The next MacBook Neo already sounds like a big upgrade for one reason
Last week a new report on the MacBook Neo’s success contained details on Apple’s plan for the product’s successor, and the next-gen Neo already sounds like a big upgrade. more…

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Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine under severe threat by publisher blocks
The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine is one of the web’s most valuable resources, enabling us to access earlier versions of webpages and websites. It performs an invaluable role in preserving information that would otherwise be lost when websites go offline, as well as providing a practical tool to track updates made to a web page. However, the organization says that it is now under severe threat thanks to media organizations blocking access to the archive’s web crawler – despite those same publishers relying on it for some of their own stories … more…

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Apple’s failed AI Chief John Giannandrea to finally exit this week
Apple’s failed AI chief, John Giannandrea, will finally exit the company after several years at the helm, after the company announced… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.

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Apple 2026 Mac mini rumor roundup: M5 & M5 Pro specs, price & release date
Macworld The Mac mini remains one of Apple’s most compelling Macs, offering an exceptional balance of performance, affordability, and compact design. Following a major redesign in October 2024, the desktop became smaller, faster, and more versatile than ever, with a dramatically reduced 5-by-5-inch footprint and the introduction of M4 and M4 Pro chips. If you’re considering buying a Mac mini, you might be wondering whether another update is just around the corner, what new features a 2026 refresh could bring, and whether Apple will maintain its attractive $599 starting price. Those hoping for a new Mac mini at Apple’s early-March 2026 “Special Experience” events were left disappointed, as the Mac mini wasn’t updated. However, Apple did unveil the M5 Pro chip, which is widely expected to power one of the next-generation Mac mini configurations. When the new model does arrive, it should benefit from the performance gains of both the M5 and M5 Pro chips, including improved graphics and enhanced on-device AI capabilities. The exact release timing remains unclear, but an early-to-mid 2026 launch seems likely, with a debut around WWDC in June a strong possibility. That said, current supply constraints – such as extended delivery estimates and out-of-stock configurations – suggest an update could be imminent. Alternatively, these shortages may be tied to global DRAM supply issues, which could delay the next refresh further. Below, we break down everything we expect from the 2026 Mac mini, including performance improvements, potential configurations, and other key upgrades. New 2026 Mac mini M5 Release date: When will Apple update the M5 Mac mini? June 2026 release possible Right now, the Mac mini is surprisingly difficult to buy – especially higher-end configurations. Models with 32GB or 64GB of RAM are either unavailable or significantly delayed.  On its online store, the 32GB configuration is listed as “Currently Unavailable,” while the 48GB model has shipping estimates stretching 10–12 weeks (mid-to-late June in the UK). Entry-level 16GB models are easier to find, but still come with delays of several weeks, while 24GB variants are also pushed into June delivery windows. The shortages could be due to global DRAM shortages, with DRAM prices surging due to demand from AI data centers outstripping supply. However, they may also indicate that Apple is going to be updating the Mac mini soon.  Apple launched MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models with M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max chips in early March 2026. While some expected the Mac mini to be updated alongside them, Apple often staggers desktop releases behind laptops –and that pattern appears to be continuing. Unlike MacBooks, which dominate Apple’s Mac sales, desktop Macs don’t follow a consistent annual update cycle. The Mac mini, in particular, has had an irregular history: sometimes updated yearly, other times left untouched for several years. Even with Apple Silicon, consistency hasn’t improved – the M1 model lasted nearly three years before the M2 arrived, and the Mac mini skipped the M3 generation entirely before jumping to M4 in late 2024. That said, a 2026 update seems increasingly likely. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in late 2025 that M5 and M5 Pro Mac mini models are on Apple’s roadmap, and reiterated in early 2026 that new Mac minis are planned for this year. All signs point to a launch in the first half of 2026, potentially around WWDC. However, with speculation already building around an M6 chip arriving later in 2026, and global RAM shortages, Apple may delay the update until later in the year.

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How Apple plans outdo competitors in smartglasses
Apple intends to outdo rivals in the smartglasses space by tightly integrating the device with the iPhone and delivering a more premium… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.

