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- Wednesday October 29
- 10:40 amiPhone says Slow Charger: what does it mean and how to fix it
If you have an iPhone running iOS 26, you may have noticed that it now reports the estimated time to finish charging to 80% on the lock screen. If you are not using a fast charger, though, it will not do that and say ‘Slow Charger’ instead. This probably means you are using an underpowered power brick or older cable. To fast charge with a wire, get a new charging brick that is rated for 30 watts or more, and a USB-C cable … more…10:30 amI don’t trust my Apple Watch’s Sleep Score, and neither should you
Macworld At its iPhone 17 launch event, Apple announced a new watchOS 26 feature called Sleep Score. As its name suggests, the tool evaluates the quality of your sleep based on multiple factors, distilling the outcome into a simple number. I was initially looking forward to trying Sleep Score, since the company made such a big deal out of it—making it, in fact, a keynote segment headliner. But after a month of active use, it’s become clear to me that Sleep Score is essentially just the same old Apple Watch sleep tracking with a new coat of paint. It does not collect any new sleep data, nor does it deeply analyze other relevant health metrics. But Sleep Score can be saved. Here’s what Apple needs to do to truly elevate it. How Sleep Score works Before pointing out Sleep Score’s shortcomings, let’s take a closer, objective look at how it works. For starters, you’ll need an Apple Watch with sleep monitoring enabled or a similar third-party tracker that collects the same types of data. Once you update your iPhone to iOS 26, you’ll be able to check your Sleep Score in the built-in Apple Health app. Sleep Score is a 100-point system that takes three main elements into consideration. Your sleep duration, bedtime consistency, and sleep interruptions account for 50, 30, and 20 points, respectively. To earn the duration factor’s full 50 marks, it appears you need to sleep for at least 8 hours during a given night. Meanwhile, the grade for bedtime consistency depends on whether you sleep around the same time every night. Lastly, you can earn the 20 points for sleep interruptions if you don’t wake up for prolonged periods at night. While you probably won’t score a full mark nightly, claiming the 100 points is achievable, as I’ve done it a few times. Given that Sleep Score does not gather any new metrics, you can actually check previous months’ ratings—assuming you’ve had the sleep tracking feature enabled. This only proves that Sleep Score is merely a new way to display existing data and doesn’t do much else. Outliers can be clues to sleep problems, but don’t stop you scoring a perfect 100.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry The missing ingredients I was hoping for a meaningful upgrade to the classic sleep tracking feature but Sleep Score is, at best, a UI overhaul with a rating attached. We’ve long been able to check the nightly sleep duration, schedule, and interruptions. While assigning a score can reflect how consistent one’s sleeping habits are, the number itself can be a bit misleading. Earning 100 points doesn’t necessarily equate to a perfect or even good night’s sleep. For example, if you’re sick and on painkillers, you could realistically score the full mark, despite waking up worn out and having outliers in the Health app’s Vitals section. Sleep Score doesn’t take into account your resting heart rate and heart rate variability, which can be strong indicators of one’s sleep quality and overall health. Similarly, it completely disregards the previous days’ recorded workouts and burned calories, even though they could impact how well a user sleeps and feels the following morning. The same could be said about the Vitals feature’s recorded respiratory rate, wrist temperature, and blood oxygen levels, which Sleep Score excludes altogether. Given its name, Sleep Score delivers on its promise; it rates your primary sleeping conditions. The problem, however, is that it fails to innovate or meaningfully enhance sleep tracking on watchOS. If Apple is unable to significantly upgrade the feature, the company should have rolled it out silently as the mostly cosmetic update it is. A ‘body battery’ approach offers a more useful picture of your sleep health.Mahmoud Itani / Foundry A simple patch A more helpful approach would have been estimating users’ overall energy levels throughout the day. I use a HealthKit-enabled third-party app that accesses relevant metrics to display an all-encompassing ‘body battery’ score. These include my workouts, active energy, heart rate readings, wrist temperature, mindfulness minutes, sleep data, and more. The app analyzes my sleep duration, heart rate, Vitals, and so on to figure out how recharged I am when I wake up. The refilled energy is similarly reflected through a 100-point scoring system. As the day goes by, my score drops depending on recorded workouts, heart rate, physical activity, and so on. Beyond the overall body battery rating, the app estimates fatigue and stress levels. The readings tend to be accurate, as they account for recent weeks’ health data and aren’t limited to a single day’s measurements. The body battery route helps me get a realistic representation of my state in real time, instead of restricting me to a static score formed from incomplete sleep metrics. Given that Apple reportedly plans to launch a Health+ service next year with AI coaching, I’m still hopeful. The company could potentially bundle a tool that reads a user’s entire Health app log and presents a meaningful report that dynamically changes every day. Until then, I’m hitting snooze on the Sleep Score feature.09:49 amAs Slow Horses season 5 ends, Apple TV launches another new Mick Herron drama series to keep subscribers hooked | 9 to 5 MacAs Slow Horses season 5 ends, Apple TV launches another new Mick Herron drama series to keep subscribers hooked
