4 update the dedicated iTunes Movies and iTunes TV Shows apps will be fully removed from Apple TV devices…
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iOS 26.4 Brings CarPlay Support for ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini With iOS 26.4, CarPlay users will be able to use third-party chatbots with CarPlay. AI services like Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT will be accessible through the CarPlay system for the first time.
Apple's CarPlay Developer Guide [PDF] lists voice-based conversational apps as a supported app type starting with iOS 26.4. Apple is implementing a new voice control screen that will let apps provide visual feedback for voice-based conversational apps.
AI apps that integrate CarPlay will need to add support for the voice control screen while voice-based services are active. There is a specific entitlement for voice-based conversational apps, and companies that make chatbots will need to update their apps to add CarPlay support.
CarPlay has long supported third-party apps, but Apple limits the kinds of apps that are available to ensure drivers aren't distracted while in their vehicles. Companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google were not able to create CarPlay apps before now, limiting CarPlay users to Siri voice controls while in the vehicle.
The new integration will let CarPlay users access voice-based apps like ChatGPT to ask questions hands-free, but the apps will not be able to control vehicle or iPhone functions. There also won't be a wake word option to activate a third-party app, so users will still need to open the app to use the chatbot. After an app is launched, the customizable voice control screen will give users vehicle-optimized chatbot experiences.
iOS 26.4 is in beta right now, and it is expected to see a release this spring.Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26Related Forum: iOS 26This article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Wild idea: $100/app/year developer fee I think that it is fair to say that consumers, regular developers and finally Apple all have problem when junk starts to come in huge quantities to the App Store. And due to some recent trends, it is happening. So I came to one idea that I am not aware to be discussed: $100/paid app/year […]
[All Deployments] AI Assistant Outage for new users Feb 18, 13:28 ESTInvestigating - We are investigating an issue causing failures when administrators attempt to access the AI Assistant for the first time. Any administrators who have used the Assistant before should still be able to at this time.
Samsung Expands Monitor Sale With Up to 58% Off on Amazon Last week, we started tracking a big Samsung sale on Amazon, including the return of the all-time low price on the newest Smart Monitor. This week, Samsung has expanded this sale to include even more monitors at all-time low prices, and it still includes the 32-inch Smart Monitor M9 for $1,299.99, down from $1,599.99.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
This model of the Smart Monitor launched last summer, and today's sale is a match of the best price we've ever tracked, which is typically at Samsung.com. Today is one of the few times we've seen this low price on Amazon, and it has an estimated delivery date between February 20 and February 23.
$300 OFFSamsung 32-Inch Smart Monitor M9 for $1,299.99
Another new and notable Samsung monitor discount on Amazon is the 27-inch Odyssey 3D G90XF, which is available for $849.99, down from $1,999.99. This is a massive 58 percent discount on the monitor, hitting a new all-time low price on Amazon.
$1,150 OFFSamsung 27-Inch Odyssey 3D Monitor for $849.99
In addition to the Smart Monitor M9 sale, Amazon is offering extra savings if you purchase multiple select Samsung products this week. Purchasing two products from this landing page will get you an additional $100 off, three will get you $300 off, four will get you $400 off, and five will get you $500 off your total.
This list includes monitors, TVs, soundbars, and even cordless vacuums. We've gathered a few of the highlights in this sale below, but be sure to check out the full list on Amazon before the sale ends. Shoppers should note that Amazon has discounts on many of these products without the need of the bundle offers, but if you're interested in more than one you can get some extra savings by clicking the on-page coupons.
43-inch Odyssey Neo G7 Gaming Monitor - $579.99, down from $999.99
27-inch Odyssey G61SD Gaming Monitor - $649.99, down from $799.99
49-inch Odyssey G95C Curved Gaming Monitor - $749.99, down from $999.99
49-inch Odyssey G91SD Curved Gaming Monitor - $799.99, down from $1,299.99
27-inch Odyssey 3D G90XF Monitor - $849.99, down from $1,999.99
32-inch Odyssey G81SF Gaming Monitor - $849.99, down from $1,299.99
Bespoke AI Jet Ultra Cordless Stick Vacuum - $867.99, down from $1,099.00
49-inch Odyssey G95SD Curved Gaming Monitor - $1,197.99, down from $1,899.99
57-inch Odyssey Neo G95NC Curved Gaming Monitor - $1,499.99, down from $2,299.99
77-inch OLED 4K Smart TV - $2,197.99, down from $2,497.99
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
Deals Newsletter
Interested in hearing more about the best deals you can find in 2026? Sign up for our Deals Newsletter and we'll keep you updated so you don't miss the biggest deals of the season!
Related Roundup: Apple DealsThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Toyota rolls out digital car keys on Apple iPhone Toyota is rolling out support for Apple Wallet car keys, allowing iPhone and Apple Watch users to lock, unlock, and start select vehicles …
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New MacBook with ‘fun colors’ sounds like the best Mac for most people For years now, the best Mac for most people has been the MacBook Air. But that may be about to change, with a revival of the suffix-free ‘MacBook’ coming soon.
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Amazon adds ‘read and listen’ mode to Audible app for immersion reading feature Torn between reading an ebook and listening to the narrated version? Amazon’s Audible is introducing a clever solution that it calls immersion reading.
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iOS 26.4's Major New CarPlay Feature Revealed Back at WWDC 2025, Apple revealed that it was planning to allow CarPlay users to watch video via AirPlay in their vehicles while they are not driving, and the first beta of iOS 26.4 suggests the feature may be nearing availability.
There are several new references to CarPlay video streaming functionality within the iOS 26.4 beta's source code. The feature is not yet visible to users, but software developer Thomas Dye managed to get it working to some extent in Xcode's CarPlay simulator on the Mac, and he showed it off in a recent YouTube video (via 9to5Mac).
On an iPhone connected to CarPlay, it appears that videos in any AirPlay-supported app can be played on the car's display. In the Dynamic Island, there is a button that allows you to show the video on the iPhone instead, when you want to.
The demo also reveals that an Apple TV app will be available on CarPlay, allowing you to access shows and movies from the Apple TV streaming service and your own library. There is also a tab for accessing MLS Season Pass. However, it is not entirely clear if the Apple TV app will actually be this fully featured on the real version of CarPlay.
The simulator provides an early albeit fairly clunky look at CarPlay's video streaming in action. The feature will likely be available by time iOS 26.4 is released to the general public in late March or early April, but there is a chance it will get held back until iOS 26.5 or later if Apple needs more time to wrap up development.
Apple's website indicates that automakers will need to implement support for the CarPlay video functionality, due to the safety requirement that the vehicle be parked, so it may take some time for the feature to widely roll out.
Related Reading: iOS 26.4 Adds These 12 New Features to Your iPhoneRelated Roundups: CarPlay, iOS 26, iPadOS 26Tag: AirPlayRelated Forums: HomePod, HomeKit, CarPlay, Home & Auto Technology, iOS 26This article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
YYZ (Toronto) on 2026-02-19 THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Feb 19, 08:00 - 13:00 UTCFeb 18, 17:03 UTCScheduled - We will be performing scheduled maintenance in YYZ (Toronto) datacenter on 2026-02-19 between 08:00 and 13:00 UTC.Traffic might be re-routed from this location, hence there is a possibility of a slight increase in latency during this maintenance window for end-users in the affected region. For PNI / CNI customers connecting with us in this location, please make sure you are expecting this traffic to fail over elsewhere during this maintenance window as network interfaces in this datacentre may become temporarily unavailable.You can now subscribe to these notifications via Cloudflare dashboard and receive these updates directly via email, PagerDuty and webhooks (based on your plan): https://developers.cloudflare.com/notifications/notification-available/#cloudflare-status.
Apple TV debuts trailer for psychological thriller ‘Imperfect Women,’ limited series premiering March 18th Apple TV on Wednesday released the trailer for “Imperfect Women,” a new psychological thriller starring and executive produced…
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iPhone 17 Pro Max Curiously Becomes Most Traded-In Smartphone New trade-in data indicates that Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max has rapidly become the single most traded-in smartphone.
According to a new report from SellCell, Apple's latest flagship iPhone has quickly risen to the top of the independent trade-in market, accounting for 11.5% of all devices appearing in the top-20 trade-in rankings just months after release. The analysis is based on SellCell internal trade-in data and secondary market pricing trends gathered from 40 independent iPhone buyers.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max's share of the top-20 trade-in rankings increased from about 5.1% in late November to 11.5% by early February, more than doubling in approximately 12 weeks. 86% of traded-in units were categorized as being in mint or good condition, suggesting many owners are selling soon after purchase.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro Max remain prominent, each accounting for approximately 7.3% of trade-ins, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 13 sit at 7.2% of trade-ins each. The top-20 devices collectively represent around 47% of all trade-in activity.
Trade-in rankings typically reflect a wide mix of devices at different points in their lifecycle, with older models often dominating resale volume due to large installed bases and the natural upgrade cycle. The iPhone 17 Pro Max's rapid rise is therefore notable because the device only entered the market relatively recently yet has already become the most frequently traded-in model across the tracked channels.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max has apparently lost approximately 25.4% of its value since launch when measuring average resale prices for mint-condition devices over a 145-day period. Over an equivalent timeframe, the iPhone 16 Pro Max lost roughly 32.5% of its value. This represents more than 7% lower depreciation for the newer model and translates to as much as $95 in additional retained value compared with the previous generation over the same period.
SellCell attributes early trade-ins primarily to strong resale pricing. Average resale values for mint-condition iPhone 17 Pro Max devices currently sit around $967.50. Premium smartphones can function as short-term assets that owners may sell to release cash when needed, so the iPhone 17 Pro Max's rise to the top of trade-ins likely reflects broader economic conditions.Related Roundup: iPhone 17 ProTag: SellCellBuyer's Guide: iPhone 17 Pro (Neutral)Related Forum: iPhoneThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Berkshire trims Apple stake but keeps the stock as a $62 billion anchor Berkshire Hathaway reduced its Apple stake by 4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, but Apple remains the conglomerate's largest equity holding by a wide margin.Berkshire Hathaway trims its Apple investmentA February 17 regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows Berkshire trimmed its Apple position during the quarter ended December 31, 2025. Apple was still valued at roughly $62 billion within Berkshire's portfolio at year's end.The filing also shows Berkshire sold 77% of its Amazon stake in the same quarter, a far more substantial reduction than the modest adjustment to Apple. The latest stock cut by Berkshire isn't a harbinger of doom but rather a routine portfolio adjustment. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Belkin’s power bank is the perfect iPhone backup [Review] ★★★★☆ This Belkin power bank provides convenient charging without the hassle of extra cables for your devices. We went hands-on for our review.
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)
Belkin’s power bank is the perfect iPhone backup [Review] ★★★★☆ This Belkin power bank provides convenient charging without the hassle of extra cables for your devices. We went hands-on for our review.