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Joyously arty App Store animations joins Finder Guy in Apple's new social media push
Apple Japan has launched a series of TV and social media videos with famous local artists and animators taking the App Store logo on creative journeys.One example of the many new interpretations of the App Store logo being used in Japan - image credit: AppleThere's got to be someone new in Apple's marketing team, because the company is suddenly playing around with its usually protected icons and images. It started with the cute Little Finder Guy on Instagram, it's continued with an original Mac birthday cake, and now it's the turn of the App Store.As first spotted by advertising and marketing publication Creative Blog, Apple Japan has launched a new campaign to promote creative apps in the App Store. There are 16 pieces of artwork, made by 13 artists, and compiled into three videos. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Former AI boss John Giannandrea officially leaving Apple this week after ‘resting and vesting’
John Giannandrea’s time at Apple is officially coming to an end this week. Giannandrea joined Apple in 2018 after eight years at Google to head the company’s machine learning and AI strategy. In December of last year, however, Apple announced that Giannandrea was stepping down from his position and would serve as an advisor to the company before fully departing in spring of 2026. more…

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Klarity Disk Review: Affordable Mac disk analyzer held back by permissions bug
Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Good level of customization and settings Good CPU and RAM usage measurement tools Low price point, one-time payment Cons Disk permissions errors when attempting to delete applications Our Verdict Klarity Disk is a slick, affordable Mac utility with a great UI and system monitoring features, but its core functionality is sunk by permissions errors. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed$6.99 Best Prices Today: Klarity Disk Retailer Price Klarity $6.99 View Deal Mac App Store 6.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Who is Klarity Disk for: Budget conscious Mac users who want a visually clean way to understand disk usage and are confident managing deleting files via the Finder. Who is Klarity Disk not for: Those who need seamless file deletion. Visual disk analyzers sum up everything on your Mac and present that in a cohesive form. The best of these achieve this task and make something unwieldy that much more manageable. Klarity Disk, by developer Mukul Mehra, is a disk analyser that’s similar to DaisyDisk (see our review of DaisyDisk). Klarity Disk offers disk visualization as well as other low-level features, such as CPU, GPU, and RAM monitoring. You can use it to scan your Mac to get details of the files that are taking up space and use Reveal in Finder to locate and delete them yourself, although there were some permissions issues relating to deleting applications at the time of this review. It’s only $6.99 from Klarity Disk or the Mac App Store, compared to $9.99 for DaisyDisk, which is a good price, but we’d recommend waiting for the permissions issues to be fixed. Klarity Disk is easy to dive into and navigation is easy and elegant. The program feels like it’s dedicated to a few tasks and isn’t trying to be every Mac utility under the sun, which is appreciated. Klarity Disk will give you a simple overview. Foundry There are six color themes to aid visual customisation so you can differentiate file groups and folders, scan file sizes, or understand the hierarchy at a glance. Choose from Klarity, Arctic, Ember, Verdant, Blush, and Ocean themes. It’s simple to get a quick lay of the land with the Overview function, which shows how much RAM is being used, what your Mac’s remaining drive capacity is, the memory timeline, and the top processes currently occupying your CPU. See what is using your RAM in real time.Foundry The Disk Analyzer mode makes it easy to scan large files, such as your Applications folder, and to see which giant applications are munching on your Mac’s available drive space. Visualise your storage.Foundry There’s an additional level of functionality beyond simply seeing what’s occurring on your Mac. Right-clicking or option-clicking on an application will bring up options such as seeing where the application is located via the Finder, copying the drive path, or sending the application to the trash. Permissions bug undermines core functionality Upon trying to remove applications by sending them to trash, Klarity informed me that I lacked permission to dispose of the item, despite having an admin-level account. The same error occurred with other applications, suggesting that some of the issues encountered were due to compatibility with the version of macOS Tahoe I was running. The update to macOS 26.4 did seem to fix some issues we had experienced with Klarity, but the permissions issue remained. The developer makes some nice pledges in the application’s notes about no cloud services being used, no account needing to be created, and that no analytics or data collection is used, which is appreciated, but bug fixes are needed to address the application’s core functionality. We have reviewed other Mac cleaners, for more options see: Best Mac Cleaner software. Should you buy Klarity Disk? Klarity Disk looks appealing and offers a clean, beautiful approach to visualizing your Mac’s disk usage alongside its performance stats. This, along with a reasonable $6.99 price point, adds to its appeal, but there are bugs that need to be addressed in the current version (Klarity Disk 1.1) including persistent permissions errors.

