Rare sale shaves $100 off the impossibly thin iPhone Air
Macworld Apple iPhone Air View Deal (function () { document.querySelector("#sticky-promo-block a").addEventListener("click", function(e) { const debug = document.location.host.search(/lndo.site|go-vip.net/) !== -1; const text = this.closest("#sticky-promo-block").querySelector("p.promo-title").textContent; const data = { event: "stickyConversionUnitClick", eventCategory: "Sticky Conversion", eventAction: "Click", eventLabel: text }; if(debug)console.log("Sticky Conversion CLick - pushing to dataLayer: ", data); dataLayer.push(data); return true; }); })(); It’s so rare that we see a no-strings-attached iPhone deal that I had to do a double-take when I noticed that an unlocked iPhone Air is on sale for $100 off at Best Buy. But it’s real, so if you want one, now’s the best time to get it. There are many things we loved about the iPhone Air when we tested it, starting with just how thin this phone really is and how good the selfie cam is. Well, now you can add the fact that you can get it for $900 on the list, too. If that no-strings-attached bit doesn’t interest you, you could shave another $100 off the price by connecting it to your Verizon or AT&T plan directly through Best Buy’s site. This phone’s 6.5-inch screen looks absolutely gorgeous, while the 256GB of storage space offers quite a bit of room for all your favorite apps. The thinness of this phone really is the most impressive thing about it. “It’s almost disappears in my pocket,” we wrote in our review. “Plus and Max iPhones feel heavy and lopsided in a front pocket, and often barely fit. But iPhone Air is just small enough and thin enough to slip right in, and I can almost forget it’s there. It’s like a magic trick.” There you go, a phone that might actually fit in women’s pockets. In fact, our biggest problem with the Air was that it was about $100 too expensive, which this sale takes care of. So go ahead and grab the iPhone Air for $899 before Best Buy sunsets this deal.

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Today is the last day to save $250 on Apple's new M5 Pro MacBook Pro, best price ever
Today is the final day to grab the lowest price on record for Apple's 2026 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chip.Save $250 on 2026 14-inch MacBook Pro today only - Image credit: AppleB&H Photo has slashed Apple's new 14-inch MacBook Pro, with the standard M5 Pro model falling to $1,949 thanks to a $200 instant discount paired with a $50 in-cart coupon.Buy M5 Pro MacBook Pro for $1,949 Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Epic Games deals Apple fresh blow in App Store fee fight
In the App Store fee fight stemming from Apple's longstanding legal battle with Epic Games, the iPhone giant takes a setback. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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watchOS 26 added Notes app to Apple Watch, here’s how I’m using it
Apple Watch users got a brand new app in watchOS 26, with Apple Notes now available on your wrist. Here’s how I’ve been using the app. more…

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Formula 1 returns to America this weekend via live streaming on Apple TV
Formula 1 returns to the U.S. this weekend for the FORMULA 1 CRYPTO.COM MIAMI GRAND PRIX 2026 — streaming exclusively on Apple TV… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.

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Get Microsoft Office 2024, plus courses that show you how to use it, at a killer price
Get Microsoft Office 2024 plus a full training bundle for $114—so you’re not just using Office, you actually learn how to use it well. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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Apple TV comedy with 96% Rotten Tomatoes is coming back soon
Apple TV announced Ted Lasso’s season 4 release date yesterday, and now today the streamer revealed that it has another beloved, critically acclaimed comedy coming back for a new season too: Trying. more…

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Formula 1 coverage expands across Apple services for Miami Grand Prix
Apple will stream the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2026 live on Apple TV with full race weekend coverage available across the United States.F1 Miami Grand PrixApple TV will carry every session, including practice, qualifying, and the race, with live and on-demand access through the Apple TV app. Coverage includes up to 30 simultaneous live feeds with onboard cameras, timing data, and a Driver Tracker that shows the full field in real time.A dedicated Podium feed follows the top three drivers throughout each session. Multiview lets viewers build custom layouts or select preset viewing options across supported devices. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Intel responds to MacBook Neo with 21% faster chip intended for similar devices
Apple’s launch of the MacBook Neo – and especially the incredible price/performance balance – sent shockwaves through the Windows world. Intel has now responded with the launch of a CPU aimed at similar budget laptops. An early benchmark suggests that it is 21% faster than the A18 Pro used in the MacBook Neo … more…

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Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus expected to join Apple’s Thursday earnings call
Apple investors are eager for a closer look at John Ternus as the next CEO of the iPhone maker when Apple reports quarterly results on… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.

