Welcome to Neural. AI moves fast. We help you keep up. In our inaugural edition, we’re exploring the start of the next frontier for OpenAI, Anthropic’s thoughtful solution to a common AI critique, and presidential AI executive order ping-pong. Let’s start making sense of the latest in AI news.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple’s developer site has shared news of a new API coming for apps that will offer expanded options for managing In-App Purchases. It’s called the Advanced Commerce API, and here’s what we know so far.
Expand Expanding Close
Three weeks into 2025, Apple has now updated its CarPlay website with one small, but noteworthy change: CarPlay 2 is no longer promised to arrive in 2024, thus confirming the delay.
Apple, however, says its work on next generation CarPlay continues…
Expand Expanding Close
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 Ulysses: The ultimate writing app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Learn more and get started today for free.
This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: an iPhone 17 Air leak, Apple’s spring product details, iOS 19 redesigns, and more. Here are this week’s Apple rumors.
Expand Expanding Close
Need to lock down your new M4 Mac mini? Apple has added a new desktop accessory to its online store just for that purpose.
Expand Expanding Close
Benjamin and Chance give their thoughts on Apple’s attempts to placate the BBC’s complaints about notification summaries with iOS 18.3. Also, the rumored iPhone 17 Air design has a divisive camera bar on the back, and this week also saw an intriguing leak showing apparent design changes for the iOS 19 Camera app.
And in Happy Hour Plus, Chance struggles to find new things to watch and — much to Benjamin’s delight — brings his own Apple TV app complaints to the table. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.
Over the last year, we’ve seen multiple long-term holdouts finally cave to the pressure and adopt Apple Pay. At this point, the largest holdout in the United States is Walmart, and the company today indicated that it has absolutely zero plans to change its stance.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple has just released a new beta firmware update for AirPods Pro 2, bringing revisions for developers ahead of an expected public launch.
Expand Expanding Close
The EU is not exactly on the best of terms with several US tech giants, including Apple, and now the newly inaugurated President Trump is speaking up about it.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple starting adding Thread radios to its devices in late 2023, but has said very little about it. iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max were the first to debut the new radio, but more iPhones, iPads, and Macs have followed suit. Now, a key Apple director has revealed why.
Expand Expanding Close
While we are still tracking big-time price drops on just about every M3 MacBook Air configuration, today’s deals are headlined by a massive discount on premium renewed iPhone 15 Pro units at up to $476 off the launch prices as well as select M4 iPad Pro models at up to $300 off. From there we move over to the accessory space with the return of all-time lows on the Find My Twelve South wall charger as well as the official 4-pack of Apple Pencil Tips at just $7, Philips Hue gear, and one of the thinnest MagSafe power banks we have ever seen at just $20. All of that and more is waiting for you below.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple TV+ has been on a roll with its TV shows lately, but movies remain a struggle for the streamer. Today’s newly unveiled Oscar nominations confirm that, as a grand total of zero nominations were received by Apple.
Expand Expanding Close
Photo editing app Luminar Mobile is delivering two highly requested user features today. Full RAW image editing support and iCloud sync between devices arrives in Luminar Mobile 2.2.
Expand Expanding Close
India remains Apple’s largest market opportunity after China. Growing the business in India, however, has always required a bit of compromise with the local government. In 2019, it was a small investment of $1 billion that helped unlock iPhone exports from India. More recently, India has pressured Apple to put its government-backed app store on the iPhone.
Expand Expanding Close
Not every music streaming service pays artists equally, and a new report highlights the breadth of disparities from one streamer to the next—including Apple Music paying more than double Spotify’s average rates.
Update 2:50 p.m. ET: Added statement from Spotify spokesperson to the end.
Expand Expanding Close
The never-ending saga of the TikTok ban continues, with a ByteDance board member suggesting that a compromise would be possible.
The remark was made by William E. Ford, an American businessman who is one of the directors of parent company ByteDance …
Expand Expanding Close
AI chatbot ChatGPT is down for many users in the US and the UK, with a variety of errors being reported – including gateway errors, login failures, and chats not loading …
Expand Expanding Close
A Subaru security vulnerability allowed millions of cars to be remotely tracked, unlocked, and started. A full year’s worth of location history was available, and was accurate to within five meters …
Expand Expanding Close
Ookla, the firm behind Speedtest, just published its semi-annual U.S. connectivity report covering the second half of 2024. One takeaway is that 5G performance is improving. However, this raises one key question: can anyone notice?
Expand Expanding Close
More than two dozen subreddits have banned X links, including those with millions of users. Hundreds more of the Reddit groups are currently discussing following suit …
Expand Expanding Close
Used iPhones with TikTok installed on them are being listed for sale on eBay for thousands of dollars, as people try to cash in on the ban. One listing even asks $50,000 for an unlocked iPhone 12 Pro Max “with TikTok app.”
Although Trump has issued an executive order claiming to shield companies from liability for breaking the law, Apple, Google and others continue to comply by keeping TikTok out of their US app stores …
Expand Expanding Close
A judge has ruled that there is a “reasonable possibility” that Apple illegally paid women less than men, meaning that a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 12,000 current and former female employees will proceed.
Apple admits that the pay disparities exist, but claim that these can be justified by the individual circumstances …
Expand Expanding Close
The UK government today announced that the Competition and Markets Authority has launched strategic market status investigations into mobile ecosystems, specifically the App Store models of iPhone and Android.
The report says it will assess Apple’s market power, and potential exploitative conduct. This includes options for app distribution to customers, and the terms app developers must agree to to be listed in the App Store in the first place.
Expand Expanding Close