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Digital Twins and the Risks of AI Immortality
AI digital twins are turning into autonomous agents that act for us — raising serious risks around identity, control, and digital legacy. The post appeared first on TechNewsWorld.

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You can create a multicolor MacBook Neo with official Apple parts for just $39
The MacBook Neo is already available in a fun choice of colors, but some people like to go further by giving their machine a more personalized look. Some do this with skins, cases, or silicone key covers, but you can switch up the color combo using official Apple parts for as little as $39 … more…

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Seeing red: Another leaker jumps on the crimson iPhone 18 Pro bandwagon
The next iPhone 18 Pro models will sport a deep red color, a frequent leaker claims. However, their source is apparently upcoming Android device launches.Mockup of a deep red iPhone 18 Pro MaxOn April 11, prominent leaker Digital Chat Station posted to Weibo about the iPhone 18 Pro. The machine-translated post claims that the iPhone 18 Pro "has a high probability of being crimson."Somewhat adding a little bit of confusion to the mix is the rest of the post. Apparently, the forecast is based on the leaker seeing "the next flagship of the Android camp proofing this color." Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Trendforce says hi-tech glue could be key to an invisible crease in the iPhone Ultra
It’s believed that Apple has waited many years to launch the first folding iPhone in large part because the company wasn’t happy with the very visible crease in early competitor models. We’re expecting that foldable iPhone to be launched later this year, likely branded as the iPhone Ultra. The crease problem was reportedly solved last year, but a new report suggests that multiple innovations have been required in order to make the crease near invisible – and that a hi-tech glue is one of the key elements … more…

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Apple Maps did not erase Lebanon towns during Israeli attacks, insists Apple
Apple Maps is facing another controversy as social media points to alleged removal of sites in Lebanon, but Apple says it never listed them.Lebanon in Apple MapsApple Maps had a controversial start over getting locations wrong, and it's more recently been used to reveal troop movements in Russia. But now that Israel is invading southern Lebanon, Apple Maps is accused of removing village and town names from the region.Apple has removed Lebanese village names in Southern Lebanon. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Leaker adds support for red iPhone 18 color rumor, in a slightly weird way
Bloomberg reported back in February that Apple was considering a new deep red color option for the iPhone 18 Pro, which some have described as crimson. A leaker with a decent track record is today backing this report, though is doing this in a slightly odd way which may or may not mean anything … more…