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Robotics Framework Aims to Prevent Conflicts in Shared Spaces
A new interoperability framework aims to help robots share intent, not just data, allowing machines from different vendors to coordinate tasks, avoid conflicts, and operate more safely in complex, shared environments. The post appeared first on TechNewsWorld.

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I tried the most powerful Thunderbolt dock ever made [Review] ★★★★★
The iVanky FusionDock Ultra packs an absurd 26 ports and uses a unique dual-cable Thunderbolt 5 setup to deliver unmatched connectivity. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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Every iPhone has a useful hardware feature that zero Samsung phones offer
When Apple released the iPhone 17e, it doubled the storage and added what it calls the “magic of MagSafe” to the $599 iPhone 16e replacement. Apple’s decision to bring MagSafe to the last iPhone holdout meant every iPhone includes a useful hardware feature that zero Samsung phones offer. more…

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Take $300 off the M3 iPad Air in Amazon’s blowout clearance sale
Macworld Apple iPad Air M3 View Deal (function () { document.querySelector("#sticky-promo-block a").addEventListener("click", function(e) { const debug = document.location.host.search(/lndo.site|go-vip.net/) !== -1; const text = this.closest("#sticky-promo-block").querySelector("p.promo-title").textContent; const data = { event: "stickyConversionUnitClick", eventCategory: "Sticky Conversion", eventAction: "Click", eventLabel: text }; if(debug)console.log("Sticky Conversion CLick - pushing to dataLayer: ", data); dataLayer.push(data); return true; }); })(); If you want a new iPad, we’ve got a great deal for you today: This decked-out M3 13-inch iPad Air with extra storage and 5G is down to its absolute best price of $1,149, which means you’re saving an insane $300! That’s the best price we’ve ever seen for this model and one of the best iPad Air discounts of all time. With the super-fast M3 chip, a maxed-out 1TB of storage, and both Wi-Fi 6E and 5G connectivity. This combo enables you to use your tablet anywhere you go, install tons of apps, and handle all apps, including graphics-intensive tools, with ease. The 13-inch Liquid Retina display is absolutely gorgeous, too, so you’ll love how everything looks, whether you’re playing, binge-watching your favorite shows, or just looking at YouTube vids. When we reviewed the M3 iPad Air, we gave it a 4-star rating, praising its absolutely outstanding performance, loving the design and display, and finding the extended battery life quite great. And since this model has everything you’ll need, it’ll be your go-to tablet for years to come. It might not be as fast as the newer M4 version, but there’s no universe in which you’ll get the same amount of storage and 5G connectivity for this price anytime this year. So grab the M3 iPad Air for $1,149 before Amazon sells out and it’s gone forever.

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Supreme Court considering legality of smartphone location ‘dragnets’
The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments about the legality of so-called geofence warrants, sometimes also referred to as “digital dragnets” because they capture the location data of a great many innocent citizens in addition to criminal suspects. In a practice raising obvious privacy concerns, tech giants are increasingly being asked by law enforcement to identify all of the smartphone users present at a particular location at the time a crime was committed … more…