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)
Deals: Most affordable M5 iPad Pro nearly $200 off, Apple Watch Ultra 3 up to $155 off, Ocean Band, Trail Loop, more Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is now ready to go, starting off with new Amazon all-time lows on the most affordable M5 iPad Pro models – you will now find nearly $200 off the most attainable 11-inch configurations. Alongside a chance to score the latest Apple Watch Ultra 3 at $155 off, we also spotted new Amazon all-time low pricing on the Neon Green Ocean Band and the blue Apple Trail Loop at up to 41% off, joined by ongoing $300 price drops on 32GB M5 MacBook Pro models. Scope it all out down below.
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Apple TV unveils new psychological crime thriller coming soon Apple TV just released the trailer for Imperfect Women, a new psychological thriller series revolving around the fallout from a shocking crime.
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Lowest price ever: M5 iPad Pro plunges to $799 Amazon has slashed $200 off the M5 iPad Pro, bringing the cost down to a record low $799.91.Get an M5 iPad Pro for just $799.99 while supplies last - Image credit: AppleApple's latest M5 11-inch iPad Pro is on sale at Amazon for $799.91 in Space Black, delivering the lowest price on record this Wednesday.Buy M5 iPad Pro for $799.91 Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
March madness: What Apple is getting ready to launch With an Apple experience on March 4, the rumor mill is in overdrive. These are the best candidates — and the also-rans — for what Apple will launch and then have an "experience" to demo on March 4.The more likely Apple launches for early MarchIt seems the March 4 Apple Experience won't be an actual launch of new products in Apple's catalog, but instead capping off multiple announcements during the week. That gives Apple a lot of opportunity to promote multiple items.With the breadth of rumored devices on the docket, including many anticipated for launch in earlu 2026. it certainly needs that opportunity. But, as ever, some have more chance of making an appearance than others. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Berkshire Hathaway reduces Apple stake as Warren Buffett officially retires In new SEC disclosures filed this week, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed that it has once again trimmed its stake in Apple. At the same time, the firm disclosed a new $350 million investment in the New York Times.
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One of our favorite MagSafe power banks is nearly half-off ($38) Macworld
Keys, wallet, phone, power bank—they should all be part of your daily routine. Missing out on a power bank? Then today’s deal is for you: Amazon is selling the Baseus Picogo Magsafe power bank on sale for $38 right now, a massive 46 percent off and matching its all-time low.
With a 10,000mAh capacity, this tiny power bank is more than enough to recharge your phone about twice over, which is great when you go about town or when you travel, as well as for concerts. The Baseus Picogo supports both 15W Qi2 wireless charging and a faster 27W wired charging via the available USB-C port. So, if you have a cable in your bag and your phone’s battery is on its last legs, you might want to plug that in so it charges faster.
The power bank is 0.5 inches thick and only weighs 6 oz, so you’ll barely feel it in your pocket. You’ll also barely feel it when it’s magnetized to the back of your phone. When we reviewed it, we gave it 4 stars and our editor’s choice award, praising its portability and fast charging.
So snag one of these Baseus Picogo Magsafe power banks for $38 and keep your iPhone going for hours.
Buy now at Amazon
Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs says Apple is finally debt-free On February 18, 2004, Steve Jobs sent a memo to Apple employees revealing that the company was, for the first time in years, out of debt.
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)
Android App with CloudKit SDK Is this dumb? I mainly make iOS apps but I’ve had some feedback for an android app for a couple of my apps. I care about native iOS and so I use SwiftData and CloudKit. I don’t want to deal with firebase or supabase for my personal projects. Is it dumb to make an android […]
Apple revives Apple Music Connect (but fans can’t join) Apple revives Apple Music Connect -- but as a tool for music labels and industry promoters, not for music fans.
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)
Apple’s March event might bring several days of surprises Macworld
We now know the date of Apple’s next event-type thing: March 4. But as ever, we won’t know the precise details or the products the company plans to announce until it chooses to make that information public.
Unusually, however, there’s a good chance that Apple will tell us about the new products first and host the event (or, to use the company’s preferred terminology, the “experience”) after. Because one respected pundit has put forward the theory that Apple will announce new iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks via press release on Monday to Wednesday of that week, before journalists and influencers are gathered for a hands-on session with the hardware.
John Gruber, writing on his Daring Fireball blog, ponders the large number of Apple releases that are expected in the next few months. We’re waiting for the iPhone 17e, he notes, new versions of the entry-level iPad (with an A18 or A19 chip) and iPad Air (with an M4), M5 Pro and Max MacBook Pro, M5 MacBook Air, and the rumored low-cost MacBook with an A18 chip. That’s a lot to fit into a single event. Perhaps too much.
“What strikes me is that March 4—the ‘experience’ day—is a Wednesday,” Gruber writes. “So my spitball guess is that they announce all these products via Newsroom press releases, day-by-day. Like, say, the iPhone 17e on Monday, new iPad(s) on Tuesday, and new MacBooks on Wednesday. And then the ‘experience’ will be a hands-on thing with in-person demos.”
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who is generally keyed into Apple’s product launches, responded on X, saying Gruber’s guess “is exactly what I am expecting based on what I’ve heard.” Gurman has previously reported that Apple had a product launch slated for March 2.
There is a precedent for this sort of serial press release strategy. At the end of October 2024, Apple sent out announcements on consecutive days for the M4 iMac (October 28), M4 Mac mini (October 29), and M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro (October 30). The company even called this an “exciting week of announcements,” even though it only lasted for three days and wasn’t especially exciting, focusing only on the Mac section of its product portfolio. A week of announcements covering the iPhone, iPad, and Mac might do a better job of qualifying for that adjective.
Apple Music in iOS 26.4: Five new features coming to iPhone iOS 26.4 is packed with new features and changes, including five updates for the Music app. Here’s everything new for Apple Music in iOS 26.4.
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IOS Development at Windows | React Native (EXPO )| Swift Hello everybody. Currently I am developing a web app. After some discussions, I decided to also publish it for Android and iOS as well. Developing for Android is not a problem because I can use Android Studio on Windows. But when it comes to iOS, this is where the problem starts. I am not a […]
iOS 26.4 beta 1: Notification Forwarding onboarding, allow search on iCloud․com, and more [Video] In this new episode of iOS Decoded, we take a deep dive into what’s new in iOS 26.4 beta 1, with in-depth looks at dozens of new features and changes. For example, we get our first look at the Notification Forwarding setup for third-party smart watches and other hardware devices in the EU, along with new iCloud.com functionality that brings secure Photos and iCloud Drive search to the web.
In this post, we’ll consider five standout features included with the update, but watch the full video for a look at everything new, and be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more in-depth walkthroughs.
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Connectivity Issue – FR-PAR (Paris), FR-PAR-2 (Paris 2) and ES-MAD (Madrid) Data Centers Feb 18, 15:08 UTCResolved - We became aware of an issue that affected connectivity in our FR-PAR (Paris), FR-PAR-2 (Paris 2), and ES-MAD (Madrid) data centers. The issue lasted between 21:25 UTC and 22:50 UTC on February 17, 2026, and between 11:44 UTC and 12:16 UTC on February 18, 2026. During this time, users may have experienced intermittent connection timeouts and errors for all services deployed in those data centers. We can confirm that the issue has been resolved and service has resumed normal operations. If you continue to experience problems, please open a Support ticket for assistance.
Producer Dana Eden dies unexpectedly at 52 during filming of Apple TV series ‘Tehran’ Dana Eden, the acclaimed Israeli producer and co-creator of the Apple TV+ spy thriller series "Tehran," has died at age 52 during…
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Certificate Issuance through Google Trust Services Unavailable Feb 18, 15:01 UTCResolved - This incident has been resolved.Feb 18, 01:16 UTCMonitoring - Engineering have moved pending certificate orders to another certificate authority where appropriate and are closely monitoring the third party incident.Feb 17, 21:08 UTCUpdate - We are continuing to investigate this issue.Feb 17, 20:54 UTCUpdate - We are continuing to investigate this issue.Feb 17, 20:53 UTCInvestigating - Google Trust Services is experiencing an unplanned outage: https://status.pki.goog
Early demo reveals how CarPlay handles video in iOS 26.4, including Apple TV app Starting with iOS 26, Apple will officially allow video playback through CarPlay. Released this week in beta, iOS 26.4 appears to be the first version with support, as long as two conditions are met. While CarPlay video playback isn’t ready for users yet, one developer has shown off how it will look as well as how Apple’s TV app looks in the car.
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M5 iPad Pro Hits New Record Low Prices on Amazon, Starting at $799.99 Apple's 11-inch M5 iPad Pro has hit new all-time low prices today on Amazon, starting at $799.99 for the 256GB Wi-Fi 11-inch iPad Pro, down from $999.00. As of writing, we're only tracking low prices on the 11-inch model of the M5 iPad Pro.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Amazon also has the 512GB Wi-Fi 11-inch iPad Pro for $999.99, down from $1,199.00, and the 1TB Wi-Fi model for $1,399.99, down from $1,599.00. All three of these deals are $199 discounts and record low prices on the 2025 iPad Pro.
$199 OFFiPad Pro (256GB Wi-Fi) for $799.99
$199 OFFiPad Pro (512GB Wi-Fi) for $999.99
$199 OFFiPad Pro (1TB Wi-Fi) for $1,399.99
These iPad Pro models feature a super-slim design, Thunderbolt support, and OLED displays. They were just refreshed last October making Amazon's deals great discounts on these still-new tablets.
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
Deals Newsletter
Interested in hearing more about the best deals you can find in 2026? Sign up for our Deals Newsletter and we'll keep you updated so you don't miss the biggest deals of the season!
Related Roundup: Apple DealsThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
PHL (Philadelphia) on 2026-02-19 THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Feb 19, 03:00 - 05:30 UTCFeb 18, 14:44 UTCScheduled - We will be performing scheduled maintenance in PHL (Philadelphia) datacenter on 2026-02-19 between 03:00 and 05:30 UTC.Traffic might be re-routed from this location, hence there is a possibility of a slight increase in latency during this maintenance window for end-users in the affected region. For PNI / CNI customers connecting with us in this location, please make sure you are expecting this traffic to fail over elsewhere during this maintenance window as network interfaces in this datacentre may become temporarily unavailable.You can now subscribe to these notifications via Cloudflare dashboard and receive these updates directly via email, PagerDuty and webhooks (based on your plan): https://developers.cloudflare.com/notifications/notification-available/#cloudflare-status.
Question about best practices When a user first signs in is it better to have • onAppear { if let user = firebaseSignInwithApple.user { Task { do { try await appController.fetchProfile(uid: user.uid) catch { alertController-present(error: error) } } } Or have private func listenToAuthChanges() { } on the appController? submitted by /u/oez1983 [link] [comments]
You don’t need to pay full price for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate These stackable, discounted Xbox Game Pass Ultimate one-month subscriptions cost just $24.99 (regularly $29.99).
