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Next-generation battery technology is much like fusion power: a major breakthrough is always a year or two away. We keep being promised things like laptop batteries that can last for a month, and true wireless charging throughout a room. None of it ever materializes.

However, one modest but still worthwhile breakthrough in battery tech is real and available today: solid-state powerbanks – including a new MagSafe model from Zens …

Apple is rolling out two changes to the Education Store in the United States and other countries. First, Apple now requires verification for all purchases made via the Education Store in the US … so it’s no longer on the “honor system.”

Meanwhile, Apple has added Apple Watch to the Education Store for the first time …

Apple and Meta are publicly opposing a new Canadian bill that they say could force tech companies to break encryption or build backdoors into their products. Here are the details.

Apple TV today announced ‘The Dynasty: UConn Huskies,’ a three-part docuseries about the University of Connecticut women’s basketball program. Here are the details.

Spotify announced today that Premium users in more than 75 countries can now interact with the platform’s AI-powered DJ, in an expansion that also includes support for four new languages. Here are the details.

Apple announced today an expansion of its environmental initiatives in India, with three projects focused on clean energy, plastic pollution, and green entrepreneurship. Here are the details.

Semafor reports that Tim Cook is among the CEOs likely to be invited to an upcoming trip to China. Whether he goes could shape his remaining months as Apple’s CEO. Here are the details.

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Apple has published an in-depth look at four emerging filmmakers who used iPhone 17 Pro Max to shoot new short films as part of the latest MAMI Select: Filmed on iPhone program. Watch them below.

Benjamin and Chance give their opinions on the new Pride wallpaper and watch band lineup for 2026, as well as talk about a new watch face supposedly coming with watchOS 27. Also, in our seemingly-recurring segment on Mac desktop supply constraints, Apple stopped selling the $599 Mac mini altogether this week. Also, the company shares some curious tidbits about its future strategy in its first quarterly earnings call to feature incoming CEO John Ternus. 

And in Happy Hour Plus, Apple loves to talk about the customer satisfaction numbers for its products, but we give our personal takes on how the product lines stack up. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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Apple’s Shortcuts app offers tremendous power, especially with iOS 26’s additions around AI. But my own most-used shortcuts tend to be extremely simple, including one shared by Quinn Nelson for opening an app’s settings.

Apple Notes has long been one of my most-used apps, and iOS 27 is rumored to add a powerful new capability that I know will quickly become a go-to feature for me.

Apple just reached a major milestone in its development of AirPods with cameras, a new report says.

Bloomberg reports today that Apple’s work on AirPods with built-in cameras has “entered a phase where prototypes feature a near-final design and capabilities.”

Perplexity has released a brand new version of its macOS app that is replacing the company’s previous Mac software.

OpenAI has just released three new realtime voice models that it says will “unlock a new class of voice apps for developers.” Each new voice intelligence model has a unique speciality for different purposes.

A new Apple TV 4K is rumored to launch this fall with AI support, and the latest Netflix feature offers a helpful example of how AI might benefit the Apple TV.

Signify, the firm behind Philips Hue and Philips Smart Lighting (formerly known as WiZ), is launching a new Sports Live feature that connects lighting effects to real-time live sports data. The new feature will arrive in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup kickoff in June.

When Apple first introduced MagSafe in the iPhone 12 lineup, I knew it was going to be a hit. It immediately allowed for a modular accessory ecosystem to flourish for the iPhone. But then they gave us USB-C, and that opened the floodgates. Between MagSafe and USB-C, the type of accessories you could mount to your iPhone was basically limitless. One of the coolest examples of that is the Lexar ES5 Magnetic Portable SSD. Spending some time using the ES5 alongside the Blackmagic Camera app, I can confidently say this is one of the more practical MagSafe storage accessories I have tested recently. Here is what you should know.

We’re just weeks away from iOS 27’s unveiling, but Apple has another iPhone update arriving first. iOS 26.5 is coming next week, here are five new features it will bring.

Anthropic launched Claude Managed Agents last month, greatly simplifying the work required to build and deploy cloud-hosted AI agents. This week, Claude Managed Agents are becoming more capable with three new features.

Apple is rolling out a big change to the Education Store today. For the first time, the Apple Watch is now available with a discount for students and teachers in select markets.

Apple is also expanding verification requirements to use the Education Store to new markets …

Apple’s incoming CEO John Ternus, in a recent interview, shared how he and Apple think about approaching AI. And ahead of what’s rumored to be a big AI release with iOS 27, he said exactly what I was hoping to hear.