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John Ternus' first major challenge is dealing with quadrupled iPhone memory prices
John Ternus faces a turbulent start to his tenure as Apple CEO, including massive RAM pricing spikes that will impact the fall iPhone launch. With continued pressure to manufacture in the U.S, supply chain changes could be on the way.John Ternus will be Apple's next CEO in SeptemberThe arrival of John Ternus as Apple CEO in September will be a big event for Apple, but it will also include some tough early choices. Some that will affect how Apple's massive supply chain operates in the future.At present, Apple is dealing with the industry-wide problem of memory pricing, with RAM skyrocketing in cost and affecting the price of electronics in general. So far, Apple has managed to insulate itself from the problem through strategic contracts with suppliers, but it won't last forever. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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9 reasons why the ChatGPTphone isn’t an iPhone threat
Macworld As if the smartphone market wasn’t already stuffed with enough rivals to the iPhone, it’s emerged this week that AI giant OpenAI is getting ready to throw its hat in the ring. In a short article posted to Twitter/X, the highly respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed the ChatGPT maker is “set to redefine smartphones” with a new handset created in partnership with Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Luxshare. Apple has so far struggled to bring the iPhone up to speed with the pace of AI development, and on first impressions, this might sound like a formidable challenge for John Ternus to deal with as he settles in as CEO. But I don’t think he’ll be worried about the threat of the “ChatGPTphone.” Here’s why. 1. Apps aren’t dead yet In the article, Kuo talks about the evolution from app to agent. “Users are not trying to use a pile of apps,” he says. “They are trying to get tasks done and fulfil needs through the phone.” That sounds good if the apps you’re replacing are Calendar, Clock, Weather, and a bunch of airline, rail, and cab apps. But people will still want to watch and listen to streaming services, browse social media, play games, track sports, and do dozens of other things on their phones. You can’t replace apps with an AI agent unless it’s just a glorified app launcher. 2. It’s too late Apple has been doing this for nearly 20 years, and has built up a loyal fan base of users who would never consider anything other than an iPhone. Google and Samsung, too, have multi-generation fans, as do the other manufacturers of Android phones. Even if OpenAI’s phone came out in 2026, that would already be extraordinarily late to be trying to break into the smartphone market, but Kuo says mass production won’t start until 2028… by which point, as a commenter points out, OpenAI may not even exist. It’s a mark of OpenAI’s lateness that by this point, most other companies are trying to plan for what comes after the smartphone. 3. OpenAI has no experience in smartphone hardware OpenAI will be going from a standing start in a mature market stuffed with contenders that have, as mentioned above, been doing this for almost two decades. Even with design guru Jony Ive on the team, it takes multiple generations to get this sort of thing right, and that’s time OpenAI hasn’t got. 4. OpenAI is overestimating its brand loyalty “OpenAI’s advantages lie in its consumer brand, years of accumulated user data, and leading AI models,” Kuo writes. We’ll come to the second and third factors in due course, but even the brand awareness is debatable. OpenAI certainly has a lot of brand value in ChatGPT, but far less as a company. And just because people know or even like a piece of software, it doesn’t mean they’re prepared to pay hundreds of dollars for hardware by the same company. 5. The ecosystem isn’t there With its iterative updates and generally conservative designs, Apple makes the smartphone market look easy. But it’s not just about the phone, and OpenAI hasn’t got anything like the same surrounding ecosystem to push people towards its smartphone and then lock them in. The iPhone benefits from seamless compatibility with the AirPods, Apple Watch, Mac, and Vision Pro, and also benefits from the appeal of Apple Music, iMessage, Apple Pay, the App Store, and so much more. The only halo product OpenAI can build a phone around is ChatGPT, and the problem with that… 6. What’s the unique selling point? …is that ChatGPT is already on the iPhone, both as an app and integrated with Siri and Apple Intelligence. OpenAI could cut those off (along with the Android app) to give itself a USP, but that would likely hurt OpenAI more than its smartphone competitors. 7. ChatGPT isn’t even that special Yes, ChatGPT was the catalyst for the AI explosion over the past few years, and it’s a market-leading model. But rivals have proliferated, and most are backed by larger companies with a greater capacity to endure the inevitable market dips. AI is only likely to become more commoditised. Why buy a phone built entirely around ChatGPT when you can get a phone that can run ChatGPT as well as Gemini, Claude, or whichever model you may happen to prefer? 8. Apple is going to get AI right eventually I’m the last person to praise Siri or Apple Intelligence, but Apple has made AI a top priority, and it has the resources to reach a solution eventually (or just buy a company that has a worthwhile model already). It’s really just a matter of time before Apple Intelligence works well, and that’ll happen before the OpenAI phone arrives. At which point, the one thing OpenAI does better than Apple won’t be an issue any more, while Apple will still have all its other advantages as a maker of phones and phone software. 9. OpenAI never wanted to make a phone anyway If you examine OpenAI’s hardware development history, it becomes clear that this entire project isn’t its first choice. The company originally wanted to make an AI pin, which it worked on with former Apple design guru Jony Ive (who is now more closely associated with OpenAI following a merger with Ive’s LoveFrom studio in 2025). Why suddenly shift from a pin to a phone? All the reasons above, presumably. But rival AI pins such as Humane were savaged by reviewers, and OpenAI is now fleeing to the more consumer-friendly world of phones as a half-hearted compromise. Good luck with that.