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)
QRO (Queretaro) on 2026-02-19 THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Feb 19, 08:00 - 13:00 UTCFeb 18, 14:04 UTCScheduled - We will be performing scheduled maintenance in QRO (Queretaro) datacenter on 2026-02-19 between 08:00 and 13:00 UTC.Traffic might be re-routed from this location, hence there is a possibility of a slight increase in latency during this maintenance window for end-users in the affected region. For PNI / CNI customers connecting with us in this location, please make sure you are expecting this traffic to fail over elsewhere during this maintenance window as network interfaces in this datacentre may become temporarily unavailable.You can now subscribe to these notifications via Cloudflare dashboard and receive these updates directly via email, PagerDuty and webhooks (based on your plan): https://developers.cloudflare.com/notifications/notification-available/#cloudflare-status.
Here’s a hopeful sign the M5 Mac Studio isn’t too far away Thinking of purchasing a Mac Studio? Here's why it might be wise to wait for improved M5 versions coming soon — they look phenomenal.
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)
Federal ban on TP-Link routers shelved, but Texas fights on Badged versions of TP-Link routers are supplied to US customers by more than 300 ISPs, making them the most widely used Wi-Fi routers in the country, found in millions of US homes.
It therefore caused grave concern when security researchers at Microsoft found that a hacking group based in China was using vulnerabilities in the devices to carry out cyber attacks in the US. It had been widely expected that the routers would be banned from sale in the US, but politics seemingly intervened. However, the battle is not yet over …
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Berkshire trims 4% of its Apple stake in Q4; Apple remains its largest equity holding at $62 billion During the fourth quarter of 2025, Berkshire also reduced its position in Apple — its largest equity holding — by about 4%, trimming roughly…
The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.
Local notifications when app is backgrounded/force-closed I'm working on an app that syncs with Apple Health. When certain Health events occur, my app logs them and sends an app notification to the device. However, when the app is either backgrounded after not being used for some time, or the app has been force-closed, the notifications aren't shown until the app is […]
MEM (Memphis) on 2026-02-19 THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Feb 19, 08:00 - 13:00 UTCFeb 18, 13:38 UTCScheduled - We will be performing scheduled maintenance in MEM (Memphis) datacenter on 2026-02-19 between 08:00 and 13:00 UTC.Traffic might be re-routed from this location, hence there is a possibility of a slight increase in latency during this maintenance window for end-users in the affected region. For PNI / CNI customers connecting with us in this location, please make sure you are expecting this traffic to fail over elsewhere during this maintenance window as network interfaces in this datacentre may become temporarily unavailable.You can now subscribe to these notifications via Cloudflare dashboard and receive these updates directly via email, PagerDuty and webhooks (based on your plan): https://developers.cloudflare.com/notifications/notification-available/#cloudflare-status.
Searching for a Passionate iOS developer who understands XCode well. I'm searching for a iOS developer who understands XCode well and can help me with my very specific goal. Spoiler: Yes, for free No, it is not going to be about building some large iOS app. (just two tools that need MacOS but I don't have Mac at all to perform something). submitted by […]
Apple is making it easier to customize how subtitles look on iPhone The usage of subtitles and captions in TV shows and movies is ever increasing, both due to the popularity of foreign language content and Hollywood’s inability to produce an audio track where the person speaking is sufficiently intelligible.
With iOS 26.4, Apple is improving the subtitles experience in the native video player on iPhone and iPad, and a similar change is rolling out to Apple TV with tvOS 26.4 …
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Low-Cost MacBook Expected on March 4 in These Colors Apple will announce its rumored low-cost MacBook at its event on March 4, with the device coming in a selection of bold color options, according to a known leaker.
Earlier this week, Apple announced a "special Apple Experience" for the media in New York, London, and Shanghai, taking place on March 4, 2026 at 9:00am ET.
Posting on Weibo, the leaker known as "Instant Digital" said that the color scheme of the Apple logo graphic used for the upcoming "Apple Experience" should match the colors of the new entry-level Mac. The invite graphic shows a 3D Apple logo made up of transparent discs in yellow, green, and blue. The post effectively constitutes a claim that the device is set to arrive at the event.
In June 2025, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the more-affordable MacBook could come in silver, blue, pink, and yellow finishes, which would match the entry-level iPad. In his latest newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple has tested a range of playful color options for its upcoming low-cost MacBook, going well beyond the muted tones available on its current laptop lineup.
Gurman said the colors tested so far include light yellow, light green, blue, pink, classic silver, and dark gray, although he added that it is unlikely all of them will ship. The color palette would make the budget MacBook the most colorful laptop Apple has offered since the iBook G3 era in the late 90s, which included Tangerine, Blueberry, Indigo, Graphite, and Key Lime.
The low-cost machine is expected to feature a 12.9-inch display, an aluminum chassis, and an iPhone chip, likely the A18 Pro, rather than an M-series processor. It will likely retail for well below $1,000.Tags: Instant Digital, MacBook (A18 Pro)This article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Using the apple intelligence models – forcing private cloud compute Trying to figure out how to use the private cloud compute vs on device models. I have a shortcut that works well with the private cloud but not at all with the on device model. Trying to recreate that functionality as an app, but unlike the shortcuts where you can select which model to use, […]
10 Reasons to Wait for Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a two-phase rollout starting with the iPhone 18 series. That means the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and iPhone Fold will be released in September 2026, followed by the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e in spring 2027.
Overall Design
iPhone 17 Pro Style
Rumors suggest the iPhone 18 Pro lineup will largely retain the same design as the iPhone 17 Pro models. The rear camera system will look identical to the current generation, featuring a raised "plateau" with three lenses arranged in a triangle. Display sizes are also expected to remain unchanged, with the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max continuing to use 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch panels, respectively – the same dimensions introduced with the iPhone 16 Pro series. iPhone 18 Pro models could drop the current two-tone look of the rear casing found on the iPhone 17 Pro in favor of a more seamless aesthetic. For the next-generation models, Apple has apparently updated the back-glass "replacement process" to minimize the color difference between the Ceramic Shield 2 glass and the aluminum frame, resulting in a more unified appearance.
Next-Level Battery Life
Thicker Chassis
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, claims a Chinese leaker. The Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. (The iPhone 17 Pro Max has the biggest iPhone battery to date at 5,088 mAh. Apple says it has a battery life of up to 39 hours.) According to another rumor, the body of the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be slightly thicker than the iPhone 17 Pro Max, raising the device's weight to around 243 grams. That would make the iPhone 18 Pro Max approximately 3 grams more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is currently the heaviest model Apple has produced. A larger battery is the most likely cause.
Smaller Dynamic Island
Under-Screen Face ID?
Rumors continue to circulate about whether the iPhone 18 Pro models will introduce under-display Face ID, but reports remain divided on when the technology will actually arrive. The feature would move the TrueDepth camera system beneath the display, eliminating the need for the current Dynamic Island cutout.
According to Wayne Ma of The Information, Apple is targeting a design without a Dynamic Island, replacing it with a single pinhole camera in the upper-left corner of the screen. However, other sources dispute that claim. Display analyst Ross Young believes under-display Face ID is possible for the iPhone 18 Pro, but says a smaller Dynamic Island will still be present. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has echoed this view, reporting that the new models will feature a slimmed-down Dynamic Island rather than removing it entirely. Apple is also said to be testing new camera miniaturization technology to reduce the size of the front-facing camera currently located within the Dynamic Island.
The Weibo leaker "Ice Universe" has claimed the Dynamic Island cutout on the iPhone 18 Pro models will be approximately 35% narrower than it is on the iPhone 17 Pro models. Specifically, they said it will have a width of around 13.5mm, down from around 20.7mm
Meanwhile, Chinese leaker Instant Digital has offered yet another version of events, saying the Dynamic Island will shrink in size, but that under-display Face ID and camera technology won't debut this year. Overall, the consensus suggests Apple may be refining the Dynamic Island before fully transitioning to an all-screen design in future generations.
A20 Pro Chip
2nm Process
The iPhone 18 Pro models will use Apple's A20 chip, based on TSMC's 2nm process for power and efficiency improvements. A move to 2nm fabrication increases transistor density, which will enable higher performance. The A20 series is expected to deliver roughly a 15 percent speed gain and about 30 percent better efficiency compared with the A19 series used in Apple's iPhone 17 models.
Apple's A20 chip will be packaged with TSMC's Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) technology, suggesting at least some A20 chips will have RAM integrated directly onto the same wafer as the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine, rather than sitting adjacent to the chip and connected via a silicon interposer. This could contribute to faster performance for both overall tasks and Apple Intelligence, and longer battery life from improved power efficiency.
C2 Modem
Replacing Qualcomm
Apple plans to include its next-generation C2 modem in the iPhone 18 Pro models, according to supply chain analyst Jeff Pu. The chip will succeed the C1 modem, which debuted in the lower-cost iPhone 16e as Apple's first in-house cellular modem, and the C1X modem chip in the iPhone Air, which Apple says is up to 2× faster than the C1. The C2 is expected to bring faster speeds, improved power efficiency, and support for mmWave 5G in the United States – a feature missing from the C1 and C1X.
Apple's modem roadmap is part of a long-term strategy to reduce reliance on Qualcomm, which currently supplies 5G modems for the rest of the iPhone lineup. The company has been working on developing its own cellular chips for years, aiming for deeper integration and greater control over power management and performance.
New Camera Sensor
Samsung-Made
Samsung is working on a new three-layer stacked image sensor, reportedly intended for the iPhone 18. The sensor, referred to as PD-TR-Logic, integrates three layers of circuitry, which would improve camera responsiveness, reduce noise, and increase dynamic range. The leak comes from a source known as "Jukanlosreve," who claims the sensor is being developed specifically for Apple's 2026 iPhone lineup. Sony has long been Apple's sole image sensor supplier, so Samsung's entry would be a big shift in the iPhone's camera supply chain.
Variable Aperture
DSLR-Style
Apple intends to equip this year's iPhone 18 Pro models with a variable aperture lens, according to reports. Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station claims the main rear camera – what Apple calls the 48-megapixel Fusion camera – on both iPhone 18 Pro models will offer variable aperture, which would be a first for the iPhone. A variable-aperture system physically adjusts the lens opening, letting more light in for low-light shots or narrowing the opening for brighter scenes and deeper depth of field.
The main cameras on the iPhone 15 Pro, 16 Pro, and 17 Pro all use a fixed ƒ/1.78 aperture, where the lens is permanently set to its widest setting. With a variable lens, the iPhone 18 Pro would allow users to manually shift the aperture, similar to on a DSLR camera. This would mean more control over depth of field, enabling sharper focus on subjects or smoother background blur. Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in November 2024 that Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models will get the feature.