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If the iPhone Fold fails, you can blame the Air
Macworld It might seem odd to be in doubt a full seven months after the device was unveiled, but it still isn’t clear whether or not the iPhone Air is a success. Early reports were distinctly unconvincing, with retailers reporting “virtually no consumer demand,” yet Speedtest data last month suggested the phone could be selling more than twice as many units as the iPhone 16 Plus that it replaced. Apple could settle the matter by releasing official sales figures, but that isn’t the company’s style. The disparity can partially be explained by thinking in terms of expectations. The Plus phones, much like the minis before them, did not sell well at all, which is why they were phased out. And that means surpassing their performance, while pleasing to a degree, might not be cause for much celebration. (It’s also worth bearing in mind that retailer discounts, such as a surprisingly generous £200 cut by Amazon U.K., may have given Air sales an artificial boost after launch.) Apple will of course extoll the Air at every opportunity, but actions speak louder than words, and we’ll get a better idea of whether Apple is truly happy with the Air’s performance at the next couple of iPhone launches. The iPhone Air 2, if one appears at all, should arrive either this fall alongside the iPhone 18 Pro or in the spring alongside the iPhone 18 and 18e. If it appears at neither event, we can conclude that it was a flop after all. If the product is given a second chance, on the other hand… well, that won’t mean much, since we got multiple iPhone minis and iPhone Pluses. But if the Air isn’t making money it’ll be phased out before too long. Apple isn’t sentimental about such things. In the long term, the device’s place in the lineup may well be taken by the iPhone Fold, Apple’s first-ever folding phone. That product seems to be on track to launch with the 18 Pro this September (despite reports last week that it might have to be pushed back as a result of production problems), so before too long, we’ll get to see if a wildly expensive foldable really is what Apple customers are looking for. In that sense, it’s essentially the iPhone Air, only more so. The issue with the Air, the factor which was always likely to limit its appeal, is the undeniable truth that in a number of respects it’s straightforwardly worse than other, cheaper phones. That isn’t normally how Apple lineups work: the iPhone 17 Pro costs more than the iPhone 17 but it’s the same or better across the board. About the only thing you can say that standard iPhones do better than the Pro models, other than cost less, is have funkier colors. Whereas the iPhone Air costs $200 more than the iPhone 17 yet has weaker cameras, shorter battery life, and slower MagSafe. As our reviewer pointed out, you’re paying more for less. Put like that, the iPhone Air sounds totally unappealing, but that clearly isn’t the case: Air buyers may be in the minority, but they’re out there, and very pleased with themselves too. One Air owner told me last week that he is extremely happy with his phone and would find it hard to ever go back to a full-thickness handset. That’s pretty much the only thing the product has going for it, but it’s such a game-changer of a design that some customers will take the deal. Give it a few years, and super-slim handsets are likely to become the standard; perhaps we will all find 8mm phones just as unbearably old-fashioned as those with 4-inch screens and home buttons seem today. Whether the iPhone Air will still be around to take advantage of that evolved market is harder to say. And where does that leave the Fold? Facing a difficult battle, but not a hopeless one. Likely to start somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000, the device will present a ruthless test of what precisely iPhone buyers care about. Based on dummy models leaked last week (and corroborated by earlier CAD drawings and other reports), the Fold will have two rear-facing cameras, which is an improvement on the iPhone Air. But the current design doesn’t appear to include a MagSafe coil, which would be a grievous wound indeed. Even the e-class iPhones have MagSafe these days, and they cost (unless estimates are way off) less than a third as much as the Fold. As with the Air, we will see how much customers value the device’s unique selling point. Foldables are an alluring prospect, combining in a way achievable by no other device the portable chassis of a mini phone with the big screen of a mini tablet. But they ask so very much in return, and not just financially. While the Air’s great challenge was to convince everyone that it wouldn’t bend, the Fold will have to persuade us that its hinge won’t be a vulnerable point of mechanical failure. And there will no doubt be numerous other compromises. Apple will have learned lessons from the launch of the Air. It will know how important it is to target customers’ reservations from the very beginning, which in the case of the Air meant reassuring discussions of build quality and battery optimisations. But it should also be known by now that groundbreaking designs need to be experienced to be truly appreciated. The Air looks like a terrible deal on paper, and the Fold will probably look even worse. But based on my friend’s evangelical zeal, that all changes once you get the handset in your’ hands. We must also be realistic. Success for the iPhone Air was always going to look very different than success for the iPhone 17. It wasn’t just about driving revenue, but about testing design concepts and building an audience for subsequent models. The iPhone Fold, meanwhile, will have a mission to introduce Apple customers to the foldables market and establish what could become an entire dynasty of products. At $2,000 per unit, it isn’t going to outsell a $799 standard model, and it would be absurd to expect those sorts of numbers. But that doesn’t mean Apple will be happy in a niche. This isn’t the Vision Pro, and the flagship slot in the iPhone roster is expected to make serious money. The iPhone Fold can absolutely do that. But based on the Air’s struggles, it isn’t going to be easy. Foundry Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too. Trending: Top stories Apple’s new AI problems have nothing to do with Siri, reckons the Macalope. Filipe Esposito explains why the MacBook Neo 2 may arrive sooner than expected. Apple’s chip ‘binning’ explained: What the heck does it mean? NASA just gave Apple the best Shot on iPhone ad ever. Here’s proof that an Apple Watch knockoff is a terrible deal. Podcast of the week Apple has finally discontinued the Mac Pro. On the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast, we talk about Apple’s tower workstation: its history, its purpose, and what it means for the Mac lineup going forward. You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site. Reviews corner iPhone 17e: An impressive balancing act. Intego ONE: Top-tier malware protection for Mac. Satechi OntheGo: Elegant 3-in-1 charger for your pocket. Aulumu M10 Dual-Mag 10K: Space-age power bank. And with that, we’re done for this week’s Apple Breakfast. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters, including our new email from The Macalope–an irreverent, humorous take on the latest news and rumors from a half-man, half-mythical Mac beast. You can also follow us on Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, or X for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.