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Apple was ready for the RAM crisis
Macworld Over the decades, the evolution of computers has been easy to follow: They’ve become steadily more powerful to keep pace with the need for more advanced applications. We’ve seen computers equipped with faster processors, more storage, and, most of all, more RAM. This trend has accelerated even further recently, with companies pushing on-device AI capabilities into their devices, and Apple is no exception. However, the increasing demand for RAM is having another effect on the market. While once plentiful and affordable, RAM is more expensive than ever, and it’s becoming harder to get, even at exorbitant prices. But instead of dealing with constraints by upping prices, Apple is showing the industry how its years-long effort to control every component inside its devices has given it a unique advantage over every other PC maker, clearly evidenced by the recent launch of the MacBook Neo. The importance of RAM in today’s world First, let’s take a closer look at why RAM or memory is so important. Essentially, RAM is a type of short-term memory with ultra-fast speeds, much faster than SSDs. When you open an app on your phone or laptop, it’s stored in RAM to ensure that the processor can handle it more quickly as you continue to use it. That’s why, generally speaking, having more RAM means your devices can run faster, enabling more apps and tasks to operate at the same time without slowing down. As such, RAM has also become extremely important for artificial intelligence. Since RAM is much faster than internal storage, devices also store AI parameters in RAM for quicker access. In other words, the more and faster the RAM, the greater the device’s ability to handle AI tasks locally. That’s why AI companies have been buying up as much DDR5 RAM, the same that’s used in Apple devices, as they can for their servers. It’s also why we’ve seen consumer desktops and laptops gaining more RAM in recent years, including Apple, which only recently increased the base RAM for Macs to 16GB and the iPhone and iPad to 8GB. The AI boom has put more pressure on chips to increase RAM limits.Apple More RAM isn’t a viable option anymore For years, the strategy of adding more hardware resources to handle software demands was a simple solution to complexity. But as modern workloads have become increasingly memory-intensive in recent years, suppliers have been unable to keep up with demand. As a result, RAM has become much more expensive, and PC makers have been forced to shift their strategy. The situation became so dire that Apple had to discontinue the highest-end Mac Studio with 512GB of RAM, while other versions with higher amounts of RAM are also facing significant shortages. And it’s hard not to conclude that the timing of the Mac Pro’s discontinuation wasn’t tied to the RAM crisis as well. The RAM crunch has also been affecting the 16GB Mac mini, which is currently sold out at the Apple Store and unavailable at Amazon. Higher-end models with more memory are severely constrained as well. This situation would (and has) put tech companies in a bind. They need better hardware to meet the growing demand for AI tasks, but there simply isn’t any more RAM on the market. Fortunately for Apple, it had already found the solution years before. Apple chips were made for a RAM-scarce world In theory, there’s no way to simply replace RAM with something else. However, Apple has found the next best thing: a way to optimize both its hardware and software to run smoothly even on devices with the bare minimum of RAM. When Apple introduced the first Mac with the M1 chip, it wasn’t a mere swap from Intel to its own chips, but also a radical change to how its computers work. That’s because Apple silicon chips are classified as a system on a chip, which means key components, including the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, SSD, and even the RAM, are all on the same pool, sharing the same resources. And that makes a big difference in everyday use. The M-series chips have a complete package right on the chip.Apple Thanks to the SoC’s unified memory, all components can quickly