5G Satellite Internet
Non-Terrestrial Data
According to a report by The Information, Apple plans to add support for 5G networks that operate via satellites rather than Earth-based towers as early as next year. This advancement would allow future iPhones to gain full internet connectivity through satellite, not just limited emergency features.
If Apple meets the 2026 target, the first devices to feature 5G satellite internet would likely be the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the long-rumored foldable iPhone. Apple partners with Globalstar for its iPhone satellite features, but there is currently no service that delivers full 5G satellite internet directly to a smartphone, and the report did not specify who would supply it.
Simplified Camera Control
New Design
Apple is reportedly working to simplify the Camera Control button's design on iPhone 18 models in order to reduce costs. The current Camera Control button on iPhone 17 models uses both capacitive and pressure sensors beneath a sapphire crystal surface. The capacitive layer detects touch gestures, while the force sensor recognizes different pressure levels for taps, presses, and swipes.
However, according to the Weibo-based account Instant Digital, Apple will remove the capacitive sensing layer and retain only pressure sensing recognition in the second iteration to achieve all Camera Control functions on the iPhone 18. The simplified version is not about reducing functionality in the button, but about saving money. The current solution is said to be very expensive for Apple and is generating costly after-sales repairs.
New Colors
Three in Testing
Apple is rumored to be testing three new color options for the iPhone 18 Pro models: burgundy, brown, and purple. A burgundy finish would mark the first time the Pro and Pro Max models have been offered in any shade of red, apart from the lighter (PRODUCT)RED used on earlier devices. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max were previously available in Deep Purple, and Apple has never released an iPhone in a genuinely brown color.This article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
March 4 international Apple Experiences may follow week of online launches Apple may return to its marketing playbook, delivering multiple press releases of big products in just a few days, then highlight them all at the international March 4 "experiences."Apple's experience logo has many layers. The announcement of a special event on March 4 has led to wild speculation of what Apple could introduce at the time. However, with so many oddities surrounding it all, it may not be as straightforward as people think.On Tuesday, Daring Fireball's John Gruber proposed that Apple's reference of it as an "experience" day is unusual. The choice of holding the event on a Wednesday is also unexpected, especially when you factor in Apple's preference for Tuesday product announcements. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
You might soon be able to watch Apple TV in your car Macworld
Code references in the latest version of iOS point to what might sound like a surprising new feature in CarPlay: the ability to play movies and TV shows in your car.
iOS 26.4, which has just launched in beta form, contains two giveaway strings, both of which mention an important safety measure. “When you’re not driving,” reads the first, “open Apple TV on iPhone and review the privacy information.” While the second reads: “When you’re not driving, sign in to Apple TV on iPhone.”
These code strings were spotted by the MacRumors analyst Aaron Perris, who posted his discovery to Twitter/X. The Apple news site 9to5Mac further spotted five references that contain the words “CarPlayVideoPlayback,” juxtaposed with terms such as “ClimateControls” and “Notifications.”
It’s worth noting that while these snippets point to the feature approaching launch, the concept is not a total surprise. “Video in the car” was originally announced as part of the iOS 26 update last year, and is still mentioned in the CarPlay section of Apple’s developer site.
“AirPlay video in the car enables people to watch their favorite videos from iPhone right on their CarPlay display when they aren’t driving,” the page explains. “Integrate support for CarPlay with AirPlay video to enable this feature in your car.”
That’s the key: it was left up to automakers to authorise and integrate the feature. And up to now, no automaker has chosen to do that, or announced that it intends to do so in the future. But this latest discovery hints that progress is finally being made.
The low-cost MacBook will get a slick video, not just a press release Apple’s low-cost MacBook has been a long time coming, but it now seems clear that we can expect it to be launched in the first week of March.
Apple has a special event taking place on March 4, but a subsequent report says that this will not include a keynote presentation. Instead, it says we can expect a series of press releases along the lines of the ones we saw back in 2024 …
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The low-cost MacBook will get a slick video, not just a press release Apple’s low-cost MacBook has been a long time coming, but it now seems clear that we can expect it to be launched in the first week of March.
Apple has a special event taking place on March 4, but a subsequent report says that this will not include a keynote presentation. Instead, it says we can expect a series of press releases along the lines of the ones we saw back in 2024 …
more…
The low-cost MacBook will get a slick video, not just a press release Apple’s low-cost MacBook has been a long time coming, but it now seems clear that we can expect it to be launched in the first week of March.
Apple has a special event taking place on March 4, but a subsequent report says that this will not include a keynote presentation. Instead, it says we can expect a series of press releases along the lines of the ones we saw back in 2024 …
more…
Apple Music Connect is reborn as a marketing tool for the music industry Apple's failed social media platform Apple Music Connect is back, but this time not for fans. Instead, it's a set of promotion tools for record labels.Apple Music has added a new central resource for record industry professionalsIt's not as if Apple starts up and abandons social media programs as often as Google kills off apps, but it feels close. Alongside better-known failures such as Ping, there was Apple Music Connect, which started in 2015 and died in 2019.Now Apple has brought it back — or really just reused the name — with Apple Music Connect for record labels and music distributors. It still has a social media element in that its tools include what Apple calls social templates for promotion on Twitter, Instagram and so on. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
The final countdown for Intel Mac apps has begun Macworld
Apple has made a major announcement this week that could affect the software you use, especially if it’s an older app. In a support document, Apple wrote that it will start to phase out Rosetta functionality with macOS 28. That means in two years, apps that were written for Intel-based Macs will no longer run on M-series Macs, except for “certain older, unmaintained games.”
When Apple began its switch from Intel chips to its own M-series chips in 2020, it changed the architecture of the underlying workings of the Mac. To help navigate the transition, Apple created Rosetta, which acts as a translator of Intel-based apps so they can run on M-series Macs. Rosetta will be included in macOS 27, which is expected to be released this fall. After that, Apple will limit the Rosetta implementation in macOS 28.
It’s been over five years since the first M1 Macs debuted. By the time macOS 28 is released in the fall of 2027, it’ll be seven years–Apple has a history of deprecating products after such time.
Developers have had plenty of time to update their software to either support M-series Macs exclusively or run universally on either chip. You can check an app’s compatibility by selecting the app’s icon and pressing Command+I on the keyboard. This will open a software info window, and in the General section, look at the listing for Kind. This will show one of the following:
Application (Apple silicon): The app was written for Apple chips
Application (Universal): The app was written for both Apple and Intel chips
Application (Intel): The app was written for Intel chips and will stop working with macOS 28
Foundry
If an app is “Apple silicon” or “Universal,” it will continue to work when macOS 28 arrives. However, if an app is “Intel,” it will stop working (unless it’s one of those older games Apple has yet to identify). If the developer doesn’t update the app between now and then, you may need to find an Apple silicon or Universal alternative to continue using it.
These are your options: If you bought the app in the Mac App Store, you check for any updates between now and then in the store. If you downloaded the app from a third-party site, check the app’s settings or the developer’s website for an update. If none become available between now and 2027, your options become a bit more dramatic. You can look for a new app altogether, or you can put off upgrading to macOS 28 (which we don’t recommend). Finally, if you have an older Mac, you can use it to run any Intel apps when you need them.
Why hasn’t Xcode 26.3 been released yet, even though Xcode 26.4 beta has already been released? from 26.0 to 26.2, one release came out every month. at this point, the most exciting update is xcode 26.3, and tahoe 26.3 and iOS 26.3 have been released, and on top of that, the 26.4 beta has been released for developers, so why hasn't xcode 26.3 been released yet? while reading the 26.4 release […]
‘Double-dipping’ dispute over Qualcomm iPhone chips finally ends Apple previously accused Qualcomm of “double-dipping” as a result of the company’s policies over selling radio chips for use in iPhones. The Cupertino company had also objected to Qualcomm charging a percentage of the price of an iPhone rather than a fixed fee per chip.
Apple withdrew its claims back in 2024, but an independent class-action lawsuit was still being pursued on behalf of iPhone owners. This lawsuit has now been abandoned …
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Perplexity Abandons AI Advertising Strategy Over Trust Worries AI company Perplexity is stepping away from advertising over concerns that it will erode user trust, despite moves by rivals to introduce ads as an alternative money-making strategy.
Perplexity was one of the first AI services to embrace ads in 2024, after it ran tests where sponsored answers appeared under the chatbot's answers. That approach however was phased out last year, and executives at the company now say they don't plan to revisit it, according to the Financial Times.
"A user needs to believe this is the best possible answer, to keep using the product and be willing to pay for it," a Perplexity executive told the publication.
The report follows OpenAI's move earlier this month to show ads to ChatGPT users who have a free account or a low-cost Go subscription. OpenAI has said ads will not influence the answers that ChatGPT provides, nor will it provide advertisers with content from ChatGPT conversations.
Anthropic, the makers of Claude, recently mocked OpenAI for its decision to show ads to users and has said it has no plans to do the same. The company argues that including ads in Claude would not be in line with its mission of creating a helpful assistant for work and deep thinking, and that users should not need to second-guess whether an AI is being helpful or "subtly steering the conversation towards something monetizable."
Google features advertising in AI mode and in its AI Overviews summaries on traditional search results. However, Google has not introduced ads into its Gemini chatbot so far.
Ad strategies are one way that AI companies have been looking at as a way to generate revenue from users and reassure investors while spending heavily to train and operate large language models. Meanwhile, the cost of training and running large language models continues to climb, with no profit to show for it.Tag: PerplexityThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Can Eddy Cue break Apple’s slump? Macworld
Earlier this month, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple had scaled back its plans to launch a new Health+ service and was revisiting its entire health and fitness strategy.
While this could be seen as being another sign of trouble at Apple, as the company is currently mired in an ongoing narrative about its inability to ship AI features it promised nearly two years ago, I choose to see this as the opposite: a promising early sign that Apple’s executives are recognizing that its headlong charge into chasing services revenue might be coming at too high a cost.
The unlikely hero in all this? Apple’s services chief himself, Eddy Cue.
This isn’t good enough
At the end of last year, with the departure of former Apple COO Jeff Williams, Cue took over Apple’s health division. Even though Cue has been at Apple for a very long time, he was new to this group, and it seems to have made a difference. A new leader comes in with no ego invested in the path the group has been walking down, which makes it easier to see things fresh and not be afraid to make changes.
What Cue saw was a team that was busily preparing a new service, Health+, that offered AI-powered coaching features using data from Apple Health. His response seems to have been that, even for the guy whose job it is to grow and maintain Apple’s services business, the service being built was not compelling enough to launch.
But I think it goes deeper than that: The App Store has several apps that mine Apple Health data to generate AI-enhanced health information. What might have felt like an add-on feature a few years ago feels more like table stakes for Apple’s own Health app these days. And, according to Gurman, Cue has asked that a bunch of the features being built for Health+ just be rolled into the Health app.