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Pimp your MacBook Neo by swapping out your Citrus keys for Indigo
Macworld We’ve pointed out that the MacBook Neo is a great computer at a great price. But if you’re looking for another reason to buy one here’s one: the MacBook Neo is designed so the user can perform hardware repairs on it. Which sounds too good to be true, considering Apple’s DIY history. But not only is it true, but Apple has also released the price list for replacement parts, and the prices are pretty reasonable. Here is a look at some of the U.S. prices from the online Self Service Repair Store for Apple Products: Battery: $111.75 ($22.50 return credit) Bottom Case: $34.32 Display: $219.12 ($88 return credit) Keyboard: $113.52 ($26.40 return credit) Logic Board: $219 Top Case: $175.12 Trackpad: $78.32 To order a part, customers must enter the ID of the MacBook Neo repair manual, which is available for free online. Apple wants customers to read the manual first, and this is one way to make you do so. For the Logic Board, you need to enter the serial number of your Neo. Ahead of the Neo’s release, it was reported that Apple had developed a new manufacturing process “designed to be both faster and more cost-effective than the one used with Apple’s current laptops.” As such, this is the first MacBook that doesn’t require the purchase of the entire top case assembly to replace the keyboard. On the M5 MacBook Air, for example, a keyboard repair costs $412.72, more than three times as much as the MacBook Neo. The store doesn’t appear to restrict your part selection based on color. It looks like you could, say, buy a citrus bottom replacement case for your silver Neo, or indigo keyboard caps ($39) to replace your blush-colored ones. All you need is the repair manual ID (ZFXBHN) to prove that you “have the knowledge, experience, and necessary tools to perform the intended repair.” We’ve asked Apple for confirmation on this, and we will update this article if we get a response. Apple MacBook Neo Read our review Price When Reviewed: $599 Best Prices Today: $539 at Walmart | $599 at Amazon | $599 at Apple

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If your 2025 taxes are complicated, use this H&R Tax software for state and federal for $35
Macworld TL;DR: Right now, it’s only $35 to get H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe for your 2025 State and Federal Return. Tax software is a lot easier to appreciate when your return starts getting more complicated. H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe + State 2025 is meant for people who want more guidance while filing, along with better help around deductions tied to things like homeownership, investments, and retirement income. It’s also only $34.99 right now (reg. $59.99). The Deluxe + State version walks you through federal and state filing with a step-by-step Q&A format, so you’re not staring at tax forms and trying to decode them on your own. It includes one federal program, one state program, five free federal e-files for personal returns, and unlimited federal preparation and printing. This version of the H&R Block Tax Software really starts to help when your taxes get more complex. It can help with mortgage interest and real estate tax deductions, investment income, stock options, home sales, and retirement-related reporting. That makes it a better fit for someone with more going on than a simple W-2 return. Import support is included too, so you can pull in W-2s, 1099s, 1098s, and prior-year returns, including data from TurboTax and Quicken. That can save a surprising amount of time. H&R Block also includes access to a large help center with more than 13,000 searchable articles, plus AI Tax Assist for around-the-clock guidance while you work through your return. That does not replace a tax professional, but it does give you another layer of support when a question comes up mid-file. Free in-person audit support is included as well, so if the IRS comes knocking, you’re not completely on your own. Right now, it’s only $34.99 to get H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe + State 2025. H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe + State 2025 for Windows/Mac [Online Code]See Deal Buying this deal? You can also score a lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2021 for free—just add it to your cart and apply code GWP4MAC (for Mac) or GWP4WIND (for Windows) at checkout through April 19, 2026. Exclusions apply. Only one promo code applicable per order. StackSocial prices subject to change.