access the same data without having to copy it between different modules. This drastically reduces latency and improves performance when running resource-intensive tasks without needing loads of additional memory. At the same time, Apple leverages its hardware and software integration to further optimize memory usage. For instance, macOS features a very aggressive memory compression system that significantly reduces the amount of RAM used by inactive apps running in the background. The chips also utilize something called “memory swapping.” Admittedly, this isn’t a term Apple invented, but nowhere else is it used so seamlessly thanks to the way Apple silicon chips are designed. If your Mac runs out of RAM, the system can temporarily store memory data directly on the SSD. Because both the RAM and the SSD are connected to the same SoC, data transfer is nearly instantaneous, allowing the computer to run smoothly even when you’re using all available RAM. When it comes to AI, the built-in Neural Engine also helps macOS process machine learning parameters and tasks, freeing up RAM. Essentially, this makes a Mac with 8GB of RAM feel like it has twice that. While pro users will still need more, which Apple happily sells, the MacBook Neo proves once and for all that for everyday users, 8GB of unified memory delivers much more than the same 8GB of RAM in a traditional PC laptop. The ‘RAM tax’ is already here The timing couldn’t be better. In March, Apple introduced its most affordable laptop ever, the $599 MacBook Neo, while the rest of the industry struggles to stay afloat due to the RAM crisis.  Microsoft recently announced significant price increases for the Surface lineup, with some flagship models now costing $500 more than they did at launch due to increased costs for memory and other components. For instance, the 13-inch Surface Laptop now starts at $1,149 with 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. That’s $50 more expensive than the base 13-inch MacBook Air model with similar specs. Unlike the MacBook Neo, Microsoft doesn’t even offer an option with 8GB of RAM. The MacBook Neo arrive at a time when PC makers are raising prices.Foundry Meta also recently raised the prices of its Quest headsets by up to $100. The company likewise blamed the “global surge in the price of critical components.” Apple isn’t immune to price increases for components, of course. The M5 MacBook Air, which was introduced last month, is in fact more expensive than the M4 model, starting at $1,099 with 512GB of storage rather than $999 with 256GB of storage. Still, it’s unlikely Apple has any plans to change the MacBook Neo’s starting price of $599 anytime soon. That, of course, is because Apple has established that an entry-level Mac can run just fine with only 8GB of RAM thanks to its system-on-chip architecture. And even in the higher-end models, Apple silicon chips are so efficient that Apple is under less pressure to keep raising baseline RAM—and prices—as aggressively as competitors. Even with just 8GB of RAM, the MacBook Neo performs better than PC laptops with twice the memory.Eugen Wegmann Efficiency will become a growing priority As expected, Apple’s competitors finally seem to be catching on. Last month, Microsoft pledged to improve the quality of Windows with a series of improvements that will make Windows faster and more reliable by scaling back AI and freeing up RAM for other parts of the system, which should definitely improve performance on less powerful devices. Whether by coincidence or not, the announcement came about a week after Apple unveiled the MacBook Neo. Apple isn’t reacting to this shift. It’s already there. Not because Apple devices don’t benefit from more RAM, they absolutely do, but because they rely less on memory specs to deliver a consistent experience. It’s no longer just about how much RAM a device ships with, but how well it uses every gigabyte. Apple might not have designed the M1 chip with a RAM shortage in mind, but all this technology is now proving more useful than ever. This gives Apple a significant advantage over its competitors, who are unable to achieve the same level of integration with separate parts.