It’s not Sherlocking
Is it wrong for Apple to look at other apps in the app store, like Athlytic, and realize that its basic, fundamental device features are lacking? This is the classic “Sherlocking” argument, but I don’t agree with it. There is a base level of functionality that Apple should be providing with every device it sells.
Apple’s brand promise is that it sells nice stuff–a little pricier than the competition in a lot of cases, but you get better quality for what you pay for. That requires a level of basic functionality that comes along with the device that you’re buying. Right now, on the health and fitness side, Apple’s in danger of creating the perception that users need to buy an iPhone and Apple Watch and then subscribe to a service (from Apple or a third party) to make it worthwhile.
Apple needs to make its base offerings with the Health app more robust instead of packing features into a pay-for service. Apple
Cue’s decisions seem to reflect this worldview. Apple’s services, and indeed the services of third-party app developers, should exist to augment the base level experience. Independent app makers are always aware that Apple could roll in and stomp on their apps, and the wise ones realize that Apple’s much more concerned with satisfying a broad general audience, leaving room for apps and services that cater to more sophisticated or focused users. It has always been thus.
Right now, Apple Health doesn’t feel state-of-the-art. It feels like an empty shell, full of data but with no intelligence explaining what that data means. I realize that health information is tricky and highly regulated in most of the world, but it’s incumbent on Apple to make all the data it collects understandable and actionable–and it can’t hide that behind a monthly fee.
A nice hotel
Forgive me for this tangent, but I swear it’s going somewhere: a few weeks ago, I went on vacation. We stayed at a nice hotel rather than the less-nice-but-cheaper VRBO condo rental we usually do. Because I’m me, I started thinking about Apple. Like Apple, the nice hotel’s brand promise is that it’s a nice hotel. If the hotel didn’t clean its rooms well, didn’t provide soap that smelled nice, didn’t maintain the in-room refrigerator, didn’t clean the swimming pool, it would probably decrease its expenses and increase its profit margin. But over time, it would lose its niceness and become a lousy, overpriced hotel.
It’s a tricky balance, holding to the promise of your brand while also calibrating how to make a good profit. (I will point out that the hotel has an undoubtedly high-margin bar and restaurant and rents beach supplies at an enormous markup. These are the equivalent of Apple’s services.)
What I get out of Eddy Cue’s reported decisions is that he seems to understand that not everything can be a service. If you strip-mine Apple’s devices so that they’re just empty containers into which services can be placed, you lose the ability to sell iPhones for $1,200. Apple needs to keep its standards high, wherever possible, and then offer services that provide value that goes beyond the basics. I don’t expect Apple to give me “Severance” for free, but I don’t expect to pay a subscription fee to use my own Wi-Fi.
Opportunity for change
One final point: Apple is entering a major period of executive transition. A few people, like Williams, have already left. Tim Cook is probably not going to be around too much longer. A lot of high-level execs have been at Apple for decades, have made loads of money, and will not stick around too much longer.
This can seem like a terrifying brain drain. And if it hasn’t been handled right, yes, it’s an existential risk for Apple. But it’s important to consider that it’s also an enormous opportunity, because every time someone–even a longtime exec like Eddy Cue!–is given a new remit and new responsibilities, they are given the opportunity to change direction and revisit old decisions.
Change at Apple doesn’t have to be a scary thing.Foundry
It’s an opportunity that happens regardless of the stature or track record of the people being replaced. Tim Cook, when he took over as CEO from Steve Jobs, made a bunch of immediate changes to corporate policy, including reinstating charity matches. Being the new boss means setting your own agenda. In fact, one might argue that to establish yourself as the new boss, you have to set your own agenda or risk being seen as a mere caretaker.
Every time an executive enters a new role at Apple, they have the opportunity to revisit decisions and policies, some of which could be years or even decades old. Not that they’ll change everything, but a new set of eyes and responsibilities can often be the perfect tonic for a troubled organization. Sometimes things are not working right, but nobody feels empowered to change them–because it’s the way they’ve always been done. A new leader can make those changes without feeling any of the burden of the past.
If Eddy Cue can come in and decide that something Apple’s been working on for years doesn’t meet the company’s standards, that even a potentially revenue-generating new service is a bad idea, imagine what might happen with new executives all over the company.
Apple has benefited greatly from an era of executive stability over the last decade or two. Now it potentially stands to benefit from ending that era and embracing change.
Free your iPhone from spam with these 10 tips and tricks Macworld
The iPhone has become an all-in-one device for communication, entertainment, productivity, and more. Naturally, as we install more apps, the number of unwanted notifications keeps growing. Spam is no longer limited to occasional emails, texts, and calls; many apps now use push notifications to deliver ads, irrelevant recommendations, and other distracting alerts. Fortunately, iOS includes a comprehensive set of tools that help you reduce all sorts of spam types and focus on what actually matters.
1. Good ol’ blocking
Blocking remains one of the simplest, most straightforward ways to shut down a consistent source of noise. If the same phone number keeps texting or calling you, you can easily head to the info card in Messages or the Phone app’s call log and hit the Block button. All relevant third-party communication apps offer a blocking functionality as well.
Similarly, if an app you installed has been abusing the push notification system, you can tweak or revoke the permission. In the Notifications section of the Settings app, you can decide how an app gets to notify you, if at all. For example, you could turn off the Sounds toggle to receive silent alerts or uncheck the Lock Screen option to stop seeing banners when your iPhone is idle.
Before revoking an app’s notification permission, it’s wise to scan the settings in the app itself. Many apps let you opt out of certain notification categories. This enables you to still receive updates about the things you care about, and nothing else.
2. Limit mirroring
The Apple ecosystem lets iPhone users mirror calls to nearby iPads, Macs, Apple TVs, and Apple Watches. That’s not to mention that, beyond calls, macOS and watchOS support third-party app notification mirroring, and AirPods can interrupt your music playback to announce incoming alerts. These integrations are welcome, but can make using our everyday devices overwhelming. Fortunately, you can choose what alerts get mirrored to other devices without completely blocking them on iOS.
In the Settings app, under Notifications, you can turn off (for individual or all apps) the Announce Notifications feature that reads out alerts when your AirPods are connected. Likewise, you can go to each app’s notification settings and disable the Show on Mac toggle to stop mirroring alerts to macOS. The Watch app offers a comparable section to manage the notifications iOS pushes to watchOS, too.
To prevent all of your devices from ringing every time someone calls you, you can head to the Phone app’s settings and turn off Calls on Other Devices.
3. AI notification handling
If you’re using a newer iPhone, the on-device AI can analyze the contents of your alerts and highlight the ones it deems important. Apple Intelligence can also summarize long or multiple texts to make grasping their content easier. To set these features up, go to the Prioritize Notifications and Summarize Notifications pages in the Settings app’s Notifications section.
Foundry
4. Scheduled summaries
Scheduled Summary is yet another alert management tool that helps you avoid unnecessary distractions. When enabled in the Notifications settings page, the feature bundles unimportant alerts throughout the day and delivers them together at a time of your choosing. iOS will still notify you about time-sensitive updates, like calls and urgent notifications.
Foundry
5. Focus modes
Focus is Apple’s advanced do-not-disturb system, letting you pick which apps and contacts can notify you across your devices. You can create multiple Focus modes with varying rules to match your different activities. The Focus mode dedicated to work, for example, would let alerts from your boss and collaborative apps through. You could also set in-app filters that hide content accordingly, like concealing non-work inboxes in the Mail app. To set it up, head to Focus in the Settings app.
Foundry
6. Messaging controls
While blocking is effective for alerts coming from the same source, users often get spammed by random numbers. Luckily, the Messages app accommodates that, letting you silence all texts (or non-time-sensitive ones) from unknown numbers. It could also place them in a separate inbox to keep your main view clutter-free. Go to Messages settings, enable the Filter Spam and Screen Unknown Senders toggles, then customize how you want the feature to behave.
7. Call management
In Settings > Apps > Phone, you can enable similar filters for incoming calls. Under Screen Unknown Callers, you can choose if unsaved numbers are silenced or asked for the reason of calling automatically using on-device AI. The latter option will display a transcript in real time, so you can pick up and take over the call if it turns out to be relevant. Otherwise, enabling the Unknown Callers toggle under Call Filtering will move missed calls and voicemails from unsaved numbers to a separate list.
Foundry
8. Third-party solutions
While call management tools have become reliable on iOS, you could still opt for third-party apps for added functionality. TrueCaller, for example, can warn you about known spam/scam numbers and look up the likely name of the person ringing you.
9. Mail filters
Like Messages and Phone, Apple’s Mail app offers automatic lists to help keep your inbox clean. You can enable the Categories toggle under the 3-dot menu in your inbox to reveal five main lists—Primary, Transactions, Updates, Promotions, and All Mail. The Mail app will scan every incoming email and place it in the respective list, reserving the Primary list for essential messages.
Foundry
10. Calendars
Lastly, many users complain about receiving a ton of spam alerts from the Calendar app. This happens when you accidentally subscribe to a malicious calendar online. To undo the damage, go to the Calendars section of the Calendar app, locate the troublemaker, and unsubscribe from it using its info panel.
SharingCoreData PointFree has a great library of SQLiteData, but if you still have a old project with CoreData and want to try sweet Sharing flavor on top of it, you can check out this: https://github.com/tobi404/ Contributions, roasting and everything is welcome submitted by /u/Hedgehog404 [link] [comments]
Charts not showing on Dashboards Feb 18, 10:06 UTCResolved - Between 09:20 UTC and 09:44 UTC on Wed Feb 18 2026, some customers in the USEU region may have experienced delayed data in queries, charts, and dashboards. We have investigated and resolved this service interruption and impacted services have returned to normal operations.
Charts not showing on Dashboards Feb 18, 10:06 UTCResolved - Between 09:20 UTC and 09:44 UTC on Wed Feb 18 2026, some customers in the USEU region may have experienced delayed data in queries, charts, and dashboards. We have investigated and resolved this service interruption and impacted services have returned to normal operations.
Apple Music Connect Launches as Promotional Resource for Labels and Distributors Apple has launched Apple Music Connect, a new resource for labels, distributors, and partners to manage promotional assets, upload press photos, and help coordinate how artists' music and marketing materials are presented across the streaming service.
The new online hub includes a range of tools and services for music labels, including:
Promote: Creates promotional artwork and visual assets to support releases across Apple Music surfaces and external channels.
Apple Music Pitch: A way to submit detailed information about upcoming releases for editorial and playlist consideration.
Media Requests: A place for uploading and managing press photos and assets requested by Apple Music for editorial use.
Social Assets: Generates shareable templates for announcing placements, milestones, and releases on social platforms.
Console: A central dashboard to access and manage Apple Music Connect tools and permissions.
Marketing Tools: To generate affiliate links, badges, embeddable players, QR codes, and related promotional materials.