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Apple smart glasses could stand out in more ways than one
Apple is reportedly testing multiple smart glasses designs, with a strong focus on premium materials and varied styles. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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Sunday Reboot: MacBook Neo upgrades, masses of Mac minis, and iPhone re-entry
In this week's "Sunday Reboot," a storage upgrade for the MacBook Neo, an excuse to buy many Mac minis, and the iPhones come back to Earth with a late congratulatory message.Image credits: NASA/OvercastSunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.This week, researchers managed to get around Apple Intelligence security measures using prompt injection techniques, a repairability report panned Apple's hardware again, and Apple's lawsuit with Epic Games over the App Store continued to roll on. There was also a bug found to break Mac networking every 49 days, 17 hours, two minutes, and 47 seconds. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Today in Apple history: Apple co-founder quits and cashes in his stake for $800
On April 12, 1976, Apple's third co-founder sold his 10% stake in the company for just $800. Ron Wayne could have been a billionaire! (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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Get 3 years of piano lessons on your iPhone, iPad or Mac for just $70
Turn your device into a smart teacher with Flowkey’s interactive piano lessons, real-time feedback and song-first approach to learning. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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Eight years later, Apple quietly shuts the door on AI chief John Giannandrea
Since his retirement was announced in 2025, Apple Intelligence head John Giannandrea has been reduced to the role of an advisor, but is now expected to exit Apple Park shortly.John Giannandrea - image credit: AppleIf you spend your notice period at home, you're on gardening leave. If you spend it at work and you're waiting for when your contracted stock bonuses realize, it's called "rest and vest".It appears that the stock options agreed for John Giannandrea's contract when Apple hired him in 2018, are due on April 15. According to Bloomberg's "Power On" newsletter, Giannandrea is consequently going to leave around then. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Apple's future smart glasses plan is just part of a larger computer vision play
Apple Glass will be a direct competitor to Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, but it will be only a part of a larger three-pronged AI wearable strategy for the company. Here's what's coming.Optimistic renders of what Apple Glass could look like - Image Credit: AppleInsiderApple has long been working on its smart glasses, known as Apple Glass. What is anticipated to actually launch will be quite close to what the existing Meta Ray-Bans can already do.In Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman writes that the Apple Glass will be easily able to handle everyday uses, including photographs and video capture, dealing with phone calls, handling notifications from an iPhone, and music playback. Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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How ‘binned’ chips help Apple deliver its most affordable products ever
Macworld Over the past several weeks, you’ve probably heard the term “binned” when referring to the chips inside the iPhone 17e and MacBook Neo. But what does it mean? In simple terms, “binning” is the process of taking one whole group of something and separating it out by characteristics to be sold or used differently. Its origins trace back to agriculture, where a single crop yield would be separated into bins. The best pieces would be ideal for individual sale, and go in a bin destined for the market. Pieces that were not as visually appealing would go in a bin that would sell in bulk at a discount, for processed food products. The food that was worst in quality and appearance would go in yet another bin to sell for animal feed or fertilizer. Today, “binning” is used in nearly every mining, harvesting, or manufacturing industry, from gemstones to clothing and, of course, semiconductors. If a RAM chip is tested and fails when run at a clock speed of 3000 MHz, it is binned and sold as a 2800 MHz chip, for example. Every major chip manufacturer has employed “binning” tactics for years, including Intel, AMD, and Nvidia. But Apple has made the term more mainstream by using “binned” chips in popular products. Here’s how the process works and how Apple is using binned chips to its advantage. The binning process explained Processors, including Apple’s, are typically binned in two ways: Clock