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AirDrop is now widely available on Android phones, and I’m here for it
We can argue endlessly about how innovative Apple is as a company, and indeed many people do. Personally, I would argue that some of its greatest innovations have been in the seemingly smallest of features, and AirDrop is one of these. AirDrop is a really simple and convenient way to move a document from one of our Apple devices to another, as well as to exchange files and information with other iPhone users. The introduction of NameDrop in iOS 17 was a particularly great application of the tech in my view … more…

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John Ternus faces critical decisions on iPhone pricing and US manufacturing – FT
Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus is going to be facing two critical decisions soon after he takes the helm, says a new Financial Times report. First, how to respond to a massive increase in memory prices, with Apple’s RAM costs increasing by more than 400% by next year. Second, how to shape the company’s manufacturing plans across China, India, and the US … more…

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Sorry, Intel’s new chip won’t help PCs beat MacBook Neo
Macworld The MacBook Neo has shaken up the affordable laptop market, with PC manufacturers trying to figure out what they can do to compete with Apple’s laptop. One way is to offer better performance with a cheap processor, and Intel’s latest chip appears to do just that. TweakTown reports that benchmark results are appearing for Intel’s new Wildcat Lake Core Series 3 CPU, a chip designed for affordable mobile devices. In PassMark’s multi-thread test, the Wildcat Lake Core 5 320 chip was 21 percent faster than Apple’s A18 Pro, a chip released in September 2024 and used in the MacBook Neo. In single-thread results, the Intel and Apple chips were basically the same. So, it looks like PC makers have another viable chip offering–TweakTown calls Wildcat Lake’s performance “particularly impressive” compared to the MacBook Neo. On multi-thread performance alone, Intel’s new CPU makes good progress catching up to Apple’s older chip. “Impressive” is a bit much, in my opinion, for a difference that is slightly noticeable in real-world usage, but still, it shows that Intel has responded to Apple’s threat. While performance is an important consideration when buying a cheap laptop, there are other factors that PC makers at this price point still haven’t figured out how to compete on. Most notably, PC laptops in this market (even some priced several hundred dollars more than the Neo) are made of plastic, which, apparently and mind-bogglingly, some PC users actually prefer over aluminum, environmental concerns be damned. And the build quality of these laptops, with their creaks, stiff hinges, and flimsiness, makes the MacBook Neo feel downright luxurious. You’ve also got battery life. MacBook Neo’s 16-hour battery life might pale in comparison to the Air and Pro, but it’ll still comfortably get you through a school day. PC laptops, on the other hand, are notoriously inefficient, especially when not plugged in, so it’ll be interesting to see how long the first crop of Wildcat Lake Core 5 320 laptops lasts. I’m gonna guess not great. Then there’s the whole Windows versus macOS thing that, well…the debate is an old one. But I’ll just say, if you like spending time figuring out how to strip out bloatware, ads, and other grossness from your new laptop’s operating system, then Windows 11 is for you. While you’re doing that, I’ll be doing real work on my MacBook Neo.