The new Apple Music Connect hub shouldn't be confused with the ill-fated Apple Music Connect social platform, which was shut down in 2018. The social engagement feature let artists directly share content with their fans, but it suffered the same fate as Ping, the company's previous social network for music removed from iTunes in October 2012.Tag: Apple MusicThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
What kind of widgets is Siri suggestions? It bends all laws of Widgekit iOS 26’s Liquid Glass design includes this annoying parallax effect around widgets—I’m talking about those forced borders. It ruins the aesthetic of most people's setups. But Apple’s Siri Suggestions widget bends all the laws and boundaries of widgets. Not only does it remove that annoying border, but there is also no app label below the […]
Apple’s March 4 event may not be what you expect Apple may skip a traditional keynote on March 4 and instead unveil new products through press releases earlier in the week.
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)
Update: I tried to build a way out of the “silent TestFlight installs” we discussed last week Hey everyone! About a week ago, I started a thread here called 'The struggle of finding iOS beta testers who actually talk back'. The discussion was incredibly eye-opening—it really hit home that beta testing feels like 'unpaid labor' and that's why people ghost. That thread honestly haunted me all week, so I decided to spend […]
Stop settling — Office for Mac drops 77% for lifetime access Macworld
TL;DR: Get real Microsoft Office apps on your Mac for $49.97, forever — no monthly payments.
We’ve all done it: opened a free productivity app and said, “This is basically the same as Word.” Until formatting explodes. Or the spreadsheet formulas revolt. Or the file looks completely different when someone else opens it.
That’s why this deal exists. Right now, Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac is $49.97 (MSRP $219) and it’s a lifetime license. No subscription countdown timer. No “upgrade to continue editing.” Just install it and move on with your life.
You’re getting the real lineup: Word for clean documents, Excel for spreadsheets that actually behave, PowerPoint for presentations that don’t shift fonts, and Outlook for email that keeps work and life organized. Teams and OneNote round things out for collaboration and notes.
The difference is its reliability. Files open correctly. Templates work. Sharing with coworkers doesn’t turn into tech support.
This is especially nice if you’re freelancing, running a side hustle, or just tired of compatibility roulette.
Think of it less as buying software and more as removing a tiny daily annoyance forever.
For one payment, it’s one of those upgrades you’ll notice immediately.
Get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac is $49.97 (MSRP $219) through February 22.
Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021: Lifetime LicenseSee Deal
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Turn your Mac into a PDF editor for $40 Macworld
TL;DR: Pay once and actually control your PDFs forever — edit, sign, and organize for $39.99.
PDFs are great — until you need to change literally anything. Need to fix a typo? Add a signature? Swap an image? Suddenly, you’re exporting, screenshotting, re-saving, and negotiating with your computer like it’s 2006.
That’s why tools like PDF Reader Pro Premium for Mac exist — and right now it’s $39.99 (MSRP $79.99) for a lifetime license. No subscription time bomb in the background.
Instead of fighting documents, you just open them and edit. Change text. Replace images. Rearrange pages. Merge files. Add annotations. Fill forms. Sign contracts. Redact sensitive info. Basically, all the things people assume PDFs should already do.
It also handles the less glamorous but extremely useful tasks: batch compressing files, password-protecting documents, and OCR text extraction, so scanned pages become searchable and editable.
This isn’t trying to replace complex enterprise software. It’s trying to remove everyday friction. The moment you stop working around PDFs and start working in them, you’ll notice how much time you were quietly wasting.
And at this one-time low price, it’s a pretty easy upgrade to justify.
Get a lifetime license to PDF Reader Pro Premium for Mac for just $39.99 (MSRP $79.99).
PDF Reader Pro Premium License For Mac: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal
StackSocial prices subject to change.
118 hours of ethical hacking training is just $28 Macworld
TL;DR: If you’ve ever wanted real cybersecurity skills, the All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle is a low-risk way to start for under $30.
Cybersecurity sounds intimidating — right up until you realize most breaches don’t happen because hackers are geniuses. They happen because someone didn’t know what to look for.
That’s the idea behind the All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle, now $27.99 (MSRP $854). Instead of vague theory, this bundle focuses on practical understanding.
Across 14 courses and 118 hours, you’ll move through topics like Python-based security tools, hands-on website testing, social engineering awareness, and real Kali Linux techniques. Not in a “movie hacker” way — more like learning the mechanics behind locks so you know when a door isn’t secure.
The skills translate beyond IT careers, too. Small business owners can better protect customer data. Developers can build safer apps. Even everyday users become harder targets once they understand phishing and device vulnerabilities.
Because it’s self-paced, you can treat it like a long-term skill upgrade instead of a cram session. Watch a lesson here and there, and slowly build technical confidence.
Finally, understand the systems you use every day — and know where they break.
The All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking Bundle is on sale for just $27.99 (MSRP $854) for a limited time.
The All-in-One Super-Sized Ethical Hacking BundleSee Deal
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Advice and how long will it take to setup Supabase db and sync for iOS SwiftData app I have this task ahead of me, excited to use Supabase but nervous about setting up sync. Is this typically a days long project? Weeks? Months? Any words of wisdom or advice would be appreciated. Thanks! submitted by /u/abidingtoday [link] [comments]
How to get into retro gaming on Apple TV with RetroArch You can play classic computer games from the comfort of your couch by using RetroArch with the Apple TV. Here's how to get retro gaming on Apple's streaming box.RetroArch works on the Apple TVRetro gaming on Apple's ecosystem enjoyed a revival in 2024, as Apple updated its App Store Review Guidelines to allow emulators into the App Store. The change led to a gold rush of emulators arriving in the digital storefront, providing ways to play classic titles on your iPhone or iPad.The change also made it possible to do the same on the Apple TV. The set-top box in the living room seems like the perfect bit of kit to play retro games on, being connected to a large TV and in the comfiest chairs of the home. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Rumor: Apple to Announce Multiple New Products in First Week of March Apple on Monday invited selected journalists and content creators to a "special Apple Experience" on Wednesday, March 4 in New York, London, and Shanghai. And now, rumors are surfacing about Apple's broader plans for that week.
Daring Fireball's John Gruber today guessed that Apple will announce new products on a day-by-day basis from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4:What strikes me is that March 4 — the "experience" day — is a Wednesday. So my spitball guess is that they announce all these products via Newsroom press releases, day-by-day. Like, say, the iPhone 17e on Monday, new iPad(s) on Tuesday, and new MacBooks on Wednesday. And then the "experience" will be a hands-on thing with in-person demos.In response to Gruber's post, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said product announcements on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week is indeed "exactly" what he is expecting, based on what he has heard from his sources.
Gurman does not expect a typical Apple Event live stream for the new products, with the announcements likely to occur in the form of press releases on the Apple Newsroom website instead. However, there could still be a short video prepared for each new product, and the media would get hands-on time with the new products.
Apple has announced new products on a Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday basis multiple times in the past, including in March 2019 (new iPad mini and iPad Air, iMac, and AirPods models) and in October 2024 (new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro models).
The following Apple products are rumored to be coming soon:Lower-Cost MacBook: A18 Pro chip, 12.9-inch display, and fun color options.
iPhone 17e: A spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e, with rumored upgrades including an A19 chip, MagSafe, and Apple's C1X and N1 wireless chips. The device will apparently have a notch despite earlier rumors mentioning a Dynamic Island, and pricing will continue to start at $599 in the United States.
iPad Air: M3 chip → M4 chip.
iPad: A16 chip → A18 chip or A19 chip.
MacBook Air: M4 chip → M5 chip.
MacBook Pro: M4 Pro and M4 Max chips → M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and PCIe 5.0 support for faster SSD speeds.
Mac Studio: M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips → M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips.
Studio Display: 27-inch screen with mini-LED backlighting, up to 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rate, HDR support, and either an A19 chip or A19 Pro chip.
Home Hub: An all-new smart home hub featuring the more personalized version of Siri, a 6-inch to 7-inch square display, an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence, FaceTime, and more. Place it on a table or mount it on a wall.
Security Camera: Apple-designed, HomeKit-enabled security camera accessory to be sold alongside the new smart home hub.In addition, rumors about new Apple TV and HomePod mini models have been circulating for more than a year, but there is still no sign of them.
In the end, we might only get three of these new products in the first week of March, with the most likely possibilities being the lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, the iPhone 17e, and perhaps either an updated iPad Air or entry-level iPad.
The invite graphic for the upcoming "Apple Experience" includes a colorful Apple logo with yellow, green, and blue discs, and Gurman previously reported that Apple has tested those three colors plus pink for the MacBook with an iPhone chip.
MacRumors will be attending the "Apple Experience," so stay tuned for our coverage.Tag: Mark GurmanThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Rumor: Apple to Announce Multiple New Products in First Week of March Apple on Monday invited selected journalists and content creators to a "special Apple Experience" on Wednesday, March 4 in New York, London, and Shanghai. And now, rumors are surfacing about Apple's broader plans for that week.
Daring Fireball's John Gruber today guessed that Apple will announce new products on a day-by-day basis from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4:What strikes me is that March 4 — the "experience" day — is a Wednesday. So my spitball guess is that they announce all these products via Newsroom press releases, day-by-day. Like, say, the iPhone 17e on Monday, new iPad(s) on Tuesday, and new MacBooks on Wednesday. And then the "experience" will be a hands-on thing with in-person demos.In response to Gruber's post, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said product announcements on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week is indeed "exactly" what he is expecting, based on what he has heard from his sources.
Gurman does not expect a typical Apple Event live stream for the new products, with the announcements likely to occur in the form of press releases on the Apple Newsroom website instead. However, there could still be a short video prepared for each new product, and the media would get hands-on time with the new products.
Apple has announced new products on a Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday basis multiple times in the past, including in March 2019 (new iPad mini and iPad Air, iMac, and AirPods models) and in October 2024 (new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro models).
The following Apple products are rumored to be coming soon:Lower-Cost MacBook: A18 Pro chip, 12.9-inch display, and fun color options.
iPhone 17e: A spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e, with rumored upgrades including an A19 chip, MagSafe, and Apple's C1X and N1 wireless chips. The device will apparently have a notch despite earlier rumors mentioning a Dynamic Island, and pricing will continue to start at $599 in the United States.
iPad Air: M3 chip → M4 chip.
iPad: A16 chip → A18 chip or A19 chip.
MacBook Air: M4 chip → M5 chip.
MacBook Pro: M4 Pro and M4 Max chips → M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and PCIe 5.0 support for faster SSD speeds.
Mac Studio: M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips → M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips.
Studio Display: 27-inch screen with mini-LED backlighting, up to 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rate, HDR support, and either an A19 chip or A19 Pro chip.
Home Hub: An all-new smart home hub featuring the more personalized version of Siri, a 6-inch to 7-inch square display, an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence, FaceTime, and more. Place it on a table or mount it on a wall.