speed and design flaws. Chips are tested at frequencies and voltages, and separated out into those that pass validation at the desired speeds and others that operate at lower speeds. Chip makers can then sell the fastest chips at a premium, or in Apple’s case, put them in higher-end products where top-tier performance is expected. Apple doesn’t disclose the frequencies of most of its chips, and the final speed at which the chip can run is very much reliant on the heat dissipation of the targeted device. The more obvious method of “binning” is when some parts of a chip are disabled in order to rescue products that would otherwise have failed in manufacturing. The iPhone 17e uses a “binned” version of the A19 chip with one fewer GPU core.David Price / Foundry Modern processors have tens of billions of transistors, etched onto a silicon sheet by shining high-frequency ultraviolet light through a “mask” of the circuit pattern. This is repeated layer after layer, and the precision required is incredible. A typical silicon wafer—a big, round, flat crystal about a foot across—will produce around 500 chips like an A18, but a large percentage of them will have a flaw that prevents them from operating correctly. If Apple had to throw them in the trash, they’d get maybe 200 usable chips per wafer (or less). The percentage of usable chips is the “yield” of a silicon wafer. You pay for chip manufacturing by the wafer, so the higher the yield, the more usable chips you get out of it, and the lower the cost per chip. Modern chips are designed with many areas that are repeated and functionally identical. If there are six GPU cores, each GPU core is exactly the same. This repetition can be used for redundancy in the manufacturing process, allowing manufacturers to make defective chips usable in other products.. With the right design, a chip could be made so that any GPU core with a manufacturing flaw in it can be “fused off” and ignored when running software. This can turn your broken chip with a 6-core GPU into a functioning 5-core chip. This technique can be used anywhere that large parts of the chip are repeated: CPU and GPU cores, cache memory, memory interface circuitry, and so on. What Apple products have binned chips? Binned chips have been used to power Apple products for about a decade. Back in 2018, the 3rd-gen iPad Pro arrived, which had a version of the A12 called the A12X. Where the A12 had a 6-core CPU and a 4-core GPU, the A12X chip featured an 8-core CPU and a 7-core GPU. As we would soon learn, the A12X chip was actually designed with 8 GPU cores. Yields were bad enough that Apple had to disable one GPU core per chip to get enough usable chips per wafer to bring the costs in line. In early 2020, the fourth-generation iPad Pro featured the A12Z processor. It was the exact same chip as the A12X, but with that eighth GPU core enabled. Manufacturing yields had improved enough to make that possible. The entry-level MacBook Air has used a “binned” version of the chip with one or two fewer GPU cores.Ida Blix When the M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, the chip featured 8 GPU cores. But the entry-level model had one GPU core disabled, giving Apple a lot more usable chips per wafer and bringing down the cost of the M1. Today, Apple sells lots of products with binned chips. The iPhone Air uses the A19 Pro, just as the iPhone 17 Pro does, but one of its 6 GPU cores is disabled. The iPhone 17e uses a binned version of the A19—you get 4 GPU cores in the 17e while the regular iPhone 17 gets 5. The entry-level MacBook Air has an M5 with two GPU cores disabled (8 instead of 10). And the MacBook Neo uses an A18 Pro with one GPU core disabled. Binned chips let Apple improve yields and lower chip costs. It also lets them produce less expensive products with lower-performance chips without having to design a totally new chip. And as one of the only companies that makes its own chips and has its own hardware designs, it gives them a huge advantage. How does binning impact performance? If you’re using a product with a “binned” version of a chip, are you really missing out on the full experience? As so often is the case with the performance of computing products, the answer is: It depends. All things being equal, a binned version of a chip suffers a hit to peak performance right in line with the change to the chip. If you go from 5 GPU cores to 4, that’s a 20 percent reduction in GPU cores, and you generally see a 20 percent reduction in peak GPU performance. The iPhone 17e, for example, delivers GPU results roughly 20 percent lower than the iPhone 17, because it has 20 percent fewer GPU cores. The iPhone Air, with 17 percent fewer GPU cores than the iPhone 17 Pro, delivers graphics benchmark results around 17 percent slower.

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