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Apple’s biggest win last week made the fewest headlines
Macworld There was big news from Apple’s boardroom last week. As you know, Tim Cook’s getting kicked upstairs and John Ternus is going to assume the mantle of Apple CEO. But that’s not the news I’m talking about. The other big news is that Johny Srouji is being named Chief Hardware Officer. Nobody outside of those who follow Apple or the chip industry closely has ever heard of Srouji. (For that matter, they hadn’t heard of Ternus, either.) But this is not a minor executive promotion. The fact that Apple made the announcement simultaneously with Cook’s departure and Ternus’s elevation shows that. Srouji’s promotion–and more importantly, retention– is vitally important for Apple. The importance of Apple silicon Calling Srouji the “father of Apple silicon” doesn’t go quite far enough, but it’s a good start. Apple began using the phrase “Apple silicon” to refer to Macs running Apple-designed M-series processors, but the Apple silicon story goes all the way back to the 2010 launch of the first Apple-designed processor, the A4, which powered the iPhone 4 and the original iPad. Srouji led the team that designed the A4, and has led Apple’s chip efforts ever since. Through the decade of the 2010s, it became clear that one of Apple’s enormous advantages in the smartphone market was that it designed its own processors. Because Apple creates its own chips for its own products, it’s able to make decisions about the specs and features of those chips that fit perfectly with the plan for the products they’re going to be used in. (Contrast this with companies that have to buy off-the-shelf chips from vendors like Intel and Qualcomm, where the chips are designed to appeal to a broad selection of clients. Every Apple chip is made for specific Apple products, and that’s it.) Johny Srouji led the development of the A4 in the iPhone 4.Caspertheghost/Wikipedia Apple being able to dictate the features of its own chips might be an advantage enough, but it turns out that Apple’s chips were also faster than the competition. A lot faster. Every summer, Qualcomm would release a new chip that they would boast about, offering performance similar to iPhone chips. Then, in September, Apple would introduce a new iPhone powered by a chip that offered performance that would blow Qualcomm away. In the most dynamic and profitable tech market, the smartphone, Apple basically lapped the competition. Next up, Apple used the iPad Pro as a testing ground to see if it could scale its phone-class processors to provide the kind of power that might drive a full-on computer. In 2018, Apple introduced an iPad Pro powered by the A12X processor, which scaled up the processor cores to create a much more powerful device–a hint of things to come. It followed that up with the 2020 introduction of an iPad Pro powered by the A12Z processor, which Apple explicitly boasted was more powerful than most PC laptops currently being sold. In hindsight, that was one of Apple’s biggest tells ever. Are you getting it yet? Apple silicon is powerful enough to run full-on computers, not just iPads and iPhones! And with the release of the M1 later in 2020, the prophesy was fulfilled. Apple’s advantage on smartphones and tablets has become Apple’s advantage, well, everywhere. (Even in low-cost laptops, as it turns out.) Keep Srouji happy! This brings us back to the man in charge, Johny Srouji. Apple’s chip efforts have gotten a lot of notice in the industry. Key members of the team left Apple to create their own startup, which was in turn bought by archrival Qualcomm. Srouji is in his early 60s and may be considering one last big career move before retirement. Apple’s hardware won’t be where it is today without Johny Srouji leading the way.Apple Amid all of that, Srouji’s longtime boss, Tim Cook, started planning his departure. One of Srouji’s peers at the Senior Vice President level, John Ternus, was going to be the new CEO–Srouji’s boss. I don’t know anything about the personal relationships between these people, but it’s human nature to react a bit negatively to the prospect of losing your longtime boss and having him replaced with someone you see as your peer. This transition, necessary though Cook feels it is, put Srouji’s standing at Apple at risk. This is almost certainly the reason why Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in December that Srouji was considering leaving Apple. That report seemed like a real red alert, because–see above–Srouji is the leader of one of Apple’s strongest groups, providing it advantages across its entire product line. Gurman’s report said that Srouji “recently told Cook that he is seriously considering leaving in the near future,” but it’s not hard to read between the lines and assume that, in a moment of change, Srouji was pondering how much Apple valued his contributions. Two days later, Srouji released a designed-to-leak memo to his staff, saying he didn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. Here’s what obviously happened. Cook and Ternus, like everyone else, recognized Srouji’s importance to Apple and offered him a new role. And in this case, the role–becoming Apple’s Chief Hardware Officer–was one that seems to have satisfied Srouji. (He’s the first person to be in charge of that entire group since Bob Mansfield retired in 2012.) With Ternus becoming CEO, his entire hardware division has been handed to Srouji. It’s an enormous portion of the company, and it belongs to Srouji now. Srouji now seems to have gotten what he wants. The next question is, how will Ternus’s former division respond to their new manager? Gurman reports that Srouji has a “hard-driving approach” and that the hardware division is in for a “cold shower.” Look, different managers have different styles. Conflicts are inevitable. Srouji’s new division will need to adapt to him, and he’ll need to adapt to them. Ternus will no doubt be well aware of how the transition in his former division is going, and Srouji reports to Ternus. They’ll all need to work it out, and change can be difficult, but in the end, it can also be refreshing to be guided by some new perspectives. The most important thing is that, in a moment of transition that could have had some brutal side effects, Apple has retained one of its top players. I’m looking forward to seeing what Johny Srouji will do with an even larger portion of Apple as his responsibility.