Security Camera: Apple-designed, HomeKit-enabled security camera accessory to be sold alongside the new smart home hub.In addition, rumors about new Apple TV and HomePod mini models have been circulating for more than a year, but there is still no sign of them.
In the end, we might only get three of these new products in the first week of March, with the most likely possibilities being the lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, the iPhone 17e, and perhaps either an updated iPad Air or entry-level iPad.
The invite graphic for the upcoming "Apple Experience" includes a colorful Apple logo with yellow, green, and blue discs, and Gurman previously reported that Apple has tested those three colors plus pink for the MacBook with an iPhone chip.
MacRumors will be attending the "Apple Experience," so stay tuned for our coverage.Tag: Mark GurmanThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Rumor: Apple to Announce Multiple New Products in First Week of March Apple on Monday invited selected journalists and content creators to a "special Apple Experience" on Wednesday, March 4 in New York, London, and Shanghai. And now, rumors are surfacing about Apple's broader plans for that week.
Daring Fireball's John Gruber today guessed that Apple will announce new products on a day-by-day basis from Monday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 4:What strikes me is that March 4 — the "experience" day — is a Wednesday. So my spitball guess is that they announce all these products via Newsroom press releases, day-by-day. Like, say, the iPhone 17e on Monday, new iPad(s) on Tuesday, and new MacBooks on Wednesday. And then the "experience" will be a hands-on thing with in-person demos.In response to Gruber's post, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said product announcements on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week is indeed "exactly" what he is expecting, based on what he has heard from his sources.
Gurman does not expect a typical Apple Event live stream for the new products, with the announcements likely to occur in the form of press releases on the Apple Newsroom website instead. However, there could still be a short video prepared for each new product, and the media would get hands-on time with the new products.
Apple has announced new products on a Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday basis multiple times in the past, including in March 2019 (new iPad mini and iPad Air, iMac, and AirPods models) and in October 2024 (new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro models).
The following Apple products are rumored to be coming soon:Lower-Cost MacBook: A18 Pro chip, 12.9-inch display, and fun color options.
iPhone 17e: A spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e, with rumored upgrades including an A19 chip, MagSafe, and Apple's C1X and N1 wireless chips. The device will apparently have a notch despite earlier rumors mentioning a Dynamic Island, and pricing will continue to start at $599 in the United States.
iPad Air: M3 chip → M4 chip.
iPad: A16 chip → A18 chip or A19 chip.
MacBook Air: M4 chip → M5 chip.
MacBook Pro: M4 Pro and M4 Max chips → M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and PCIe 5.0 support for faster SSD speeds.
Mac Studio: M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips → M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips.
Studio Display: 27-inch screen with mini-LED backlighting, up to 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rate, HDR support, and either an A19 chip or A19 Pro chip.
Home Hub: An all-new smart home hub featuring the more personalized version of Siri, a 6-inch to 7-inch square display, an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence, FaceTime, and more. Place it on a table or mount it on a wall.
Security Camera: Apple-designed, HomeKit-enabled security camera accessory to be sold alongside the new smart home hub.In addition, rumors about new Apple TV and HomePod mini models have been circulating for more than a year, but there is still no sign of them.
In the end, we might only get three of these new products in the first week of March, with the most likely possibilities being the lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, the iPhone 17e, and perhaps either an updated iPad Air or entry-level iPad.
The invite graphic for the upcoming "Apple Experience" includes a colorful Apple logo with yellow, green, and blue discs, and Gurman previously reported that Apple has tested those three colors plus pink for the MacBook with an iPhone chip.
MacRumors will be attending the "Apple Experience," so stay tuned for our coverage.Tag: Mark GurmanThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
I’ve uploaded and submitted my first app for external testing on TestFlight, questions. It’s been on TestFlight for a few days now and in waiting for review. I’m reading about some people waiting for a week or even a month for review so I’m curious about what I’m able to do while I wait. I’m going to have a fairly good update ready in a couple days so […]
Iterating UI on device and simulator – should I switch to Figma? I'm working on a hobby app, and even though I'm a software engineer at my day job, I have 0 UI or design experience. I find myself iterating in the simulator and on my test device to try to find my preferred design. I'm wondering if it would just be faster to mock up designs […]
IST (Istanbul) on 2026-02-18 THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Feb 18, 23:00 UTC - Feb 19, 05:00 UTCFeb 18, 01:50 UTCScheduled - We will be performing scheduled maintenance in IST (Istanbul) datacenter between 2026-02-18 23:00 and 2026-02-19 05:00 UTC.Traffic might be re-routed from this location, hence there is a possibility of a slight increase in latency during this maintenance window for end-users in the affected region. For PNI / CNI customers connecting with us in this location, please make sure you are expecting this traffic to fail over elsewhere during this maintenance window as network interfaces in this datacentre may become temporarily unavailable.You can now subscribe to these notifications via Cloudflare dashboard and receive these updates directly via email, PagerDuty and webhooks (based on your plan): https://developers.cloudflare.com/notifications/notification-available/#cloudflare-status.
Apple’s March launch may include multiple days of press releases with no keynote, per rumor Yesterday, Apple announced a “special experience” for March 4 at 9 a.m. ET, inviting members of the press to New York, London, and Shanghai.
The question right now is what format this “special experience” and the associated product announcements will take.
more…
PSA: YouTube is down, it’s not just you If you’re having problems accessing YouTube this evening, you’re not alone. YouTube is experiencing an outage, and here’s everything we know about it right now.
more…
Apple Is Reportedly Planning To Launch AI-Powered Glasses, a Pendant, and AirPods According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (paywalled), Apple is reportedly developing AI-powered smart glasses, a wearable pendant, and camera-equipped AirPods that connect to the iPhone and use "visual context" to let Siri perform real-world actions. The Verge reports: Apple is reportedly aiming to start production of its smart glasses in December, ahead of a 2027 launch. The new device will compete directly with Meta's lineup of smart glasses and is rumored to feature speakers, microphones, and a high-resolution camera for taking photos and videos, in addition to another lens designed to enable AI-powered features.
The glasses won't have a built-in display, but they will allow users to make phone calls, interact with Siri, play music, and "take actions based on surroundings," such as asking about the ingredients in a meal, according to Bloomberg. Apple's smart glasses could also help users identify what they're seeing, reference landmarks when offering directions, and remind wearers to complete a task in specific situations, Bloomberg reports.
The company is reportedly planning to develop the frames for the smart glasses in-house, instead of partnering with a third-party company like Meta does with Ray-Ban and Oakley. Prototypes of the glasses use a cable to connect to a battery pack and an iPhone, but Bloomberg reports that "newer versions have the components embedded in the frame." Apple reportedly wants to make its smart glasses stand out by offering a high-quality build and advanced camera technology. The company is still working on AI-powered smart glasses with a display, though their launch "remains many years away," Bloomberg says.
Apple's plans for AI hardware don't end there, as the company is expected to build upon its Google Gemini-powered Siri upgrade with an AirTag-sized AI pendant that people can either wear as a necklace or a pin. This device would "essentially serve as an always-on camera" for the iPhone and has a microphone for prompting Siri, Bloomberg reports. The pendant, which The Information first reported on last month, is rumored to come with a built-in chip, but will mainly rely on the iPhone's processing power. The device could arrive as early as next year, according to Bloomberg.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
I built Metal-accelerated RAG for iOS – 0.84ms vector search, no backend required Every RAG solution requires either a cloud backend (Pinecone/Weaviate) or running a database (ChromaDB/Qdrant). I wanted what SQLite gave us for iOS: import a library, open a file, query. Except for multimodal content at GPU speed on Apple Silicon. So I built Wax – a pure Swift RAG engine designed for native iOS apps. Why […]
iOS 26.4 Beta Tidbits: Hidden Features You May Have Missed There is a long list of new features in the iOS 26.4 beta, many of which we highlighted yesterday, but we've since discovered several other smaller changes that Apple made in the software.
Health App
iOS 26.4 includes a new Average Bedtime metric for the sleep section of the Health app, providing a better idea of how bedtime can impact sleep quality.
Apple also updated the Vitals section of the Health app in the U.S., and now includes blood oxygen level on the line graph overview that's available each day. In iOS 26.3 and earlier versions of iOS 26, there was a section for the blood oxygen level, but the graph did not include a blood oxygen measurement.
Camera
In the Settings section of the Camera app, there is a new "Audio Zoom" option. The feature causes recorded audio to focus on the subject when the camera is zoomed while recording a video. It can be turned on or off, depending on the audio settings you prefer.
CarPlay
We found mentions of Apple TV support for CarPlay, indicating that Apple will eventually allow users to watch Apple TV content through their car's dashboard when the vehicle is not in motion.
At WWDC 2025, Apple said that it would add support for AirPlaying video content to a CarPlay display, and it appears that feature could come in the near future.
Apple Music
A song can be added to multiple playlists at the same time in the Apple Music app. In the add to playlist interface, there is a list button, and tapping it allows you to select multiple playlists at the same time.
Hotspot Data
Apple moved the location of hotspot data usage. Rather than having data usage metrics tucked away under Cellular, you'll see how much data you've used right in the Personal Hotspot section.
Live Captions
Chinese (Taiwan) is a new language option for Live Captions in the Accessibility section.
Passcode Settings
In the Face ID and Passcode section of the Settings app, when you enter a passcode to access your options, the text is now center aligned instead of left aligned.
Shortcuts
Apple added a Set Charge Limit action to the Shortcuts app. It sets a battery charge limit for the iPhone.
Read More
For more on all of the new features in iOS 26.4, we have a dedicated iOS 26.4 features guide.Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26Related Forum: iOS 26This article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Brings Improved Coding, Computer Use, and Office Tasks Anthropic today updated its Sonnet model to version 4.6, and the company says it is the most capable Sonnet model to date with upgrades across coding, computer use, long-context reasoning, agent planning, knowledge work, and design.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the default for users who have Free and Pro plans, and it has an updated 1M token context window.
Sonnet 4.6 improves consistency and instruction following for coding, it's better at computer use tasks, and it can complete office tasks that previously required an Opus model. Sonnet 4.6 has human-level capability for tasks like navigating a complex spreadsheet or filling out a multi-step web form.
According to Anthropic, Sonnet 4.6 has a "a broadly warm, honest, prosocial, and at times funny character, very strong safety behaviors, and no signs of major concerns around high-stakes forms of misalignment." It offers Opus-level intelligence at a more affordable price point, so it is practical for a wider range of tasks. Opus 4.6 is still the better option for agentic coding, agentic code use, and multidisciplinary reasoning, but Sonnet 4.6 offers measurable improvements over Sonnet 4.5.
Claude 4.6 is available as of today for all Claude plans, and Anthropic has also provided file creation, connectors, skills, and compaction to free users.Tag: AnthropicThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Price cut: This feature-packed iPad stylus costs just $36 This is not just a stylus pen; it’s a workflow upgrade. Simply press the Pencil Pro Ultra's Smart Switch to bounce between iOS and Android.