With Slow Horses season five coming to an end today, Apple TV is keen to keep the British crime drama series based off Mick Herron novels rolling. Based off the book of the same name, new TV show Down Cemetery Road debuts with a two episode premiere on Apple TV today. The series stars Ruth Wilson and Emma Thompson, who are investigating the disappearance of a girl following an unexplained explosion inside a house. Ruth Wilson plays Sarah, a neighbor who enlists private investigator Zoe Boehm (played by Thompson) to help crack the case. more…09:15 amRumor: Apple developing OLED iPad mini, iPad Air, and MacBook Air models
If you’ve been hankering for additional Apple devices with OLED displays, you’re going to like this. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple is prepping OLED displays for several of its products. The new products seem to be along Apple’s more budget-focused lines, but it appears that OLED will arrive for nearly every Apple […] Source08:00 amYour everyday MS Office apps, minus the monthly bill — 2024 Home & Business is $70 off
Macworld TL;DR: Make the recurring fees disappear and pay $179.99 once for Office 2024 Home & Business — keep the core apps, updates, and offline access on a single device. If you’re still forking over $10 to Microsoft every month for the same Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps you’ve been using all your life, it might be time to stop the subscription spiral. For a limited time, you can get Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for a one-time payment of $179.99 (reg. $249.99) — no monthly fees, no surprise price increases. This version includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, all in their latest 2024 editions. It’s the perfect setup for anyone who just wants reliable tools on one Mac or PC without the bloat of cloud storage or required online access that they never use anyway. You’ll also get real-time collaboration, modern AI-powered features, and smart layout tools. And, because this download is tied to your device (not the cloud), you won’t wake up to a completely new Outlook layout that requires you to quickly re-learn the entire app before work. Another bonus? You won’t also discover that Microsoft is deleting an app altogether, like they are with Publisher… what’s next? Don’t sleep on this deal. This Microsoft Office 2024 lifetime license for Mac and Windows is available for $179.99 (reg. $249.99) for a limited time. No coupon is needed, but downloads are selling out. Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC Lifetime LicenseSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.08:00 amRun a lightning-fast WordPress site for less than $3 a month
Macworld TL;DR: Save 77% on a Hostinger Premium Web Hosting for Managed WordPress 2-year subscription. Your side project deserves more than a “.wordpress.com” URL and slow load times that make visitors bounce. With Hostinger’s managed hosting, you’ll get a real domain, faster load times, and built-in SEO tools that help you grow your ideas into something real (like a business or profits!). How to optimize your WordPress site Start with your domain. Claim your free domain for one year. A custom URL instantly builds credibility and helps people find you more easily. Optimize for speed. Use Hostinger’s LiteSpeed servers and caching tools to reduce load times — faster sites keep readers around longer and boost your SEO score. Add an SSL certificate. It’s included for free and encrypts your site data, which Google loves. Use the built-in SEO tools. Fine-tune your keywords, meta descriptions, and performance analytics to climb search results. Test before you publish. The one-click staging tool lets you experiment with layouts or plugins safely, so you can keep your live site flawless. And that’s just the beginning. There’s so much more to unlock with AI email marketing tools to keep visitors coming back. Get your Hostinger Premium Web Hosting for Managed WordPress 2-year subscription for $69.99 (MSRP $306.74). Hostinger Premium Web Hosting for Managed WordPress: 2-Yr SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.01:20 amApple just dropped a massive research dataset to help train AI image editing models
Apple has released Pico-Banana-400K, a 400,000-image research dataset which, interestingly, was built using Google’s Gemini-2.5 models. Here are the details. more…12:04 amKiiBoom Cybrix 29 review: Half a keyboard, all the utility
While the KiiBoom Cybrix 29 is effectively half a keyboard, it's still extremely useful for Mac owners as a macropad for shortcuts — or for gaming.KiiBoom Cybrix 29 ReviewIn the world of third-party keyboards, it can be easy to get lost in the ocean of options, designs, and layouts. Every manufacturer is fighting tooth and nail to catch your eye and your dollars with their next big thing.It is a consumer market, and we have never been more spoiled for choice. But in the wave of products and noise, some manufacturers choose to step outside of the norm, delivering products that appeal specifically to gamers and niche needs consumers. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our ForumsTuesday October 2811:21 pm9to5Mac Daily: October 28, 2025 – iPhone 18 rumors, iPad apps