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These MacBook refurbs are only $290
Macworld TL;DR: Get a MacBook Air while they’re under $300. Affordable MacBooks are hard to find right now, but it’s not impossible. If you need a reliable computer that can handle the basics, check out this refurbished 2020 MacBook Air. The grade “B” refurbished rating means it only shows very light wear, but the price still dropped from $999 down to $289.99. This MacBook Air runs on a 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core i3 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz, paired with 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. That combination is powerful enough for everyday tasks like web browsing, video streaming, document work, and light productivity without issues, but you might struggle if you try more demanding work like video editing. The SSD keeps app launches and load times quick, and the 8GB of RAM is enough to keep several apps running at the same time without things slowing down. The 13.3-inch Retina display has True Tone technology, which adjusts color temperature based on ambient light for more comfortable viewing in different settings. Touch ID handles logins with a single fingerprint, and the backlit Magic Keyboard makes typing comfortable in low-light environments. Battery life is rated at up to 11 to 12 hours for typical use, enough to cover a full workday without having to track down a charger. A USB-C power adapter is included in the box. It’s only $289.99 to get a MacBook Air, but that won’t last much longer. Apple MacBook Air (2020) 13″ i3 1.1GHz 8GB RAM 128GB SSD (Refurbished)See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

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App Store policy must change as Epic convinces US Circuit Court to reverse stay
Apple will have to comply with previous mandates as it takes its fight with Epic Games back to the Supreme Court, so expect App Store changes soon.Epic's '1984' ad depicting Apple as Big BrotherThe Apple vs Epic saga is years long and could easily fill a book at this point, but it hasn't ended yet. The latest update comes after Apple won a stay against enforcing App Store changes as it appealed the Supreme Court.That stay was short-lived, as Epic immediately appealed the stay and 9to5Mac shared that it has won. The US Ninth Circuit Court has reversed the stay it placed on enforcing a mandate that would require Apple to change how it charges developers for external purchases. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Court reverses pause on Epic Games ruling ahead of Apple’s Supreme Court bid
Epic Games just convinced the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to reverse a prior decision that temporarily paused enforcement of a ruling requiring Apple to loosen certain App Store rules while it sought Supreme Court review. Here are the details. more…

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First two episodes of Widow’s Bay now available on Apple TV
Widow’s Bay, Apple’s newest horror-comedy starring Matthew Rhys (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, The Post) is now available to stream on Apple TV. Here’s what to expect. more…

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Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K review: mechanical keyboard performance multiplier
There seems to be no ceiling for mechanical keyboards and the Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K is proof. It features an all metal build, wireless options, ZMK, 8KHz polling, and layer after layer of foam.Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K reviewKeychron continues to pump out new keyboards at a breakneck pace. The Q1 Ultra 8K is the latest model to sit at the top of Keychron's lineup, replacing the Max.I've reviewed a lot of Keychron's keyboards, and with the exception of the unique Q3 Pro SE, I believe the Q1 series is my favorite layout. I love that it has all the keys I need while remaining compact yet dense. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Vibe coding platform Lovable now available for iPhone
Lovable, one of the most widely used AI-assisted programming tools, launched an iOS app that creates web apps based on natural language prompts and even voice-based interactions. Here are the details. more…

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Three Apple TV series land six Gotham Television Award nominations
"Pluribus," "Margo's Got Money Troubles," and "Mr. Scorsese" have all been nominated for Gotham Television Awards, which could contribute to Apple's growing trophy cabinet.Apple TV gets six nominations across three propertiesApple TV debuted in 2019 with a handful of exclusive, original shows and films. While it took some time for it to gain momentum, it is regularly celebrated across the awards industry.The latest nominations come from the Gotham Television Awards, which will be held on June 1. Three Apple TV shows received six nominations total. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Apple TV scores six Gotham Television Award nominations, here’s the list
Just days after picking up several nominations for the 2026 Peabody Awards and the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Apple celebrated today another six nominations across three of its original series for the 2026 Gotham Television Awards. Here are the details. more…

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