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)
Apple Car Key support now available on the 2026 Toyota Rav4 Users of the Apple Wallet app can now use a digital Car Key to lock and unlock the Toyota Rav4, but the feature's availability has yet to expand to other Toyota vehicles.Apple Car Key can be used to unlock the 2026 Toyota Rav4. Screenshot credit: Reddit user Piecake1234Since 2020, the Car Key feature has allowed iPhone and Apple Watch owners to unlock and start their cars with the use of mobile devices. According to a social media post spotted on Monday, the 2026 Toyota Rav4 has gained support for Apple's Car Key system.More than 30 vehicle manufacturers already support Apple's Car Key feature. At WWDC 2025, Apple explained that Car Key would make its way to 13 additional vehicle brands. Toyota might be the latest automaker to roll out Apple Car Key support, but there are a few caveats. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
All 2026 Major League Soccer matches are free for Apple TV subscribers All 2026 Major League Soccer (MLS) matches will be available to stream for all Apple TV subscribers at no additional cost…
The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.
tvOS 26.4 adds new ‘Continuous Audio Connection’ on Apple TV In addition to removing the iTunes Movies and TV Shows apps from Apple TV, tvOS 26.4 also includes a new setting for “Continuous Audio Connection.”
more…
TGU (Tegucigalpa) on 2026-02-18 THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Feb 18, 20:30 - 23:00 UTCFeb 17, 21:38 UTCScheduled - We will be performing scheduled maintenance in TGU (Tegucigalpa) datacenter on 2026-02-18 between 20:30 and 23:00 UTC.Traffic might be re-routed from this location, hence there is a possibility of a slight increase in latency during this maintenance window for end-users in the affected region. For PNI / CNI customers connecting with us in this location, please make sure you are expecting this traffic to fail over elsewhere during this maintenance window as network interfaces in this datacentre may become temporarily unavailable.You can now subscribe to these notifications via Cloudflare dashboard and receive these updates directly via email, PagerDuty and webhooks (based on your plan): https://developers.cloudflare.com/notifications/notification-available/#cloudflare-status.
Car Keys in Apple Wallet just launched for a major new automaker Apple says car keys in Wallet are set to expand significantly soon, and one major new automaker—Toyota—appears to have just launched support.
more…
Apple 14″ MacBook Pro M5 Laptop w/ 24GB RAM (Late 2025) for $1,499 + free shipping That's $70 less than its Black Friday price and the best price we could find now by at least $120. Buy Now at B&H Photo Video
Deal Alert! Verizon is selling Apple AirPods 3 for only $184, $65 off MSRP Verizon has Apple AirPods Pro 3 on sale for 26% off MSRP on their online store right now. Their price is the lowest price available for these AirPods from any Apple retailer. Verizon service is not required for purchase. Buy online and choose free shipping or free local store pickup (if available). Sale price for online orders only, in-store price may vary.
- AirPods Pro 3nd-generation: $184 $65 (26%) off
For the latest prices and sales, see our Apple AirPods Price Tracker, updated daily.
iPad minis back on sale for $100 off Apple’s MSRP Amazon is offering $100 discounts (up to 20% off) on Apple's newest WiFi iPad minis, each with free shipping. These are the lowest prices available for new minis among the Apple retailers we track:
- 8.3" 128GB WiFi iPad mini: $399, $100 off MSRP
- 8.3" 256GB WiFi iPad mini: $499, $100 off MSRP
- 8.3" 512GB WiFi iPad mini: $699, $100 off MSRP
For the latest prices and sales, see our iPad mini Price Tracker, updated daily.
Amazon is again offering a $100 discount on Apple Watch Series 11 models Amazon is offering a $100 discount on new Apple Watch Series 11 models right now. Shipping is free:
- 42mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS: $299, save $100
- 46mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS: $329, save $100
- 42mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS + 5G: $399, save $100
- 46mm Apple Watch Series 11 GPS + 5G: $429, save $100
These are the lowest prices available for Apple Watch Series 11 models.
For the latest prices & sales, keep an eye on our Apple Watch Price Tracker, updated daily.
New at Sams Club: $110-$120 off 11-inch M3 iPad Airs as part of their Tech Savings Event Sams Club has Apple's 11" WiFi iPad Airs with M3 CPUs on sale for $110-$120 off MSRP as part of their current Tech Savings Event. Sale prices for online orders only, in-store prices may vary. Order online, and choose free shipping or free local store pickup (if available):
- 11" M3 iPad Air 128GB WiFi: $489, $110 off
- 11" M3 iPad Air 256GB WiFi: $589, $110 off
- 11" M3 iPad Air 512GB WiFi: $779, $120 off
- 11" M3 iPad Air 1TB WiFi: $979, $120 off
For the latest sales and deals, see our 11-inch iPad Air Price Tracker, updated daily.
Refurb Apple 7th-Gen. iPad 10.2″ 128GB WiFi Tablet (2019) for $99 + free shipping It's the best deal we've seen for this model. It includes a 1-year Allstate warranty. Buy Now at eBay
Refurb Apple 7th-Gen. iPad 10.2″ 32GB WiFi Tablet (2019) for $99 + free shipping It's the best deal we've seen for this model. It includes a 1-year Allstate warranty. Buy Now at eBay
14-inch M5 MacBook Pros on sale at B&H starting at $1449, up to $200 off Apple’s MSRP B&H Photo has new 14" M5 MacBook Pros on sale for up to $200 off MSRP this weekend. B&H offers free shipping to most US addresses (1-2 day is many cases):
- 14" M5 MacBook Pro (16GB/512GB/Black): $1449, MSRP $1599
- 14" M5 MacBook Pro (16GB/512GB/Silver): $1449, MSRP $1599
- 14" M5 MacBook Pro (16GB/1TB/Black): $1629, MSRP $1799
- 14" M5 MacBook Pro (16GB/1TB/Silver): $1599, MSRP $1799
- 14" M5 MacBook Pro (24GB/1TB/Black): $1849, MSRP $1999
- 14" M5 MacBook Pro (24GB/1TB/Silver): $1825, MSRP $1999
For the latest sales and prices, keep an eye on our 14-inch MacBook Pro Price Tracker, updated daily.
Used Apple Mac mini Haswell i5 Desktop (2014) for $60 + free shipping That's the lowest price we've seen for it in any condition. (The previous all-time low was $90.)It's a comparison that holds true even if you opt to spend an extra $15 for a 1-year Allstate warranty. (An easy checkbo option on the product page.) Buy Now at eBay Features 4th-generation Intel Core i5-4260U 1.4GHz Haswell dual-core CPU 8GB RAM & 500GB hard drive Mac OS X Model: A1347
Refurb Apple MacBook Air 13″ M1 Laptop (2020) for $342 + free shipping That's $18 under the price Walmart charges for a refurb. It includes a 1-year warranty. Buy Now at eBay
Update: Apple AirPods Max now on sale for $120 off MSRP Amazon has AirPods Max with USB-C on sale for $429.99 in most colors. Shipping is free. Their price is $120 off Apple's MSRP, and it's the lowest price available for these AirPods among the retailers we track.
Keep an eye on our AirPods Price Tracker for the latest prices and deals, updated daily.
Sky Blue 13-inch M4 MacBook Air on sale for $879 at Amazon, $120 off Apple’s MSRP Amazon has the Sky Blue 13" M4 MacBook Air with 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage on sale right now for $120 off Apple's MSRP ($879). Delivery is free:
- 13" M4 MacBook Air (16GB/256GB): $879, $120 off
This is the lowest price currently available for a new MacBook Air.
For the latest sales & prices, see our 13" MacBook Air Price Tracker, updated daily.
Apple’s 24-inch iMacs are on sale for up to $200 off MSRP Amazon has Apple's 24-inch M4 iMacs on sale this week for $107-$200 off MSRP, starting at $1192, each including free shipping:
- 24-inch M4 iMac (8-Core CPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $1192, $107 off MSRP
- 24-inch M4 iMac (10-Core CPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $1349, $150 off MSRP
- 24-inch M4 iMac (10-Core CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1549, $150 off MSRP
- 24-inch M4 iMac (8-Core CPU, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1699, $200 off MSRP
Amazon's prices are the lowest available for one of these new iMacs. Note that stock can vary. Price posted above is the lowest price available for each standard configuration, regardless of color.
For the latest prices and deals, see our iMac Price Tracker, updated daily.
Apple’s 24-inch iMacs are on sale for up to $200 off MSRP Amazon has Apple's 24-inch M4 iMacs on sale this week for $107-$200 off MSRP, starting at $1192, each including free shipping:
- 24-inch M4 iMac (8-Core CPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $1192, $107 off MSRP
- 24-inch M4 iMac (10-Core CPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD): $1349, $150 off MSRP
- 24-inch M4 iMac (10-Core CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1549, $150 off MSRP
- 24-inch M4 iMac (8-Core CPU, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD): $1699, $200 off MSRP
Amazon's prices are the lowest available for one of these new iMacs. Note that stock can vary. Price posted above is the lowest price available for each standard configuration, regardless of color.
For the latest prices and deals, see our iMac Price Tracker, updated daily.
Apple AirPods on sale for up to $100 off MSRP this week Amazon has Apple AirPods on sale this week for up to $100 off MSRP, including free shipping:
- AirPods 4: $114.95, $14 off
- AirPods 4 with ANC: $119, $60 off
- AirPods Pro 3: $199, $50 off
- AirPods Max: $449.99, $100 off
Keep an eye on our AirPods Price Tracker for the latest prices and deals, updated daily.
Apple AirPods on sale for up to $100 off MSRP this week Amazon has Apple AirPods on sale this week for up to $100 off MSRP, including free shipping:
- AirPods 4: $114.95, $14 off
- AirPods 4 with ANC: $119, $60 off
- AirPods Pro 3: $199, $50 off
- AirPods Max: $449.99, $100 off
Keep an eye on our AirPods Price Tracker for the latest prices and deals, updated daily.
Apple AirPods on sale for up to $100 off MSRP this week Amazon has Apple AirPods on sale this week for up to $100 off MSRP, including free shipping:
- AirPods 4: $114.95, $14 off
- AirPods 4 with ANC: $119, $60 off
- AirPods Pro 3: $199, $50 off
- AirPods Max: $449.99, $100 off
Keep an eye on our AirPods Price Tracker for the latest prices and deals, updated daily.
Best Buy 48-Hour Flash iPad Deals from $299 + free shipping Save between $50 and $100 on over 10 models in the Best Buy 48-Hour Flash Sale. We’ve pictured the Apple iPad Pro M5 13″ 512GB WiFi Tablet for $1,399 ($100 savings). My Best Buy members get free shipping. (It’s free to join. Shipping is free for everyone over $35.) Buy Now at Best Buy