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. Sponsored by CardPointers: The best way to maximize your credit card rewards. 9to5Mac Daily listeners can exclusively save 30% and get a $100 Savings Card. more…11:10 pmPrice drop: Generate images, text, logos and more with lifetime access to this AI platform | Cult of MacPrice drop: Generate images, text, logos and more with lifetime access to this AI platform
All-in-one platform gives businesses AI tools for writing, chatbots, and logo and art generation. Save on a lifetime AI MagicX subscription. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)10:43 pmThree new features announced today at the TikTok U.S. Creator Summit
In addition to an update to its subscription-based revenue-sharing model, the company announced today two AI-powered features that will help creators streamline their pre- and post-production processes. Here are the details. more…10:11 pmHere’s when every iPad gets a beautiful OLED screen
Apple plans to put gorgeous OLED displays in almost every iPad. Here’s when to expect the tablets to switch away from LCDs. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)09:57 pmApple is reportedly planning a trio of OLED upgrades
Macworld A new report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg details some welcome display updates for some of Apple’s most popular products. The iPad mini, iPad Air, and MacBook Air are all due to move from LCDs to OLEDs. Unfortunately, the changes could take a few years. The iPad mini will move to OLED first, according to Gurman. That change may come as soon as 2026, and could include a price increase of about $100. The iPad Air will be next. It’s due for an update in the spring next year, but that version will still use an LCD. The OLED update will come in the update after that, likely in 2027. Apple has no plans to move the base iPad model to OLED anytime soon. The MacBook Air will be last, with a planned OLED upgrade in 2028. The MacBook Air will get an upgrade to the M5 chip in the spring of 2026, but there will be no other significant changes. Gurman notes that these plans aren’t final and could change, as always. An uncertain manufacturing and cost environment makes it hard to predict future roadmaps, and plans can and do change frequently.09:55 pmApple Music product manager to discuss recently-released features in Reddit AMA
The Apple Music subreddit has announced an AMA with Adam Silver, who has led the platform’s product development for nearly a decade. Here’s how to join in. more…09:46 pmApple and Chernin developing adaptation of Marc Guggenheim graphic novel ‘Last Flight Out’ | Mac Daily NewsApple and Chernin developing adaptation of Marc Guggenheim graphic novel ‘Last Flight Out’
Apple is working on an adaptation of Dark Horse Comics' "Last Flight Out," which Apple Original Films is developing alongside Chernin… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.09:26 pmReport: Apple preparing major display upgrade for three upcoming products
Apple is planning a major display upgrade for three future products, according to a new report. The same report also points to another upgrade coming specifically to the iPad mini. more…09:25 pmOLED iPad mini, MacBook Air, iPad Air are in the works
Apple's push into OLED for every device continues with iPad mini getting significant updates in 2026, iPad Air moving to OLED in 2027, and finally, MacBook Air getting the display sometime after 2028.An OLED iPad mini would be a significant upgrade for the tiny tabletTechnology tends to trickle down from top-end products to the rest of the lineup eventually. The time has finally come for OLED to make its way to the rest of Apple's products, but it'll still take some time.According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is prepping OLED displays for several of its products. The report focuses on its more budget-focused lines, but OLED is coming to nearly every product in the next few years. Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums09:17 pmiPhone 17 matches iPhone Air display performance in DXOMARK test
DXOMARK has published its display test results for the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. And despite a few minor differences, both achieved the same overall score, ranking #25 in their global ranking. Here are the details. more…09:17 pmiPhone 17 matches iPhone Air display performance in DXOMARK test
DXOMARK has published its display test results for the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. And despite a few minor differences, both achieved the same overall score, ranking #25 in their global ranking. Here are the details. more…09:15 pmApple gets rights to Dark Horse's 'Last Flight Out' film adaptation
Apple is eyeing another big-screen adventure, developing a film adaptation of the Dark Horse comic "Last Flight Out" with "The Last Frontier" director Sam Hargrave in talks to lead.Apple developing 'Last Flight Out' adaptationFollowing the success of the Apple TV series "The Last Frontier," Apple and Hargrave may be teaming up again, this time for a feature-length project based on Marc Guggenheim's critically acclaimed graphic novel "Last Flight Out", illustrated by Eduardo Ferigato.In "Last Flight Out," it is 2055, Earth is a dying planet, and humanity's last hope is a mass exodus to the stars. The story follows Dr. Ben Caewood, the lead scientist who developed the "arks" that will transport the survivors. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums